Should Some Video Games Be “Required Reading?”

Many historically impactful games have been re-released this year, including Metroid Prime, Resident Evil 4, and several of the classic Final Fantasy games. In a lot of this discourse I've noticed people making claims such as "You can skip Final Fantasy I, II, III, and V, but Final Fantasy IV and VI are must-play games." … Continue reading Should Some Video Games Be “Required Reading?”

Open World Games vs. Metroidvanias

In 1986, Nintendo published two games that heavily featured exploration: The Legend of Zelda and Metroid. They weren't the only NES games that featured this new kind of game design, but they were the two that entered the mainstream gaming consciousness and made a widespread influence over game developers. The Legend of Zelda became the … Continue reading Open World Games vs. Metroidvanias

The Debate Over Video Game Remasters and Remakes

In 1959, the jazz trumpet player Miles Davis recorded the album Kind of Blue. It was a collaboration between other legendary musicians such as John Coltrane on saxophone and Bill Evans on piano. In the album Miles Davis experimented with Modal Jazz, a free-floating departure from jazz's typical style of improvisation based on tight chord … Continue reading The Debate Over Video Game Remasters and Remakes

2023 Will be a Year of Change For This Blog

Every year I participate in National Novel Writing Month. It's a writing challenge where you try to complete a novel (at least 50,000 words) in the span of just one month. Obviously, there's not enough time to polish the material; all you end up with is a very rough & disorganized first draft of a … Continue reading 2023 Will be a Year of Change For This Blog

Hades Review: Rogue-Likes Aren’t So Scary Anymore!

Hades is a Rogue-like Action RPG created and published by Supergiant Games. It was released on PC and Nintendo Switch in September 2020, and on PlayStation and Xbox in August 2021. MSRB is $25. I played the Nintendo Switch version. Happy Halloween, everyone! I didn't play any spooky games this year, but I did play … Continue reading Hades Review: Rogue-Likes Aren’t So Scary Anymore!

Stray Review: Paw-sitively Adorable

Stray is a 3D Platformer game developed by BlueTwelve Studio and published by Annapurna Interactive. It was released in July 2022 for PlayStation and PC. MSRB is $30. I played the PC version. I've long envied my cat's dexterity. She could effortlessly strut on top of a fence. She could make any mistake look intentional. … Continue reading Stray Review: Paw-sitively Adorable