Previous || Next Last time, I spoke about the Dictator's capacity to inject emotional tension by unravelling other characters in horrific ways, either by mistake or by design. Giving the Dictator the stage in-between action sequences is even more rewarding than having them in the thick of it, bending allies to their will rather than... Continue Reading →
My Thoughts on DIE: The RPG Beta by Kieron Gillen | The Dictator as an Architect of Dramatic Tension
Previous || Next Last time, I spoke about the differences between D&D 5e and DIE - the greater degree of collaboration between DM and players, the "narrative first" approach rather than a mechanical stringency, and the accent on complex interpersonal relationships established during the first stage of the game, the persona generation. In DIE, there's... Continue Reading →
Against Worldbuilding, And Other Provocations by Alexis Kennedy – Book Review
I have passing knowledge of Alexis Kennedy, one of the two leaders at the head of game developer Weather Factory (the other being Lottie Bevan). I've spent several hours with Cultist Simulator, a game thoroughly disquieting and altogether too complex for me to get after three failed attempts. I've also heard enough about Fallen London... Continue Reading →
What The Success of Outriders Tells Us, Warts and All (Outsider’s Outlook)
Outriders has sold well, well enough to get onto the coveted No. 01 spot on Steam; it even managed to climb up to No. 06 on the UK's Top 10 best-selling games of the week! That Outrider has, in its first week, become bigger than Avengers over its eight months of shelf life, must come... Continue Reading →
Baldur’s Gate 3 Early Access: My Favourite Bugs
The Early Access of Baldur's Gate 3 is beyond fun, but like all early builds of big games, it has plenty of bugs, big and small. After the latest patch, I thought I went through my footage and found the most egregiously fun of them. For your viewing pleasure, here are my five favourite bugs... Continue Reading →
Immortals: Fenyx Rising Developer Announces Post-Launch Plans, New Protagonists and World
The one Ubisoft game I still feel a morsel of excitement over is the generically named Immortals: Fenyx Rising, formerly labeled Gods & Monsters; titles, in either case, which leave much to desire. The game promises an irreverent take on Greek mythology, which borrows a little from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild... Continue Reading →
Microsoft to Continue Buying Studios, Series X/S Shortages To Continue Onto Next Year
Xbox's CFO Tim Stuart gave a talk at the Jefferies Interactive Entertainment Virtual Conference on November 12, where some of his remarks sketch out the issues Xbox faces in shipping their newest consoles, the Microsoft entertainment division's future plans for the Xbox Game Pass, and how Bethesda's acquisition will prioritize Xbox's platforms before all others. Stuart... Continue Reading →
Griftlands Early Access — Is It Worth It?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmeaQEjD6f8&feature=youtu.be Early Access is so often little more than a grift, a calculated money grab intent on screwing the players over little more than a promising idea – but that has not been the case with Klei Entertainment’s previous games, and it certainly isn’t with the developer’s latest. Griftlands is an excellent roguelike deck builder... Continue Reading →
Darkest Dungeon: The Butcher’s Circus – A Free Mode Nobody Wanted
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdPKs3XdKC0 The Butcher’s Circus offers one thing I never thought to see in the Darkest Dungeon – a PvP mode! I could hardly believe it when I first saw the announcement. But curiosity won out in the end, and here I am, sharing with you my impressions – short as they are. The narrator makes... Continue Reading →
DOOM Eternal Review: Nearly a Masterpiece
Here it is, my latest gaming review/essay on Doom Eternal's design! Take a look, I'm happy how it turned out. https://youtu.be/x9IsajWJRwU DOOM Eternal is the most intense first-person shooter I have ever played and would've been a masterpiece, if not for a few strange, bizarre, and downright bad design decisions which take away from the... Continue Reading →