Early last month, RPG fans were shocked to discover that the fan-favorite title Octopath Traveler had been delisted from the Nintendo eShop out of nowhere. The game was a big hit among critics and fans of the genre worldwide, releasing initially as a Nintendo Switch exclusive before arriving on other…
Starting in January 2018, Community Day is a monthly event in Pokémon GO that shines the spotlight on a particular Pokémon. For one day each month, a Pokémon selected by Niantic will have its spawn rate increased during a block of hours. Also, the Shiny appearance rate for the starring…
G-MODE has slowly but surely been reviving its back catalog of games that were once exclusive to Japanese feature phones, including fairly big names. The latest? The Atlus developed Persona 3 prequel, Aigis: The First Mission. The game is an action RPG set in 1999, ten years before the events…
“Style over substance” is a common turn of phrase across multiple fields of criticism, punchy and powerful in how it can immediately declare a work to be fluffy and vacuous beneath its flashy veneer. I don’t like the term much myself, mostly because its users tend to either use it…
When it comes to wacky sports action, we are well past the genre’s prime. Gone are the days of over-the-top games like NBA Jam, SSX, and Blitz 2000. It seems like big companies are only interested in making realistic sports titles tied to major sports franchises, but luckily smaller companies…
Art is a word that evades easy definition. Whether it be as simple as “a drawing” or as complex as “a piece of media that deeply affects the spirit” or a broad as any definition you could pull out of a dictionary, the idea of “art” means something different to…
I’m always excited to tune into an Indie World Showcase to check out the latest indie offerings on Nintendo Switch. The most recent showcase was home to a few things that caught my eye – Sea of Stars stood out, and Olli Olli World and Loco Motive look great. Some…
Adolescence still defines much of gaming culture. Even now as audiences grow older and older and the reach of the industry expands ever onward, the foremost image of gaming in many people’s minds is that of high schoolers playing Call of Duty or pre-teens buying Fortnite dances. This, of course,…
Shovel Knight has plenty of game appearances under his earth encrusted belt, yet it’s only now that he’s stepping out of the shadow of that original Kickstarter. Yes, the scope of Yacht Club Games’ inaugural effort grew incredibly, but we’ve finally stepped onto untrodden soil for the studio. This partnership…
Ten years is a noteworthy milestone for any series, but when that series teeters right on the line between hope and despair it makes that success all the more exciting. Danganronpa had humble beginnings back on the PSP, with players overseas gravitating to Let’s Plays and fan translations, but it…
Pokémon Diamond and Pearl made several strides forward for the franchise, taking it online and to the Nintendo DS. With the pattern of remakes that had become expected, the Pokémon Company did the unexpected for this second serving of Sinnoh by… giving us exactly that. No big shake ups outside…
These days, every big company wants to get into universes and brand expansion. Big movie studios want to turn everything into a cinematic universe, while game companies are looking into more and more new ways to utilize their IP’s outside of their normal games. Just look at Nintendo with the…
When Super Mario Party shindigged its way onto Switch in 2018, I figured it was the start of a new chapter in the series’ legacy. While familiar, it was fairly distinct in its approach to boards and minigames, and managed to be a whole lot of fun with changes it…
The Shin Megami Tensei series is a fascinating corner of its genre rooted in theology, philosophy, and an Ars Goetia worth of demons. While each entry’s scenario and characters change, the commonalities remain consistent. This is especially true for the entries that have come after Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne,…
I’ve moved five times over the last five years, and I’m sure there will be more in my future. Even if some were simple, some were with roommates, and some were all the way across an ocean they’ve all managed to share one core aspect – Me. Even if we…
