Final Fantasy VIII Remastered review

Final Fantasy VIII Remastered review - Seeing through new eyes

Final Fantasy VIII has always been an odd game to try and review. Despite being massively popular when it first released, it later became a popular target for criticism (some of which is rightly deserved). It’s also been one of my favorite games since I first played it in the mid-2000s. For something like 8-9 …

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Apollo Justice review

A retro Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney review

Right after I reviewed the Ace Attorney Trilogy, I found myself hungry for more Phoenix Wright goodness. I remembered playing through the next game, Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney, in the distant past, but that’s always where I would stop playing through the series. For whatever reason, Apollo Justice has always been a tire-destroying pothole on …

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Lake review

Lake review - Warm and fuzzy nothingness

Lake is a peaceful, relaxing game where you drive around delivering mail in the Oregon town of Providence Oaks in 1986. It’s basically the amalgamation of Endless Ocean and Life is Strange (sans superpowers or villains), a kind of remarkable normalcy that’s comfortable to settle into now that the concept of “normal” no longer exists …

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Psychonauts 2 review

Psychonauts 2 review - Slightly better than a mouthful of nails!

My original plan for the end of August 2021 was to cover the original Psychonauts, then jump into the sequel armed with the knowledge required to meaningfully compare/contrast. I didn’t expect to loathe Psychonauts 1 too much to finish it. Little glimmers of potential would sometimes shine through its remarkably clumsy design, though, suggesting a …

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Hades review

Hades review - Where did Supergiant Games go?

First, a little back story—I tried Supergiant Games’ Bastion back in 2013, early in this site’s history, and it was one of the games that pushed me toward embracing hack-and-slash combat. It arguably began my transformation from hating action games like it to them becoming a specialty. Then Transistor came out and was even better, …

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Foreclosed review

FORECLOSED review - Player-hostile design

Foreclosed is an example of a game doing everything a little wrong. Granted, it’s nowhere near as bad as it could be, but there are enough clashing design decisions to render huge parts of the game immensely unsatisfying. For example, a “secret” ending was added into the game that requires collecting 100% of the game’s …

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The Ascent review

The Ascent review - Unbalanced by oodles of potential

The Ascent feels like two very different games. One of those games is an enjoyable aRPG in an over-the-top cyberpunk world where you find new equipment, upgrade your weapons and abilities, and take on odd jobs in an attempt to better your character’s situation. In many ways, this feels like a combination of the canceled …

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