Gaming off the Beaten Path

Back in the 90's, we were far too edgy and cool to spell words the correct way, becuz everyone nu that spelling korrektly was boaring. I think there were more Zs used between the years of 1989 and 2003 than there were in the entire rest of the history of the English language. You better believe that if you could swap out a boring, lame-o S for a Z, you were doing it. And Cs? Who needs those when you have Ks. The video game world was certainly not immune to this trend, I have legitimately met people that truly believed the word 'combat' started with a K until they were in their teenage years. We may not have been paying attention in school, but we were certainly focused on playing round after round of Mortal Kombat, battling each other tooth and nail while seeking out a bevy of secret Kharacters to battle. Mortal Kombat might have been the most popular game franchise to decide properly spelled words weren't cool, but it was far from the only one. Which brings us to Ske...

It's back to Metroid for our latest in the saga of GBA Metroidvania titles. After a strong start, the last two of these games I've played have disappointed, one slightly and another drastically, so will this next game right the ship? As I make my way through this series, I found myself leaning more heavily towards the Castlevania games than ever before. I know I've said this before, but I've always considered Metroid a series I liked more than loved, and my reviews of Castlevania: Circle of the Moon and Metroid Fusion certainly demonstrated that. It's not that I didn't like Fusion, it's just that I could very easily see why there was so much hype surrounding Circle while I couldn't do the same for it. Of course, that train quickly derailed, as I found myself very underwhelmed by Castlevania: Harmony of Disonance and ready to jump into the next game on my list. Which brings us back to the Metroid side of the series. Released in 2004, Metroid: Zero Missi...

We have decided to rid the world of your worthless civilization. Prepare for WAR! I have said it before, but I think it bears repeating every so often: I'm not entirely objective about my game reviews. While I absolutely focus on the quality of the games I play, I won't hide the fact that sometimes, I just like certain games for reasons beyond what I can explain. Maybe it's a specific gameplay loop, or story beat, or even nostalgia, but some games just have that "greater than the sum of their parts" feeling. That is especially true of my 10s games, many of which I have deep seated relationships with. I myself categorize these games a lot of ways, but I definitely have, at leas in my head, a ranking on how much nostalgia or other intangible factors impacts these titles. And I have no shame in admiting that Civilization II is more influenced by those factors than any other game on that list. It might be the one I get the most pushback on when I talk to people, I g...

I don't want to say I've been dreading this post...but I've been dreading this post. Because now, I'm going to have to attempt to explain how Vagrant Story works. Before we get started, I am going to make it clear that I'm going to explain the game's mechanics on a fairly basic level. Some of the systems run very deep here and I would be lying if I said I had much more than a surface level of understading of how they work. I will say, it's actually not too bad once you  figure it out, but  Vagrant Story has the reputation it does for a reason. There is a lot going on here, especially for a console RPG and it's going to take some time to really lay out how it all works. But we also have to address the elephant in the room here: is the complexity on offer good or bad? Do all these detailed stats and equipment combinations improve the game or make it worse? Well, that depends who you ask. But with so much to unpack here, we best get started. While it has ...

Of all the games that I thought would make go back on something I said, I never thought it would be this one. It's time to talk about yet another golden era PS1 RPG, one that certainly divides opinion amongst the RPG fanbase. But before we do that, I want to go back and revisit a topic I covered regarding how I talk about games in general. A few years ago, I talked at length about the words "overrated" and "underrated" in the general gaming discourse and how much I disliked them. I discussed at length how these terms were used as a crutch for overly simplistic and shallow criticism, often serving as vehichle for the myriad half-baked edgelord hot takes that permeate gaming discussion. That said, I even admitted that the two terms were somewhat difficult to replace and that while I would actively try to avoid them, there would be instances where I wouldn't be able to do so. And that brings us to this week, where, after years of not using either of those word...

It's been a long time coming. A LONG time. But it's finally here. A character that deservers, nay, needs to be the star of his own game has finally received his just desserts. It's been more than 30 years, but Ultros finally has his own game! I mean, it's right there in the name! Final Fantasy VI's resident octupus, the true breakout star of that legendary game, is finally a leading man (or leading cephalopod, as it were). I can't wait to dive into what I am sure is going to be a tentacle-riffic adventure! But, hey, wait a minute...where's all the stuff from the world of Final Fantasy VI we all know and love? No Serpent Trench, or opera house, or colosseum or anywhere else Ulty likes to hang out? And what about the other characters from the game? Where's Terra? Or Edgar? Or Sabin? Or anyone? Why are there bugs everywhere? And why is everything neon? I'm starting to think that I've been mislead. In all seriousness, this week's game has, unfo...