-
Silent Hill f: Review

Silent Hill f abandons the familiar American backdrop for the 1960s Japanese fictional town of Ebisugaoka. The corrugated iron rooftops and narrow, winding streets form the stage for otherworldly entities intent on tearing you limb from limb. It’s a thematically perfect setting for the Silent Hill premise – a place where post-war cultural changes clash…
-
When Games Forget How to End

TLDR: Live-service games promise ever-evolving worlds with endless content. But the longer they go, the harder it becomes to stay invested. Nobody wants a great game to end — but knowing that it will makes the experience all the more meaningful. A Short Hike (Adam Robinson-Yu) is one of my favourite games of recent years.…
-
Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo – Review

Playing Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo on the Steam Deck feels like the closest approximation to playing on the Game Boy Advance as a child — albeit with a glossy sheen thanks to the Deck’s OLED display and superior fidelity. Despite its firm early 21st-century inspirations, it manages to feel modern, with a polished combat…
-
Edge of Fate: Review

I can still remember my excitement, on the 9th of September 2014, when I queued up to log in to Destiny for the very first time. I sat impatiently, listening to the iconic loading screen music. Looking back now, the state of Destiny 1 at launch was dire, but the prospect of its sci-fi fantasy…
-
Doom: The Dark Ages: Review

Amongst the wreckage and labyrinthine halls of a burning medieval city, there is a small metal drop pod housing a powerful weapon: the power gauntlet. A weapon that id Software has designed to display the unbridled power of the Doomslayer. At the click of a button, you can turn demons to nothing but blood and…
-
Late to the Party: A Short Hike

The past month has been packed. A heavy workload, train journey after train journey travelling to the farthest reaches of the country, and to top it all off, a frightening abundance of family health crises to attend to. Nothing life threatening (thankfully), but significant enough that my precious time has been spread very thin. Keeping…
-
How a Game Changed My Views On Life

Outer Wilds took exactly 22-minutes to change my views on life. If you have not played Outer Wilds, DO NOT READ THIS. SPOILERS AHEAD I am not easily scared. I’ve never feared spiders, snakes, heights, or anything else really. But I have always been deeply terrified of death. I don’t know what happens when we…
-
Destiny 2: On the Edge

As far back as I can remember Bungie reveals have got my blood pumping. With Destiny 2 and Halo being the absolute peaks of what they have to showcase. I am a Destiny addict. And discussing that with people almost makes it feel like I’m sitting in an AA meeting admitting my deepest shames from…
-
Why Climbing in Video Games Feels So Shallow

Climbing is a feature in many modern video games. Even when it’s not central to the gameplay, it can have a big impact on how much I enjoy a game. Sometimes, it drags down an otherwise great experience with slow or clunky mechanics. Other times, it becomes a compelling core mechanic — something indie developers…
-
Blue Prince: Imperfectly Perfect

What was the last video game that frustrated you? From Soft games tend to frustrate me, although this is by design and likely the reason why I love them so much. The difficulty feels tuned just enough that its frustrating to perish in combat, but victory is always just within grasp. It creates a powerful…
