No studio makes games like Monolith Soft. That’s not hyperbole — literally no other RPGs blend humanism and sci-fi with philosophy, reflections on grief, and religious commentary the way Tetsuya Takahashi and his writers have for the last 30 years. Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition is a remaster of the …
Read More »'Assassin's Creed Shadows' Is a Ninja Nerd's Dream Come True
The Assassin’s Creed series tells the ongoing fight between the Templars and the Assassins. The former is an organization trying to usher in the New World Order by seizing political power, while the latter is a hidden peacekeeping organization protecting humanity. The series uses different historical settings to tell standalone …
Read More »30 Years Later, the RPG Perfection of 'Chrono Trigger' Is Impossible to Replicate
In today’s remake and nostalgia-driven market, there’s no franchise too big or small to be trotted out in the town to help bolster fiscal earnings. Some, like Capcom’s Resident Evil or Square Enix’s Final Fantasy manage to go the extra mile, churning out high-quality remakes and new sequels in tandem …
Read More »'Split Fiction' Is a Psychedelic Co-op Thrill Ride That Goes Off the Rails
It’s safe to say that It Takes Two was a breakout success for Swedish developer Hazelight Studios. The co-op action adventure won “Game of the Year” at The Game Awards in 2021 and has since gone on to sell 20 million copies in four years — an impressive feat for …
Read More »'Streets of Rage 4′ Makers' New Game Is a Divine Fantasy Beat 'Em Up
For players of a certain age, the beat ‘em up genre will forever be the pinnacle of gaming. Popularized first in arcades, then cemented at home during the Sega Genesis and SNES era, games like Golden Axe and Streets of Rage were a staple of cooperative action gameplay for a …
Read More »Inside the Biggest Live Game of 'Dungeons & Dragons' Ever Played
I t’s a frosty January night in New York City, but Madison Square Garden is red hot. You feel the heat when pillars of flame spit out from black butane tanks that encircle a half-domed stage. The thunder of swag rock is drowned out by the dog-whistle cheers of 20,000 …
Read More »'Monster Hunter' Is a Global Hit. But What Makes It So Popular?
In the ever-saturated media landscape, blockbuster franchises are a dime a dozen, and video games are no different. Between perennial favorites releasing sequels annually, slews of nostalgia-driven remakes and remasters, and an entire ecosystem of live-service games — themselves amounting to nearly half of all games played daily — everyone …
Read More »How 'Splitgate 2' Is Reinventing 'Capture the Flag' With Guns and Portals
Amidst the surge in video game sales, the awkward moments of Zoom meetings, and the hurricane of depressing and horrific news during the COVID-19 pandemic, the small team at 1047 Games was busy finishing up its first big shooter, Splitgate. It began life as a project in a college dorm …
Read More »'Monster Hunter Wilds' Is A Colossally Fun Game Whose World Could Be Better
Monster Hunter is a series whose name explains it all. In each of the more than two dozen games in the franchise, you hunt monsters. A lot. Then you craft better armor and weapons from the pieces of hunted monsters — a process that’s less grisly than it sounds — …
Read More »The Creator of Battle Royales Wants to Reshape Gaming — Again
Before Fortnite took over the gaming world with celebrity skins and virtual concerts, it gained notoriety as a breakout in the battle royale genre. But Epic Game’s soon-to-be cultural juggernaut wasn’t exactly a pioneer — it was more like a copycat — with the “battle royale” elements added to the …
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