Released in 2012 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, the original Dragon’s Dogma was an action roleplaying game tailored to a very specific audience. Brutally difficult, the gameplay centered on open-world exploration with a survivalist touch, wherein players and their NPC (non-player character) companions must trek through a “persistent” …
Read More »'Starfield' Is Great, But It's Not Destined To Save Xbox
It’s no secret that Microsoft’s Xbox has been having a rough couple of years. Trailing behind its competitors Sony and Nintendo, in both sales and cultural cachet, the brand that once dominated the console shooter space with the Halo and Gears of War series has struggled to find its footing …
Read More »'Street Fighter 6' Is a Knockout for Gamers of All Levels
The thing about being first is that it usually puts a target on your back. For Street Fighter, despite setting the standard for an entire genre in 1987, and perfecting it in 1991, it meant that the franchise would almost immediately be against the ropes. With its breakout followed the …
Read More »The Creators of 'Diablo IV' Want You to Go to Hell
To a certain kind of gamer, Diablo is sacrosanct. Arriving for PC in 1997, the first game in the series evoked all the most hellacious phantasmagoria ever dreamt up in a basement-bound Dungeons & Dragons campaign, neatly packaged in an endlessly replayable hack-and-slash RPG. A smash hit, its publisher, Blizzard …
Read More »'The Lord of the Rings: Gollum' Review: Ambitious Storytelling Let Down by Plain Parkour
Despite J.R.R. Tolkien’s meticulous planning of The Lord of the Rings and Middle Earth, he leaves one crucial part of the saga to chance: the hope that you’ll feel pity for Gollum. Daedalic Entertainment steps in to fill that gap with The Lord of the Rings: Gollum, telling not the …
Read More »'Redfall' is a Decent Looter Shooter With an Identity Crisis
2023 is a big year for Microsoft and Xbox. After acquiring Bethesda back in 2020, Microsoft (finally) has a slate of exclusive titles coming up, an area where it lagged behind Sony, its main competitor. Back in January, Tango Gameworks released the excellent rhythm action-adventure game, Hi-Fi Rush, and later …
Read More »'Dead Island 2' is a Mindlessly Gory Slog Better Left in the Grave
After 10 years in development, Dead Island 2 is finally here. The zombie-themed action role-playing game underwent four studio changeovers before being dragged across the finish line by Dambuster Studios. With a development cycle about as long as vaporware legend Duke Nukem Forever, a title with a similarly troubled and …
Read More »'Like A Dragon: Ishin!': An Eccentric Action RPG Vision of Edo-Period Japan
Like a Dragon: Ishin! originally debuted in 2014, just before its parent series Yakuza got its big break outside of Japan with Yakuza 0. While entries after that game quickly came westward (and now launch the same day worldwide), Ishin remained out of reach for audiences outside Japan until now. …
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