The Pokemon formula is one of the most proven successes in the video games industry.  After all, it is the highest grossing media franchise in the world.  With such established success, it isn’t surprising that the ser...

It was in 2011 that many felt they were falling out of love with the Legend of Zelda series with the release of Skyward Sword.  The newest release was too linear, too handholdy, and almost nothing similar to the original NES titl...

I recently got my hands on Pokemon Legends Arceus after a busy start to the year and I was immediately amazed at how we didn’t get this game 10 years ago.  Pokemon, since its inception as a franchise in 1996, has primarily ...

I think 2021 will be remembered as a quiet year for games.  There were few blockbuster titles that blew us away, and the majority of the gaming public is still waiting to experience next-gen with supply chain issues making it almo...

Often, the most memorable moments from a video game is not a set piece, or game mechanic, but its soundtrack.  As we end 2021, I wanted to make a list of the top tracks from games that I have played this year.  While there ma...

Jackbox party pack is a franchise that releases every year, offering easy to pick up party games that players can enjoy socially in a local setting.   Every year, my family plays the newest installment of Jackbox over the holiday...

I’ve long grown tired of the proliferation of superhero and comic book films.  The initially novel trend has now grown into something we almost take for granted every year.  Superhero video games caught on a bit after ...

It’s hard to believe it’s been 10 years since the holiday bonanza that was 2011.  I look back fondly on 2011 as it was the year I truly fell in love with video games.  Prior, I had spent my gaming world really ent...

Over the past decade we’ve had a proliferation of HD remakes and remasters of classic franchises from the past.  I’ve heard Kena: Bridge of Spirits compared to a HD remaster of some PS2 game that never existed, and th...

The Artful Escape’s psychedelic presents the sci-fi escapades of Francis Vendetti, a musician  who lives under the shadow of his famous folk musician uncle.  Francis is burdened with the public’s expectations of ...

The average video game is not good.  The average game that most gamers play tends to trend in the upper echelon.  After all, most of us make our purchasing decisions based on review scores, word of mouth, and past experience...

The influence of Metroid in the games industry cannot be overstated, to the point where the title is almost synonymous with “metroidvania” genre - games which seek  to emulate the highs of the classic 16 bit era, focu...

Griftlands is a roguelike deckbuilder game.  At this point, we’ve seen enough games of this variety to get the point.  However, Griftlands has a unique hook.  It has a story to tell, and the card battles are a ves...

Wildermyth is a procedurally generated turn-based strategy game that isn’t much to look at on the outside.  On the inside, it has quite a lot of heart.  While this game won’t blow you away with it’s present...

It Takes Two is an ambitious game that understands very clearly what it wants to be, and sticks to it’s vision unabashedly.  A co-op game, It Takes Two chronicles the relationship of a couple, May and Cody, on the brink of ...

Outriders is a sci-fi looter shooter in which you play as an Outrider, a member of an elite expeditionary force with superhuman powers.  Earth has become a desolate wasteland, and humans have fled to the alien planet of Enoch, wh...

There was a time when retro-inspired indie games were a novel concept.  Now, the market is flooded with computer games seeking to emulate both the presentation and gameplay of 80s and 90s gaming.  Narita Boy looks and feels ...

The seasonal cycle in the video games industry is consistent.  Typically, we see the biggest titles hit around the holiday season, indies are sprinkled in the earlier parts of the year, and during the dog days of summer we can go ...

Cyberpunk worlds are beautiful, yet sinister.  Cyberpunk cities look beautiful from the outside yet are corrupt and dystopic once the curtain is pulled back.  Cyberpunk 2077 is a game from the outside looking in seems fantas...

A good video game soundtrack can make a bad game pretty decent, and a good game great.  We had plenty of great games this year, and in turn some great soundtracks. There were a ton of great tracks from games this year, and probabl...

A lot went down this year.  While there was much that sucked about 2020, the games industry made sure that we had a ton of great titles to sink our teeth into while we quarantined at home for the better part of the year.  Her...

2020 was a great year for games.  I happened to spend a lot of time with games released outside of this year.  Some I adored, others not so much.  Here is a quick run through of every non-2020 game I played this year. T...

The hook of rogue style games is their replayability, constantly shifting dungeon designs, upgrade choices, and the quest to get just a little farther in each subsequent run.  Hades takes elements from these games, and blends the...

Crusader Kings II was one of my most played titles from the past decade.  Originally released in 2012, Paradox Interactive supported their popular grand strategy title for 6 years with over a dozen expansions, offering new game m...

Stale is a word that could best describe the current state of the open world genre.  Within the past decade developers have been told that more is more, and more stuff to do means more fun for the gamer.  An established form...

Monster Train is a roguelike deck builder.  Anyone familiar with that concept has likely played Slay the Spire, a game that Monster Train takes hearty influence from.  For newbies, Monster Train’s concept revolves arou...

Animal Crossing was never a series on my radar.  I dabbled with New Leaf back in 2013, but ultimately, I felt like the game’s lack of direction didn’t speak to me and fell off it rather quickly.  With New Horizon...

Minor spoiler warning: I will be discussing themes and characters found in this game, and a mid-game twist, so if you are sensitive to that information, I would recommend avoiding this review until you have completed the game.   ...

Ori and the Blind Forest was one of the standout games of 2015 and recaptured the hearts of many in the 2D exploration genre.  While some sequels are content with simply rehashing the high points of their predecessor, a good sequ...