Despite living in the city which EVO is held, spectacle competitive gaming is something I've never resonated much with. I'm not good at fighting games and probably don't even understand the simplest concepts to start becoming competit...

(Image Source: TheGamerRoom) Draconus: Cult of the Wyrm is a Dreamcast game that may seem like it has no relevance beyond its year of release. It's the spiritual sequel to the 1998 PC exclusive, Die by the Sword, which offers free-ran...

Exploring unused content that doesn't make it into a final game might be my favorite time sink on the internet. Over the years, I've spent many late nights on websites like The Cutting Room Floor and Unseen 64 digging through the disc...

(Image Source: Nintendo UK) Around August last year, I bought a Switch. That's far from a surprise. I've focused on Nintendo platforms my entire life and know there will be a at least a handful of titles I'll want at some point. Howev...

(Image Source: Amazon) Once in awhile there's an explosion of Kirby titles. On Nintendo 3DS specifically though, I've lost track of what is coming and when. There has been a significant mix of both retail and digital releases over the...

Dead or Alive Xtreme has never been shy in what it's about. Even the commercial for the original release on Xbox was blatant about being a sexual tease. Due to that reputation, it's received frequent criticism of being nothing more th...

This article contains some spoilers for Valkyria Revolution and the direction of its plot. Valkyria Revolution is not well-liked. I've seen few who think this attempt to re-invent the brand as an Action RPG amounted to anything. By th...

I, alone, will likely never play enough games released in one year to do any sort of Game of the Year list. I'm spread pretty thin across a variety of generations. Nothing I have to say about 2017 is all encompassing. However, I do ha...

Procedurally generated content is not my favorite solution to level design. But when dealing with concepts that extend well beyond the usual scope, it's unavoidable. No Man Sky is a good example, which essentially promises the infinit...

Note: I'm the opposite of an exercising expert. Don't be a dumbass like me and say “This is fine and OK until I get hurt.” Probably actually ask someone who knows what they're talking about. (Image Source: PopGeek) Exercis...

Senran Kagura: Peach Beach Splash – Wet and Lonely (Image Source: Amazon) Over the course of my 27 years, I've put a lot of time into competitive shooters with probably over 200 hours each in Quake 2, Tribes, Battlefield 1942, t...

This article is a reworking of my Video Gaming Bits Tumblr Post for Circle of the Moon (Image Source: Level Up Video Games)  About a year ago I wrote an impressions piece on Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night's E3 2016 demo. The u...

(Image Source: MobyGames) Seeing a random title with a big publisher's name on it is always sort of a surprise. I found Crimson Tears for the PlayStation 2 in a game store's bargin bin, complete with Capcom's logo on it. Released in 2...

Like any live game, Final Fantasy XI has changed significantly over its fifteen year life. In my five years –  plus some – with the game, I can't think of a single bigger turning point than the release of the expansio...

(Image Source: Moby Games) Recently I published a video about Spectrobes: Origins, developed by Genki. While I briefly mentioned the developer's history with another Monster Collecting series, Jade Cocoon, they actually have quite a d...

From the outside, it can be difficult to tell when a series has gone off the rails and into rehash territory.  For years Call of Duty was criticized for being the same game released every 12 months, but almost everyone has a belo...

If there's one thing that stands above anything else for me in a game, it's if they achieve something unique. When focusing on the most recent releases, this is largely limited to looking at what has come before it. However, sometime ...

(Image Source: Anison USA) Japanese music festivals aren't something I have much experience with or an interest in. I avoid talking about music since I honestly don't know what to say beyond, “it good yo.” However, in an a...

This article contains significant spoilers regarding NieR and NieR: Automata. When I played the original NieR more than half a decade ago, I don't think I could have ever have foreseen how much it'd resonate with me or that it would b...

Japanese Visual novels are nearly impenetrable without the ability to read the language. They're essentially choose your own adventure books with music and heavily recycled 2D graphics, which often makes playing one as a foreigner fee...

I wouldn't say I'm a mobile game aficionado. I dumped six months into Puzzles and Dragons, played two months of Final Fantasy: Grand Masters and experienced the riveting Hill Cliff Horse, which was like being in a Gaia Online chat roo...

The Japanese indie / doujin fighting game scene isn't anything new or unheard of. While no Guilty Gear or BlazBlue in popularity, there are titles like Melty Blood that have gained at least some following. Inaho Town: Dynamite Bomb!! ...

Aside from the initial reveal, I've largely ignored of NieR: Automata. I've got nothing against it, I just don't get much out of preview coverage. Demos, trailers, etc. all present an image of a game, yet the lack of information leave...

Most Japanese indie games haven't been prevalent in the industry over the last decade. A growing Steam presence is starting to bring many of these games to light, but plenty have yet to make the transition. Until recently, they were a...

(Image Source: RPGFan) Although not exclusive to the medium, one of my favorite things about video games is how many elements are includes within a single work. Everything from level design, artistic style, story telling, cinematic di...

(Image Source: Final Fantasy Wikia) Being an fan of older versions of Final Fantasy XI is somewhat of a sad situation. Many titles that people are nostalgic for exist in their entirety today. While you may not be able to recapture tha...

The Wii U GamePad's intended purpose, as a second screen experience for console gaming, is a failure. Aside from a few examples, Nintendo has largely floundered to find much of a reason to use the device. Because of this, I was drawn ...

(Image Source: IGN) The Wii and DS have huge libraries. With over 100 million hardware units sold for each, plenty of publishers and developers were pumping out titles in an attempt to grab even a fraction of the market. I was almost ...

Aconcagua, a PlayStation release from 2000 that's often misreported as a survival horror game. It's is a point-and-click adventure that pits five survivors against both environmental and military hazards.This video is about the Argent...

Kickstarter has been great for developers launching spiritual successors to their dead franchises. While they may not be able to continue the beloved worlds and characters these series offered, they can at least keep working with the ...