Category: Gaming

  • The Dying Art of Game Extras

    When was the last time you read a manual for a video game? Perhaps a better question: when was the last time you bought a game that actually came with a manual? It seems like a strange question to ask; after all, what’s the point of having to read a separate piece of documentation when…

  • Nightreign: FromSoftware’s Take on Multiplayer

    Hold on.. online matchmaking? The battle royale “shrinking circle” mechanic? An extraction shooter gameplay loop? And it’s developed by FromSoftware!? Yeah, “weird”; that’s what the Internet said when Elden Ring Nightreign was revealed to be an online roguelite. Nightreign may brandish the Elden Ring title, but the two games are very different. This time, you’re…

  • Mass Effect, The Veilguard, and Player Choice

    There’s a profound sense of home inside the Normandy, your starship throughout the Mass Effect trilogy. A similar feeling is found in Dark Souls II’s Majula, your campsite in Dragon Age: Origins, or, hell, the entire province of Skyrim from The Elder Scrolls V. There’s something special about a player home or hub that makes…

  • Playing The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

    I just finished playing The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt for the first time, and all I can say is: wow. I’ve been gaming a lot in the past year, but I’d never played this massively popular title before. Needless to say, all of the praise it receives is deserved. It’s been ten years since the…

  • The Importance of the GOG Preservation Program

    As someone who has been spending a lot of their spare time studying, playing, and buying older games, I’m experiencing the challenges of accessing certain titles first-hand. In most cases, I can purchase the games in my wishlist without having to jump through any hoops. Steam has an impressive amount of titles and Microsoft’s continued…

  • Pillars of Eternity: A CRPG Masterclass

    In 2012, video game studio Obsidian Entertainment underwent financial difficulties following the abrupt cancellation of their then-current development project. The studio that launched successes such as Fallout: New Vegas and Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords had hit an unexpected run of bad luck, and hesitantly turned to Kickstarter to…