The Wrong Stars is a fast-paced space opera structured around the dangerous allure of mysteries. Our main characters are perfectly aware that some things are better left alone, untouched, but they simply can’t help it. Human beings are drawn to the unknown like moths to light, so they must uncover the many secrets the universe holds, even if that means facing …

Developed by Moon Studios, Ori and the Blind Forest is a competent Metroidvania that tells a beautiful fable about the importance of compassion. It’s a formidable game, but one that would have benefited from a greater connection between gameplay and story. The moving introduction of Ori and the Blind Forest follows Ori, a white guardian spirit, as he falls from …

The World Next Door is a frustrating game. It presents a story about alterity, introducing a world of magical creatures just a portal away from ours, with a protagonist who feels more at ease in this alien environment than at home. It subverts match-three puzzle games, creating a dynamic combat system that requires constant movement and thinking. And then it …

The Pillars of the Earth has the foundation of its narrative solidly set: the characters’ greatest conflicts are outlined at the beginning, serving as solid columns for the structure that will organize the most important events of the story, with actions always generating consequences, making the scale of the events gradually increase until the climatic end. The novel’s various plots …

Hob is a top-down exploration game that, despite some great art direction and its vague story, can quickly become repetitive in its design, as we are constantly executing the same extremely simple actions over and over again in different locales. The world of Hob is one in which technology and nature are both intertwined and in conflict. The first area …

This article contains spoilers (As I hope you all could surmise from the title) Let’s start with genocide. That’s the final solution Isaac Dixon, Abby’s boss and leader of the Wolves, found for the Seraphite problem: if he kills every single member of this rival faction fighting him for land, then there will be no one left to take revenge. …

The tricky thing about mysteries is that the answers to them are rarely more fascinating than the questions themselves, which can lead to a disappointing payoff if those answers are the only thing that matters to the narrative. Observation falls into this trap: it successfully builds an intriguing atmosphere of dread in its first hours, telling a story about a …

Mistborn: The Final Empire is a competent fantasy novel that offers a fascinating cast of characters and a compelling plot, which is ultimately dragged down by repetition and a deeply problematic magic system. The setting is the great city of Luthadel, the center of a feudal empire built over the constant exploitation of the poor, the peasant class called Skaa. …

Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King is a competent but ultimately safe JRPG, failing to explore the few new things it brings to the table. It’s a simple JRPG that offers a bland story that never makes up for the by-the-books gameplay of the franchise. The plot follows an unnamed hero – he serves as our male avatar …

The Great Hunt finally allows The Wheel of Time to become its own thing, breaking free from most of Tolkien’s structure that so hindered The Eye of the World. It’s a competent fantasy novel that focuses on fleshing out its world while introducing and developing elements that allow the series to stand on its own feet. As the title implies, …