One of gaming’s advantages over other kinds of artistic media is its ability to tap into the feeling of wonder through exploration directly: since we are the ones moving the camera, and choosing where to look, where to go, and what to investigate, games can turn us into intrepid explorers venturing into the unknown. And, to this day, few games …

The review will leave you as spoiled as a rich, white, aristocratic kid. The second book in the Mistborn trilogy, The Well of Ascension, is much more flawed than its predecessor. Still repetitive and occasionally inconsistent, the novel is now also rife with problematic characterization and badly used genre tropes, with even the titular MacGuffin not being used… well, feeling …

Developed in cooperation between Nintendo and Platinum Games, Star Fox Zero is an on-rails action game that aims to bring something new to the genre with a unique control scheme. However, with a problematic tutorial and an uneven level design, the game fails to fulfill its potential. The plot of Star Fox Zero is simple: the scientist Andross wants to …

Written by Cixin Liu, The Three-Body Problem is a hard science fiction novel that shines when it’s subverting the genre and developing its main themes. It can both fascinate us with its creative world and disappoint us with its underdeveloped characters and anticlimactic ending. The protagonist is the Chinese scientist Wang Miao, whose research in nanotechnology is put in check …

No one develops underbaked, bloated, and poorly written open-world games quite like Ubisoft. But even among many illustrious peers, such as * checks notes * most Assassin’s Creed games, Watch Dogs is special: taking place in a modern setting, focusing on the use of technology, the game is an even bigger mess than usual. The story follows the quest for …

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is hands down the best entry in the franchise to date.  It’s true that the game doesn’t try to reinvent the… wheel, but it more than makes up for it by offering some outstanding track designs and a truly stellar presentation. Mario Kart 8 makes use of several elements introduced in Mario Kart 7 and the …

The Wrong Stars is a fast-paced space opera structured around the dangerous allure of mysteries. The main characters are perfectly aware that some things are better left alone, untouched, but they can’t help it. Human beings are drawn to the unknown like moths to light, so our characters 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 …