Games

Length is a curious thing. Some say that a good movie (or game) is never too long and a bad one is never short enough, but there’s also the kind that is almost there, almost reaching greatness, where we feel more time was needed because the end result is, for the lack of a better word, undercooked. Arietta of Spirits …

The JRPG that began it all, establishing the tropes and structure of the genre, the first Dragon Quest has just received a substantial new coat of paint with this HD remake that presents a by-the-books, but very charming story with an intriguing combat system that is fun precisely because of its apparent unfairness. We play as the descendant of the …

Ori and the Will of the Wisps is an outstanding – if too safe – sequel to the already great Ori and the Blind Forest, boasting the same mesmerizing aesthetic, haunting soundtrack – dude, this series’ main theme is ridiculously good –, and engaging mechanics, like that lovely bash ability. The story in Will of the Wisps revolves around the …

Wolfenstein: The New Order is a game of extremes that goes, in a matter of seconds, from brilliant moments of thrilling action and engaging character development to some boring scenes rife with cliché. Its level design suffers from the same problem, sometimes being inventive, sometimes being repetitive. It’s an FPS with good and bad ideas that marvels with its inconsistency. …

This review contains spoilers. There’s this moment early on in Fort Solis when we watch a video recording of a doctor confessing his desire to see his family. He’s on a mission on Mars, and he misses them greatly. But what stands out is not his angsty-laden words, but the prolonged silences between them, when we see his eyes focus …

Metroid: Samus Returns, the 3DS remake of Metroid II: Return of Samus, seeks to reimagine certain aspects of the original by focusing on all the wrong things: instead of improving the original’s linear structure or doubling down on its foreboding atmosphere, the game decides to revamp its combat system and visuals, making them both… flashier. In other words, Samus Return …

All good foxes know that chaos reigns. And when talking about the aesthetics of chaos, there’s one important word – a crucial concept, really – that must be discussed beforehand. A technical, deeply academic, almost inscrutable term that can confound even the analytical German mind of Theodor Adorno, who (an AI told me, so it must be true), gasped in …

Harold Halibut lives under the sea. The city of Fedora was haphazardly founded decades before his birth, after a ship crash-landed on a strange planet with no habitable landmass, and its people have been trying – and failing – to leave these alien waters ever since. But Harold’s worries are not that meaningful or grandiose. No, one night, when he …

Horizon Zero Dawn is a competent open-world action-adventure that has a strong start and boasts some great art direction. If it doesn’t reach the heights of its peers, then it’s mainly due to its disjointed narrative and stiff quest design. The world of Horizon Zero Dawn is full of bestialized mechanical monsters: robots that look and act like tigers, buffalo, …

I find it quite curious that questions of identity are far from being the core themes of Tron: Identity, which is much more interested in discussing the control and monopoly of data than anything related to the construction and framing of the self. This visual novel’s very brief runtime, however, shackles the story in such a way that it leaves …