A little over three years ago, Pokémon Go became the first major break out mobile game. And the way it did it was by embracing the unique tools mobile has to offer. If you don't know, Pokémon Go works by showing you the map of where you are with points of interests...
Gaming role (playing) models
The Luminary, Dragon Quest XI's silent protagonist doesn't say a whole lot. But, like a lot of JRPG protagonists both silent and otherwise, actions speak loudest. What I find really interesting is how the gameplay build informs the character. The gameplay is what...
The power of pep propels you: hidden numbers and Dragon Quest XI
Dragon Quest XI's battle system is deceptively simple. You take turns attacking or using abilities and the monsters you're fighting do the same. It's about as old school as it gets. While other RPGs make big mechanical changes to make their systems more active or...
Why I’m excited for Ring Fit Adventure
Fitness games have a reputation. They start out quirky and fun for a few days, maybe a week or even a month, but for many people they end up as expensive pieces of hardware collecting dust under the ottoman or in the closest. I stuck with Wii Fit U for a while last...
Be kind, please rewind (your SNES games on Switch)
Link stumbles into final room of the Dark Palace. A familiar for dominates the room: a large orange beast with a spiked, whippy tail and a large helmet. Having just a acquired a hammer, Link pounds on the beast's . A small piece chips off the helmet a a few strikes...
How Three Houses solves Fire Emblem’s pace problem
Fire Emblem, especially classic Fire Emblem, had a problem with pace. Allow me to illustrate: So Fire Emblem maps are usually pretty long, they can sometimes be 40 minutes to an hour in the later half of a game. And the most popular way to play these is to restart...
On Fire Emblem Three Houses and series progression or how Echoes: Shadows of Valentia is the unsung hero of FE
I love thinking about how gaming franchises evolve. And Fire Emblem is one of my favorite series both as just a game and thinking about how it has progressed and evolved. You may know this, because it's mentioned in everything ever written about Fire Emblem, but in...
How the builder genre is one of gaming’s most important emerging game styles
Back in late 2010, or maybe early 2011, all of my friends online were going crazy over this new indie game called Minecraft that had just had a beta version release. I watched a trailer on the game's website and it featured something with a skeleton and a roller...
Tokyo Mirage Sessions: An Outro of Shadow and Light [Video Game Review, Part 2]
On Spoilers: So I understand because this is a somewhat obscure game that there's going to be a lot of people who haven't played it or haven't finished it. So I'm going to be sure to clearly mark any content that talks about major plot details from the final chapter...
The asymmetric beauty of Mario Maker
Back when the Wii U was first released, one of the features that had fans really hyped was the concept of asymmetric multiplayer. The idea was that the Wii U's gamepad could be used to create a completely separate experience from what was being displayed on the TV....