Review by Matt S. To explain why I love Pathfinder: Kingmaker, I need to first explain why I love Pathfinder itself. As I was growing up, and deep (deep) into Dungeons & Dragons, I collected the two magazines that were published to support the game: Dungeon, and Dragon. At one…
Read MoreNews by Matt S. You may not have heard of Spiders Studio before. You should have, but the studio is infamous for making games that have a B-tier level of jank and clumsiness to the gameplay, so a lot of people have dismissed them for a long time on that…
Read MoreRetro reflections by Matt S. These days, indie developers fall over themselves to implement “roguelike” elements into their games. Indeed, the “roguelike” to indies is what “open world” is to the big publishers – a safe and commercially-proven way of throwing a lot of content at players… and it is…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. Nostalgia is a tricky beast to deal with. Take a beloved game (or genre) and try and modernise it too far and it stops being a nostalgic experience at all, and as a retro-inspired thing falls flat. On the other hand, if things are kept too…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. The dungeon crawler has been around for almost as long as video games, and it was certainly one of the first forms of the RPG. Those who grew up playing the likes of Wizardry and Might & Magic will love what Zen Studios has achieved with…
Read MoreVideo by Matt S. Operencia is Zen Studios’ latest work, and it’s very different from the pinball action that everyone knows them best for. This is a turn-based, traditionally-themed, dungeon crawler. If you grew up with the likes of Wizardry and Might & Magic, you’re going to love the aesthetics,…
Read MoreReview by Pierre-Yves L. Having originally launched on the PC back in 2015, the final chapter of Van Helsing and his ghostly companion Lady Katarina is coming to a close on consoles. Having defeated his foes and stopped the civil war in Borgovia’s city of Borgova, Van Helsing now faces…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. An RPG should be all about encouraging exploration and journey. Players should be looking forward to the next town, the next deadly dungeon, or the wonders of finding their way into magician’s towers and glistening palaces. Pillars of Eternity II does achieve the goal of providing…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. Between the Stranger Things 3 game, Narcos, and now Dark Crystal, it seems that Netflix television shows are driving a new renaissance in that kind of cheap, low-budget licensed cash-in game. Remember back on the early PlayStation and Nintendo consoles when a “licensed game” (Goldeneye 007…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. When I saw Ember land on the Nintenndo eShop store, I thought there was something vaguely familiar with it. Promising to be a throwback to Baldur’s Gate, and other RPGs of old helped cinch the deal for me, so I figured I’d give it a go.…
Read More