Even for enthusiasts of other Japanese role-playing games, the Shin Megami Tensei series can be initially off-putting. From the pistol-like evokers which teen protagonists point to their heads in SMT: Persona 3 to the Jungian ...
Read More »WWE ’13 Review
For the vast majority of my video gaming career, pro-wrestling games have been my go-to genre. Long car trips and weekends at my grandparents’ house went by in the blink of an eye thanks to ...
Read More »NASCAR The Game: Inside Line Review
Not long ago, I would have preferred reviewing an entry in the implausibly prolific Petz franchise than to tackle another NASCAR title. While I emphatically enjoy an engaging racer, both EA Sports’ (NASCAR Thunder 2004, ...
Read More »Call of Duty: Black Ops II Review
If you invited Black Ops protagonist Frank Woods over for dinner, he’d likely make an atrocious first impression. After peppering expletives into his demands for liquor and placing his dusty sidearm on a spotless end ...
Read More »Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation Review
The adaptation of a triple-A console franchise into portable form is often a thankless undertaking. Typically, primary development studios are able to articulate original ambitions through the capabilities of home systems. For the portable edition, ...
Read More »Midway Arcade Origins Review
Across the previous two generations of console hardware, collections of cherished coin-op games were commonplace. Then, digital delivery came along and, save from the superb Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection, shifted the paradigm from disk-based compendium ...
Read More »Dragon Ball Z Budokai HD Collection Review
A decade ago, video games based on anime were typically little more than slipshod cash-ins. Eager to benefit from tantalizing cover art and inherent fan appeal, nearly every such game was an unwieldy eyesore with ...
Read More »Assassin’s Creed III Review
In the weeks leading up to Assassin’s Creed III’s release, there was little doubt of Ubisoft Montréal ‘s mammoth ambitions. With reports of a three year development cycle sustained by the efforts of four separate ...
Read More »NiGHTS into Dreams HD Review
It’s hard to have a conversation about the Sega Saturn without somebody bringing up NiGHTs into Dreams. Set aside the fact that the system had some of the greatest, most unique adventure and roleplaying games, ...
Read More »Okami HD Review
Creativity is like a flower: exquisite when in bloom, but also despairingly fragile. The aptly-named Clover Studio (its moniker a portmanteau of Creativity Lover) created three remarkable franchises in as many years, before splintering under ...
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