Nidhogg 2 (opens in new tab)’s new art direction seems to split opinion like a sword through its combatants’ pudgy stomachs. The original cult-favorite fighting game depicted its dueling fencers as nondescript, Atari-esque sprites – but besides retaining their yellow and orange complexions, those two opponents are unrecognizable in the …
Read More »Why I Love: Crash Bandicoot after 20 years
There’s a level in the first Crash Bandicoot called Lights Out. Twenty years before the short film and movie of the same name, before I’d watched The Blair Witch Project, before I filled my brain with the nightmares of modern horror that lurk in the dark, Lights Out terrified me. …
Read More »Why I Love: gathering herbs in games
At the risk of sounding like a dangerous wizard, I’d like to take you back in time. Many years ago, before handhelds, the only games you could take on holiday were made of paper. You probably already know every travel trailer, caravan, and winnebago comes pre-loaded with a selection of …
Read More »Why I Love: Games about paper
I was not a gamer when I was young. I was allowed to play educational titles (Super Munchers anyone? No?) and a handful of arcade games like Tetris or pinball. And Myst snuck through on artistic merit. But that’s about it. Video games, not a big thing in my childhood. …
Read More »Why I Love: Batman: Arkham City’s quietly reflective end-game
The best parts of the open-world Arkham games come at the end. That’s not a slight against the games’ quality. I love them a great deal – with the sole exception of Origins – and have sunk more hours than I wish to calculate about into rinsing City and Knight. …
Read More »Why I Love: Grow Homes frequent flying
If you’ve ever dreamt about flying, what was it like? It’s rare that my sleeping subconscious unwinds itself by letting me soar through imaginary skies, but for the few times it’s happened, I never felt like Superman. Instead of gracefully gliding through the air, it was as if I was …
Read More »Why I Love: Minecart levels
I don’t think I’ve ever encountered a video game minecart that was used for its original purpose of transporting coal. Any time you see a hunk of metal stock with four wheels resting atop a rickety railing, you know you’re about to experience the polar opposite of hard labor: a …
Read More »Why I Love: Cheesing games
If you pay close attention in Bloodborne, you learn that a werewolf’s ultimate weakness isn’t quicksilver or wolfsbane – it’s doors. Specifically, it’s doorframes that are too big for their hulking bodies to fit through. You can stand on the other side and comfortably hack them to death without any …
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