The Bard’s Tale IV

Before I begin I should note where I stand on these sorts of games. I’m not, in general, massively into dungeon crawlers – I played my fair share back in the early 80s including the original Bard’s Tale. I loved Ultima Underworld although, to my shame, I never did complete it. More recently, I enjoyed…

Mass Effect: Andromeda

I didn’t play Mass Effect: Andromeda when it originally released in part because of all the controversy around the bugs but primarily because I felt the series was done. Three games was enough for me in the same way as I’d rather play Cyberpunk 2077 than another Witcher game despite loving The Witcher series very,…

Yakuza 6

I’m right at the end of Yakuza 6 now – at the last point at which you’re free to roam prior to entering into the finale. I’ve stopped for a bit because it will make me a little sad to have run out of Yakuza games to play again but since I’ve pretty much all…

Retrospective: Dragon Age Inquisition

Apparently on the internet opinions vary in terms of which is the best Dragon Age game. It’s weird, but it seems not everyone’s is Dragon Age: Origins. Well, opinions are subjective and in my subjective opinion these people are objectively wrong. I have a bittersweet relationship with Bioware. I really loved Mass Effect when it…

Things to consider when looking for a Publisher

Okay, several years after writing the tweets which basically said this exact same stuff and being told by a friend to, “blog this”, I actually am. Better late than never, huh? This is not intended to be a guide, nor is it intended to be correct / absolute / insert-custom-superlative-of-your-choice. It’s intended to be a…

What *Exactly* Is A Streamer?

Hello. Twitter got me thinking today – I should note that I’ve not reached any real conclusion, I’ve just got a bunch of disparate thoughts swimming around in my brain – set off by this reply by Shannon (the tweet it’s replying to seems to have vanished): While I see your point, I also see…

Binky gushes about Dragon’s Dogma for a bit

Note: I played this game on PC – the Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen version. I have no idea how much of what I’m gushing about is part of the expansion and how much was in the original base game I didn’t include this on my list of the bestest videogames everer made because, although I…

The Best Videogames Ever Made

Merry End-Of-November! Here, for the purposes of festive argument, is a list of indisputably (yes, indisputably) the greatest videogames ever made: Yakuza 0 A masterclass in how to blend a gritty and compelling gangster story with such ridiculously over-the-top craziness that it’s quite incredible that the whole thing works. But work, by God, it does….

For the love of God, can we not just come up with a new word already?

Should (video)games be fun?   Yes, this old chestnut again. I’ve written about this before because much like, “can games be art?” it’s a question that won’t just ever die. And it can’t die because everyone’s talking in cross purposes. The people who say that videogames need not be fun are talking in the broadest possible…

On difficulty in Videogames

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2017/10/02/assassins-creed-origins-tourism-difficulty/ Okay, here’s an argument which pops up all the time which I completely reject: Do we have some arbitrary test in the middle of a movie which locks you out from seeing the end if you don’t pass? No. So why should these barriers exist in videogames? Replace “movie” with “book”, “album”, whatever other medium…