A few years ago, while hanging out at a friend’s house, people began discussing Disney movies, specifically their favourite ones growing up. When it was my turn to share my favourite Disney movie, I answered with Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper. People were rightfully taken aback. I took…
I read a lot of books this year. I read more books this year than I’ve read since before I was introduced to the internet. I read different types of books this year: literary fiction with a focus on alienated female characters where the plot takes a backseat, history/culture-based non-fiction…
If you were a fan of narrative-driven episodic adventure games where choices mattered in the mid-2010s, chances are that October 20th 2015 was a big day for you. That was the day that Telltale’s Tales From The Borderlands would release ‘Vault Of The Traveler’ the game’s fifth and final episode…
Outer Wilds is an exploration-heavy game with environmental puzzle-solving elements in which the player character explores their small solar system and slowly uncovers a mystery to solve. It’s really difficult to talk about this game because it is so heavily based on discovery and putting together figurative puzzle pieces that…
The best thing about Arkane Studio’s immersive sim Prey (2017) is Talos I, the space station in which the game is set. More than any of the human characters, the station itself is easily the most memorable thing about the game. The levels have been designed with a great deal…
Pathologic 2. It’s a weird game: simultaneously a sequel and a reboot of the first Pathologic.
Everything about the game’s setting ranges from ‘slightly off’ to ‘impossible glowing tower floating above the town’. There’s a Rat Prophet. …
Stardew Valley is commonly held up as one of the most relaxing and calming experiences in gaming. Yet it’s one that I and others like me find oddly stressful. The game’s loop of working towards a few long-term goals and several short-term goals leads me to obsess over the most…
Paradise Killer is a detective game developed by Kaizen Game Works, released in September 2020. The plot is as follows: there’s been a murder in a “world outside reality,” the eponymous Paradise, and the player character is the only one who can solve the crime. …
Dishonored, Arkane Studio’s immersive sim released in 2013 has sprawling, intricately planned, and richly detailed levels that are the backbone of the game. They’re the biggest reason the game works as well as it does. They serve as sandboxes that the player can navigate in a manner anywhere between not…
Let’s perform a little thought experiment. Let’s Google ‘detective video game’ and examine the results. What do we see?
