Previews
Diablo II: Resurrected Alpha Preview: This Game Understands the Balancing Act of Remasters
Diablo II was a big part of my adolescence. It was my introduction to dark fantasy, action RPGs, and loot-based games more generally. ...
Opinion
Immersive Sims Are Less Niche Than They Appear
With excitement building for Arkane Studios’ upcoming immersive sim Deathloop, I’ve been thinking about the sentiment that immersive sims are a niche “gamer’s ...
Opinion
Disco Elysium’s Post-Socialism Evokes Nostalgia and Melancholy
Bloodshot eyes, a corpse-pale face, hair that looks like the butt of Dylan Moran’s joke about comb-overs, and late 1990s Russian market stall ...
Opinion
BioShock 2: Minerva’s Den Puts You at the Heart of a Thought Experiment
This article contains spoilers for BioShock 2: Minerva’s Den. Like its predecessors, the BioShock 2: Minerva’s Den DLC is set in the failed ...
Opinion
Why ‘You Died’ Works Better than ‘Game Over’
“Game Over” is one of the oldest and best recognized phrases in gaming. And yet a number of games over the years, from ...
Opinion
The Arbiter Represented Elevated Storytelling in Halo, Casting a Heavy Shadow on Future Games
This discussion of the influence of the Arbiter contains spoilers for the Halo series under Bungie and 343 Industries. When Halo 2 launched ...
Opinion
The Joy of Unvoiced Game Text: An Option to Turn Off Voiceovers Could Enhance the Experience
There is a general sense that good voiceovers can elevate a game. We praise strong voice acting and note when the re-release or ...
Opinion
Enough Medieval Fantasy RPGs Already
Here is an incomplete list of active video game franchises: Baldur’s Gate, Diablo, Divinity, Dragon Age, The Elder Scrolls, Pillars of Eternity, The ...
Opinion
Half-Life: Alyx Is Not Receiving the Mainstream Recognition It Deserves
Half-Life: Alyx, Valve’s surprise VR return to the series that established the company, has picked up a number of “Best in VR” awards ...
Opinion
Pathologic 2 Is a Fascinating Experiment in Method Role-Playing
Pathologic 2 didn’t get a lot of attention when it released last year. There were good reasons for that: It is a follow-up ...
Opinion
Baldur’s Gate 3’s Mind-Eating Parasite Informs All of Act 1, for Better and for Worse
It’s hard to imagine a more dramatic opening for Larian Studios’ Baldur’s Gate 3: You are imprisoned aboard an airship piloted by Mind ...
Opinion
How Thief Helped Pioneer the New Weird Genre
Everyone agrees that Thief: The Dark Project was important. It helped to establish stealth games and immersive sims, demonstrated new ways to integrate ...