Join the Rampant Discourse crew as we discuss the intersection of gaming and parenting. What games do we allow our kids to play? Which games do we encourage them to play? Which games are we hoping to play with them in the future? Do we let our kids win occasionally? Do we crush them mercilessly? Or do we legitimately lose to them already? Listen to find out!
I chose to pre-order my latest video game fascination, Kingdom Hearts III, from Amazon. Like most games these days, there were competing pre-order bonuses from various retailers, and the Amazon bonus wasn’t that impressive, but I had no real desire for any of the others, either. So I chose the convenience of direct shipping to my house on release day, price match guarantee, and free shipping thanks to my Prime…
It is incredibly hard for a game as long-delayed and as much-hyped as Kingdom Hearts III to satisfy its fans. When Microsoft delayed and scaled back and delayed again Crackdown 3, it was obvious that the project was in trouble. And though the game has its fans, the general consensus has been, “Meh” at best. There is a kind of resigned sigh that goes through fans of games and series…
SPOILER ALERT: Spoilers for Firewatch follows. Recently, while browsing video games, I noticed a game called Firewatch was on sale. I’m not sure what drew me to it, but I did a little research on the game. The reviews were largely glowing (including some who considered it one of the best games of the year), and so, completely on a whim, I decided to give it a try. I’m incredibly glad…
NinjaTheory, the game developer behind Enslaved: Odyssey to the West and the remake of Devil May Cry, developed and self-published a new game recently. They called it Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice. This is not a particularly good title, but it is a remarkably good game. They released the game first on the PS4 and on PC via Steam in August of 2017, so this is not particularly new. But in April…
I can be a total sucker when it comes to being attracted to a game almost purely based on its theme. And sometimes that’s burned me, most exemplified by the copy of Conquest of Nerath that has done nothing but gather dust in my living room. After hearing some of my fellow X-Wing players raving about Fantasy Flight Games’ (FFG) Legend of the Five Rings (L5R), and taking a look…
I had an opportunity to play Dead Exit a few days before its launch on the Xbox One platform. Dead Exit is a zombie-themed card game that feels very much like it could have been printed as a more traditional “board game” style of game with significant card mechanics. In Dead Exit, every card has two sides: the zombie side and the regular side. The regular side can be a…
Injustice 2 has been out a couple weeks now, and I’ve finally gotten enough quality time with it to actually write a review. I was a big fan of the first game’s single player story mode and online play, and was feeling some good vibes about this game prior to its release. As far as the story mode goes, Netherrealm Studios (NRS) continues to deliver on making great narrative content…
SPOILER ALERT: Spoilers for all the Mass Effect games (particularly Andromeda) follow. For the past month or so, my free time has been dominated by Mass Effect: Andromeda. I’m a huge fan of the original trilogy, and consider them to collectively be well within my top 10 video games of all time. While the ending of Mass Effect 3 left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth (Indoctrination Theory…
Some corrections (4/21/17): One of the perils of taking a while to write an article is that references to time quickly become inaccurate. Mass Effect: Andromeda released on 3/21/17, which is obviously more than a week from when this article went live. Also, since I didn’t fully read the patch notes, I didn’t realize the new raid instance, The Tomb of Sargeras, is actually unavailable, and will be unlocked sometime…