A MOST AGREEABLE PASTIME
Video Games, Victorian Style
Category: Reviews
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Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite is finally here and if the internet is to be believed, it’s the latest Mass Effect: Andromeda-type controversy, because OMG TWO CHARACTER’S FACES LOOK WEIRD IN CUTSCENES! I admit, there really are precisely two characters who have weird faces in otherwise incredible looking cutscenes. I was so distraught when I gazed upon these two…
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It’s been a long time coming, but the latest entry in the Metroid series has been worth the wait. For a start, it looks stunning – the developers, MercurySteam, have done a phenomenal job with the look of the subterranean caverns you fight your way through, particularly the 3D backdrops. One memorable moment sees you…
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It’s been a long time coming, but the latest entry in the Metroid series has been worth the wait. For a start, it looks stunning – the developers, MercurySteam, have done a phenomenal job with the look of the subterranean caverns you fight your way through, particularly the 3D backdrops. One memorable moment sees you…
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Symphony of the Night is not just hands-down the greatest Castlevania game of all time, but I also consider it one of the top 5 greatest video games of all time. It is not just the original Metroidvania, but it’s the pinnacle of subgenre. Great looking backgrounds and enemies, incredible level design, a large array of…
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Wowwwww, where did this game come from? I had heard nice things about it, but it didn’t look or sound particularly amazing. It really just looks like Journey, but underwater, and while Journey also surprised me with it’s endearing simplicity, it’s got nothing on the sheer beauty of the world of Abzu. I grabbed this when it…
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Wowwwww, where did this game come from? I had heard nice things about it, but it didn’t look or sound particularly amazing. It really just looks like Journey, but underwater, and while Journey also surprised me with it’s endearing simplicity, it’s got nothing on the sheer beauty of the world of Abzu. I grabbed this when it…
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I have a confession to make. I’ve never played Night Trap before! It sure seems like something I’d have played, doesn’t it? I’ve always wanted to try it, but I never had a Sega CD and I just never got around to playing the later ports. On the plus side, this means I went into this…
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I have a confession to make. I’ve never played Night Trap before! It sure seems like something I’d have played, doesn’t it? I’ve always wanted to try it, but I never had a Sega CD and I just never got around to playing the later ports. On the plus side, this means I went into this…
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If I’m honest, the main reason I bought Chibi-Robo! Zip Lash was for the sweet, sweet amiibo that came with it. I love Chibi as a character, but Zip Lash released to mediocre reviews, and I’m not that big a fan of 2D platformers anyway. Still, I thought that I may as well give the…
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If I’m honest, the main reason I bought Chibi-Robo! Zip Lash was for the sweet, sweet amiibo that came with it. I love Chibi as a character, but Zip Lash released to mediocre reviews, and I’m not that big a fan of 2D platformers anyway. Still, I thought that I may as well give the…
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First of all, I should introduce myself. My name is Alexander. I’m an attorney by day and a video game enthusiast/freelance writer by night. I’m also an attorney by night. There’s no escape from being an attorney, ever. It’s a special kind of hell. Anyway, I’m both honored and happy to be here, and I…
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First of all, I should introduce myself. My name is Alexander. I’m an attorney by day and a video game enthusiast/freelance writer by night. I’m also an attorney by night. There’s no escape from being an attorney, ever. It’s a special kind of hell. Anyway, I’m both honored and happy to be here, and I…
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If you’re anything like me and haven’t touched a Sonic game since the Sega Genesis days, then Sonic Mania and its return to the good old days of simple, but effective side-scrolling platforming probably sounded pretty good to you too. I’ve never really played any of the later 3D Sonic games, so I don’t really know…
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If you’re anything like me and haven’t touched a Sonic game since the Sega Genesis days, then Sonic Mania and its return to the good old days of simple, but effective side-scrolling platforming probably sounded pretty good to you too. I’ve never really played any of the later 3D Sonic games, so I don’t really know…
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The latest offering from Arkane Studios brings us yet another spiritual successor to System Shock and Bioshock, this time falling under the previously established brand of Prey, for what seems to be no other reason than for Bethesda to renew the rights to a series that was never all that popular to begin with. Despite the fact that…
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After I tried out Jotun on Sir Merriweather‘s recommendation, I knew I had to get this game too. Sundered, the latest entry from Thunder Lotus Games, promised to be a fast-paced, extra-challenging Metroidvania with some amazing looking hand drawn animation and environments, all set in a bizarre world that seems to be the product of dumping sci-fi,…
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The Last Door is actually technically two games, as it was released episodically over the course of two separate standalone seasons, but as they both make up a single complete story, let’s just call it all The Last Door for simplicity’s sake. Anyway, The Last Door is a point and click adventure game by The Game…
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Oh, I have been waiting seven years to finally play this game. The Dream Machine is a point-and-click adventure that was released on an episodic basis, with its first episode coming out in 2010 and the conclusion finally just arriving in 2017. It features a fascinating plot about the physical exploration of dreams, but the really…
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The previews and the demo for the long-awaited Final Fantasy XV made it one of the most anticipated Final Fantasy releases in quite some time (even if I didn’t actually get around to finally playing it until eight months after it came out), but could it possibly live up to all the hype that seemed to promise…
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Monster Bash was one of those early 90’s games by Apogee, former king of weird PC platformers and shoot-em-ups. I think this was about the last game like this that they did before they became 3D Realms and started doing nothing but first person shooters (not that there’s anything wrong with that!). Monster Bash tells the thrilling story of Johnny…
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Super Castlevania IV finally brought Castlevania to the 16-bit world and did quite a fine job of it. Konami really went all out with this one, taking advantage of every bit of the Super Nintendo’s new technology. The backgrounds are highly detailed, animated, and often multi-layered. The vaunted parallax scrolling is also applied to the level in some interesting ways, making…
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Another mobile game? Has the world gone topsy-turvy? Slayaway Camp suckered me in by promising me piles and piles of puzzles, all with the theme of being goofy eighties slasher movies, and I’m pleased to say that it did not lie. Underneath all the blood and guts lies a very classic slide-the-block-around puzzle, the likes of which…
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I only just found out about JRPG July, and it turns out I’m already participating in it – quite by accident. The other week, after reading reviews of the just-released Valkyria Revolution, I decided to have a go on Valkyria Chronicles Remastered, the first game in the series. I got it for my birthday last…
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A new VR game about killing zombies that uses the PlayStation Aim controller? How could this possibly go wrong? Well, let me tell you about my first experience with Arizona Sunshine. I started my journey, rifle in hand, walking towards the first zombies I saw with great anticipation for the moment that I would be…
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The announcement at E3 this year that OG Xbox games would be made backwards compatible with Xbox One got me thinking. What original Xbox games are still worth playing in this future year of 2017? Well, I came up with a list of ten, which went up on Kotaku UK today: 10 of the Best…
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Last Voyage is the previous game by Nightgate creators Semidome. Like Nightgate, it offers a selection of beautifully bizarre abstract and minimalist puzzles, along with some non-puzzle flying sequences. Last Voyage approaches things a bit differently though, with each chapter being made of entirely different sets of mini-games, and with a noticeably heavier emphasis on the abstract part. One set…
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Wow, has it been two whole years since Pillars of Eternity came out already? And Parts 1 and 2 of the expansion, The White March, have been out for about a year already too? Time sure flies when you’re having all this fun. Anyway, Pillars of Eternity brought us back to the wild world of CRPGs, in…
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Monument Valley was an amazingly well designed little puzzle game for mobile devices back in 2014. Its use of mind-twisting M.C. Escher-style environments, combined with a really beautiful minimalist art style and impressively effective touchscreen controls, made for one of the most memorable gaming experiences on a phone. For better or worse, Monument Valley 2 is very much…
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What a lovely looking game. It’s just so, so… lovely. BEAUTIFUL in fact. Not since I reviewed Child of Light have I been so entranced by a game’s visuals – the hand-drawn animation here has to be seen to be believed. I’ve come away from it wishing that more games could adopt the same style…
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What is Dogolrax? Well, Dogolrax is game about you, a nameless human guy, being stranded on an alien planet called Dogolrax, which is named after an alien god that is also called Dogolrax. How did you get there? I don’t know. What’s going on with all the crazy aliens there? You know, I still don’t know. What do I know? Well, I…
A MOST AGREEABLE PASTIME 