Staff Article Lists

Sunderfolk, the first game developed by Secret Door., has been announced! Published by Dreamhaven, Sunderfolk is designed for players who love tabletop, board, and video games, and will be available on Steam, PlayStation^®5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch^™. 

Sunderfolk is a tactical couch co-op RPG created with the purpose of bringing new and veteran players together in a shared tale of tactics, survival, and triumph. You and three of your friends can pick one of six available heroes—the Arcanist, Bard, Berserker, Pyromancer, Ranger, and Rogue—and begin a one-of-a-kind experience told through both the “main screen” (the shared TV or monitor) and your phone or tablet, which acts as your controller for the adventure.

Castlevania is perhaps the most well known vampire video game series, famous for its gothic horror elements and of course, the constant threat of Dracula. Much like the vampire the series is based around, it rises and falls time and time again. Recently, it has been re-emerging from its coffin with the success of the animated Netflix series that’s still considered to be among the best on the platform and seeing re-releases of older games. For example, the Anniversary collection which features the original NES/SNES titles plus a few extras like Bloodlines and Kid Dracula and the Advance Collection which includes the GBA trilogy of games as well as Dracula X. With the recent announcement of Castlevania Nocturne getting its much needed season 2, now seems like a good time to talk about the most recent collection of re-releases, Castlevania Dominus Collection.

When I did my review for ‘Turok 3: Shadows Of Oblivion’, I had mentioned that I used to work for a radio station and two of the earliest reviews I did were on the HD remasters of both Turok: Dinosaur Hunter and Turok 2: Seeds Of Evil. Well, seeing as that station is no more and the reviews are now lost, I figured it’s time I revisit these two games and see if my thoughts on them from back then still hold up or if they had changed over the years. Beginning with the first Turok and my thoughts on this one greatly changed from my early review of it.

Back when I first first played the game, I felt that Turok: Dinosaur Hunter did not age well, even with it being remastered and that its biggest issue was the gameplay feeling archaic and very clunky in its design. I also felt that the sequel was superior to this game because it not only improved and fixed the issues this game has, but it feels like what the first game should've been. However, after doing some replays of both games, I actually feel the opposite now. Yes, the game still didn’t age well in a few areas and I still feel the frequent platforming areas and the huge difficulty spikes throughout the game do hurt it, but I actually prefer this one over Seeds Of Evil, though I still say Shadows Of Oblivion is the better game.

The Warhammer 40k universe, though widely popular, was something I never really gotten into at all. I have played some of the games, like the Vermintide series and BoltGun, but it was really never something I felt compelled to be a part of in any way. Still, I did enjoy the few games I played, Vermintide 2 being one of them, and I did like the original Space Marine when I played it a few years back, so when a sequel was finally announced in 2021 at the Game Awards, I’ll admit that I was curious but not super excited. I’m kind of glad I wasn’t hyped for the game as, unfortunately, the game did not live up to the years of waiting. Sure, it has some good moments here and there and it isn’t broken in any way, it’s just not a fun game overall.

What do you get when you mix Animal Crossing at its best with a cozy town building, crafting, life sim game set on a post-apocalyptic archipelago paradise? Why, you get Critter Cove! Though it's premiering in early access on Steam, it is well into the “worth it” category already upon initial launch. I’ve spent a good 15 hours in the world of Critter Cove and it has flown by. There’s a wonderfully pleasant and interesting gameplay loop that involves exploring the world bit by bit, picking up important resources along the way, and finding new villagers and questlines as you go. You can find furniture for your house, improvements for your town, or new tools to create lots of usable or displayable objects. I was impressed by how much I kept discovering new areas to explore, each holding a new trinket to collect for my museum, or rare items to dismantle and eventually build in my house. There’s a lot to unpack, so let’s get started!

You are Stanley. You work in an office complex pressing buttons. One day, no instructions come through your computer and everyone is gone. Wanting to find out what happened, you leave the office and begin your unpredictable journey in, what is quite possibly, my second favorite game of all time.

I don’t like using the phrase ‘one of the worst games I ever played’ to describe any game. In fact, I rarely use it as is, even some of the bad games out there I still found some enjoyment or I question why said game is considered by many to be bad. However, this game is one of those rare exceptions: Democracy 4 is, without a doubt, one of the worst games I’ve played in a long while and, no joke, a game that made me rethink on how I do future reviews.

The island your ship landed on is sinking for mysterious reasons! Explore, make new friends, and face deadly foes in this action RPG! Maple Forest just launched their Kickstarter, and it's already fully funded!

Maple Forest is an action RPG inspired by a bunch of 90s classics. In it, you'll adventure across an island that's begun to sink for mysterious reasons. The residents of the island's main village tell you that their legends say the power of the god of the island is what keeps the island afloat. The god of the island lives in a shrine at the top of the mountain, but that shrine has been sealed off by a huge stone door for longer than anyone in the village can remember. If there was a way to open that door and speak with the island's guardian, the island might be saved, but noone on the island has been strong or courageous enough to brave the island's wilderness in search of a way to unseal the door...until now!

What happens when you take the over the top violence of Superjail, the heavy metal soundtrack of Metalocalypse, the sheer absurdity of Aqua Teen Hunger Force, and the killer unicorns from the songs of Gloryhammer? You get Gori: Cuddly Carnage, a game I can only describe as an AdultSwim cartoon in video game format and I mean that in the best way possible as this game is insanely over the top and one of the most fun games I’ve played all year, though I do have some small gripes with it.

I grew up in an era when games for kids were well made, not rushed out, and designed so that everyone could enjoy them. Games like the Carmen San-Diego franchise and the various Magic School Bus games, a series I loved playing on my old Windows 95, come to mind as something anyone of any age could pick up and enjoy. I bring this up because, lately, it seems games geared towards a younger audience have really been lackluster as of late, basically relegated to shovelware, and Leo The Firefighter Cat is no exception, which is a shame as there is a fun game hidden somewhere in here.