Staff Article Lists

I need to make a confession: I have never played an Atlus game before. I’ve certainly heard of them and am familiar with their reputation. It’s hard to exist in the video game space without the name Persona 5 coming up at least once. Metaphor ReFantazio, one of their most recent projects, released less than a year ago to critical acclaim. Garnering numerous accolades and being praised for its story and well designed characters. Even the most successful companies start somewhere though, and it’s interesting to take a look back at that history. Either out of curiosity due to the recent hits, or because a remaster of a lesser known title makes its way into the spotlight. Enter Raidou Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army.

Ready for a kooky one? Ruffy and the Riverside is one of the quirkiest games I’ve played in quite a while, and though it took me a bit to warm up to it, once I started to get comfortable in the world, I found myself really appreciating the vision the developers set out to bring to life. Ruffy is an adventurous open world puzzle extravaganza with a kaleidoscope of retro and hand drawn graphical treats to enjoy whilst figuring out its wealth of brain teasing tests sprinkled judiciously around the town of Riverside and its many outlying regions. It’s weird, it’s wildly inventive, and it’s worthy of your time!

Roguelikes are meant to be tough. The best ones are designed in a way that the gameplay loop encourages you to learn as you fail. That is, until your learning becomes so good that you succeed. Then maybe they’ll add on an additional challenge, or another stepping stone. Some even reward you as you progress, making it easier to succeed, eventually. Not all of them do though, and that’s not inherently a fault. Sometimes it’s rewarding to try, try, and try again…as long as things feel fair in the end. Unfortunately, as much as I loved the preview demo I played of Shuffle Tactics, the full experience of the newly released game ratchets up the difficulty with unforgiving randomness when it comes to succeeding in this roguelike genre it firmly sits within.

Kiseff has made an amazing adventure with fast action, impactful class fantasy, relentless enemies, a strong emphasis on defense and positioning, a healthy amount of customization options, and the ability to host a small server of friends! Atlyss races come in 5 forms, mischievous imps, rabbit/fox like poons, the cheng rodents, corvid like byrdles, the scaley goobers the kobolds. You can play with face characteristics, tails, species-defining characteristics like ears or beaks, body size (we all know about this), color, and body patterns. It’s satisfying playing with these tools, making your character. You’re a reincarnated creature, summoned by the Guardian, Angela, to prevent the world from succumbing to corrupt energies. You get acquainted with the hub, accept your starting quest, and begin a deceptively simple task of killing slimes. 

Get ready to have a monkey of a time because Donkey Kong is slamming on to the scene next month! Nintendo just released a direct looking at the upcoming Donkey Kong Bananza and it certainly looks like a Bananza! Donkey Kong has gone to Ingot Isle in search of legendary golden bananas. There he ends up getting blasted underground where he encounters a strange rock that soon reveals itself to be the talented young singer Pauline! DK must help protect her and get her home, while also searching for bananas and navigating the underground. 

Just when you think you’re out…they pull you right back in! Eugene McQuacklin is back to quackin’ a case in Duck Detective: The Ghost of Glamping. This time around, he’s got a partner in crime helping him, as the veritably enthusiastic fan-turned-Watson wannabe Freddy Frederson joins you throughout your sleuthing search. I thoroughly enjoyed the first entry in this series, “The Secret Salami”, so I was very excited to see what kind of changes, if any, would be made in the second game. I wouldn’t consider it a “sequel” as it doesn’t attach too much story to the first game, and you can safely play either in whichever order you’d like. I’m happy to report that the same charm that made the first game such a memorable and fun little experience is overflowing in The Ghost of Glamping, and I actually preferred this story and the way it was told even more. Right after I cracked the case, I immediately hopped on the web to see if we’d get more time with the amazing characters and world of Duck Detective. It’s that good.

Well, it’s that time of year again! The time when all the big names and small names in the gaming industry gather in one place and get us gamers excited for what’s to come in our favorite pastime! Yep, it’s SUMMER GAME FEST 2025 and I have to say? Compared to last years which, in my opinion, was a really dull and disappointing show, this one was way better by a mile. Sure, there were some games that didn’t interest me, personally, but, overall, this was a really good show and I want to highlight some of the bigger announcements and ones that may be of interest to you!

Remember Redneck Rampage? That old DOS FPS from back in the 90’s where you control a redneck fighting aliens? Well, what happens when you put a redneck in Egypt and tell him to fight mummies and other egyptian creatures? You get ‘Immortal Redneck’ from Crema Games: A fun yet challenging FPS that, despite some setbacks, is honestly one of the more fun FPS’s I’ve played all year.

Date Everything. Yes, really. In Date Everything, you’re able to D.A.T.E. all the items in the game. Of course, this means “Directly Acknowledge a Thing’s Existence.” Silliness aside for a moment, Date Everything is an abundant treasure trove of creativity; a veritable kaleidoscope of talent on display that bursts from every voice actor, character design, and writing choice. There is so much packed into this visual playhouse that fans of dating sims, playful writing, and inventive premise ideas should not hesitate to give this experience a try. You’ll laugh, you’ll smile, and most of all, you’ll fall in love with everything, including the game itself.

The city builder genre is a bit…dry, don’t you think? Developer Megapop is here to change that with their upcoming game, Life Below, published by Kasedo Games. In a refreshing twist, the game takes place below the waves, as you play as an ocean guardian named Thalassa, who is tasked by Gaia to resurrect struggling underwater ecosystems using coral, seashells, lures, and much more to attract and satisfy local wildlife and flora. Through the use of quite a few resource management systems, you’ll slowly start to bring life to the sparsely populated ocean floor.