REVIEWS

Games both new and old, judged by the only question that matters:

Do they deserve a place on the shelf?

  • Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee (GC) – Smash First, Ask Questions Later

    Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee (GC) – Smash First, Ask Questions Later

    A nostalgic look back at Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee on the GameCube. Throwing skyscrapers and wrestling Kaiju still has its charm, but this monster brawler leaves you wondering what could have been.

  • Resident Evil Village – A Gothic Grab Bag of Horror

    Resident Evil Village – A Gothic Grab Bag of Horror

    Resident Evil Village throws Ethan Winters into a snowy nightmare filled with vampires, werewolves, and mechanical monstrosities. With shifting horror styles, memorable set pieces, and relentless pacing, Village stands as one of the franchise’s most ambitious entries.

  • What Makes a Game Too Hard? A Case Study in Difficulty

    What Makes a Game Too Hard? A Case Study in Difficulty

    The debate over game difficulty isn’t going anywhere. From sliders and invisible tuning to “git gud” purity and summons, here’s a grounded look at what different designs get right—and wrong—and why the best answer might simply be: let people play how they want.

  • How Long Is Too Long? Video Game Length and the Aging Gamer

    How Long Is Too Long? Video Game Length and the Aging Gamer

    Once I hit 67% completion in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, a familiar dread set in—not because I wasn’t enjoying myself, but because the end was already in sight. As gamers age and free time shrinks, the question becomes unavoidable: how long is too long for a video game to ask of us?

  • How to Save Sports Games

    How to Save Sports Games

    Sports games used to be chaotic, creative, and fun. Somewhere along the way, they became sterile, overproduced, and afraid to take risks. From Madden’s decade-long stagnation to 2K’s rare bright spots, this essay looks at what went wrong—and how sports games can find their way back.

  • Cities: Skylines — Zoning Laws and Existential Dread

    Cities: Skylines — Zoning Laws and Existential Dread

    Cities: Skylines turns city planning into a slow-burning obsession, where every road is a gamble, every zoning decision has consequences, and traffic is the final boss. What starts as a humble town quickly becomes a stress test of systems, patience, and civic hubris.

  • Disco Elysium – Dancing With Myself

    Disco Elysium – Dancing With Myself

    A conversation-driven RPG where your own mind becomes the loudest character in the room. Disco Elysium is a haunting, hilarious, and deeply human detective story that interrogates failure, identity, and redemption—one internal argument at a time.

  • “I’ll Be On Tomorrow for My Dailies” – How Games Turned Play Into Obligation

    “I’ll Be On Tomorrow for My Dailies” – How Games Turned Play Into Obligation

    What started as free-to-play convenience has quietly reshaped how games are designed, sold, and played. From DLC and on-disc content to battle passes, daily logins, and monetized FOMO, this is a look at how modern games stopped rewarding play—and started punishing absence.

  • Neon White – Heaven’s Fastest Headache (In a Good Way)

    Neon White – Heaven’s Fastest Headache (In a Good Way)

    Neon White is a contradiction in motion—an elegant, adrenaline-fueled speedrunning puzzle shooter wrapped in some of the most baffling dialogue this side of heaven. When it works, it absolutely sings.

  • A Golden Era for Gamers, a Brutal Era for Developers

    A Golden Era for Gamers, a Brutal Era for Developers

    A golden era for players is proving to be a brutal era for developers. Six of 2024–2025’s biggest hits generated billions in revenue, yet publishers like Sony, Square Enix, and Microsoft cut thousands of jobs. Here’s how corporate greed is reshaping the industry behind the games we love.