Category: Columns

Chinese developer/publisher NetEase is no stranger to the mobile arena. While we wait to see how Diablo Immortal turns out, they recently released LifeAfter, an MMORPG with survival elements in the West. While many titles re-released to new markets struggle with translation, NetEase did a stand-up�job with the English translation. Did the gameplay survive the trip from the East as well, or is this just another “cash grab?” We explore that question in our LifeAfter review.

Once a year, every news writer’s day is trashed by the annual “just plausible enough to maybe be real but really aren’t” jokes that game developers seem to have a penchant for foisting on the world. That’s right. Today is April Fools’ Day, the day of silly jokes, goofy devs and outrageous pokes at the games they make. We’ll be adding to the article throughout the day, so put on your chuckle shoes and join us.

The gaming industry is a savage one, both in competition between publishers and in the endless creative ways they invent to take our money. From WOW came the WOW clones and from Fortnite comes the Fotniteclones…or should I say the DayZ clones…or the H1Z1 clones…or the RUST clones…or the PUBG clones or….well, you get my point. Like sharks to chum big publishers; race to get a bite before the battle royale cosmetic cash shop with a “limited edition” whale gimmick gets gobbled up!

From Software is best known for the Souls series of games which have caused more than one person to rage in a fury over how hard they can be. Its newest game starts fresh in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, set in feudal Japan featuring a lone Shinobi seeking to rescue his lost Lord. Will this new game be more of the same or something unique and worth the price of admission? This is our review of Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. But really, it’s more like “you’ll die a thousand times”.

decade ago. The console cycle is nearing its end. AAA publishers are struggling with their stock drops and bad press. You have few large games coming to market this time of year. The indie game scene is thriving and continuing to grow. The question is, where to host your game?

During the coldest times of the year, we of the artic regions tend to roll a huge snowball in front of our ice shanties, grab a big ole slab of moose shank, hunker down next to the heat coming off our PC’s and game away. This season I was able to dabble in Fortnite, spoil myself with the bliss that is the Nintendo Switch and finish up with the new American Classic, Red Dead Redemption 2. Looking at the calendar and seeing a solid four more months of winter left I have to ask myself, what’s next?

In video games the idea of creating a sequel means you pretty much kill off the original, right? That is unless you use some methodology which works to bring the characters, design, and world up to speed in a new version of the game which adds in a much-needed boost. Lately, games have relied on DLCs to make these updates, and they tend to do well. Recently, we saw a sequel announcement from the team at Red Hook for Darkest Dungeon 2. Here is why it went well.

A few weeks back had the opportunity to preview a new title that is just breaking into the North American Market. Nexon, the developer of this new title, has been working exceptionally hard to redefine how we view MMORPG’s on the mobile platform. Their latest title, Alliance vs Empire (AxE), is their response to the question, “How does one bring a full-fledged MMO to the mobile world?”. So without further ado, grab that coffee, kick back and enjoy our review of Alliance vs Empire.

No matter what you think about current MMOs there are still games out there that do extremely well in today’s market. There are two that I can think which provide updates and content for their user bases as well as fast leveling practices and multi-tiered cash shop options. Neverwinter and Elder Scrolls Online remain strong money makers for their respective markets and also keep the classic fantasy feel we all grew up with.

From Bandai Namco comes Jump Force, and it comes at the perfect time of the year for those of us who are trying to find that game to spend hours on. The game we saw teased at E3 2018 has finally made it live. I remember watching the trailer and thinking to myself, “wow, a game with Goku and all of these other anime characters that I can play as. This is awesome.” My feelings have not changed.