Tobias Lewis

You might not believe it, but I haven’t played Dark Souls III yet, so I’ve been grasping at all the possible straws. In doing so, I’ve stumbled across the Dark Souls comics, an upcoming series that will grant players entrance to the franchise without the usual punishment.

I’ve played the Final Fantasy XV Platinum Demo three times since its release, and that should speak for itself. It’s gorgeous, interesting and totally refreshing, yet somehow it still feels familiar – in the best possible way.

I’m not sure if it’s the same across the globe, but being a UFC fan is a dangerous pastime here in Australia. Both participating in, and watching, the sport pose significant risks to one’s general wellbeing; there’s the obvious peril that would accompany being in the fight, and the danger of a particularly keen fan exerting his enthusiasm unto you. In short, the major problem with MMA is the looming threat of being punched in the head.

I’m not sure I like this trend of indie games having intentionally bad graphics. Yes, nostalgia is great. And, like anyone, I love revisiting the past, but I’m not so much a fan of perpetuating it. These days, with indie games like ‘Life is Strange’ and ‘The Solus Project’ sporting some phenomenal visuals, the whole pixelated ‘retro visuals’ thing is starting to wear thin. Of course, games like Minecraft or Undertale totally break this mould. But try as it might Gunscape doesn’t follow suit. And that’s a shame because the concept behind Blowfish Studios' latest outing is truly interesting.

Gameinformer just dropped some serious knowledge on us: the protagonist of Gears 4 is none other than Markus Fenix’s son. Apparently, the game focuses on a time 25 years after the events of Gears 3. Basically that means, we’ve got a whole new world and a whole new cast of characters.

So apparently, this idea of survival games is all the rage lately. I guess, the incentive of ‘staying alive’ has always permeated video-gaming experiences, but now starvation, hypothermia and dehydration have joined the ‘let’s kill the protagonist’ party. And they’ve done so to critical acclaim. Honestly, I’d never tried my hand at the genre. I figured that I have enough trouble sleeping and feeding myself in real life, and starving in two realms would only add insult to injury. Alas, intrigue eventually got the better of me. And in spite of my everyday problems, I’ve spent the past week playing the preview release of Teotl Studios and Grip Games upcoming collaboration: The Solus Project.

Honestly, I’ve never played an Assassin’s Creed game before. But given that there’s been a steady market for the franchise, I can assume that they’re not all like this. Maybe I’m lacking the required attachment to the series? Or maybe I need experience with the franchise? But to me, Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: Russia has a number of problems, the major one being that, even at its best points, the game is totally prosaic.

If you read our previous piece on Dark Souls III you’ll know that we are unbelievably pumped for From Software’s latest game. Personally, I’ve been trawling the internet, almost non-stop, for information and updates on the title. And while the rumours were plenty, I hadn’t found too much reputable news, at least until yesterday.

Dear readers, I would like to apologise for the delay in the publication of this review. See, with the various forms of PTSD that I developed subsequent to playing This War of Mine: The Little Ones, it took me some time to be able to actually speak about this game - at least without ‘flashbacks’.

I haven’t played many betas in my time. But all of them have been better than what I saw of Homefront: The Revolution. And, unlike some, I actually enjoyed the series’ original title. We’d seen the war-torn (but still gorgeous) open world of Homefront: The Revolution in numerous game demos, but in the beta’s playable Resistance mode, we were given something totally different: a glitched game-world with poor graphics and even poorer controls.

So the excitement of Christmas has long since passed, and the normal person has well and truly settled into the new year. In my disorganised world that means I’ve just finished disassembling my Christmas tree and that I’m still having trouble writing 2016 as the date. Despite my inabilities to cope with change and progression, I have managed to rouse an excitement for certain 2016 releases: specifically for Dark Souls 3.

My life has changed in two distinct and significant ways since I began playing Electronic Super Joy. Firstly, believe it or not, I’ve actually managed to tame my temper – purely out of necessity, of course. And secondly, I’ve become profoundly aware of wasted time, probably as collateral for the gross amount of in-game lives I’ve lost. Bearing in mind these two recent developments, I’m sure you’ll forgive me when I skip my usual ranting introduction and cut straight to the chase.

I’d like to say that I actually enjoyed this game. Like, a lot. Even before playing it, I had high expectations for The Banner Saga. I’m fairly learned in the area of turn based combat, and I’m more than partial to anything Viking themed. Even so, The Banner Saga caught me almost entirely by surprise.

Put simply, Electronic Super Joy is an extravagant platformer: an eclectic mix of irreverent humour, psychedelic visuals and a rave inspired soundtrack. Now in theory, the combination of these ingredients could make for a way-too overwhelming product. But in reality, they come together to form a wonderful and unique experience that I’m not going to forget anytime soon.

I would have thought that after my sledging of Van Helsing, I would have been a long way from Neocore’s good books. But more fool me, because they just sent me the codes for Van Helsing’s DLC, asking for an accompanying review. Now, the company, critics and fanboys alike have been saying all sorts of things about how these DLC bundles make the game more enjoyable. And you know what? They’re right. Besides an increase in verbosity, the ‘Thaumaturge’ and ‘Arcane Mechanic’ characters add a fair deal to the game, and almost all of it is an improvement. Which leads me to the question: why, in the name of all that is holy, was it DLC to begin with?