Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred (PC) Review

I will have to admit now, I didn't plan on picking this for myself. Rather, I have a brother who is a huge fan of the series. Not that I objected to it, but I just got a vibe that, much like the main game, Blizzard's asking price was going to be way too much for me to be interested. So when it up on the Winter sale, I decided was time to pull the trigger and get started. And while I did enjoy myself, I really am glad I got it then and not at full price.

Ys VIII - Lacrimosa of DANA (PC) Review

Once again we we have here another adventure with gaming's leading adventurer, Adol. (Seriously, how many characters actually claim their job title is Adventurer?) And each time we have spent time with him, I have to say I have enjoyed the hell out of it. Was this time any different? Not really... I had a blast here too. Come on in and have a peak.

Y's Origin (PC) Review

And we finally come back to the Ys franchise, and to be blunt, it has been too long! From a flawed classic to a sequel that takes everything Ys did and perfects it, I have been waiting way too long for the dice to let another game in the series appear. It finally has and things just keep getting better and better.

Grim Dawn (PC) Review

When I picked up this game, I did so with curiosity. After all, before Game's Workshop got around to it, this game instantly looked like it could be an action RPG take on their dark fantasy game with cover art suggesting you might play an inquisitor in such a scenario. And while I certainly called the world this game builds, everything else came as a surprise, and an absolute joy. So stick around and read!

Tokyo Xanadu eX+ (PC) Review

I have not had a lot of experience with games by the venerable game studio Falcom. In fact before now, I had only ever played the first two Y's games. But my first encounter with them happened at a much much younger age. I was a tiny kid during the age of the original NES, and at times a game would come along with a mysterious enough concept that that alone would at least draw my attention for a while. Faxanadu was one of those games. I never got to play it, but I remember watching a friend play before having to go home one day. At the time, my curiosity was satisfied and I moved on...

At least I did until I found Xanadu Next was part of a sale on gog.com. My curiosity peaked, I found not only that the NES game that grabbed that same curiosity was a spinoff from a series I never even knew existed, but there was another such spin-off that instantly felt more familiar to me from the trailer: Tokyo Xanadu eX+. At the time I left both games alone as my backlog was kinda large for a game who's place in the main timeline I couldn't even guess as well as another more enticing, but full price title. Then Tokyo Xanadu eX+ went on a steep sale. And I promised myself I play it next as I picked it up. I kinda lied a bit to myself due to news at E3: PSO2 coming out in the west demanded this title wait till I was done with Ragol. But as soon as I finished with Phantasy Star Online, it was time to install.

Phantasy Star Online: Blue Burst (PC) Review

Much like for many gamers, E3 and it's big presentations from the console makers is traditionally an exciting time for me. They show off a whole slew of new and exciting games to drool over each year and it is even kinda fun to discuss who "won" the convention. However as the years have marched on we have seen a decline. Nintendo bowed out entirely, Konami no longer makes games at all, and most of us have been given reason to distrust anything to come out of either EA or Ubisoft. But this year, Microsoft would announce something I have been waiting literally 7 years to hear: Phantasy Star Online 2 is coming to the United States.


This is arguably the biggest news for me personally to come out of E3, as Phantasy Star is one of those series that I have collected every game that was on shelves for and shy of one Gamecube exclusive, I have absolutely loved every instance I have played. But at the same time, I never did get to finish the two online titles. Now that the direct sequel to one of them was finally coming out in the US, I had to change that. And despite the game being officially shut down over a decade ago, private servers would give me my chance. And now after over 90 hours of gameplay, I can say this game too is now finished. And I absolutely loved... well, most of it.

Titan Quest: Anniversary Edition (PC) Review

The second game we finished during Extra Life this year, this was another one that was a long time coming. In fact I’ve had this in my steam backlog so long, I was given this version as a free upgrade when it released and it reminded me it was there. But during the 100 Days of gaming, the dice chose this, so I started it up for the first time. Almost 70 hours later, I am glad I did.

Crosscode (PC) Review

I have made a point to avoid playing games while they are still in early access. My experience with betas have left me jaded when playing games that are not yet finished. But when I played the demo for this game a few years ago and I was already impressed. So when I saw news that this would be the last update before the game gets to full release, I decided I would take the risk. If they were so close, I figured the main story would probably be finished or close to at the very least. Unfortunately this would not be the case, but with the game getting every close to 1.0, I look forward to returning to finish this adventure.