Author Archives: Mike Geib
Record of Agarest War Zero Review: Same Old, Good Old
JRPG’s come in a variety of shapes and sizes, but Record of Agarest War Zero is one that wears a variety of hats. Dishing up hardcore tactical RPG gameplay, visual-novel-esque storytelling, and a heaping helping of fan service, it’s a unique title even in today’s diverse landscape.
Square Enix’ School Girl Strikers: Are You Kidding Me. Squeenix Please
Last week Square Enix announced, hot on the heels of their public apology for sucking the last few years at RPGs, that they were making a “Light novel-styled RPG with an all-star voice cast.” Awesome. Good strategy, Squeenix. Go get ‘em. Now, it seems the big reveal is here: School Girl Strikers. OK. Awesome. PS3? Maybe next-gen? No? It’s… it’s an iPhone game? With in-game purchases? Square Enix, are you shitting me?
Eroge-riffic – A Look at the Surprisingly Deep Monmusu Quest
The protagonist is a young man. He is plagued by complex moral dilemmas, other philosophical conundrums, the loss of his parents to both terrorism and plague, but is trying to make the world a better place. The narrative is riddled with with wit and tongue-in-cheek humor, as well as intelligent and emotional moments. Now, what if I told you this was the setup for a glorified porn game?
“The Truth Still Survives, But Only You Remember It” – Square Enix’s New Direction
Recently Square Enix made a statement explaining how the company had lost its focus. With the recent success of Bravely Default, they are renewing their dedication to games their fans want to play. To directly quote Yosuke Matsuda: “we basically want to go back to their roots and focus on the core audience.” As far as ‘facepalm’ announcements go, this one can be proudly accompanied by a resounding ‘duh.’ Yet despite the lateness of this realization, JRPG fans can also [...]
Stein’s Gate Review – Visual Novel of the Year
The scenario writer went on to work on Bravely Default. The title itself was adapted into a two-hour anime and subsequently localized in North America to critical acclaim. The game itself has been released on every single major platform. Now the original visual novel has been localized in English. Set in a modern-day Tokyo, Stein’s Gate is a suspenseful and thrilling mystery wrapped in a highly-stylized package, and it is not a story to be missed.
World Travel and the Games Back Home
Travel is one of my favorite things to do. Given that I don’t exatly make millions, seeking a job where worldwide excursions would be paid for by a much larger, richer party seemed logical enough. But what I’ve never been able to completely suppress, and it is a prime example of a first-world problem, is the longing for the games back home. It is the lamenting of the time away from the games both new and those on the backlog, [...]
BlackSoul Extended Edition Review: 1993′s Worst Game of the Year
I like horror games. I like adventure games. And I like puzzle games. So when those three come together I get kind of excited, like a younger version of myself playing Alone in the Dark only with more beard and less optimism. So when BlackSoul: Extended Edition from XeniosVision landed on my plate I got a little excited. And that excitement held true, for another reason. I finally got to play my very first (virtually) unplayable game, for both design [...]
Hearthstone Review – Another Hand, Another Grand ‘Ole Time
Ingredients: free-to-play, trading card game, Warcraft. Add in some other details to increase addiction levels as desired, remove most things that make online play scary and intimidating, and stir vigorously. Test on the huddled masses, altering the taste to the desired outcome before serving piping hot and ready to play. Blizzard’s Hearthstone is a trading card game based on the company’s household-name franchise Warcraft. Free to play and incredibly addicting, Hearthstone combines an incredible amount of top-quality designs into one [...]
5 Reasons Why the Minecraft Movie Will Be a Huge Success
Video game movies are nothing new. From House of the Dead to Resident Evil, from flop to smash, movie adaptations of your favorite/hated title are remembered both for their disastrous execution and (rarely) for their entertaining qualities. And also for Milla Jovovich. But then the LEGO Movie premiered, and while it drew more from the actual bricks/caltrops themselves than the many games spawned from the playsets its connection to video games cannot be denied. Further bringing video games to the [...]
One Finger Death Punch Review: You’ll Love Kung Fuuuuu
Action games can be a real blast because the challenge of nailing a difficult combo or taking out a hoard of enemies without a scratch in return is exhilarating and fun. Kung Fu movies are also really great. Watching the hero beat the ever-living hell out of a hoard of enemies with barely a scratch in return is hilariously entertaining and enjoyable, from the Bruce Lee days all the way to the absurdly fun Man of Tai Chi (Yes, the [...]
