Written by Joshua Wyld

Category: Reviews

Published: 31 January 2025

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When looking for new adventure narrative games to play through, I want to know that what I’m starting is gonna be compelling enough to finish. It’s like opening a new book after reading the teaser on the back cover. What’s going to make me want to start that first chapter? Threefold Recital, the first release by developer Everscape Games, grabs your attention with a threefold story that revolves around a wolf-turned monk, a fox-turned-priest, and a snake-turned-artist. Its beautiful art is the backdrop for weaving a story within an oriental fantasy world that mixes magic, technologies old and new, and the tensions between humans, dragons, and the beastlings (like the ones we get to play as within the intertwining stories.) Though it takes a bit for the plot to really get going, once it does it becomes like a book that you don’t want to put down until you reach the end. With charming storytelling, a diverse cast of furry characters throughout, and enough inventive puzzle-solving minigames to keep things gamified enough, Threefold Recital had me hooked.

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Written by Joshua Wyld

Category: Reviews

Published: 30 January 2025

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What’s better than sitting on a couch with friends, playing through a cooperative experience together, joyously enjoying each other’s company and a shared love of gaming? Well, riding them like a mounted cavalry into battle as you both combine powerful magical attacks sounds better, doesn’t it? That’s what Coridden promises will separate itself from the pack of action RPGs out there. In Coridden, you and up to 3 friends explore the world of Heera cooperatively, completing quests and fighting mobs of creatures and bandits to try and find your way into the legendary and locked away city of Aasha. To accomplish this, you’ll have to level up and choose to go down a plethora of possible specialization paths to equip yourself with new attack spells, defensive buffs, and, even more excitingly, beastly abilities. For a small dev team, Aftnareld has given gaming friend groups a nicely packaged adventure that is 100% worth playing.

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Written by Joshua Wyld

Category: Reviews

Published: 27 January 2025

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Every now and then, a game will be released that reminds you why you love playing big, well-produced games in the first place. Ones that go beyond simple concepts or entertainment, and really deliver on the satisfaction of feeling like you’re playing something that could only be polished and produced at the time of gaming that we’re living in. Eternal Strands is one of those experiences. You play as Brynn, a Weaver of magic that leads an eclectic group of determined fellow Weavers on a mission of discovery and salvation. Throughout your time in the “Enclave” and beyond, you’ll face element-enhanced minions, towering & thunderous constructs, and scaly & feathered beasts in abundance, as you piece together what happened while the denizens outside of your home city were locked beyond “The Veil” that none can cross because of the “tangles” that are fatal to try and pass through. At your disposal will be a bevy of magical abilities and attacks, including ones based on fire, ice, and kinetic energies, along with weapons. All of these, along with the ability to pick up and throw just about anything (including enemies), are combined for some of the coolest and most hectic combat situations I’ve played in a while. Eternal Strands combines an engaging storyline with an impeccably chosen cast of characters and voice actors and an inventive magic casting combat system to pull you into a world you won’t want to escape from.

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Written by Sean Phillips

Category: Reviews

Published: 27 January 2025

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As a 90’s kid, you’d think I’d be one of the many who grew up with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise. Yet, I don’t remember ever watching the show as a kid at all, outside of renting the second TMNT movie from Blockbusters one day just out of sheer curiosity. To be honest, I was more into shows like Beetleborgs (which I’m still waiting for a game of that series) and Van-Pires (if you remember that show, you are my friend for life), so something like TMNT probably didn’t interest me at the time, though I could be wrong. But that doesn’t mean I know nothing of them. On the contrary, I do have some knowledge of the Turtles, thanks to the advent of the internet and the 2003 show which I do recall watching some episodes of when it aired, but not enough to say I’m a huge fan. With that being said, you’d think a game like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge wouldn’t really interest me. Surprisingly, it’s actually one of those games I took a chance on and found myself really enjoying, even though it does have some shortcomings that prevent it from being anything really amazing.

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Written by Brandon Billingsley

Category: Reviews

Published: 20 January 2025

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The Majestic Wolf Runs

Flowers Bloom Along the Path

And Once Again Spring Beckons

Ōkami is one of the most unique games I’ve played and also one of the most interesting success stories. Odds are, if you’re like me, you’ll have seen Amaterasu the White Wolf around. She’s become a gaming icon of sorts and still shows up at times in games like Marvel vs Capcom. . And yet, she seems like an enigma as unlike Ryu or Chris Redfield, her story isn’t as widely known.

Ōkami was developed by Clover Studio, and released in 2006 for the PS2. Formed by Capcom R&D veterans, Clover Studios' other notable work was adapting Viewtiful Joe for PlayStation 2 and developing its sequel for both PS2 and GameCube. They created only two original works: Ōkami and their last game God Hand. While both were interesting concepts, neither were considered financial successes as they didn’t sell as well as Capcoms more well known franchises. To be fair, Resident Evil 4, which released just a year earlier, set the bar at an unprecedented high which a new IP was probably not gonna come even close to. Despite all that, Ōkami received critical acclaim, nearly around a 9/10 universally at every notable publication. A lot of people noted how Okami’s unique gameplay seemed especially suited to Nintendo’s Wii and DS systems, both of which were very new at the time. The clamor was enough that Ōkami did get a well received port to Wii and while it wasn’t ported to the DS, that system got Ōkamiden, a spiritual successor. The game was later ported to modern consoles in an HD release that has gone on to perform pretty well. The love for Ōkami was still strong and with the 2024 Game Awards shocking announcement of Ōkami 2, now seems like a good time to take a look at this beloved classic.

Read more: Ōkami HD Retro Review - The Rising of the Sun