I'm not much of a Resident Evil fan- or at least, I wasn't, growing up. It was only the lack of titles present in the 3DS library that pushed me to pick up the technically astounding Resident Evil Revelaitons (not a typo) and begin to become somewhat enamored with the series. In truth, I was something of a skittish person in my youth, painfully aware of bumps in the night and checking behind my shoulder on many occasions. Horror games didn't really appeal to me, and even tense situations in games like Metroid Prime 2 would have me walking off nervous energy. I became a bit more familiar with the horror genre as I grew older, eventually accepting it and enjoying the thrill of my pulse pounding and discomfort rising during tense sequences. Still, it took me even more time to get into horror games, partially because I wasn't quite certain how these kinds of titles would attempt to replicate the staples of the cinematic and storytelling genre while still utilizing the uniqu...

Dandara is not an easy game. One could attribute this to the speed of its primary attack function, labyrinthine design, limited health and energy regeneration systems, or perhaps most obviously the punishing currency mechanic, but I would argue otherwise. The most unfamiliar aspect of Dandara, and what largely sets it apart from other games, is its movement system. This aspect dictates the momentum and difficulty of almost every moment of game, and without it, Dandara would likely be a lovely conceptual experiment in Afro-Brazilian artwork and storytelling, but would fail to make an impact otherwise. The addition of this system pushes Dandara into a whole new level of interactivity, even when most of its content is deliberately and intentionally scripted. While linearity in an interconnected-world action platformer (I ain't callin' this a Metroidvania) is not usually considered much of a positive aspect, I would argue that Dandara is actually much better because of this choic...

Death in video games is tricky- it usually serves as a punishment for not playing the game "correctly," although it is more often used as a save-state reload. Essentially, if the player is doing something wrong, death is a way of resetting incorrect or sloppy play and allowing them the chance to approach from another angle. How does this factor into Skipmore, a Japanese independent developer whose three action-RPG titles have appeared on both the 3DS and Switch eShops? Though the small size and simple graphics of Fairune, Fairune II, and Kamiko may look low-budget and lacking depth, there is something lurking beneath the surface of these three titles that allows for continuous revisits and a greater level of complexity. Although Kamiko is much more transparent in the way that it encourages speed-running, these games treat death as a means of complicating their gameplay and encouraging precision and strategy.

Breath of the Wild is a hugely important game, not just for the Zelda series in which it exists, but also for Nintendo. As one of the largest projects they have ever worked on, and the first Zelda title to truly use open-world design, there was a great deal riding on the shoulders of this title. Upon its release, it received an overwhelming amount of positive feedback, which is something of a double-edged sword. On one hand, this likely means that the open-world, or rather, open-air philosophy for this particular entry to will carry on into future 3D Zelda games, with a focus on interconnected systems and organic experience. On the other, there are some aspects of Breath of the Wild that I believe have not received their fair share of critique, and I worry that they too will transfer over into future entries. This is a game so massive, it requires an equally massive, sloppy look at it from every angle I can possibly think of. Within this analysis, you will find what I consider to b...

Many independent developers enter the scene working on their own intellectual property, utilizing specific aesthetics, genre, or gameplay mechanic motifs and gimmicks in order to differentiate themselves from their contemporaries. Whether it's arcade action, retro difficulty and aesthetic, or something completely new and unheard of, this industry is often where you'll find the most unique, engrossing, and/or charming experiences from Western and European developers, in contrast with the wacky nature of high-profile Japanese games and over-serious, rote triple-A Western games. Yes, I know I am going to be slaughtered for that comment. A particular developer whose works have remained aesthetically consistent is Image and Form, a Swedish development studio and creator of the SteamWorld series. What is so impressive about their works is that, despite each entry in the SteamWorld series belonging to different genres, the quality of gameplay has been consistent, engaging, and most ...

For those with an interest in Japanese Role Playing Games, there are a number of iconic developers who have been churning out new and exciting releases. Square Enix, Atlus, Falcom, and others have contributed a great deal to the landscape of this current console generation. But FuRyu might not be a familiar or memorable name to many, and that's admittedly because only a few of their games have made it over to the West. On the 3DS, FuRyu has released two particular titles of note, with a third on its way- Unchained Blades, a first person dungeon crawling RPG with an emphasis on story, and The Legend of Legacy. The latter of the two possessed an impressive pedigree, with a number of veteran creative forces working on the title, in particular, Masato Kato and Masahi Hamauzu, writer of a number of classic JRPGs and the ambient composer for several titles, respectively. Kyoji Koizumi, a longtime veteran of the SaGa series, was also a lead game designer, which can be felt in a great deal...

Much like its predecessor, the Nintendo 3DS has amassed a number of high quality role-playing games in its library. With its backwards compatibility with Nintendo DS game cards, however, stating the system may have one of the best comprehensive JRPG libraries is not a bold statement. Remastered versions of old classics, new and exciting series and installments, and the occasional singular entry that stands well on its own. Something the 3DS benefits from is its eShop, a place where independent developers could flex their muscles and release smaller titles at affordable prices. In its early days, the eShop was a saving grace for the system's somewhat starved retail library, but as the 3DS grew to prominence, the eShop became a stage for experimentation. Nintendo and third parties could take risks with less-familiar intellectual property and toy with small scale concepts.

January 11 th was the night of the first in-depth press conference for the Nintendo Switch, and I remember jokingly telling my friends at the time that I would likely hold off on buying the new system until Monolith Soft announced their first title. Imagine my surprise when I saw the first, bare-bones teaser trailer for Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (XC2) that very same evening, with a tentative release date of 2017 attached. I reined in my expectations in the months to come, knowing full-well how XCX had taken such a long time to develop, and how little of this new title we had seen. News that the original soundtrack had just finished recording before E3 did not give me much hope, but the game would be featured there and given a release date in the same holiday time-frame as XCX. Shocked and now enthralled, I began to listen more intently to how the game's mechanics would work and play. While the Treehouse demo was informative, it had only a few instances of exceptional pl...