I had a conspiracy theory back when Pokémon Violet and Scarlet launched on the Switch in 2022. Given the games were so buggy, lagging and pushing the Switch’s ageing architecture to its limits, I genuinely thought they were meant for the next Nintendo console. They must have been brought forward to fill a release calendar… Read more »
A meaningful, fully realised game about grief. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Grief is a dicey topic to tackle in a video game. Unlike many other mediums, you have the space, visuals and performances to tease out ideas and explore to a rich and meaningful conclusion. Yet, many role-playing games (RPG) that… Read more »
When enhanced graphics just aren’t enough. And why that’s now an issue for Sony. Let it be known: I’m a sucker for a tech upgrade. I’m one of those weirdos who tries to update their phone every two years. I swapped out my PlayStation 4 for a PlayStation 4 Pro. My original Switch for the… Read more »
As hype for the new console leads to sellouts around the world, there’s still a rare few places where its readily available. Australia is curiously one of them. Australia has a long history of fumbling its tourism marketing campaigns; the only message that seems to resonate is that we’re a country full of poisonous and… Read more »
A global romp that compliments the films, only let down by some janky moments and odd enemy AI. It’s a shootout of true Indiana Jones proportions. Playing as the intrepid archaeologist, I’m hiding out in Giza on a small wooden platform secured to the side of the Sphinx, surrounded by Nazis. The few that are… Read more »
We all have our morning rituals. Mine often involves waking up, taking a look at my phone and scanning the news. There’s only a few sites that I can be bothered to visit while my eyes adjust to the light. They are mostly Australian news websites, but one overseas site makes the cut. It’s not… Read more »
The first room you’ll see in Blue Prince. And you’ll see it a lot. I pull the lever and the piano music starts to swell. The stone shutter covering the door to the coveted Room 46 starts to open. Finally, I’ve cracked the game. I’ve spent about 50 hours plotting rooms and solving light maths… Read more »
This article is part of a quarterly series I’m launching The Greatest In Gaming, where I poll writers across Substack and the broader community on a unique aspect of gaming that’s special to them. You can find the last piece on gaming’s greatest love stories here. While you might not hear video game music on… Read more »
Greens Senator Nick McKim wants to end would-be Prime Minister Peter Dutton… in Fortnite. The veteran Tasmanian senator — whose career has spanned over two decades in federal politics — is perhaps the only politician who has taken to a gaming platform to pitch himself and his party to voters ahead of the May 3… Read more »
The brightly garbed Ronin isn’t happy. A few inches to the left with my stray kunai throw and he would have been dead. But I missed, and now he’s on the warpath. Along with his crew, he’s chasing me through a wheat field. I’m using the reeds for cover as I pick them off one… Read more »
This hilarious take on managing a museum will hook you with its initial ease, and keep you playing with its drip-fed complexity. My chief science specialist has quit on me. Without realising, I’d been working them to the bone, and for several years they had been begging for a pay rise. I’m not a heartless… Read more »
After years of rumours, we have just about everything we need to know about the long-awaited Switch 2. Thursday at midnight — Australian time — Nintendo revealed the console’s launch date, features and, crucially, its launch price. As predicted by analysts, Nintendo has used the Switch 2 launch as an opportunity to push the ceiling of… Read more »
Final Fantasy XIV Online’s latest patch (7.20) is out today, so I figured this is a good a time to repost this review from July last year. For those not in the know: Live service games like Final Fantasy XIV Online tend to update every few months with new content. This keeps players coming back.… Read more »
A title with the biggest gaming cliffhanger of the decade has me reflecting on what ‘well spent’ gaming time should look like. This is a republished version of an article published 12 months ago with some new context. I’m on a break until April. Kingdom Come: Deliverance II was perhaps the first open-world game I’ve… Read more »
I’m calling it early, but as hype fades and competition mounts, this tough open-world game truly pushes the genre to new heights. There I was, being mauled to death by wolves. Within the first few hours of playing Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, I had been ambushed by a trio of them and without any armour… Read more »
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