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Tetris 99 is the Future We Didn’t Ask For

Tetris 99 is batshit. After February 13th’s Nintendo Direct revealed yet another re-purposing and re-imagining of Tetris, I was left incredulous. It’s not that the idea is, in and of itself, a bad one. Tetris has been a competitive game…

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Tales of Vesperia 10 Years Later

In this critical feature, Alex tales about the return of one of his favorite games with additional content.

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The Art of Spider-Man

All great media has the ability to transcend time and provide a glimpse into another age as well as another world. The words spoken and read have the ability to come alive from the screen. The way something catches your…

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Turn-Based Combat in Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire Makes a Good Game Better

Back in June, I reviewed Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire. Like most Obsidian RPGs, it was a masterclass in gripping character work and creating an imaginative setting. But its combat system, a fossil of the Baldur’s Gate era of CRPGs,…

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Reviewing the Telltale Situation

Quin recounts the recent closure of Telltale Games Studio.

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Kratos the Literary Device

A lot has been made of Kratos’ glow up from raging barbarian anti-hero, to remorseful demi-father, and for good reason. The worse things about the God of War franchise always centered around finding justification in a completely unjustifiable man. Maybe…

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Long Live Yharnam

Yharnam had fallen. The wretched, sunken in faces of the public. The roving, mad bands of hunters gone too far, lost to the insatiable appetite and burning rage within them. The blackened buildings of Yharnam lined thick with a heavy…

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Professor RPG: The Alliance Alive Basics Primer

Welcome students, Professor RPG here! Need help understanding the Equipment Fusion system in Tales of Zestiria? Perhaps you would like a more deep dive into the history of Ivalice?  What in the world does the Intelligence stat do in that…

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Trap Adventure 2 is Super Mario Brothers in the Black Lodge

Hiroyoshi Oshiba is a terrorist. We should be meeting in non-descript rooms and drawing up plans to raid the Japanese developer, take him into custody, and answer for the pain and suffering he’s been causing iOS users. Hiro takes glee…

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Possum Springs, USA

Let’s take a trip to Possum Springs.

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Feature: Learned, Lost, & Pained in 1000 Days of Writing

Alex looks back on 1000 days of writing about video games.

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Housemarque in The Myth of Sysiphus

About Best Ofs This article is one of the “Best of Irrational Passions”, meaning it’s featured on our Best Of page. Along with it, we have both a full read-through of the article and a conversation about the article, the writing…