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Released in three separate acts, Knee Deep was initially released in 2015, but it wasn't until 2017 that the story was finally brought to a close. With the fascinating premise of being an adventure game in the guise of an elaborate stage production, Knee Deep is a game that defies explanation, and the narrative is equal parts weird, funny, and cringe-worthy. Set in the Florida Everglades with obvious inspiration from the likes of Twin Peaks, Knee Deep revels in the bizarre, a

Developed almost entirely by Nicolas Meyssonnier, Pumpkin Jack is clearly a passion project that is seemingly inspired by MediEvil. It plays as a platforming action game that uses the dressings of Halloween and horror to instead deliver slapstick comedy. Like MediEvil, it has a number of collectibles, a smattering of weapons, and more than a few secrets to find along the way. My initial impression, upon seeing it available to buy, was that it would be a cheap knock off of the

Tensei is, as the developer's put it, "an ultra-casual endless action game." While that description is mostly true, the "action" is pretty much limited to moving a small blob of ink and making it jump in an effort to climb ever higher. As such, Tensei technically has no ending, as it can seemingly go on forever, but there are certain progress markers , as well as a point at which credits will roll. Tensei isn't a game you're meant to beat, instead existing as an experience.

Originally conceived as a ninja-themed project by a then new employee, John Tobias, the initial pitch was shot down by his boss, Ed Boon. Approached to make a game for the upcoming film Universal Soldier, Tobias imagined a fighting game featuring a digitized version of Jean-Claude Van Damme. Intending to make a game that was more "a lot more hard edge, a little bit more serious, and a little bit more like Enter the Dragon and Bloodsport" than the more cartoonish fighting game

The Challenge: Complete the game using a group of Pokémon that represent the classes in the original Final Fantasy. Having played the game not only at launch, but numerous times since doing a variety of different challenge runs, I felt as though I needed something new, something fresh for this go around. As the final forms of the starters are directly based on various RPG archetypes, and as I have a love of the Final Fantasy franchise, I decided that a marriage of the two wo

Released in April, Adorable Adventures is a laid-back, cozy game in which we play as a young boar named Boris. Separated from his family due to a wildfire in the park in which they live, young Boris must use the best tool he has, his prodigious porcine snout, to find his siblings in order to reunite with their mother. Doing so will involve a delightful romp around the park in which they live, which is modeled closely after the gorgeous Cévennes National Park in southern Franc

Beginning development in 2010, Pokémon X and Y would mark one o the biggest shifts in the franchise's history. While no stranger to using 3D assets in previous games, X and Y marked the first time that the main series would shift from the 2D sprite based aesthetic and instead explore the world of 3D gaming. The names X and Y were chosen to represent the X and Y axis, with the third legendary, Zygarde, representing the third. Deciding on the main themes of beauty, bonds, and e

As the first console exclusive developed by Sega's AM2 division, Sword of Vermilion is an ambitious addition to the Genesis library. While ostensibly an action-RPG, I feel such a classification does little justice to the myriad of gameplay styles on display and sells short just how unique the experience is. Seamlessly blending the top down action found in the Zelda series along with first person dungeon crawling you'd expect to find in Wizardry, along with a dash of side scro

First announced as a remaster of the original Medievil from 1998, the team at Other Ocean Emeryville would later classify the game as complete remake in 2018. The team felt that it was important to keep as many elements of the original game intact unless they had a good reason to change them. This included retaining several glitches the team felt were important to the experience, and the team went so far as to research music the original development team likely listened to wh

Developed as the first title of the newly formed Riot division of Telenet Japan, Tenshi No Uta: The Angel Verse was released for the PC Engine, better known as the TurboGrafx-16 in the US, in 1991. In 1993. due to declining sales, Telenet Japan underwent extensive restructuring that unfortunately saw a number of their studios close. While some of the staff at Riot would be absorbed into other teams within the company, several key developers opted to leave, founding Media.Visi

Since I started this website over a year ago, I have maintained a consistent update schedule, posting new entries every Tuesday and Friday with the only variation being when I would post more often. Originally, I posted my thoughts on a different game with each update, which I maintained up until fairly recently. However, as anyone who keeps up with the site or looks at the date stamps on the articles will know, for the past two weeks Tuesdays have been silent. I wanted to ad

Beginning development in 2018, the team at Cococucumber wanted to capture the nostalgic feel of childhood in a small town with the active turn-based gameplay of the early Paper Mario games. Using the same voxel-based visuals the team had previously used on the game Riverbound, the game has a unique blend of retro style graphics that still allows for the freedom provided by a fully three dimensional world. This helps the game feel fresh and new while helping to establish the e

Set in what passes for early 20th century England, we play as Lord Winklebottom, a gentlemen giraffe who also happens to be a world class detective. Together, with our stalwart hippopotamus life mate, Dr. Frumple, we're invited to a party hosted by a reclusive friend ours where he intends to announce something big. After a brief point and click tutorial in which we ruin tea and help an old sea dog sober up, we're off to our reclusive friend's island, where things aren't alway

During the development of Serious Sam 4, the developers at Croteam began to experiment with the use of interactive objects as part of the game design. This led to the creation of some complicated puzzles that, while they didn't quite fit the action based design of Serious Sam, the team felt inspired by to build upon as a separate title. After about a year of development, with around 80% of the puzzles that would be used having been completed, the team brought in Tom Jubert a

Last time, we covered the third and fourth members of our ragtag group. At this point in the story, tensions would still be running high as the group is willing to work together for the same overarching goal, but it's hard to say that they're a proper team. Now is the perfect time for them to show what it is they can do as they face off against their first boss. I mentioned previously that Rogue would begrudgingly join the team after Link, Rinoa, and Katt were separated, ally

With development beginning in late 2002, near the tail end of the production cycle for the original .hack series, .hack//G.U. sought to fix some of the issues players had noted with the original series while having a story that was connected yet separate enough as to not alienate new players. Where the original series was comprised of four entries, .hack//G.U. was developed to tell its story over the course of only three. Though the release was initially delayed, this was in

Previously, I introduced the concept and the origin of The R Team, a group of RPG characters who set out to save the fractured multiverse in tandem with the main team. The R Team was selected thanks to Reddit's r/createaroster community, and features more than a few inspired choices. Last time, I introduced the founding members of the team, and today we'll expand on the group, getting to our active party size of four. Katt (Breath of Fire II) "Are you crazy or something?! Wha

As the third and final game in the Vandal Hearts series, Flames of Judgement actually serves as a prequel to the original game. Released as part of Xbox Live Arcade, which focused on smaller, cheaper games, the scope is significantly smaller than previous entries in the series. This was right around the time that Konami started to shift focus away from traditional video game development in order to focus on much more profitable mobile and casino style gaming. While the shift

Recently, I took to Reddit to share the concept of Shattered Destinies and to see what characters and ideas others would suggest for a crossover RPG. I went in with the expectation that I'd learn about a few characters I hadn't known very well and that there would be significant crossover with the characters or games I'd already chosen. Instead, what I got was a group of heroes with no crossover whatsoever in terms of characters for our heroic party, and indeed no crossover w

Oh, to be a child again, in the long, halcyon days of summer. The sun shining brightly, the world rife with the orchestra of life as each day sprawls before you filled with wonder and adventure. While it's easy to take these moments of tranquility for granted, as an adult I often find myself yearning to return to simpler times where my only concern was what to do with all of the excess free time afforded to me. It's these feelings that Kabuto Park aims to evoke, and it's safe