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After working on the excellent sidecroller beat 'em up, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge, the team at Tribute Games approached Marvel in hopes of developing a game in the Marvel universe. Getting the greenlight with the condition that the game launch with at least 15 playable characters, the team set out to compile a roster of popular and lesser known characters while taking artistic cues from Jack Kirby, Jim Lee, and John Byrne. They chose to adapt 2006's Ann

After playing Pokémon Legends: Z-A and being left with a somewhat bitter taste in my mouth, I yearned for a new experience that could perfectly capture the glory days of the franchise. Unwilling to replay for the thousandth time one of the many versions of the game to be released over the past 30 years, I opted to look elsewhere, finding myself desperately scouring the eShop in the pursuit of that sweet dragon-type fix. As a popular and incredibly profitable franchise, Pokémo

Art by ItsumiCarlo "Oh my stars, did I do all this?" Originally code-named Van Buren, the game that would become Fallout: New Vegas was originally intended to be the third mainline entry in the series. Facing financial issues, Black Isle Studios was forced to cancel the title in December of 2003. In 2007, Bethesda purchased the Fallout intellectual property, releasing their version of Fallout 3 the following year. With Bethesda already hard at work on Skyrim, the company sti

How far can you take a single gameplay concept? How far can you push a premise, regardless of how stupid it may be, before you cross the line between funny and annoying? How far can you stretch the premise of the player controlling each individual action, such as taking a step or breathing, without the game losing its charm and becoming unplayable? Is it possible for Death to land a kickflip? These are the hard hitting questions that the team at Perfectly Paranormal set out t

"Being noble has nothing to do with who you are as a person or how hard your life is." Introduced in 2019's Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Claude is the leader of the Golden Deer class which hails from the Leicester Alliance. Unlike the other houses the player can choose between the Golden Deer has a greater focus on commoners over nobility, and while Claude himself is set to lead the Alliance some day, he remains far more approachable, bordering on aloof. While he hides behind

Hello, and welcome back to the first annual Dpademy Awards. This is the final part of a four part series released every Sunday of the month of December. Over the course of the year, I've played over 52 games, and while I've written separate articles for each game, this is where I get to take a closer look at things, big and small, that either I didn't cover or that I wanted to gush more about. The categories are a bit unconventional, but that's part of the fun. For this, I'll

"We will create our own path to follow." A young noblewoman, Estellise's upbringing was fairly restrictive, mostly limited to Zaphias Castle. As such, she gained most of her knowledge of the outside world from books, making her an avid reader who can recite passages from memory. Naturally skilled in the use of healing artes, made all the more impressive due to her ability to cast without the use of a blastia, she is also proficient in the use of swords, staves, and shields.

Final Fantasy, as one of gaming's longest running franchises, is certainly no stranger to spin-off titles. Generally, these either become new series themselves, such as with the Mana, Bravely Default, and Octopath games, or serve as the odd direct sequel to a mainline game. The few times that the series has experimented by branching out into other genres is typically met rather tepidly. So, imagine my absolute surprise when Square, in collaboration with Team Ninja, announced

As we get ready to ring in the new year, I thought it only fitting to deliver what everyone truly yearns for during the holiday seasons: Numbers, graphs, and sweet delicious data. So I broke down the 52 games I played and covered this year into a few choice statistics to see how well I stuck to my stated goals of playing through my backlog and broadening my horizons. Games Played by Release Year: This is the percentage breakdown of the year of release for games 1-52. There a

Art by Jenu the Angel "Anytime you need help, just give ol' Alfyn a holler!" While a few of the characters I've included have kind of skirted the line on the rules I set in place, Alfyn is probably the most blatant case of ignoring the rules for the sake of the narrative. Hailing from 2018's Octopath Traveler, Alfyn i s one of the eight party members that players can choose as their "main character." While I chose Minthara from Baldur's Gate III in part due to her role as on

Released in 2021, In Sound Mind is the first game built from the ground up by the team at We Create Stuff, whose previous work included browser and flash based projects, as well as the Nightmare House games which were elaborate, horror themed Half-Life 2 mods. Working with mental health advisors and with a soundtrack crafted by the band "The Living Tombstone"In Sound Mind bills itself as a psychological horror game. Putting players in the role of therapist, Desmond Wales, the

Art by Ferilily "It's quite easy to throw your own life away... However, you must think of all who will mourn if you do!" Introduced in Suikoden II, Sierra is the Tenei Star, which generally serves as the "Sworn Protector", often protecting the protagonist or some other character, usually willing to risk their lives for them. Sierra wields the Moon Rune, one of the 27 True Runes, which form the backbone of the Suikoden universe which allow it to exist. The intense power conn

Hello, and welcome back to the first annual Dpademy Awards. This is part three of a four part series that will be released every Sunday of the month of December. Over the course of the year, I've played over 52 games, and while I've written separate articles for each game, this is where I get to take a closer look at things, big and small, that either I didn't cover or that I wanted to gush more about. The categories are a bit unconventional, but that's part of the fun. For t

Art by Kidstainlab "What you're really asking is... 'Will you please beat the shit out of me, Kanji?" Introduced in 2008's Persona 4, Kanji is a first year high school student, making him among the youngest of the party. Despite this, he's easily the tallest and possibly the most physically intimidating. When we're first introduced to Kanji, he's presented as an infamous figure in the small town, having single-handedly run a biker gang out of town while in middle school. He

First released in 1997, the Harry Potter series quickly became an international phenomenon, and easily sits among the top ten highest grossing franchises in history, currently nestled comfortably between the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Hello Kitty. While certainly not without controversy of its own, unsurprising considering its focus on wizards and magic, it inspired a generation of children and adults to discover a love of reading, and has inspired an untold number of work

Over the course of the past year, having pushed myself to pay games an write about them, I find myself having learned a few things that I can't really find a place to write about. Some of these are small things, others lessons I should have learned well before now, but all of them I wanted to cover here. Consider this a sort of proof that I've grown, or at least changed, since starting this site. Game Length Despite what you may have been told, length very much matters, thou

Art by crazlei "Give the word and I shall kill the clown. We would be praised as heroes!" After a lengthy early access period, lasting from 2020 to mid 2023, Baldur's Gate III took full advantage of the playtesting and community feedback to tweak and fine tune the experience of the final product. Among the numerous changes, certain characters were given more focus, with few among them benefiting more than Minthara. Initially intended as a companion character if you chose "ev

Releasing in 1996, the Pokémon franchise, originally developed from director Satoshi Tajiri's childhood love of collecting bugs, has grown to become the highest grossing media franchise of all time. What began as a passion project that was cobbled together with barely functional code exploded into a juggernaut that easily rakes in over $10 billion dollars a year. With this massive success comes a ton of pressure to constantly release new items, whether it be trading cards, pl

Artwork by general_din "You are looking for forgiveness, but I'm not the one who can give it to you." Introduced in Dragon Age II, Fenris goes against many standard conventions of the fantasy genre. He's an Elf, but instead of being elegant and frail he's a sturdy warrior who wields a two-handed greatsword. Instead of being prim and elegant, he's brash, rude, and at times vulgar. Instead of having a natural affinity for magic, he harbors a deep rooted hatred of the arcane. D

Hello, and welcome back to the first annual Dpademy Awards. This is part two of a four part series that will be released every Sunday of the month of December. Over the course of the year, I've played over 52 games, and while I've written separate articles for each game, this is where I get to take a closer look at things, big and small, that either I didn't cover or that I wanted to gush more about. The categories are a bit unconventional, but that's part of the fun. For thi