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This year, I set myself a goal of catching up on some turn-of-the-century classics I missed back in the day. After having tried my hand at the samurai epics Onimusha 1 and 2, I closed perhaps one of the greatest gaps in my console knowledge: Hideo Kojima’s stealth opera Metal Gear Solid. Ever since following the hype cycle leading up to the series’ third Sony outing, Snake Eater, I have been intrigued by the series and its director. Despite the well-documented critical acclaim, I never acted on this captivation. Initially,…
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As I start writing this piece, I see before me the Aegean Sea, where earlier today my swimming shadow dispersed the sun’s reflection on the sandy surface below me. During that moment of tranquillity, I was reminded of how the games currently in my rotation, Denshattack! and Sonic Mania, perfectly capture and complement the summer’s spirit. Of course, there are plenty of games that befit the summer. Out Run’s Tropicana pizzazz, Windjammers’ beach-court intensity, or Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana’s desert-island antics come to mind. Other titles, like Boku no…
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I am cruising along the C1 Inner Loop of Tokyo’s Shuto Expressway in a black-and-red Sprinter Trueno. I near a rival driver and flash my headlights. I issue a challenge and a warning. On these streets, anyone is fair game. A drag race commences. Not long after, the onyx Mazda Savanna RX-7 Infini’s headlights fade away like fireflies in my rear-view mirror. My high turns to arrogance. A capital mistake soon punished by the next opponent, K-uick’s Team Leader Electric Lightning Stinger. My initial overtake succeeds, but soon thereafter their…
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Described by its Madrid-based developers Patattie Games as a cosy-punk narrative sim, Wax Heads puts you behind the counter of an ailing vinyl store. Every day, customers, new and returning, young and old, enter the store. Based on their descriptions, looks, or other visual cues, you are tasked to pick out the record they are looking for. One may find Wax Heads’ portrayal of communal belonging, valuing otherness, and staying true to oneself to be romantic to a fault, or find that its welcoming aesthetics run counter to the DIY…
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If anyone were to proclaim Mixtape as some kind of multimedia masterpiece, I would tell them they hadn’t seen enough movies, nor played enough video games. I would, however, appreciate their taste in music. While the titular MacGuffin serves as a melancholic time capsule, the rest of the experience is an empty derivative of cinematic nostalgia. Mixtape follows three youth spending their last evening together in Blue Moon Lagoon – uncoolly, yet repeatedly, referred to by our lead trio as The Big Suck. It’s a narrative title in which, as…
