Sam Brooks has played over one hundred hours of Dragon Quest – and found it to be an act of self-care, not grinding torture. This is his story. When it comes to J-RPGs, there are two titans: Final Fantasy, which I have slipped into enough articles on this site that I might as well be a … Read more
Since its early access release in March last year, PlayersUnknown’s Battlegrounds has been a global phenomenon – but events in recent months have nearly killed its Oceania playerbase. Adam Goodall investigates why, and whether it can be saved. The first complaint is posted to r/PUBATTLEGROUNDS in January – “FPP Squad Oceania Not Working” – but they … Read more
Hot take: video games are fun. Hotter take: even super fun things can bring out the very worst in you. Brian McDonald examines the effect that gaming had on his anxiety – and vice versa. There’s a point at which any game, for all narrative and enjoyment purposes, is over and done with. You’ve completed … Read more
Life is Strange 2 repeats the sins of its predecessor – for good and for bad. Sam Brooks reviews. Video games are, as an artform, not known for their subtlety. If you’re not a gamer, your video game references are likely Mario, Grand Theft Auto, Fortnite, maybe Final Fantasy. These are the technicolour dreamcoats of games, known less for their … Read more
Welcome back to Waterdeep Mountain High, a Dungeons & Dragons podcast set in a below average school in the mystical land of Faerun. “It’s not that I’m not into you, I’m just frigid.” Kate, Forrest and Lady Luck make gruesome discoveries on their biology field trip with Mrs Gritz and, unexpectedly, love starts to blossom… … Read more
It’s not just the silly victory dances and weekly challenges; this is the first massively multiplayer racing game where winning doesn’t really matter – it’s the taking part that counts. Lee Henaghan takes Forza Horizon 4 for a spin. Platformers, shoot-em-ups and racers: the holy trinity. Since the earliest days of interactive entertainment, these three … Read more
He’s driven tanks, he’s flown planes – now he’s ready to sail ships into war. Adam Goodall takes the plunge into World of Warships. “Have you heard of the Battle of the River Plate?” “Uh, the name’s familiar.” I’m scrolling through the Premium Shop in World of Warships, looking at boats. They’re all big, and they’ve … Read more
It’s taken three games to get there – but Valkyria Chronicles 4 finally recaptures the addictive and bizarrely positive magic of the first game. Sam Brooks reviews. When Valkyria Chronicles debuted on the Playstation 3 nearly ten years ago, it was a different time. Marion Cotillard was reigning Best Actress, George Bush was President, and the PS3 was … Read more
Last night, Sony announced the PlayStation Classic – a console that looks like a PlayStation One and plays those games too. Is that all it is, though? So what is the PlayStation Classic, exactly? It’s a console that looks a lot like a PlayStation 1, PSX or PSOne (Jesus, that console had too many monikers ) … Read more
Welcome back to Waterdeep Mountain High, a Dungeons & Dragons podcast set in a below average school in the mystical land of Faerun. “I’m a rock gnome, I’m a fighter, and my god I’m chaotic.” The gang splits up for a couple episodes for narrative (and location) purposes. Forrest and Kate head out on a … Read more
The fourth instalment of the globetrotting Horizon Festival is the series’ most ambitious effort yet. Lee Henaghan took the open world racer for a test drive ahead of its October 2 release. When the first Forza Horizon was released in 2012, it was seen as a light-hearted spinoff looking to capitalise on the popularity of … Read more
Among the slew of indie games dropping on the Nintendo Switch, Into the Breach rises to the top. Adam Goodall reviews. When you fire up Into The Breach, a pint-sized turn-based strategy game developed by Subset Games, the team behind FTL: Faster Than Light, you might be surprised at how cute it is. The good guys are … Read more
This generation’s Tomb Raider trilogy comes to a close – and it’s with a limp, not a wild leap into the future. Sam Brooks reviews. The Tomb Raider series is the Maria Sharapova of gaming. The games are always good, never great, and the reputation, or at least the fame, they hold far outstrips the actual quality of … Read more
Welcome back to Waterdeep Mountain High, a Dungeons & Dragons podcast set in a below average school in the mystical land of Faerun. “I call him Kate because he resembles Kate…Moss…who is another student at school, which is weird because this is clearly an Italian man.” The gang attempt to charm a witch and get … Read more
Occasional No Man’s Sky correspondent Josh Drummond finds the infinite space-based sandbox game just got infinitely more fun. At the beginning of this year, No Man’s Sky – 2016’s soaringly-ambitious, savagely-received space exploration not-sim – was all but done. Apart from a very small (but very enthused) player base, the numbers of which spiked briefly each … Read more
Spider-Man is an unqualified triumph of a game – but the best thing about it is also the most surprising. Sam Brooks reviews. This is a spoiler-free review. It’s hard to participate in video game journalism without being very aware of the hype machine. That is, the machine which creates a deluge of pre-publicity for games … Read more
China is home to more than half a billion gamers – and Auckland game developer Allan Xia wants to help New Zealand’s gaming industry tap into the opportunities the market offers. China has 575 million game users, is home to the world’s largest gaming company, and has a gaming market that has doubled in revenue … Read more
Next year will mark 20 years since Neopets materialised on the World Wide Web, and with most of its former user base now in their 20s and 30s, it seems the time is ripe for a nostalgic resurgence. We remember the glory days of this internet phenomenon, but also: the hacking, the gambling, and the … Read more
The seventh expansion of World of Warcraft, Battle for Azeroth hit the metaphoric shelves last week. Uther Dean talks to some of the game’s most diehard Kiwi fans. It seems odd that World of Warcraft is 14 years old. That number of years both seems like far too much and not nearly enough. It always seems to have … Read more
Intrepid gaming explorer Adam Goodall is dragged back into the world of battle vehicles with World of Warplanes. “You see, we’re carving up!” Tim and I are flying over rural Ukraine, near an Old Fortress on the Eastern Front. It’s autumn – the trees are all a deep orange – and we’re caught in a thirty-person dogfight … Read more
Welcome back to Waterdeep Mountain High, a Dungeons & Dragons podcast set in a below average school in the mystical land of Faerun. “Peng is always on her period.” Having won the hearts of everyone in the music department, our heroes uncover a vital clue to aid them in their quest, but tensions within the … Read more
In the latest episode of their Spinoff TV segment looking at stuff white people inexplicably like, comedy group Frickin Dangerous Bro – Jame Roque, Jamaine Ross and Pax Assadi – investigate white people’s love for the colonialist hexagonal fantasy board game. Previously: Frickin Dangerous Bro review Lululemon, kombucha and bath bombs Watch The Spinoff TV, … Read more
With the announcement that The Walking Dead‘s Negan is joining Tekken 7, it’s clear that absolutely anybody can be a Tekken character. Matthew Codd has a few more suggestions. Last week, Tekken creator Katsuhiro Harada surprised everyone with the announcement that Negan (who?) from The Walking Dead would be coming to Tekken 7. The game already … Read more
Spider-Man is one of 2018’s most hotly anticipated titles, from the critically acclaimed studio Insomniac. Adam Goodall talks to Insomniac’s community director, James Stevenson, about its latest release and how he hopes to create a healthy online space in the age of GamerGate. In the months leading up to its PS4 release, the conversation around Spider-Man … Read more
Sometimes it pays to focus on the dark side of gaming. Hayden Donnell shares the harrowing story of his own crippling addiction to Dark Souls. I’ve been going to therapy lately. A therapist will tell you many of your self-destructive behaviours can be traced back to seemingly small past traumas. Schoolyard bullying. Smacking. That scene … Read more
Dunedin-based company Runaway Play has created a new mobile game that lets you dive head first into the cat cafe phenomena. The verdict? Chill, but addictive (and very, very cute). Two decades ago, the first ever cat cafe that we know of opened in Taiwan before quickly spreading in popularity throughout large parts of Japan. … Read more
Popular crowdfunding platform Kickstarter has been a boon for video game developers for a few years now. Sam Brooks investigates the less glamourous side of the platform. Pillars of Eternity, $3,986,929.Torment: Tides of Numenara, $4,188,927. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, $5,545,991. Shenmue 3, $6,333,295. All video games funded through Kickstarter – and yes, all those commas are in exactly … Read more
eSports is rising in prominence around the world and is set to be a one billion dollar industry by the end of the year. But should it be an Olympic sport? Olympian Nicole Forrester says no. Ever since the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris first expressed interest of possibly adding electronic sports to the Olympic … Read more
Welcome back to Waterdeep Mountain High, a Dungeons & Dragons podcast set in a below average school in the mystical land of Faerun. “Make a check to see if you have the charisma to call a school assembly.” Due to people leaving the country, Waterdeep Mountain High will be recorded without an audience for a … Read more