Rating of
4.5/5
Final Fantasy
Playing Final Fantasy on the NES in 2025 feels like stepping back into the golden days of 8-bit adventures. Despite warnings from my friends insisting the NES version is “broken” and recommending later, patched releases, my NES loyalty pulled me straight to the original version, the original experience, even if I ultimately played on a Steam Deck for RetroAchievements. And after beating the game twice and earning all 40 RetroAchievements, I can confidently say the NES release still holds up as a rich, enjoyable, slightly rough-edged classic.
Though I originally hoped to play on a real NES hooked up to a CRT, the push for RetroAchievements nudged me to use the Steam Deck. Surprisingly, this didn’t diminish the magic. Using the …
Rating of
4.5/5
Baldur's Gate 3
“Larian’s Unfinished Magnum Opus”
Larian, the Belgian Indie RPG developer, has been around for over 20 years. And for the first 13 years of their existence, starting with the release of a ‘Diablo’-like Hack ‘n Slash known as “Divine Divinity” in 2002, wallowed in obscurity as they toiled away, releasing mediocre Action/RPGs in their signature ‘Divinity’ IP that never drew any appreciable critical or fan attention. It wasn’t until 2014 that the studio decided to pivot and address the rabid – and unmet – desire for new, modern, turn-based RPGs with party dynamics, choices that matter, and the almost-tabletop-like flexibility provided by modern hardware. In a world where “RPG” was typically used to refer to games like ‘Borderlands,’ “Divinity: …
Rating of
4/5
Elden Ring
From Software is a the developer equivalent of a masochist's dream. Because whom among us doesn't like being punished from time to time? Elden Ring is their most approachable game but still made me rage and cuss and ragecuss like I haven't in a long while... and that was all while completely avoided the PvP aspect and just playing the story mode. From Software is NOT known for great storytelling and while Elden Ring certainly has a story - I spent most of the game running around various areas and killing whatever - in caves, in tombs, in swamps - and had to wiki the damn side quests, most of which are far too easy to skip along the way, especially as the game doesn't often point you in any direction whatsoever.
Looks and Stuff: Not …
Rating of
3.5/5
Demon's Souls Remastered
Difficult, Frustrating, and also Rewarding
Demon's Souls is a remake of a game with the same name on PS3. It's a beautiful, difficult, and rewarding game that lacks when it comes to controls and explaining things.
I had never played a game in the "Souls" series before starting this so when I began I only knew a couple things. First, the series is pretty popular and second, that it's viewed as extremely difficult. By the time I finished I understood both of these things very well.
The story of this game isn't that intriguing. In a land called Boltearia an evil presence is taking over. A fog is enveloping the area and there are evil creatures and demons strung about. Once you're in there is no escape and it appears there's a evil being making people like you kill …
