At their core, video games are an expression of humanity. They are an expression of fun. And for the health of the industry, I think we need to return to projects that unrelentingly cognizant of that.
All tagged Nintendo
Xenosaga Episode I, II & III Review: The Growing Pains of Independent Ambition
Xenosaga is as interesting of a series to talk about as it is because it’s impossible to blanket hate or love the series. Anyone that plays Xenosaga is going to have a complicated relationship with it because, well, Xenosaga itself is complicated. The inherent complexity to everything about the series is what makes it so fascinating to play, to discuss, and to remember.
Top 5 Games of 2025
Between the domination of indie developers throughout the year to the sheer variety of ideas posited in many of the year’s best games, 2025 was, in my eyes, a net gain for the overall direction that the games industry is headed on. Here are my top five games of 2025!
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment Review: Musou Action Without Fan Service is Still Good Fun
Age of Imprisonment is a game that is itself imprisoned. Its commitment to tell a canon story and inherit the best (and worst) of Tears of the Kingdom’s mechanics and identity limits its overall potential. That isn’t enough to make the game a disappointment, but it is enough to bring into view the chasm that separates the game that Age of Imprisonment is versus the game it could have been.
Donkey Kong Bananza Represents the Apex of Creativity that the Games Industry Needs and Deserves More Of
Don’t let the gorilla on the box art fool you - Donkey Kong Bananza is one of the most human games in this moment. Bananza is a shining beacon of what the environment of the games industry can and should be: a fun-filled exploration of new ideas packed to the brim with charm, polish, and clear love from the developers.
Mario Kart World, P-Switches, and Why Micro-Challenges Make for Great Bite-Sized Game Design
Illustrating what a game’s entire design looks like in a relatively short amount of time goes a long way at convincing the player of a game’s mechanical depth and diversity. Micro-challenges help accomplish this. Through creating brief snippets of game design that compartmentalize and test different mechanics, players can get introduced and brought up to speed with various facets of a game without ever being bombarded with multiple mechanics at once.
It's Time to Rewrite the Narrative About Turn-Based RPGs
We need to rewrite the narrative about turn-based RPGs. Instead of being a genre often obstructed by the scary possibility (as perceived by some publishers, at least) that turn-based games inherently sell less because they’re perceived as outdated by the gaming masses, we should instead be celebrating and empowering developers for having the courage to make the games they truly want to make.
It's Something About This Planet: What Makes Xenoblade Chronicles X Such a Special Game
Every creator, regardless of what they make, shares a common goal: make something special; make something deeply meaningful to at least a single person. As a collection of creators, Monolith Soft remarkably succeeded at their goal of creating something that brought a smile to players’ faces because of the imaginative world they’ve created and the fun adventures and gameplay experiences that naturally come about in that world.
Top 5 Games of 2024
Against all odds, this year still managed to bless us with incredible video game experiences, many of which will be sticking with me for decades to come. This is Derek Ex Machina’s definitive list of the top five video games of 2024.
Size over Substance: How Larger Levels Make Banjo-Tooie an Inferior Sequel
Banjo-Tooie is a cautionary tale about what happens when you try so hard to create something revolutionary and new that you partially forget what made the original experience so magical for a lot of people.
Fun for Everyone: Why Games like Super Mario Bros. Wonder and Astro Bot are Now More Important than Ever
Despite all the darkness currently surrounding the industry, games like Super Mario Bros. Wonder and Astro Bot prove to be a beacon of light that remind us that there is still always hope for the future of games. Games that embrace fun, creativity, style, developer expression, and consumer-friendly release models still exist and they’re still thriving.
5 Easily Accessible, Beginner Friendly, and Must-Play JRPGs for Genre Newcomers
The JRPG genre is not as hard to get into as some may think. The games discussed here are proof that the genre is capable of being welcoming to newcomers. Regardless of which JRPG you start with, know that the genre is beloved for a reason. They transport players to other worlds to explore, offer various characters to talk to, and deliver gameplay experiences that can be strategic, stylish, and satisfying.
Four Years On, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Still Feels Magical
Breath of the Wild offers an unprecedented amount of adventure to the player - so much so that, even after four years, there are still many more adventures that the game invites players to embark upon. Breath of the Wild is ruthless in its devotion to keep players coming back to learn more and make more discoveries about it. That, above all, is what makes the game so unique and so magical, no matter how much time passes.
The Positive Impact of Video Games in a Year of Isolation
[V]ideo games deserve to be commended for the comfort that they provided to hundreds of millions around the world in ways that no other medium could possibly replicate. This piece will be a reflection on the relationship between 2020 and video games, specifically the video games that provided an opportunity for us to cope and survive through a year of unprecedented anxiety and uncertainty for so many.
Assessing World and Narrative Size in The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
Link’s Awakening is but one example of how smaller-scale design can nevertheless make a world feel as believable and immersive as it is tightly constructed and uninterested in wasting the player’s time. Through its tight design and consideration for making an experience that provides a consistent feeling of progression and gradually expanding sense of freedom and exploration, Link’s Awakening ended up provides an adventure that I recall very fondly - an assessment that is in large thanks to the title’s size.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and the Power of Side Content
Whenever we judge any kind of experience - a movie, for example - we judge its value off of the core experience of watching that film, but with video games, it’s not as easy to do so. While many certainly do judge a game purely off of what it offers in its core gameplay (i.e. the story in a narrative-driven game, a combat system in an RPG, etc.), the side content of a game is something that I feel deserves more attention and credit. And when side content is delivered in a way that is as well-executed as Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s offerings, it’s hard not to stop and appreciate the smaller, side-experiences that help elevate a good game into a phenomenal one.
Octopath Traveler Review | A Modern Classic JRPG, For Better and For Worse
Octopath shows some slight flaws that even hardcore JRPG fans can't entirely ignore. But what Octopath gets right far outweighs what it gets wrong. If you've ever enjoyed a JRPG, new or old, the world of Octopath Traveler is a place well worth visiting.
Octopath Traveler: The Effect of a Frustrating Shortage of Character Interaction
The separation of characters' stories and the frustrating limits of the characters' interactions with one another create a narrative experience that feels very fragmented. This fragmentation causes Octopath to feel like it hosts a party of characters that happen to be going on quests that take them in the same direction, rather than a party of characters that feel like they're going on a quest together.