VIRTUAL BASTION

Chillin' in the Ol' Backlog

I remember a time when I absolutely hated the winter and summer slumps of game releases. For whatever reason, these were (and still are) the times when barely anything new or interesting would come out, leaving me with no choice but to play old games (eww!). I used to count the days until March finally…

YouTube Highlights, Weekly Edition #139

Up this week: Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (Wii, 2009) – it’s Samus vs. Space Pirates vs. the Phazon Corruption vs. herself in this series’ thrilling conclusion Nostalgic Notions (multiple consoles) – our periodic feature showcasing various classic and retro titles Spyro: Year of the Dragon (PS4, 2018) – tag along as we play the third…

It’s Good to Be Back in Liberty City…Or Is It?

Several years ago, in 2016, we decided to participate in a “favorite games” challenge. The premise was simple: choose and play single game that we each considered to be a “favorite,” and then report back on experience. At its core, the challenge was all about understanding what it meant to consider a game a “favorite”…

Platinum Games Teases Four New Projects

It’s already been a busy week for Platinum Games, and it looks like the upcoming months will be even busier still. On Monday, the developer launched their Kickstarter for The Wonderful 101: Remastered and saw it immediately get fully funded. So that’s awesome, but they’re not done yet! The developer’s also launched a teaser website…

Spyro: Year of the Dragon Review

At last, I have completed the entire Spyro Reignited Trilogy with 100% in every game, including trophies and skill points. That means it’s time to finally review the third and final game in the trilogy, Year of the Dragon…and provide just a little overview of my general experience with everyone’s favorite purple dragon.

Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore: It's Good to be Back!

After about three years of waiting, I’ve finally gotten the chance to return to one my favorite games from the Wii U: Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE thanks to the new enhanced port for the Nintendo Switch. Mind you, there was nothing preventing me from playing it again on the Wii U. In fact, I’d just…

YouTube Highlights, Weekly Edition #138

Video Games are Good for A Lot of Things, Except Medical Advice

I don’t usually get all up in the news these days, but I must admit that this Coronovirus outbreak in China (which is spreading), has me at attention. With my own array of hypochondriatic tendencies, news of any sort of onset epidemic is enough to set me on edge…which leads me to seek out video…

Metro: Exodus Gets Second Major DLC on February 11th

The story of Metro: Exodus continues next month with the release of another DLC expansion. Dubbed “Sam’s Story,” this chapter follows former US Marine Sam Branskill as he sets out in search of a way to return to America and reunite with his family. As is to be expected in a Metro game, his journey…

The Ni no Kuni Movie Suffers from the Same Problems as Revenant Kingdom

Many months ago, I wrote a post concerning the announcement of a Ni no Kuni movie. Originally, I thought the movie was only going to be released in Japan, but a few weeks ago, I learned that it was actually going to be available on Netflix! So now that I’ve seen the movie for myself,…

Tossing an Hour to My Witcher

I was one of those who didn’t really pay The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt all that much attention when it first release in 2015. I initially wrote it off as yet another open-world game suffering from the same lack of depth as every other open world game at the time (and arguably since), but my…

YouTube Highlights, Weekly Edition #137

Cary’s Top 10 Games of the Decade!

If you’ve not caught on already, this week at Virtual Bastion, we’ve been taking a look back at our favorite games of the 2010s (click here for Hatm0nster‘s and The Duck‘s picks), and we hope you’ve enjoyed our lists so far. The time has now come for me to produce my own inventory of favorite…

Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III is Coming to the Switch

The most recent installment of the Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel series will be heading to the Switch sometime this spring, so I guess now’s the time to catch up if you’re keen to jump into this ongoing story. It seems Switch-owners will be getting a healthy helping of extra cosmetics too, though…

The Duck’s Top 10 Games of the Decade!

The last decade has seen the release of some pretty awesome games spanning indie titles, remakes of classic PS1 games, Nintendo’s comeback with the release of the Switch, and everything in between. It’s now the Duck’s turn to honor my top ten games of the decade (not including remakes because that doesn’t quite seem fair). …

YouTube Highlights, Weekly Edition #136

Putting Yourself in the Game, or Not…or Never

Joining with masses, I recently took advantage of PlayStation’s holiday sale in picking up Grand Theft Auto V: Premium Online Edition. Outside of the online extras, it was a good deal, and it would finally allow my husband and I to play side-by-side in Los Santos. (Which we’ve been doing, hoo boy, it is ever…

Persona 5 Scramble's Opening Movie is Pretty Stylin'

It may still be a year away, but I’m actually kinda psyched for Persona 5 Scramble: The Phantom Strikers. It’s not so much because I’m dying for yet another Dynasty Warriors-style beat-em-up game, but rather another helping of the world of Persona 5. I’m told this game takes place after the events of Persona 5…

Resonance: Astral Observatory

Out of all the games I’ve played, no game connects with me emotionally quite like Majora’s Mask. My first exposure to the game was the short-lived playthrough Mother Duck started on our brand new Nintendo 64. She only completed the beginning of the game, up until you get your ocarina back from Skull Kid. Intimidated…

Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore – Getting Hyped All Over Again

I’m not really sure how it’s happening, but one of my absolute favorite Wii U games has an enhanced port releasing for the Switch next week! It goes by the ridiculously long name: Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore and is about as outlandish as it sounds. This isn’t a bad thing though, quite the opposite…

YouTube Highlights, Weekly Edition #135

Up this week: Nostalgic Notions (multiple consoles) – our periodic feature showcasing various classic and retro titles Spyro: Year of the Dragon (PS4, 2018) – it’s the third game of the Spyro Reignited Trilogy, which proves to be a fantastically fiery finale! Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (Wii, 2009) – tackling the further adventures of Samus,…

The Road to Resistance is Paved with Good Intentions in The Outer Worlds

I must admit that I had pretty high hopes for The Outer Worlds when I started playing it late last October. I mostly ignored whatever the big gaming sites had to say about it, preferring, instead, to read the blogosphere’s judgement. Which was roundly positive. Well, mostly. In the midst of reading, I penned a…

Dreams Has Gone Gold

Free-form game-making uh…game has gone gold! This means that the game is now feature complete and mostly polished. All the developers have to do now is chase down minor bugs and work on further optimizations for the game’s launch on February 14th!

A Newcomer’s MediEvil (PS4) Review

I want to start off this review by saying that, no, I have never played the original MediEvil game on the PS1, having been a Nintendo-only sort of gamer back in the 90’s. In fact, my first exposure to the series, in any sort of form, was the inclusion of Sir Daniel in PlayStation All-Stars…

Top 5(-ish): Favorite Games in 2019

Happy new year everyone! At last the holiday season is over and we can all get back to our normal lives with a little more pep in our step. It’s a new year filled with new possibilities, but I’ve still got one more list I’d like to share before getting back into the full swing…

Top 5: Favorite Games Played in 2019

Happy 2020, y’all! With the start of a whole new year with lots of twos and zeroes, it seems more than appropriate to bridge this moment between the end of Listmas and the beginning of a new year in gaming with a festive not-Listmas list post. And that list, the one that is right here,…

Listmas 2019: The Duck’s 6 Favorite Mini Games

For our final week of Listmas 2019, we decided to write about anything we felt like. Ironically enough, the Duck usually doesn’t enjoy mini games. In fact, I often resent it when a game makes me play them in order to progress or to obtain an item I need for 100%. However, having recently enjoyed…

Listmas 2019: Games For Christmas-time

Hey everyone! I hope your Christmas season was filled with fun times and good cheer! I know this is coming a little late, but we’ve still got New Year’s this week, so maybe you’ve still got enough quality time with your consoles coming to really enjoy some your favorite games. I definitely do, and these…

Listmas 2019: The Duck’s Favorite Games to Play Around Christmastime

This week, we’re covering the games we enjoy playing around Christmastime, whether it be alone or with others. I must confess that I don’t have many games that I would specifically play around Christmas, so I’m instead going to largely focus on games that I have played around Christmas (regardless of how much fun was…

Listmas 2019: Jubilant Jiggies

When it comes to gaming, I think there’s nothing quite so satisfying as collecting things in good, old-fashioned platformer. I’m honestly not sure what it is about it. Maybe it’s the little celebrations the characters do every time they get the thing; maybe its that little burst of excitement from completing a goal, or maybe…

DualShock 4 Gets a New Button!

It’s kind of weird seeing this since the idea of official controller attachments is still kind new to me, but really this has been a long time coming. There’s been a demand for more “professionally-oriented” controllers for some time now, so it’s odd that it’s taken Sony this long to bring a product to market….

Listmas 2019: The Duck’s Favorite Jiggies

With Banjo and Kazooie’s semi-recent inclusion in Super Smash Bros Ultimate, we thought we’d make a list dedicated specifically to the bear and bird duo, a list of our favorite Jiggies! Today, I am listing my top 5 Jiggies from each game on the Nintendo 64. Let’s get started!

Listmas 2019: The Best Ways to Get Around

One of the best things about gaming in general is the myriad of transportation options available to players. Most of the time it’s mundane stuff like cars, horses and planes, but not always. Sometimes we get to indulge in a bit of fantasy and unreality, and that’s where the magic happens! Using these is part…

Cross-play Has Finally Come Minecraft on PS4

As reluctant as they were to allow it, it looks like Sony is being true to their word in regard to allowing cross-play on their platform. The next wave of cross-play-enabled games is coming, and the first among them is Minecraft! The Bedrock version of the game has finally hit PlayStation 4, and it’s about…

Listmas 2019: Top 6 Favorite Modes of Transportation

This week, we’re covering our favorite modes of transportation in gaming. And when I started thinking about all the possible options for this particular list, I realized that there is truly a wide variety of ways to get around. And they don’t all have to be vehicles, either. And so, below are the Duck’s top…

Listmas 2019: 5 Best 'Waiting Around' Moments

Idle animations have always be somewhat underappreciated in games, don’t you think? The developers could just let the characters stand there like statues while we do whatever it is that’s taken us away from the game, but they don’t. More often than not, game makers take the opportunity to add just a little more fun…

Listmas 2019: Top 5 Favorite Idle Animations

As you no doubt know (but I need an intro), idle animations have always served as fun little Easter eggs in select games. In platformers in particular (but not always), I’ve always enjoyed just standing still and watching what my characters do when they’re bored. Honestly, they’re a great way to add extra personality to…

Merry Listmas Everyone!

Well everyone, looks like the holiday season is upon us once again. That’s right, it’s finally time for another holly, jolly Listmas. As is tradition here on Virtual Bastion, December is the month of Listmas and boy have we been looking forward to it! For the next few weeks, we’ll be serving up all manner…

Returning To Reach After 7 Years

Despite all that’s happened over the past several years and all of the incredible games that I’ve played in that time, some part of me still can’t believe that it’s been about seven years since I last booted up Halo: Reach. I’ve always insisted that Halo 3 was my favorite of the series, but I…

Gris is on PS4 Now

One of my absolute favorite games from 2018 is finally out on PlayStation 4! Yeah, I admit it; I absolutely love this game, and I was a little disappointed that it could only be found on the Nintendo Switch and PC at first. I consider it too good to be confined to a single system….

Revisiting Nier: Automata

You know, it’s actually kind of crazy to me that’s already been about two whole years since I was first introduced to Nier: Automata. It’s been on my replay list ever since I finished it the first time, and I kind of can’t believe I wasn’t able to work my way back around to it…

Valve Announces New Half-Life Game…for VR.

It’s been 12 years since the release of Half-Life 2: Episode 2. It’s kind of hard to believe, but it’s true. It really has been twelve years and two console generations since we were last able to check-in with Gordon Freeman and Alyx Vance. Well, the wait is finally going to be over! Valve has…

We Happy Few ‘We All Fall Down’ Expansion Hits on November 19th

Despite suffering a pretty terrible launch (not to mention a controversial stay in early access), it looks like Compulsion Games’ We Happy Few is still hanging in there. The game will be getting a new expansion next week, titled “We All Fall Down.” As the name implies, the tenuous situation in Wellington Wells is about…