VIRTUAL BASTION

Octopath Traveler Introduces Final Two Characters, Reveals Features

Fans of the classic Final Fantasy games may have something to forward to this July. See, Square-Enix is releasing a new JRPG on the Switch that both calls back to the classic 2D JRPGs and advances the genre in significant, but somewhat subtle ways. This game is known as Octopath Traveler, an RPG that puts…

The Duck’s Favorite Moments with Virtual Bastion

In my last two posts, the Duck talked a bit about Virtual Bastion’s early days and a few notable firsts in celebration of our five-year anniversary. When you’re lucky enough to spend half a decade working on a blog and Youtube channel dedicated to your favorite hobby, there are bound to be a lot of…

So Here We Are, Five Years Later

It’s amazing how the passage of years can feel depending on how you look at it. In one sense, five years can feel like almost nothing. While I can’t say that it feels like only yesterday that Cary, The Duck of Indeed and I were getting this idea off the ground, I can say that…

YouTube Highlights, Weekly Edition #58

Good day, good people! Err, is it a good day? Well, it’s Friday, which is as good as it gets for the moment. It also means that it’s time for our YouTube Highlights, and that’s good…right? It’s gotta be, because now is the perfect time to share a handful of some of our videos from…

What We Wrote About in 2013

This month we’re celebrating Virtual Bastion’s 5-year anniversary by sharing our favorite memories of the site, blogging, gaming, and our online friendships. Join us as we take a trip down memory lane! When it comes to defining “[x year] in gaming,” you’d be hard pressed to find a more substantial one in recent memory than…

Nintendo Finally Gives Details About Switch Online Service

Nintendo has finally pulled back the curtain (somewhat) on the online service they’re bringing to the console this September. For starters, this isn’t going to be the same kind of robust online service PlayStation and Xbox users have grown used to over the years. It’s actually rather bare bones compared to PSN and Xbox Live,…

There’s a First Time for Everything at Virtual Bastion

Since this month is a time for reminiscing over the last five years of gaming and blogging goodness that has taken place here at Virtual Bastion, I can think of no better time to discuss a few notable “firsts”. Before we get started, I’d just like to say that, no, I will not be covering…

Resonance: Beneath the Mask

Persona 5 is an excellent game. This statement might as well be a cliche in regard to this game as it’s received nothing short of universal praise ever since it released in September 2016/April 2017. It’s not hard to see why when looking at it from the outside and even less difficult if you’ve had…

Thoughts on Red Dead Redemption II’s third trailer

A couple days ago, Rockstar released its third trailer for Red Dead Redemption II. I’m firmly planted in the RDRII camp, so of course I had to tune in (multiple times), along with millions of others. If you’ve not yet seen it for yourself, I’m happy to oblige.

YouTube Highlights: Weekly Edition #57

Greetings one and all. We’ve once again come round to Friday (funny how regularly that happens!), which means that it’s time for our YouTube Highlights! Oh yes indeedy, it’s that time of the week where we share here some of our favorite moments from all the videos that we posted over the week on our…

And it all started with “United We Game”

This month we’re celebrating Virtual Bastion’s 5-year anniversary by sharing our favorite memories of the site, blogging, gaming, and our online friendships. Join us as we take a trip down memory lane! When I started up my own blog in late 2011, I had no inkling that it might ever lead to bigger things. I…

Splatoon 2: Octo Expansion Gets Brief Gameplay Trailer

Splatoon fans have been geared up for the series’ first major expansion due out later this year. Splatoon 2: Octo Expansion splatted into Nintendo fan’s consciousness in a big way during the most recent Nintendo Direct. Its known features include a new, mission-based game mode which has players take on some sort of challenge mode….

Five Years with Virtual Bastion: A Duck’s Perspective

Wow, it’s hard to believe, but Virtual Bastion is now five years old! To celebrate our five-year anniversary, the three of us are going to reminisce and share some of our fondest memories of our time working together. So sit back, relax, and enjoy this trip down our respective memory lanes, won’t you?

The Paper Mario Prank That Changed Everything

As we’re talking about video game pranks and foolishness this month, I thought it would be a good time to talk about the most important gaming prank I ever came into contact with. It’s weird thinking of an obnoxious think like a prank as “important,” but that’s what this one wound up being. It’s something…

YouTube Highlights: Weekly Edition #56

It is with a notch less than pomp and circumstance (because both at full strength would be too much) that we welcome you back for yet another round of YouTube Highlights! Oh yes, it’s that time of the week where we look back on what happened over on our YouTube channel over the course of…

Being Fooled in Games Isn’t Always So Funny

It’s April Fool’s Month on Virtual Bastion! Join us as we celebrate all the silly and kooky things we love about games and gaming. In my final post for the month I take a somewhat sour turn. Because while silly pranks and foolish moments in games can be fun to experience, sometimes they aren’t. Sometimes,…

It’s our Fifth Anniversary! Ask Us Anything!

Hey everyone! May is almost here, and this year it’s going to be something of a special occasion here at the Virtual Bastion. You see, this May marks the fifth year of online life for our little corner of the internet, and we’re planning a little celebration of sorts. For the next month, we’ll be…

Unforgettable: Dating Papyrus in Undertale

April is a great month for discussing silly gaming moments, and the best game I can think of in terms of sheer humor is Undertale. Few games have made me laugh quite like this one, and one major reason for this hilarity is thanks to my favorite character, Papyrus. (If you haven’t already played Undertale,…

Pranked By The Plot: Prey (2017)

This article contains major spoilers for Prey (2017). If you don’t want some of the story spoiled, then it’s probably best not to read any further. One of the many qualities that makes gaming special is the player’s relationship with the game. Players are actively involved in what’s playing out on screen; we’re not just…

YouTube Highlights, Weekly Edition #55

Greetings one and all, and welcome to our latest YouTube Highlights post! TGIF, right?! We’re still knee deep in the world of Crash Bandicoot, and we continue to dodge and weave our way through fighting games, and we’d love to have you along for the ride! As always, if you like what you see here…

Favorite Foolish Heroes in Games

It’s April Fool’s Month on Virtual Bastion! Join us as we celebrate all the silly and kooky things we love about games and gaming. My third post for the month is inspired by Hatm0nster’s recent post on silly ol’ Daxter from the Jax and Daxter games. Here I feature a few of my favorite foolish…

Octopath Traveler Details New Characters and ‘Path Actions’

Octopath Traveler is a new JRPG from Square-Enix set to release later this year. The game follows eight travelers, each on their own journeys in pursuit of their own goals. Square-Enix has been drip-feeding info to potential fans for a little while now, and today they introduced two new characters and explained how “path actions”…

A Trio of Silly Glitches

Sometimes, even our games like to play little pranks on us. And seeing as it is April, what better month to call out my games on their immature behavior? Below we will be discussing three silly glitches I encountered during my recent gaming endeavors.

Daxter: Gaming’s Best and Most Hapless Fool

If ever there was a character whose life was the embodiment of April Fool’s Day, it’s Daxter. Forming the crucial (but actually not-so-crucial) second half of the Jak & Daxter team, Daxter has had a rough go of it over the course of the Jak & Daxter games. His monumental run of bad luck actually…

YouTube Highlights, Weekly Edition #54

Happy weekend, everyone! Um, well…happy almost-weekend might be more appropriate. But even so, the actual weekend is a mere handful of hours away, and are ever so glad for it! (Yeah, we’re just going to skip over all the Friday the 13th stuff, because Saturday the 14th is more our speed, haha!) However, before we…

‘Radical Heights’ Enters the Battle Royale Fray

From the team that brought you LawBreakers come “Radical Heights,” a very 80’s take on the battle royale shooter-style game that’s been growing ever-more popular as of late. Boss Key’s multiplayer shooter takes place in the not-so-distant future of 2023. In the game’s version of events, America went through some sort of “dissolution” conflict and…

Fools of Gaming: Susano from Okami

What comes to mind when you think of April (besides April showers)? Why, April Fool’s, of course! And what better way to celebrate the month (because not everyone likes pranks) than to discuss the fools of gaming? I’ve already talked about one particularly big fool (both in size and in general foolishness), Captain Qwark from…

Every Day is April Fool’s Day in Fable II

Fable II is, in many ways, a great and satisfying game to play. For those unspoiled by the likes of Zelda or Skyrim, and perhaps even for those who are, Fable II is a perfectly adequate adventure game. It’s not that it does anything particularly well, but neither does it do anything particularly poorly. Its…

God of War is Looking Both Good and Different

The newest entry in the God of War franchise is almost here, and I have to say that it’s got me feeling somewhat surprised. This continuation of Kratos’ story has him taking on a different pantheon, sure, but Kratos definitely doesn’t appear to be the same man who once destroyed Greek world in his quest…

Hopefully Conquering Final Fantasy 8: Part 2

I’ve been slowly and steadily making progress in Final Fantasy 8, and I must say, I feel like I’m finally starting to get the hang of things. As of writing this, I have just reached disc 2, and I have grown far fonder of the game and its characters than I did on my first…

Virtual Bastion Presents: April Fool’s Month!

Hey all, April is right around the corner! In fact, April Fool’s Day is exactly one week away! Commemorating the arrival of spring has become something of a tradition around here, but we haven’t really done all that much with this trickiest of holidays (if you can call it that). This April happens to mark…

On Being a “Good” Player of Video Games

When I sat down to write this post, I initially had in mind to cover some of the recent news concerning Far Cry 5, due out March 27th, concerning it’s length. The crux of the article was going to be something along the lines of “does game’s length matter anymore?” But then, as I was…

Epic Releases $12 Million Worth of Paragon Assets

Earlier today, Epic Games announced that about $12 million worth of assets from it’s defunct MOBA game, Paragon, are now available on the Unreal Marketplace for all Unreal Engine 4 developers to use. This by itself is pretty amazing, but here comes the real kicker: it’s all free!

Virtual Bastion T-Shirts are Here!

We’ve got a very special announcement today, folks! Virtual Bastion has recently opened a t-shirt shop on SpreadShirt! Right now, we’ve got several variations on the classic Virtual Bastion logo, and we’ll be sure to add more snazzy new designs in the future. Show off your love of gaming from retro to modern with some…

One Year Later and the Switch is Still Going Strong…How is this Happening?

Well, here we are. It’s been a full year since the Switch’s initial release, and Nintendo’s mini-tablet-sized hybrid console is doing just as well now as it was then. One could even argue that it’s doing even better. Aside from the Wii, it’s been a very long time since one of Nintendo’s home consoles has…

Fortnite is Going Mobile

If there’s one game that’s blown up massively, it’s Epic Games’ take on the 100-player free-for-all multiplayer game type: Fortnite Battle Royale. The game is everywhere. It’s all over consoles, it’s massive on PC, and it’s recently become the king of Twitch. And soon, it’ll be available on your smart phone too.

Turning Over Mario Party 2’s Bank

No matter how you look at it, Mario Party 2 is an old game. It’s been 18 years since the game saw release on the N64, and it has seen eight direct sequels in that time. By all rights, Mario Party 2 and its N64 brethren should have been left behind by gamers a long…

The First ‘Inside Xbox’ Premiers Saturday

Earlier this week, the Microsoft announced “Inside Xbox,” a first look at all everything that’s going to be happening on Xbox in the coming months. The first of these will drop this coming Saturday at 2PM CST and will focus on Sea of Thieves, PUBG, Far Cry 5, and the return of the original Xbox’s…

Games Aren’t Just Great or Terrible

How gamers perceive games has changed greatly over the years. Right now, games are seen as either altogether great or altogether terrible; the overwhelming number of games getting released on a monthly basis and the growing need to justify the games one selects from the deluge kind of ensures that kind of reception. Back when…

Sunday Video Round Up: May 13 – 19

Settle in, sit back, and relax because the Video Round Up is here once more! Serving up a helping heaping of new gameplay videos and trailers, it’s the perfect way to spend your Sunday. Here’s a small taste of what’s waiting for you below the break. Love it or hate it, Call of Duty is…

Sunday Video Round Up: May 6 – 12

Before the new week begins, let’s revisit the past seven days by taking a look at the best gameplay and trailers in a brand new edition of the Round Up. So kick back, get comfortable, and press play! Here’s a small look at the big list that waits you below the break. Players waiting for…

Sunday Video Round Up: April 29 – May 5

Hope you’re having a good weekend so far everyone! Let’s celebrate Sunday with an all new Round Up, showcasing the best trailers and gameplay from around the industry over the past week. Here’s a small glimpse into what’s waiting for you below the jump. It doesn’t get much bigger than Red Dead Redemption 2, now does…