VIRTUAL BASTION

Soul Hackers 2 Combat Looks Pretty Cool

As more information for Soul Hackers 2 trickles out, I must admit that I find myself growing more interested in it. While its certainly not looking like it’ll have everything that Persona 5 had, it’s still got a lot of the same flash and pizzazz. This appears to be true both in and out of…

When the Past Was Around: Demo Review

While I’m not normally the type to play casual games, I’ve been finding them to be increasingly relaxing as of late. In particular, I’ve been trying out demos for various point-and-click puzzle games, one of which is called When the Past Was Around. The game has a simple, but pleasant art style and tells the…

Skate Story Looks Transcendent!

With all of the nonsense that goes on in the games industry these days, it can be rather easy to lapse into resigned melancholy when thinking on its future. For me, I often can’t help but wonder if everything is going to wind up being subscription services like Xbox Game Pass and free-to-play cash grabs…

YouTube Highlights, Weekly Edition #253

Up this week: Death Road to Canada – do we have what it takes to successfully survive the Death Road to Canada? Watch and find out! Ori and the Will of the Wisps – we finally get around to playing this sequel to the hit Ori and the Blind Forest, and we have a bashing…

Lasting Impressions from a Big Week for Games

June 6th to the 14th was a big week for games. In lieu of E3, fans of video games received a plethora of different gaming panels, events, and reveals via various streams, from the familiar Summer Game Fest event hosted by the familiar Geoff Keighley, to the wild and crazy antics of Devolver Digital, to…

Starfield Gameplay Revealed at Last!

After four years of waiting, we finally have an idea of what kind of game Bethesda’s next big IP, Starfield, is actually going to be. While there definitely seems to be an element of procedural generation here a la No Man’s Sky, there also appears to be some distinctly old school RPG features too. It’s…

Kirby Works Extremely Well in Three Dimensions

Having long since grown bored of the tired old Kirby formula, Kirby and the Forgotten Land has brought a much needed change to a series that’s grown a bit stale. Not so very long ago, I reviewed the game’s demo, and I’ve now returned to talk about my full experience with the pink puffball’s new…

To Play on Hard or Not to Play on Hard?

Recently, decided to start a new run in Resident Evil 7: Biohazard. I’d already finished the game once last year, so figured I’d already know what was in store for me this time around. That is, I would know if I played the game on “normal” again and didn’t bump it up to “Madhouse” difficulty….

YouTube Highlights, Weekly Edition #252

We now know the title of the next Dragon Age game, and it is…

Dreadwolf! If you’ve been following the development of what has been thrown around as “Dragon Age 4” and caught wind of #TheDreadWolfRises on social media a few years back, then this probably isn’t the biggest shock. But, at least that which has been suspected is now officially true according to BioWare. Fans of the series…

An Absolute Mad-Lad is Bringing Ray-Tracing to N64 Games on PC

For those of us who grew up with the likes of the N64 and Gamecube, it’s really not difficult to enjoy the old games as they are. It’s how we remember them after all. Still, there’s no denying that these games are getting older with each passing day, and are thus looking more and more…

Can You Survive the Death Road to Canada?

Death Road to Canada is an Oregon Trail-inspired, roguelike game where your group must survive the long road from Florida to Canada during the zombie apocalypse. Along the way, you encounter new people to recruit to your team, gather supplies, and make tough decisions that can have serious consequences. And once a team member dies,…

Maybe We Got P.T. After All

Do you remember P.T.? It’s been almost 8 years since Hideo Kojima released his concept for Silent Hill and took the gaming d by storm, and yet seemingly nothing ever materialized from it. Or, maybe something has. Thanks to the very public split of Konami and Kojima, we never got the full and true version…

Who in their right mind starts playing a “dead” game?

After having a so-so time playing DC Universe Online, my search for easy-going, console-based multiplayer/MMORPG ventures continued. I had made a short list of possibilities, and after a quick round of eenie, meenie, miny, moe, I ended up at another decades-old game, TERA. I knew nothing about the game save for the fact that I…

Modern Warfare May Be Returning to Steam

A banner for Activision’s upcoming Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (uh, 2022 version?) has been spotted on Steam recently. In fact, you might still be able to see it for yourself if you head over to Steam within the next few days.

Helping the Fab Fairies in Miitopia

I recently recorded part 3 of my Miitopia playthrough, which saw the formation of my third and, presumably, final team. This time, I created all three of my new team members’ Mii’s, with their identities being as follows. Charlotte, the energetic cat, joined the team first. She is actually meant to resemble my character from…

Resonance: ‘Go Tell Aunt Rhody’

Usually when we talk about video game music, we talk about music that’s actually in the game and part of the soundtrack. I mean, typically it’s the only music that’s associated with a given game so it’s really the only option. There are special cases though, and Michael Levene’s version of “Go Tell Aunt Rhody”…

YouTube Highlights, Weekly Edition #251

Up this week: Ori and the Will of the Wisps – we finally get around to playing this sequel to the hit Ori and the Blind Forest, and we have a bashing good time…mostly. Miitopia – our adventures in Miitopia continue, and we have a bonus video featuring the time-lapsed creation of the one and…

First (and Maybe Last) Impressions of DC Universe Online

In my household’s ongoing quest to find enjoyable multiplayer outings, we’ve found plenty of fodder. But lately, continued interest on both our parts has taken a dive. It Takes Two was a great thing, but not one to revisit; Bethesda’s offerings of ESO and Fallout 76 haven’t drawn either of us in lately (despite my…

Mundfish Reveals that ‘Atomic Heart’ Has Taken over 600k Hours to Develop

It’s been a hot minute since we last heard anything about Atomic Heart, hasn’t it? It was announced years ago at this point, yet we still know very little about it. This is probably for the best since showing too much too early often leads to broken promises and/or overblown fan expectations. So, good on…

I’m Still Not a Big Fan of Super Mario 64

I don’t really like Super Mario 64. There, I said it. I understand that the game was a big deal for its time, considering it was one of the first 3D platformers ever made. While that is certainly something to be admired, I never really had the best opinion of this game. In fact, I…

Better Late than Cruddy

Recently, Bethesda announced that their two very highly-anticipated games: Starfield and Redfall, would be getting pushed back a bit to a 2023 release date. Their reasoning was simple: they felt that the games needed more time in the oven, and they didn’t want their projects to end up as the new Cyberpunk 2077. It’s pretty…

YouTube Highlights, Weekly Edition #250

Cyberpunk 2077: The Good, The Bad, and The So-So (So Far)

After spending some quality time with Firewatch and Unpacking, my gaming game plan look some like this: try out revamped GTA V on the PS5 (check – it is prettier, and that’s about all), head back into Fallout 76 to obtain a few more Tadpole/Possum badges for my raider Darlene (check), play and record Ori…

Screenshots for a Possible New Silent Hill Game Surface

It seems that there may be a new Silent Hill game in the works at last, and apparently some screenshots/concept art for it has leaked onto Reddit. Almost no hard information has leaked to accompany these images, so it’s a little difficult to just take the sources word for it. Still, it would be nice…

Top 6 Worst Stars in Super Mario 64

Super Mario 64 may have been a classic of its time, but that didn’t prevent it from being a major pain as far as certain stars were concerned. I was able to complete the game 100% years ago, and I attempted the feat once more during my recent recording of the game for YouTube. As…

Low-Level Multiplayer is the Best

A while back, I started playing the Yu-Gi-Oh! card game, and I’ve learned quiet a bit about it in the year or so that’s passed since then. First, I’ve learned that just about any trading card game is going to be expensive to participate in. It’s amazing just how much money it takes to put…

YouTube Highlights, Weekly Edition #249

Up this week: Jenny LeClue: Detectivu – in this second bonus video, we returned to the world of Jenny LeClue to check out the game’s happy(?) ending. Miitopia – our adventures in Miitopia continue, and we have a bonus video featuring the time-lapsed creation of the one and only Crispin Whytehead, the Mii! Screenshot Theater…

Short Takes: Firewatch and Unpacking

While mulling over my after-game options in God of War, I turned to the ol’ Game Pass to keep myself occupied. When I picked up The Pedestrian, I also downloaded a few other smaller games that I had wanted to play or heard were worth trying. Two of them rose to the forefront: Firewatch and…

Sailing Gameplay Revealed for Sea of Stars

More and more it’s looking like classic RPG fans are going to be in for a treat when Sea of Stars launches later this year. Sabotage Studio has been putting out regular updates on the game for a while now, with the latest showing-off players’ ability to sail around the world map.

Hoa: A Beautiful and Relaxing Platformer

Hoa (pronounced “hwa”) is Vietnamese for “flower” and also the name of a lovely indie game and said game’s titular character, a tiny fairy-like creature the size of a bug. This relaxing game features stunning hand-painted artwork, a beautiful soundtrack, and a peaceful atmosphere where the focus is solely on platforming and minor puzzling. This…

Getting Back To It: Re-Discovering Fallout 3’s Capital Watesland

It’s been quite a while since I’ve done a “Getting Back To It” entry. In fact, I think the last one was about a year ago now. What can I say, I haven’t really been sitting on a lot of games. That said though, there is actually one game that I’ve been meaning to get…

YouTube Highlights, Weekly Edition #248

Up this week: Hoa – in the mood for a beautifully serene platformer that’s not without a little challenge? Hoa came recommended, and we can see why. Screenshot Theater – in this revamped series, we celebrate and relive some of our favorite moments in games through screenshot slideshows. Super Mario 64 – you know it,…

God of War and the Completion Conundrum

It’s done. It’s over. My time with God of War (2018) is complete…at least for now, as I always say. I left a ton of its world unexplored, but I saw through this first story of Kratos and his son Atreus, and I couldn’t be more pleased with the results. It was utterly fantastic, and…

New Concept Art Shown for The Callisto Protocol

Remember The Callisto Protocol? No? Don’t feel bad if you don’t. It was initially announced almost 2 years ago now, and absolutely nothing new has been discussed or shown since then. The developer behind it is Striking Distance Studios, a relatively new company mostly comprised of former Visceral Games developers. Recently, they shared some new…

Soulsborne After Elden Ring

As frequenters of this blog may know, I wasn’t really a fan of the Soulsborne series until very recently. I’d tried a couple of the games before, but I just didn’t get hooked for whatever reason. After playing through Elden Ring though, that’s changed. Rather than looking at the series passively without much interest, I…

YouTube Highlights, Weekly Edition #247

Up this week: Hoa – in the mood for a serenely beautiful platformer? Hoa came recommended, and we can see why. Screenshot Theater – in this revamped series, we celebrate and relive some of our favorite moments in games through screenshot slideshows. Joe & Mac – is this classic game all the prehistoric fun it’s…

New Screens Sent Out for Sonic Origins

Sonic fans will be in for something of a treat when Sonic Origins releases on June 23rd this year. It’s a collection of the most notable of Sonic’s outings, including: Sonic The Hedgehog 1, Sonic 2, Sonic 3 & Knuckles and Sonic CD. It’s not everything fans would probably like to see in a Sonic…