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The following post contains spoilers for Darwin’s Paradox! Proceed at your own risk! Early this year, I played through the “Tactical Action Octopus Demo” of Darwin’s Paradox!, a new platformer from ZDT Studio and Konami. In short, I said then that I thoroughly enjoy what it offers. It feels like it’ll be a great addition…
Moolander is about an alien in a flying saucer who must explore a hostile planet and replenish your civilization’s milk supply, as all of their technology apparently runs on milk. While I had initially assumed this would just be a goofy game that would make for a good chuckle or two, I was pleasantly surprised…
…inventory management. Why bury the lede when it’s probably my one and only gripe with this game? Though, I suppose I should backup just a little. Because it’s not the only reason I dropped playing Palworld in early 2024, back when it was in early access, all the rage, and making headlines, but it’s the…
Just a couple years ago, I reviewed Illumination’s first animated Mario movie, the aptly named Super Mario Bros Movie, which was quite a good time indeed. When I heard news of an upcoming Mario Galaxy movie, I was pretty excited. Seeing as the first movie was so well-done, I assumed our mustachioed plumber was in…
Wind Waker, Wind Waker, Wind Waker. The phrase has lost all meaning. Fact is, if one were to look at any of my past posts featuring The Legend of Zelda games, either directly or indirectly, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker has made plenty of appearances. According to the “me” of pre-Breath of the…
As we reminiscence about The Legend of Zelda, and about all the things we’ve written about the series, I came across a post from five years ago that was part of the 35th anniversary. We were discussing 35 things about Zelda, and one of these revolved around the weird characters inhabiting the games. Last time,…
Thirteen years ago, we here at Virtual Bastion (then United We Game) made lists of our favorite items in the Zelda games. My original list included items from the six Zelda games I had under my belt then — Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask, Wind Waker, Phantom Hourglass, Twilight Princess, Spirit Tracks — and a…
As we revisit old memories, and old posts, from down the years, I came across an account chronicling several unpleasant encounters I had with the chickens (AKA cuccos) inhabiting The Legend of Zelda games. To seasoned, Hylian veterans such as myself (and no doubt you, too, dear reader), it’s common knowledge that the chickens in…
Back in 2016, I wrote a post about the top three creepiest dungeons in The Legend of Zelda. While my list is indeed a pretty accurate look at spooky dungeons spanning from A Link to the Past on the SNES through to Twilight Princess on the GameCube/Wii, I had overlooked one top contender…and now you’re…
When I was perusing some old posts of mine, few stood out as sorely requiring a revisit than a review I wrote back in 2017 about Breath of the Wild. When the game first released, it was a momentous occasion for any Zelda fan. Hyrule was larger and grander than ever before, and we had…
In February of 1986, the original Legend of Zelda was released in Japan on the Famicon (AKA the original Nintendo console). Produced by the legendary Shigeru Miyamoto himself, the game was inspired by his boyhood adventures around Kyoto. Going on to become one of the most highly praised video game franchises of all time, it’s…
Donkey Kong 64 was one of my favorite games growing up. Sure, it was very bloated and tedious with all the collectibles and the five playable characters that weren’t always convenient to swap between. Nevertheless, my duckling self still got a lot of fun out of this clunky, yet charming, platformer. I already ranked the…
Donkey Kong’s venture into the 3D platforming space was a mixed bag, to be honest. Starring five Kongs, each with their own collectibles, the game could be quite tedious at times, even by collectathon standards. Plus, it was often far too silly for its own good. (The combination of copious amounts of burping sure to…
Replaying Donkey Kong 64 on the Switch has reminded me just how much I adored Rareware’s take on the Donkey Kong franchise during the Super Nintendo and Nintendo 64 era. Say what you will about modern Rare (is there anything to say about modern Rare?), but back in the day, they knew how to make…
In recent months, I’ve been replaying every Kingdom Hearts game available to me on the PS4. And eventually, I returned to the controversial third numbered entry in the series after having not played it since its release 7 years ago. Like many others, I was not a fan of this game upon its release, so…
We all know that cats always land on their feet. And buttered toast, well, it always has the unfortunate habit of landing butter-side down. So what would happen if you strapped a piece of buttered toast to the back of a cat? Why, you’d get a spinning, flying cat, of course! Cato: Buttered Cat is…
In recent months, I’ve been replaying most of the Kingdom Hearts games thanks to a handy collection I have on the PS4. In case you’re not familiar, this is a Final Fantasy and Disney crossover RPG created by Square Enix. The series is known for some complex lore and an emphasis on friendship and the…
I’ve already ranked the wonderful worlds of Banjo-Kazooie, so now it’s time to discuss the much larger worlds of the sequel, Banjo-Tooie. When placing these worlds in order of my least to most favorite, my criteria was largely based on how fun the levels are and how well they’re themed, though I will also be…
I’ve already discussed the act 1 bosses of the super difficult Metroidvania, Hollow Knight: Silksong, and today, I’ll be ranking those found in act 2. While technically tougher, I often found these bosses to be less of a problem simply because the game is more open in act 2, allowing for more freedom to obtain…
We were recently contacted by a small indie studio by the name of Pixel Maniacs about their upcoming game, Fables of Dwale, which they describe as “Dredge meets Fairy Tales”. I really enjoyed the eerie world of Dredge, so I was curious to see how this game compared. The trailer showcases a colorful fairytale world…
The original Iron Lung game came out back in 2022. Created by one man, David Szymanski, it was praised for being a simple, but effective, horror game that relied on its atmosphere rather than jumpscares. Not long later, popular Youtuber Markiplier began working on a film adaptation of the movie, which finally came to theaters…
Last time I wrote about my time with Silksong, I had gotten stuck in the Underworks and loaded an auto-save that took me back to the start of act 2. I just didn’t have it in me to do anything too difficult after being annihilated by the Phantom for a good solid 1.5 hours. Since…
Two big trends on Youtube right now are anomaly and Backrooms games. As I searched Steam for free demos to play, I encountered Backrooms Anomaly, which combines both of the things I was looking for. While I’ve never actually played an anomaly game myself, I’ve seen plenty on Youtube, and the concept is simple. You…
When last I discussed my early thoughts on Hollow Knight: Silksong, I left off not feeling too happy with the game. I had, in fact, just conquered the room where you’re ambushed by “birds” before encountering yet another boss fight that was required to progress. By now, I was getting downright fed up. It almost…
Silksong is the long-awaited sequel to the critically acclaimed Hollow Knight. Both are Metroidvanias where you play as a bug. And both are very difficult. Considering this game has a heck of a lot of bosses, I’ll be breaking them down by act. While the act 1 bosses are, technically, easier, they sometimes felt more…
The demo for the racing spin-off, Five Laps at Freddy’s, was released as part of the Five Nights at Freddy’s 10-year anniversary back in August of 2024. While I have watched other people play it, I didn’t get around to playing it myself until roughly 1.5 years later because of my recent delve into PC…
As I slowly work my way through Hollow Knight: Silksong, I find myself having a love/hate relationship with the game. There are lots of good moments, sure, but there are also plenty of very, very annoying ones that test my patience to the limits. I especially loathe every time I get stuck on yet another…
We were recently contacted by the solo developer of Dergham Games about his upcoming game, Light Dude, a “skill-based action game” where the “level hides when you move”. I recently played the demo for myself, which contains 9 levels and a boss fight. These levels teach you the basics of the game, and the concept…
After my most recent playthrough of one of my favorite games of all time, Banjo-Kazooie, I thought it would be fun to do a handful of ranking posts. I’ve already ranked all of the game’s 9 delightful worlds, and now I’d like to rank all of the transformations. Although Mumbo’s magic in Banjo-Kazooie isn’t quite…
About a million years ago, I played (and maybe you did, too) the game from whence all current roguelikes and roguelites were born: Rogue. Apt title, right? Originally a DOS game, Rogue was a procedurally generated dungeon crawler where no two runs were ever alike. Each run began with a blank screen, a single character…
With my Nintendo 64 currently packed up, I finally decided to give in and purchase that Expansion Pack for Nintendo Switch Online so I could revisit some of my all-time favorite games. We’ve actually discussed the Banjo-Kazooie franchise many times over the years, but I can’t believe I never ranked these sprawling and colorful worlds…
As usual, I’m a bit late to the party, but I’ve finally gotten around to playing the long-awaited Hollow Knight sequel, Silksong. This time, we’re playing as the nimble Hornet in the haunted kingdom of Pharloom. And instead of bugs being infected with a nasty disease, there are bugs being controlled by…some different sort of…
After the massive success of The Super Mario Brothers Movie from 2023 (because we do NOT talk about the live-action movie from 30 years prior), it was no surprise that they’re making another one. What is surprising, however, is that they’re skipping straight to Super Mario Galaxy, with some elements from other games thrown into…
Bruma (Spanish for haze) is a lovely platformer with a unique art style about a cat named Luna who must seek out an old lady’s lost memories. According to the game’s Steam page and Kickstarter, you will explore an abandoned city submerged in a mysterious mist, where you can use traps or stealth to deal…
I’m gonna keep it real here, I was as prepared to hate on Marathon as just about anyone else, but after playing it for myself during the Marathon Server Slam last week, I don’t think it deserves it. This doesn’t mean that I like the game or the business practices Bungie seems to want to…
The Last Cube is a deceptively simple looking puzzle game where you play as one of the most unassuming characters ever. A cube. Silly though it may feel to play as a basic geometrical shape, this game actually had some decent puzzles that made me think. At the same time, the demo’s 4.5 levels could…
Being my least favorite Donkey Kong Country game in the original trilogy, I could still admit in my previous list that this game has plenty of fun and memorable levels. It also has plenty of evil ones that I despise to varying degrees of white-hot hatred. Whether it’s dealing with a level that doesn’t even…
In the past, I’ve talked about Xbox Game Pass and how I don’t think it offers subscribers as much as it seems to. It’s not just Game Pass, though. It’s all of these monthly subscriptions: Game Pass, PlayStation Plus and Nintendo Switch Online. They all offer access to lots of games, but I wonder how…