STAR WARS: Galactic Racer is uncommonly good in a number of categories. The raw yet polished racing feel and sense of speed, bringing back racing to the Star Wars universe in a big way, and iterating on the framework of how it all functions with ways that encourage player expression and experimentation. Most importantly, I've just been having so much damn fun.

I have been playing the NHL franchise for over 20 years now. I've been there for the ups and the downs. Somehow, NHL 27 seems to combine those ups and downs into the same game

I put about 35 hours into Octopath Traveler on Switch in 2018, but Octopath Traveler II completely passed me by until now, so I’m coming into this Switch 2 release of both games with a lopsided perspective. The original game ran at a semi-stable 30 fps on the Switch’s relatively low-resolution handheld screen, which is mostly what stuck with me about its technical side. The Switch 2 versions of both games finally bring them up to par with the other console and PC releases that have come out since, and as far as I’m concerned, this is easily the definitive way to experience these two modern JRPG classics. That said, there’s a catch, and it’s a pretty frustrating one for returning players.

E-Day injects a lot of life into the franchise and sets a new tone moving forward. It captured the spirit of the original Gears of War with putting just enough of a new spin on things. It’s definitely a highlight of the series. A perfect reload, indeed.

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Arjun is another character with a charismatic aura, which isn't surprising, since his backstory includes wanting to be an actor before he pursued police work. To go on with Street Fighter's urban tastes and taskes, Arjun "likes Bollywood movies and fossil hunting" and he hates "undercooked Biryani."

Have you ever imagined what it would be like if Little Nightmares were mixed with Resident Evil and Dead Space? Well, you don’t have to imagine anymore, because that’s exactly the experience you’ll get when playing End of Abyss. Developed by Section 9 Interactive, a Swedish studio founded by former Little Nightmares developers, the adventure puts us in control of Cel, a young combat technician sent to investigate a mysterious incident in an underground industrial complex.

When I first heard about Remaining Grace, I thought it would be something along the lines of a an and Roger or Dear Me, I was…, but it’s looking like way more — so much more that …

Going on a Road Trip in American Truck Simulator! (GenAI OptOut) | Streaming american truck simulator.

Razer’s Pikachu & Eevee collection has officially entered my gaming space, and suddenly my desk has gone from “place where I work from home” to “adorable little Pokémon café where I occasionally attempt to live my cozy dreams in a video game.” The collection includes the Razer Kraken V4 X headset, Ornata V3 Tenkeyless keyboard, Cobra mouse, and Gigantus V2 Medium mouse mat. Every piece has the same soft pink aesthetic, with Pikachu and Eevee taking center stage alongside plenty of playful little details. It is, in a word, cute.

With the Raiju V3 Pro, I've been able to experiment with different games to get a full sense of how comfortable this controller feels, and it's safe to say this one is a keeper.

Part visual novel, part RPG, Qliphah fuses together frenetic animations with strategic battles to form a tactical turn-based combat that transforms fighting monsters into a dance. Although the game started off strong, its combat and visuals whittled my enthusiasm down as little evolved from my first few hours.

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In this episode of the Day 0 Update: We talk about the many layoffs and other bad news out of Xbox, Bungie's announcements about Destiny 2 and Bungie, and the new Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney game. All this and more, up next! Intro What Are We Playing C: Lawn Mowing Simulator 2, American Truck Simulator, Pragmata B: Fire Emblem D: Control Resonant…

In this episode of Let’s Weekend: We talk about Harvey Weinstein staying in prison, the Iran War continuing on, and what Mahershala Ali and Kevin Feige agree on. Intro What Are We Up To? C: Backrooms, One Piece, Pragmata B: Fire Emblem, books, Chinatown, Asshole Summer is upon us. Brandon’s Random Factoid Assholes of the Week: Harvey Weinstein has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for sexual assault after his New York retrial concluded…

I’ve reached credits at least three times and started more new playthroughs than I can count over the years (and played a frankly embarrassing amount of Gwent). Suffice it to say, I’m very familiar with The Witcher 3. That is why, for this review of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Remastered, I feel comfortable sharing my thoughts after roughly 11 hours into my latest playthrough. Spoilers: it’s still one of the all-time greats.

I was extremely excited for Minecraft Dungeons II, but honestly wasn’t sure what to expect. Part of me worried the sequel would be a rehash of the original with a jump button and a new story, which would have felt somewhat disappointing.  After playing through the main campaign, I can say it feels very distinct from the first game, and I think a lot of that sprang from the decision to make an interconnected, almost open world, which meant movement couldn't be such a pain like it was in the first. I would bet money that a central design philosophy of its sequel was, put simply, “make it fast.”

I wrote about it immediately after playing it one morning during Steam Next Fest. Even in that sample hour, I saw the making of a game with a strong sense of community where the whole point was to explore, bask in the whimsy, and assist in the daily lives and happenings of a town teeming with life and love. I'm beyond thrilled to say that the full game delivers on that notion fivefold, one fold for each of the game's hours to complete.

The fourth and seventh Ace Combat games were generational leaps that changed arcade-style flight games visually and narratively, and are arguably more influential in this space than any other title like it. So much so that we look forward to every new release. Its mix of graphical fidelity and realism tied to anime "AF" (yes, that AF) storytelling is unique in the gaming space. Every time there’s a sequel, we all strap in and pretend we’re in Top Gun: The Anime.  Ace Combat 8 starts the same way and feels like it’s going to do the same thing. The realism is there. The anime-ass storytelling is there right off the bat. The first 15-20 minutes are absolutely thrilling.  And then, like Maverick in a flat spin, everything goes FUBAR.

For years, decades even, the cozy genre has been dominated by farming simulators like Harvest Moon and Stardew Valley. But somehow, inexplicably, developers around the world seemed to come to the same conclusion almost simultaneously: What if Harvest Moon was scary?

Trucking our way through South Dakota! (GenAI OptOut) | Streaming american truck simulator.

Maximum Thunderness was one of my favorite demos on the show floor, and I cannot wait to see more of it. This game is truly a wild time with friends, and the stages get absolutely chaotic as you go on and fight more and more enemies.

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Honestly, SiN Reloaded is one of the best arguments for game preservation by remaster I've seen in a while. It's a great package, it plays well, the game can be tweaked to be as original as you want with mechanics and graphics, or you can double down on upgrades for a tight and streamlined experience. Most importantly though, the game is just fun on its own.

Lawn Mowing Simulator 2! (GenAI OptOut) | Streaming lawn mowing simulator 2.

Earlier this month, I got to play a few hours of the limbless legend's return in Rayman Legends Retold to see how Ubisoft has taken the past 13 years since Legends to put together Rayman's most whimsical journey yet. From the drastic change in visual style to the funny gameplay gimmicks, I had a lot to enjoy in my demo session.

It's easy to look at Garfield - Escape from Monday and assume it's a meme. Back in the day, it seemed every remotely popular children's character got its own confusing shovelware platformer (or two), so you might be expecting something like that. Plus, Garfield as a property is simply not taken seriously, so this can't really be helped. However, don't be fooled, as developer OSome Studio has delivered an engaging collectathon platformer with plenty of content, great controls, and lots of food to collect. The lasagna is ON!

In this episode of the Day 0 Update: We talk about the many layoffs and shutdowns of this week, Rayman Legends Retold's weird delay, and what's going on at Bungie. All this and more, up next! Intro What Are We Playing C: Wolverine, RuneScape: Dragonwilds, Mega Man X: Command Mission B: Fire Emblem, Ghost of Yotei D: Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter, Madden NFL 27, CONTROL Resonant…

In this episode of Let’s Weekend: We talk about the incident that nearly started a war, what's going on with Macklemore, and a new cat that was discovered. Intro What Are We Up To? C: Coyote vs Acme, Stranger Things: Tales from ‘85 S2, Fallout 76 B: Fire Emblem, Ghost of Yotei, books, Asshole Summer almost over Brandon’s Random Factoid…

Accessibility maestro, Steve Saylor (whom many know as The Blind Gamer) talks about and opens up a Magic: The Gathering x The Hobbit bundle!

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What the heck is Mega Man X: Command Mission?! (GenAI OptOut) | Streaming mega man x: command mission.

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I don’t want to experience the sport I know and love only in a video game. I want something wacky and silly—something I would never see on TV—that still captures the essence of the sport. Freestyle Football 2, developed by WOORE and published by JOYCITY, aims to deliver exactly that: the core of soccer fused with the whimsy of video games.

Stranger than Heaven is a game that's been making waves and has our attention, but not just for its gameplay. From the studio behind the Yakuza and Like a Dragon games, we get instant Kamurocho vibes. But after seeing footage of the game showcasing various Japanese prefectures over 50 years, dating back to 1915? That's interesting in its own right. Oh, and Snoop Dogg and Tupac are gonna be in the game too. Totally weird and, in most cases, revolting, sure, but that's not what I'm here to talk about.

Checking out RuneScape: Dragonwilds! (GenAI OptOut) | Streaming runescape: dragonwilds.

As I grow older, I’ve fallen in love with games that feature Full Motion Video (FMV). There’s something so jarring about playing a video game and, all of a sudden, having a real person deliver lines while still in that game’s universe. At first, I found this technique cheesy. Now, I see the beauty in it, adding a bit of narrative and adding to the immersion of the game’s story.

As usual, Polish developers and teams were strongly represented at this year’s PAX West. Indie Games Poland Foundation brought 14 titles to the showroom floor, showcasing the country's abundant talent. With 800+ developers, Poland hosts a vibrant, thriving indie gaming scene. Although it was only a small slice, I had an excellent time during a quick one-hour hands-on preview of three of the 14 games, spanning all sorts of genres.

A new, expanded trailer for the first big expansion of Monster Hunter Wilds, Ascendance, debuted moments ago at Tokyo Game Show. While we weren't there to react live, we did get a chance to try out a couple hunts when Capcom invited us to their San Francisco HQ to get my hands on their TGS 2026 lineup.

Unfortunately, nobody at SmashPad could make it to Tokyo Game Show this year (maybe next year!). Luckily, Capcom invited us over to their headquarters in San Francisco to check out their TGS lineup. While there was a lot to show, only one game was a new release -- Mega Man: Dual Override, and even though we just previewed it a few weeks ago, it felt fresh. And yes, it was quite difficult.

Nowadays, it’s rare for a development studio to get the chance to remaster one of its original games, especially in this climate where studios are shut down for all sorts of meaningless reasons. That’s why I consider this an amazing success: Pipeworks Studios, the original developer of Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee (2002), has partnered with Atari to develop this remaster.

Since every Trails game is connected and lengthy, starting the series fresh is an arduous task for even the most dedicated players. Last year's release of Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter, a remake of the original game, gave players the rare opportunity to do just that, while also giving fans a modern way to relive the game's memorable moments in 4K with a pristine new art style.

YouTube video by SmashPad

YouTube video by SmashPad

What's up with Wolverine? (GenAI OptOut) | Streaming marvel's wolverine.

Digital Eclipse bringing all the old Toy Story games back in one package is definitely something to take note of.

While I consider myself a huge Persona fan, I haven't actually played through Persona 4 or Persona 4 Golden in its entirety. Again, as a fan, I know how important this release was, and it's actually my younger brother's favorite game in the series, so I've definitely heard my share of "dude, come on" and "wooowwww" regarding me not playing this one, and the reactions I got were the same as someone who never played through all of Persona 3 (or FES, or Portable) until the release of Persona 3 Reload last year.

I love RPGs. I love Disney (yes, I’m a “Disney Adult” who loves the theme parks). And yet, I have never played past the first Kingdom Hearts. How or why did this happen? For starters, hearing that the lore/story is so convoluted that you’d need to watch hours-long YouTube videos just to make sense of it all is just a bit off-putting. That, plus some of the obscure titles, made me unsure what order I was supposed to play the games in. It all felt so daunting. That is until I heard about Kingdom Hearts Collection [I~III]. Having all the games perfectly packaged together was ideal for someone like me, a bit of a noob to the franchise.

In this episode of the Day 0 Update: We talk about the absurdly late release dates for Blizzard's announcements, the Nintendo Direct reveals, and what's up with Star Fox Adventures. All this and more, up next! Intro What Are We Playing C: Crazy Taxi World Tour CNT, Pragmata, Hitman WOA B: Ghost of Yotei, No Man’s Sky D:  PAX West - Final Fantasy VII Revelation, Final Fantasy Resonance, Stranger than Heaven, Persona 4 Revival, Remaining Grace…

In this episode of Let’s Weekend: We talk about the death of Gloria Steinem, Tupac’s killer finally being found guilty of murder, and the UN’s new map that more accurately represents Africa’s size. Intro What Are We Up To? C: Supergirl, The Paper S2, Pragmata, Hitman WOA B: Ghost of Yotei, No Man’s Sky, books, Disney Trip planning continues. Brandon’s Random Factoid…