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Sam Howitt

@samuelhowitt.bsky.social
728 followers 682 following 1.1K posts

I wrote a lot about Final Fantasy and now I'm branching out to other videogames. They/Them Words at pixpen.co.uk

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Critical Distance | Where’s all the good writing about games? @critdistance.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
This week: Ace Combat, Resident Evil, Sonic CD, and lots more: critical-distance.com/2026/09/27/s...
critical-distance.com
September 27th
Welcome back readers. As we move into the back quarter of the year, it’s time for us to start thinking about our annual Year In Videogames Blogging recap. This is always a major undertaking, …
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Tim Gaedke @timgaedke.com · 26/09/2026
talent is a lie
a cartoon picture of a frog throwing a crooked looking clay vase with the words “talent is a lie, just do it anyway”
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Sam Howitt @samuelhowitt.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
In case you missed it, I put up a new blog post yesterday!
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SEGA SATURN, SHIRO! @segasaturnshiro.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Is there any harm in using AI to work on — or entirely create — projects for the Sega Saturn and elsewhere in the retro gaming scene? Yes, PandaMonium says in this opinion column, equating such work to digital asbestos: www.segasaturnshiro.com/2026/09/24/c... #sega #saturn #segasaturn #retrogaming
segasaturnshiro.com
Column: All A.I. Projects Are Digital Asbestos
The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent the views of all SHIRO! Media Group contributors. The cost of modern day video game consoles and personal computers have skyrocketed…
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Sam Howitt @samuelhowitt.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Currently I'm catching up on Final Fantasy XIV, since it recently had the final story quest patch for its current expansion. I'm having a great time in all the multiplayer dungeons and fights, but everything in-between I'm really on autopilot. I'm planning to have an article about that out soon.
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Sam Howitt @samuelhowitt.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
In case you missed it, I put up a new blog post yesterday!
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Jordan Starkweather ✨ @jackal27.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
this game is very important to me on a spiritual level and i think you should buy it
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Sam Howitt @samuelhowitt.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
NEW BLOG POST: Revisiting Kingdom Hearts II again made me realise that it's about moving on. pixpen.co.uk/2026/09/23/a...
pixpen.co.uk
After Summer – Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix
I remember long summer holidays as a child. For a long while, it never got in my head that some day those would just stop happening. It wasn’t until I reached adulthood and left education that the …
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Sam Howitt @samuelhowitt.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
NEW BLOG POST: Revisiting Kingdom Hearts II again made me realise that it's about moving on. pixpen.co.uk/2026/09/23/a...
pixpen.co.uk
After Summer – Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix
I remember long summer holidays as a child. For a long while, it never got in my head that some day those would just stop happening. It wasn’t until I reached adulthood and left education that the …
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Sam Howitt @samuelhowitt.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
I should play a dungeon crawler.
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Sam Howitt @samuelhowitt.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix article from me going up on pixpen.co.uk this evening!
pixpen.co.uk
Pixpen
Trying to understand how games work
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Moss @soothemoss.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
if folks could help with food expenses this week it would be much appreciated
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Deleted Saves @deletedsavesmag.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Mazen Haggag closes out Deleted Saves Issue #3 with a deep dive into the superficial representation of Middle Eastern & North African culture in Final Fantasy XVI. Check it out below! www.deletedsaves.com/the-cultural...
deletedsaves.com
The Cultural Void of Final Fantasy XVI’s Dhalmekia
The problem is that Dhalmekia — the only non-white nation in the base game — is all surface, no substance.
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Erin Returns!! @woodaba.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
NEW ARTICLE! Cavia is gone, but "In the Copied Cathedral", my exploration of the Drakengard/NieR series, continues on. Drakengard 3 is a game of monstrosity and monotony, the end result of discovering an audience that enjoys drinking your poison, and wondering how much you can charge for each drop.
woodaba.neocities.org
The Copied Cathedral: Drakengard 3
The Last Song.
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Sam Howitt @samuelhowitt.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
I've gone back to Final Fantasy XIV for an upcoming article, and the fun thing about only having the late evenings to play it is I seem to have a short window before everyone else playing goes to bed.
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Erin Returns!! @woodaba.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
hey remember when i played all of the mass effects in rapid succession over the past couple months? well, here is what i have to show for that: a post attempting to articulate the virtues and vices of the most over-signified ending of a video game, possibly ever.
woodaba.neocities.org
The Last Mass Effect 3 Ending Post
No esteemed deed is commemorated here.
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Ste Pickford @stepickford.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
As someone who worked at a British dev studio in the north of England who made superhero games for Acclaim, this post is spot on.
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Sam Howitt @samuelhowitt.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Does anyone know when the Touhou remake is supposed to come out on the Switch/Switch 2 in the UK? It's on every other platform but that one for some reason, but I'd prefer to have it on the Switch 2.
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Transparency @transparency.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
You know, I often say that playing old video games is like learning a language. The more you play them the better you become at understanding their vocabulary, the structure, etc. You can become fluent in classic video games, but I think a lot of people simply have lost it, or never learned how to.
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Transparency @transparency.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
All Playstation 2 games can be sorted into three distinct categories; Dreamcast, Playstation 2 and Xbox 360 light.
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Max the comics guy who does comics about comics @waitingforthetrade.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
A picture of Doctor Doom captioned “Doom did invent the FPS no matter what that fool Richards claims”
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lex luddy needs a nap @lexluddy.xyz · 04/09/2026
My first piece for @kotaku.com sees me document the rather surreal experience of demoing a game funded by a government that would have me executed for being trans. kotaku.com/the-1001-thr...
kotaku.com
The 1001 Threads Of Mizan Director Avoids Answering A Simple Question At Gamescom - Kotaku
'This is a really decentralized company. We completely decentralized'
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Erin Returns!! @woodaba.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
over the coming month, i wanna make an earnest effort to pitch stuff to various places. i've been writing about games in various forms for nearly a decade and that experience could be at YOUR disposal! please keep me in mind, you could have work i'm very proud of like this for your site...
thestacks.ca
Baldur's Gate 3 and Sexuality
'Sycophantic to the player’s fantasy of desirability'
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Sam Howitt @samuelhowitt.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Been a bit quiet on here but I'm still around. I've got another blog post that I'm working on for September.
Kingdom Hearts 2 screenshot. 

A blue haired man faces a grey haired man, both in long black coats and looking towards a heart shaped moon. Can only see the backs of their heads.
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Sam Howitt @samuelhowitt.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Name five albums that helped shape you. Rush - Moving Pictures The Cure - Disintegration Depeche Mode - Playing the Angel Late of the Pier - Fantasy Black Channel The Police - Zenyatta Mondatta
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amr al-aaser @siegarettes.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
My breakdown of Marvel Tokon and how its goal to make an approachable tag fighter gets in its way I talk about its inconsistent rules, flat character kits, and how it tries to reign in tag fighter chaos but instead only adds an execution barrier to it youtu.be/MaKHZphTWYs?...
youtu.be
Marvel Tokon is a beautiful mess
YouTube video by siegarettes
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Sam Howitt @samuelhowitt.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
If you just want to have some fun with Kingdom Hearts, just playing a few games will do. If you want to have a complete picture of Kingdom Hearts, this guide offers the path of least resistance to that.
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Kami @comutiny.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Found this audio file of me failing to play a simple melody on a tin whistle and I have absolutely zero memory of making it
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maddie ★ othatsraspberry @othatsraspberry.com · 15/08/2026
since kingdom hearts is in the news, have a classic doodle
Kingdom Hearts doodle
Maleficent: You see that? He replaced you with an angry duck.
Riku: what the heck, dude…
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Sam Howitt @samuelhowitt.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
In case you missed it, over the weekend I put up a new blog post for Golden Sun's 25th anniversary!
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Kimimi🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ @kimimithegameeatingshemonster.com · 04/08/2026
I've spent the past 8 years writing 777+ articles on everything from big hits to indie gems and untranslated treasures across dozens of formats. Japanese tape-loaded adventures, Taiwanese horror, Korean RPGs, British strategy... I bet I can show you something new! kimimithegameeatingshemonster.com
kimimithegameeatingshemonster.com
Kimimi The Game-Eating She-Monster
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Sam Howitt @samuelhowitt.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
In case you missed it, over the weekend I put up a new blog post for Golden Sun's 25th anniversary!
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Critical Distance | Where’s all the good writing about games? @critdistance.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
This week: Fifty picks past and present--twenty-five new reads, twenty-five from the archives: critical-distance.com/2026/08/02/a...
critical-distance.com
August 2nd
Welcome back readers. Before we hop in, I just want to offer a quick reminder that the Friendslop Jam we’re hosting is underway, and you’ve got two weeks and change to get your writing …
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amr al-aaser @siegarettes.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
genuinely, this is a huge missing link I the development of Japanese adventure games and the whole visual novel genre its influence is felt in so many of the most popular works even today I wrote a huge piece on it and the way it's influenced the genre canonfire.net/post/7022178...
canonfire.net
024: Kamaitachi no Yoru  かまいたちの夜 (Night of the Sickle Weasel/Banshee’s Last Cry)
CANON FIRE is made possible by the generous contributions of readers like you. Support more writing like this on Patreon. Thank you! Chunsoft may have one of the biggest discrepancies in reputation...
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Sam Howitt @samuelhowitt.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
NEW BLOG POST: For Golden Sun’s 25th anniversary, I wrote about why those two GBA games resonated, their strengths as RPGs, and the impact they made on my own tastes. pixpen.co.uk/2026/08/01/m...
pixpen.co.uk
Moving Elements – 25 years of Golden Sun 1 and 2
This article will have major spoilers for both Golden Sun and Golden Sun: The Lost Age. As of the day this article has been published, it has now been 25 years since the release of Golden Sun for t…
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Sam Howitt @samuelhowitt.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
NEW BLOG POST: For Golden Sun’s 25th anniversary, I wrote about why those two GBA games resonated, their strengths as RPGs, and the impact they made on my own tastes. pixpen.co.uk/2026/08/01/m...
pixpen.co.uk
Moving Elements – 25 years of Golden Sun 1 and 2
This article will have major spoilers for both Golden Sun and Golden Sun: The Lost Age. As of the day this article has been published, it has now been 25 years since the release of Golden Sun for t…
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Abram Buehner @abrambuehner.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth's excess is as unmistakable as it is endearing. A moving, messy journey that accumulates feeling through its best and, more importantly, its most tedious episodes. I love this game, and I'd love it if you checked this out! medium.com/@abrambuehne...
medium.com
Catching on Rough Edges
There’s a dungeon hidden in the guts of Shinra Manor. Much of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth’s eleventh chapter is spent there, solving…
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Sam Howitt @samuelhowitt.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
Today's the 25th anniversary of Golden Sun! I'll have a blog post up later today about it, and you could go to this page to make sure it goes to your email as soon as it's up. pixpen.co.uk/subscribe/
pixpen.co.uk
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SpaceQueenEmily @spacequeenemily.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
Here's an ideal example of showing off the Westwood Dragon Ball Z dub reusing music from the Mega Man cartoon.
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Moss @soothemoss.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
we are fundraising for being able to move out of our current place and cover moving expenses. any amount helps. please share if you are able gofund.me/ba6906dc7
gofund.me
Donate to Help our household move, organized by Moss Soothing
Hello, I am Moss, a protected person living in Canada with C-PTSD, debilitating anxiety and agor… Moss Soothing needs your support for Help our household move
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Sam Howitt @samuelhowitt.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
I've written up my Golden Sun 1&2 blog post! I'm now going to spend the next week doing some edits to make sure it's in an ideal shape. Make sure to half half an hour spare on 1st August to read it on pixpen.co.uk This is going to be one of my longer posts.
pixpen.co.uk
Pixpen
Trying to understand how games work
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Sam Howitt @samuelhowitt.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
Okay, this piece I'm getting together on Golden Sun 1&2 could end up being the longest thing I've ever written so far.
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Kaylyn Saucedo - MarzGurl @marzgurl.com · 21/07/2026
The Japanese word "meccha" is pronounced "meh" "cha".
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Sam Howitt @samuelhowitt.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
Very excited to be getting my Golden Sun 1 & 2 piece out there. I'm having so much fun writing it! The hope is to get it ready for 1st August, and you could fill in your email address on this page so it'll be delivered to your inbox as soon as it's up. pixpen.co.uk/subscribe/
pixpen.co.uk
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amr al-aaser @siegarettes.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
INCOMING CANON FIRE! With razor sharp action refined over a decade, a gorgeous paper craft presentation, and surprising tenderness for its queer characters, MAJOGAMI is peak Inti Creates. So of course it's dragged down by the worst writing they've put to paper. canonfire.net/post/8226811...
canonfire.net
069: Majogami
Positioned as Inti Creates’ 30th anniversary project, Majogami builds upon decades of 2D action game concepts developed at the company. Following Shiroha, a girl gtrapped in a papercraft world,...
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Sam Howitt @samuelhowitt.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
As of today Final Fantasy X is 25 years old! Without a doubt, my favourite videogame. I'd like to think what I wrote on it a few years ago captures my feelings on it well. pixpen.co.uk/2021/02/08/t...
pixpen.co.uk
The Future is a Foreign Country – Final Fantasy X
This article contains major spoilers. The first playable moment of Final Fantasy X put into perspective a lot of what this game does for me. Main character Tidus has to make his way to the big blit…
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Sam Howitt @samuelhowitt.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
That's credits rolled on Golden Sun: The Lost Age, and so I'll be focusing on getting a piece written for both of those GBA games. That ended up being a very tough final fight that I was very close to losing. Both my party and the boss down to a sliver of health, that turn could've gone either way.
Golden Sun: The Lost Age Staff credits

Game planning 
Hiroyuki Takahashi
Shugo Takahashi

Scenario
Hiroyuki Takahashi
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GuileWinQuote @guilewinquote.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
you tell someone that you feel like something you like is losing its identity to appeal to a broader audience and they start talking to you like a shareholder
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amr al-aaser @siegarettes.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
INCOMING CANON FIRE! Now up on canonfire.net, a retrospective of AZURE STRIKER GUNVOLT! The flagship series from Inti Creates, devs of Mega Man, Bloodstained, and Gal Gun. Gunvolt sees a decade of high quality pixel art, fast action, and a rollercoaster of experimental gameplay styles.
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Unwinnable @unwinnable.com · 16/07/2026
ICYMI: "Final Fantasy XIII treats the question of insurrectionary violence against a terror state as a foregone conclusion from the moment we enter into the gameworld." @noescapevg.com explores Final Fantasy XIII's anarchist vision:
unwinnable.com
Final Fantasy XIII's Anarchist Dream - Unwinnable
While the party doesn’t find a cure or stymie for their divine curse, they do find and reaffirm the need for solidarity.
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