Jaina Hill
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COGConnectedLatest Reviews
Islets
Metroidvanias are the purest form of video games. Most games have some sort of progress track, a sense of exploration, and gameplay loops that indicate you’ve grown in strength. But despite a strong foundational idea, good Metroidvanias, really good ones that can create a sense of atmosphere, are rarer than...
Maybe you’re an easy mark for a tactical RPG. You see a movement grid, and your heart flutters. With just one look at Symphony of War: The Nephillim Saga, you can already tell it’s going to hit all the right buttons. But this is more than just another derivative tactics...
Look at how far we’ve come. That’s a big theme in Galactic Civilizations IV, the latest entry in a strategy series that dares ask the question: what if Civ was set in space? These games have been around for longer than proper graphics. The latest entry is a cutting-edge survey...
Terraformers
More and more frequently, I dream of terraforming. I’m sure for no reason in particular, I search for games that will let me think about what it would take to cultivate life on another world. Usually, that world is the red planet. In Terraformers, I did not find a simulation...
There’s nothing like a good murder mystery, doubly true in video games. The emphasis is on the good and while there are lots of murder mysteries that are good stories, how often do you really find yourself straining your detective brain? Enter Chinatown Detective Agency, a point-and-click adventure game published...
Logic Artists is a studio primarily known for the Expeditions series. This Rome game marks the third installment. I never played their first game, Expeditions: Conquistadors, which received mixed reviews. Plus, role playing as a Conquistador didn’t appeal to me. Their next game, Expeditions: Vikings was much more my speed....
I’ve never seen a single episode of any Gundam show. I’ve also never seen a Code Geass. And when I saw a game called Super Robot Wars 30, I worried that I’d have to catch up on the previous 29 games. Turns out, that’s not the case. Super Robot Wars...
Into the Pit
Relentless. That’s the one word to describe Into the Pit. And you know what? If that’s the one goal of the game, Into the Pit is flawless. The speed, the music, the low-fi graphics, the entire experience is designed to come at you, at maximum velocity and full tension. It...
There are some ideas that just lend themselves to good video games. It’s why we’ve seen so many Viking games lately. A culture devoted to naval raids and axe fighting is also a culture dedicated to good game mechanics. The same principle applies to Battle Brothers, a strategy game where...
Black Legend
Oh, how I long to lead a squad of digital mercenaries through white-knuckle adventures. It’s the ultimate video game-high. You get to feel like a badass warrior and a strategic mastermind all at once. So I was all in with the premise of Black Legend – a game that asks...
Empire of Sin
The order was given. My trigger men were going to hit the safehouse of a rival gang. I had with me my lucky bat and two of my best guys, both of them armed with tommy guns (or Chicago typewriters if you’re feeling vulgar). We entered and all hell broke...
ScourgeBringer
Do you ever idly put on a TV show you’ve never heard of, only to discover it’s your new favorite? And this of course, sends you into a spiral of existential dread- there’s so much stuff out there, more than you could ever experience, and some of it is inevitably going to...
