Lucas White
Game industry critic and reviewer
Writing For
ShackNews
TheGamer
Playstation Lifestyle
Nintendo WireLatest Reviews
Sometimes a game simply says what it is on the box, delivers on its premise, and gets the heck out of Dodge. That was my exact experience with LEGO Voyagers, a new co-op puzzle adventure from Annapurna Interactive and Light Brick Studio. It’s short and sweet, sticking around just as...
Varlet
FuRyu is one of my favorite sources of RPGs off the beaten path. The Alliance Alive takes inspiration from SaGa of all places, and tells a fascinating story while still striving to be weird. Crystar is one of the bluntest portrayals of depression I’ve ever seen in a game that...
Too Kyo Games and its partners have been pumping games out at an impressive clip, with new stories from Danganronpa creator Kazutaka Kodaka taking that original over the top, “death game” framework and finding new ways to apply that energy. Earlier this year, Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy- made waves...
It’s kind of weird how infrequent it feels to see a big, 3D platformer, especially ones not made by Nintendo. In the same year as Donkey Kong Bananza, you’d think the runway would stay as clear as usual. But that’s not the case, as The Knightling has appeared from developer...
Before anything else, it feels like a miracle to simply download and play a new Super Robot Wars on my PlayStation 5. No importing, no additional accounts, no region-locked DLC. It’s a wonderful thing.
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Being able to revisit history in such a profound way as I did this past week is beyond rare. As a teenager in the mid-2000s, I was the perfect age to be online and embedded in gaming during ground zero of what we consider “indie” games. Games like Cave Story...
When it comes to beat ‘em ups, there’s a lot of history, a lot of convention, and a lot of room still to innovate and play around. Ra Ra Boom has looked like an intriguing example of experimentation in that space for a few years now, and I was excited...
Video games being self-referential is about as special as grocery store sushi, but Shadow Labyrinth is like how Kroger started dusting its spicy California rolls with Flamin’ Hot Cheetos crumbs. The team behind this monstrosity basically asked: “Pac-Man’s 45th birthday is here; what if instead of the usual stuff we...
When I first saw Date Everything, I was suspicious. There’s a trend in Western visual novels with a heavy lean toward parody or irony often flavored with a hubris or disrespect that borders on, at best, otherism. Games like Doki Doki Literature Club or the constant barrage of April Fools...
Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo makes an absurdly powerful first impression. As the game loads, a 3D-modeled, handheld gaming console descends from the heavens, artificial light reflecting from the smudged plastic coating on its screen. The console twirls as a cartridge falls into the slot, then spins back to face...
When I see “Compile Heart,” I usually know what to expect. This company is best known for modestly-produced RPGs that pick a lane and stomp on the gas, recklessly driving a chosen gimmick like a car in oncoming traffic. There’s the silly parodies (Hyperdimension Neptunia), the irredeemably horny (Record of...
MercurySteam and I don’t tend to get along. I found its Castlevania series interesting at first, but ultimately a whiff. And its take on Metroid is perhaps the most impressive effort in Missing The Point I've ever seen in a video game. But there’s no denying this studio has a...
