From MOBAs, to shooters, to battle royales, Hi-Rez Studios makes games in some of the most popular and crowded genres out there. Even though they’re a much smaller studio compared to their monolithic rivals like Tencent and Blizzard, they’ve managed to find a way to punch above their weight.
They’ve also won me over as a fan of their work.
The Paladins Champions Pack is one of the most generous deals in free-to-play gaming. Pay a one-time fee of $30 and you unlock every present and future champion forever. Hi-Rez Studios has done an amazing job of supporting the only modern hero shooter to survive against Overwatch competitor, as it now has over 40 champions to choose from.
Unfortunately, the Champions Pack is being discontinued as of February 3rd. In its place will be a new season pass model that does not unlock future characters. Before then, I have one request of you.
Try Paladins now.
Rogue Company continues to be an obsession of mine. Whether I hop in as a solo rogue or squad up with my crew, I can’t quit saving the day and getting paid.
Along the way, I purchased the founder’s edition and have access to entire roster as of writing. Having at least dabbled with them all, here are my favourite rogues to battle with!
Reach out and touch someone! My Rook got a lot of burn during this Fantasy Strike stream and he scored an obnoxious amount of command grabs. Grateful to have some extended sets against really talented players! We also throw out an assortment of great movie recommendations!
View the full post to see the full video, highlights, and shoutouts!
With Fantasy Strike going free-to-play, now is an amazing time to try out one of the best and most accessible fighting games out there! Besides singing the game’s virtues throughout, we get in a bunch of matches with Fantasy Strike pro Frostilyte, and I share a cheaper alternative to game streaming!
View the full post to see the full video, highlights, and shoutouts!
Dr. Mario World plays a cruel game of rope-a-dope with its players. Many of the levels can be beaten within reason. Be that as it may, the buzzsaw is as brutal as it is inevitable.
Ever since I started playing it a few months ago, I have been a champion for Paladins. While the hero shooter space is dominated by one big player who I will try to avoid using by name in this piece, its presence doesn’t invalidate the fun to be had in the alternative created by Hi-Rez Studios. Yet on numerous occasions, I’ve seen and heard from players that they won’t touch Paladins with a 10-foot pole because they’re either fans of “the other game” and don’t want to let go, or they dismiss it for not being the “other game”.
That other game is fantastic. In fact, nowadays, I play it more than this one. Ultimately, you’re allowed to play or not play whatever you like. However, I think it’s unfair how overlooked Paladins is relative to what it has to offer. Because of that, I was inspired to make this list of five reasons why you should check out Paladins!
I hate the concept of free-to-play games. As someone who has grown up mostly buying boxed copies of video games at the store, I greatly dislike the idea of being given a game for free and then constantly harassed to pay later in exchange for cosmetic items or other things that directly impact my enjoyment of the experience. The fact that these games are wholly designed to maximize profits rather than to fully-realize a great gameplay experience is something I find rather gross.
Having said that, it’s easy to lose sight of the big picture. Video games have always been influenced by the business model behind them. Even if you go back to the arcade days where the monetization of the medium began, there was a business model driving that experience, too.
The free-to-play business model is something that fighting games are beginning to dabble in. Tekken Revolution was the first out of the gate, which provided a smaller Tekken experience that limited the number of times you could access each mode. Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate Core Fighters takes a different approach by primarily gating characters instead. Does this approach provide a less scummy experience?
Seemingly within a matter of days, the concept of the free-to-play fighting game went from zero to overdrive. Dead or Alive 5: Ultimate was first to announce that it was going free-to-play. At E3, it was revealed that the Killer Instinct reboot on Xbox One would have varying pricing options, including a free version with 1 selectable character. First out the gate though is Tekken Revolution. As an old man someone who is generally weary of the free-to-play model, I approached this as an interesting approach to fighting games and their pricing models.
In Third Person 