Best known for making meaty single-player RPGs with a heavy emphasis on storytelling, BioWare is trying something different with Anthem. They don’t completely leave the RPG genre behind, but this is an action game to the core. So much so, that it’s heavily recommended you play the experience online with friends or strangers through matchmaking. Does BioWare have the chops to create a game this far out of their comfort zone? And for fans of their previous works, does Anthem provide enough reasons for you to join them on this journey? The full game isn’t out yet, but I tried out the demo to get a taste of what’s to come.
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Blade Strangers – Shovel Knight Arcade Mode Playthrough
Shovel Knight breaks out of his 8-bit world to star in the anime crossover fighting game Blade Strangers! Watch him fight his way up the arcade mode ladder! Full review coming soon!
Also, here’s a bonus highlight of a viewer sharing their love story!
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Celeste – Chapter 7: The Summit
This is it! Does Madeline have what it takes to finally reach the peak of Mount Celeste? And what will she do if she gets there?! One more time in the world of Celeste let’s go!
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Anthem Demo Starts Today and Runs Throughout This Weekend
Starting at noon EST today and ending at 9pm EST on Monday, February 4th, the Anthem demo will be playable for all. As a huge BioWare fan whose had this game on pre-order for years, I’m really excited to give their next adventure a shot! Will have more to say on the demo soon, but for now, I’ll be anxiously awaiting for it to launch!
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Initial Thoughts on What We’ve Seen of Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid So Far
Admittedly, I haven’t followed the Power Rangers since their original Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers run in the early 90s. Having said that, I know the franchise continues to thrive with new stories being told in that universe all the time on TV, in comic books, and even in the theatres. As far as games go, Power Rangers: Legacy Wars has been a popular mobile fighting game for some time.
Now the Power Rangers are jumping back onto home platforms, and hopefully leaving the most broken fighting game character of all-time behind. Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid is a 3v3 tag fighter that stars a whole bunch of rangers from different generations. I have my concerns, but I also have hopes that this won’t be terrible.
I like the idea of this being a tag fighter. The Power Rangers fight as a team, so of course they would team up. This looks to borrow the basic framework established by the Marvel vs. Capcom series, where you control one “point” character, while the others can be called upon to perform assist moves.
From the little we’ve seen in the trailer, it looks like the game is going to make good use of this mechanic. In this one GIF above, the classic red ranger does a move that allows him to dash behind his opponent, while his yellow ranger assist continues to hit him from the front. Classic tag fighter tactics right there.
However, the animation of the game gives me pause. Movements look stiff in a way that is jarring to my eye. Combine that with the game’s overall pedestrian presentation, and I’m a bit concerned with how the game is shaping up.
At the very least, I’m glad to see the developers taking this game at least somewhat seriously. Fighting game legend Justin Wong has announced that he’s involved in the project in a consultant role. Not sure what his abilities are as a fighting game designer, but he’s phenomenal at playing them, even if he did lose to me once (and no, I will never let him live that down). Hoping his expertise helps take the project to the next level while possibly opening up more career opportunities for him!
We won’t have to wait too long to see how Power Rangers: Battle of the Grid turns out. The game is set for release this spring. Fingers crossed that it shapes up to be a quality fighter!
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Celeste – Chapter 6: Reflection
After a lovely fireside chat with Theo, Madeline directly confronts Part of Me. Is she making the right choice by attempting to divorce herself from her other half? Join me for the penultimate level in Celeste!
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Starlink: Battle for Atlas – The Grind is Real
Approaching the end of the game, the repetitive nature of Starlink: Battle for Atlas rears its ugly head. Watch me run through the same tasks repeatedly for two hours as I try to unlock its endgame!
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Bob! Do Something! Causal Overwatch Matches
My rusty Ashe mostly gets wrecked in this set of Overwatch matches, but Double Jump and I have a great conversation about house hunting! Join us for a great chat on finding that dream home and please ignore my mostly-poor play!
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The Parallels Between Overwatch and Street Fighter
Up until my time with Overwatch, shooters for me have been primarily an exercise of precision shooting. In games where each character is only really defined by the gun they wield, differences in weapon and equipment don’t really do much to separate one player from another. Especially in games where players can hold multiple guns and carry different equipment, the only real differences are the players themselves. I know there will be hardcore shooter players that will call shenanigans on that statement, but let me continue. Even in a game like Splatoon, where shooting isn’t necessarily the goal of the game, you still all play as the same default characters with adjustments to equipment. I have enjoyed a number of shooters in my day, but most of them haven’t really sunk their teeth into me.
Until Overwatch. Granted, Team Fortress 2 did it first, but Overwatch stands out from the pack for straying beyond the default soldier with different weapons approach. The term “hero shooter” exists thanks to games like Team Fortress 2, Overwatch, and Paladins. In a lot of ways, my reasons for loving Overwatch are similar to why I love Street Fighter and other types of fighting games.
Celeste: Chapter 5 – Mirror Temple
Even after numerous fails and getting stuck for far longer than I should, we found the strength within to power through the Mirror Temple in Celeste!
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