Gothic Remake "Nyras Prologue" - Feedback + Review

Alkimia Interactive and THQ Nordic, the companies behind the Gothic Remake, have finally released a new playable demo to the general public as part of Steam's Next Fest 2025. The "Nyras Prologue" as they're calling it, is a version of a similar demo that's been floating around for a while now, last seen at Gamescom in August 2024, and perhaps even before that for more limited press coverage. In this demo, you play as Nyras -- whom you may remember from the original game -- just after he's thrown into the colony for the first time, tasked with exploring a small area around the exchange zone and completing a few quests with basic character interactions and combat opportunities. As such, it does not represent what the actual start of the actual game will be like, since they claim that "the full game [will] follow the story, structure, and spirit of the original Gothic, with the Nameless Hero as the protagonist." This demo is basically a mod scenario simply meant to preview what certain mechanics or production designs might look like, in addition to the game's modding capabilities, and of course the creators are quick to point out that everything is a work-in-progress which is subject to change, and that there WILL be bugs and glitches involved. Knowing that, it's hard to judge this demo since it's unclear what exactly is intended JUST for the sake of this one limited scenario, versus what might be intended for the full game experience. 

Elden Ring - Review | How good is the open world, really?

Elden Ring is the latest "Soulsborne" style of action-role-playing-game by developer FromSoftware, who launched this sub-genre back in 2009 with Demon's Souls on the PS3. The emphasis of this series, which includes the Dark Souls trilogy and the PS4-exclusive Bloodborne, has always been about traversing assorted levels while trying to survive against difficult hazards and enemy encounters so you can defeat the level's boss, with a combat system that relies on learning to read enemy behaviors so you can know when to safely attack, dodge, or heal, and managing a limited stamina gauge while performing various types of attacks and defensive maneuvers. The series also incorporates RPG elements with a leveling system that has you increasing different stats of your choosing as you gain experience from defeated enemies, as well as choosing specific weaponry, spells, jewelry, and items that contribute to your own desired build and playstyle, which you find by exploring levels for optional side paths and hidden secrets, in some cases even completing NPC quest lines. All-the-while, the action-based gameplay is wrapped up with a wealth of deep lore and indirect storytelling, with item descriptions and dialogue that hint only vaguely at narrative concepts you're meant to piece together through your own interpretive reasoning and deduction. 

While some people may get a lot out of this style of storytelling and world-building, I would guess that for the vast majority of people out there, the real appeal of the Souls formula, and by extension Elden Ring, is simply the fun combat system and all the satisfying challenge it presents each time you're able to clear a level and defeat the boss waiting for you at the end. Elden Ring follows these Souls-like elements to a T, so much so that you could almost call it Dark Souls 4, or Demon's Souls 6, if you will, despite it technically being its own unique property. It's basically the exact same game, just with some of the names of things being changed -- for example, "souls" are now "runes," "bonfires" are now "sites of grace," "Firelink Shrine" is now the "Roundtable Hold" and so on, while other series staples like Patches the Hyena and the Moonlight Greatsword and leaving messages and bloodstains on the floor for other players to see, are all back again, as usual. 

As the latest installment in this long-running series, Elden Ring naturally represents the highest level of refinement and evolution to all of the core mechanics, with several new features like jumping, crouching, spell charging, spirit summons, guard counters, and more -- but the big change that it brings to the equation is shifting the world design from a more "Metroidvania-style" of linearly-structured levels with a beginning, middle, and end that progressively branch out from the starting hub and connect back to each other in different areas, into a true open-world format with massive landscapes that you can explore in all 360-degrees, in virtually any order you want. The open-world IS the defining characteristic of Elden Ring -- it's the thing that sets it apart from other Soulsborne games, and Elden Ring's execution of the open world format is commonly heralded as being among the best ever created. So if you're going to play Elden Ring at all, it's either because you're interested in the Souls formula and want to play the latest rendition of that experience, or it's because you're specifically looking for a good open-world gameplay experience.

Star Trek: Resurgence - Review | Some of the best Trek in DECADES...

Star Trek: Resurgence is a story-driven adventure game by Dramatic Labs, a studio created recently by former Telltale developers who wanted to carry on the tradition of games they were previously known for like The Walking Dead, The Wolf Among Us, and countless others. If you're familiar with any of those games then you should already know basically what to expect with Star Trek: Resurgence -- a lot of cutscenes where you pick dialogue options and react to timed prompts, alternating with moments of limited exploration, light puzzle-solving, and scripted action sequences, where the decisions you make along the way influence the way the story shapes up. The story, of course, is the main draw, here, with it basically being like a good multi-episode arc from the 90's era of Star Trek TV shows, expanded into a 10-12 hour runtime that allows you to really immerse yourself in the setting and feel like you're actually taking part in a series of Star Trek, in more elaborate and involved ways than what would typically be shown in the actual shows.

Now, you don't necessarily have to be a fan of Star Trek to enjoy Resurgence -- at a minimum, you just have to enjoy "choose your own adventure" style video games and be open to an optimistic sci-fi space adventure story, which requires no prior knowledge of Star Trek since it revolves around an entirely new cast of characters trying to resolve a conflict between two entirely made-up, new-to-this-game species. The game is sure to explain any relevant lore details from the shows or movies that a new player might not know, or that an established fan might have even forgotten about, while other things can be easily deduced as you go along; for example you don't need to know what the Kobayashi Maru is to infer from the surrounding context clues that it's a notoriously difficult test, which is all you really need to know to understand the point of that conversation. So it should be fairly easy to follow along with everything even if you don't know anything about Star Trek.

Stardew Valley - 2024 Review | Why is this game so good?

Note: This review contains very mild spoilers for seasonal events, end-game content, and unlocked gameplay systems, but does not spoil any major character arcs or story events. I don't consider anything in this review to be a major spoiler, but if you're someone who wants to discover everything yourself then you should exercise caution with this review. (And probably shouldn't be reading/watching 45-minute deep-dive reviews in the first place, if so.) It is based on vanilla version 1.6.

 

Stardew Valley is an "open-ended country-life RPG" in which you create your own character and inherit your departed grandfather's dilapidated old farm on the outskirts of Pelican Town, a small rural town in the greater region of Stardew Valley. The core gameplay systems revolve around typical farming activities (which includes planting, watering, and harvesting crops, and tending to various livestock to process their produce, among other things); foraging for natural resources that will be used in various cooking and crafting recipes; fishing the local ocean, river, and lakes to catch assorted fish and treasures with rods or traps; mining for minerals and ore necessary to upgrade your tools and farming equipment while fighting the various monsters that inhabit the mines in an effort to survive its deeper and more dangerous depths; building your relationship with the local townsfolk by talking to them, giving them gifts, completing their requests, and making choices in their various cutscenes; and just in general exploring the town and its surrounding areas as you unlock new areas by advancing through the game, which in turn unlock new gameplay options, with lots of hidden secrets to discover.

There's no clear-cut "goal" you're striving to accomplish in the game, except for a few general suggestions, like restoring the Community Center as a cumulative symbol of your positive influence on the town, or earning your grandfather's blessing by achieving enough success in different aspects of your farm, or the various goals you set for yourself, like setting up your perfect farm layout that maximizes every square space on the map or achieving Perfection by having done literally everything possible in the game. None of these are exactly end-game goals, however, as each one unlocks some new avenue of gameplay possibilities, with the idea being that you can continue playing indefinitely, for as long as you desire to continue playing that save file.
 
As the introductory cutscenes establish, the point of your character moving to Stardew Valley and beginning a new life as a farmer (and perhaps, by extension, why you as a player choose to play Stardew Valley), is simply a means to escape from the pressing burdens of modern life while seeking out a more peaceful, fulfilling, "down-to-earth" sort of lifestyle. That, I feel, is where Stardew Valley really shines. Although it has many compelling aspects working in its favor (like lots of engaging gameplay mechanics with tons of depth and variety to experience and a really satisfying progression system), the real reason I suspect it has such strong appeal with so many people is likely just its charming, immersive premise, and its relaxing vibes and atmosphere. After all, it's a wonderfully idealized version of a wholesome life/setting that I think many of us yearn for, where you're able to live self-sufficiently with no bosses to report to, where hard work and dedication are guaranteed to pay off, with a tight-knit small-town community who come together for all kinds of special events and contribute to society in different ways, with just a hint of magical elements to make it feel fantastical and thus a little more exciting than real life.

The Witcher 3 - Review | The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (Updated v1.1)

Note: This article is an updated version of my previous review from 2016, with extra sections and edits from my recent replay. You can view the original article here, or watch this article in video format on my YouTube channel. 

I've had nothing but tremendous respect for Polish developer CD Projekt RED ever since I played their 2007 debut, The Witcher. That game quickly vaulted its way into my short list of all-time favorite RPGs because of its deeply sophisticated quest design and its uniquely dark-fantasy-folklore atmosphere. Their 2011 followup, The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, lost some of the original game's charm and appeal for me, but was still a solid game in most respects, and I especially admired how the middle portion of the game branched in completely separate directions depending on your choices. What they and their parent company have been doing with GOG.com, meanwhile -- picking up licenses for older games, updating them to work on modern platforms, and selling them completely DRM-free at reasonable prices -- combined with their continued support for TW1 and TW2 by putting a ton of effort into the Enhanced Edition of both games and releasing the updates completely free, has made them a shining example of a game company doing good within the industry and treating their customers right -- current controversies with Cyberpunk 2077 notwithstanding.

The 2013 and 2014 E3 previews for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt generated a ton of hype, leading many publications to declare it their most anticipated game of 2015 and cumulatively bestowing it with over 200 awards before it even released. Understandably so -- how could you not be excited over the prospect of CD Projekt's masterful storytelling and quest design applied to a vast open world, with such fantastic-looking preview footage and such high production value? I was skeptical when it was first announced that the game would be open-world, because I already knew from first-hand experience how badly the process can go when trying to adapt a beloved series to a huge open-world format in its third installment, but I held out hope that CD Projekt could pull it off, given their track record of success and how much they seem to understand game design. The Witcher 3 was subsequently released in May of 2015 to universal acclaim, and shattered records for the most "Game of the Year" awards ever bestowed upon one game. I figured, at that point, that CD Projekt had defied my expectations and managed to craft a huge open-world RPG that captured all the best elements of open-world games while still retaining the unique soul and elements that made The Witcher series so great in the previous two installments. And then I actually played it.

It turns out that The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is not the perfect masterpiece so many people claim it to be. It's still pretty good, mind you, and I'd say it easily deserves to be in the conversation as one of the best open-world action-adventure-RPGs ever created, especially in terms of games with mainstream appeal. Though not among my personal favorites, I can definitely see the appeal that leads so many people to enjoy it so thoroughly. But that sort of praise and distinction don't shield it from criticism, and the fact remains that there are a lot of critical areas in which TW3 comes up short, outright disappoints, or else simply isn't as good as it could've been. There's a lot of stuff to talk about with a game this size, so I won't even try to craft this review into a paragraph-by-paragraph flowing essay; instead, I'll break it down into more targeted bullet points and categorize them based on three of Clint Eastwood's timeless criteria: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

Beginner's Guide to Elex: Tips and Advice (Updated Ver 1.1)

(Note: This article is an updated version of an article I posted in November 2017, with extra tips and a full embedded video of this article.)

Helping you get the most enjoyment out of Elex's sometimes rough and daunting beginning.

Elex is a third-person open-world action-RPG from Piranha Bytes, a small German studio, that blends traditional fantasy, science fiction, and post-apocalypse themes. Set on a world 200 years after a comet wipes out nearly all life on the planet, the survivors have split into three factions that use elex, a mysterious substance that appeared with the comet, in their own unique way to fulfill their own goals and agendas. You can be a Dungeons & Dragons-style berserker who wields swords and casts fireballs, or a Mass Effect-style cleric who uses plasma rifles and psionic mind control, or a Mad Max-style outlaw who makes their own gear from scrap and enhances their abilities with powerful stims. It's got a huge world full of diverse environments, tons of quests, lasting consequences for decisions you make, and three different factions you can join, all of which radically alter your gameplay experience by offering unique equipment and skills.

It's surprisingly good, but like other Piranha Bytes games, it has a lot of quirks and idiosyncrasies that can make it difficult for unseasoned initiates to figure out how the game actually works, what you should be doing, and so on, combined with a really steep difficulty curve that makes no effort to hold your hand. For many players, this can lead to a lot of confusion and frustration right at the start of the game, which is never a good thing, obviously, but is especially unfortunate because Elex offers an extremely compelling, rich, and rewarding experience for those who can get into it. As a long-time Piranha Bytes veteran, I still struggled with a few things in my first playthrough, and had some of my expectations subverted when I realized, dozens of hours into it, that I wished I had done things a little differently.

The purpose of this article, therefore, is to help new (or prospective) players with general tips and advice about how the game works and what you should expect, with a few basic, spoiler-free strategies to facilitate a better gameplay experience. A large part of the fun in these games is the satisfaction and reward that comes from exploring the world and discovering things on your own, so I won't be going into specific detail about "go here and get this item, then do this quest and pick these choices, build your character exactly like this, etc," because I want to leave you that room to figure things out for yourself. But some things are tough to figure out without doing a lot of trial-and-error and seeing how things pan out over the course of a 50-100 hour playthrough. So, here are some of my thoughts and observations after pouring 223 hours into four different playthroughs, which I think should be helpful to other new players.

Horizon Zero Dawn - Great Ideas, Boring Open-World

Horizon: Zero Dawn is an open-world action-adventure game with RPG elements, set in a post-apocalyptic future after a cataclysmic event wipes out virtually all life on the planet, leaving humanity to start over as basically prehistoric civilizations while beastly machines roam the earth. You play as Aloy, an outcast orphan from a primitive hunter-gatherer tribe, who, while performing a Rite of Passage to join the tribe, gets attacked by a group of assassins who believe her to have a genetic link to one of the ancient ones who built the sealed metal vaults embedded in the mountains. The rest of the game sees Aloy exploring the world beyond her tribe's Sacred Lands, doing battle with fearsome machines, completing quests and favors for various people, gaining experience to improve her fighting and survival prowess, and collecting natural resources and machine parts to craft upgrades to her equipment or to trade with merchants, all while tracking down the assassins who tried to kill her, uncovering the mystery of what happened to humanity 1000 years ago, discovering her own identity and why she was orphaned at birth, and ultimately saving the world from another apocalypse.

There's a lot to enjoy in a game like this, with such a compellingly beautiful world full of interesting lore and backstory and a bunch of tactically exciting combat encounters against uniquely-designed robot dinosaurs, but there's also a lot holding it back and preventing it from reaching its full potential. The RPG elements and melee combat system feel underdeveloped and therefore a little underwhelming, for instance, but the bulk of the issues deal with its open-world design, where it feels like the developers relied a little too much on genre tropes when creating this world, while not putting a whole lot of interesting or worthwhile things to do in it. Admittedly, Guerrilla Games executed a lot more restraint with their open-world than some other developers, and the game is better for it, but I still had this lingering feeling throughout my whole playthrough like it wasn't quite as good as it could've been.