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What We Can Expect in Elder Scrolls 6 from Starfield

Editorials
ESVI

Starfield, which has been the hallmark moniker for “Toddslop,” has set the bar for future Bethesda games fairly low. Starfield’s launch has been met with a considerable amount of negative reception and I fully expect that Elder Scrolls 6 will meet the same fate. To succinctly put my point: Skyrim will remain the gold standard and Elder Scrolls 6 will fall as flat as Starfield has. That is unless Bethesda does some major restructuring with their creative design. Skyrim is where this series will rest on its laurels forever, unless innovation comes fast. Starfield gave us an inferior experience to Skyrim, even with the wealth of new technology and learnings from Skyrim and Elder Scrolls Online, along with Fallout 4 and Fallout 76. Starfield Sets the Bar Low Starfield should have been the latest open world RPG that players flock to. A space setting, with the Bethesda world building and…

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Ten Best Inexpensive Steam Games, 2024

Guides
meangreens 1623653b

The gaming landscape, now more than ever with the modern proliferation of indie games, has shown that great games can come in all sizes. There are low quality AAA games that cost millions of dollars to make, and there are fantastic games from one-man studios that were crowdfunded, and some not even that. Further, while all of us wish we had the kind of money in real life as we tend to end up with in our favorite video games, that’s not always the case. And even for those who do, there is no income limit where you are required to stop being careful with how you spend your money. So, why pay a lot for a bad experience when you can pay a little for a great one? For someone with a computer, there is a vast, wide sea of Steam games that are both high quality and wallet-friendly.…

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10 Indie Games with Mind-Blowing Soundtracks

Guides
cover 1

Soundtracks significantly contribute to the immersive experiences indie games provide. This post highlights 10 indie games with exceptional scores, from Celeste’s emotional melodies to Hollow Knight’s haunting themes. Accompanying vinyl collections are available at iam8bit and Fangamer. These games exemplify indie titles’ ability to deliver soundscapes rivaling AAA productions.

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Mondealy Review: An Unforgettable Journey Through a Pixelated Wonderland

Guides
mondealy

You should play Mondealy if you have the chance to. That’s our review. If you want to know why we say that, read on, but ultimately, we’re going to tell you to play Mondealy. If you don’t like visual novels, that’s fine. If you don’t like pixel art, that’s fine. If you don’t like indie games, that’s fine. Go play it. That’s as high of an honor as a game can get from us and we’ll gladly hand it to this year’s best visual novel adventure game. Mondealy is a journey of friendship in a weird world that exists slightly below our own. The best way to describe is what happens in Undertale if the barrier went down but no one left and classism is at the top of the discussion list. Modern culture weaves through with love and affection as Michael journeys through a world that evokes both nostalgia…

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Best Couch Co-Op Xbox Game Pass Games 2023

Tier Lists
Couch Co Op Hero Image 1

Playing together can be a lot of fun and the Internet enables us to play remotely. There are, however, many scenarios where it’s more fun to play together when together in real life. There’s no excuse to try out tons of games together considering Game Pass is an all you can eat buffet of games as long as your subscription is active. We’ll take a look at the best couch co-op games of 2023. In our list below we outline what games we think are worth playing, even if they are C tier, they’re on the list so it might be worth checking out. Our highest recommended are going to be right now: It Takes Two (2 player), Undercooked 2 (4 player), and Fable II (2 player RPG). We’ve got some more options we’ll explore below as well. Best Couch Co-Op Games on Xbox Game Pass To mark the best…

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The Rise, Fall and Future of Lore: Why Recent Indie Games Failed and How to Fix Them

Editorials
lore based games cr yurika corporation

Lore and worldbuilding have the power to ignite passion in players and fuel an immersive experience. At their best, lore-driven games create a sense of mystery and discovery that motivate players to explore each part of the world. However, some recent games have exploited lore and ambiguity primarily as a marketing tactic, rather than using it to enhance gameplay or build meaning. This phenomenon highlights the need for more balanced, player-centered design. When developers commit to transparency and ethical practices, lore can be used to strengthen community trust and craft impactful stories. But that depends on valuing immersion and artistry over profits alone. We’ll dive into the history of lore focused games, what happened and where to go from here. This is all inclusive of the entire indie scene, even if there’s a heavy emphasis on mascot horror. It makes the best example and we’ll avoid referencing mascot horror to…

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The Truth Behind the Video Card Crisis

Editorials
RTX Card City

There’s a lot going on right now in the world of video cards, but one of the hard truths that we have to face as gamers is that the actual super truth is that we’re hitting a point where the fidelity of games isn’t utilizing the entire graphics card power and thus, we’re looking at suffering in the video card market for a myriad of reasons and how people game is entirely one of them. People are quick to say “supply shortages” and “silicon shortages” as the reason for video card stock shortages and to a degree, it’s the simple answer, but what if I told you GTX 680s being viable today is probably a lot more involved in why there isn’t a rush to solve a what is now over a year long shortage in video cards. The Bargain Bin’s the Reason The biggest reason behind the ongoing video…

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To Everyone that Skipped Out on Hollow Knight, What is Wrong with You?

Editorials
Hollow Knight 2

So I have a question, what would you do if I said I knew about one of the best indie games of all time, that was a beautifully crafted metroidvania style game with deep lore, charming characters and made you never want to stop playing it? You would probably scream at me “WHAT IS IT, TELL ME?!?!?!?” and after I managed to calm you down I would point you to Hollow Knight and its upcoming sequel Silksong. I am not kidding when I say that as a whole game there is absolutely nothing that I dislike about this game, from the developers to the DLC to the support from the community hell, even getting the images for this article was easier than every other game I have ever had to do this with. By the way thank you Team Cherry for making that press kit and making it actually super…

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Donut County Review

Reviews
dcheader

Every once in a while when snooping around for a new game, you come across a title that looks a little… different. Donut County is such a game, where it seems a bit quirky, but something about it pulls you into investigating whether it’s worth play, or simply what in the world you are looking at. Time to Play the Donuts Taking place in the humble setting of… okay, probably don’t need to say it, do I? Donut County follows BK the raccoon, and his friend, Mira the human, as they have inadvertently let loose a series of holes in the ground that can move around and are swallowing up the citizens of Donut (well, it was mostly BK at fault, and it was only sort of an accident). This leaves everyone in a frenzy as they and everything they own are being swallowed up by holes. So, you know,…

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The Journey is More Important than the End – An Open Letter

Editorials
assassins creed odyssey

We get caught up playing games to finish them or achieve something or score some victory or some win. Some amount of points, some kind of achievements; these are things that we crave in order to drive us to play games but really, the journey to do these things are so important. I’ve been playing Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey and I noticed something. Moving between objectives was far more fun than actually completing them. Seeing the world, listening to the sea, watching the ships move in the distance while mountains lumbered over the horizon; the views in the game are beyond gorgeous. The combat, while enthralling and the story, while good creates a world that really makes your time in it exciting and fun. In games we often think about the goals, often listed directly on the screen and of little more. Games like Shadow of the Colossus really brought the…

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