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Elden Ring Nightreign
As a massive Elden Ring fan, I have mixed feelings on the experience Nightreign provides as a whole. While I enjoyed my time with it for the most part, once I rolled credits and beat 7 out of the 8 Nightlords, I felt a wave of disappointment wash over me. I have yet to return…
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Stellar Blade
Stellar Blade is like when your Dad finds the playboys you stole from him under your bed and you respond by saying I read them for the articles! I played Stellar Blade for the in depth combat and over the top spectacle not the egregiously hot protagonist, ok? In all seriousness, Stellar Blade is a…
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Why I Believe Video Games are the Ultimate Form of Self-Care
In her book Reality is Broken Jane McGonigal states “Compared with games, reality is too easy. Games challenge us with voluntary obstacles and help us put our personal strengths to better use.” McGonigal, J. (2011). Reality is broken: Why games make us better and how they can change the world. Penguin Press. cmc.marmot.org. While I do not…
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What is Healing Points?
Hello readers, I will be creating a new column that is separate from video game reviews called Healing Points. This will be a subsection of my blog that focuses on the cross between mental health and video games. This will include reviews of games that I think tackle the topic well as well as essays…
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Children of Morta
Children of Morta was my introduction to the now popular genre of roguelikes. While you can apply roguelike elements to any genre, this is a top down dungeon crawler with great combat and a surprisingly compelling story. The game follows the Bergson family who are guardians of Mount Morta. Their job is to fight back…
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Sonic Frontiers
To me, previews of Sonic Frontiers looked like shit and as a Sonic fan, my hype for the game was low. To my surprise Sonic Frontiers is not shit. It is deeply flawed however, this is easily the best 3D Sonic game in a decade. The tone is somber, with low key ambient music, and…
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Pupperazzi
Am I embarrassed that I played Puperazzi? No. I am totally not embarrassed that I played this game okay? Okay, now that you’re convinced that I am not embarrassed or feel any modicum of shame over playing this game, I can attempt to review it. Puperazzi is a game where you walk around in first…
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Rematch
28-94. After ten hours playing Rematch that is my win loss ratio. 28-94. Yeah, I suck at Rematch. Am I as bad as I was when I started? No, not at all and that is what makes this game special. Sloclap knows how to design deep combat systems and their design DNA is all over…
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Minecraft Dungeons
I have tried many times to get into Minecraft but to the chagrin of one of my friends I just do not vibe with the gameplay loop of the game or any other survival game for that matter. Minecraft Dungeons has virtually nothing in common with Minecraft other than sharing its visual aesthetic. It is…
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Psychonaughts 2
As a former therapist, I was impressed at how sensitively this cartoony platformer approaches mental illness. Double Fine hired psychologists to help the writers approach these difficult subjects in a mature, informed way and it shows. Like the first game you are entering people’s minds and essentially platforming your way through their traumas and insecurities. …
