Author: AndresPlays

Mixtape is a video game that intimately explores the lives of unruly teenagers. It helped me recontextualize my past in the process. My parents divorced when I was 14. They did not tell me. I found the divorce papers randomly in a drawer. I had lived a very sheltered life up until that point. This became a very pivotal moment for me. As an upper-middle-class, selfish, and nerdy Mexican who always had every video game he wanted, this crack in my reality started a series of changes I would not be fully aware of until later. And at 17, I…

Zero Parades: For Dead Spies is a psychological thriller that meticulously recreates the life of a worn-down spy, crafting a conspiracy worth unraveling. Armando fears for his life. Looking over his shoulder at all times, he is on the run from regime authorities during Brazil’s dictatorship of 1977. Staying at a safe apartment building with fellow refugees, everyone uses codenames to avoid familiarity. This is the plot of last year’s film The Secret Agent. In a pivotal scene bonding with the other political dissidents, an air of lament permeates the atmosphere. They start questioning their life choices and what caused…

WILL: Follow The Light tells an introspective tale of loss and love through its adventurous sailing and uneven puzzles. All of this will end someday. My articles. This website. Hell, even humanity if we go to those extremes. Please bear with me. There is a lingering trauma that comes with this realization. We do not want things to end. It is in our nature. That is the main reason Dylan Thomas’ poem “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” resonates with me so much. Because I want to rage against the dying of the light. Exploring these themes introspectively,…

Gods, Death & Reapers boldly blends the action RPG formula with the extraction shooter style of gameplay to a very promising future in the early preview build we played. Diablo was originally released in 1997. Its lootfest dungeon-crawling formula is one that is easy to familiarize oneself with. As a fan of dark fantasy, even more so. Exploring moist caverns filled with demons from an isometric perspective is a way of life. In today’s gaming landscape, where we virtually have hybrids of everything, a new take on the genre was bound to happen. Cooking since 2017, Escape From Tarkov pioneered…

NTE is an open-world gacha game that makes simple but effective changes to improve upon its biggest competitor, Genshin Impact. If there is anything to know about me, it is that I have a complicated relationship with gacha games. Not too long ago, what started as me writing a review for Arknights: Endfield ended up being a rant on how those types of games are ruining the gaming industry. I went on to play it for another 30 hours. I enjoyed it. And then I dropped it. After spending one thousand hours on Genshin Impact, I’ve simply learned to let…

Out now for Nintendo Switch and Xbox, Decline’s Drops gets up in the boxing ring to fight against evil oil companies with varying degrees of success. Looking at the state of the world, it is disheartening to see how oil companies continue to operate unfettered even after devastating spills that have irreparably damaged ecosystems. A feeling of impotency might wash over us as we powerlessly witness corporations with seemingly endless influence unscathed. Art, that life-affirming endeavor that allows us to emotionally express ourselves, is a historical medium to convey dissent when all other avenues have failed. Decline’s Drops, a cheery…

Flexing virtual reality’s creative avenues to the fullest, the annual Creature Feature showcase from the Creature label presented new titles with much promise. Streamed in collaboration with the VR Games Showcase, the annual Creature Feature showcase from the Creature label announced a slew of game announcements and updates. With some new games releasing as soon as this week and others confirming new titles in the works from beloved studios, there is no shortage of variety to get excited for the future of VR. Here are the most notable surprises from the event: Hot Dogs, Horseshoes & Hand Grenades Gets Sequel…

Aphelion is Don’t Nod’s latest ambitious sci-fi narrative adventure. While it does not reach the heights of what the studio has to offer, it is a commendable effort. Don’t Nod is a studio that has developed itself as a narrative powerhouse for almost 20 years now. From its early beginnings with Remember Me all the way to Aphelion, a pattern begins to emerge that they simply cannot seem to shake off. You have stories with emotional depth, but also gameplay that ends up leaving much to be desired. For every carefully crafted cutscene, there is a forced mechanic who does…

Fame or Folly is an upcoming deckbuilder roguelike set in medieval times when you control a group of traveling performers. In the world of video games, everything is derivative. Much like the Miles Morales meme overlooking what Peter Parker is doing, game developers analyze current trends. PEAK reignited the fun of co-op games. Hollow Knight and its sequel reminded us of the staying power of great Metroidvanias. Balatro stands in a class of its own. The snappy gameplay, the card sound effect when points were accumulated, the replayability. Fame or Folly aims to recreate this irresistible loop in a quirky…

NTE offers many possibilities to explore its urban landscape at your leisure, but getting in trouble with the law could result in ending up incarcerated. Here is how to serve your jail time, or not. NTE: Neverness to Everness is a sprawling open-world game with a frankly baffling amount of options. From going on dates with your favorite characters to racing sports cars on dazzling tracks, there is no shortage of fun activities for players to engage in. One of the sillier ones that earned NTE its nickname of the “anime GTA” is being chased by the police. By attacking…