Author: AndresPlays

After the disappointing announcement that Tales of Xillia would only release the first entry, fans of the series (read, me) were disappointed about the possibility of letting Xillia 2 stay in the PlayStation 3 purgatory. Thanks to the latest interview of Yusuke Tomizawa with Famitsu via ryokutya2089, we now know that Bandai Namco is toiling away on several projects, revitalizing the faith in the series’ much anticipated comeback. While the series has not exactly been dormant, with The Tales of Arise: Beyond the Dawn DLC releasing in late 2023 and Tales of Graces f Remastered in early 2025, perhaps players…

Bye Sweet Carole captivates with its beautiful artstyle, harkening back to Disney’s golden era. The gameplay execution is where it stumbles. Hand drawn animation has come a really long way. From the 1950s classics such as Cinderella as a nascent medium to the more haunting 1990s Don Bluth offbeats like Anastasia before the world turned to 3D. Bye Sweet Carole is a 2D horror adventure firmly rooted in these iconic films that raised generations, quickly piquing the interest of whoever has seen a still of this beautiful game. Sadly, the eternal question of “Should this game have been a movie?”…

For a certain subset of players, no meditative indie videogames existed until 2012 with the release of Journey. And in a way, no other have. The impact this unassuming game had cannot be underestimated. Regarded as one of the best games of the year in its time, it was heavily praised for its minimalistic approach to gameplay and storytelling. Accompanied by the masterful soundtrack by Austin Wintory, it opened the eyes of many players, myself included, to what the medium of videogames can be when free from the shackles of its predictable conventions. No dialogue, no combat, no scores. Just…

Oneiric is a word you don’t hear often. Maybe never, actually, as I had to Google the Spanish translation to English of it. It means relative, or suggestive, to dreams. That strange period every human spends two-thirds of their lives in. Just… dreaming. Creating unusual, illogical situations while our minds store our daily lives. There is never an exact way to depict them for every person, because they are all so unique. Dreams of Another is the best effort put into a video game of what our subconscious tries to process. The ethos of Dreams of Another is that there’s…

After a long 5-year wait, Ghost of Yōtei has finally launched on PlayStation 5. Eagerly awaiting it myself, I thoroughly enjoyed Jin Sakai’s story in Ghost of Tsushima to the point of getting the Platinum trophy a while back. Now with Atsu as the protagonist, I was promptly reminded what I loved about these games as soon as I played it. The Ghost series pride itself in being a massive open-world just like the rest of them, but presented in such a breezy manner, pun intended, to the point of lightly guiding you by the wind via its minimalistic UI.…

Based on real-life testimonies, emotional narrative adventure We Grew Up in War is set to release on Steam in 2026. Transforming vivid accounts from conflicts in Bosnia, Syria, and Ukraine to a thoughtful gaming experience presented through the eyes of children, players will witness their memories in haunting detail. Supported by the Mementoes Project, developer Charles Games’ goal is to sensitize audiences about the long-term effects of war on children with proven historical research. Through interactive vignettes, We Grew Up in War tells three interwoven stories of kids growing up through the ravages of armed conflicts. Just like young children…

In less than 44 hours, Lupio Studios achieved its Kickstarter goal with their Open-World RPG The Last Worlds: Crossed Souls. Currently offering a demo on Steam with a charming anime art style that evokes Zelda, Pokémon, and Monster Hunter, it already had a head start in creating hype project before it started. With over four years of behind-the-scenes work by the Italian studio before launching the campaign, it is easy to see this first title has resonated with its intended audience. Taking on the role of Matwin, and his fiery pet sidekick Lupio, both unique characters can be swapped at…

Elevating auteurs of any kind is odd to me. Not because a director was able to manage to steer the ship and make the right call at the right time, delivering a product that catapulted it into worldwide recognition. That much I can agree with. But there’s also the countless developers on the back of their leadership, which while I’m sure some of them are happy to be away from the spotlight, also deserve to be recognized. Then again, in SWERY & SUDA51’s case, I do tend to agree with their mythical status as their games are particular indie gems…

High school. A time of extremes. Anxiety, unrealistic expectations, and sudden shifts in our bodies are running at a record high. Every one of us has a different relationship with it. As they say, some feel like they peaked there, while others feel like they were barely stepping out of their cocoon. There is no universal experience that can speak to all of us, but one thing is for certain: this period of change has made all of us who we are now. Consume Me portrays the perspective of a teenage girl living through this tumultuous era, warts and all,…

Gaming in virtual reality has an important advantage over its flatscreen counterparts from the get-go: it’s unique approach to gameplay. Moving your body around, swinging a golf club, for example, gives much more immersion than just looking at a bar fill up and pressing a button at the right moment for your player character to hit the ball. Fruit Golf, straight as its name says, is a riff on the usual mini-golf activity, hitting fruits instead of golf balls to try to get that arduous hole in one. With an even wackier commitment to unbridled fun than similar games in…