Edison T. Crux

Hollow Knight is good. Like, really  good. This isn't news; since the game's release in early 2017, it has received almost nothing but praise. If you follow gaming trends at all, chances are you've at least heard  of this game, and that it's good. That's one of the reasons put off reviewing Hollow Knight. At this point, what more is there to say? Is it worth rehashing the points others have said a hundred times already? That's why this isn't really a review of Hollow Knight—this is a love letter to what, in my opinion, is one of the greatest games ever made. My History With Hollow Knight I was late to the party. I only picked up Hollow Knight back in November, long  after its initial release. I was looking for a new game on my Nintendo Switch, which I only had a handful of titles for.  I had heard about Hollow Knight. That was basically Bug Souls , right? A 2D "ripoff" of the Dark Souls formula, but featuring some nice artwork and bu

I never knew I needed gangster cats in A Hat in Time, but now I wonder how I ever lived without them. Gears for Breakfast just announced the second DLC for their Mario-like platformer, and it looks fantastic. Nyakuza Metro Hat Kid is headed to the big city, where a sinister cat (who I swear is a relative of Beerus) runs the show. With a thuggin' makeover, Hat Kid embraces a life of crime and explores this new locale.  The gameplay at Nyakuza Metro looks fun as heck. You jump around between cat trains in a dark, almost noir style city. Very different from anything else in A Hat in Time, and that's what makes it so fresh. The voice acting for this new character is awesome, as I've come to expect from the game by now. Nyakuza Metro promises 10 new Time Pieces, a new baseball bat weapon, flares, dyes, badges, and even stickers you can place on the map or use as emotes in multiplayer. Which leads into the next big reveal...  Online Party Mode I've

As you may already know , I'm a big fan of A Hat in Time—which is why I'm so hyped that they have a big announcement coming tomorrow! This image was posted to Gears for Breakfast's official Twitter account a few days back. To me it teases a "Nintendo Direct" style livestream announcement. I'm sure it won't be as massive as Nintendo's live events—this is a small indie team, after all—but the hype is no less real for it. The livestream will begin at 3pm EDT / 12pm PDT tomorrow, April 25th on their Twitch channel . Go follow them on Twitch to catch it live yourself. I will be tuned in, and posting my summary and thoughts shortly after the stream , so if you can't make it I'll be sure to update you on what went down. As for what they could be announcing... it could be any number of things. A new DLC? A release date for the Switch port? Something really radical, like a sequel or a new game by Gears for Breakfast? The biggest clues we h

My poor wife. She humors my gaming hobby so well, despite not being a gamer herself. She has also inadvertently helped me realize how crazy us gamers sound sometimes, when explaining why we need  something that we clearly don't. Case in point is this retro-style Switch controller by 8BitDo. I kept eyeing this thing up. The Super Nintendo aesthetic really did it for me, and despite having all the gaming accessories I needed , I found myself wanting this for no good reason. She didn't complain when I grabbed the overpriced Switch Pro Controller, because I had a valid need—trying to play Super Smash Bros. Ultimate with a pair of joy cons was far from ideal. But as I explained how I had no practical need for this new controller, but wanted it anyway, she gave me some very confused looks. Thankfully my wife is amazing, and ended up buying me the controller as a surprise birthday present. And I'm glad she did, because I really like this thing! I've clocked in some

All I knew about Katana Zero was what I gleamed from its Nintendo Switch launch trailer. It looked like a beautifully-pixelated, action-packed adventure—and that sounded good to me. Turns out Katana Zero is that and more. I found everything I expected in this game. Lots of high-paced fights, a great soundtrack, and wonderful sprite work. But it was the things I didn't  expect that impressed me the most from this game. So let's dive in and see why Katana Zero is a cut above the rest. Gameplay To me, gameplay is the most critical part of a game. You could have something with terrible graphics and a lackluster plot, but if the experience of playing the game is fun it will still be great. The best NES games prove this with Mario's timeless control scheme, or more recent classics such as Minecraft. On the flipside, a game with clumsy mechanics is likely to turn me away from the best stories. And oh boy  is Katana Zero fun to play. I mean, just look  at this traile

When Bethesda announced a free-to-play mobile Elder Scrolls game at E3 last year, my reaction was a resounding, "Eh, why not?" F2P games are a guilty pleasure of mine. I like to dabble in different games, so being able to try something out without shelling out money can make for a good time. I don't even really mind wait timers that much, because these games usually aren't interesting enough that I care to play for more than a couple minutes once or twice a day. So the thought of a mobile dungeon crawler by Bethesda sounded like an okay idea to me. Nothing to get hyped over, but at least worth checking out when it launches. Well, that time has finally come. This isn't a full review of The Elder Scrolls: Blades. Rather, this is a first impressions article, as well as a discussion about what it does (and doesn't) do right. The Good The basic premise for Blades is alright. This takes place in between Oblivion and Skyrim in the timeline, at a point wher

Do difficult games need an easy mode? Nope.  Video games are art, and game developers are free to make the artistic choices they feel are best. However, a much more interesting question is should  they include difficulty options? The recent release of Samurai Souls (er, I mean Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice ) has everyone talking about difficulty. It mostly boils down to the question of having an "easy" mode for games that are savagely hard. What I find fascinating is how vehemently people take sides on this; you're either a damn dirty casual or a git gud elitist, with little gray area in between. This is weird because, obviously, there is no objective right answer. Like I said at the start, games are art, and are inherently subjective. No art will ever please everyone, nor should it try. That's not to say there's no point in talking about it. Discussing art of all forms is a time-honored tradition. Not only is it fun to pick apart a recent movie with a friend,

Minit reminded me of something important; bigger isn't always better. Right now games brag about the size of their worlds and the length of their campaigns like that was the only thing that mattered. Don't get me wrong, those things are important. I love me a game world I can get lost in for dozens of hours. But too often I start a game and it overstays its welcome. That core spark of creativity gets stretched too thin to hold my interest. Sometimes it even feels like a chore to finish a game, but you don't want to leave it incomplete after all the hours you put into it. Hardly any game is released without filler. The exception is Minit.

Fantastic news for Switch owners. A Hat in Time, an indie "Mario-like" 3D platformer (which, in my opinion, gives the plumber a run for his money ) has been "on its way" to the Nintendo Switch for some time now. However, we've had no release date, and few updates from the team at Gears for Breakfast. But now there's something to be excited about. It's just been revealed that the Switch port is getting the local co-op mode (which was added to the PC version as a post-release update), as well as the Seal the Deal DLC! We have an exciting new sneak peak for A Hat in Time on Nintendo Switch! There's some seals and deals that may have taken a bit more time to develop than we originally anticipated... yep, A Hat in Time: Seal the Deal DLC will be arriving on Nintendo Switch!! pic.twitter.com/WGYhLPtdCX — A HAT IN TIME | Gears for Breakfast (@HatInTime) April 9, 2019 Although there's still no release date, I'm really pumped fo