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Gaming

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Review

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
  • Developer: Nintendo
  • Publisher: Nintendo
  • Reviewed On: Nintendo Switch
  • Available On: Nintendo Switch

If you told me at the start of the year that The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom was going to be a game that I absolutely fell in love with, I probably wouldn’t have believed you. I felt that its predecessor Breath of the Wild was an enjoyable experience, but took issue with its blank canvas design which felt a bit too open and directionless for me. But that’s been flipped on its head with Tears of the Kingdom. By building on the concepts of adventure, creativity, and exploration that laid the foundation for the previous game, and amplifying them with a stronger sense of focus and direction, everything that I didn’t click with before has been vastly improved, making this not just one of the best games I’ve played this year, but one of the best games I’ve ever played period.

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Features Gaming

Starfield Impressions

Starfield
  • Developer: Bethesda Game Studios
  • Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
  • Available On: Xbox Series X|S, PC
  • Played On: Xbox Series X

Ever since its announcement in 2018, Starfield has been one of my most anticipated games. A brand new IP from Bethesda Game Studios that brings their classic brand of RPGs into outer space was all I needed to hear to be on board with it, and now that it’s here I’ve been trying to sink as much time into it as I possibly can. I’ve only managed to log a solid 25 hours into this massive new adventure and so far I’m enjoying my journey across the stars. That said, there are some key aspects that have left me disappointed. 

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Gaming

Final Fantasy XVI Review

Final Fantasy XVI
  • Developer: Square Enix
  • Publisher: Square Enix
  • Available On: PS5
  • Reviewed On: PS5

Ever since Final Fantasy XVI was announced I’ve been eager to experience a new story in the iconic franchise and see how it continues to evolve. With a more “mature” story, a much stronger focus on real-time action, the promise of over-the-top setpieces, and an acclaimed development team behind it, I had pretty high expectations. And while Final Fantasy XVI managed to meet and even exceed some of those expectations, eventually the luster wore off and one truth revealed itself: that Final Fantasy XVI is simultaneously a fun and boring game to play.

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Gaming

The Xbox Games Showcase Was Exactly What Xbox Needed

Microsoft just held their double feature Xbox Games Showcase and Starfield Direct, and I’m happy to say that the team easily knocked it out of the park. If your confidence in the future of Xbox was shaky prior to today, now it’s almost certainly stronger than ever before.

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Gaming

I’m Up For A Final Fantasy X Remake

Summer Game Fest gave us our first good look at next year’s Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, and rumors of a remake for Final Fantasy IX have persisted ever since it first popped up in the infamous Nvidia leak, but if new rumors are to be believed, Final Fantasy X will soon be joining the Final Fantasy remake club. According to a user on ResetEra, Square Enix seemingly has plans to release a remake of Final Fantasy X in 2026 to coincide with the game’s 25th anniversary, and I’m absolutely here for it.

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Gaming

What’s With The Secrecy Surrounding The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom?

At long last, we finally know the name of the sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Revealed as the closer for yesterday’s Nintendo Direct, the highly anticipated sequel is now known as The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and will release on May 12, 2023. Curiously though, after three years and a couple teasers, we still know very little about the game and I’m not quite sure why that is.

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Features Gaming

Personal Connections: Sora

When it comes to any art form that tells a story, one of the most important pieces to get right are the characters. They’re who we get attached to and want to spend more time with as the story progresses. The best characters are the ones that impact us and leave a mark on our memories and our hearts. These are the ones that we deeply cherish and hold in high regard. There are a number of characters across different forms of media that have impacted me for a multitude of reasons. The one who stands above all others and has had by far the most impact and influence on me as a person is none other than Sora from Kingdom Hearts.

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Personal Connections Update #2

Hi again! I have another update for the series, though this one’s not as good. I know that I wanted Personal Connections to be a bi-weekly series, but unfortunately I won’t be able to adhere to that for the foreseeable future. Life has gotten very busy and stressful in the past few weeks, leaving me with barely anytime for myself. If I were to try and maintain the series as being bi-weekly for the time being, I wouldn’t be able to produce the posts I want at the quality that I want.

Writing these posts is something that I want to be able to enjoy and have fun doing. Writing them while also being stressed from the events of my day to day life will ultimately leave me feeling unhappy and not as invested in each piece, and that’s not what I want. So with that being said, my Sora piece will not be going live on Monday, April 19. For this, I sincerely apologize. I still intend to do it, but it will be coming at a later date. What that date is, I cannot say since I myself do not know. But rest assured that it will come.

The same goes for the rest of the series. I fully intend to write posts for all the games I have planned. I want to talk about them and share my love for them with you all. In fact, before I even wrote the first piece, I brainstormed what I wanted to talk about for the first 5-6 pieces. Those are all planned out already, so it’s just a matter of getting it on paper in a way that is honest and satisfactory to me. And even once I get past those, I’m going to do the rest of the games that I have in mind. It will just take more time than I first planned, and for that, I once again do deeply apologize.

I hope you all understand and still look forward to the pieces coming in the future. I think that they’ll all be worth the wait.

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Personal Connections Update

Hi all! Just giving a quick update on Personal Connections. Unfortunately my next piece won’t be up tomorrow as initially planned. The past week has been incredibly busy, leaving me with no time to actually work on it. Rather than try to cram it all in one day, I’m going to delay the piece by one week to Monday, April 19 so that I can actually have some time to work on it. I apologize for the delay and I appreciate your understanding. See you all soon!

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Features Gaming

Personal Connections: Kingdom Hearts II

15 years. That’s a long time for a person to love something. This is especially true if the love started during a person’s childhood. As kids we latch onto things all the time, bouncing from one interest to the next. But every now and then, something comes along and takes root in a child’s heart. It grows from something we like into something we love; and from something we love into something that we’re passionate about. Once it’s reached this point, it never lets go and plays a key role in making us the people we grow up to be.

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