Wordsmith's Anvil

Image credit: The Bearded Ladies The Bearded Ladies have a solid reputation in the gaming industry because of their efforts with Mutant Year Zero , a cartoonish-yet-violent take on the apocalypse that involves anthropomorphic animals and strategic combat. Miasma Chronicles came after this, expanding on the studio's proven formula in true XCOM fashion.     In Miasma Chronicles , you play as a young kid named Elvis who is desperate to find his mother. He knows that she is on the other side of a wall of hardened miasma, a kind of radioactive swirl of microplastics and who knows what else, but getting through that wall has proven to be more difficult than he could fathom. Luckily, Elvis has an older brother named Diggs to help him out. This brother is a robot, so you can already tell the family is a bit of a blend, but he provides Elvis with the support he needs in order to boost his natural talents at manipulating the miasma with the hopes of not only finding his mother... but f...

  Image Credit: Ocean Drive Studio, Inc. Action. Check. Horror. Check. Scifi. Check. Fantasy. Well... sort of. Hell, might as well check that too.     Section 13 is a different breed of game from Ocean Drive Studio. They have definitely left a mark on me with Lost Eidolons and Veil of the Witch , and due to that I was more than willing to give this twinstick shooter a try.     This roguelite is a lot different from anything else Ocean Drive has done because of its setting and combat style, but that doesn't mean that Section 13 is anything to skip over. The company has shown their chops with medieval swordplay and tactical strategy, but you can tell that they had a lot of fun with this revamp of the Blackout Protocol title. By incorporating roguelite elements into the story,  Section 13 forces its employees to discover just how far they can push themselves when having to delve deeper and farther into the bowels of a science facility to find out exactly what...

  Image Credit: Saber Interactive Space Marine II was an absolute first for me in one regard.     I have literally never played a game where the very first gear and appearance your character has is absolutely badass, and virtually anything that comes after that makes him look like a goon. Congratulations, Saber. You played yourself.     Titus starts off the game in the Death Watch, rounding out a century of service to the emperor for coming close to heresy without actually crossing the line. As such, he is a commander and is dressed to the nines with a skull helmet, red cloak, dark grey armor, and is an absolute monster on the battlefield. So much so, in fact, that upon his death he is essentially reanimated with additional parts in order to continue serving the Imperium.     No retirement plan?  What a sucker.     After his reanimation, Titus is reinstated into the Ultramarines as a lieutenant. Definitely a downgrade from his former ran...

Images Credit: Disney & Yihyoung Li Woo. It's been a minute since I've read a Star Wars novel, and even longer since it's been one that has actually been considered canon. Most of the stuff that's been churned out over the decades has just been shuffled to Star Wars's "Legends" section, a sort of catch-all that looks at things more like a reimagining than anything. That is not the case with the books of The High Republic .     The High Republic effort by Disney includes books, audio dramas, comics, graphic novels, video games, a children's show, and a more adult-centric show that completely flopped. Whether or not that show flopped due to its content or due to the heavy review bombing that happened is perhaps up for debate, but I'm not going to discuss that in this particular post. I'll focus instead on the first two stories set in this era.      In an even longer time ago in that same galaxy we've come to know and love... Convergence s...

Image credit: Ember Lab Oh man. I don't think I've ever actually done back to back 10/10 reviews before.      You ready for it?      I know I am.     Kena: Bridge of Spirits is one of those games that comes by and captures you from the moment you set forth in the titular character's shoes. As a spirit guide, Kena is expected to help wayward souls on their voyage to the afterlife. Or maybe just accept the fact that they are not of this world any longer. Either way, it's a job that she inherited from her father but has always felt a bit apprehensive about. This is mainly because she feels like she could never be as great of a spirit guide as those who came before her.     She is wrong.     Kena's journey goes across a village and the surrounding acreage to include some river landscape, forestry, farmland, and even a bit of snowy peaks. Along the way she encounters several spirits like Beni, Saiya, Rusu, Taro, Hana, Adira, Zajuro...

Image Credit: Reikon Games It's amazing what a game can do to your willingness to dive in with something as simple as a gun and a set of sci-fi powers. Now add a few more guns and a soundtrack that bangs with every track... and you've got Metal Eden .     You play as Aska, a "hyper unit" Android tasked with releasing the uploaded minds of millions of citizens that have been held hostage in what amounts to a sort of brain-storage-facility. This all takes place on a planet that has been designated as mankind's best new setting as Earth has been rendered uninhabitable. Unfortunately for Aska, but fortunately for us, there are obstacles in the way of her mission in the form of thousands of enemies that are tasked with guarding the "cores" needed to advance further.     Sound confusing?     Just wait 'til you play it. The Good First and foremost, the gameplay takes a front seat here. It's not just the combat, although that alone is truly special. The ...

  Image Credit: Streum On & Games Workshop Well... It's certainly been a minute.     You'll have to excuse my absence, I was doing a replay of the oh-so-glorious Rogue Trader . It still sits pretty at a solid 8/10, but I think that rating could improve with the addition of all the DLC they have planned for it. It's so damn good.     But I digress.     We're not here to discuss Games Workshop at its finest, courtesy of Owlcat. We're here to discuss Games Workshop at its most mediocre. Oops. Did I just tip my hand a little too early? Chances are, if you've already done your research on this 2021 game, you've likely made a conclusion one way or another.     Necromunda: Hired Gun takes place in the underhive city for which it gets its name. It's dark, gritty, covered in skulls, and everyone wants to kill you. Sound like Warhammer yet? You play as a bounty hunter working in this underground where your main hangout is the local dive bar and you...

Image credit: Constantinos Pritsos and ... me. A Fire to be Kindled “What do you know about the Louisiana territory?” President Thomas Jefferson asked. “Very little,” I said. “How would you like to learn more about it?” he continued. “First-hand.” “Is this the expedition I’ve seen discussed in the papers?” I asked. “The one with Meriweather Lewis and…” “William Clark, yes,” he said. “You’d be leaving one corps tomorrow and joining another by the end of the month. The Corps of Discovery.” My heart soared. This could be the opportunity I needed to move forward. All I had to do was take the leap and see what the future held in store for me. “I’d love to.” “It’s settled, then,” Jefferson said. He waved a lanky arm to the disapproving man standing near the door. “Secretary Dearborn will draw up the necessary papers.” Henry Dearborn moved reluctantly from the doorway. I think he had hoped that his only job that evening would have been to open it and usher me out. I disappointed the man, and ...

Image credit: James S.A. Corey & Orbit Now clearly I've read Leviathan's Wake and Caliban's War , I just had to get that out of the way before I start delving into my review here. I'm not just starting in medias res with the series. I've watched the show, I've read the first couple books, and I also have my copy of Osiris Reborn pre-ordered. I've done some expansive homework on this topic. Okay, that's the only dad joke I'll put in here, I promise.     Abaddon's Gate is a continuation of the science fiction story that the duo known as James S.A. Corey have laid out in the first two books. The protomolecule has already had a lasting impact on the solar system and life as we know it. Nevertheless, Protogen is shut down and Mao is in the slammer, Holden and his crew have been running missions for the OPA for months, Avasarala is doing what she does best behind the scenes, and Bobbie Draper... well, I guess we have to watch the show to find her ...

  Image credit: Respawn Entertainment A lot of times games age out. It's just the nature of the beast. You go back to play Twisted Metal 2 and realize that the game looks like garbage and plays even worse. Now granted, that might be an unfair comparison since it's significantly older than Titanfall 2 , but my statement still stands.     Titanfall 2 does not fall into that category.     In the game, our protagonist Jack Cooper is a rookie rifleman of the future's "Militia" acting as a protege to a celebrated pilot. Pilots in Titanfall are the main guys and gals running the frontlines. They act in conjunction with their titans to be true heroes. Smarter. Stronger. Faster. Better, right? That's how it's going for Cooper's mentor until he gets wrecked by a couple mercenaries working for the IMC. Now it falls to Cooper to take over the slot and fill the mighty shoes of BT-7274. Alongside this titan, we have to learn how to wall run, switch weapons fast, and...

  Image credit: Gasket Games Warhammer games are a dime a dozen, and oftentimes that quantity sacrifices some quality. Are they ever going to be the worst games you've ever played? Probably not. But with so many developers doing their own spins out of the universe we're bound to see some garbage in the pile.     Storm Ground takes place in the Age of Sigmar realm of Warhammer lore. It gives you the option to go through three different campaigns with various interactions along the way-no run is going to be exactly like another-to get to a final boss after perhaps a couple hours of playtime. You start in the Celestant campaign, taking down ghostly haunts and ghastly maggotkin of Nurgle on your way to defeat the Lady of Ashes. The Good One of the best parts of this game is the fact that it's set up on a hexagonal grid. Hex grids are pleasant to play on because they allow a little bit more freedom of movement. It doesn't feel so constricted and weird when pursuing an enemy,...

  Image credit: Reikon Games It's been a hot minute since my last gaming review! Just kidding it's been like a literal minute. That's because Ruiner is one of those bite-size games that can be blown through in a single weekend without even having your wife grab the butcher knife and threaten your livelihood if you don't go to bed.     Ruiner is a 5-hour romp through the gritty undercity of a cyberpunk hellscape. You're a nameless, faceless, action hero armed with nothing but a busted pipe and an easily-modded gun called a "Ruiner." It starts you off with the goal being to assassinate the boss of a megacorporation called Heaven. After taking down some thugs on your way to do this task-a task that you have no real reason to do besides it just being the current assignment and flashes of someone telling you what to do-your brain is hacked by Her. "Her" is intent on getting you to safety for the time being so you can find out what's really going o...