Comprehensive player reviews, video game backlog slaying, and thoughts on video game culture.
Honestly, I was taken with Bloodstained immediately! It has a fantastic art motif, Gothic atmosphere, and fabulous music. As someone uninitiated in the Castlevania franchise, I am expecting great things based on what I’ve heard. I’m not very far yet, but I love what I see so far.
Continue reading “Bloodstained first impressions! (Switch)”
During College I used to work at a Best Buy and then later a GameStop. If you have ever worked retail you will understand the pain. Customers are almost never right. I took a little time to write down some of my most memorable stories and interactions. I hope you enjoy some of these more than I did when I experienced them!
Continue reading “Tales From Video Game Retail – Peeves and Mistakes”
Things are going extremely well with no sign of slowing down, so I wanted to go ahead and announce new branding and the Backlog Crusader Patreon launch!
Megan over at a Geeky Gal was amazing to work with on the branding for Backlog Crusader. Very quick, professional, with good communication and fair pricing. I would highly recommend her for any of your current or future graphic design needs!
I’ve gotten a few questions about if I’ll be setting up a Patreon, so without further ado, here is the info. Feedback is welcome!
The Backlog Crusader Patreon will help to absorb the costs of the Backlog Crusader domain, professional email hosting, logo commission cost, and of course the hours I spend working on content I sincerely hope you enjoy. In return, I’ve prepared some rewards supporters should find appealing!
Continue reading “New Logo and Patreon Launch – Become a Backlog Knight!”
Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight is a charming, gorgeously animated Metroidvania title about a brave priestess trying to rid her village of a withering curse emanating from the country’s royal palace. Lovingly crafted with rich, detailed pixel graphics, Momodora: RUTM is a short and sweet adventure worth your time.
Continue reading “Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight Review (Switch) – the little priestess who could”
I have always been a huge sucker for pets and mounts in video games. If I get to own, raise, ride, or play with animals of any kind, chances are I’ll love whatever game it is. When I used to play World of Warcraft I would spend ages running old raid content for the 2% chance of rare mount loot drops. As in “Sorry I can’t go out to dinner, gotta run Icecrown Citadel on my 10th alt before weekly raid reset.” (It was a sickness, really.)
When a mount system was finally added to Guild Wars 2 last year in the Path of Fire expansion, I was ecstatic! In developer interviews on the subject, ArenaNet calls their design philosophy the “Joy of Movement”, and it is indeed an absolutely joy to collect and ride these incredibly well designed mounts. Each type of mount has a specific mechanical purpose and handles very differently, rather than being a series of model re-skins as is seen inmost MMOs. Mounts in Guild Wars 2 are essentially a case study is how to do mounts right. Giddy-up!
For those still planning to participate in the Video Game Literary Classics 101 community collab, please try to get your posts in by Monday. I have been commenting on each entry that pingbacks to the original collab post, so if you did not receive a comment from me, please assume I missed it and poke me again. I just got back from a two week vacation and hopefully none slipped through the cracks while I was checking on things from mobile.
If you are a new gaming blogger community member wanting to participate or someone needing a little more time, please let me know ASAP. I’ll be working on the final collab post for a week or two so a little late is totally doable. (Already heard from one or two about late entry.)
Entries so far have been fabulous and I’m looking forward to putting together the final “syllabus”!
Support Backlog Crusader on Patreon – $1 a month is less than what’s stuck below your sofa cushions! Plus you get Discord access!
Cosmic Star Heroine offers a wealth of content considering its base cost. This scifi romp is a skillfully crafted, complete package of JRPG-style goodness that remains faithful to its 16-bit roots, and it has a great sense of humor to boot! With the polish of Octopath Traveler and gameplay similar to that of Chrono Trigger, if you liked either of those titles and you love scifi, then Cosmic Star Heroine is a game you will doubtless want to add to your collection.
Continue reading “Cosmic Star Heroine Review (Switch) – a modern, 16-bit, scifi JRPG delight”
Zoids was one of my first and favorite animes when I was a teen. I would build the old Hasbro model kits in middle school and junior high all the time! My parents even used them as incentive for earning good grades. Now I’m 27 and for years I would occasionally get his strong urge: I should build a Zoid...
Continue reading “Zoids… Remember that anime with the giant mecha animals?”
On Monday Later Levels will be hosting a Gamer Blog Party! Come meet your fellow writers and network to your heart’s content.
From the Facebook event: ”Join us for the next blog party in June, where you can share your posts and meet some amazing bloggers in the community. This time there’ll be a ‘fancy-dress’ theme: change your WordPress profile image to your favourite video game character for the duration of the event!”
Stay tuned to Later Level’s blog and Twitter feed for updates, details, and the post location. Be there or be square!
One of the central themes of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is whether or not Blades should be considered a race of people rather than weapons or tools, or if it is fair to treat them as weapons even if it’s their nature. Are they slaves no matter how well their Driver treats them? Just because a Blade and Driver have a good relationship, even a loving one, does that make it right to use them? On the other hand, is it acceptable to leave them dormant forever, in effect unalive?
Continue reading “Ethics and Tragedy of Blades in Xenoblade Chronicles 2”
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