Summary Throughout the franchise,Star Trekwriters have relied on familiar tropes. One that they’ve come back to several times is that of the “long-lost family member.” Spock had two siblings that no one had ever heard of — his half-brother Sybok and his foster sister,Michael Burnham. Worf had abrother, Kurn, he’d never met and a foster brother he never talked about, Nikolai Rozhenko. Even Data, an android, had a long-lost evil twin and a little brother....
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen OrderandStar Wars Jedi: Survivorhave excellent boss fights between them, such as the former’s Oggdo Bogdo or Taron Malicos and the latter’s Rick, the Door Technician or Darth Vader. Not every boss fight in theStar Wars Jedifranchise is created equally, however, and many of them inStar Wars Jedi: Survivorare mere precursors for respective bosses becoming regular enemies Cal Kestis will stumble into frequently thereafter. Similarly, notall boss fights inStar Wars Jedi: Survivormaintain the stakes or spectacle they deserve while more trivial encounters are surprisingly cinematic....
Summary Star Wars Jedi: Survivorpublisher EA has issued a statement regarding the game’s performance issues on Sony’s new flagship console, the PlayStation 5 Pro.Star Wars Jedi: Survivoris one of the many triple-a titles experiencing graphical glitches on the console, but the game’s publisher has now said that it is aware of the issues and is actively investigating. Although the PlayStation 5 Pro’s graphical issues aren’t just tied toStar Wars Jedi: Survivor, it’s the latest performance-based problem to plague Respawn Entertainment’s successor to 2019’sJedi: Fallen Order....
Summary Steamis issuing some buyer-friendly policies around season passes. The game platform has updated its documentation for developers, including new requirements regarding what studios have to give players in return for a season pass. While the change could complicate the update process for some devs, it should makeSteama more transparent place to buy DLC. Season passes are a familiar sight today, especially in games from AAA studios that inevitably release several DLC packages....
Summary Few studios enjoy a reputation quite as positive asBioWare’s. Ever since it was founded in 1995, the company has been famous for crafting top-tier RPGs beloved for their epic stories, brilliant characters, and emphasis on player choice. The studio has given gamers big franchises, likeMass EffectandDragon Age, which have produced some of gaming’s most iconic characters. Of course, with society being the way it is, the focus has tended to be on Bioware’s male characters....
Summary Filming forThe Batman Part 2is expected to begin next year, but a recent report suggests the planned start may be a little behind schedule. The BatmanPart 2was officially announced shortly after the first installment debuted to box office success and critical acclaim. Initially scheduled to release in October 2025,The Batman Part 2was pushed back to October 2026, reportedly due to the 2023 actors and writers' strikes. In September 2024, a report indicatedThe Batman Part 2’s script was complete and production was slated to begin in early 2025....
Summary Monsters are the scourge of humanity. Whether they’re plotting world domination or feasting on human flesh for vital sustenance, it’s not hard to think of a good reason to hunt them down. Fiction is rich with monster-hunting heroes, but sometimes the task requires someone with a little more clout than Scooby and the Gang. Thank goodness, then, for thebrave and powerful anime protagonistswhose combined efforts make up the defining chronicles of monster slaying that the medium has to offer....
Summary This year has been great forfantasy anime, with the continuation of a lot of important series likeFrieren: Beyond Journey’s EndandDelicious In Dungeon,as well as the debut of strong newcomers likeNo Longer Allowed In Another WorldandDandadan.There areplenty of other sequels to fantasy animethat have also premiered in the same release window, so fans of the genre are quite happy with so many shows to watch. This list includes shows that debuted in 2024 or the release window for their second part (half of the episodes) is comprised during the current season....
Summary Assassins in video gamesare a ton of fun to control when games get how these agents operate. Infiltrating secure locations and taking down enemies from the shadows before dealing a final death to the target is a gameplay loop fans will never get tired of. Players love the idea of controlling these characters, and it helps thatsomegreat video games feature female assassinswho serve as efficient dealers of death. Players will have a great time engaging with all of them, especially if the writing does justice to the strong first impression these characters make....
Summary Support mains will have a simpler time with Supports/Healers inOverwatch 2’s Classic mode as there are only four to choose from. They’re a part of the 21-Hero roster, reflecting Overwatch 1’s Version 1.0. Among the three,only three are dedicated Healers, while one is a utility-based Support. Essentially,Overwatch: Classic is a blast from the past. As many old-school fans may remember, Lucio, Mercy, Zenyatta, and Symmetra were the Support/Healer choices when the game first launched....
Summary When people talk aboutJRPGs, it is understandable that most people’s minds turn to a fantasy world. However, there are plenty of JRPGs that have delved into many different aesthetic genres. Fromhyperstyled modern-day estheticsto traversing through the stars in anepic spacefaring adventure. There are also plenty of sci-fi JRPGs that, while having camera angles looking down at the planet, do not feature any form of actual space exploration — such asXenogears, or the iconicXenoblade Chroniclesgames....
Summary It’s often said that one of the main characters inCyberpunk 2077is Night City itself. It’s an antagonist, a mentor, a love interest, etc. It’s hard to fault this vaguely trite idea considering how detailed Night City is,with real-world city plannershaving helped CD Projekt Red put it all together in the name of realism. It certainly feels like a real, breathing city, where every glitzy main street is accompanied by shady alleyways and slums....
Summary This list details some of theshorter open-world gamesthat don’t fail to pack a punch when it comes to detailed, thoughtful world-building, exciting side-quests and, of course, short but sweet main stories that bring everything together. Perhaps the best part of these shorter stories is that they leave the player craving more, maintaining momentum until the very end, encouraging further gameplay beyond the main narrative. After all, the magic of open-world games is that they don’t have to be long to be deeply immersive, thrilling experiences....
