Lords of Waterdeep is still a great game that sees a lot of play in many groups, but maybe it’s getting a little old by now. And did you ever notice that sixth agent space on the round five holding area? Obviously that board was designed with expansion in mind, and that expansion has finally arrived with Scoundrels of Skullport. Or, more accurately, expansions. READ MORE
Genre 101 is a series that looks at the past and present of a game genre to find lessons about what defines it. This week, guest lecturers Andrew Passafiume and Chris Dominowski unravel the ins and outs of the JRPG.
Chris Dominowski: While Black Onyx is generally seen as the first real JRPG, Dragon Quest broke new ground in the nascent genre by giving the Eastern flavor of role-playing its own identity, and began distancing itself from series like Wizardry or Ultima. The game sported a manga-esque art direction by Akira Toriyama, a vast world then unseen on home consoles and a greater emphasis on a top-down perspective. With all that in place, and with future entries in the series depending more on story and characters, Dragon Quest became one of the most celebrated franchises among Japanese gamers. READ MORE
Marlow Briggs is the interactive version of the cheesy action movies I loved in the early ’90s, like Demolition Man. Things blow up, not because the plot calls for it, but because it sure would be fun to slow down the camera and watch a thing explode. There are guys with flamethrowers, not because they would be useful at an archaeological dig site, but because carrying a bunch of flamethrower fuel means they’ll blow up very nicely. These are the sorts of design choices ZootFly has made, and I love them for it. READ MORE
This year has already been a bountiful one for fans of local multiplayer games. From heavy hitters like Diablo III and Rayman Legends to scrappy indies like Legend of Dungeon and BombSquad, there’s been a lot to enjoy. But the year’s not over yet! Here are the titles that should be on your radar for party play this holiday season. READ MORE
Platinum Games likes to make challenging titles with deceptively deep systems. Its latest offering, The Wonderful 101, is no exception. It is also a difficult game to describe, as it combines various genres – and indeed abruptly shifts between a few of them at various times – into one cohesive whole. READ MORE
