Gaming – Trekking with Dennis

Holiday Sale Deals for PC Gamers

Spoiler Warning: Beware of minor spoilers for some of the titles below.

Important: All prices mentioned in this article were correct at time of writing in December 2025. Holiday sale deals end in January 2026, after which time the prices below will no longer be accurate. All deals and prices are subject to change and may vary by region.

It’s that time of year again, everyone: the time of year that makes PC gaming earn its keep! Getting started with a gaming PC is expensive, especially in 2025, when prices for RAM and other components are rising without end. But if you can get a PC – or if, like me, you were lucky enough to build one a couple of years ago – then this is the moment to cash in and make some big savings!

Steam, Epic Games, GOG, and other PC platforms are currently running their big holiday sales, and there are some steep discounts to be had, even on some pretty new releases. Compared to buying games on console, where sales are less frequent and less generous, PC gaming can – if you play your cards right and wait for these big annual sales – work out more cost-effective in the long run. Or at least that’s what I try to convince myself of as I desperately attempt to justify the money I spent on building my PC!

Stock photo of RAM chips attached to a motherboard. — There’s a bit of a RAM shortage these days…

As always, a couple of important caveats. Firstly, all prices listed below were correct at time of publication, and are listed in GBP/pounds sterling. Discounts and prices may vary by currency and region. I’m not affiliated with Steam or any of the other shops; I’m just one person with a small website sharing a few games that I want to recommend while they’re on sale. And finally, if you hate all of my selections, or if I miss a title that you think should’ve been included, please just keep in mind that this entire piece is the *subjective, not objective* opinion of just one person.

This year, I’m mainly focusing on games from the last ten years or so. I’ll talk a little about each title, what I liked, what I didn’t, and why it might be of interest. For obvious reasons, I’m not going to be talking about any free-to-play titles!

I hope this article helps you find a game or two to pick up!

Discount #1:
Alien: Isolation
Epic Games: 75% off, £8.74

Promo screenshot of Alien: Isolation showing the player holding a scanner.

Earlier in the year, I started playing Alien: Isolation. And it’s no exaggeration to say that this is the scariest, most atmospheric game I’ve played in a *long* time! I’ve been taking my time with Alien: Isolation, not because I’m not enjoying myself… but because it’s so intense, I genuinely can’t play it for long sessions. This is a true first-person survival horror experience, with an unstoppable Xenomorph on the loose.

I love 1979’s Alien. And in my opinion, most of its sequels went in too much of an action-heavy direction, sacrificing some or all of the fear factor that Ridley Scott’s original created so masterfully. Alien: Isolation genuinely recaptures that sense of sheer terror – and puts you right in the middle of it. It’s intense, frightening, and well worth playing if you missed it when it was new. And with Alien: Earth gracing our TV screens in 2025, it could be a great next step for anyone who enjoyed that show.

Discount #2:
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Steam/Epic: 20% off, £33.59

Promo screenshot of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 showing a combat encounter.

I had intended to try out Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 this year, but I didn’t get around to it. But maybe that’s a good thing, since now I can pick it up at a discount! For a game which has been winning multiple “game of the year” awards this month, it’s very generous of Sandfall Interactive and Kepler Interactive to put the game on sale *at all*, even more so considering that Clair Obscur is not a full-priced, £70 game to begin with.

I like the look of Clair Obscur, with its turn-based combat system. And from what I’ve heard of its setting and story – inspired by French history and developed by a French team – I’m intrigued. Obviously I can’t officially “recommend” a game I haven’t played… but this one’s been on my wishlist and I’m probably going to pick it up before the sale ends.

Discount #3:
Civilization VII
Steam: 35% off, £38.99

Screenshot of Civilization VII showing a Norman town with walls.

Civilization VII is my most-played game of 2025 (by quite a long way, actually). That probably says more about me and the relative lack of other games I’ve played this year, because compared to its predecessor… well, there’s work to do still to get Civ VII to where it ought to have been on day one! But, despite that, I see the potential in this game – and there’s still fun to be had. Firaxis has been adding new content since launch, and the most recent update added Blackbeard the pirate and a new playable civ, too.

If you liked previous Civilization titles, I think there’s a lot to appreciate in Civ VII – even if the game is still being held back by some of its maps and new mechanics. If Firaxis sticks with it, and implements promised changes and additions, in a year’s time you might be thrilled to have picked up the game at a discount! I recently went back to play a few more rounds, and I had a pretty good time. There’s still work to do, but there’s a good game hiding beneath the surface.

Discount #4:
South of Midnight
Steam: 25% off, £26.24

Screenshot of South of Midnight showing a combat encounter.

Spoiler alert for later in the month, but South of Midnight is a strong contender for my personal “game of the year” award. Check back to see if it wins! The game is fantastic; a beautiful blend of gameplay and narrative, with a dark “Southern Gothic” style. South of Midnight draws on legends of the Deep South and Mississippi Delta regions, as well as African American folklore, to tell a totally unique and compelling story of a young woman trying to reunite with her mother.

South of Midnight was a heck of a ride for me earlier in the year, and I was in love with its world-building, its creature design, its soundtrack, and its gameplay. Hazel made for a wonderfully relatable protagonist, and kept the story grounded – even amidst otherworldly chaos and giant monsters! The game’s stop-motion style was a big selling point, too, and was particularly noticeable in cut-scenes.

Discount #5:
Indika
Steam: 45% off, £11.54/Epic Games: 40% off, £12.59

Screenshot of Indika showing the title character outside the convent.

Indika was released last year, but I only got around to it in 2025. I had a wonderful time with the game, though, despite a relatively short four-hour runtime. Indika is an intense narrative experience – but there are so many different gameplay styles included, thanks to some incredibly creative pixel art sections. The game has a really complex story set in Tsarist Russia, and the titular protagonist is an incredibly well-written character.

If I’d played Indika last year, it would’ve certainly been a “game of the year” contender for me. Not every game has to be a massive, endless open world thing; there’s room for smaller, shorter experiences. And for me, Indika was perfectly-paced. This is an indie game, too, made by a Russian team.

Discount #6:
Shenmue I & II
Steam: 80% off, £4.99

Screenshot of Shenmue showing a QTE chase sequence.

Shenmue recently marked its landmark 25th anniversary – click or tap here for more on that! This legendary game also recently won the BAFTA for “most influential game of all time,” partly thanks to a fan community campaign. This bundle includes both the original Shenmue and its sequel, both of which were originally released on the Dreamcast. Shenmue was an early pioneer of what we’d come to call the open world genre, with a living, breathing world populated by people who all felt real. To this day, many games still can’t build a world as engaging or interactive as Shenmue.

Earlier this month, there was a bit of controversy in the Shenmue fandom, thanks to an ill-judged fan-made fake “trailer” for a fourth game. But that goes to show how passionate Shenmue fans can still be in 2025, I guess! If you missed these two fantastic titles when they were new, and want to see what all the fuss is about… pick up Shenmue I & II. It’s literally the price of a coffee for two incredible, in-depth narrative adventure/martial arts games.

Discount #7:
Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds
Steam: 30% off, £45.49

Screenshot of Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds showing a character approaching a portal.

Didn’t buy an overpriced Switch 2 but still on the hunt for a new “Mario Kart” game? Try Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds and I really don’t think you’ll be disappointed! This is the best kart racer – and racing game of any kind, come to that – that I played in 2025. It’s fast-paced, frantic, and just plain *fun*, with a new mechanic that mixes up every single race to keep things interesting.

I’ve been having a blast playing CrossWorlds – my first ever Sonic Racing title. And at first, I really was just checking it out because I was sulking about not being able to afford Mario Kart World! But writing off Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds as “we’ve got Mario Kart at home” would be totally unfair, and in many ways, I’d argue this game is more fun and certainly different from Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – a game I’ve played over and over again. Mario Kart World went in a new direction with an open world… and I think it’s not unfair to say that opinions vary on how it’s been implemented. Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds, in contrast, sticks to a more familiar game design with a focus on racetracks – but with the titular mechanic shaking things up.

Discount #8:
Kena: Bridge of Spirits
Steam: 70% off, £9.59

Promo screenshot for Kena: Bridge of Spirits showing Kena, the Rot, and three ghosts.

Kena: Bridge of Spirits was my pick for “game of the year” in 2021. It’s a game with a wonderfully old-school feel, harkening back to 3D platformers and adventure games of the late ’90s in a way that just… spoke to me. Kena’s environments are beyond beautiful, too. At one point, I quite literally stopped playing just to take in the incredible view that the game was showing me. Kena: Bridge of Spirits is one of those games that I’ll just never stop recommending to people!

I’m very curious to see what developer Ember Lab is up to. At time of writing, they haven’t posted anything on their website, blog, or social media pages in several years, since Kena was ported to Xbox. But I hope the developers are working on something quietly, because I’ll be there on day one for whatever their next title may be. Kena: Bridge of Spirits was just… *that good*.

Discount #9:
Dynasty Warriors: Origins
Steam: 25% off, £48.74

Screenshot of Dynasty Warriors: Origins showing the player character fighting the Yellow Turbans.

Earlier in 2025, Dynasty Warriors: Origins hadn’t been on my radar at all. In fact, I hadn’t played any game in this long-running series since Dynasty Warriors 2 almost a quarter of a century ago! But something about the game just… called out to me, I suppose, and I decided to give it a shot. And I’m so very glad I did, because this was precisely the kind of old-school hack-and-slash game that I didn’t even know I needed to play!

Dynasty Warriors: Origins has a great soundtrack, a story that’s basic but serviceable, a cast of characters who feel like throwbacks to the turn of the millennium (in the best way possible), and above all, some absolutely *epic* large-scale battles. There’s something about swinging a sword or spear, tearing through legions of enemies, and finally defeating a difficult boss that… well, it’s just a feeling I haven’t felt in any game for a long time. And I loved it.

Discount #10:
No Man’s Sky
Steam: 60% off, £19.99

Promo screenshot for one of the No Man's Sky updates.

It’s official: No Man’s Sky is now everything I wanted Starfield to be… and then some! This is definitely a “hot take,” but in 2016, when it launched, I felt that No Man’s Sky was decent for what it was, and I enjoyed my time with the game. But in the nine-plus years since then, Hello Games has added free update after free update to No Man’s Sky, utterly transforming it into one of the very best space games on the market.

Updates in 2025 added a brand-new ship-building mechanic that goes toe-to-toe with Starfield, as well as the ability to jump out of your ship in space and explore it from all angles – inside and out. There are new quests, new factions, new aliens, and so much more… and I really can’t wait to spend more time with No Man’s Sky next year. Hello Games has begun to pivot to Light No Fire, their upcoming fantasy title, and after almost a decade I can’t really blame them! No Man’s Sky may have been controversial once upon a time, but today? It’s one of the absolute exemplars of the space game genre.

Discount #11:
Star Trek: Voyager – Elite Force
GOG: 25% off, £7.49

Screenshot of Star Trek: Voyager - Elite Force showing a first-person viewpoint.

This year marks Star Trek: Voyager’s landmark thirtieth anniversary! And what better way to celebrate than by checking out Elite Force? It’s one of the very few Star Trek games to ever cross over to a more mainstream audience; Elite Force was pretty popular around the turn of the millennium, just as LAN parties and online matchmaking were becoming popular. But it also has a great single-player story, too.

I had fun playing Elite Force’s campaign back in the day, and I even dabbled in multiplayer, too. Voyager is a fun show, and Elite Force recaptured the look and feel pretty well. Most of the show’s main cast reprised their roles, and there’s a great recreation of the interior of the USS Voyager to play through, too.

Discount #12:
Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon
Steam: 30% off, £26.59

Promo screenshot for Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon showing a first-person combat encounter.

I bought Tainted Grail earlier this year, and I’ve started a playthrough that I haven’t finished yet. Tainted Grail is a game which has been, in my view, incorrectly compared to games like Bethesda’s Skyrim, and I worry that some players may have gone into it with the wrong expectations. Tainted Grail is fun, if a bit “edgy,” perhaps, with some aspects of its dark fantasy setting. Skulls and pools of blood are tropes of the genre, for sure!

I need to resume my playthrough soon, though! It was a game I planned to review, but I didn’t get around to finishing the game in 2025. That shouldn’t count against it; it says more about me than it does about Tainted Grail. And I genuinely enjoyed the game’s take on the legendary King Arthur – a story I’ve always had a soft spot for. A new update and DLC have recently been released for the game, too, so this could be a great moment to get started with it.

Discount #13:
Tchia
Steam: 75% off, £6.24/Epic: 67% off, £8.24

Tchia is an adorable indie title inspired by the island of New Caledonia, created by a New Caledonian team. I played it shortly after it launched, and I had a really fun time with its open world, playful interactivity, and world-building. You can interact with animals in the game’s environment and even play a ukulele! What more could you want?

Tchia’s world is genuinely beautiful, with palm trees, white sand beaches, and blue seas that really feel like a vision of paradise. When the sun sets, the world is lit up in stunning colours, too, and there’s just a lot of fun to be had running around, exploring the world, and seeing what’s out there.

Discount #14:
Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown
Steam: 92% off, £3.99

Ace Combat 8 was recently announced, and when Ace Combat 7 is available at such a steep discount, it could be a great time to get started with this interesting combat flight game. This isn’t a “flight simulator;” it’s much more arcadey in the way its planes control. It feels more like an old-school video game than a modern flight sim, but I mean that in a good way! There’s a time and place for realistic controls and full-blown simulators, but there’s also room for games like Ace Combat 7 that take a less realistic approach.

The game is set in a fictional world, with different countries, and I’ve always felt it had kind of an “anime-style” presentation to at least some aspects of its story. Despite not being set in the real world, Ace Combat 7 features recreations of some real-world aircraft – though, as noted, it’s not a flight sim title. Still, there’s fun to be had here if you get into it, and there’s a sequel coming in the near future.

Discount #15:
Baldur’s Gate 3
Steam/GOG: 25% off, £37.49

Screenshot of Baldurs Gate 3 with the mod "Withers Big Naturals" showing Withers.

Another of my picks for “game of the year,” this time from 2023, Baldur’s Gate 3 is a masterpiece. It’s one of the best role-playing games that I’ve ever played, with a fantasy setting based on the world of Dungeons and Dragons. I went on a wild adventure with an incredible cast of characters, following a compelling story from a monstrous airship through a cursed, shadowy land to a big city – and beyond. And yes, I save-scummed all the way there and back!

It’s impossible to do Baldur’s Gate 3 justice in just a couple of paragraphs. But there are so many customisation options for your character – including new ones thanks to an active modding scene – and a storyline that feels like it genuinely reacts to your choices, and your mistakes. Developers Larian Studios thought of *everything*, and the game basically lets you do anything you can think of to defeat enemies and achieve your goals. Player choice and freedom is the name of the game – and I absolutely adored the end result.

So that’s it!

Stock photo of a retro Commodore computer. — Does your gaming PC look like this?

We’ve picked fifteen PC games that are worth considering while they’re on sale.

I hope I’ve given you a few ideas for where to look now that the annual holiday/winter sales are underway! As I like to say, if I’ve helped even one person find one new game to play, then I reckon I’ve done a reasonable job!

If you found this interesting or informative, I hope you’ll stick around here on the website, as I discuss gaming and the games industry quite a lot, as well as publish occasional game reviews depending on what titles take my fancy. At the end of the month, I’ll be handing out my annual End-of-Year Awards, including my pick for “game of the year,” so I hope you’ll join me for that. And until then… happy gaming!

All titles discussed above are the copyright of their respective developer and/or publisher. Deals and discounts discussed above were correct at time of publication in December 2025. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

Check out some of my reviews/retrospectives of the titles on this list:

Fate of the Old Republic: Thoughts and Concerns

Fri 12.12.25Dennis

A Star Wars-themed spoiler warning graphic.

Spoiler Warning: Beware minor spoilers for Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Knights of the Old Republic II.

The so-called Game “Awards” was pretty shit, wasn’t it? I didn’t watch the actual broadcast, because if the organisers don’t actually care about their made-up trophies at this glorified marketing event, why should I? But I did check out the announcements and a few of the trailers after the fact, as I usually do, and there was one that caught my eye. As you probably guessed, it was Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic.

I was huge Knights of the Old Republic fan during the original Xbox era, and I still consider both that game and its sequel to be among the best RPGs I’ve ever played – as well as two of the best pieces of Star Wars media, too. KotOR II left things open-ended more than twenty years ago, but the story was never continued. More recently, a remake of the first KotOR had been announced, but that project seems to have suffered from a difficult and troubled development process, with a publisher withdrawing, a development studio being kicked off the project, and no official word on it for a long time.

So Fate of the Old Republic’s announcement should be a time of joy! Right?

Still frame from the Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic teaser showing the pilot's seat. — *Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic* has been teased.

Well, let’s talk about that.

Truthfully, I’m not exactly blown away by this announcement. We didn’t actually see Fate of the Old Republic with our own eyes at the Game “Awards.” We saw a CGI trailer that told us next to nothing. That’s not unexpected for a game which is clearly at a very early stage in its development, but after being burned once by a cinematic KotOR remake trailer that hasn’t actually gone anywhere… well, there’s less to get excited about the second time around.

But if Fate of the Old Republic is, as has been reported, five-plus years away from its potential release window… I can’t be alone in thinking that its announcement has come too early, can I? Star Wars has been guilty of this before, not just with the aforementioned KotOR remake, but also with Eclipse – another single-player title we haven’t so much as glimpsed in over four years at this point. So… why announce this now? It wasn’t like Fate of the Old Republic was being leaked, and teasing fans with a nothing-burger cinematic clip five years or more ahead of release feels almost mean. I might not still be here (or still able to play games if my arthritis gets worse) come 2030.

*Fate of the Old Republic* still seems a long way off.

So far, I haven’t been able to find out what Fate of the Old Republic’s existence may or may not mean for the status of the KotOR remake and – potentially – a KotOR II remake that I’d want to see follow it up. Is the KotOR remake still happening? Or does this announcement mean that Disney, Lucasfilm, and their development/publishing partners are now going in a totally different direction? I wouldn’t expect the developers of Fate of the Old Republic to discuss that – but hopefully soon, someone from Disney, Lucasfilm, or Saber Interactive can clear things up.

I want a new KotOR game, don’t get me wrong. But having been excited about the remake – and having deliberately not played KotOR or KotOR II since the remake was announced – I don’t like the idea of losing that game. In an ideal world, I’d like to see both titles release: the KotOR remake first, then hopefully KotOR II, and finally Fate of the Old Republic. But it would be nice to get some clarity from the people involved whether the remake is still happening… because it seems odd to me to announce this new game if the remake is also going ahead. The KotOR remake, with the best will in the world, isn’t launching in 2026. So if that game would be 2027 or later, then it starts to butt up against Fate of the Old Republic if it might make a 2030 release. The timings of all these things leaves me scratching my head.

Still frame from the KotOR Remake teaser showing Revan. — What does this mean for the *KotOR* remake?

Then there’s the typical Star Wars “oversaturation.” Will people pick up the KotOR remake knowing that Fate of the Old Republic might be just a couple of years away? And if the KotOR remake does well, will that risk overshadowing Fate of the Old Republic, given how strong the game’s story is and the incredibly powerful impact of its big twist? It just feels like a totally unnecessary risk.

The ideal way to do this would’ve been to launch the KotOR remake, then get straight into remaking KotOR II using the same team and the same process. Only then would work on a new entry commence. But my biggest concern at this stage, really, is whether the KotOR remake is still happening at all. If I had to choose between a remake and a new game, I’m always gonna pick a new game! But having been teased with the idea of replaying one (or perhaps two) of my favourite RPGs of all-time… I’ll be a little disappointed if the promised remake now isn’t happening.

Still frame from the Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic teaser showing the protagonist's eyes. — A mysterious character.

Much has been made of KotOR director Casey Hudson’s involvement in this project – and I’m definitely pleased to see him back in the director’s chair. Hudson – who also directed the fantastic Jade Empire and all three games in the original Mass Effect trilogy – is fantastic, so any game he’s involved with, even if it wasn’t Star Wars, would have attracted my attention! But can the same be said for any of his colleagues at the brand-new Arcanaut Studios?

Fate of the Old Republic will be Arcanaut’s first-ever video game. And it isn’t easy to build up a brand-new studio from scratch in the modern games industry. Building a studio around a talismanic figure from the past doesn’t always work – just ask Build A Rocket Boy and their failed game MindsEye. Even in the Star Wars franchise, such things don’t always work out – Amy Hennig’s Star Wars game ended up being cancelled before it even launched, and that was coming from an established studio with a track record. So… there are causes for concern, unfortunately. One big name, no matter how influential they may once have been or what their track record may look like, is not a guarantee of success on its own, and a game like Fate of the Old Republic feels like a massive project for a brand-new studio to be tasked with.

This will be Arcanaut Studios’ first game.

Finally, there was one phrase in Fate of the Old Republic’s marketing material that I didn’t like to see. The game is being described as a “spiritual successor” to Knights of the Old Republic. But a “spiritual successor” is not a true sequel, is it? So will this game pick up the stories of Revan and the Jedi Exile? Or will it be a brand-new thing that doesn’t continue their storylines at all? The studio’s website promises “new characters for an all-new story,” which sounds to me like they’re not planning to even touch on what happened to Revan and the Jedi Exile. And I would add that nothing in the Fate of the Old Republic trailer looked familiar – the character, the starship, the planet… none of it.

And that leaves me baffled, to be honest.

Why make a big deal of Casey Hudson’s involvement, name-drop KotOR so often, and even use the “of the Old Republic” branding in the game’s name if it’s gonna be a different thing altogether? It almost feels like it could be a bait-and-switch; using the KotOR name to entice fans of those games to show up for a new, unrelated project.

Still frame from the Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic teaser showing the character entering a door. — Is this game going to connect back to *KotOR* in a big way? Or… at all?

I’m still hopeful that Fate of the Old Republic will be a solid and enjoyable game in its own right… when it’s ready in 2030 or beyond. And if I’m still here and still capable of writing and gaming, I’ll do my best to play it and review it right here on the website! But, for all the reasons discussed above, I’m not exactly “hyped” for this new game at this too-early stage, and I’m more concerned, in some ways, for what this announcement could mean for the KotOR remake that I’d been looking forward to.

So I realise this was a dump of negativity, and I apologise for that. But KotOR and KotOR II are still games I’m passionate about, and I’ve longed for a continuation for literally decades at this point. I’m not sure, based on what I’ve seen and read, whether Fate of the Old Republic will be that game. It certainly won’t be KotOR III. However, it could be a fantastic standalone title, and maybe there will be more connections to Revan and the Jedi Exile, even if those characters and their friends don’t end up forming a core part of the new story. In any case, I will check out Fate of the Old Republic when it’s ready, assuming I’m able to.

Stay tuned here on the website, because I’m currently writing up my thoughts on The Force Awakens ahead of its tenth anniversary. And later in the month, I’ll be handing out some of my own made-up statuettes and trophies to some of my favourite entertainment experiences of 2025! I hope you’ll join me for that. Until then… may the Force be with you, friends!

Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic is in early development and may not launch for several years. Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic is the copyright of Arcanaut Studios, Lucasfilm Games, and The Walt Disney Company. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is the copyright of BioWare, Electronic Arts, Lucasfilm Games, and The Walt Disney Company. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds – Video Game Review

Wed 03.12.25Dennis

Although I played a good amount of Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic 2, and Sonic 3 with a friend on their Mega Drive back in the 1990s, the only Sega console I ever owned was a Dreamcast. And I’m pretty sure the only Sonic game I owned at that time was Sonic Adventure. But I think it’s fair to say that Sega’s mascot – while not as ubiquitous as his one-time rival Super Mario – is a pop culture icon! With movies, new games, collaborations, and spin-offs under his belt, the speedy blue hedgehog is still keeping the flag flying for Sega almost a quarter of a century after the company got out of the video game hardware business.

In recent years, I’ve enjoyed Sonic’s trip to the cinema, as well as the delightfully old-school Sonic Mania – a 2D platformer which feels like it came right out of the Mega Drive era. But I haven’t really kept up with Sega’s racing game series. Though I do occasionally dabble in other kart-racing games – like Meow Motors, for example – the simple fact is that there’s really only one name in town for this sub-genre: Mario Kart. I’m a huge Mario Kart fan, having played every title except for Mario Kart World, and even the best kart racers feel like they’re overshadowed by Nintendo’s juggernaut.

Promo screenshot for Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds showing the racer Amy in flight. — Let’s dive into *CrossWorlds*!

Releasing Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds just a few months after the first Mario Kart game in over a decade wasn’t just a risk… it was a risk that took balls made of pure titanium. Comparisons would’ve been inevitable, I suspect, no matter when CrossWorlds launched, but releasing the game so close to Mario Kart World shows, in my view, just how much confidence Sega must’ve had in the game. And you know what? They were absolutely right to feel that way, because Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is an absolute joy to play.

This is the “Mario Kart 9” I’ve wanted for years… and I didn’t even need to buy a Switch 2! That’s the headline, and it seems as if CrossWorlds is actually out-performing Mario Kart World, at least in terms of reviews. On Metacritic, at time of writing in December 2025, Mario Kart World is sitting at a 6.9/10 in terms of user reviews, whereas Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is utterly dominating it with the “universal acclaim” of a 9.0. With Mario Kart World doing its own thing, focusing more on building up a large open world to drive around, Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds keeps its focus tighter, with well-designed racetracks. But each race brings with it a twist – the titular CrossWorlds mechanic – to keep things interesting and engaging.

Two Metacritic screenshots comparing Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds to Mario Kart World. — *CrossWorld’*s Metacritic score (top) compared to *Mario Kart World’*s (bottom).

How many games, these days, still offer free demo versions? Demos used to be everywhere in the late ’90s and into the new millennium, but despite the ease of digital distribution, they aren’t something you see a lot of any more. I think free demos are coming back, at least on PC, but it was great to be able to try Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds before buying. And if there’s *one* thing to take away from this review, it’s that you can try CrossWorlds completely for free on Steam thanks to the demo! I really think it’s worth testing out, at least, to see whether you might have half as much fun with the game as I have.

And the demo is pretty beefy. You get to choose from several of the main Sonic characters, choose and customise your vehicle (more on that in a moment), and even choose which racetracks and CrossWorlds to race through. There’s a lot of locked content, of course, but there’s also a surprising amount to experiment with for free. This isn’t just one of those “one racetrack and one racer for two minutes” type of things!

Promo art for Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds showing the demo version. — A demo version is available for free.

Some racing games – especially arcade racers – have vehicles that can feel weightless or “floaty,” but Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds has karts that feel substantial and weighty. I love how they transform from karts to boats or planes depending on the track and the terrain; I think I’m right in saying that’s something the Sonic Racing series has done before, but don’t quote me on that! Regardless, it’s a fun mechanic, and it’s implemented well in the game. Each of the three racing/vehicle types feel different, too; planes can move vertically as well as horizontally, and boats glide on the track in a way karts don’t.

Each kart is customisable, and there are stats to consider. Some vehicles are slower to accelerate but have a higher top speed, some handle better, and so on. None of that’s earth-shattering stuff for a kart racer; Mario Kart has been doing it for decades at this point. But for people who like to tinker, and players who like to work out “the meta” for each track and character, those things are present in CrossWorlds – but they aren’t so overwhelming that you’re going to feel compelled to *only* ever choose the same combination. The stats matter, but they don’t ruin the game or make most combinations non-viable, which I think is important in a title like this. Fun, not detailed stats, should be the name of the game!

Promo screenshot for Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds showing vehicle customisation. — Customising a kart.

I’m not wild about the whole “season pass” thing in a full-priced title, so I think it’s worth being aware of the DLC situation if you’re interested in Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds. There are two DLC packs, which can be purchased separately – each of which adds a few racers, karts, and racetracks – and a season pass. The price for the game’s “digital deluxe edition,” when not on sale, is £80/$80, which puts it alongside Mario Kart World in terms of how much you’re gonna pay. Given how Mario Kart World was roundly criticised earlier in the year for its price point, that’s something to keep in mind.

And I don’t think it’s unfair to say that fully-priced games shouldn’t be selling DLC, extra characters, skins, and so on *from day one*. When Mario Kart 8 Deluxe added its Booster Course Pass, not only did that double the amount of content in the game, it also came along years after the title’s original release. Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds starts out as an incomplete experience, but Sega is happy to sell you the rest of the game piece by piece. Even when a game is good, as Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds undeniably is for me, I still think this kind of over-monetisation should be called out, or at least flagged up in a review like this one.

Promo screenshot for Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds showing season pass characters. — Some of the characters from the season pass content.

And look, I’m not pretending that some of the additional content isn’t a ton of fun. You’ve got characters, vehicles, and tracks based on four massively popular entertainment properties: Mega-Man, Minecraft, Pac-Man, and SpongeBob SquarePants. Tearing up a Bikini Bottom-themed track in the Patty Wagon with SpongeBob is… well, it’s just good old-fashioned kart-racing *fun*. But… did it need to be a paid extra? Couldn’t this content have been included in this game – this *fully-priced game* – for no extra charge?

So your mileage may vary on the price front. What I will say, not exactly in defence of CrossWorlds, but rather as a potential mitigating factor, is that the game is – at time of writing – on sale on PC, and the digital deluxe version is 30% off. For a game that’s only been out for less than three months, that’s a pretty generous discount, in my opinion. Similar sales are also taking place on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, and Xbox, so if you act fast, you might be able to pick it up at a discount. If not, stick it on your wishlist and wait for the next sale, as I’m sure this won’t be the last time CrossWorlds gets a discount like this.

Promo screenshot for Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds showing SpongeBob. — SpongeBob is a playable character… if you pay extra.

CrossWorlds has everything I’d expect from a kart-racing game. Racetracks are fun, well-designed, and full of bright, vibrant colours, karts and characters are cute, with enough differences between them to keep things interesting, and there are items galore which can give you a boost, knock back an opponent, or lay a trap in wait for anyone who’s fallen behind. But, thanks to the titular CrossWorlds idea, there’s a bit more replayability to the game than you might’ve thought.

The CrossWorlds mechanic works like this: the second lap of each racetrack sees everyone drive through a portal, and that middle lap then takes place on a totally different track. The player in first place gets to choose from either a set CrossWorld or a random one – and there must be dozens, if not hundreds, of possible variations as a result. This addition is way more transformative than I think I’m making it sound, because it means that every single race is different, and you can’t rely on pure muscle memory, even if you’ve memorised all of the track layouts. There’s also an additional incentive to push through the pack and nab that first-place spot by the end of lap one, because then you’re in control of the second lap.

Promo screenshot for Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds showing Knuckles approaching a portal. — Approaching a portal.

Comparisons with Mario Kart are inescapable, and for me, I think CrossWorlds does something that Nintendo have tried to do with Mario Kart World’s intermission tracks and open world: adding variety and replayability to the game. I haven’t played World yet, so I can’t comment on how well those intermissions and the open world feel to play. But in Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds? This variety is an additional factor in keeping races fun, interesting, and engaging. That’s not to say the game would be bad without it – most of the racetracks are great, and I’d be happy to play through all of them over and over again! But adding this additional element works so well.

I also think the CrossWorlds mechanic is a technical marvel. What Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds does, if you think about it, is seamlessly transition from one racetrack to another, then back again – and which racetrack it has to transition to can’t be known until, at most, a few seconds before the first player enters the portal. That’s quite impressive – there are no loading screens, and no disruption at all to what can be a very fast-paced and hectic race.

Promo screenshot for Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds showing a racer choosing between two portals. — A seamless transition between racetracks on the fly is creative and well-implemented.

Price issues aside, I’ve been having a whale of a time with Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds, as you can probably tell. I was in the mood for a fun, old-school kart racer, and with no Switch 2 or Mario Kart World to dive into… this has been a surprisingly fun purchase for me. CrossWorlds wasn’t on my list of games for 2025, and it was almost an impulse purchase when I saw it on sale around Black Friday, but I ended up having a great time. I mostly play in single-player mode, because that’s where I have the most fun, but there seems to be a thriving online scene if that kinda thing is more your speed. Who knows… maybe we’ll see each other out on the racetrack! I promise to wave as I overtake you.

Stay tuned, because I have at least one other game from 2025 in my review pile that I’d love to get through before the end of the year. And on or before New Year’s Eve, be sure to tune in for my annual End-of-Year Awards! Who knows, CrossWorlds might just make an appearance.

Until then… see you on the racetrack!

Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is out now for Nintendo Switch 1 & 2, PC, PlayStation 4 & 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S/X. Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is the copyright of Sonic Team and Sega. Some screenshots and promo art courtesy of Sega and/or IGDB. This review contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

Steam Machine: Where’s The Price?

Sun 23.11.25Dennis

I was surprised to see Valve – the owners and operators of Steam and makers of the popular Steam Deck handheld PC – recently announcing new hardware. I’ve actually put the new Steam controller on my wishlist; I’m in the market for a new controller, and Valve’s might be the way to go. As you may know if you’re a regular reader, I’m also a *big* supporter of innovation and change in the games industry, so a company of Valve’s standing launching a console-esque device, like the new Steam Machine purports to be, could be a big deal.

The games industry can feel pretty stagnant, sometimes. Since Sega’s unceremonious exit from the hardware market almost a quarter of a century ago, there have basically been three names in the console space if you’re looking for something to plug into your TV: Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft. But it’s even narrower than that, because Nintendo, for the better part of two decades, has been off to one side, doing its own thing, prioritising different ways to play over graphical fidelity and performance. If you want a home console capable of playing the newest games with the best graphics, your choice has been an Xbox or a PlayStation.

Promo image of the Steam Machine on a desk next to a fishtank. — The new Steam Machine (with a goldfish bowl for scale).

When Google announced Stadia a few years ago, I was supportive of the idea. Not only was Stadia a new entrant into a stagnant marketplace, backed up by a massive corporation, but its game streaming idea left it well-positioned to be a cheap and potentially easier route into gaming for new players, younger players, and folks on a budget. Stadia didn’t stick the landing for all manner of reasons, so Google did what Google often does – and killed it. But the idea that someone – *anyone* – could step into this marketplace and shake things up was tantalising!

It’s through that lens that I view Valve’s new Steam Machine. The device is not a PC, but it’s fair to say that it isn’t *entirely* a console, either, existing in a kind of nebulous in-between space. That could mean it’s the best of both worlds… or that it’ll struggle to attract an audience. I know that I don’t personally have a place in my life for a Steam Machine (I play on PC these days, and I’m not in the market for a console or console-like device). But given the issues in the games industry, and the home console market in particular… I wish the Steam Machine well and will be following its progress when it launches next year.

The Valve logo on a Steam Machine.

But something is giving me pause.

Valve spent a lot of money on a flashy announcement, talking about the Steam Machine and its capabilities. But something pretty big was missing: the price. If the price was good and low… surely Valve would’ve announced it at the same time, no? The way this particular teaser was structured, drumming up hype and excitement for the device *without* revealing its price, leads me to believe that it’s not going to be anywhere near as inexpensive as people are hoping. It could even feel overpriced, coming in at a higher price point than even the PlayStation 5 Pro and Xbox Series X.

And if that happens… I think it’s going to go the way of the first Steam Machine from a few years ago.

Promo image of the original (2015) Steam Machine and Controller. — This was the original Steam Machine, back in 2015.

Among the biggest stories in gaming in 2025 have been the price of the Nintendo Switch 2, the $10 hike in the “basic” price of some video games from $70 to $80, the price hikes of both the Xbox Series and PlayStation 5 consoles, and the significant rise in the cost of Xbox Game Pass. There is clearly a limit to how far companies can push their prices, even for hyped and highly-anticipated hardware, and I’m just concerned that Valve might not have read the room on this one.

The Steam Machine isn’t an exceptionally powerful device, based on the specs Valve have released. It’s more powerful than an Xbox Series S, but it’s basically on a par with the PS5 and Series X – consoles which are almost five years old already. The PC I built three years ago will easily outperform the Steam Machine. So… it’s gotta be priced fairly.

Promo graphic of the Steam Machine and Steam Controller in a cartoon style. — A cartoon of the Steam Machine and Steam Controller. Cute.

Here in the UK, Nintendo’s Switch 2 retails for £400 – though you can pick it up for a slight discount at time of writing. Xbox Series X consoles, after Microsoft’s recent price hikes, retail for £500, which is within £20 of the PlayStation 5, which retails for £480. In the United States, the Switch 2 retails for $450, the Xbox Series X retails for $600, and the PS5 goes for $550. Those are the Steam Machine’s main competitors.

In my view, as someone who used to work in the games industry, if Valve tries to sell the Steam Machine for more than about $500 in the USA or £425 in the UK, it’ll turn people away. The not-quite-a-console already exists in a bit of a weird space, trying to appeal to existing Steam users who want to play some games on their TVs. A good price – even if that means selling the device at a small loss – could bring in huge sales numbers, because if it undercuts the competition *and* can play more games than any of them… well, that’s a pretty good deal no matter who you are! But if it’s priced too high, not only does it lose any potential new players, but it also becomes a tough sell for existing Steam players who use either a PC or a Steam Deck. If it’s going to retail for more than an Xbox Series X, PS5, or Switch 2… who’s it really for?

Promo image of the Steam Deck. — Valve’s Steam Deck is competitively-priced.

Valve has been here before. The original Steam Machines, a decade ago, didn’t make much of an impact in the gaming world, nor did the Steam Controller. Again, price was *part* of that. And that’s another concern I’d have if I were considering picking up a Steam Machine: how long can I expect this device to be supported and updated? Valve bailed on the original Steam Machines pretty quickly, so if these new ones are expensive, and therefore less likely to sell a lot of units in their first year or two… how long is Valve gonna stick with them?

I could be completely wrong, and Valve could have an ace in the hole, ready to announce a low price of $350 in the United States and £300 in the UK! But I suspect that, if they had anything even *close* to that, they’d have put it front-and-centre in their big announcement. Why wouldn’t they, if the price is going to be part of the selling-point? This, to me, feels like a company trying to drum up hype and excitement while keeping the price hidden, so that by the time they reveal it… players have already committed. They’re already going to *want* a Steam Machine, so they’ll be willing to pay.

Still frame/meme from Futurama showing Fry saying "shut up and take my money" with a fistful of dollar bills. — How much will the Steam Machine retail for?

I hope I’m wrong, because the games industry *needs* a shake-up on the hardware side, and a company like Valve is basically one of the only players who could even conceivably achieve something like that. A decent, fair price could see the Steam Machine outpace the beleaguered Xbox Series X, for example, positioning Valve as a real player in the home console market. But a high price, making it an enthusiast-only device, appealing only to players who already have gaming PCs and extensive Steam libraries? How many people like that, realistically, would even want a console-like device?

Between HDMI cables, casting, and streaming, it isn’t exactly rocket surgery to play your PC games on a television screen. I used to do it all the time simply by running a long HDMI cable from my PC to the TV in my living room. If the choice is a $800 “GabeCube” or a $15 HDMI cable… how can you compete with that? Valve long ago realised that the way to beat piracy is to offer players a better service at a reasonable price. That philosophy would serve the company well on this new endeavour, too.

So… watch this space, I guess. Valve will have to announce the price sooner or later. I’m crossing my fingers, but the announcement definitely left me more concerned than excited.

The Steam Machine, Steam Controller, and Steam Frame will be released in 2026. Prices TBC. Steam, the Steam Machine, and other properties discussed above are the trademarks/copyright of Valve. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

The Elder Scrolls VI Is “Still A Long Way Off.” No Shit.

Sun 16.11.25Dennis

Spoiler Warning: Beware of minor spoilers for Morrowind, Skyrim, Fallout 4, and Starfield.

There seem to have been some pretty explosive outbursts from Bethesda fans online following a recent interview with studio head Todd Howard. Howard, who is also the director of the upcoming sequel to Skyrim, was quoted as saying that The Elder Scrolls VI is “still a long way off.” But we knew that already. Didn’t we?

I’m sorry, but if *anyone* genuinely believed that the next Elder Scrolls game was going to be launched next year… that’s on them. They set themselves up for disappointment by buying into a clearly and demonstrably false narrative about the game. This quote from Todd Howard shouldn’t come as a surprise, and to be honest, the only surprising thing about it for me is how genuinely hurt and upset some folks seem to be as a result. I guess that just proves that Todd Howard was right, for once, to try to tamp down some of the rumours and “cope” from die-hard fans about a release being imminent.

Still frame from the Starfield promo event showing Todd Howard. — Todd Howard, director of *The Elder Scrolls VI*.

Starfield, Bethesda’s most recent game, took five years to make, with development lasting from 2018 to 2023. It launched in September 2023, and, to be realistic, much of Bethesda’s team was still dedicated to patching, updating, and preparing DLC for Starfield for at least a few months afterwards. We also know that Bethesda only works on one game at a time. We’ll get into that in a moment (because it’s an idiotic mistake for a studio this size at this point in time), but it’s also a known fact that fans should have accounted for. Knowing those two things – Starfield’s long development and Bethesda’s commitment to only working on one game at a time – how could *anyone* believe that The Elder Scrolls VI would be ready in just a couple of years? It’s going to take at least as long as Starfield; there’s no chance it’ll be ready in half the time. And if someone convinced themselves it would be… this is a rare case where I’ll defend Bethesda, to an extent, and say that that disappointment is on them.

There are plenty of things to criticise Bethesda and Todd Howard for. Fallout 4 is broken, and its “Anniversary Edition” is really just an excuse to shove paid mods and microtransactions into a decade-old game. Starfield and Shattered Space just… weren’t very good, and are also riddled with microtransactions that Bethesda deliberately hid during the game’s first few weeks on sale. The studio has failed to modernise or keep up with the competition, relying on the creaking, zombified remains of a three-decade-old game engine that is no longer fit for purpose. And, of course, The Elder Scrolls VI was announced years too early, contributing to the disappointment fans feel today.

Promo art for the Fallout 4 Anniversary Edition. — *Fallout 4′*s “Anniversary Edition” has not been well-received.

I look at studios like Obsidian – once a Bethesda collaborator – as an example of how Bethesda could do so much better. Obsidian released not one but *two* massive role-playing games this year: Avowed and The Outer Worlds 2. How did they manage such a task? Well, isn’t it obvious? As they’ve gotten bigger and become more successful, they’ve been able to build up their studio a lot more, allowing them to have separate teams of developers for different projects. Bethesda could – and I would argue *should* – be looking to do the same thing.

Because it isn’t only Elder Scrolls fans who are upset. It’s now been a decade since the last single-player Fallout title, and at the current rate Bethesda is going, it’s gonna be close to *another* decade before we’ll see their version of Fallout 5. Fallout fans, already burned by the disappointments of 76 and now the “Anniversary Edition,” have every right to be upset about that – just as Elder Scrolls fans do about the long wait for their next game.

Promo screenshot for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim showing a dragon. — It’s been almost fifteen years since *Skyrim*…

So while I stand by what I said a moment ago, that any disappointment Elder Scrolls fans may feel about learning the game won’t be coming out any time soon is on them… that’s not the whole story. Bethesda has spent close to fifteen years repeatedly porting, remastering, re-releasing, and adding microtransactions to Skyrim, and the games they’ve released since then, beginning really with Fallout 4, haven’t been as well-received as they were in the 2000s. Bethesda should, after the Microsoft acquisition, have created a second development wing, and given either Starfield or The Elder Scrolls VI to them, allowing them to have both games ready in a more reasonable time frame.

Skyrim launched in November 2011. And by the time The Elder Scrolls VI launches in 2028 or 2029 (or beyond, perhaps), it’ll be closer to Skyrim’s twentieth anniversary than its fifteenth. In the intervening years, fans of role-playing games have been treated to the likes of The Witcher 3, Baldur’s Gate 3, and Elden Ring, and open-world adventures like Grand Theft Auto V (and VI), Red Dead Redemption II, and Cyberpunk 2077. And yeah, you read that right – in spite of all the memes and jokes, there’ll have been *two* Grand Theft Auto games released in between Skyrim’s 2011 launch and the eventual release of The Elder Scrolls VI.

Still frame from the GTA VI trailer showing Lucia. — There’ll have been two GTA games – V and VI – since *Skyrim* launched…

Given what happened with Starfield, with its lacklustre world-building, characters, and stories, I can’t be the only one thinking that The Elder Scrolls VI is going to struggle… can I? Bethesda seems content to double-down on the same basic approach, employing the same writing team, and using the same game engine. But isn’t that going to lead to the same kind of outcome? After all this time, is The Elder Scrolls VI going to end up as little more than a microtransaction-riddled disappointment? I hope not, but I confess that I’m sceptical. As I wrote last year, The Elder Scrolls VI is no longer a “must-buy on day one” title for me, but rather a “wait six months and see” kinda game.

There is clearly still a Bethesda fanbase, and at least some of those folks won’t care if the game feels a generation or two out-of-date, or the writing and voice acting aren’t up to par, because that “jankiness” is just part of what makes the Bethesda experience. So I’m not arguing that there’ll be no audience for The Elder Scrolls VI, but I think it’s interesting to note that, even among hard-core Bethesda fans, there’s discontent and disappointment – albeit that some of that disappointment, when it comes to the game’s release window, is rather self-inflicted!

Promo screenshot for The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. — *The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind*.

In 2002, I absolutely adored Morrowind, and it remains one of my favourite games to this day. But I’m struggling to get excited for another Bethesda game right now, even in a series I have a genuine fondness for, after a decade-plus of the studio focusing more on wringing money out of players than keeping up with the competition. Now that I no longer use PC Game Pass, I really don’t expect to pick up The Elder Scrolls VI until it’s been out for a while and I can assess to what extent it’s being monetised. If it looks anything like Starfield, which has a microtransaction marketplace that resembles something out of a free-to-play mobile game… I might not even pick it up at all.

So this has been an odd one. I will reluctantly defend Bethesda and Todd Howard on the timing of The Elder Scrolls VI, simply because anyone with a brain cell should have been able to understand that the game wasn’t going to be released in just a few months’ time. But at the same time, it’s still a problem of Bethesda’s own making: a massively premature announcement in 2018 led fans to believe that the game was being actively worked on, and the studio’s unwillingness to change and adapt the way it creates games means they’re *still* only working on one game at a time, despite having the resources to do more. After all, what else are they gonna spend all the money from Microsoft and those paid mods on?

In any case, The Elder Scrolls VI is – as I have repeatedly said here on the website, going back several years – a 2028 or 2029 game. It isn’t coming out any time soon. No shit.

All titles discussed above are the copyright of Bethesda Game Studios, Bethesda Softworks, Xbox Game Studios, and/or Microsoft. Some screenshots and promo art courtesy of Steam and IGDB. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

Horror Hypothetical: Where Would You Try To Survive?

Sun 26.10.25Dennis

Spoiler Warning: Beware of spoilers for the films, games, and TV shows discussed below.

With Halloween rapidly approaching, I thought we could have a bit of fun by playing one of those “hypothetical question” games that you often see doing the rounds on social media. I’m going to choose one with a seasonally-appropriate horror theme, and try to go through a few possible answers, weighing up the pros and cons of each.

So what is this horror hypothetical, you rightly ask?

If you had to spend 72 hours (that’s three days) in one fictional universe from a horror property, which one would you choose? And, perhaps more pertinently: which horror franchise/universe presents the highest chance of survival?

Stock photo of two Jack-o-lanterns. — Happy Halloween!

Let’s lay down some ground rules – because rules are always fun, right?

In this scenario, I’ll have to spend 72 hours in one fictional universe of choice – and it has to come from a recognised horror film, TV series, or video game. Scary episodes or levels of non-horror properties don’t count – so there’s no trying to wriggle out of it by picking something like Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’s Empok Nor. We’re talking full-blown horror only!

Most stories take place in a larger fictional world – but it wouldn’t be *any* fun at all to pick, say, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and say that I’d avoid it by catching the first bus out of town, or to say that I’d survive in the Alien universe by just never going into outer space. So we’re assuming, for the purposes of the hypothetical, that I’m dropped in the middle of the danger zone. Running away is possible – but only using the equipment and technology that we’ve seen depicted on screen, *and* that I’m reasonably confident I’d be able to use. So… no hijacking a nuclear bomb or anything like that!

Still frame from Star Trek: Strange New Worlds showing Hemmer as a zombie. — Argh!

I’m also going to assume that I’m in reasonably good health in these hypotheticals – which is categorically *not* the case in real life, unfortunately! But, again, it doesn’t seem like it’d be a lot of fun to have to take into account my limited mobility in every scenario. So, if you’ll indulge me, I’m going to assume I’m in better health than I actually am!

Finally, as I always like to say, everything we’re going to talk about is subjective, not objective. If you hate the horror franchises I’ve chosen, think I’ve totally messed up my survival, or just feel I’ve got the wrong end of the stick somehow… that’s okay! All of this is just a bit of Halloween-themed fun, at the end of the day. And since neither of us are ever going to be actually dropped into a horror franchise (well, fingers crossed), none of this really matters! It’s just for fun – and I share it with the interweb in that spirit.

I’ll talk a little bit about each scenario, then give it a survival chance at the end using a simple 1-10 scale, with one being the lowest chance of survival, and ten being the highest.

So with all of that out of the way, let’s get started.

Option #1:
28 Days Later

Still frame from 28 Weeks Later showing a zombie breaking in through a window. — A zombie.

28 Days Later redefined the zombie genre, and it was genuinely one of the most terrifying depictions of zombies I’d ever seen. Fast “sprinters,” able to infect people with a single drop of blood, and blinded by rage… this is gonna be a tough one!

For the purposes of our 72-hour survival challenge, the best thing to do would be to shelter in place, using whatever resources are available in the immediate surroundings. Venturing outside, especially in a large city the size of London, seems like it would be immediately fatal, so as long as I have some kind of shelter and hopefully some water or something else to drink, I’d try to hunker down, keep quiet, and stay away from any windows!

Still frame from 28 Days Later showing two zombies dying. — Dying zombies.

That being said, we’ve seen how aggressive 28 Days Later’s zombies can be, and how a small flicker of light or a seemingly innocuous sound can attract an entire horde. Assuming we’re in London or a similarly-sized urban area, and all we have for defence is the contents of the average house… I don’t think this is going to end well, to be blunt about it. One loud snore, one step too close to a window, or one candle at night would be all it’d take to send the zombies crashing through the windows and doors.

I deliberately chose 28 Days Later ahead of something like The Walking Dead because of how much more intense and powerful its zombies appear. But that could be what screws us over! If we get lucky and the hordes pass us by, I think sheltering in place for 72 hours is plausible. But if we run out of water and have to venture out, if our base is compromised, or if we make one small mistake… that’s all it’d take.

Survival Chance: 3/10

Option #2:
A Nightmare on Elm Street

Promo photo for A Nightmare On Elm Street showing Freddy Krueger. — Freddy Krueger.

Freddy Krueger has one major weakness: he can only hurt me in my dreams. If this was a “survive indefinitely” challenge, that would be a problem! But if I have to make it 72 hours… I reckon I could manage to stay awake. A combination of caffeine pills, energy drinks, and coffee should keep the spooky lil’ guy at bay!

But okay, that’s getting dangerously close to cheating territory, I suppose. There have been more Nightmare on Elm Street films and spin-offs than I thought, and it seems as if Krueger’s backstory and the source of his powers have changed since the original. But if we assume that Krueger is fuelled by his victims’ fear, as the first film depicted, then trying to stay calm will be the biggest obstacle. And all that caffeine we just chugged? That probably won’t help with keeping calm!

Still frame from A Nightmare On Elm Street 3 showing Freddy and Nancy. — Krueger and Nancy in one of the sequels.

I don’t think I’d be able to figure out all of the other stuff depicted in the sequels: things like purifying Freddy’s bones or staging a group hypnotherapy session in order to enter his world and take the fight to him! So my plan, to be honest, would really be to try to stay awake for as long as possible. 72 hours seems like a stretch – that’s three full days – but if the alternative is a violent and painful death… well, that’s a pretty good motivator.

If possible, I’d try to meet up with anyone else who might be one of Freddy’s targets. Perhaps by working together, we could develop a more solid strategy!

Survival Chance: 6/10

Option #3:
The Last Of Us
(Video game version)

Promo screenshot for The Last Of Us showing Joel fighting a clicker. — Fighting a clicker.

In this scenario, we survived the main event (or we were born after it) and we’re now a couple of decades into the post-apocalypse, as depicted in the main part of the story. For a 72-hour survival challenge, I’m torn between seeking out a safe zone, like Boston, where the first game starts, or simply finding an abandoned property and taking shelter.

In either case, I don’t want to spend much time on the road or travelling, as that seems like the time for the mushroom-zombies to strike! Finding a truly safe space outside of one of the established settlements or safe zones seems like it would be challenging, but trying to enter one of these places would also have its drawbacks. Some guards seem especially trigger-happy, so one wrong move (or sarcastic quip) could lead to a premature demise!

Promo screenshot for The Last Of Us showing a clicker on a red background. — We don’t want to run into any of these…

The video game version of The Last Of Us also showed how deadly fungal spores could be. Without proper protection, spores would quickly infect me and bring my run to an end – and I can’t rely on having access to a proper hazmat suit or gas mask! And knowing me, I’d struggle to get the damn things on in time even if I was lucky enough to have them. This side of things makes venturing anywhere pretty dangerous, not least derelict buildings which could hold clouds of cordyceps spores.

Perhaps the least-bad option would be to just… pitch a tent in a field somewhere and hope that you’re far enough away from the zombies to survive for three days? There are also scavengers and gangs to worry about, though. Being alone in this post-apocalyptic world wouldn’t be a lot of fun, that’s for sure.

Survival Chance: 4/10

Option #4:
The Thing

Still frame from The Thing showing a character holding a lit flare. — *The Thing*.

In The Thing, you’re trapped at an isolated outpost, unable to tell your friends from the creature, and… I think it’s gonna be a bad time! Unlike in other scenarios, going off alone and trying to hunker down won’t work; the Antarctic base is relatively small, and the creature seems to have a pretty good method of navigating it. Leaving the base, even if well-equipped, means facing Antarctica in the dark in the middle of winter… so I’m not making it 72 hours that way!

If possible, I’d try to organise the survivors into one group, occupying a “safe” room with resources, like the cafeteria. Taking shifts, so at least two or three people are awake at a time, I’d try to keep the creature at bay for as long as possible. But I have no doubt that the shape-shifting abilities would be a waking nightmare; not feeling 100% confident in trusting anyone would take a toll.

Still frame from The Thing showing a character using a flamethrower. — Kill it with fire!

With nowhere to run, the best way to survive 72 hours in this world would seem to be by befriending everyone at the facility and trying to stick together in one group. That means if there’s something to attend to outside of our safe room, the whole group goes. No one uses the bathroom alone, sleeps alone, or does anything alone. For someone who struggles with human interaction… that might not be the most fun I’ve ever had! But, as above, the fear of a violent death is a pretty good way to keep me motivated!

With all that being said, facing off against an intelligent and efficient predator like this, one with such a perfect ability to mimic animals and people… I don’t think the odds are especially high!

Survival Chance: 2/10

Option #5:
Alien

Still frame from Alien: Earth showing someone trying to hide from a Xenomorph. — Hiding from a Xenomorph.

In space, no one can hear you scream… so let’s *try* not to have to scream! I think our survival chances in the world of Alien improve significantly if we’re on the ground – a colony or settlement – rather than aboard a spaceship or space station. But either way, the Xenomorph is coming for us, driven by little more than a desire to feed and breed.

If we have enough room, I’d try to put as much distance between us and the infection site as possible. We could try to commandeer a vehicle – like one of the ground transports seen in Aliens. Or, if trapped aboard a ship, sneakily trying to use an escape pod might be a viable option. Remember, we just have to survive for 72 hours – so getting as far away from the Xenomorph as possible should be top priority!

Promo screenshot for Alien: Isolation showing the Xenomorph. — *Alien: Isolation*.

If escape isn’t an option, though, and we’re in a worst-case scenario aboard a cramped slow-moving spaceship, then I think – as the films and series have repeatedly shown – we’re pretty much screwed! If we catch the infection really early, and can kill the facehugger or infant Xenomorph, maybe things would look a lot brighter. But by the time we’ve passed the chest-burster stage and the little bugger has disappeared, our best bet is honestly to run to the escape pods.

I’ve recently been playing Alien: Isolation, and it’s genuinely one of the scariest games I’ve ever played – and perhaps second only to the original Alien film in terms of how terrifying the Xenomorph feels. Playing it was part of the inspiration behind this piece, as I honestly struggle to survive in the world of Alien – so it made me wonder which other horror properties might be equally as unforgiving!

Survival Chance: 2/10

Option #6:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Still frame from Buffy the Vampire Slayer showing two Season 1 vampires. — Vamps!

Gosh, where do we start with this one? There’s a lot more to Buffy than just vampires – so you can expect to be contending with werewolves, witches, ancient demons, and many other supernatural baddies! Honestly, just holding your own against vampires for 72 hours would be a stretch, but if other entities also join the hunt? This could be a very short challenge!

The flip side to all of that is, unlike in every other scenario we’ve examined so far, there’s a gang of people dedicated to hunting down and stopping the vampires and other creatures of the night. We wouldn’t even need to meet or befriend Buffy, Giles, Willow, or anyone else – if supernatural shenanigans are going down in Sunnydale, they’re probably already on the case. It might be too late for us if we’re the first victim of a new monster, but what are the odds of that happening in the first 72 hours?

Still frame from Buffy the Vampire Slayer showing the gang in the library. — The Scooby Gang.

Okay, you’re right – I guess seeking shelter at The Magic Box might not be a terrible idea! If we could make it there in the daylight, and explain we’re in danger… all we gotta do is hang out with the gang and wait! But if there’s no slayer, no Magic Box, and just a plethora of vampires and monsters terrorising Sunnydale… I think we’re in a lot of trouble. Stay inside, lock the door, and maybe try to get some kind of really strong UV lamp!

Because Buffy ran for seven seasons, the show sank its teeth into all kinds of monsters, vampires, and ghouls. Sunnydale is a very dangerous place, it would seem. If Buffy and the gang are there and willing to help, this could be a cakewalk. But if we’re unlucky and Buffy’s gone on vacation, we might’ve accidentally stepped into one of the most dangerous, monster-infested settings out there!

Survival Chance: 4/10
(8/10 with Buffy and co., 2/10 without)

So that’s it… for now!

Stock photo of Halloween-themed food. — Halloween snacks!

I hope this has been a bit of Halloween-y fun! I actually really like this “hypothetical question” idea, and it’s one I’d love to revisit in the future – both in horror and non-horror contexts. I’m already brainstorming more questions and scenarios to write about, so if you enjoyed this idea… watch this space!

But I suppose we should pick one of the six options, shouldn’t we, as the answer to the hypothetical posed at the beginning?

I think I’m still leaning towards A Nightmare on Elm Street. I’m confident that I could go 72 hours without sleep, even if it was 1984 and there were no energy drinks or caffeine pills, and all I had was coffee. I know it’s a bit of a sneaky answer, but the objective was to survive 72 hours in a horror setting – not defeat every demon and monster that inhabits it!

Still frame from A Nightmare on Elm Street showing Freddy and Nancy. — I’m choosing *A Nightmare On Elm Street* for this hypothetical!

So that’s gonna be my pick. Buffy the Vampire Slayer was tempting, but I think it’s only really survivable if you’re able to team up with the Scooby Gang as soon as you arrive. If you get to nightfall in Sunnydale without support – and without a place to hide – you’re toast. So A Nightmare on Elm Street it is.

As I think I said last time, this year, October has turned out to be a stupidly busy month, so I haven’t had time to write all of the horror and Halloween articles and columns that I’d originally planned. Such is life, I suppose! Some will undoubtedly have to go on the back burner until next Halloween. By the way, is that the first time you’ve heard someone talk about Halloween 2026?

Still frame from The Rise of Skywalker showing Rey and ghost Luke. — A spooky ghost!

As I said above, this piece was partly inspired by the video game Alien: Isolation, which I’ve been slowly working my way through. Trying to survive in that world is genuinely tense and terrifying, and it got me thinking about other horror settings and how long I might last! I think the basic ground rules made for a fun thought experiment, at any rate.

So if I don’t catch you again before the 31st, I hope you have a fun and appropriately spooky Halloween! If you missed it, I wrote up a list of five seasonally-appropriate TV shows that you might want to check out before Spooktober comes to an end – you can find that piece by clicking or tapping here. And if you want a more personal look back at some of my Halloween memories, I wrote about that a couple of years ago – you can find it by clicking or tapping here.

Happy Halloween, everyone!

All films, TV shows, and video games discussed above are the copyrights of their respective studio, broadcaster, distributor, developer, publisher, etc. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

Star Trek: Voyager – Across The Unknown: My Thoughts on the Demo

Mon 13.10.25Tue 14.10.25Dennis

Spoiler Warning: Beware of spoilers for Star Trek: Voyager – Across The Unknown and Star Trek: Voyager.

A new video game based on Star Trek: Voyager, titled Across The Unknown, was announced only a few weeks ago. I didn’t think we’d see it until at least next year – but to my surprise, I received a notification that a demo version is available on Steam. I jumped into the game as soon as it had finished downloading, eager to try it out for myself, and I thought it could be fun to preview the upcoming title together.

I enjoyed the demo for the hour or so that it lasted, and playing through a modified version of Voyager’s premiere – Caretaker – was generally a fun experience. I think Across The Unknown still has work to do – there were a couple of issues that I picked up on in my brief playthrough – but by and large, the game seems poised to deliver more or less what I’d been expecting.

Screenshot of Star Trek: Voyager - Across The Unknown (demo version) showing the USS Voyager in the Badlands. — Voyager in the Badlands.

That idea of expectations, though, is going to be important to how you approach Across The Unknown. The tl;dr is this: this isn’t a big-budget, high production values, “triple-A” type of game. And if you go into it expecting ultra-sharp graphics, fully-voiced characters, detailed cut-scenes, and the like… you’re going to be disappointed, because this isn’t that type of game. What you get instead is a strategic starship management game, one with a tech tree to unlock upgrades, rooms to build, crew members to move around, and so on. There are no voiced characters; Across The Unknown is text-based. And while there are some starship cut-scenes and a pretty fun combat system, most of the time you’ll be treated to static images to convey key storylines.

I believe that if you set appropriate expectations, there’s going to be fun to be had here. The game’s core premise of “what if you were Captain Janeway and made different choices?” is a genuinely fun and appealing one, and Across The Unknown provided several points at which I could make what seemed to be defining choices for the ship and crew.

Screenshot of Star Trek: Voyager - Across The Unknown (demo version) showing Janeway ordering Stellar Cartography be repaired. — Captain Janeway issues an order.

An appropriate point of comparison is probably Fallout Shelter. The games use a similar point-of-view for managing your base/starship, and you get similar choices for where to construct different rooms, who to recruit, who to send on away missions, and so on. That’s a good starting point for understanding what Across The Unknown felt like to play.

Obviously, when you’re looking at a demo version, there are going to be limitations! So I don’t want to judge Across The Unknown too harshly based solely on the first hour-ish of gameplay. Just from looking at the tech tree and the amount of empty rooms aboard Voyager, there’s clearly a lot more to the game that I didn’t get to try out on this occasion. And I also suspect that, of all the missions/story arcs in the game, Caretaker is probably one of the most linear: certain events have to pan out in order for Chakotay, B’Elanna, Neelix, and Kes to join the crew – and that’s just for starters.

Screenshot of Star Trek: Voyager - Across The Unknown (demo version) showing the aftermath of Voyager's arrival in the Delta Quadrant. — The demo is based on the episode *Caretaker*.

There were, however, some diversions from the story of Caretaker that felt unnecessary to me. Some lines of dialogue – particularly between characters like Chakotay and Tuvok, and Harry and Tom – felt really “off;” I know what these characters sound like, how they talk, and what they said to each other in the beginning – and this ain’t that!

In fact, I’d go so far as to say that some (but by no means all) of Across The Unknown’s dialogue reads like it’s been written by an AI chat bot. I’m not saying that’s what happened – and there could be issues with translation, for example, as the game is being developed in Germany. But that’s how some of these lines felt to me. Subjectively speaking.

Screenshot of Star Trek: Voyager - Across The Unknown (demo version) showing four dialogue boxes. — A selection of the “awkward” dialogue lines.

The tutorial was solid, and I felt that Across The Unknown communicated some of its pretty in-depth systems in a concise and understandable way. I didn’t play the game perfectly on my first outing; I failed one optional assignment when I didn’t build enough crew quarters in time! But that failure helped me learn more about the optional assignments and how the “cycles” (Across The Unknown’s timekeeping) work, so it wasn’t a total loss. And considering that I did fail one of these optional tasks, Across The Unknown was forgiving enough that it wasn’t fatal to my playthrough – which I did appreciate on my first time out!

There are resource limitations, though. At one point, I was running dangerously low on deuterium – which is necessary to keep the ship running. I was only a couple of cycles away from completely running out, and having exhausted all of the planets and points of interest in the two available star systems, there was a bit of a time crunch to get back to the Caretaker’s Array! This is clearly part of the experience – Voyager’s journey home, especially in the early days, was one of scavenging resources where possible, and running close to the line on more than one occasion. It served as a great motivator, I found, to move the story along!

Screenshot of Star Trek: Voyager - Across The Unknown (demo version) showing the system view (and a tool-tip about cycles). — The system map (and a tool-tip showing details about cycles).

Away missions provide one of the ways to make a lot of different choices. Given that the demo is based on Caretaker, I was surprised that Captain Janeway wasn’t able to join any of the away missions to the Array or to Ocampa, and I wonder if that’s going to be a limitation throughout the game. I hope not, but I thought it was worth mentioning. I tried to use a selection of different characters when I could, just to get a different experience with the away missions that I had available.

Each away mission gives individual characters a chance to gain experience and level up – meaning they’ll be better the longer they stick around and the further into the game you get. The tutorial mentioned that some choices, if they go awry, can be fatal. That wasn’t something I experienced in the demo, but it’s interesting to know that even some named characters can, potentially, be killed off at a very early stage – or at any point throughout the run.

Screenshot of Star Trek: Voyager - Across The Unknown (demo version) showing an away team on the transporter pad. — Selecting crew members for an away mission.

I want to touch on one story point that I’ve seen Trekkies talking about since Across The Unknown was announced. This is spoiler-y, so skip past the next screenshot if you really don’t want to know anything ahead of trying the demo for yourself! When it comes to Voyager and crucial choices… Across The Unknown does give you the option to use the Caretaker’s Array to send Voyager and her crew home seven years early! Obviously, this will cut off the entire rest of the game, but I thought it was a ton of fun that the option to do this was included.

And I think that speaks volumes about the kind of big decisions that we’ll get to experience in the full game. The blurb promises twelve sectors to explore – each of which, apparently, can be comprised of at least three star systems, which is neat. I would imagine each sector will provide one of these key inflection points – perhaps more than one. Being able to send the ship and crew home, though, using the Array… I gotta admit, that was pretty cathartic after all these years!

Screenshot of Star Trek: Voyager - Across The Unknown (demo version) showing the end of the demo. — Home in time for tea!

There’s quite a lot of random chance (a.k.a. random number generation) in Across The Unknown, which isn’t atypical for this type of game. You can mitigate some of that by choosing characters and actions that have a higher chance of success, or when on away missions, by combining the efforts of more than one character to increase the odds. But it’s still possible that RNG will go against you at any point, and even an option that looks statistically solid could result in a negative outcome. Again, though: it’s that kind of game.

The ship-to-ship combat was interesting. Unlike exploration, which is measured in “cycles,” and away missions, which play out through a series of decision points, combat in space is close to real-time. Phasers fire automatically, but you get to choose when to fire torpedoes and when to issue other orders to members of the crew. There are a limited number of slots for characters to participate in ship-to-ship combat – which feels like a bit of a double-edged sword.

Screenshot of Star Trek: Voyager - Across The Unknown (demo version) showing a combat encounter. — Ship combat.

On the one hand, this adds another element of strategy: do you want to pick Paris for his evasive manoeuvres, or Tuvok for his finesse with the phasers? It also makes each combat encounter potentially different, as you can choose a different crop of people every time. However… part of the captain’s chair fantasy experience, surely, is being able to issue orders to the entire crew in situations like this. Being able to divert extra power to the phasers by calling up B’Elanna in engineering, or telling the Doctor to prepare sickbay for casualties… that’s all part of sitting (metaphorically) in the captain’s chair. By reducing the number of characters who can participate, part of the combat just felt a bit… small, I guess.

That’s not to say it was bad. I actually had fun taking on the Kazon in my combat encounter! And after spending most of my time looking at a master systems display or a zoomed-out solar system, seeing Voyager moving around in real-time, up close… that was something special.

Screenshot of Star Trek: Voyager - Across The Unknown (demo version) showing the USS Voyager, the Caretaker's Array, and Kazon ships. — Voyager and Kazon ships at the Caretaker’s Array.

Across The Unknown needs some more polish. There were a few places where I saw a typo or missing punctuation, and another where Neelix popped up to tell me something before I’d even met him or invited him aboard. My PC also seemed to struggle, with the graphics card working overtime and the game still occasionally lagging – despite the fact that, as mentioned, the graphics really aren’t anything special. Performance when zooming in and out of the MSD could really use some improvement. I wasn’t even running Across The Unknown at its maximum settings.

That being said, I came away from my hour with the demo more excited to play the finished game than I was before I started. Voyager is such a great series, and it feels perfectly-suited to this kind of strategic management title. Being able to make radically different choices to those that Captain Janeway made during the show is going to be a lot of fun, and if the rest of the game is as good as the demo in terms of narrative and gameplay, I can see myself sinking many hours into it when it’s ready.

Screenshot of Star Trek: Voyager - Across The Unknown (demo version) showing a cargo bay. — A cargo bay.

If you want to wait for the finished game, that’s a completely valid decision. I usually don’t play pre-release demos, and there are a few issues with Across The Unknown that I’d hope will be smoothed out before the full game releases. But it’s hard not to recommend a completely free demo of a game like this. It only took me an hour to play through the events of Caretaker and get a feel for what Across The Unknown is like, so if you’re like me and Across The Unknown is a guaranteed day-one purchase for you, I think trying out the demo is an easy recommendation.

I’ll end by saying that Across The Unknown is clearly a game made for fans. And that’s okay. Not every game is going to reach a broad audience; Across The Unknown knows what it is, knows who its target audience is, and seems to be leaning into that in a big way. It’s not going to blow up and win hundreds of awards, nor is it going to expand the Star Trek fan community in a meaningful way. But given that it’s Voyager’s thirtieth anniversary this year, I’m just pleased that a game like this was greenlit at all. Stepping back into that world – even with some last-gen graphics, odd facial expressions, and occasionally janky dialogue – was a lot of fun.

The demo is free on Steam at time of writing… so why not try it? All you have to lose is 6 and a bit gigabytes of disc space and an hour or so of your time!

Star Trek: Voyager – Across The Unknown will be released (in full) in the future. The demo version is available now on Steam. The Star Trek franchise – including Voyager and Across The Unknown – is the copyright of Skydance/Paramount. Star Trek: Voyager – Across The Unknown is developed by GameXcite and published by Daedalic Entertainment. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

A selection of screenshots from my time with the Across The Unknown demo that didn’t fit in the article above:

Screenshot of Star Trek: Voyager - Across The Unknown (demo version) showing the main view of the ship. — The main MSD/ship display (zoomed out).

Screenshot of Star Trek: Voyager - Across The Unknown (demo version) showing an away mission. — An away mission.

Screenshot of Star Trek: Voyager - Across The Unknown (demo version) showing the tech tree. — Part of the tech tree.

Screenshot of Star Trek: Voyager - Across The Unknown (demo version) showing the aftermath of a broken promise. — Breaking a promise (a.k.a. failing an optional quest).

Screenshot of Star Trek: Voyager - Across The Unknown (demo version) showing the sector view. — A view of the sector, including three star systems.

Screenshot of Star Trek: Voyager - Across The Unknown (demo version) showing Neelix's ship. — Neelix’s ship arrives.

Screenshot of Star Trek: Voyager - Across The Unknown (demo version) showing the bridge. — The view from the bridge.

Screenshot of Star Trek: Voyager - Across The Unknown (demo version) showing sickbay. — The Doctor in sickbay.

Screenshot of Star Trek: Voyager - Across The Unknown (demo version) showing the choice at the end of the demo (destroy or use the Array). — The key choice!

Screenshot of Star Trek: Voyager - Across The Unknown (demo version) showing a construction report. — Completing construction/repairs.

Nintendo Is Just Awful

Wed 08.10.25Dennis

Despite trying hard to project a “family-friendly” image, Nintendo is no less of a greedy, aggressive, predatory, and money-grubbing corporation than the worst of the worst in the games industry. The company would, were it not for a legion of well-trained apologists, rightly be held up along with the likes of Electronic Arts, Tencent, Blizzard, and Ubisoft as a shining example of a gaming mega-corporation that is, for want of a better word… evil.

Nintendo, if you weren’t aware, has recently tried to patent in-game systems, which would prevent anyone else from using those mechanics in their games – or would mean those companies would have to pay a license or fee to Nintendo. This is tied to the Palworld situation that I talked about last year, as Nintendo is embroiled in a frivolous lawsuit against Palworld’s creators, Pocketpair. But I think it says a lot about how Nintendo behaves, how far the company has fallen, and why it’s past time for the current crop of increasingly elderly executives and game directors to be retired.

Promo art for Palworld showing a character holding a blue orb. — *Palworld* is causing a lot of bed-wetting among Nintendo executives…

Here’s the bottom line when it comes to patents: if other companies had treated Nintendo the way that Nintendo treats other companies, Nintendo would’ve gone bankrupt making playing cards in 1980. That’s not an exaggeration: literally none of the games Nintendo became known for would’ve been possible if other companies had taken out patents like the ones Nintendo is trying to use in the Palworld lawsuit. And where would Nintendo be today without video games? Just another failed Japanese toy company that didn’t make the cut.

If Universal and CBS, developers of the 1980 arcade game Space Panic, had patented the idea of the 2D platformer, Nintendo’s Donkey Kong wouldn’t have been able to exist. Nintendo would never have been able to develop Super Mario Kart – or any of its other racing games – if someone like Sega had gotten a patent for the concept of a racing video game after their successful Road Race arcade game in 1976. If Sony had patented the 3D platformer after 1995’s Jumping Flash, then Nintendo couldn’t have made Super Mario 64. Should I continue, or have I made my point?

Screenshot of Space Panic. — Doesn’t this look familiar…

The entire history of video games is one of piecemeal innovation. A new creation comes along, gains traction – or doesn’t in some cases, but the concept still seems appealing – and then other companies take the idea in new directions. Nintendo has never actually made anything original. What they’ve done for decades – very successfully, to their credit – is build on other people’s creativity and other people’s ideas, taking concepts that other games have tried and honing them, often to near-perfection. If other companies had locked their efforts away, as Nintendo is attempting to do to Palworld and others, not only would the entire games industry be smaller, less creative, and just worse overall, but Nintendo itself as we know it today could never have come to exist.

There are some massively-popular games which went on to quickly spawn entire genres. I’m old enough to remember when first-person shooters were literally called “Doom clones,” but id Software, in 1993, didn’t try to patent the concept. If they had, there’d never have been GoldenEye, Metroid Prime, or literally any other FPS title. Games companies don’t exactly like sharing their ideas, but it’s been accepted as part of the games industry for decades. You can’t claim ownership of a broad concept, idea, or genre.

Screenshot of GoldenEye showing the player character shooting an enemy. — *GoldenEye* wouldn’t have been made if id Software had gotten a patent for first-person shooter mechanics.

There are some things that can and should be trademarked, copyrighted, or patented. I’d never try to argue, for instance, that anyone other than Nintendo should be allowed to create a 2D platformer featuring a red-hatted, overall-wearing, turtle-stomping plumber named Mario. That concept is a specific one, and it uses original characters, designs, creations, and storylines. But the basic mechanics of how video games work should be – and historically, have always been – open to everyone. Trying to claim ownership over a sub-genre or in-game mechanic simply should not be allowed – and we need to clamp down on this kind of misbehaviour now, lest it get out of hand.

There are many other games companies who’d surely love nothing more than to get a patent for something broad and vague, stifling competition or forcing their competitors to pay them. Imagine if Bethesda managed to get a patent for something like mana points in a video game. Or if Ubisoft got a patent for concealing the player character in tall grass. What about if Atari patented flying in a spaceship? After all, they pioneered that idea in video game form with 1979’s Asteroids. Would the video games industry be better off if every company could patent everything it could claim to have invented? Or would video games as a whole be smaller, less interesting and less innovative? I think we all know the answer.

Nintendo is using the legal system to try to shut down competition.

Pokémon is, itself, a great example of the evolution of video games. It didn’t spring into existence overnight, fully-formed and utterly unique. It built on existing battle games, turn-based games, card games, and role-playing games, which had been developed through the 1980s and early 1990s, and also drew inspiration from films, manga, and even collectables like baseball cards and capsule toys. Many role-playing games – especially JRPGs – use very similar in-game mechanics for things like combat and overworld exploration, and plenty of titles outside of the monster-battling sub-genre also use things like summonable allies, temporary companions, and friendly monsters. Why should any of that be patentable? How does Nintendo have the sheer nerve to say they invented any of it?

Because that’s what Nintendo’s patent claims: that they own, invented, and have the exclusive rights to the in-game mechanic of summoning an object or ally to engage in battle.

To be clear: this patent should never have been granted in the first place. Anyone with a cursory knowledge of video games could have easily found the flaws in this patent and thrown it out. But Nintendo having the cheek, the sheer brass neck, to ask for this patent… it’s absolutely disgusting.

Still frame from the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct showing three executives/producers. — Three senior Nintendo executives/producers during a recent Nintendo Direct broadcast.

Nintendo’s leadership needs a good clear-out. The people who’ve been there since the ’80s and ’90s are growing old, and in lieu of actually innovating and inventing, they’re desperately trying to use lawfare to drive away the competition. Terrified of losing their position – and perhaps recognising that the overpriced Switch 2 isn’t going to sell as well as its predecessor – they’re trying to use illegitimate and, frankly, dishonourable means of shutting down competition. When you can no longer compete on merit… trying to use legal loopholes and dodgy rulings to shut out the competition must seem tempting.

That’s what Nintendo is doing, at the end of the day. They’ve realised that Palworld is the canary in the coal mine: a shining example of a new company coming in, creating something better and more appealing, and hoovering up eager customers who’ve burned out on the stale, repetitive, and boring Pokémon series. And because the elderly senior developers and executives don’t know how to make a game like Palworld, the only thing they can think to do is try to get it shut down.

And that’s pretty fucking shameful.

Still frame from the Mario Kart World trailer showing Mario grinding on a rail. — *Mario Kart World*.

Nintendo’s recent output, in my opinion, hammers home why the senior people at the corporation feel a need to do this. Even the top-selling Nintendo games of the last generation – Super Mario Odyssey, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Tears of the Kingdom, Smash Bros. Ultimate, and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – were sequels at best, derivative and repetitive at worst. The Switch 2, with its samey design, is the first Nintendo console in decades not to offer something new or innovative. And the company seems to be doubling-down on wringing as much money as possible out of its fans and players with increasingly unfriendly decisions around pricing. With limited room for growth, a lack of new ideas, and an elderly and outdated crop of senior developers and leaders, Nintendo is trying to shut down genuine competitors instead of learning, growing, and improving – the way video games companies have done for decades.

It’s embarrassing, quite frankly, that Nintendo felt the need to stoop so low, and that they have such a lack of confidence in their ability to compete fairly if the playing field were level.

But that’s Nintendo for you… and Nintendo is just awful.

All titles discussed above are the copyright of their respective developer, publisher, and/or studio. Some screenshots and promo art courtesy of IGDB. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

The Electronic Arts Buyout and Ethical Consumerism

Mon 06.10.25Sat 11.10.25Dennis

One of the biggest news stories of the week (and one of the biggest gaming news stories of the last few years) is the sale of Electronic Arts to a private investment consortium. EA, which had previously been a publicly-traded company, is being taken into private ownership, and there’s a lot of debate about what that might mean for titles like The Sims 4, the very lucrative EA Sports franchise, and the likes of EA’s Star Wars games. We’ll touch on those subjects as we go along, but I have a big-picture question, given who’s about to own Electronic Arts: regardless of what happens to the games… is it possible to support this company, given its new owners? Or to put it another way: should we buy any EA games in the future?

Electronic Arts will soon be owned in full by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, private investment firm Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners – a company co-owned by Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, (and which also takes a lot of money from Saudi Arabia).

Saudia Arabia’s Public Investment Fund will soon own Electronic Arts.

It is not easy, given our current economic model, to be an “ethical consumer,” and some folks argue that any form of ethical consumerism isn’t possible; there’s just too many bad actors, too much corporate cross-contamination, and it’s not always easy to tell, at a glance, who owns what and where your money goes when you make a purchase. Buying something as simple as a box of chocolates might contribute to modern-day slavery on a cocoa plantation, buying cheap clothes online almost certainly means they’re made in a sweatshop in the Far East, and even something like an electric car – great for the environment and to fight climate change – may not have sourced materials like cobalt and lithium ethically.

Then there are brands. I didn’t know, until talk of the EA buyout was happening, that Saudi Arabia’s PIF already owned 10% of the shares in Electronic Arts. And the same problem happens time and again. When you go to the supermarket and you choose, for example, a brand of cat food… would you know, off the top of your head, which mega-corporation owns which brand? Did you even know that there really are only a handful of these mega-corporations, and that in some cases, the “choice” between different brands is irrelevant because they’re all ultimately owned by the same people anyway?

EA’s original logo.

If you’re at the supermarket trying to decide between Felix, GoCat, Gourmet Perle, and Purina One… that’s not actually a choice, because they’re all owned by Nestlé. Trying to choose an ice cream? It doesn’t matter if you get a Cornetto, a Magnum, Carte d’Or, or even Ben & Jerrys: Unilever owns all of those brands.

The point is this: we don’t always know who owns the businesses we buy from. The consumer marketplace is complex and opaque – deliberately so. The illusion of choice means we feel in control, but all of our money flows into the pockets of a tiny number of people at the very top. That’s late-stage capitalism, I guess.

But in some cases, where something *is* relatively clear-cut, and where a corporation or investment firm clearly is not aligned with our values and beliefs… don’t we have an obligation not to buy from them?

Stock photo of a British supermarket aisle. — It isn’t always easy to tell which brand is owned by whom.

Here on the website, I’ve talked about a couple of things that I think are relevant. In 2022, I decided that – for the first time ever – I wasn’t going to watch any football matches at the World Cup. Why? Because the World Cup that year was hosted by Qatar, a country where being homosexual or transgender is illegal, and where hundreds of underpaid workers died building the stadia that Qatar wanted to use to sportswash its image.

And in 2023, I talked about why I couldn’t play or support Hogwarts Legacy and the Harry Potter franchise in general. The owner of that franchise, into whose pockets money flows from all purchases, is incredibly transphobic, and spends money on advocating for and elevating anti-trans causes and legislation in the UK. She’s also stated that any purchases of books or merchandise will be interpreted as support for her views and positions.

In both cases, I chose not to participate, not to purchase, not to watch, and not to support organisations and individuals whose views and behaviour I felt I could not condone.

Concept art for Hogwarts Legacy. — I chose not to play *Hogwarts Legacy* in 2023.

Saudia Arabia, as recently as 2019, executed people for being gay. At the very least, being gay can result in imprisonment and corporal punishment. Women in Saudi Arabia don’t have the same rights as men, and are effectively second-class citizens. The country has executed journalists critical of its regime, routinely executes, maims, and physically punishes people for relatively minor offences and non-crimes, and just has an appalling record on human rights overall.

In recent years, prompted by the world’s painfully slow move away from oil, Saudi Arabia has begun to make investments in other industries. They’ve spent heavily in football and sport, buying teams, promoting their domestic league, establishing a new golf tournament, and successfully bidding to host the 2034 World Cup. This move to purchase Electronic Arts – the biggest sports game publisher in the world – should be seen through that lens. There’s a degree of sportswashing here, of course, but the main objective is to make money and diversify the Saudi economy beyond oil.

Stock photo of a man holding a large amount of cash. — The PIF hopes to make a lot of money out of this transaction.

I’ve seen people worried about what this might mean for the future of some of their favourite Electronic Arts games. And that is a fair concern: an investment consortium like this is concerned exclusively with making money, so I think you can expect to see EA’s already heavily-monetised games getting even worse on that front. It’s also quite possible that the new corporate entity will be less likely to invest in new IP, seeing it as too much of a risk. Single-player games could also be on the chopping block.

I get that these are valid concerns. If you’re really looking forward to a game like the next Mass Effect, the sequel to Jedi: Survivor, or another EA single-player title, yeah… you should be worried, because the new owners may not have any interest in games that can’t be monetised long-term. If you’re a big Sims 4 or Madden NFL player, already disappointed in the state of those games with their microtransactions… at the very least, things aren’t gonna get better on that front. But my question is more fundamental: should we be buying these games at all, given who is about to take full ownership of EA?

Promo screenshot for one of The Sims 4's many expansion packs. — One of *many* expansion packs for *The Sims 4*.

I can’t speak for you, nor for anyone but myself. We all have the freedom to decide what’s important to us and what isn’t, where our ethical red lines are, and how and where to spend our money. We’re all free to prioritise and determine what matters most. So this piece isn’t supposed to come across like me “demanding” other people change their behavior or stop supporting a certain company. I’m trying to get my thoughts in order, lay out my own “red lines,” and explain why, going forward, I’m not going to buy any more games developed or published by Electronic Arts.

If I couldn’t support Hogwarts Legacy or the Qatar World Cup, how could I, in good conscience, buy from a company owned by Saudi Arabia? How could I give money to an organisation that supports an authoritarian dictatorship where basic human rights are regularly suppressed? And for what… a video game? Even if it was the best video game of all-time… the ethical and moral cost is now too high.

Still frame from the Mass Effect 4 teaser showing Liara's face. — I’m afraid this means no *Mass Effect 4* for me, assuming it actually gets released…

And yes, I concede the point that it isn’t possible to be 100% ethical in a corporate-capitalist system. Saudi oil accounts for a significant portion of what we use here in the UK, British companies export to and work in Saudi Arabia, and the PIF has stakes in many companies and brands that trade here in the UK. It probably isn’t possible to entirely avoid Saudi Arabia and its PIF. But that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t try, if this is something I feel strongly about, and it doesn’t mean I should make it easy for them to grab money out of my wallet.

That means that some games I’ve honestly been looking forward to or just interested in… they’re now off the table. The third and final chapter in Respawn’s Fallen Order trilogy. The next Mass Effect game. Future sports titles in franchises like PGA Tour and EA FC. I’m going to leave them on the shelf and walk away… because it feels like the right thing to do.

Still frame from EA Sports PGA Tour showing a custom character on the golf course. — …and no more golfing.

What’s more, this buyout has opened my eyes to some of my personal blind spots when it comes to the games industry. I was totally unaware that 10% of EA was already owned by Saudi Arabia’s PIF, so… what else have I missed? I spent a bit of time looking into some of the other big investors in the games industry.

BlackRock, a large investment firm tied to things like weapons dealing, is a large investor in both Sony and Microsoft, for example. And much controversy already surrounds TenCent – a Chinese firm which has made major investments in western games companies, including Epic Games, Ubisoft, and Paradox Interactive. The Vanguard Group – a massive investment firm confirmed by the UN to be one of the largest arms suppliers to Israel during the ongoing war in Gaza, as well as purchasing Israeli government bonds – is also a big investor in video games companies, owning parts of Sega, Nvidia, Microsoft, and Meta, to name but a few.

Stock photo of a PlayStation 5 console and controller. — Do you know who all the major investors are in your favourite gaming companies? I don’t.

I think we’re all aware of how corporate capitalism works. But most of the time, we don’t think about it too much. Big companies get richer by the day, and billionaires make more money than they’ll ever be able to use in a thousand lifetimes… but if they make reasonably-priced, decent products… so what, right? We pick and choose what we want and get on with it. Given how completely integrated into the system these corporations are, and how diversified the biggest ones have become, pushing back against all of it seems impossible – because, frankly, it is.

But we can still draw our own red lines, and we can still say “I can’t support this” when a corporation goes too far. In the case of the EA buyout, because the new ownership is so clear-cut… I think it’s worth trying, at least, to take a stand and make my voice heard.

Stock photo of a hand holding an Xbox control pad (black and white). — I think it’s worth *trying* to be as ethical a consumer as possible.

As a final point: any attempt to be an ethical consumer only really matters if it means making a sacrifice. If I announce that I’m never going to play any Madden NFL games, or that I’m going to stage a one-person boycott of Harrods… that’s functionally irrelevant if I had no plans to buy those games or patronise that shop. Avoiding a brand or product that I was never going to be interested in isn’t the point. What makes this meaningful is that I did genuinely want to try the next Mass Effect game, I was interested in the next EA Sports golf game, and – until now, anyway – I’ve been looking forward to the sequel to Jedi: Survivor. Missing out on those experiences wouldn’t have been my first choice – but because of EA’s new ownership, I feel I have to take action.

And in this late-stage capitalist system, pretty much the only freedom we have, as consumers, is how we spend our money. I can’t guarantee that I’ll never fund Saudi Arabia’s PIF – they have so many investments in so many places, and as evidenced by my ignorance of their earlier investment in Electronic Arts, I’m not even aware of many of these. But when this is clear-cut and obvious, I can choose to draw my own line in the sand and say that I can’t support this company and its holding in the video game space.

Screenshot of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order showing Cal wearing a pink poncho and holding an orange double-ended lightsaber. — The third game in the *Fallen Order* series is another I won’t be buying in future.

I’m not saying I’m “boycotting” EA, nor am I encouraging you or anyone else to do the same. It won’t make a difference to Electronic Arts or the PIF at the end of the day anyway; I’m just one person, and the lost sales on a handful of games over the next few years won’t make a dent in the bottom line. But it isn’t about “ruining” EA and the PIF, or trying to cause the PIF’s big investment in Electronic Arts to lose value. This is for me: I’m making a determination about what I can and can’t support or endorse when it comes to spending my money. This is an attempt to be an ethical consumer; to ensure that I’m not openly and in full knowledge supporting a corporate entity that funds a government so diametrically opposed to my own personal values on important things like women’s rights, LGBT+ rights, and human rights in general.

So that’s all for today, I guess. If you were looking forward to my coverage of the next Mass Effect game… sorry, but I don’t think I can, in good conscience, support it any longer. Likewise for the Jedi: Survivor sequel. That’s a shame – but that’s the price of trying to be an ethical consumer. I won’t always get it right, I have a lot of blind spots that I need to work on, and frankly, none of us have time to meticulously research every company and all of its investors to make sure we aren’t giving money to those we wouldn’t want to support. But when a case is as clear-cut as this… I think it’s important to speak out, and to vote with my wallet.

All titles discussed above are the copyrights of their respective developer, studio, and/or publisher. The buyout of Electronic Arts is expected to conclude by early 2027. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

I’m Cancelling Game Pass…

Thu 02.10.25Dennis

I’ve been a pretty big supporter of Xbox Game Pass (and PC Game Pass) since the service launched a few years ago, and I’ve been a subscriber to the PC version from almost the first moment it became available. I love the idea: a huge library of games, all available for one monthly price. As someone on a low income (and as someone who remembers what it was like to be a kid with only a few pennies to spend on gaming), Game Pass has been genuinely great value; an easy route into current-gen gaming for players on a budget.

What’s more, I’ve discovered games that I’d never have thought to buy or try for myself, thanks entirely to Game Pass. Some of those games – like Little Kitty, Big City last year and South of Midnight just a couple of months ago – are genuinely among the best titles I’ve played in the 2020s, and it’s only because of Game Pass that I was able to try them and enjoy them.

But unless Microsoft changes course, it’s time to cancel Game Pass.

Promo image for Xbox Game Pass. — It’s time to cancel Game Pass, unfortunately.

I play on PC, not console. The PC version of Game Pass, just over a year ago, went up in price from £7.99 here in the UK to £9.99 – a hike of 25%. That already felt a bit steep, but since I don’t have many other subscriptions, I begrudgingly accepted it. £10 a month still felt like reasonably good value for what I was getting from Game Pass; play two full-priced games a year, or four £30, double-A games, and it’s paid for itself. Right?

If you weren’t already aware, Microsoft has come back, not twelve months after the last price hike, and they’re doing it again. The PC version of Game Pass is rising from £9.99 to £13.49: a 35% increase on top of last year’s 25% increase. And that isn’t even the worst or most egregious price rise: the “Ultimate” Game Pass plan is rising by more than 50%, from £14.99 to a whopping £22.99 a month. At these prices… Game Pass no longer feels like a good value offer, unfortunately.

Three Xbox Game Pass tiers and their new prices. — Game Pass prices are rising… by *a lot*.

And I really do say this with regret. Not only has Game Pass felt like a good value prospect until now, but it’s introduced me to some genuinely wonderful gaming experiences that I wouldn’t have had otherwise. Being able to log into the app, scroll through a huge list of titles, and see what leaps out at me has felt fantastic, and as I’ve said more than once: Game Pass has opened up a huge library of titles; more games than I’d ever be able to afford. When it was £7.99 – and even after last year’s significant rise to £9.99 – it felt like a good deal.

But I can’t accept the price of a single subscription rising by almost 70% in just thirteen months. And at £13.49 a month – or £162 a year – it’s become impossible to justify. There just aren’t that many games on the service that I’d want to play – and some, like RoadCraft, aren’t available on the PC version of Game Pass, for some reason. So… I think I’m done with Game Pass for now, unless Microsoft apologises and reverses this price hike.

Stock photo of a hand holding a stack of $100 bills. — How Microsoft imagines its customers…

I’ve believed for a long time that the subscription model would be the future of gaming. Just like Netflix did for films and TV programmes, and Spotify and others have done for music, something like Game Pass should be able to do for video games. Gaming is basically all-digital these days anyway, and the audience skews younger and more tech-savvy. A reasonably-priced subscription service – like Game Pass used to be – represents a genuinely good value proposition, an easy route into gaming, and should be the wave of the future. Compared to buying individual titles outright, either physically or digitally, a subscription which opens up a library of hundreds of titles should seem like good value.

But Microsoft is fucking it up.

Not only are the prices going up, but on the lower “tiers,” Microsoft is making Game Pass worse. No longer will all Xbox-published games join the service on day one. If you’re on an Xbox console, the only way you’ll get that particular perk is if you pay for Game Pass Ultimate, and if you’re on PC, the only way to get it is through the PC-only tier, for £13.49 a month. If you pay less, you don’t get those brand-new titles on day one, but “within a year.” That’s already a massive downgrade. Oh, and the venerable Call of Duty series? Those games aren’t included on day one any more.

Promo image for Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, with the text "*Excludes Call of Duty titles." taken from the Xbox app. — That little asterisk could be important if you’re a lover of first-person shooters…

So… the price is going up. Unless you pay for the top-tier plan, you won’t get new games on day one. And the most popular series that Microsoft currently owns may not be part of Game Pass on day one even if you do pay the premium price. So… what’s the point of Game Pass, then?

Microsoft, like all big corporations, has to disclose its financial records. And in the twelve months leading up to June 2025 (the most recent data at time of writing), Microsoft made US$193 billion in profit. That represented a 14% increase over the previous twelve months. Compared with quite a few other big companies in the gaming space, whose profits have been relatively static since the end of lockdown, Microsoft has been doing phenomenally well. And the Xbox brand is a big part of that.

Four slides from Microsoft's July 2025 earnings call. — Microsoft has literally never been more profitable.
*Slides: Microsoft’s July 2025 Earnings Call*.

Microsoft made more money last year than it has ever made before in its entire corporate existence. For the corporation to then turn around and announce price hikes of 50% – or, really, what is effectively 70% on PC – is just sickening. It’s beyond greedy, and even if a thousand new games were being added to the Game Pass library… it still wouldn’t be right. But Game Pass, as far as I can tell, is not actually getting a major expansion or much additional content that could even come close to justifying a price hike of this nature.

So… I’m gonna cancel. And I would encourage other folks in the same boat as me to do the same.

If Microsoft is willing to walk this back – and apologise – then maybe I’ll reconsider, because I have genuinely enjoyed having Game Pass over the last few years. But at this new price, it’s not worth it for me, and I could use my £162 a year in other ways – like buying games when they go on sale on Steam or Epic Games, for instance. I really did think that subscriptions are the direction of travel for gaming… but not like this.

Screenshot of the Xbox Game Pass "trending" page. — A selection of Game Pass titles.

This is a catastrophic own goal from Microsoft that the corporation simply did not need to make. Game Pass has been profitable for a while, and even as the Xbox brand has struggled over the last couple of console generations, the growth in PC gaming, coupled with Game Pass, has seen Microsoft’s gaming division land on its feet. But increasing the price of a subscription by 70% in thirteen months is not something any consumer can or should accept – not when the corporation behind the price hike is making hundreds of billions of dollars a year – and still laying off boatloads of workers and closing game studios.

Maybe Microsoft wants to get out of the gaming market, and these moves are designed to push people away. Or maybe they really think they can just get away with it and that folks will brush off these inexplicably large price hikes. Maybe some people will – but if it’s true, as has been reported, that so many people are rushing to cancel their subscriptions that the Game Pass website crashed… I suspect a re-think of this price structure may be in order.

In any case, I’m cancelling this month, and unless Microsoft apologises and changes course, I won’t be rejoining Game Pass any time soon. I’m genuinely disappointed about that, because the subscription has been great until now (even though the Xbox app on PC isn’t spectacular). But this price hike is too much, so I’m going to do the only thing I can do as a consumer in this marketplace: vote with my wallet.

The Game Pass subscription service is available now for players on PC and Xbox game consoles. All titles discussed above are the copyright of their respective developer, publisher, and/or studio. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

Desert Island Games

Tue 19.08.25Tue 19.08.25Dennis

Spoiler Warning: Beware of minor narrative spoilers for some of the entries on this list.

Are you familiar with Desert Island Discs, the long-running radio programme here in the UK? Desert Island Discs brings famous people on as guests, and asks them to choose eight records (as well as one book and one “luxury” item) to take with them if they were a castaway on a desert island. It makes for a fun little thought experiment, so I thought I’d co-opt the idea and talk about some of the video games I might want to play if I were similarly shipwrecked!

Obviously this isn’t a unique idea; other people have made similar lists of “desert island games,” so please don’t think I’m stealing your idea if you got to it first! And since there are plenty of other people sharing their own lists, it could be a lot of fun to see what games other folks might’ve chosen, so be sure to take a look.

Stock photo of a typical desert island. — Ready for some desert island gaming?

Before we get into it, let’s explain the format and lay down some rules.

I’m going to use the Desert Island Discs format – but I’ll be replacing music records with video games. For the purposes of the hypothetical scenario, we’re going to assume that the desert island comes equipped with electricity, a screen, and the necessary hardware to play all of the games. I’m also going to keep the book and luxury item, because they could be fun to talk about, too!

The games can be from any console, any year, and will be listed in no particular order. Combo packs (where two or more games are sold in one box) can count as one entry, but multiple titles in the same series would have to be included separately if they were never sold together. As an example: Mass Effect: Legendary Edition would count as one entry, but if I also wanted to bring Mass Effect: Andromeda for some reason (spoiler alert: I don’t) then I’d have to include it as a separate entry, because it was never sold in a package with the original trilogy. I’m treating each game as the complete version – with all of its DLC and expansion packs included.

Promo art for Mass Effect: Andromeda. — The Mass Effect trilogy could count as one entry thanks to *Legendary Edition*, but *Andromeda* would have to be added separately.

As I’ll explain in a moment, I’m not considering this to be my “all-time favourite” list of games – though, naturally, they’re all games that I like. And, as always, please keep in mind that all of this is the subjective, not objective, opinion of just one person. If I highlight a game you despise or ignore a title that you think should be obvious… that’s okay! There’s enough room in the gaming community for differences of opinion.

Now that all of that’s out of the way, let’s talk for a moment about how I want to approach this! When I’ve seen people make similar “desert island” lists, whether we’re talking about films, games, TV shows, books, or whatever… I often see the same mistake. Well, maybe “mistake” is too strong a word, but I’ll try to explain what I mean. The purpose of this exercise is not to say “here are eight of my favourite games ever,” but rather to answer this more nuanced question: if you could only play eight games for the rest of your life, which games would you pick? That’s the question at the heart of this “desert island” idea – at least in my opinion.

Photo of a beach on Henderson Island. — Henderson Island – an uninhabited island in the Pacific Ocean.
*Photo: Ron Van Oers, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/igo/deed.en, via Wikimedia Commons*

There are plenty of games I’ve played and thoroughly enjoyed that I only need to play once, or that are particularly short. See, in this thought experiment, things like a game’s length and replayability are big considerations! So a title like Indika, which I played through recently, was interesting, emotional, and a wonderful experience – but it’s a linear game that doesn’t even crack the five-hour mark. There’s little room for replay value and longevity is an issue if I’m going to have a limited number of games to play on my desert island.

I also don’t want to only pick games within the same genre, series, or even from the same developer. Getting a decent amount of variety in the mix is also going to be key – I don’t want to be stuck with eight very similar-feeling games if those are the only ones I’m ever gonna play! I’m not setting limits for how many games from a specific developer or genre I’m going to allow myself to choose, but if I feel I’m picking too many of a certain type of title, I’ll definitely walk it back.

Four Bethesda role-playing games - box art. — I don’t want to *only* choose Bethesda games, for example.

So that’s my approach. I want to consider good games – games I enjoy. Then I want to whittle down that list to games with plenty of replay value, games in a variety of genres, and games I’d be happy to play over and over again.

Am I overthinking it? Maybe. But putting some ground rules in place, and making sure I have an idea of the kinds of games I want to choose, is all part of the fun. I’m never actually going to be stranded on a desert island – at least, I hope not – but I wanted to approach this thought experiment in this way. So if that sounds like fun to you… buckle up. We’re about to dive into the games!

Desert Island Game #1:
Civilization VI
PC, 2016

Screenshot of Civilization VI (2016) showing a cannon with a city in the background. — *Civ VI*.

I don’t have the stats for every single game I’ve played in my forty-some years on this planet, but Civilization VI has to be one of the titles I’ve spent the most time with. I’m currently sitting at over 1,500 hours – that’s more than 62 full 24-hour days! And I could easily spend another 1,500 hours (or more) playing one of my favourite strategy games ever. Civ VI has a ton of factions, leaders, and map types – making each game a unique experience. Years’ worth of DLC and expansions have added a lot more to the game, too, including new gameplay modes, mechanics, and features, as well as new leaders and other content.

When I first started thinking about “desert island” gaming from the point of view of replay value and longevity, Civ VI was quite literally the first title that came to mind. It’s the kind of game I can go back to over and over again, and the AI is good enough to still pose a challenge even after so many different matches.

Screenshot of Civilization VI (2016) showing a city in the late game. — A different city in the late game.

Often in games like this, I’ll have a favourite leader or faction that I like to play as. But Civ VI is different, and one of the fun things is choosing someone new each time. Each faction and leader has their own strengths and weaknesses, and different map types can be more challenging for some civs depending on these unique attributes. It makes even the process of setting up a game feel interesting – and, of course, there’s the option to completely randomise everything, too.

I love being able to customise and rename my cities! I was astonished earlier in the year when that incredibly basic mainstay of the series was absent from the launch version of Civilization VII! The game also includes unique scenarios if the main game ever starts to feel stale – and completing some of those challenges was a ton of fun, too. Civ VI has given me so much enjoyment over the past eight-plus years that I really couldn’t think of a better title to kick off this list.

Desert Island Game #2:
Shenmue I & II HD
PC/PlayStation 4, 2018

Screenshot of Shenmue (1999) showing Ryo at the harbour. — The harbour.

Shenmue I & II HD brings together two of the best games I’ve ever played. The Shenmue saga was criminally under-appreciated when it launched, and it felt light-years ahead of its time. You probably know the next part of the story, though: the games were massively expensive to create, and the hardware they were exclusive to – Sega’s Dreamcast console – failed hard. But when Shenmue III was in production, someone had the brilliant idea to re-release the first two games in one package – so I’m picking it for my list!

Shenmue is a narrative experience unlike any other I’d played in the year 2000, and it’s the game that kept me interested in the hobby at a time in my life when I might’ve begun to drift away. Ryo’s adventure was a masterclass in storytelling that would’ve felt at home on the big screen, and it’s no exaggeration to say that Shenmue showed me what video games in the new millennium could be. And for the purposes of our list… well, it doesn’t hurt that there are three full ’80s arcade games (Space Harrier, Hang-On, and Outrun) playable within it, too!

Screenshot of What Is Shenmue? showing Ryo and the Sega president in the arcade. — The arcade.

I’ve heard some folks say that Shenmue’s slower pace is “boring,” but I never really got that criticism, myself. Sure, these games aren’t non-stop action in the way a lot of titles are… but that’s the point. This is a narrative experience and a mystery as much as anything else; the fighting sections actually take up relatively little time compared to everything else. And there’s so much on offer. I mentioned the arcade games, but there are also QTEs, a darts minigame, a massive number of collectables, exploration, a fortune-teller, forklift driving, arm-wrestling, part-time jobs… there’s enough here to feel like you’re stepping into Ryo’s shoes and living his life.

Shenmue probably isn’t the kind of game I’d want to play every day – not all the way through, at any rate. But it absolutely could be a game to fire up any time I want to escape to a different place and time, to wander through some gorgeous environments, talk to NPCs, and play a few rounds of darts!

Desert Island Game #3:
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe + Booster Course Pass
Switch, 2017

Screenshot of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe showing Dry Bones on Tokyo Blur. — It’s Dry Bones!

I’d have loved to include Mario Kart 64 – my favourite entry in the series – but when I considered replayability for this thought experiment, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe was the hands-down winner. With 96 racetracks and a whopping 50 drivers, there’s so much fun to be had that it almost never gets boring! I’ve been playing Mario Kart 8 for more than a decade at this point – having first bought it when I was one of about seven people who owned a Wii U – and I still find myself going back to it time and again. It’s my most-played Switch game by quite a long way, eclipsing even Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is the kind of game I can fire up for twenty minutes to play a few races – or lose half a day trying to beat records in time trial mode. Though I’m not really a battle mode kind of player, I daresay it’s something I could try to get into if I was stuck on a desert island! My point is that the game has a lot going on besides just grand prix races, and it’s pretty versatile with what’s on offer.

Screenshot of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe showing Dry Bones on Kalimari Desert. — Gliding across Kalimari Desert.

I usually play as Dry Bones – they’ve been my character of choice since Mario Kart Wii, and I’ll always pick Dry Bones in any Nintendo game where they’re an option! But because Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has so many other characters to choose from, if Dry Bones ever got boring… well, it’s nice to have options. Sure, there are some I’d never choose (lookin’ at you, Pink Gold Peach) but just knowing that variety is there is nice.

A couple of years ago, I put all 96 racetracks into a tier list. You can find part one by clicking or tapping here, and part two by clicking or tapping here, if you’re interested to see where I’d rank them! Considering this is probably going to be my only racing game… I think I’ve made a good choice. Sure, it’s not as realistic or immersive as something like a Project Gotham Racing or Forza Horizon 5, but Mario Kart 8 Deluxe knows what kind of game it wants to be and offers a ton of good, arcadey fun.

The Book:
The Great Siege: Malta 1565
Ernle Bradford
1961

Desert Island Discs usually gives its castaways the Bible (or a religious text of their choice) and the complete works of Shakespeare – then asks them to choose just one other book. I’ll level with you: I read fewer books these days than I really should, especially for someone who loves writing as much as I do! For this list, I want to talk about what is probably my favourite book of all-time: Ernle Bradford’s The Great Siege: Malta 1565.

History is another of my passions – it was the subject I read at university. I’d studied the Ottoman period at school, but only in a pretty basic, surface-level way, so this book was a deep dive into a conflict I knew very little about. Bradford has a wonderful writing style that made the siege of Malta come alive – The Great Siege feels, in places, more like an adventure novel than a work of non-fiction. I was hooked in from almost the first moment, and I really came to appreciate this way of engaging with history.

Photo of author Ernle Bradford (left) and the cover of The Great Siege (right). — Ernle Bradford and the cover of a more modern printing of *The Great Siege*.

My copy of The Great Siege was gifted to me by a distant relative after a chance encounter. We got chatting after a family funeral and somehow the topic of history came up. He promised to send me a copy of the book, and after we parted ways I thought nothing of it. But low and behold, a few weeks later, The Great Siege arrived in the post! That’s always a fun little story to tell; something I’m reminded of every time I re-read The Great Siege. It’s also gotta be a fairly uncommon way of discovering one’s favourite book!

The Great Siege tells the story of the Ottoman siege of Malta in 1565 – arguably the Ottoman Empire’s first significant defeat. This period of Ottoman history – the final years of the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent – have come to be seen as the peak of the Empire’s expansionism and power. So it’s an interesting moment in history to revisit – and it’s told beautifully in this book. Track down a copy, if you can – it’s well worth a read.

Desert Island Game #4:
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
PC/Xbox, 2002

Screenshot of The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind showing the Census and Excise Office. — One of the first locations in the game.

Bethesda’s role-playing games offer a lot of replay value – but in my view, Morrowind is still the developer’s high-water mark. Because of the way Morrowind is structured, it’s impossible to join every faction and play every quest in a single playthrough; the game is practically begging to be replayed in a completely different way each time! There are Great Houses, guilds, vampire clans, and religious sects which are all mutually-exclusive, meaning every playthrough can feel unique.

In addition, Morrowind offers a huge amount of choice when it comes to classes and gameplay styles. There are weapons – like throwing knives and spears – that didn’t appear in Oblivion or Skyrim, and which offer completely different ways to play than the stereotypical “stealth archer” that so many Skyrim players love. And there’s a wide variety of magic, too, including spells like levitation which can be really useful for navigating the game world.

Screenshot of The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind showing Ghostgate. — Ghostgate.

Morrowind packs a huge amount of content into its map, which is geographically diverse, too. There’s a frozen island to the north, volcanic wastes in the middle, swampy areas, grassland, cities that feel dense and lived-in, and so much more. It’s been more than two decades since I first booted up Morrowind, and there are still quests I haven’t completed and dungeons I haven’t fully explored – not because I didn’t want to, but because there’s just so much to do in this game.

When I think about fantasy role-playing games, Morrowind is still the title that leaps to mind first. I have so many fun memories of the game, from the time I became head of House Telvanni despite not knowing any magic spells to modding the PC version to give myself a cool sword and a house that could teleport me to every town on the map! Morrowind really is a fantastic game – and not one to sleep on if you missed it when it was new.

Desert Island Game #5:
Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy
PC/PlayStation 2/ Xbox, 2005

Screenshot of Grand Theft Auto III showing the player character. — The player character firing a weapon in *GTA III*.

Not to be confused with the atrocious remaster from a couple of years ago, this box set includes Grand Theft Auto III, Vice City, and San Andreas – so that’s three games in one to bring to the desert island! Though they seem a bit janky compared to modern titles, the GTA III trilogy still gives you three of the best and most immersive open world games of their era. The Grand Theft Auto series’ switch from top-down to 3D was a masterstroke in 2001, and the game’s world felt incredible. Being able to go off the beaten path in between missions, causing chaos in the city, was a ton of fun.

Vice City’s setting – both in time and place – felt pitch-perfect; a true pastiche of the likes of Miami Vice and Scarface. Tommy Vercetti was a fun protagonist, and I had a whale of a time exploring Rockstar’s sun-drenched tropical paradise and building up my criminal empire! Vice City was a true ’80s crime fantasy come to life, and its city felt fantastic to navigate on foot or in a vehicle.

Screenshot of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City showing Tommy Vercetti. — *Vice City*.

Then we come to San Andreas – and what a leap forward that game was! Three cities instead of just one, and all of the countryside and small towns in between? It’s astounding how much Rockstar managed to cram onto a game of the Xbox/PS2 era, quite frankly. San Andreas also has a much more engaging and relatable story – at least in the beginning – with protagonist CJ heading home for the first time in years only to see how badly wrong things have gone for his family and friends.

I had so much fun with all three of these games on the Xbox. I have especially fun memories of using the Xbox’s music player to rip CDs and listen to them in-game. A friend of mine would often come over after work and we’d play Vice City while listening to some of our favourite ’80s hits, and nearer to Christmas we’d tear up San Andreas in two-player mode while blasting a festive playlist! It was a ton of fun. And for the purposes of our hypothetical desert island, there’s more than enough content here to keep me going for a good long while!

The Luxury Item:
My Star Trek Collection

Photo of three Star Trek TOS DVD box sets. — I still have my *TOS* DVD box set somewhere!

On Desert Island Discs, there have been some wild “luxuries” over the years – including the likes of a church window or an entire art museum. Then there are the folks who were more practical, opting for survival necessities like a bed or a fishing rod. But I’m choosing my Star Trek collection – I have every film and episode on a combination of VHS, DVD, and Blu-ray. Well, okay, I might be missing a couple of the most recent releases! But I’ve got most of Star Trek – including the older shows, which are the ones that still matter the most to me.

If you’re a regular reader (or you just read the name of my website), you’ll know I’m a bit of a Trekkie! If I was stuck on a desert island and I could only bring one thing to watch… it’s gonna be Star Trek. And with there being over 950 episodes and films at time of writing… I think that’s enough to keep me going for a while. I could go back to the start and watch The Cage, or leap forward to the most recent episodes of Discovery and Strange New Worlds. Or I could pick some of my favourites and watch them in a random order.

Promo photo for Strange New Worlds 3x07 What Is Starfleet? showing Capt. Pike. — Captain Pike.

Star Trek is a wonderfully diverse franchise, too. There’s comedy in shows like Lower Decks, war stories in Deep Space Nine and Enterprise, mysteries, exploration, noir, horror, drama, romance… the list could go on and on. I genuinely believe I could find at least one Star Trek story that would appeal regardless of what I might be in the mood for, because the franchise has pretty much done it all! Speaking as we were of the need to have variety in a situation like this, I think that’s a huge mark in Star Trek’s favour.

If we’re being strictly literal, and I can only bring the episodes and films that I already own on disc, then we’re going to be missing Section 31, Strange New Worlds’ third season, and Prodigy. But then again, if we’re being strictly literal, and I bring my “Star Trek collection,” could I also bring my Star Trek books and games, too? Maybe that’s a bridge too far – so let’s compromise and say I get to bring all of the Star Trek TV series and films!

Desert Island Game #6:
Disney Dreamlight Valley
PC/PS4/Xbox One/Switch, 2022

Promo screenshot of Disney Dreamlight Valley (2022) showing a selfie. — Taking a selfie with Merida and Flynn!

I haven’t been back to Dreamlight Valley in a while – but it was my pick for “game of the year” in 2022. I don’t like the way the game is currently being over-monetised, and that’s a black mark against it in my opinion. But despite that… it’s probably the best cozy life-sim that I’ve ever played. Though I don’t consider myself a “Disney adult,” I enjoy Disney’s animated films. And having this kind of game populated by a whole host of familiar characters adds a lot to the experience.

At least in part, I think I’m comparing Dreamlight Valley to Animal Crossing: New Horizons and appreciating the improvements it offers over Nintendo’s similarly-pitched title. There are so many quality-of-life things that Dreamlight Valley does better, like the simplicity of moving buildings around, the quests and activities villagers can offer, and the ease of crafting. The valley has a diverse array of biomes to explore, each with different plants and other features, and there’s plenty of crops to grow, recipes to create, and a main quest to boot.

Promo screenshot of Disney Dreamlight Valley (2022) showing furniture. — Furniture items in the game.

I’m dead certain that I’d want at least one cozy life-sim type game for my desert island, and honestly… I can’t think of a better one than Dreamlight Valley. I really don’t know at this stage if I’m ever going to pick it up again, or whether I’m gonna wait for the next Animal Crossing. But there’s a lot of relaxing fun to be had with a cozy game like this, and one populated by fun Disney characters just feels… right.

In 2022 and 2023, I sunk a lot of time into Dreamlight Valley. But it could be a lot of fun to start over, especially with new characters, quests, and other content having been added to the game since its launch. I could easily see Dreamlight Valley keeping me entertained for months or even years on end during my exile on a desert island – even if some days I just play for a few minutes to attend to some daily chores.

Desert Island Game #7:
Hoyle Puzzle & Board Games
(a.k.a. Encore Classic Puzzle & Board Games)
PC, 2008

Screenshot of Encore Classic Puzzle & Board Games showing a crossword. — 1,000 games in one, you say?

Over 1,000 digital board games in one package? That seems like something to bring to our desert island, eh? I don’t know if this is *the* definitive largest collection of these kinds of games, but it has to be one of the biggest. There’s everything here from chess to mastermind, with word games, puzzles, and more. If we’re looking for a ton of content and plenty of variety, Puzzle & Board Games delivers on both counts!

I thought about puzzle games like Tetris and even Wordle – the kind of almost infinitely replayable titles that you might pick up and play for a few minutes or an hour at a time. I even considered things like Angry Birds and Words of Wonder, which are kind of in the same category. But then there are these big compilations, incorporating a ton of board games, tile games, word games, and so on – and the sheer amount of different games included made it seem like a worthwhile title to bring!

Screenshot of Encore Classic Puzzle & Board Games showing Chess. — Chess.

Some of the games included here – like chess – are basically infinitely replayable. And if you’re spending the rest of your life on a desert island, well… you’ve got time to learn to play! I haven’t actually played chess in years; I used to play with my grandfather when I was very young, and he always beat me! But these are the kinds of games that I think could fill a lot of downtime in this hypothetical situation, so bringing as many as possible in one package seems like a good idea to me.

Will I regret bringing a puzzle game compilation instead of a strategy game like Banished or a big-budget adventure like the Mass Effect trilogy? I mean, maybe. I guess it’s possible! But equally, if all I had to play were a selection of different third-person action/adventure games, I could see that getting boring, too. The point of bringing something like this is to get some variety – and with a whole bunch of different board games and puzzles to get stuck into, there’s plenty of that!

Desert Island Game #8:
American Truck Simulator
PC, 2016

Promo art for American Truck Simulator (2016). — Let’s go truckin’!

I’ve played a bit of American Truck Simulator, and its cousin, European Truck Simulator, but I never really got massively into either title. I adore the open road, though, and there are some absolutely stunning environments, particularly in American Truck Simulator’s recreations of the western United States. These kinds of simulator games can be a huge time-sink for a lot of people, and I’ve always wondered if I just need to spend a bit more time with a game like this and… well, see if I might be one of them!

American Truck Simulator also feels like a chill-out kind of game. Yes, you have to be aware of the road and pay attention, but just the act of driving from one place to another can be an incredibly enjoyable experience – that’s why, in days of yore when petrol didn’t cost its weight in gold, people would go cruising just for fun!

Promo still for American Truck Simulator (2016). — The game has some beautiful environments.

I also think our desert island scenario is perfect for an in-depth simulator like this. The game is basically open-ended and infinitely playable; you’re hauling all different kinds of cargo from one part of the country to another. There are tons of different trucks to drive, DLC has added a wide range of different cargoes, and over time, developer SCS Software has been adding more and more detail to the game’s map.

I spent a while trying to decide what I wanted for the final slot on this list! And as above, maybe this’ll end up being a regret; I can think of plenty of narrative adventure games that I’d probably enjoy more for the hours they’d last. But again, the point of the exercise isn’t to pick an all-time list of favourites, but rather games that I could see myself playing, or returning to, over the long term. American Truck Simulator fills several niches: it’s a potential time-sink if I was to really get invested in it, it’s got that relaxing chill-out vibe to parts of its driving, and it’s also the kind of thing I could pick up and play for an hour or so to decompress or unwind… after a long day of existing on my desert island!

Some Exclusions:

Promo art for Red Dead Redemption II showing a quote from Arthur Morgan. — I couldn’t pick *every* game…

Putting together this list was more time-consuming and thought-provoking than I originally intended or expected, to be honest with you! I ran through dozens of games, ruling out a ton of classic titles and personal favourites for a variety of reasons. I thought we could finish off the article by talking about eight of the titles I excluded – and why. These games could form their very own desert island list, or you could call this the “honourable mentions” section!

Cyberpunk 2077 (+ Phantom Liberty): After a very rocky launch, Cyberpunk eventually made it to a playable state. I wasn’t wild about the way some missions were designed, but the game’s open world is spectacular and incredibly immersive. Phantom Liberty adds a cool new questline, too. It was a toss-up in the end between Cyberpunk and the GTA III trilogy, and I came down on the side of the latter.

Screenshot of a modded Cyberpunk 2077 (2020) showing the interior of a megabuilding with a prominently displayed UK flag. — *Cyberpunk 2077* is much better now.

Red Dead Redemption II: This is one of the best narrative experiences I’ve ever had in gaming, and it’s a title I point to whenever I want to make the point about gaming as an artistic medium comparable to film and television. But it’s also an intense and emotional experience. I will definitely play Red Dead Redemption II again… but I don’t think it’s the kind of game I’ll want to play very often. When I’m ready to get hurt again, sure! But if it’s one of only eight games I can play for the rest of my life… I just don’t see it getting dusted off all that often.

Super Mario 64: A 3D platformer would be great for a list like this, and Super Mario 64 is still one of the best of the bunch almost three decades later. It’s a blast, it’s easy to pick up and play for a few minutes at a time, and each of its fifteen stages feels unique. If I wanted a real challenge, I could try to finally get all 120 stars – something I never managed back in the N64 era! But I’ve already got a Mario game on the list, and I wasn’t willing to swap out Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.

Screenshot of Super Mario 64 (1996) showing Mario getting a power star in Dire Dire Docks. — It’s-a me, Mario!

Baldur’s Gate 3: This was my pick for “game of the year” back in 2023, and for good reason: it’s one of the best narrative adventures and role-playing games I’ve ever played. Being able to go back to the game and choose one of the pre-made heroes, or just making a new custom character from a different race and background adds to the replayability, too. I considered swapping Morrowind for Baldur’s Gate 3 as they’re both high fantasy RPGs – but for me, Morrowind edges it because of the game’s open-ended nature, optional faction quests, and more. Baldur’s Gate 3 has a focused main quest, and while it’s a blast, it’s not really something you get to deviate from. Morrowind lets you set up shop in its world and basically do whatever you want.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons: This was briefly my most-played Switch game in 2020 and into 2021, but I bounced off it more quickly than I expected. Repetitive villager dialogue and a lack of mini-games were the main culprits there. And with Disney Dreamlight Valley being a better game all-around, there was no way New Horizons was gonna make the cut. Plus, let’s be honest… playing a game about living on a deserted island while living on a deserted island is kinda on the nose!

Screenshot of Animal Crossing: New Horizons taken from the trailer. — *New Horizons*.

X4: Foundations: I don’t have a lot of experience with this game, but it feels like the kind of space-sim fantasy that I could really get stuck into. In the end, I opted for the more familiar American Truck Simulator, just because I’m not sure how I’d really feel about X4. If I ended up hating it, it would be a total waste of time! It’s definitely a game I wanna try out, though – it feels like it could scratch some of the itch that Starfield didn’t manage to.

Banished: I adore Banished. It’s one of the best town-builders around, and to think the entire thing was created by just one person is incredibly impressive. I’ve spend hundreds of hours in Banished and I’m sure I’m gonna pick it up again one of these days for dozens more. But Civ VI took the strategy game spot on this list, simply because it’s much bigger and more diverse. I can play dozens of Civ VI games and have a different experience every time – once I’ve got my Banished town started, I find things tend to slow down and become fairly similar.

Screenshot of Banished (2014) showing a town. — A town in *Banished*.

Mass Effect: Legendary Edition: Though I really didn’t appreciate the lack of polish and upgrades that Legendary Edition brought to the table, the Mass Effect games it contains are still three of the best sci-fi action/RPGs out there. The only drawback here, really, is that I’ve replayed the Mass Effect trilogy quite a few times at this point, and I’ve basically been every character class and seen all the games have to offer. Is it a fun narrative? You bet. Will I play it again? Yes – and probably soon! But having played it so many times already… did I want it as one of my eight? Apparently not.

So that’s it!

We’ve filled out our list with eight games to take to a desert island! As well as a book and a generous luxury item, too.

Stock photo of islands in the ocean from the air. — Ah, the perfect gaming location.

This has been a fun thought experiment, and I really tried to think hard about a list of games that would provide plenty of variety and different options. I’m not always in the mood for just one type of game – even if it’s a classic or a ten-out-of-ten masterpiece! My priorities were finding games in different genres and styles, games which were either open-ended or offered a lot of replayability, and I tried to be sneaky with multi-packs and games-within-games, too!

I hope this has been a bit of fun, at any rate. Since I have no plans to become the next Robinson Crusoe, it should all be a moot point, thankfully! But it was interesting to get stuck into this hypothetical question and wrangle with the idea of being stranded, and only having eight games to play for the rest of my life. At the very least, I tried to give myself options!

Stay tuned, because there’s more gaming content to come here on the website. In the last few weeks I’ve reviewed Indika and South of Midnight, both of which were fantastic. And hopefully I’ll get my hands on Mafia: The Old Country relatively soon. Until then, I guess I’ll see you on the nearest desert island.

All titles discussed above are the copyright of their respective developer, studio, and/or publisher. Some promo art and screenshots courtesy of IGDB. Some stock photos courtesy of Unsplash. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

South of Midnight: Video Game Review

Sun 10.08.25Dennis

The first part of this review is free from major spoilers. The end of the spoiler-free section is clearly marked.

I’m late to the party with yet another review! South of Midnight was released back in April, but it somehow eluded me for a while. I noticed it on Game Pass – I’m a subscriber to the PC version – and I thought I’d give it a try based on little more than its art style. And you know what? I’m so glad I did!

South of Midnight is a great advertisement for Game Pass as a concept. This is a game I wouldn’t have bought for myself – and I might never have come to hear about – were it not included as part of the subscription. It’s entirely because of Game Pass that I’ve gotten to enjoy one of the best gaming experiences of 2025 so far; a genuine contender for my highly-coveted “game of the year” award. I continue to believe that Game Pass is a fantastic idea, especially for folks like myself on lower incomes where budgets are tight. And South of Midnight is the latest – and one of the best – examples of a game I discovered thanks to the platform that I wouldn’t have come across otherwise.

But enough about that – this isn’t meant to be a review of Game Pass.

Promotional screenshot for South of Midnight (2025) showing Hazel in a field of flowers. — I really enjoyed *South of Midnight*.

South of Midnight is an absolute delight. Its unique art style – which draws inspiration from cartoons of yesteryear and stop-motion films from the likes of Tim Burton – belies a dark Southern Gothic narrative, full of twists, complex characters, and nightmarish monsters. An engaging, relatable protagonist keeps the entire experience grounded, with a simple, understandable quest – even as things get progressively weirder! There are some incredible voice acting performances bringing a wonderfully diverse cast of characters to life, and a beautiful soundtrack that really leans into the music of the Southern United States and New Orleans in particular.

I found the game’s combat to be tough but fair – even though I had to turn down the difficulty at one point – and there’s enough enemy variety to keep things interesting. Boss battles are outstanding, too, with each boss having something unique to pose a new challenge. And the game rewarded exploring its beautiful and haunting levels with collectibles, points for levelling-up, and things to read which expanded the story and the lore. I had an incredibly fun time with South of Midnight, and it’s a game I’m happy to recommend to any fan of single-player adventure titles, narrative adventures, and really just gaming in general! If you have Game Pass already it’s an absolute no-brainer.

I think I’ve said all I can without touching on the story, so if you haven’t played South of Midnight yet, be aware that there will be some narrative spoilers from here on out.

Box/cover art for South of Midnight (2025)

This is the end of the spoiler-free section. Expect narrative spoilers for South of Midnight from this point.

In 2021, I named Kena: Bridge of Spirits my “game of the year.” And South of Midnight is giving me major Kena vibes in terms of how it plays, how its story is structured, and even the whole “healing the world” or “helping lost spirits” ideas that both games use. I absolutely mean that as a compliment; Kena: Bridge of Spirits is one of the best games of the last few years for me, so any title that can tap into that style or feel in any way reminiscent of it is doing a lot of things right!

3D platforming is something we don’t see enough of nowadays – and I really appreciated this aspect of South of Midnight. It’s a ton of fun to run, jump, climb, and swing through some truly beautiful levels, and there was a distinctively “old-school” feel to some of the game’s 3D platforming. At the same time, protagonist Hazel’s magical powers gave her a variety of ways to navigate these environments. Things like gliding, “rope” swinging, and double-jumping aren’t new by any means, but the way Hazel acquired these abilities felt unique and in keeping with the game’s story.

Screenshot from South of Midnight (2025) showing Hazel jumping on a platform. — Hazel jumping onto a temporary platform.

As I indicated above, combat was challenging enough that I had to turn down the difficulty from normal to easy – but I’m usually an easy mode player, so that wasn’t a huge surprise. I liked how South of Midnight keeps combat encounters and exploration separate; combat arenas are pretty clearly marked, so you can’t just stumble into combat totally unprepared. One thing I thought was a bit silly, though, is that health never regenerated out of combat – if you were injured (or you had to respawn, losing a chunk of health in the process) there aren’t any healing potions or items. That meant the only way to heal was to locate a healing coil – which are only found in combat arenas.

The haints – South of Midnight’s enemies – were pretty varied and fun in terms of how they behaved. You got your usual ranged enemy, a couple of different brute variants, a healer, and a couple of others. With combat being quite fast-paced, and every enemy being a similar colour, maybe a little more visual variety wouldn’t have gone amiss! But that’s my only real criticism of the enemies; I liked the way they played.

Screenshot from South of Midnight (2025) showing a combat encounter. — A combat encounter.

Boss battles were fun – though a couple of them felt just a tad repetitive. This wasn’t because one boss felt the same as another, but rather within a couple of the boss battles – Two-Toed Tom the alligator and Kooshma, the final boss – the boss’ pattern would repeat. You’d be knocked down, you’d have to chase them or return to the arena, then after beating the next part of their health meter, you’d have to do it all over again. It wasn’t annoying per se, but it was a little repetitive to the point where I felt a couple of those boss battles were just a little padded. Either some changes could’ve been made to the way the bosses behaved, or maybe they could’ve been cut down from three rounds to two!

Each boss was, though, completely distinctive both visually and in terms of their battle arena, which was great. And mechanically, there were different ways to fight different bosses – like throwing bottles at Molly, or ringing the bell for Two-Toed Tom – rather than just repeating the same hit-hit-dodge pattern that some action games can fall into.

Screenshot from South of Midnight (2025) showing the boss fight against Two-Toed Tom. — One of the boss battles.

I felt echoes of Hurricane Katrina in South of Midnight’s opening act. A hurricane coming in, sweeping away homes, floodwaters rising… I know there have been other hurricanes to hit the region both before and since Katrina, but the game’s story, with its Deep South setting, some jazz in the soundtrack, and references to New Orleans, definitely made me think of Katrina before any other hurricanes.

Many of the monsters and creatures in the game are inspired by real-world legends from the Mississippi Delta, Louisiana and the surrounding Southern region. The game weaved these into its narrative, building a world and lore based on the Southern United States – but with a dark twist. Often called “Southern Gothic,” this style of storytelling blends Gothic horror with Southern ideas, characters, and themes – and it’s been a popular subgenre for a while. South of Midnight is the first video game I’ve played to lean into the genre in such an overt and profound way, though.

Screenshot from South of Midnight (2025) showing Hazel in the nightmare realm. — Hazel in a New Orleans-inspired town near the end of the game.

Hazel made for a great protagonist. With so many hares and rabbits running around, though, I can’t be the only one who thought of Watership Down… can I? Gosh, that film is burned into my mind! To get back on topic, Hazel was a wonderfully relatable protagonist, and her core storyline of wanting to find her mother – her sole surviving parent – after the hurricane was intense and emotional. Hazel could occasionally chatter too much, with a handful of lines of dialogue feeling out of place or just weirdly-timed, but for the most part, I really enjoyed her story.

Hazel’s journey saw her grow in power – as her quest to find her mother was repeatedly derailed by her grandmother, various monsters, and deep dives into her family history and the history of the area around her hometown! The way Hazel unlocked her powers and equipment felt natural, and South of Midnight did a great job of building this up and pairing newfound powers with levels and enemies that allowed me as the player to go to town with them. The powers were well-integrated with gameplay, providing a narrative reason for everything from combat to wall-running… and when Hazel was temporarily stripped of most of her powers late in the game, I felt a profound sense of vulnerability after having gotten used to having them!

Concept art for South of Midnight (2025) showing multiple renderings of Hazel. — Concept art/renders of Hazel.
*Image: Xbox/Compulsion Games*

I thought one of the themes of the story was going to be grief: that Hazel was, ultimately, going to have to come to terms with the loss of both of her parents. Having been in that position myself, I was curious to see how that theme might play out across the story. However, I was pleasantly surprised by a happy ending – with Hazel’s journey to reunite with her mother ending on a positive note. A post-credits scene even implied at Lacey and Laurent had rekindled their relationship, which was doubly sweet.

The narrative leaned on the history of the American South in a big way. Although I’m not from the United States, the American Civil War and its associated issues are an interest of mine, having read history at university. Seeing these very personal tales of how slavery in the antebellum South impacted individual people was gritty, emotional, and incredibly impactful. Hazel, her mother, and many of the people she met on her adventure were African Americans, and the game didn’t try to shy away from the history of slavery or the legacy it still carries on the descendants of enslaved people. Some players might find that uncomfortable – but that’s the point.

Screenshot from South of Midnight (2025) showing Hazel on the slave-ship looking at some photographs. — The game wrangles with slavery and its lasting legacy.

There were a couple of points, though, where I felt the narrative wasn’t perfect. This is a story about trauma, right? More specifically, how trauma lingers if we bottle it up, and how that only makes it worse. Compulsion Games specifically describes South of Midnight as a game about healing. So why, then, do we barely see any of the aftermath of Hazel’s healing? I felt this most significantly at two points: after the battle against Huggin’ Molly, when a brief storybook line said that Itchy would care for the lost children, and right at the end when Bunny realised that Hazel had interfered and helped Cherie.

Both of these moments were the culmination of a lifetime for their respective characters, but Itchy and the children weren’t even shown on screen, and Bunny was mildly angry for a moment, then disappeared. We could also say the same about Rhubarb and Jolene – after going through hell to help unweave or unravel their traumatic past, we didn’t see the results of that for either of them. Rhubarb – who murdered his own brother – didn’t get closure, comeuppance, or… anything. Hazel and South of Midnight just left him behind.

Screenshot from South of Midnight (2025) showing Itchy. — Itchy’s story didn’t get a proper ending, I felt.

Often when I’m playing a narrative adventure, I want to move the story along and see what’s going to come next. But South of Midnight’s beautiful levels rewarded exploration – and they were tight enough that going off the beaten path didn’t feel like a time-sink or too much of a detour. There were good reasons to explore: both to pad out the story, the world, and the lore by learning more about the history of the region, the characters, and the events, and to upgrade Hazel’s health and skills. I don’t think I found every health upgrade, but I acquired more than enough upgrade points to max out Hazel’s skill tree and upgrade all of her powers.

The readables and other bits of lore-building were great, too, and Hazel always had something to say when discovering a new note or inscription. These little things added a lot to the story in all of the levels. There were heartbreaking messages from kids who’d gone hungry, appealing to a spider-demon for sweets and food. There were gut-wrenching messages about escaping slavery. And there were mementos from Hazel and Lacey’s life, too. All of them were interesting, well-written, and helped build up the narrative experience.

Screenshot from South of Midnight (2025) showing a collectible. — One of the readable messages.

I wanted to say more about South of Midnight’s soundtrack in the spoiler-free section, but most of the songs – which are all original compositions for the game – reference events and characters! The soundtrack is an eclectic mix from across the Deep South: there’s New Orleans jazz on tracks like Rougarou and Roux, Americana or folk on Two-Toed Tom and Benjy, blues for Shakin’ Bones, Life is a Fight to be Won is an acoustic ballad… and throughout the game there are pieces inspired by a variety of genres, as well as a capella music common to enslaved peoples. Some of the tracks are truly haunting, others are upbeat and fun – and they all fit the game just right.

My golden rule for any video game soundtrack is “do no wrong;” i.e. the music shouldn’t clash with or get in the way of the adventure. But it’s rare for me to find a soundtrack quite so emotional and enjoyable as South of Midnight. I’d be happy to add several of these tracks to my playlist to listen to again – which, again, is something very rare for me.

Screenshot from South of Midnight (2025) showing Hazel in the forest. — The game has a wonderful soundtrack.

I loved South of Midnight’s art style. But I gotta be honest about something, given its prominence in the game’s marketing material: I didn’t really feel a lot of the “stop-motion” effect. The visuals were clearly drawing on designs and aesthetics from stop-motion films – like those by Tim Burton, for instance – as well as other animated works. But in terms of the way South of Midnight actually looked during gameplay sequences, I didn’t get a ton of “stop-motion” most of the time. Cut-scenes were a different story, with all of them going much more on the stop-motion effects. And there were some moments in the game where I felt the stop-motion effect a bit more strongly; some of Hazel’s idle animations, some of the animals in the environment, and the spiky bramble plants, for instance.

Occasionally, the stop-motion animation could feel a little jittery or jumpy, as if some frames were missing during some sequences. Because it wasn’t a particularly strong visual effect throughout the game, I didn’t mind it. But given how South of Midnight was basically billed as “the stop-motion game,” I must confess that I expected that style to shine through a bit more strongly. Maybe if it had I’d have hated it – and it was a wise decision to include an option to turn it off! But it’s equally plausible that I’d have actually enjoyed seeing South of Midnight really lean into that kind of animation style, and I’m a tad disappointed that there wasn’t a slider or some other option to really dial it up.

Screenshot from South of Midnight (2025) showing Hazel speaking to Catfish in a cut-scene. — The stop-motion effect was most noticeable in cut-scenes.

Hazel’s cuddly companion – Crouton – made for a fun additional gameplay element. Being able to seize control of an enemy made battles feel a bit more fun and tactical; having to choose when to use that power (which has a slow recharge rate) added a bit of strategic thinking. And it’s always fun to have a companion who can fight by your side!

Crouton also dived into burrows, often finding cute animals going about their business. This is another legend: many cultures have tales of “borrowers” living in the walls or underground, taking unwanted things. The burrows were usually fun little places to visit, and reminded me of a bunch of cartoons and kids books – like the aforementioned Watership Down – that featured animals or saw characters visiting these kinds of places. Some of Crouton’s burrows could feel a bit too straightforward – with one clearly-marked route from end to end. That would be my only real criticism.

Screenshot from South of Midnight (2025) showing Crouton and a hare in a burrow. — Crouton.

I’m not usually a fan of waypoints or quest markers in games; I like to explore at my own pace, and a giant arrow telling me where to go can get annoying! But I like the way South of Midnight uses directional indicators – they’re temporary and optional, meaning if you never want to see them you never have to, but they’re there if you need to be pointed in the right direction. And narratively, the way this fit with the game’s Weave and Grand Tapestry ideas made a lot of sense.

Some games just give you a waypoint, a quest marker, and so on without explaining how or why you’ve got this magical ability to see exactly where you need to go! But in South of Midnight it blended in perfectly with Hazel’s other magical abilities, which is something I really appreciated.

Screenshot from South of Midnight (2025) showing Hazel using a waypoint. — I liked the way the game handled waypoints.

So I think that’s it.

If it wasn’t clear already, I adored South of Midnight. It’s one of the best games I’ve played so far this year, and it’s absolutely a contender for one of my end-of-year gaming awards – possibly even the “game of the year” title. But you’ll have to swing by in late December to see if it makes the cut; there are still a few months to go!

Sometimes when you put the control pad down after an intense or emotional game, you can feel a little hollow. South of Midnight was one of those games that I didn’t want to end… but at the same time I was keen to follow the story to its conclusion and see what was going to happen to Hazel and the rest of the characters. It was well-written, generally well-paced, beautifully designed, and just a fantastic all-around experience.

Screenshot from South of Midnight (2025) showing Hazel reuniting with Lacey in the nightmare town. — A happy ending.

If you liked Kena: Bridge of Spirits, or similar titles, I really think you’ll enjoy South of Midnight. And if you have Game Pass either on PC or Xbox, it’s almost a no-brainer to fire it up and at least give it a try. I really had a wonderful time going on this adventure with Hazel.

So what game might I try next? There are still a few interesting titles to come later this year – I’ve got my eye on Mafia: The Old Country and Terminator 2D: No Fate. And I should really try Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, which I’ve installed but haven’t started yet. And now that Firaxis has had a chance to patch and update Civilization VII, maybe I should jump back in and see what’s new! There’s a lot of gaming content still to come here on the website, though, so I hope you’ll stick around.

South of Midnight is out now for PC and Xbox Series S/X. The game is also available via Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass. South of Midnight is the copyright of Compulsion Games, Xbox Game Studios, and/or Microsoft. This review contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

Indika: Video Game Review

Sat 26.07.25Dennis

Spoiler Warning: Beware minor spoilers for Indika’s story – and major spoilers for the game’s world and mechanics.

I love seeking out games that feel unique – and if there’s one word I’d use to describe Indika, that would be it. This game is a mix of third-person puzzling, some platforming elements, a “walking simulator,” and some fun 2D platforming levels inspired by titles from years gone by. It’s a short but eclectic experience; a memorable game that I thoroughly enjoyed.

I beat Indika in a single play session – something I don’t think I’ve done with a game for quite a long time! So this is not an epic experience that’s going to last dozens upon dozens of hours… and that’s something to be aware of heading into it. However, unlike some recent titles, Indika is priced fairly. At £20 here in the UK (though I got it at a slight discount via the Epic Games Store) its price feels more than fair for the runtime it provides, and I will always credit publishers for recognising this!

Screenshot of Indika (2024) showing Indika. — The title character.

During my playthrough I did encounter a bug – just one, though. At one point, Indika got stuck in the environment partway through climbing onto a platform, and the only way around it was to restart the level. This highlighted something I don’t really appreciate: the lack of a free save system. Indika is generous with its checkpoints, sure, and the only other time I died I didn’t have to go all the way back to the beginning or anything. But… being able to freely save is a pretty basic feature, and even in a game as short as Indika there’s really no reason not to incorporate it.

But that’s basically all of the negatives out of the way!

Indika is a narrative experience as much as a “game” – there are entire sections where the only thing you’re required to do is walk from point to point. There are side-rooms to explore and a few collectables to pick up – which are worth finding, if for no other reason than to appreciate the design work that went into making them – but much of the game unfolds like this. I can see some people finding that “boring,” and while such things are subjective, for me I enjoyed this slower pace.

Promotional screenshot of Indika (2024) showing Indika walking on a snowy path. — There’s quite a bit of walking in this game.

Despite the way the game seems to present itself at first, this isn’t a “horror” title – not by my definition, at any rate. There are some creepy and unsettling elements for sure; a game where the player character speaks to a demonic entity is gonna have that! But in terms of frightening moments or jump-scares… there really weren’t any. And that’s coming from a total scaredy-cat who’s easily frightened!

What you get with Indika’s narrative is a lot of philosophy – the age-old debate about God’s existence. And maybe you’ll say I’m projecting my own biases here, but I felt Indika came down firmly on the side of atheism. Despite being a nun, the protagonist is clearly struggling with questions of faith, and her mental illness – which is how I’d interpret her hallucinations – is preventing her from fitting in with her fellow nuns at the convent. Having encountered a runaway convict, Indika bounces her ideas about God and the problems of omnipotence and evil off of him. These conversations were genuinely interesting.

Promotional screenshot of Indika (2024) showing Ilya and Indika. — Ilya and Indika had some interesting philosophical conversations.

Both of the main characters – and Indika’s companion, too – felt fleshed-out, and they seemed to fit the world they inhabited. We got to see really interesting glimpses of pre-First World War Russia, a country struggling with industrialisation and the challenges that it brought. Indika’s convent felt like a place unchanged by the passage of time, but the world she stepped into was one of steam trains, factories, and industrial danger. The world could feel bleak – its wintery setting definitely adding to that tone – but never empty. I loved crunching through the snow during the outdoor sections!

There’s something about snow in video games that I just really enjoy. Seeing Indika and Ilya leave footprints was a nice touch, too. While the snow isn’t at the same level as a title like Red Dead Redemption II, it isn’t a million miles away. And considering this game was made by a much smaller team with a lower budget… I think it’s pretty fantastic the way it’s turned out. In the west, we tend to associate Russia with freezing winter conditions – even though, of course, the country has three other seasons – so in that sense, the snow also felt on theme!

Screenshot of Indika (2024) showing the title character. — Indika outside of the convent.

One of the projects I chose when I was studying history at university was the history of colour photography. Among the earliest surviving colour photographs were taken in the late 1900s and 1910s by Sergey Prokudin-Gorskii – a Russian photographer who was commissioned by the Tsar to take colour photographs across Russia. I immersed myself in Prokudin-Gorskii’s photographs while working on my project, and I was fascinated by this glimpse into pre-Communist Russia. I know folks say black-and-white photographs feel atmospheric, but there’s something about colour that’s just so much more real!

I bring this up because I felt echoes of Prokudin-Gorskii’s photographs in Indika. The convent, some of the wooden houses and buildings, the dirt roads… I remember seeing all of those things in those photographs. The juxtaposition between massive imposing religious buildings made of stone and adorned with gold and bright colours with small, wooden houses in which everyone else lived… it’s striking. And you can see why, in years gone by, people would be drawn to churches and cathedrals. For my money, developers Odd-Meter did a great job recreating this bygone era in video game form, and it brought back memories for me of working on that university project and exploring the forgotten world depicted in those photographs.

Collage of ten Prokudin-Gorskii colour photographs, depicting a variety of scenes in Russia in the 1910s. — A selection of Prokudin-Gorskii’s photographs of Russia, circa 1909-1915.

For a game that was – mostly – an intense, philosophical narrative experience set in a realistic historical setting… Indika blended in some very “video-gamey” elements! Its pixel art font – used in menus and the levelling screen – was a real throwback, as were the way points were collected in-game. Points appear in front of Indika when collecting items in the game world or lighting candles – but they appear as big, glowing, pixellated blocks. They reminded me of something out of the 8-bit era, and that was clearly a deliberate choice. It added to the surreal nature of the game, and I think it worked exceptionally well.

Then there’s the game’s soundtrack and… well, sound-scape might be a better term. There were some beautiful and haunting melodies created for Indika, but there were also some retro throwbacks that felt like something you’d have heard on an arcade machine in the ’80s! Again, it’s the surreal blending of the game’s detailed world with these modern/retro game elements that just… worked. It shouldn’t, and I think in a worse game it wouldn’t have worked. But here, the total clash between the world around Indika and these retro gaming visuals and sounds actually felt great. If the story is partially about Indika’s mental health, I kind of read the gaming elements as part of that. Part of her hallucinations – both visual and auditory.

Screenshot of Indika (2024) showing Indika recieving points. — Receiving points.

These tied in with some wonderful 2D platforming sections. Indika presented its flashback sequences in this retro pixel art style, which is something I found incredibly creative. It felt kind of like if a film or TV show depicted its flashbacks in black-and-white or sepia. It’s the game saying “these events happened in the past.” And what better way for a video game to depict the past than with older visual and gameplay styles?

These sections also provided a clear boundary between the present and the flashbacks, making them feel completely distinct. Although I described them as “2D platformers,” there was more to it than that. We got a Pac-Man-inspired section, running around a maze-like level, a multi-lap bike race, and two very different platforming sections. These all felt unique, with no single play style being repeated throughout the flashbacks. They were also some of the most technically challenging parts of the game – or perhaps my 2D gaming skills are just rusty! My arthritic hands don’t help, either, with sections requiring near-perfect timing of jumps! But I struggled through and got there in the end.

Screenshot of Indika (2024) showing the flashback bike race. — One of *Indika’*s 2D levels.

Depicting such intense sequences in this way was kind of an odd choice. Indika’s flashbacks tell a tale of the protagonist’s first romantic encounter – with a boy from a different culture, and it doesn’t end well. There were some light-hearted moments in these 2D levels, particularly near the beginning, but the story took a dark turn later on. And the pixel art, upbeat 8-bit music, and fun retro level design… it clashed with that. But as above, I think the clash is the point.

The 2D levels weren’t the only creative ones, though. Indika did some clever things with some of its 3D environments, too – including a series of rooms which rotated, having you walking on walls and having to move objects ways that don’t conform to the laws of physics! Some games have tried to show mental illness and fractured minds before, but there’s something so unsettling about walking into a room with absolutely no explanation, and no expectation that it’s going to be something different… only to realise it’s upside down, walking on walls… and with some kind of strange multi-limbed demon just out of sight.

Screenshot of Indika (2024) showing a 3D level. — This level felt especially creative.

Other 3D puzzles were more basic, akin to something you’d see in games like Uncharted. “Basic” is not a synonym for “bad,” and these puzzles – involving things like moving objects on a crane or using a ladder to bypass a locked door – were entertaining enough. None of them were especially difficult to solve, though I would point out that the game doesn’t hold your hand and just kind of drops you in the puzzles, leaving you to figure it out. As another hallmark of what we might call “old-school” game design – in a modern gaming landscape dominated by in-depth tutorials and the dreaded quest marker – I think I like this even more!

Then there were sections of levels that used different or interesting mechanics. Repeatedly rotating the control stick to wind a winch was interesting – and reminded me of some Nintendo 64 titles from back when the analogue stick was a brand-new invention! Then there was a moment where Indika had to balance on a narrow beam that gave me flashbacks to Shenmue II! If you remember that level… does it haunt you, too? Indika also gives you control over a couple of different vehicles, as well as some pieces of machinery, and there’s a couple of tense chase sequences, too. There’s a surprising diversity of gameplay styles on show given the game’s runtime.

Screenshot of Indika (2024) showing Indika balancing on a board. — Reminds me of *Shenmue II*…

I’d also be remiss not to mention Indika’s incredibly creative use of the protagonist’s hallucinations. Without giving too much away, at a couple of points in the game, Indika experiences a vivid hallucination, but can keep it at bay through prayer. Alternating between the hallucination and the “real” state of the world changes the level, and opens up different pathways to get from one end to the other. It’s a really creative mechanic that wasn’t over-used, and it worked exceptionally well.

So Indika was not the kind of game I would’ve ordinarily chosen. It’s a short experience (my playthrough clocked in at just under four-and-a-half hours, including the credits, a couple of deaths, and one 2D level that took a few attempts). But it was really interesting – a philosophical video game with a message about faith, God, and the way the world works. It was wrapped up in an interesting narrative about a renegade nun with a mental illness, and touched on how mentally ill folks can be treated and shunned by society. As someone with a mental health condition myself, I appreciated the message, the depiction, and how the game handled that side of things.

Screenshot of Indika (2024) showing one of Indika's hallucinations. — One of Indika’s hallucinations.

Russian developers Odd-Meter actually left the country during work on Indika due to the political situation there. But almost the whole team is Russian – there are Russian-language voice options available if you want to get more of an immersive experience.

I would absolutely recommend Indika. I had a blast with it, and I really can’t think of another game quite like it. As I said at the beginning, this was a completely unique experience, both narratively and mechanically. Maybe you think four-plus hours is “too short,” but again I would point to the game being – in my view, at least – fairly-priced for its runtime. We aren’t talking about a £75 title, here.

Promotional screenshot of Indika (2024) showing Indika in a factory. — *Indika* is a game I’ll happily recommend.

So I hope this has been interesting! I thought Indika had only just been released, but it actually came out over a year ago. I guess I’m a bit late to the party, but never mind! The game was on sale recently, at least on PC if you use the Epic Games Store. It could also be one to wishlist ahead of the big Christmas sales, because it might drop in price again.

This could’ve absolutely not been my cup of tea! The idea of a mentally ill protagonist with a horrifying demon whispering in their ear, a clash of visual and musical styles, the philosophical conversations, lack of combat, and short runtime… they could all be offputting, I guess. But I really liked this game. It’s the kind of title I think we can point to when highlighting the work of smaller, independent development teams, and it’s also a fine example of video games as a narrative art form.

Indika is out now for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series S/X. Indika is the copyright of Odd-Meter and/or 11 Bit Studios. This review contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

The Next Animal Crossing: A Wishlist

Tue 22.07.25Dennis

Let’s do something we haven’t done for a long time: talk about Animal Crossing!

For some context, Animal Crossing: New Horizons briefly became my most-played Nintendo Switch game… before being overtaken by Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. I enjoyed the game in 2020 and into 2021, but I felt it was far more limited than it should’ve been and I burned out on it more quickly than I expected. When I compare New Horizons to its predecessor – a game I was still playing from time to time when New Horizons was released – I think it comes up short.

Nintendo also didn’t give New Horizons the level of support and updates I would’ve hoped for. In true Nintendo fashion, they abandoned the best-selling Switch-exclusive title after little more than a year, giving a handful of free updates (some of which re-introduced items and features that had been added for one holiday season, then removed), and one piece of paid-for DLC. Neither the free updates nor the paid DLC addressed what I considered to be New Horizons’ most egregious flaws and missing features.

Concept art for Animal Crossing: New Horizons showing five different character designs. — Concept art for some of the villagers in *New Horizons*.

It was a real shame to see some of New Leaf’s best elements – things which gave that game genuine longevity and kept me returning to it – stripped out of New Horizons. And while some of the things New Horizons added did improve the overall Animal Crossing experience… the trade-off wasn’t really worth it. Losing minigames and Tortimer’s island basically meant multiplayer wasn’t fun and offered very little to do besides having a wander around… and honestly, that got boring pretty quickly. Some players have crafted great islands, don’t get me wrong, but if all I can do is look around… let’s just say it reminds me of being dragged around stately homes and botanical gardens by my parents when I was a kid. And no, that is not a compliment!

So with New Horizons and New Leaf in mind… what should the next Animal Crossing look like? The tl;dr? The best of both worlds – while also learning from other recent games in the casual life-sim space. That’s what I’d want to see from the next game in the series, which is surely already in development for the Nintendo Switch 2.

Promo screenshot for Animal Crossing: New Horizons showing a player character snoozing in a decorated room. — Could a new Animal Crossing game be imminent?

There are rumours flitting around that a new Animal Crossing game might be teased as early as this month, with 2026 being talked about as a potential release year. I think it makes sense for Nintendo to line up a new Animal Crossing relatively early in the life of the Switch 2, especially if the more expensive system isn’t selling quite as well as its predecessor. Attracting that large “cozy game,” casual playerbase would make a lot of sense, so 2026 sounds plausible to me.

With all that being said, my usual caveats apply! I have no “insider information” about the Animal Crossing series. I’m not claiming to know when the game will be released or what new features might be included. Everything we’re going to discuss today is a wishlist from a fan, and nothing more. It also goes without saying that all of this is the subjective, not objective, opinion of just one person. If I recommend a new feature that you think sounds awful, or I miss out something you believe should be obvious… that’s okay. There ought to be enough room in the Animal Crossing community for polite discussion and respectful disagreement.

With all of that out of the way, let’s take a look at my Animal Crossing wishlist.

Wish #1:
More options in the character creator.

Promo screenshot for Animal Crossing: New Horizons showing various hairstyle options. — Hairstyles in *New Horizons*.

New Leaf and New Horizons don’t exactly have a ton of character creation options. There are a handful of eyes, noses, mouths, and hairstyles… but a modern title on more powerful hardware could expand this by a lot. We could see dozens of hairstyles, new hair and eye colours, and facial features, all of which would help us create unique and personalised characters. The new game will almost certainly stick with the familiar Animal Crossing art style, but even within that framework there’s a ton of room to do more.

I’d like to see different body types – villagers of different heights and weights. There could also be new facial hair and makeup options, too. I felt New Leaf’s customisation options were solid enough on the 3DS – but I gotta be honest: I expected more from New Horizons coming more than half a decade later on a much more powerful system. The Switch 2 really ought to be able to handle many more character creation options, and isn’t the point of a life simulator to, y’know, simulate your life? A lot of folks want to be able to put themselves into the game – so Nintendo really ought to make that happen!

Wish #2:
Learn from the successes (and shortcomings) of similar games.

Still frame from the Disney Dreamlight Valley Skull Rock Update trailer showing the player taking a selfie. — Taking a selfie in *Disney Dreamlight Valley*.

One of my favourite games of the last few years has been Disney Dreamlight Valley – despite its monetisation issues. Dreamlight Valley is itself inspired by Animal Crossing – but it’s also a game that took the life-sim formula and did more with it than any Animal Crossing title so far. In particular, being able to easily move buildings around by hopping into an editor mode on the fly is something the next Animal Crossing series could really use. Imagine if, instead of having to go to Tom Nook, wade through dialogue, wait 24 hours, and only be able to move one house at a time… you could just move any of them any time you wanted? And imagine if, instead of being permanently stuck with wherever you happened to site the museum or the shop… you could pick them up and move them around as your town expands. That would be neat, huh?

Then there are things like unique villager quests that could be a lot of fun. Other cozy life-sim titles, like this year’s Locomoto, also have better editing and customisation tools that I think Nintendo should take a serious look at. I don’t play a ton of these types of games, so I don’t know every new feature that might be kicking around out there, but there are bound to be others that I haven’t seen or can’t call to mind right now! The long and short of it is that Nintendo shouldn’t just look inwards at New Leaf and New Horizons, but outwards at other games in the genre. There are plenty of games on the market in a similar space – and some are a whole lot better than Animal Crossing right now.

Wish #3:
Proper menu/inventory icons.

Promo screenshot for Animal Crossing: New Horizons showing the player's inventory. — Pockets in *New Horizons*.

When I played New Leaf on the 3DS, I didn’t really mind that there was only one inventory icon for furniture, and one for clothes. But on the Switch? You’d have thought each individual item could’ve gotten its own unique icon. At the very least, it should’ve been possible to see at a glance whether I’m carrying a wardrobe or a teacup. These are pretty basic quality-of-life things that would make navigating menus, storage, and inventories so much smoother. It would be way easier to find crafted items, gifts, tools, and the like if each item had its own icon.

There’s no real reason why each item can’t be given its own inventory icon. It would’ve been possible on the Switch, so it’s certainly going to be achievable on the new system. It’s a pain the arse to scroll through storage and inventories, trying to find a particular item of clothing or piece of furniture – and there’s just no need for it any more. On older hardware? Sure. But now? It’s time to have a proper, well-organised inventory!

Wish #4:
Item durability needs to piss off.

Promo screenshot for Animal Crossing: New Horizons showing a broken watering can. — Ugh.

I don’t think I’ve ever played a single game – not one, ever – where I’ve thought to myself “gosh, I’m glad my tools/weapons break. That just makes this game so much more fun!” And I’ve definitely never been playing a game and thought “you know what would make this better? If my tools and guns randomly stopped working while I’m trying to use them!” I can’t think of any game where item durability is implemented well and actually makes sense – except, perhaps, for Minecraft.

New Horizons had pathetically awful item durability. I get that maybe your bottom-tier, basic tools wouldn’t work as well or last as long as proper ones. But come on… even the top-tier golden tools break after a handful of uses. And it’s such a pain in the arse to be halfway through a big task – like watering a flowerbed or breaking a money rock – only for your tool to break. And with no status indicators nor any way to keep track, tools seemed to break completely at random. I get the idea behind it… but it wasn’t fun. I don’t play a game like Animal Crossing for realism, and I definitely don’t play it to get frustrated when my pissing watering can breaks.

Wish #5:
Either use announcements properly or don’t include them.

Promo screenshot for Animal Crossing: New Horizons showing Isabelle's morning announcements. — No, Isabelle. No, it fucking doesn’t.

Isabelle’s morning announcements were absolutely useless most of the time. She’d let you know about big things, like events, but she’d also not let you know about everything… with her stupid little “oh, that doesn’t count as news” really pissing me off more and more as time went on. The town noticeboard wasn’t much better, with even basic things not being posted there. If you’re going to include a feature – or two – in a game like this specifically to make announcements about important events and things going on… use them. Otherwise they’re just a waste of time.

I’d like to start my play session with a proper announcement of what’s going on. But Isabelle wouldn’t tell you if a special character was visiting, or if it was the last day to see a certain event. And the noticeboard hardly got anything added to it. I’m pretty sure I missed seeing characters like Gulliver and Redd a few times because their visits weren’t made obvious. If you don’t have a lot of time to play, getting a roundup of what’s happening that day can be really important, and when there are built-in features especially created for this purpose, it just seems ridiculous not to take advantage of them.

Wish #6:
A proper third-person camera.
(As a togglable option)

Promo screenshot for Animal Crossing: New Horizons showing a villager walking through fruit trees, with a tent in the background. — The standard camera angle.

This one might be controversial! Animal Crossing games have all had the same kind of top-down/isometric camera angle. But having played Dreamlight Valley, as discussed above, one thing I believe would really add to the immersion would be a proper over-the-shoulder third-person camera. Being able to explore the world from that perspective would be a game-changer – literally – and I think it would add a lot to the Animal Crossing experience.

However, because this would undoubtedly be controversial, I think it should be included as an option, not as something mandatory. The standard Animal Crossing camera could also be present for folks who want the more “traditional” experience. The rest of us can have fun exploring our villages a bit more up close and personal!

Wish #7:
Multiplayer mini-games.

Screenshot of Animal Crossing: New Leaf showing a player shooting balloons on Tortimer's Island. — Balloon hunting on Tortimer’s Island in *New Leaf*.

The reason I was still playing New Leaf years after its release – and the reason I don’t play New Horizons any more – is the multiplayer mini-games on Tortimer’s island. Being able to fire up New Leaf and play those games with friends was a ton of fun, and it kept me engaged with the game for way longer than I otherwise would’ve been. The mini-games were a blast, too, with plenty of different options on Tortimer’s “tours.”

It was such a shame that New Horizons didn’t include any of that. It meant multiplayer got boring really quickly, and while you can “make your own fun,” at least in a limited way… that doesn’t make up for it. Proper, structured games to play with friends made a world of difference to New Leaf, and I really felt their absence harmed New Horizons. I bought Switch Online entirely because a friend wanted to play New Horizons together… but both of us bounced off pretty quickly after we’d visited each other’s islands and realised that there wasn’t actually a lot to do there.

Wish #8:
Mini-games that can be played at will.
(No randomness/waiting)

Screenshot of Animal Crossing: New Leaf showing a game of hide-and-seek. — Playing hide-and-seek in *New Leaf*.

I’d like to be able to go up to my favourite villager and invite them to play a game. I don’t want to have to go up to everyone over and over again and hope that someone will ask me to play hide-and-seek! As the player, I should be able to choose when to start these mini-games, and pick from the list of available options. Maybe certain characters can refuse my request if they’re in a bad mood or something… sure. That could add to the immersion. But I should be able to start these mini-games at will to give me something to do when I’m not weeding or fishing!

This would also be present in multiplayer. After arriving at a friend’s town, we could choose to start a game of something like hide-and-seek with some of the villagers from their town, and that could add to the fun. But instead of approaching characters and hoping to get the right dialogue prompts, this should be a permanent fixture; something we can always ask our villagers to do.

Wish #9:
Support the game for 6+ years instead of just 18 months.

Promo screenshot for Animal Crossing: New Horizons showing Happy Home Paradise and its pricing. — *Happy Home Paradise* and its associated update were the last major content additions to *New Horizons* – barely eighteen months after the game launched.

Nintendo dropped the ball by abandoning New Horizons so quickly. Look around at the cozy life-sim genre and what do you see? Ongoing support for multiple years from all of the big developers. New items, events, and gameplay features are frequently added, often for free but sometimes as paid DLC. Nintendo did this for the game’s first year, but a lot of that was really spent on patches and on adding features that, frankly, should’ve been present from day one. The next game in the series should get continuing support really for the life of the Switch 2, but at least for five or six years instead of one or two.

This should also include listening and responding to community feedback. If players ask for, say, more vegetables to plant… then add them in the next update. The best long-running titles have devs who engage with and listen to players, and while Animal Crossing has done some of this, sometimes – like reducing the scope of the Easter event – there’s a lot more that Nintendo could do on that front. I’d love to see the next Animal Crossing given years’ worth of free updates. If the game’s gonna sell tens of millions of copies, it’s not like adding new items every now and then is gonna break the bank!

Wish #10:
More shops.
(All of which can be placed anywhere, and all of which can expand.)

Screenshot of Animal Crossing: New Leaf showing a player on the shopping street. — The shopping street in *New Leaf* – with construction underway to expand Nook’s Cranny.

After New Leaf had an entire shopping street, it was kinda pathetic that New Horizons only got two shops. And after New Leaf’s main shop got five or six expansions, taking it from a tin hut to a full-blown multi-storey department store, it was pretty lame that Nook’s Cranny only got one solitary upgrade in New Horizons. Even when Nintendo relented to pressure and added Brewster’s coffee shop back into the game, it wasn’t able to be placed in the world and could only be a new room in the museum. That just made me sad.

So the next game should have, at a minimum, all of the shops from New Leaf, and all of them should be able to be placed in the world. There could be options to place two shops in the same space, or to put the coffee shop inside the museum – but these should be optional, not mandatory! If I want to place the coffee shop in its own dedicated building out in the game world, I should have that freedom. And all of these – including the coffee shop – should get at least one level of expansion. The main shop should get half a dozen.

Wish #11:
Massively expanded villager dialogue.
(And more villager personality types than there are available slots)

Promo screenshot for Animal Crossing: New Horizons showing a villager crafting in their home. — Dialogue got pretty repetitive…

New Horizons gave you ten slots on your island for villagers to move into. But there are only eight villager personality types! What that meant in practice is you’d get at least two villagers who were word-for-word identical to one another. Combine that with some pretty lazy and sparse dialogue, and you’ve got a recipe for boring, repetitive character interactions. Some common events – like walking into a villager’s home while they’re crafting – literally only had one possible line of dialogue, meaning even if you didn’t have two of the same personality type you’d still always see the same text every single time that event triggered.

Given that every Animal Crossing game just uses text for dialogue, adding a huge amount of additional text wouldn’t inflate the size of the game or really have any noticeable impact whatsoever. That goes double for the Switch 2, so I really hope that the next game in the series can have… oh, let’s say quadruple the amount of dialogue, with new villager personality types to further mix things up. And there should be more personality types than there are housing slots available in your town – so you’re always going to have a reason to mix things up and bring in new villagers.

Wish #12:
Farming and cooking from day 1.

Promo screenshot for Animal Crossing: New Horizons showing cooking recipes. — Recipes after one of the final *New Horizons* updates.

By the time New Horizons introduced crops other than pumpkins, I’d already given up on the game. Some of the new farming and cooking things looked neat – but not neat enough to warrant starting a brand-new island or returning to my old one! It would be great if the next game could include these pretty basic features from day one, and not strip out gameplay elements to “add” later while expecting praise! Farming crops and cooking recipes are bog-standard life-sim features and should be present from the beginning.

I love how Dreamlight Valley handles these things, though. Crops can be farmed for cash if you have enough space, but they need watering and attention. And also crops are ingredients in all of your recipes. Food in that game can be consumed for extra energy, given to villagers to boost your friendship, sold for cash, or even used for decoration. New Horizons had some of that, but I think it could be massively expanded to make farming and cooking integral parts of the experience.

Wish #13:
Some kind of drivable vehicle.

Promo image for Mario Kart 8 showing the Animal Crossing Villager character in a kart. — Yep, exactly like this!

If we assume that New Horizons’ successor is going to have a larger map, it would be neat if we could get some kind of bike or kart to make traversing the game world a little faster. This could be a late-game item, meaning you’d need to invest a lot of time and money into acquiring or crafting it, and it could be limited to only being drivable on paths/roads, not just everywhere. But it could make doing your chores a lot more fun – and it would feel like there was something to work towards beyond house expansions, new furniture, and so on.

Depending on what kind of setting the new game goes for – it could be a return to the forest, a city, or another island of some kind – then different vehicle options could be found to fit the game. Perhaps an even bigger project for your new village could see you build your own railway line, with a train and different buildable stations around the village. That could be a ton of fun, too, and a great way to include the Animal Crossing train, which was absent from New Horizons.

Wish #14:
New special characters and events.

Promo screenshot for Animal Crossing: New Horizons showing Zipper in the Roost. — Maybe not this guy, though…

New Horizons introduced a couple of new special characters to run things like the fishing tourney and the bug-off. But these events weren’t new, and they played out pretty much the same as in previous entries in the series. I’d like to see brand-new special characters tied to new events – maybe a hide-and-seek championship or a scavenger hunt. Either of those could introduce a new character to organise and manage the event, mixing things up and giving players something new to do at least once a week.

This could also expand to include new annual holidays or seasonal events; we got things like the wedding and the fireworks nights in New Horizons, but I’m sure there are others and different ones that a new game could include. I don’t think Animal Crossing should go overboard here; we don’t need a special character and event every single day! But having new ones in the mix, helmed by new characters, would be a lot of fun.

Wish #15:
Go easy on the monetisation.

Still frame of the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct showing Welcome Tour. — *Welcome Tour* – and the Switch 2’s launch overall – doesn’t leave me feeling optimistic for this one.

New Horizons, despite its limitations, was priced fairly. Given recent behaviour from Nintendo – jacking up prices left, right, and centre, and going all-in on microtransactions in mobile games like Mario Kart Tour – I don’t want to see the next Animal Crossing game monetised to death. We don’t need “season passes,” paid-for skins, or dozens of tiny “item packs” to add content to the game for a fee. The game should be reasonably-priced, with plenty of free updates throughout its life, and one or perhaps two expansion packs – provided they’re sizable and not overpriced.

This is a source of concern, I’ll be honest with you. I can absolutely see Nintendo trying to cash in on the Animal Crossing series, charging for items, features, characters, currency, and all sorts of things that should be included with the game. I was disappointed when Dreamlight Valley’s monetisation got out of hand, and you don’t need to look far to see life-sim games with ridiculous price tags. The Sims 4, for instance, costs over £1,300 if you were to buy all of its various content packs and DLC.

So that’s it.

Promo screenshot for Animal Crossing: New Horizons showing a player character standing outside a house with decorative items and fencing. — What will come next for Animal Crossing?

We’ve taken a look at a whole bunch of things that I’d like to see from the next Animal Crossing game!

This series has a lot of potential – but for me, at least, New Horizons didn’t live up to it. Most of what we’ve discussed today could – and I would argue should – have been part of New Horizons or added to it later. So in that sense, I don’t think I’m being unreasonable or asking for anything totally crazy from the next game in the series.

I’m not sure what the developers have in store, though. Could we get a new game set in an urban environment, for instance, or are we going to stick with the deserted island? Will characters like Tortimer and Kappn have bigger roles this time, after being effectively absent in New Horizons? What will be the new game’s biggest addition or transformation? Those are all open questions!

If Nintendo gets this right, the next Animal Crossing could be the game that convinces me to save up for a Switch 2. But if it looks like it’s going to be drowning in microtransactions and monetisation… maybe I won’t bother.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is out now for Nintendo Switch. The next Animal Crossing game is presumably in development, but no release date has been announced at time of writing. The Animal Crossing series – including all titles and properties discussed above – is the copyright of Nintendo. Some screenshots and artwork courtesy of IGDB and Nookipedia. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

Cancelled Games I Wish We’d Got To Play

Mon 14.07.25Dennis

The recent cancellations and studio shutdowns in the games industry – and at Xbox in particular – got me thinking. There are a lot of games that just never made it to the launchpad for one reason or another, and some of them sounded genuinely fantastic. Given how poor a lot of corporate decisions are, I don’t buy the argument that “any cancelled game would’ve been bad; that’s why they cancelled it!!1!” – which is something some armchair critics like to say. That seems to be a bit of a “cope;” a way to brush off the cancellation of a title that could’ve been a ton of fun.

So today, we’re going to take a look at ten cancelled games that I really wish had seen the light of day.

You don’t have to tell me, I already know the argument: some of these games might’ve been crap, and maybe there were good reasons behind their cancellations. Noted. Got it. We don’t need to go over that again!

A selection of arcade machines. — Let’s talk about some cancelled games.

If I may suggest the obvious counter-point: some of these games might’ve been good! Some of the titles on this list seem to have been cancelled not for any reasons pertaining to quality, but for financial reasons, changes in priorities, or studios and intellectual property changing hands. Those things have next to nothing to do with the actual game, and while it’s true that not every decent-sounding cancelled game would’ve been great… I still wish we’d been able to see them and judge the finished products for ourselves.

As always, everything we’re gonna talk about is the entirely subjective, not objective opinion of just one person. If I highlight a game you think sounded awful, or ignore a title you think is obvious on a list like this… that’s okay. There ought to be enough room in the gaming community for differences of opinion. The games are listed in no particular order.

With that out of the way, let’s jump into the list.

Cancelled Game #1:
Agent (a.k.a. Rockstar’s Agent)
Early 2010s

The game’s logo.

Agent was first teased in 2007 by Sony, purportedly as a PlayStation 3 exclusive from Rockstar Games. Further details weren’t announced until 2009, when it emerged that the title would feature a secret agent in a 1970s Cold War setting. Obviously, the first point of comparison was James Bond, and that was more than enough to pique my curiosity! I didn’t own a PlayStation 3 until late in the console’s life, but Agent was perhaps the title I was most interested in after The Last Of Us.

Rockstar went radio-silent on Agent for years after the 2009 announcement. Occasional “leaks” would emerge, but there was nothing concrete. Rockstar’s parent company, Take-Two, renewed the “Agent” trademark twice, and seemed to imply to investors as late as 2013 that the game was still being worked on. However, another 2013 project, Grand Theft Auto V (and its online mode in particular), seems to have redirected Rockstar’s development resources.

Leaked screenshot of Rockstar's Agent showing a character at the foot of a staircase. — One of the leaked screenshots.

By 2015, the project seems to have been abandoned, and I really do believe that Rockstar’s change of focus to Grand Theft Auto Online is the main culprit. Comments from at least one former Rockstar developer suggest that team members were reassigned from Agent to support Grand Theft Auto V after 2013, with the popular and financially successful online mode clearly being more of a priority for Rockstar and Take-Two.

It wouldn’t be the last project Rockstar would sacrifice at the altar of Grand Theft Auto Online. A single-player expansion was planned but never released, Red Dead Redemption II’s online mode was ignored when it failed to generate the same kind of revenue as GTA’s, and you better believe we’d have seen Grand Theft Auto VI, and perhaps other Rockstar titles – like a sequel to Bully – if the studio hadn’t gone all-in on GTA Online after 2013. Agent seemed like it had the potential to live up to stealth-action titles like GoldenEye and the Hitman series, and its ’70s setting sounded particularly fun.

Cancelled Game #2:
Star Trek: First Contact
1998-ish

Pre-release screenshot of Star Trek: First Contact showing Picard and a Borg. — A game based on *First Contact*? Cool!

MicroProse created one of my favourite games ever: 1997’s Star Trek: Generations. Yes, the game is a pretty basic “Doom clone,” and yes it came out three years too late… but it was a ton of fun to play through an expanded version of the Generations story, with little connections to other episodes from The Next Generation. MicroProse had the Star Trek license in the mid-late 1990s, and after releasing Generations in 1997, the studio began work on an adaptation of First Contact.

For an action game or a first-person shooter, you could hardly pick a better Star Trek story than First Contact! Battling the Borg on the lower decks of the Enterprise-E, teaming up with Picard and the crew… it could have been a genuinely fun and exciting Star Trek experience. I doubt First Contact would’ve really crossed over to the mainstream and brought in a bunch of new fans… but you never know. A few years later, Elite Force managed to do just that.

Pre-release screenshot of Star Trek: First Contact showing Data, Worf, and two Borg. — A leaked screenshot of an early build of the game.

MicroProse’s financial problems seem to have impacted its ability to work on this game, though. The studio planned to use the then-new Unreal Engine, which would’ve allowed for better graphics and fully 3D models (Generations used a much older engine designed for DOS games that relied on 2D sprites for the most part). The jump in quality would’ve been noticeable, and First Contact could’ve been a good-looking game by 1998 standards!

A title based on First Contact is still one of my fantasy Star Trek games all these years later. Retaking the lower decks of the Enterprise-E, battling the Borg in close quarters, and perhaps having to rely on hand-to-hand combat and thrown-together weaponry… it just sounds so tense and exciting! It could also be a great horror-tinged game, with the Borg being a genuinely difficult and frightening antagonist. There was a ton of potential here, and it seems as if the game was cancelled through no fault of its own.

Cancelled Game #3:
Super Mario 128
1997-99

Screenshot of Super Mario 64 showing Mario on the castle's secret slide. — Whee!

A sequel to Super Mario 64 was planned for the Nintendo 64’s disc drive accessory – but the hardware failure led to the game’s cancellation. There’s a bit of confusion surrounding this title, because Super Mario 128 also refers to a completely different project that was in early development for the GameCube! But the 64DD version would have been much closer to Super Mario 64 than Mario Sunshine.

Originally, Super Mario 64 was supposed to include multiplayer, with the second player being able to control Luigi via split-screen gameplay. It sounds like Super Mario 128 was going to pick up this idea, using the 64DD’s more powerful capabilities to include a two-player mode. Luigi was confirmed by developer Shigeru Miyamoto to have been part of the project throughout its development, and rumours have suggested that Peach’s castle from Super Mario 64 would’ve returned as a location.

Screenshot of Super Mario 64 DS showing Luigi getting a star. — Luigi would eventually be playable in *Super Mario 64 DS*.

Another idea that Miyamoto supposedly had for Super Mario 128 was spherical levels or environments. We’d eventually see this idea in Super Mario Galaxy a decade later, but I’ve always wondered what it might’ve looked like if even one level had been like that back in the Nintendo 64 era! A direct sequel to the events of Super Mario 64, perhaps re-using and upgrading some of the same levels and environments just sounds like a lot of fun, and having a two-player couch co-op mode with Luigi and Mario together would have been fantastic.

Ultimately, the failure of the 64DD doomed this version of Super Mario 128. It seems that Nintendo kept the name, for a time, and the project was either switched to the GameCube or a new GameCube project was created with the same name shortly after the turn of the millennium. Elements of Super Mario 128 have appeared in several 3D Mario games over the years, including spherical levels in Galaxy and a return to Peach’s castle in Odyssey.

Cancelled Game #4:
Perfect Dark Reboot
Late 2020s

The game’s logo.

After showing off Perfect Dark just a few months ago with an action-packed, exciting trailer… Microsoft and Xbox have now cancelled the project. Not only that, but the studio Xbox had created specifically to build Perfect Dark has been completely shut down and its staff have largely been laid off by Microsoft. This feels like a pretty shocking turn of events, and I think it’s a colossal disappointment that we aren’t going to get the promised Perfect Dark reboot.

Perfect Dark was Rare’s follow-up to the smash hit GoldenEye on the Nintendo 64, taking the same gameplay style but transposing it to a corporate-dystopia futuristic setting. Protagonist Joanna Dark was compelling, and the game was just a ton of fun both in single-player and multiplayer back in the Nintendo 64 days.

Screenshot of Perfect Dark showing the player character sliding in combat. — A glimpse at the game.

There aren’t that many single-player-focused first-person shooters any more. There’s id’s Doom series, and occasionally a title like Deathloop will come along, but for the most part, modern FPS titles focus almost exclusively on lucrative multiplayer modes that can be monetised to death. Perfect Dark represented something different – a bit “old school,” for want of a better term – in a modern gaming landscape dominated by those kinds of titles. And at a time when Microsoft’s biggest FPS franchise, Halo, has been flailing around, Perfect Dark could’ve been a much-needed boost. Heck, if it was good enough it could’ve even eclipsed Halo, taking Xbox in a different direction.

The gameplay that we saw a few months ago is real – though it was a “vertical slice” of a very incomplete game at the time it was produced. There really did seem to be a lot of potential in a return to this series and this style of first-person shooter. Maybe there were more problems behind-the-scenes than we’ve learned so far, and maybe Perfect Dark was just taking too long to be ready. But it’s a disappointment that we’ll never get to see it for ourselves.

Cancelled Game #5:
TimeSplitters 4
Late 2000s

An early version of the game’s logo.

TimeSplitters 2 is genuinely one of my favourite games of its era. Fun, fast-paced, with a unique story and art style… it was just a blast to play either alone or with friends. A third TimeSplitters game was also well-received – though I didn’t play that one for myself! Developers Free Radical Design announced that a fourth entry in the series was coming, but then they switched to develop the critically-panned Haze.

Haze’s failure seems to be what doomed TimeSplitters 4. Free Radical Design went into administration, and although it was initially announced that TimeSplitters 4 might be able to be saved, it didn’t happen. The studio was shut down, and the TimeSplitters license eventually ended up at Embracer Group after passing through several other hands.

Screenshot of TimeSplitters 2 showing a tommy gun, a car, and the game's 1930s Chicago level. — The Chicago level from *TimeSplitters 2*.

TimeSplitters’ unique level design – jumping through different time periods and using weapons from those eras – made it something a bit different, and there was something about its fast-paced gameplay, especially in multiplayer, that was just plain fun. I have wonderful memories of playing TimeSplitters 2 on the original Xbox with friends, kicking back after work with a game that was different from anything else on the market and just really entertaining to play. The single-player campaign was great, too.

TimeSplitters 4 feels all the more disappointing because the game seemed, for a brief period in the early 2020s, to be getting a reprieve. However, a second cancellation was confirmed a couple of years ago, with the resurrected Free Radical being shut down for a second time. Again, this seems not to have been the fault of TimeSplitters 4, but rather due to issues within parent company Embracer Group.

Cancelled Game #6:
Shenmue III
2003-ish

Screenshot of an unreleased Shenmue II/Shenmue III environment showing Ryo with a temple. — Is this what *Shenmue III* would’ve looked like circa 2002?

Before you get angry and start screaming at me that “Shenmue III came out in 2019!!1!” – I know. I’m not talking about that version of the game. What I’m lamenting is that the original Shenmue saga couldn’t be continued on the Dreamcast, and that fans had to wait almost twenty years for a sequel to Shenmue II that wasn’t what it was originally supposed to be. If the Dreamcast had been a success and Shenmue III had been created in the early 2000s, it would have certainly been a different game – and probably a longer one, too.

There were rumours back in the day that Shenmue and Shenmue II could’ve been ported to the PlayStation 2 after the Dreamcast’s demise… and that could’ve also been something that saved the series. I firmly believe that the Shenmue saga is one of the best stories ever told in the medium, and it’s positively criminal that it’s never been concluded. There were chances in the early 2000s to salvage the Shenmue project, but its reputation, high pricetag, and connection to the failed Dreamcast all counted against it… as did the second game’s low sales.

Screenshot of an unreleased Shenmue II scene showing Ryo and Shenhua in bed. — Shenhua and Ryo.

If Shenmue had continued, one way or another, in 2003 instead of 2019, I think we’d have gotten a much larger game for starters. And without the intervening couple of decades, this version of Shenmue III would undoubtedly have been closer to fans’ expectations – and possibly exceeded them. One of the reasons Shenmue III felt disappointing to some fans, in my opinion, is that the 2019 version wasn’t able to take advantage of years’ worth of changes and improvements in game design.

Shenmue III in the early 2000s would’ve also been a stepping-stone – one part of an unfolding story. I can’t speak for every Shenmue fan, but I genuinely expected the crowdfunded 2019 game would conclude the game’s main story. It didn’t – and that alone convinced me not to even buy it at first. But in 2003, that would’ve been a non-issue, so even if the story and settings of Shenmue III had been exactly the same, I believe the game would’ve been far better-received. Unfortunately, Shenmue was a masterpiece that was, in many ways, ahead of its time. Players in the early 2000s weren’t as interested in what the first two games had to offer, and the Dreamcast’s shaky position in a market that was about to be dominated by the PlayStation 2 sealed its fate.

Cancelled Game #7:
Life By You
2024-26

One of the game’s promo images.

Life By You was one of a handful of Sims-inspired life simulator games that were all in development at the same time in the 2020s. And it was probably the one that appealed the most to me! Electronic Arts has monetised The Sims 4 to death – it costs, at time of writing, more than £1,300 to buy all of the available add-ons and expansions for that game. That’s a consequence of EA having the life-sim genre basically all to itself for years. Titles like Life By You threatened to change that.

I don’t know what Life By You’s monetisation might’ve looked like. Developer and publisher Paradox is not exactly known for being light on the DLC with its grand strategy games, many of which have DLC totals that can run to several hundred pounds. But I think competition in the life-sim genre is a good thing, and as someone who enjoyed The Sims in the early 2000s, I was definitely interested to see what another big studio could’ve done with the same basic gameplay idea.

Promo screenshot for Life By You showing the game's build mode. — This looks like it would’ve been the game’s build mode.

inZOI and Paralives are two other new life simulators that are both coming out soon, though I would note that inZOI’s early access seems to have been a little *too* early! But both of those games are by smaller teams – and while there’s nothing wrong in the slightest with smaller studios, new studios, and indie developers, the bigger name behind Life By You was at least part of the draw, in my opinion. I’m still very interested in those other games, and I hope they both give The Sims 4 a run for its money! But if they don’t, or if they aren’t as good as people are hoping, I really think we’ll come to regret the cancellation of Life By You.

We don’t know what happened behind-the-scenes, but Paradox put out a statement saying that “a version we’d be happy with was too far away,” seeming to indicate that development was not progressing at a pace the publishing side of the company was happy with. It’s worth noting that Paradox was able to write off a significant portion of the game’s development costs against its annual income… which may have also been a factor in the game’s cancellation. Paradox also called the game “high risk,” and claimed in a meeting with investors that they’d be less likely to invest in similar titles in the future.

Cancelled Game #8:
Whore of the Orient
2013-16

Leaked screenshot of Whore of the Orient showing a man, a staircase, and a window. — The only image of the game that ever leaked.

Let’s get the obvious out of the way: that’s a horrible title for a video game! But setting the title aside, Whore of the Orient sounded genuinely interesting. It was the brainchild of the people behind L.A. Noire, the police investigation game published by Rockstar in 2011. Team Bondi was eventually rolled into a new studio to develop Whore of the Orient, but most of the senior team stayed to work on the project.

Whore of the Orient would’ve made use of the same facial capture technology as L.A. Noire, but targeting a PlayStation 4/Xbox One release, I think we’d have seen some noticeable improvements on that front. The game was to be set in Shanghai in the 1930s, with political intrigue, the rise of communism, and criminal gangs. We don’t know much more about its story, but that premise sounds like something genuinely different, and potentially very engaging.

Photograph of Shanghai, circa 1927. Black-and-white image from an elevated position looking down on a waterfront packed with boats. — *Whore of the Orient* would’ve been set in Shanghai, circa 1930s.
*Photo: Shanghai, 1927*

We haven’t seen another game quite like L.A. Noire, and I’d have loved to see what the original developers could’ve done with the improved hardware of the PlayStation 4 generation. L.A. Noire hasn’t really aged well, with its facial capture stuff feeling just a bit too janky, but the same technology running on more advanced hardware could’ve really been something special.

As to the story, there aren’t any games I can recall that are set in 1930s China, so that alone would’ve made it stand out. We don’t know why the game was cancelled, only that parent company KMM Interactive pulled the plug sometime between the final update on the project, which was in 2013, and June 2016, when the news was belatedly announced to the public. Perhaps the story never came together, maybe the technology wasn’t working right, or maybe the game got too big and ambitious for its budget. In any case, it’s disappointing that the L.A. Noire folks didn’t get a second chance to tell a different story.

Cancelled Game #9:
Half-Life 2, Episode Three and Half-Life 3
Late 2000s

Concept art for Half-Life 2, Episode 3 showing an icy environment and a shipwreck. — Promotional art for *Episode Three*.

Half-Life 3 has become a meme at this point; the ultimate example of a video game that we’re never gonna play! But there was a time when either Episode Three or a full Half-Life 3 were very much on the agenda. But that was before developers Valve decided to dedicate all of their time to Steam, Dota 2, and the Counter-Strike series. As above with Perfect Dark, there’s a gap in the market for single-player first-person games, and the Half-Life series should be well-positioned to fill it.

Half-Life’s story is incomplete. Worse, it just… ends. There’s no conclusion for any of the characters or storylines, just a big, almost twenty-year-long void. And at this stage, despite occasional rumours… I don’t think the Half-Life series would print money in the way the first two titles did. It’s been too long, a whole new generation of players have come along who don’t even know that Valve used to make games, and quite honestly, I’m sceptical about Valve having the talent to produce a top-tier single-player game after so much time has passed.

Pre-release screenshot for Half-Life 2, Episode 3 showing a first-person perspective, an icy environment, and several enemies. — A leaked screenshot of an early build of *Episode Three*.

There was that VR game a couple of years ago, and rumours occasionally fly about a potential new Half-Life title. Valve, unlike many of the other developers on this list, is still around – and still printing money hand over fist thanks to Steam. But the company’s focus has changed, and I don’t think most of the folks there are interested in another entry in the Half-Life series. It’s just sad that such an interesting setting and cast of characters can’t get any kind of conclusion, and it’s frustrating that there’s not really a good reason. If the studio had closed or if the previous entries in the series had flopped… fair enough. But Half-Life is held in high esteem and Valve clearly has the resources to invest. They just never did.

I also think we’re at a point now, for fans of the series, where any new game would struggle to meet expectations. It’s been so long, and Half-Life 3 has seen its status massively inflated, so any announcement would generate insane levels of hype. No game – no matter how good – could realistically reach the heights players would set for a new Half-Life… so maybe it’s better this way?

Cancelled Game #10:
Star Wars: Project Ragtag
Mid-2010s

Concept art for Project Ragtag showing several characters. — Concept art for the game.

After the Walt Disney Company acquired LucasFilm in 2012, they also acquired the game studio LucasArts… and promptly shut it down. Disney handed the Star Wars license to Electronic Arts, who commissioned Dead Space developer Visceral Games to create a Star Wars third-person adventure game. Project Ragtag was being helmed by Amy Hennig, who had written and directed the Uncharted trilogy. Everything seemed to be coming together, and a genuinely great Star Wars game was in the offing.

But in 2017, EA didn’t just cancel the game, they closed down Visceral Games as well. According to Hennig, this decision was taken months before the team was made aware of it, and EA apparently planned to re-use some of the work Visceral had done for a rebooted open-world title. That project never saw the light of day, either.

Pre-release screenshot of Project Ragtag showing an empty level. — An early build of an in-game environment.

Project Ragtag was supposedly a “heist game,” being set sometime during the events of the original Star Wars trilogy. Last year’s Star Wars Outlaws sounds kind of similar in theory, and I think that’s a good starting point, at least, when considering what Project Ragtag might’ve felt like to play. I’ve long argued for more stories set in the Star Wars universe that don’t just rely on the Jedi and Sith or on bringing back familiar faces, and I felt Project Ragtag had the potential to be a wonderfully engaging experience.

The director and studio both had pedigree, so there were plenty of reasons to be optimistic. Maybe the game wasn’t coming together… or maybe Electronic Arts was desperate for open-world, always-online multiplayer titles that seemed like better monetisation prospects in the second half of the 2010s. EA would go on to publish Jedi: Fallen Order a few years later, though, so maybe they learned their lesson!

So that’s it.

Stock photo of Sega Mega Drive games and a control pad. — A selection of Mega Drive/Genesis games.

We’ve talked about ten cancelled games that I really wish we’d been able to play!

Some of these have been sore spots for decades; others are new, but still sting. Sometimes a game being cancelled does ultimately lead to something better, either because the creative folks move on to different projects, or even because some of the work done on a title can be repurposed. But there’s no point in denying it: a game I’m looking forward to getting cancelled just hurts.

There are a few titles where cancellation feels reasonable under the circumstances or may have been expected. Some games sound too good to be true and may have proven too ambitious, or just didn’t come together in the way their developers hoped. These things happen, and as I’ve said before: game development is not a sure-fire thing. There can be all manner of reasons why a decent-sounding project struggles when the concept comes up against the real world.

Promo photo of a woman working on a computer with two monitors. — Game development is not a straightforward process!

But all of these games sounded good to me, and I regret that they were cancelled before I could try them! As someone who follows the games industry – and who spent a decade working on the inside – I keep up to date with upcoming games, and even allow myself to get excited, sometimes! That inevitably brings with it a degree of disappointment when a title either doesn’t live up to expectations, or doesn’t even make it to release.

I hope this hasn’t been too depressing. And who knows: maybe some of these games will get a reprieve one day. If Age of Empires IV can be developed sixteen years after Age of Empires III, or a new 3D Donkey Kong game can launch in 2025 – more than a quarter of a century after Donkey Kong 64 – then maybe there’s still hope!

All titles listed above may still be in copyright with their respective developer, publisher, and/or studio. Some screenshots and images courtesy of IGDB, DJ Cube, and Shenmue Dojo. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

Game Studios in Danger

Fri 11.07.25Dennis

A spoiler warning from SpongeBob SquarePants.

Spoiler Warning: Beware spoilers for the following games: Batman: Arkham Knight, Mass Effect 3, Halo Infinite, and The Last of Us Part II.

Microsoft’s latest round of layoffs has really hammered home how shaky some parts of the games industry feel as the 2020s roll along. Big games – like the remake of Perfect Dark, Rare’s long-awaited Everwild, and an unnamed title from ZeniMax Online – have all been canned as Microsoft “restructures” its gaming division… despite making literally more money than it ever has in its corporate existence. And all of this comes after some ridiculous studio closures barely twelve months ago. But the Xbox situation got me thinking… which other games and studios could be in danger?

So that rather depressing topic is what we’re going to tackle today. To be clear: I don’t think the entire games industry is heading for some kind of repeat of the 1983 “crash.” Gaming is too big nowadays, and there are so many people playing games, that the idea of gaming as a whole ever disappearing or experiencing that kind of huge slowdown just doesn’t seem feasible anymore. So to reiterate that last point: I am not predicting an industry-wide “crash.” But there are multiple publishers and developers that I believe are in danger – and one badly-received game could, in some cases, lead to their exit from the industry altogether.

This piece was prompted by the Microsoft and Xbox news, but it’s not only Microsoft-owned studios that could be on the chopping block. There are issues at outfits owned by Sony, too, as well as third-party publishers and developers.

Phil Spencer on stage at the launch of the Xbox Series consoles. — Xbox just announced *another* round of layoffs.

A few caveats before we go any further. Firstly, if you or someone you know works at one of these companies, please know that I don’t mean this as any kind of attack or slight against you or the quality of your work. This industry can be brutal, and as a commentator/critic, what I’m doing is sharing my view on the situation. What I’m categorically *not* doing is saying any of these companies “should” be shut down. I really don’t want to see more people in the industry put out of work. I spent a decade working in the games industry, and I worked for companies that went through tough times. I know what it’s like to feel like your job is on the line… and the last thing I want to do is rub salt in the wound or make things worse.

Secondly, I have no “insider information” from any of these developers or publishers. I’m looking in from the outside as someone who hasn’t worked in the industry for more than a decade at this point. Finally, all of this is the entirely subjective, not objective, opinion of just one person. If you disagree with my take, think I’ve got it wrong, or you’re just convinced that a company’s next game is sure to be an absolute banger… that’s totally okay. Gamers can be an argumentative lot sometimes, but I like to believe there’s enough room in the wider community for polite discussion and differences of opinion.

With all of that out of the way, let’s get started.

Endangered Studio #1:
Halo Studios

Promo screenshot of Halo: The Master Chief Collection showing the beginning of the first game. — Is the long-running Halo series in trouble?

Halo Studios, formerly known as 343 Industries, is Microsoft’s in-house development team working on the Halo franchise. But… well, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that 343/Halo Studios has never released a *big* hit. The closest they’ve come, in more than a decade, was remastering the original Halo games… and even then, we have to give the huge caveat of the bugs and performance issues that plagued early versions of the remasters.

Whether we look at Halo 4, Halo 5, Halo Infinite, the Halo Wars spin-off, or the mobile games… Halo Studios hasn’t exactly taken the gaming world by storm. Infinite was supposed to be the Xbox Series X’s “killer app;” a launch title to really sell people on the new console and make it a must-buy, just as the original Halo: Combat Evolved had done some twenty years earlier. That didn’t happen, and the reception to that game – including from yours truly – was pretty mixed.

Still frame from the Halo TV series showing the Master Chief without his helmet. — The cancellation of the TV adaptation won’t help.

Although Halo Studios has been hit by Microsoft’s layoffs in recent weeks, and a recent leak suggested that “no one at the studio is happy” with the state of their next title right now, I still think Xbox will give them another chance. The Halo series and Xbox are inseparable, at least in the minds of some players, and the name recognition and series reputation still count for something. But I don’t think those things will count indefinitely, so if the next Halo game isn’t a smash hit, Halo Studios will be in trouble.

This also comes after the failure of the Halo TV series. I happened to think the show was decent for what it was, but I understand where a lot of the criticism was coming from. That hasn’t helped Halo Studios’ case, though, and one of the best opportunities to grow the brand was squandered.

As a final note: every story has a natural end. I would suggest, perhaps, that Halo – or at least the Master Chief’s story – has pushed past that point. Recent narratives felt overly complicated, and I felt that Halo Studios was having to invent increasingly silly reasons for why the Master Chief was still fighting the Covenant and the Flood. Maybe the franchise just needs a break?

Endangered Studio #2:
Ubisoft

Promo art for Assassin's Creed 3. — Ubisoft publishes the Assassin’s Creed series, among others.

Ubisoft hasn’t been in great shape for quite some time. I think it’s fair to say that Ubisoft’s open world level design has stagnated, and a lot of players have kind of hit the wall when it comes to that style of game. But because the studio has doubled-down on that formula and that way of making games… it might be hard to find a way back.

Ubisoft has slapped its open world style on franchises like Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, Avatar, and even Star Wars… but many recent games have felt pretty repetitive; the same thing every time, just with a different coat of paint. I’m on the record saying that the open world formula doesn’t work for a lot of games, and although I don’t play a ton of Ubisoft titles… I think the repetitiveness of their games is a contributing factor, at least. Open worlds can be fun, but they can also be bloated and uninspired.

Promo art for Star Wars: Outlaws showing Kay Vess and Nyx. — *Star Wars: Outlaws* wasn’t particularly well-received.

Earlier in 2025, a lot of folks seemed to be saying that Ubisoft’s financial situation basically meant that Assassin’s Creed: Shadows was the company’s “last chance.” I’m not sure I’d have gone that far myself; there are clearly other projects in the pipeline that at least have some potential. But Shadows seems to have been a modest success, at least, which has probably bought the company some time. A remake of the popular Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag could be a much-needed boost, too, if it succeeds at grabbing a new audience.

But in the longer-term, Ubisoft needs to try new things. Its open world formula worked for a while, but repetitiveness and stagnation seem to have crept in. There are only so many open world “collect-a-thons” that anyone can be bothered to play, and if it feels like the same game is just being given a new skin every time… that’s not a lot of fun, in the end. Just Dance can’t keep the company afloat forever, so something’s gotta change, and soon.

I’m still crossing my fingers for that Splinter Cell remake, though!

Endangered Studio #3:
Nintendo

Still frame from the Nintendo Direct broadcast announcing the Switch 2 showing three Nintendo executives. — Nintendo recently launched the Switch 2 console.

Bear with me on this. Nintendo is a titan of the games industry… but it’s also a more vulnerable company than folks realise. I don’t think people fully appreciate how big of a risk the Switch 2 has been with its high price, sole exclusive launch title, and repetitive design and branding. The console may have sold well in its first couple of weeks on sale – though, as I noted, it didn’t seem to have sold out everywhere – but that’s to be expected from a company with a well-trained legion of super-fans! The real question is still whether casual players, families, and people less connected to the gaming world will be willing to shell out for a console that’s now competing with the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X in terms of price.

I don’t know anyone – not one single person – who only owned a Nintendo Switch as their sole gaming device. I’m sure some people do, but most folks I spoke to bought a Switch for one of three reasons: to play a handful of Nintendo exclusives, like Mario Kart 8 and Animal Crossing: New Horizons, to play some of their favourite games in a handheld format, or for their children to play some kid-friendly titles. The Switch was well-positioned for any of those use cases… the Switch 2, at its higher price point, is less so.

Still frame from the Mario Kart World broadcast showing Dry Bones. — The Switch 2 and its games are expensive.

In 2013/14, when the Wii U was clearly faltering, Nintendo still had the 3DS to turn a profit and keep its corporate head above water. But now, the company is all-in on the Switch 2… meaning there’s less room for manoeuvre if things don’t go to plan. Because of Nintendo’s unique position in the industry, if its hardware falters it’s gonna be in big trouble, and the Switch 2 represents a departure from a successful business model. The Wii, the Switch, and Nintendo’s handhelds have all been well-positioned and well-priced to attract casual players… I’m not so sure the Switch 2 is. The company has some cash in reserve to keep going for a short while… but not indefinitely.

For those of you screaming that “it’ll never happen!!1!” I would remind you of Sega’s unceremonious exit from the console market just after the turn of the millennium. If you’d asked any gamer in the late ’90s what the future held for Sega, no one would’ve predicted that the Dreamcast’s failure would lead to the company shutting down its hardware division altogether. Nintendo is at the tippy-top of the games industry, and the Switch has been a phenomenally successful console. But its position is more precarious than people realise, and it would only take one console failure to throw the company into chaos. To be clear: I don’t necessarily think that Nintendo would just shut down and that would be that… but a Sega-style exit from the hardware market, and far fewer Nintendo games being produced, could happen. Never say never.

Endangered Studio #4:
Naughty Dog

Screenshot from Uncharted 4 showing Elena and Nate playing on a PlayStation console. — A gaming “Easter egg” in *Uncharted 4.*

Naughty Dog developed Crash Bandicoot for the first PlayStation, the Jak and Daxter games, the Uncharted series, and The Last of Us. Although The Last of Us Part II proved controversial (I once said a 3/10 seemed like a fair score for that game), it seems to have sold pretty well, and the first title has been remastered… twice. But when Naughty Dog premiered a trailer for Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, the reception was less than glowing.

That game seems like it’s still a way off, too, and it might realistically launch as one of the final titles of the PlayStation 5 generation. But with the Uncharted series seemingly on the back burner, and after the controversy surrounding The Last of Us Part II… can the studio survive if Intergalactic underwhelms? I think there’s a very real possibility that Sony would be swift and brutal in that event.

Promo art for Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet showing the protagonist fighting a robot. — Will *Intergalactic* be well-receieved by players when it’s ready?

It’s silly to pre-judge any title based on a single trailer that didn’t show so much as a frame of actual gameplay. Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet might have a silly, clunky name… but we really don’t know much about its story or what it’ll feel like to play. Naughty Dog has pedigree (get it?) so I think there are reasons to be optimistic about their next game. But I can also see a world in which Intergalactic doesn’t succeed in the way Sony is surely demanding.

There are some upcoming games that are generating a ton of buzz and excitement. So far, Intergalactic isn’t amongst them. Maybe that will change as we get closer to the game’s launch and the marketing campaign kicks off. But maybe it’ll always be one of those games that just… didn’t do much for a lot of people. If that’s the case, Naughty Dog could be in trouble.

Endangered Studio #5:
Turn 10

Promo art for Forza Motorsport showing a driver. — It’s already the end of the road for *Forza Motorsport*.

Turn 10 are the folks behind Forza Motorsport. Or they were. As of July 2025, the Motorsport series seems to be going on hiatus, with Turn 10 suffering significant layoffs. The spin-off Forza Horizon series had been developed by another Microsoft subsidiary: Playground Games. But with Playground working on the new Fable title, it seems as if Turn 10 might be working on Forza Horizon 6 in the months ahead.

The Forza Horizon games are a ton of fun… but they’re also more arcadey, and the open world design isn’t Turn 10’s style. I can’t help but feel the studio only still exists after Forza Motorsport’s disappointment because Microsoft needs someone to take over the Horizon brief now that Playground Games is busy with Fable. After Forza Horizon 6 launches, if the main Motorsport brand is still on the back burner… what could Turn 10 realistically do?

Promo still for Forza Horizon 5 showing a race. — *Forza Horizon 5* was great, though…

If Xbox is going to persevere with its home consoles in the future – and I suspect that it will – then those consoles will need at least one proper racing game. Turn 10 had been providing that for the brand since 2005, back when the first Forza Motorsport launched on the original Xbox. There are third-party racing games, of course, and Microsoft has several on Game Pass, including rally titles, Formula 1 games, and more. But Forza should be a genuine competitor to Sony’s Gran Turismo series, and again, it should be giving players an incentive to consider picking up an Xbox console.

With Turn 10’s main series seemingly shut down, at least for the foreseeable future, and after having already suffered with layoffs, I’m not sure where the studio finds a successful future. Maybe if Forza Horizon 6 knocks it out of the park… but even then, I could see Microsoft returning that series to Playground Games.

Endangered Studio #6:
Bethesda Game Studios

Still frame from the Starfield promo broadcast showing Bethesda head Todd Howard. — Hi, Todd…

To be clear: we’re talking about Bethesda the developer, not all of the studios under Bethesda’s publishing umbrella. There are several factors here, so let’s go over all of them. Starfield was a disappointment and its DLC didn’t salvage the project. Fallout 4 and Fallout 76, despite achieving success in recent years, launched to controversy. The Elder Scrolls VI is still a ways off, which has pushed a potential Fallout 5 to the mid-2030s or beyond. Fallout 4 and Fallout 76 are thus the only Fallout titles that Microsoft can push to players enamoured with the Fallout TV series.

For me, this boils down to the success or failure of The Elder Scrolls VI. If that game truly lives up to the hype and reaches the high bar set by Skyrim, then Bethesda will be okay and will continue developing games for years to come. If it doesn’t, and it ends up closer in reputation and sales to Starfield… that could be it. Curtains. Microsoft will retain the studio’s various IP, but could conceivably distribute the ones that still have potential to other development teams. Speaking of which…

Still frame from the Elder Scrolls VI teaser showing mountains shrouded in fog. — Can *The Elder Scrolls VI* save Bethesda?

With the Fallout TV show proving to be a hit, it’s pretty clear that Microsoft is hankering for a new game. There have been all kinds of rumours, with a Fallout 3 remaster seemingly the only one that’s guaranteed at this stage. But could Microsoft tap one of its other developers to make another Fallout spin-off, or perhaps something like a New Vegas remaster? If that were to happen, and if that hypothetical game were to eclipse Bethesda’s entries in the long-running series, that could be another nail in Bethesda’s coffin. Bethesda only has two well-known franchises under its belt, so if one of those were taken away – even on an alleged “temporary” basis – that could be hugely symbolic.

Here’s my take: Bethesda made some great games in the 2000s, but has shown absolutely no ability to move with the times in the almost fifteen years since Skyrim. The studio’s leaders seem to have bought into their own hype, believing that every game they develop will automatically be as well-received as Skyrim… and can be heavily-monetised without repercussions. There is still merit in the original Bethesda formula; an open-world game that turns players loose and opens up factions, questlines, and exploration. But other studios are doing similar things… and doing them way better. Bethesda feels like a bit of an outdated dinosaur, still clinging to Skyrim’s success more than a decade later. One more poorly-received game could be the end of the line.

Endangered Studio #7:
Bungie

Promo art for Bungie's Destiny 2. — Promo art for Bungie’s *Destiny 2*.

We talked about the Halo series a moment ago, but that franchise’s new developer isn’t the only one in trouble. The originators of the Halo franchise, Bungie, are in dire straits right now, and could be only a year or so away from closure. The Destiny games may have sold reasonably well, but I don’t think it’s unfair to say that the whole “live service” thing didn’t exactly go to plan for Bungie. Then came the development of Marathon… something I talked about a few weeks ago.

Marathon was in a world of trouble after a seriously underwhelming closed playtest left critics and fans feeling like the game needed a lot of work. Then came the news that Bungie had – not for the first time – plagiarised a whole bunch of art assets for the game without payment or credit to the artist. These pieces quite literally define Marathon’s “quirky” visual style… which was pretty much the only thing the game had going for it.

Promo still for Marathon showing a first-person battle. — *Marathon* is in a huge amount of trouble.

Sony recently acquired Bungie for what many have argued was an overly inflated price. A delay to Marathon has recently been announced, but any goodwill or positive buzz that the game could’ve had has entirely evaporated at this point. It’s at a point where even a total overhaul won’t be enough; Marathon is pretty much dead on arrival, even after the delay. So… what happens to Bungie if that’s the case?

Sony can be just as brutal as everyone else when it comes to killing off underperforming studios. Just ask Firewalk, Pixelopus, Bigbig Studios, or London Studio. Bungie should not consider itself safe simply by virtue of its name or its high price tag… if Marathon fails, which it inevitably will, there are gonna be some tough questions asked by Sony. If Bungie can’t prove that they have something big lined up… that could be it.

Endangered Studio #8:
BioWare

Promo art for Dragon Age: The Veilguard showing the character of Taash. — Taash from *Dragon Age: The Veilguard*.

Mass Effect: Andromeda. Anthem. Dragon Age: The Veilguard. BioWare has endured basically a decade of failures since the launch of Dragon Age: Inquisition, and it’s difficult to see Electronic Arts being willing to put up with another title that doesn’t live up to expectations. And I’m afraid there are serious questions about the studio’s next project: a sequel to the beloved Mass Effect trilogy.

I have a longer piece in the pipeline that I’ve been working on for a while about the importance of endings – and how, in the modern entertainment industry, very few stories are allowed to come to a dignified, natural end. The Mass Effect trilogy, with its buildup to the defeat of the Reapers, is an example of that… and it’s hard to see how telling another story in that universe won’t feel tacked-on, repetitive, or underwhelming in comparison to what’s come before. That was a big part of the Andromeda problem, in my opinion: after literally saving the galaxy, there’s basically nowhere for Mass Effect to go.

Screenshot of Mass Effect: Legendary Edition showing a custom Commander Shepard having a holo-call with Mordin. — Where does Mass Effect go after literally saving the galaxy?

I don’t buy the criticisms of Dragon Age: The Veilguard failing because it was “too woke.” I think a lot of armchair critics seized on a single line from one character and tried to make the game all about that. But there were clearly issues with The Veilguard, not least its stop-start development, multiple changes in focus, and deviation from the art style of the earlier games. I hope BioWare has learned something from that experience… but, to be blunt, they should’ve learned those lessons already from Andromeda and Anthem.

I will almost certainly play Mass Effect 4. So BioWare can take comfort in the fact that they have at least one guaranteed sale right here! But… am I optimistic? I’m curious, sure, and I want the game to be good. But I also can’t shake the feeling that it’s going to be a story that’s just going to struggle to make the case for itself. Why, after Shepard beat the Reapers, do I need to see this new story? What’s going to be the hook? And without that… will it be worth playing? This is surely BioWare’s absolutely final chance, and with EA notorious for shutting down underperforming studios, everything is now riding on Mass Effect.

Endangered Studio #9:
Firaxis Games

Screenshot of Civilization VII showing troops moving near a hostile AI village. — Are the barbarians at the gates?

Like BioWare above, Firaxis is on a bit of a weak run right now. XCOM: Chimera Squad underperformed on PC, leading to its console port being cancelled. And Marvel’s Midnight Suns was also considered a disappointment by parent company Take-Two Interactive. Then we come to this year’s Civilization VII, which is struggling right now. Civ VII is currently underperforming, with players seemingly preferring to stick with Civ VI or even Civ V, and there’s criticism of various aspects of the game – not least its three-era structure.

I believe Civilization VII has potential, but there’s clearly a limited window of time to really showcase that potential before panic sets in. At time of writing, there have only been a couple of significant updates to the base game, which launched almost six months ago. Players are still calling on Firaxis to patch bugs, rebalance key features, and add more to the game… and many of those players seem to have drifted back to Civ VI while they wait.

Screenshot of Civilization VI showing a ranged unit next to two mountain tiles, with a city in the background. — A lot of players tried *Civ VII* but have already drifted back to *Civ VI*.

Other “digital board games” inspired by the venerable Civilization series have been eating Firaxis’ lunch, too. They don’t have the genre all to themselves any more, and I think we’re seeing the limitations of releasing a partial game, then hoping to sell expensive DLC to patch the holes. Civ VI did that, too, but there was arguably a stronger foundation to build upon and a fun base game to get players interested in the DLC in the first place.

I suspect Firaxis will get another chance. Even if work on Civilization VII were to end sooner than expected, 2K still recognises the strength of the series and its name recognition. But if a hypothetical Civ VIII or some other sequel or spin-off were to flop, too? That’s when Firaxis could be in real trouble.

Endangered Studio #10:
Rocksteady Studios

Promo art for Batman: Arkham Asylum showing the title character. — Batman and a villain in *Arkham Asylum*.

No, not Grand Theft Auto developers Rockstar, we’re talking about Rocksteady – the team behind the Batman: Arkham series and last year’s critically panned Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. In 2015, Arkham Knight suffered horribly with a ridicululously poor PC port, but the Arkham series has been otherwise popular and well-received, especially by Batman fans. But in 2024, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League was not, and left many players wondering how such a bad game could’ve taken Rocksteady such a long time to craft.

The bottom line is this: Kill the Justice League has lost parent company Warner Bros. Games more than $200 million. That’s… well, that’s not exactly great news when you’re trying to keep the lights on! These live service types of games are notorious for being expensive flops in a lot of cases, and what often follows an expensive, poorly-reviewed title is a studio closure.

Promo still for Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League showing the main characters. — *Suicide Squad: Killed Its Studio*…

There are rumours that Rocksteady has already been laying off staff, first in the QA department, and later in other technical fields, too. The studio also has no new game on its schedule at time of writing; it seems some staff are still working on Kill the Justice League in supporting roles, while others may be working to assist Portkey Games with a new version of Hogwarts Legacy. Again, that doesn’t bode well for the studio.

Practically all of the studios we’ve talked about today were once well-regarded and had at least some popular and successful titles in their back catalogues. But with the Arkham series having wrapped up a decade ago, I don’t think its lingering goodwill will be enough to save Rocksteady. Kill the Justice League was a game outside of the studio’s area of expertise, seemingly forced on them by Warner Bros. Games, and it sucks that they couldn’t stick to making the kinds of single-player titles at which they excelled.

So that’s it.

An Xbox "Duke" controller on a green background. — Xbox prompted me to think about this topic…

We’ve talked about a few developers and publishers that *could* be in danger in the months and years ahead.

As I said at the beginning: I’m never rooting for anyone to fail. Well, except really low-quality shovelware or games with abusive gambling baked in! But those obvious exceptions aside, I don’t want to see games fail or studios closed down, and I especially don’t want to see hard-working developers and other industry insiders losing their jobs. There’s more than enough of that going around without adding to it.

But as a critic and commentator who talks about gaming, I wanted to share my opinion on these studios in light of what’s been going on in the games industry. There are plenty of examples of high-profile failures, collapses, and shutdowns. Whether we’re talking about Atari, Interplay, most of Maxis, Sega, THQ, Lionhead, Acclaim, or Neversoft, one thing is clear: being a well-known brand with a good reputation isn’t enough. The games industry is cutthroat, and not all companies – not even those that seem to have scaled the heights and reached the very top of the gaming realm – can be considered safe.

Two Atari games in a landfill from the 1983 crash, excavated in 2014. — Atari was one of the biggest names in gaming once upon a time…
*Photo: taylorhatmaker, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons*

Maybe I’m wrong about some or all of these companies – and in a way, I hope that I am. But at the same time, gaming is like any other industry and it needs innovation. If the same companies dominate the gaming landscape forever, things will quickly stagnate. What gives me hope is that there are plenty of smaller studios producing new and innovative titles, and some of them will go on to be the “big beasts” of tomorrow.

So I hope this has been… well, not “fun,” but interesting, at any rate. And please check back here on Trekking with Dennis, because there’s more gaming content and coverage to come!

All titles discussed above are the copyright of their respective developer, studio, and/or publisher. Some screenshots and promotional artwork courtesy of IGDB. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

Gaming “Hot Takes”

Tue 08.07.25Dennis

I’m back with another edition of my infamous Gaming “Hot Takes!” I’ve officially given up on numbering these; I think this might be piece number four or five, but I’ve made several other posts over the last few years in which I share a few of my “hot takes” on gaming and the games industry in general. As I’ve said before, it’s never long before something in the world of gaming comes along to prompt another “hot take,” so that’s what we’re gonna look at today!

Video games are… well, they’re pretty darn good, to be honest with you. And I always like to make sure you know that I’m not some kind of “hater;” I like playing video games, and there are some titles that I genuinely believe eclipse films and TV shows in terms of their world-building, storytelling, or just pure entertainment value. We’re going to tackle some controversial topics today, though!

Let’s get into some gaming “hot takes!”

Before we take a look at the “hot takes,” I have a couple of important caveats. Firstly, I’m well aware that some or all of these points are the minority position, or at least contentious. That’s why they’re called “hot takes” and not “very obvious takes that everyone will surely agree with!” Secondly, this isn’t intended to be taken too seriously, so if I criticise a game or company you like, just bear that in mind. Finally, all of this is the entirely subjective, not objective, opinion of just one person.

Although gamers can be a cantankerous bunch, I still like to believe that there’s enough room – and enough maturity – in the wider community for respectful discussion and polite disagreement that doesn’t descend into name-calling and toxicity! So let’s all try to keep that in mind as we jump into the “hot takes,” eh?

“Hot Take” #1:
If your game is still in “early access,” you shouldn’t be allowed to sell DLC.

Steam pre-order info showing early access. — Pre-purchase to play early!

“Early access” means a game hasn’t been released yet, right? That’s what it’s supposed to mean, anyway – though some titles take the absolute piss by remaining in early access for a decade or more. But if you haven’t officially released your game, your focus ought to be on, y’know, finishing the game instead of working on DLC. Paid-for downloadable content for games that are still officially in “early access” is just awful.

Star Citizen is arguably the most egregious example of this. The game – from what I’ve seen – would barely qualify as an “alpha” version, yet reams of overpriced downloadable content is offered for sale. Some it exists in-game, but a lot of it is really just a promise; an I.O.U. from the developers, promising to build a ridiculously expensive spaceship if and when time permits.

Several DLC spaceships from Star Citizen's webstore. — Expensive DLC ships in *Star Citizen*.

Early access has a place in gaming, and I don’t want to see it disappear. But that place is with smaller independent projects seeking feedback, not massive studios abusing the model. Selling DLC that doesn’t exist for game that also doesn’t fully exist feels like a total piss-take, and given how often these things go horribly wrong, I’m surprised to see people still being lured in and falling for what can, at times, feel like a scam.

There have been some fantastic expansion packs going back decades, and I don’t object to DLC – even if it’s what I would usually call a pack of overpriced cosmetic items. But when the main game isn’t even out, and is supposedly still being worked on, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to say that charging money for DLC is wrong – these things should either be free updates or, if they’re definitely going to be sold separately, held in reserve until the game is launched.

“Hot Take” #2:
Bethesda Game Studios has basically made four good games… ever.

Four Bethesda role-playing/action games. — Yup, you heard me.

Morrowind, Oblivion, Fallout 3, and Skyrim. That’s it. That’s the list. From 2002 to 2011 – less than a decade – Bethesda Game Studios managed to develop and release four genuinely good games… but hasn’t reached that bar since. Bethesda has spent longer as a declining, outdated, and thoroughly mediocre developer than it ever did as a good developer. The studio is like the games industry equivalent of The Simpsons: fantastic in its prime, but what followed has been a long period of stagnation, decay, and mediocrity as they’ve been completely overtaken and eclipsed by competitors. To be blunt… I don’t see Starfield’s next (and probably last) expansion pack, or The Elder Scrolls VI, changing that.

There is a retro charm to the likes of Arena and Daggerfall, and I won’t pretend that Fallout 4 didn’t have its moments. Even Starfield, with all of its limitations and issues, still had interesting elements, and the ship-builder was genuinely fun to use… at least at first. But since Skyrim in 2011, I would argue that Bethesda has been in decline. In fact, I believe Skyrim’s unprecedented success broke something fundamental in the way Bethesda’s executives and directors think about games. Gone was the idea of games as one-and-done things to be created and released. Replacing it was the concept I’ve called the “single-player live service,” where titles were transformed into “ten-year experiences” that could be monetised every step of the way.

Screenshot of Starfield's microtransaction store. — *Starfield* has an in-game marketplace comparable to even the worst free-to-play mobile games.

As I said recently, I don’t have a lot of faith in The Elder Scrolls VI any more. It seems all but certain to contain another disgusting in-game marketplace for skins, items, and even entire questlines and factions. When there are so many other games to play that aren’t hideously over-monetised… why should I bother getting excited for The Elder Scrolls VI? Even worse, it’s being made in Bethesda’s “Creation Engine;” the zombified remains of software from thirty years ago that clearly isn’t up to the task and hasn’t been for a while.

Bethesda’s decline has been slow, and folks who skipped titles like Starfield and Fallout 76 might not be aware of just how bad things have gotten. Maybe I’m wrong, and maybe The Elder Scrolls VI will be a miraculous return to form. I hope so – I never want to root for a game to fail. But with so many other role-playing games out now or on the horizon… I just don’t see it measuring up as things stand. And in a way, I can’t help but feel it would be better in the long run if another studio were to take on the project.

“Hot Take” #3:
There won’t ever be another 1983-style “crash.”

Black-and-white image of video games on shop shelves with a red "downwards" arrow superimposed on top. — It ain’t gonna happen.

Given the absolute state of modern gaming – at least insofar as many of the industry’s biggest corporations are concerned – I genuinely get where this feeling is coming from. But I think the people making this argument either don’t fully understand the 1983 crash, or don’t appreciate how massive gaming as a whole has become in the decades since then.

In short: in 1983, video games weren’t much more than pretty expensive digital toys. The home console market was relatively small, and like so many products over the years, it was genuinely possible that video games themselves could’ve been a flash in the pan; something comparable to LaserDisc, the hovercraft, or, to pick on a more modern example, Google Glass. All of these technologies threatened to change the world… but didn’t. They ended up being temporary fads that were quickly forgotten.

Photo of discarded and buried Atari game cartridges from the 1983 crash. — Atari dumped unsold games in a New Mexico landfill during the crash.
*Photo: taylorhatmaker, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons*

Fast-forward to 2025. The games industry is massive. So many people play games in some form or another that the idea of a total market collapse or “crash” is beyond far-fetched. That isn’t to say there won’t be changes and shake-ups – whole companies could disappear, including brands that seem massive and unassailable right now. Overpriced games and hardware are going to be challenges, too. Changing technology – like generative A.I. – could also prove to be hugely disruptive, and there could be new hardware, virtual reality, and all sorts.

But a 1983-style crash? Gaming as a whole on the brink of disappearing altogether? It ain’t gonna happen! There is still innovation in the industry, though these days a lot of it is being driven by independent studios. Some of these companies, which are small outfits right now, could be the big corporations of tomorrow, and some of the biggest names in the industry today will almost certainly fall by the wayside. Just ask the likes of Interplay, Spectrum HoloByte, and Atari. But whatever may happen, there will still be games, there will still be big-budget games, and there will still be hardware to play those games on. Changes are coming, of that I have no doubt. But there won’t be another industry crash that comes close to what happened in ’83.

“Hot Take” #4:
Nintendo’s die-hard fans give the company way too much leniency and support – even for horribly anti-consumer shenanigans.

Stock photo of a "riot." — If you dare to criticise Nintendo, fans are going to riot!

I consider myself a fan of Nintendo’s games… some of them, at least. I’ve owned every Nintendo console from the SNES to the first Switch, and unless something major comes along to dissuade me, I daresay I’ll eventually shell out for a Switch 2, too. But I’m not a Nintendo super-fan, buying every game without question… and some of those folks, in my opinion at least, are far too quick to defend the practices of a greedy corporation that doesn’t care about them in the slightest.

Nintendo isn’t much different from the likes of Ubisoft, Activision, Electronic Arts, Sony, Sega, and other massive publishers in terms of its business practices and its approach to the industry. But none of those companies have such a well-trained legion of die-hard apologists, ready to cover for them no matter how badly they screw up. Nintendo fans will happily leap to the defence of their favourite multi-billion dollar corporation for things they’d rightly criticise any other gaming company for. Price hikes, bad-value DLC, lawsuits against competitors or fans, underbaked and incomplete games… Nintendo is guilty of all of these things, yet if you bring up these points, at least in some corners of the internet, there are thousands of Nintendo fans piling on, shouting you down.

Still frame from the Nintendo Switch 2 broadcast showing Welcome Tour. — *Welcome Tour*.

Obviously the recent launch of the Switch 2 has driven this point home for me. The console comes with a very high price tag, expensive add-ons, a paid-for title that should’ve been bundled with the system, an eShop full of low-quality shovelware, literally only one exclusive launch title, and over-inflated prices for its first-party games. But all of these points have been defended to the death by Nintendo’s super-fans; criticising even the shitty, overpriced non-entity Welcome Tour draws as much vitriol and hate as if you’d personally shat in their mother’s handbag.

Very few other corporations in the games industry enjoy this level of protection from a legion of well-trained – and pretty toxic – super-fans. And it’s just… odd. Nintendo has made its share of genuinely bad games. Nintendo has made plenty of poor decisions over the years. Nintendo prioritises profit over everything else, including its own fans and employees. Nintendo is overly litigious, suing everyone from competitors to its own fans. And Nintendo has taken actions that are damaging to players, families, and the industry as a whole. Gamers criticise other companies when they behave this way; Electronic Arts is routinely named as one of America’s “most-hated companies,” for instance. But Nintendo fans are content to give the corporation cover, even for its worst and most egregious sins. They seem to behave like fans of a sports team, insistent that “team red” can do no wrong. I just don’t understand it.

“Hot Take” #5:
“Woke” is not synonymous with “bad.”
(And many of the people crying about games being “woke” can’t even define the word.)

Screenshot of a famous YouTube video/meme of a commentator screaming at the camera about "pronouns" in Starfield. — He seems like a reasonable man…

In some weird corners of social media, a game (or film or TV show) is decreed “woke” if a character happens to be LGBT+ or from a minority ethnic group. And if such a character is featured prominently in pre-release marketing material… that can be enough to start the hate and review-bombing before anyone has even picked up a control pad. The expression “go woke, go broke” does the rounds a lot… but there are many, many counter-examples that completely disprove this point.

Baldur’s Gate 3 is a game where: the player character can be any gender, and their gender is not defined by their genitals. Players can choose to engage in same-sex relationships, practically all of the companion NPCs are pansexual, and there are different races and ethnicities represented throughout the game world. But Baldur’s Gate 3 sold incredibly well, and will undoubtedly be remembered as one of the best games of the decade. So… is it “woke?” If so, why didn’t it “go broke?”

Screenshot of a nude character from Baldur's Gate 3. — The famously not-woke-at-all *Baldur’s Gate 3*.

Many “anti-wokers” claim that they aren’t really mad about women in leading roles, minority ethnic characters, or LGBT+ representation, but “bad writing.” And I will absolutely agree that there are some games out there that are genuinely poorly-written, or which have stories I just did not care for in the least. The Last Of Us Part II is a great example of this – the game’s entire narrative was based on an attempt to be creative and subversive, but it hacked away at too many of the fundamentals of storytelling to be satisfying and enjoyable. But you know what wasn’t the problem with The Last Of Us Part II? The fact that one of its secondary characters was trans and another female character was muscular.

Good games can be “woke” and “woke” games can be good. “Woke” games can also be bad, either for totally unrelated reasons or, in some cases, because they got too preachy. But to dismiss a game out of hand – often without playing it or before it’s even launched – because some armchair critic on YouTube declared it to be “woke” is just silly. Not only that, but there are many games that contain themes, storylines, or characters that could be reasonably described as “woke” that seem to be completely overlooked by the very folks who claim it’s their mission to “end wokeness.” The so-called culture war is just a very odd thing, and it’s sad to see how it’s impacted gaming. I would never tell anyone they “must” play or not play certain games, but I think it’s a shame if people miss out on genuinely fun experiences because of a perception of some ill-defined political concept that, in most cases, doesn’t have much to do with the game at all.

So that’s it!

Screenshot of Mario in the castle in Super Mario 64. — It’s a-me, Mario!

We’ve looked at a few more of my infamous “hot takes!” I hope it’s been a bit of fun… and not something to get too upset about! It’s totally okay to disagree, and one of the great things about gaming nowadays is that there’s plenty of choice. If you like a game that I don’t, or I enjoy a genre you find boring… that’s okay. If you’re a super-fan of something that I’m not interested in… we can still be friends. Even if we don’t agree politically, we ought to be able to have a civil and reasonable conversation without screaming, yelling, or name-calling!

Be sure to check out some of my other “hot takes.” I’ve linked a few other pieces below. And I daresay there’ll be more of these one day soon… I keep finding things in gaming to disagree with, for some reason. It must be because I’m getting grumpy in my old age; I’m just a big ol’ sourpuss!

Have fun out there, and happy gaming!

All titles mentioned above are the copyright of their respective publisher, developer, and/or studio. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

Links to other gaming “hot takes:”

Dynasty Warriors: Origins – Video Game Review

Wed 02.07.25Dennis

A Baldur's Gate 3-themed spoiler warning graphic.

Spoiler Warning: There are no major story spoilers for Dynasty Warriors: Origins, but minor spoilers may be present. All screenshots and images are from the first couple of hours of the story.

I usually go for games with deep worlds, rich character development, and engaging stories. But once in a while, it’s nice to step back from that and just button-mash my way through wave upon wave of enemies – and that’s precisely what I’ve been doing with Dynasty Warriors: Origins!

My relationship with this long-running series is… sparse, to say the least! Back in the PlayStation 2 era, I had a blast playing Dynasty Warriors 2 at a friend’s house, but until now, that was the only game in the series I’d ever played. I remember being impressed by the number of enemies on screen; twenty-five years ago, there really wasn’t anything quite like it! In fact, Shenmue’s climactic battle at the end of the game was the only thing that I can remember coming close at the time.

Screenshot of Dynasty Warriors: Origins (2025) showing a battle against the Yellow Turbans. — Battling the Yellow Turban army.

A few years ago, Dynasty Warriors 9 got torn to shreds by reviewers for its poorly-implemented and sparse open world design, one which left fans of the series and casual players alike severely disappointed. Origins appears to be Omega Force’s response to those criticisms, bringing the game closer to earlier entries in the series – while retaining a sense of scale thanks to a navigable map screen. If you know me, you’ll know I loathe publishers and developers forcing the open world model onto games that are completely unsuited to it… so for my money, I think it’s great that the Dynasty Warriors series has learned its lesson!

At the start of this year, and even as the game launched, Dynasty Warriors: Origins just wasn’t on my radar. It’s not the kind of game I’d usually go for, especially nowadays with arthritis in my hands making it more difficult than ever to play games with complicated button combos and parrying. Ugh – parrying. But thankfully, Origins has a solid easy mode, which meant I could play through the game at my own pace. I’m glad to see this kind of accessibility feature in a game like this; other developers could learn a thing or two from Omega Force in that regard!

Screenshot of Dynasty Warriors: Origins (2025) showing a cut-scene featuring the Wanderer and an ally. — A mysterious ally…

Despite my flippant remarks at the beginning, Dynasty Warriors: Origins has a story. It’s just that, for me at least, it came secondary to the gameplay and fun battle sequences, and it wasn’t something I felt particularly engaged with. In one sense, I’d argue the game’s story – and the way it’s performed – feels like a throwback to games of the PlayStation 2 era; dodgy voice acting and pretty basic cut-scenes made it feel like I’d stepped back in time to the turn of the millennium! Despite how that might sound, I actually mean it in a positive sense. Dynasty Warriors: Origins is a video game that puts gameplay front-and-centre, and the story scenes add to its old-school charm.

Not only that, but I found it to be a game I could dip in and out of with ease. While waiting for a delivery, I could jump into a battle. During an afternoon break, I could skirmish with some bandits. While my sausages were roasting in the oven, I had time to beat a Yellow Turban general. Being able to jump into the game for a few minutes and play through a short battle, or just scour the map-overworld for hidden collectables, turned out to be a ton of fun. There was no real commitment; the game didn’t demand hours of my time with cut-scenes, sparse checkpoints, or overly long, convoluted level design. I found myself appreciating that side of things way more than I expected.

Screenshot of Dynasty Warriors: Origins (2025) showing the end of a battle. — It’s easy to jump into the game for a short time, play a skirmish or two, then do something else.

So far, it sounds like I’m shitting all over Dynasty Warriors: Origins’ story by saying it was unimportant, uninteresting, or just secondary to gameplay. While the latter is certainly true, both the overarching story of the Yellow Turban revolt and the personal story of the nameless Wanderer weren’t just fluff, and the game was definitely better for weaving its battles and skirmishes into one cohesive narrative. But this isn’t a story-laden game, in my opinion, and as someone unfamiliar with more than a quarter of a century of series lore, I found the game’s light touch on the narrative side of things to be great. I could follow what was going on, there were elements of mystery as the Wanderer suffered from a bout of “protagonist’s amnesia,” and the secondary characters were compelling enough – even though the voice acting felt, I’m sorry to say, rather amateurish!

But far from being a distraction, I just found that to be part of the game’s old-school charm. In the early days of voice-acted games, vocal performances could be quite poor. The technical side of things is usually great, but at least in the Anglosphere, we haven’t really had a plethora of top-notch voice actors. Other languages, where dubbing of films and TV shows are commonplace, might not find this to be the case! But in English, at least, it took a while for video games to really land decent voice actors. While no one in Dynasty Warriors: Origins was out-and-out bad… there was definitely a distinctly retro charm to some of the voice acting. Maybe if you come to the game from a masterpiece like Red Dead Redemption II you’d be turned off… but for me, I just took it in my stride, I guess!

Screenshot of Dynasty Warriors: Origins (2025) showing a trio of supporting characters. — Voice acting was charmingly… old-school.

Sticking with audio, the game’s soundtrack was absolutely fantastic – a “bop,” to use some Gen Z slang. I don’t know the name for this style of music – fast-tempo guitar and synthesiser music that’s totally anachronistic to the setting, but fits perfectly with the hectic, fast-paced hack-and-slash gameplay. The music really amps things up and brings these battlefields to life in a really fun way. It reminds me of certain other Japanese games in different genres: F-Zero, for instance, or Space Harrier. It’s definitely “video game music,” but with a fast tempo and really fun, upbeat style.

My usual red line is that music in any piece of media – film, TV, game, or anything else – should first and foremost “do no harm;” it mustn’t take the viewer or player out of the scene. In many cases, a good soundtrack or score blends into the work, going unnoticed but subconsciously elevating scenes, setting the mood, and so on. In Dynasty Warriors: Origins… the music punched me in the face, grabbed me by the ears, and didn’t let go! I might’ve objected to that; the anachronistic soundtrack could’ve felt too heavy and too dominant – but I ended up having a really great time with it. The music and battles just blend together so incredibly well, and far from being a problem, the domineering score actually made those battles feel so much more… epic.

Screenshot of Dynasty Warriors: Origins (2025) showing the Wanderer's sword sparking while battling enemies. — A truly epic moment, elevated by a wonderful soundtrack.

It’s been close to a quarter of a century since I played Dynasty Warriors 2 at my friend’s place, but I was amazed at how familiar Origins felt compared to those memories and recollections. I might’ve played Dynasty Warriors 2 a dozen or so times, at the very most, but it left an impression thanks to its large-scale battles and seemingly vast numbers of enemies. Origins brought back those memories for me, and I could feel myself being transported back in time to shortly after the turn of the millennium – when I had hair long enough to tie back in a ponytail, and I was saving up money from my Saturday job to afford a Dreamcast!

Memory is a fascinating thing. And I’m sure if I went back to Dynasty Warriors 2 today – especially now, after having just played Origins – it wouldn’t feel the same; the graphics would seem outdated, the controls clunky, and the world would undoubtedly feel smaller than I remember! But Origins… it managed to feel exactly like those memories of playing Dynasty Warriors 2, memories that I hadn’t really thought about or dwelt on for a long time.

Screenshot of Dynasty Warriors: Origins (2025) showing a battle against the Yellow Turban army. — *Origins* took me back in time… not just to Ancient China, but to the turn of the millennium!

Last year, I wrote about EA Sports PGA Tour – a golf game from Electronic Arts. I talked about how golf is something I really don’t give a toss about in real life, but I’ve enjoyed a few golf games over the years, going back to Actua Golf 2 on the PC in the 1990s. Playing PGA Tour last year brought back those old memories of playing Actua Golf 2, as well as recollections of messing about with the golf game in Wii Sports a few years later! Dynasty Warriors: Origins has kind of done the same thing by bringing up those old memories of playing Dynasty Warriors 2 in my friend’s tiny bedroom.

I’m glad that I picked up this game. I saw a couple of reviews of it earlier in the year, and something about it just jumped out at me. Those old memories resurfaced for the first time in, well, decades, I guess, and Dynasty Warriors: Origins just felt like something I needed to play for myself. There’s always a danger that returning to something so long after the fact will be anticlimactic… but if there’s one thing I can say about Origins it’s that I’d never use that word to describe it! It’s fast-paced, hectic, and a ton of fun… as well as being a blast of nostalgia.

Screenshot of Dynasty Warriors: Origins (2025) showing the Wanderer defeating a bandit leader in the rain. — Killing an enemy general.

I’m reasonably confident in saying that in Dynasty Warriors 2 – and, I assume, most of the other games in the series – you’d choose from one of several unique, pre-made characters for battles and story missions. Origins presents you with a main protagonist, though there are a handful of other “companions” who you can switch to during some battles. The protagonist – the Wanderer – has pretty limited options for customisation. I’m someone who generally likes customisation options, so I’d have happily included a bit more on that front. There are a couple of different character outfits – and a few others locked behind the game’s pre-order versions.

Customisation is pretty limited, then! But I’ve said more than once that not every game needs complicated options, so for what Dynasty Warriors: Origins is, I guess it’s okay that there aren’t things like hairstyles or individual costume pieces to choose from. I still think those could’ve been fun additions, but their absence wasn’t some kind of “fatal flaw” that ruined the game for me. I just think it’s worth noting that, although you get a single playable character and can choose their name, your options for customising their appearance are severely limited. That’s a bit of a shame, because Origins has a pretty fun photo mode, and not being able to customise your character limits the usefulness of photo mode, to a degree.

Screenshot of Dynasty Warriors: Origins (2025) showing the Wanderer. — There are very limited outfit choices and no other character customisation options.

Levelling up was interesting. Origins is quite generous with its skill points – but then, a lot of the options to unlock require huge amounts of points! So you’re still having to save up, even if you level up regularly. There are choices during the levelling up process, but a lot of these came down to priorities; do you want more health first, or a better attack? You’re gonna get both anyway – you kind of have to, unless you choose not to spend your skill points. But you can choose, at least, in what order to level up. This does get a bit more in-depth as the game progresses.

As above, I don’t think every game needs a complex RPG-inspired levelling system, and to be honest Origins would probably have been fine without this being included at all. However, it did add a bit of interest beyond simply choosing different weapons, and I didn’t feel it was overcomplicated on its face. I usually choose to level up health and stamina first, then weapons and damage – but players who want to go the other way, or who want to unlock specific moves, have those options.

Screenshot of Dynasty Warriors: Origins (2025) showing the Wanderer mid-jump, swinging their sword. — Jumping through the air, slashing at baddies!

Because of the way the story progresses, there are battles and missions that can’t be completed. Without getting into spoiler territory, Origins presents you with a choice of factions partway through, and when you’ve made your choice, missions and battles tied to the factions you didn’t pick are locked. This adds replayability to the game, of course – and you can create a save point right before the moment of choice if you know it’s coming, so it’s possible to go back and just replay that portion of the game without all of the preamble.

Given how I wasn’t all that invested in the characters and story… I don’t think I’m gonna go back and do that! At least not right now. I had fun with Origins, but I don’t need to see every possible faction, boss, battle, and ending all at once. If and when I go back to the game, though, it’s nice to know that there are differences that will change the experience. Origins isn’t a linear game in that sense.

Screenshot of Dynasty Warriors: Origins (2025) showing a combat tutorial. — An early training/tutorial mission.

I generally liked the way levels and battlefields were laid out. There was a good mix of narrower paths and wider, expansive areas. The narrow pathways funnel enemies at you in larger, denser waves – which could be a ton of fun! – and they also keep you on the right track; in the chaos of a massive battle, it could be easy to wander off and get lost. The more open, expansive areas tended to be where bosses entered the battlefield, but these also allowed for waves of enemies to come at you from different angles in flanking manoeuvres.

One thing you find pretty quickly is that, for skirmishes and smaller, optional battles, these battlefields are reused. For smaller-scale skirmishes, different areas can be sectioned off so you aren’t always playing on the exact same area every time – and I think I’m right in saying that there are also different times of day and weather conditions that can trigger. But you soon come to see the same layouts and landmarks, even if you’re fighting different factions or enemy types. I didn’t find this to be immersion-breaking, or anything, largely because of the frenetic pace of these engagements! But I thought it worth noting that these levels are repeated throughout the game.

Screenshot of Dynasty Warriors: Origins (2025) showing an in-game map. — A battlefield map.

So I think we’d better wrap things up; I’ve rambled on for long enough!

Dynasty Warriors: Origins was a ton of fun, and a game I’m happy to recommend to fans of action, hack-and-slash, and the kinds of “double-A” video games that used to be commonplace in years gone by. For me, it was an unexpected blast of nostalgia, taking me back to memories of playing Dynasty Warriors 2 on my friend’s PlayStation 2 a quarter of a century ago. The core gameplay of this series doesn’t feel like it’s changed very much since then – which I mean in a positive way.

However, if what you want from your games are complex role-playing or simulation elements, or a realistic, immersive story… I don’t think that’s what you get from Dynasty Warriors: Origins. It’s not a cinematic experience… it’s a hack-and-slash video game. A lot of the time, I want those intense, detailed worlds, believable characters, and gripping storylines. But every once in a while, it’s nice to kick back and cut my way through a legion of unnamed baddies while listening to an epic soundtrack! I had a great time with the game – and maybe you will, too.

Dynasty Warriors: Origins is out now for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S/X, and PC. Dynasty Warriors: Origins is the copyright of Omega Force and/or Koei Tecmo. This review contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

We’re Halfway Through 2025!

Mon 30.06.25Dennis

Spoiler Warning: Beware minor spoilers for some of the entries on this list.

You’ve made it to the halfway point! That’s right: by my reckoning, the end of June marks the halfway point of the year, which I think makes it a great moment to look ahead and think about some of the entertainment experiences that await us. This piece isn’t for dishing out made-up awards and trophies; that’ll come at the end of December! No, what we’re gonna do today is take a look at five films, five games, and five TV programmes that are scheduled to arrive between now and New Year’s Eve.

Has the first half of this year gone by quickly? I think it’s a bit of a cliché to complain about the passage of time, but it really doesn’t seem like it’s been six months since I was taking down the Christmas tree! And yes, we’ll be thinking about Christmas again before you know it.

Stock photo of Santa Claus' hand holding a cookie in front of Christmas decorations. — I’m already thinking about it…

But until then, we’ve got a summer and an autumn to get through – with plenty of interesting-looking entertainment experiences lying ahead. As I said, I’ve picked five films, five games, and five TV shows that I think could be fun as the second half of 2025 gets underway.

As always, I have a couple of caveats. Firstly, this list is just one person’s subjective opinion, so if I recommend a production you don’t care for or miss something that you think should’ve been obvious… that’s okay! There are plenty of things to be excited for this year, and we won’t always agree on which ones look best! Secondly, all titles below are on the schedule for 2025 at time of writing, but with everything going on in the world, some or even all of them might miss their intended release dates. Finally, I’ve grouped the list into three categories, but the individual productions are listed randomly, not ranked in order of what I’m most keen on!

With all of that out of the way, let’s dive into the list.

Film #1:
Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere

Promo still for Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere showing the title character.

Biopics of musicians have been all the rage in recent years. After Bob Dylan, Elton John, Elvis Presley, and other performers have had their lives dramatised… in 2025 it’s the turn of Bruce Springsteen. I’m a pretty big Springsteen fan; his folk album We Shall Overcome (The Seeger Sessions) is one of my absolute favourite albums, though of course he’s better-known for his rock stuff!

Deliver Me From Nowhere is set during the creation of Springsteen’s 1982 album Nebraska – the album that spawned Atlantic City. I think it has the potential to be an interesting re-telling of an important chapter in the singer’s life, as well as an entertaining film to boot. If nothing else, it’s gonna have a great soundtrack!

Film #2:
I Know What You Did Last Summer

Promo photo/behind-the-scenes photo from the set of I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025 version) showing the famous hook and a clapper board.

Do we call this a sequel? A remake? A squemake? Whatever it is, I’m cautiously interested! The original I Know What You Did Last Summer, which was released in 1997, is one of those not-so-great films that had an impact on me because of when I watched it! I went to the cinema with some friends, with no plans for what we were gonna watch, and we picked this horror/slasher film at the last minute, not really sure what to expect. I found I Know What You Did Last Summer to be riveting stuff as a teenager, and even though I don’t think it makes such a good impression these days, it has a place in my heart for that reason.

Whether this adaptation/sequel will recapture the magic remains to be seen – but I think there are some reasons to be hopeful. Returning characters from the original, combined with a new story, could make for an interesting film… but we’ll see.

Film #3:
Brick

Promo still for Brick showing two characters and the titular bricks.

I really don’t know what to expect from this German-language mystery-thriller – but the premise alone has me intrigued. Some people awaken to find their apartment building surrounded by an apparently impermeable wall, with no way in or out. The trailer showed several different characters in various apartments, some of whom may know something about what’s going on and why.

The film definitely feels “Netflixy,” if you get my meaning. But I think there’s enough of an interesting premise to carry the story, and it could end up being something of a sleeper hit. Maybe I’m wrong about that – but I’m eager to find out.

Film #4:
Zootopia 2

Promo still for Zootopia/Zootropolis 2 showing Nick, Judy, and another character.

Disney is still really into its sequels, eh? A follow-up to 2016’s smash hit, Zootopia 2 will see Judy and Nick back in action – this time both as members of Zootopia’s police force. The story will involve a renegade snake… and that’s about all we know so far! The original Zootopia was fun, though I admit I haven’t seen the Disney+ miniseries from a couple of years ago. Still, a return to this world could be entertaining, especially for the little ones.

In 2016, Zootopia and Moana seemed to clash, but this time Disney has managed to keep their sequels a year or so apart – which is good! Whether either of those films really needed sequels, though… well, I guess we’re about to find out.

Film #5:
In Your Dreams

Promo still for In Your Dreams showing two characters (and a teddy) riding on a bed through the clouds.

Another animated film now. In Your Dreams has a creative premise: two kids entering the dream world, looking to find the Sandman. I’m getting kind of a Spellbound vibe here, insofar as both films deal with kids trying to help their parents. The trailer was cute, and Netflix has done well with some of its animated pictures in recent years – so there’s definitely reason to be hopeful!

I just think the film looks great, and with Disney – as mentioned – focused on sequels, spin-offs, and remakes, there’s plenty of room for a studio like Netflix to muscle in and stake a claim in the animated realm. Last year’s Spellbound was one of my favourite films of the year, so In Your Dreams has the potential to build on that success.

Video Game #1:
Donkey Kong Bananza

Promo image for Donkey Kong Bananza showing DK punching the ground.

I don’t have a Switch 2, so chances are I won’t play Donkey Kong Bananza this year! And there are reasons to be sceptical of the game; I’m getting “double-A,” kind of mid-tier vibes from everything I’ve seen so far. However… as a big fan of DK’s last 3D adventure – Donkey Kong 64, which was more than a quarter of a century ago! – I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t intrigued. A recent trailer showing off Pauline – who appeared in the original arcade game and has recently become a mainline Super Mario character – has also piqued my curiosity.

As I said when discussing the launch of the Nintendo Switch 2: this isn’t the game you buy an expensive console for. But if I eventually get my hands on a Switch 2, I can absolutely see myself picking up Donkey Kong Bananza if for no other reason than to have another 3D adventure and maybe get some of those nostalgic Donkey Kong 64 feels!

Video Game #2:
Mafia: The Old Country

Promo still for Mafia: The Old Country showing the interior of an Italian villa.

I remember the original Mafia on the Xbox – I expected it to just be a ’30s Grand Theft Auto III clone! The game was a lot of fun in its own right, though, with a strong, engaging story populated by fun characters, not just film noir caricatures. Mafia: The Old Country is going to step back in time and hop across the Atlantic to Sicily, focusing on the growth of the Cosa Nostra at the turn of the last century. I really like this idea; not only the time period but the Sicilian location seem like they could be a ton of fun – and something a bit different.

The Mafia trilogy was remade from the ground up a few years ago, and the remakes are also well worth playing for any fan of third-person action-adventure games. It’s my hope that The Old Country will be in the same vein, and will tell an exciting and compelling crime story. I don’t want to fully board the hype train for any unreleased title… but I have high hopes for this one!

Video Game #3:
Crimson Desert

Promo screenshot of Crimson Desert showing a mounted character overlooking a lake or ocean.

At time of writing, Crimson Desert is still on the schedule for later this year. However, it’s been a while since we heard much about the game, though some journalists got to see it at one of the recent games industry events. In short… I’m not sure if we should expect a delay! But the game looks fantastic; a large fantasy open world that promises plenty to do and different ways to play.

Developers Pearl Abyss are well known for Black Desert Online, which is now over a decade old but still has a dedicated community. I think there are plenty of reasons to look at Crimson Desert with optimism… though, as mentioned, I wouldn’t be shocked if a delay pushes it back into 2026. Of all the games we’ve talked about today, this feels like the most likely one to miss its release window.

Video Game #4:
Terminator 2D: No Fate

Promo screenshot for Terminator 2D: No Fate showing a character being punched.

Playing through the events of Terminator 2: Judgement Day in a game that looks like it was made for the SNES? Sign me up, that sounds perfect! Everything I’ve seen of Terminator 2D: No Fate just gives me the nostalgic feels; like I’m a kid again, playing my SNES after school with some licensed side-scrolling game like Alien 3 or Super Star Wars. The graphics look perfect, the gameplay looks like a lot of fun, and it’s an officially licensed game based on a solid film. What could go wrong?

Alright, fine – maybe I’m getting over-excited! But it’s been a while since I saw a project quite like this one, and something about the visuals and the style of gameplay just really struck a nostalgic chord for me, even just from looking at the trailer. I really can’t wait to try it for myself.

Video Game #5:
Copa City

Promo screenshot of Copa City, showing a top-down view of a fan zone.

Copa City fills a niche I didn’t realise existed! It’s a football game where the objective isn’t to score goals as a player or take charge of the team as a manager, but where you set up the infrastructure around the matches. It sounds like a “tycoon game” where you’re managing different aspects of the football event: things like transportation, setting up fan zones, and the like.

I think it’s a really creative concept – and there are already a handful of officially-licensed teams and stadia on board. Whether Copa City can make good on a neat core idea remains to be seen, but I like what’s been shown off so far, and I’m curious to try it for myself. I don’t see it eclipsing the likes of EA FC and Football Manager, but it could easily find its own niche as a football game with a twist.

TV Series #1:
Fallout Season 2

Render from the credits sequence of Fallout Season 1 showing the New Vegas skyline.

The first season of Fallout was creative and fun – even if it wasn’t the best thing I’ve ever watched. The cliffhanger ending was compelling enough for me to want to see the next chapter, though, for Lucy, the Ghoul, and… everyone else. You know… those characters whose names I can’t call to mind right now! Bringing the world of the Fallout video game series into live-action was a good idea, and I can see why the series has been generally well-received.

It seems as if Fallout Season 2 is heading to the city of New Vegas – so fans of the game which was set there can expect plenty of callbacks and references to those events. Maybe I should finally and belatedly play New Vegas before the new season arrives in December? Don’t hold me to it, but I might give it a go if I can find the time.

TV Series #2:
King of the Hill

Still frame from the King of the Hill revival trailer, showing an older Peggy, Bobby, and Hank.

King of the Hill was one of those shows that I used to watch occasionally, when it was on. It was never a favourite, but I usually cracked a smile or two at the antics of Hank, Bobby, Peggy, and the rest of the characters. I can’t say I’m surprised to see King of the Hill being revisited; revivals and reboots are all the rage right now, so why not step back to the show and see if it can connect with a new audience?

I’m not sure what to expect, really. As with the recent Phineas and Ferb revival, King of the Hill is stepping forwards in time – by quite a ways, judging by Bobby’s age in the recent teaser! That could open up new storytelling ideas… but it could also take something away from the show and what made it so appealing to fans in the first place. Will it be soulless corporate slop… or was there a genuinely good idea for a revival? Let’s find out!

TV Series #3:
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms

Promo still for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms showing a character wielding a sword.

Call me overdramatic if you like, but A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is basically Westeros’ last chance to win me over! I enjoyed Game of Thrones… until it went off the rails toward the end. But I wasn’t especially keen on House of the Dragon, and I kind of drifted away from that show after a handful of episodes. With a focus on a different group of characters in a new era and setting, though… could A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms be the series that drags me back into the world of Westeros?

Maybe? I mean, why not, right? I’m not sure Game of Thrones really needs all of these spin-offs, but given how popular the original show was in its prime, I can’t exactly blame HBO for trying to recapture some of that magic. Will it work, though? And will this series succeed where Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon didn’t? I guess we’ll find out later in the year.

TV Series #4:
Alien: Earth

Cropped promo poster for Alien: Earth showing a Xenomorph wrapped around planet Earth.

I’m not at all caught up on all of the recent movies in the Alien universe, so I hope this TV series won’t lean too heavily on those for its main narrative arcs! A story like Alien seems well-suited to a big-budget TV show instead of just a film, so I’m certainly interested to see what kind of stories and characters we’ll see in a new format. The series taking place on Earth is an interesting idea, too, as exploring this future version of Earth is something none of the films have done.

I’m not sure I’d have chosen to make Alien: Earth as a prequel, though. My other concern is this: are the Xenomorphs still scary, and will they be scary enough to carry this new television format? Some recent Alien projects have, I would argue, degraded the Xenomorphs’ fear factor somewhat. Still, I’m curious and perhaps even hopeful that Alien: Earth can do something creative and a little different with this sci-fi property.

TV Series #5:
King and Conqueror

Promo still from King and Conqueror showing William the Conqueror, a rowing boat, and the sea.

I thought we were going to see King and Conqueror earlier in the year; filming wrapped ages ago and it seemed primed for a spring broadcast. Never mind! The series, set during the Norman Conquest of England, is set to be broadcast sometime before the end of the year. Starring Game of Thrones’ Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as William the Conqueror, the series looks like it has a lot of potential to be a fun, interesting, and entertaining re-telling of an important chapter in history.

Every British schoolkid learns about the Normans in history class – but I can’t remember a big-budget adaptation of these events like this. In that sense, I think it’s going to be really interesting to see the Norman Conquest brought to life. I hope it isn’t over-dramatised, with love interests and soap opera-style personal drama getting in the way of things! But I have confidence in the BBC and American collaborator CBS to bring the story to life in a fun and engaging way.

Bonus: Star Trek!

Promo poster for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3 showing the main characters walking across an alien landscape. — Captain Pike and the crew are returning soon!

It wouldn’t be a Trekking with Dennis list without some Star Trek, eh? We have Strange New Worlds’ third season coming up very soon, and I’m really looking forward to another set of adventures with Captain Pike and the crew. Some folks have suggested that Starfleet Academy could also be broadcast before the end of the year; personally, I don’t think that’s especially likely… but you never know, I guess!

For me, Strange New Worlds has been the absolute highlight of modern Star Trek; a largely episodic series focused on exploration and adventure that brought the franchise back to its roots. Starfleet Academy, with its focus on teenage and young adult characters, could be a way into the Star Trek fan community for new, younger viewers – exactly the kinds of people the franchise needs to attract in order to shore things up. With the 60th anniversary next year, I’m hoping Paramount is holding something back to celebrate – but until then, we’ve at least got ten Strange New Worlds episodes to be sinking our teeth into!

So that’s it!

Stock photo of a little girl playing a video game. — Are you excited to play a particular game later this year?

We’ve taken a look at a few of the entertainment experiences that lay ahead of us over the next six months. I think there are plenty of fun ones and things to get excited about – and I’m sure there are others that will seem to come out of nowhere and catch me off-guard! That always seems to happen.

So we’re already at the midpoint of the year… and I’m still catching up on some of the things I missed in 2022, let alone 2023, 2024, and the first half of 2025! I’m getting old… which probably explains why I have my own website instead of a TikTok page, or something! In any case, I hope this has been a bit of fun and an interesting look ahead to some of the things we might enjoy between now and New Year’s Eve. Speaking of which… I’d better make sure I’ve got all of my Halloween, Christmas, and New Year’s decorations ready. If the first half of the year is any indication, the holidays are going to sneak up on me with lightning speed!

Have fun out there!

All titles mentioned above are the copyright of their respective studio, publisher, distributor, broadcaster, etc. Some photos and promotional art courtesy of IMDB. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

Bethesda Rumour Roundup!

Fri 20.06.25Fri 20.06.25Dennis

Over the past couple of months, leading up to and in the immediate aftermath of the big Xbox Games Showcase presentation, I’ve been hearing rumours about Bethesda Game Studios. Today, I wanted to get into some of what I’ve heard – and debunk a couple of commonly-repeated rumours, too!

Bethesda was notably absent from Xbox’s big summer presentation, with no mention of either Starfield or the upcoming Elder Scrolls VI. To be blunt with you: I’m not surprised that either of those games were absent. In fact, I’d probably have been more surprised if Todd Howard had toddled out onto the stage to make a big pitch! The Elder Scrolls VI is – as we’ll get into in more detail in a moment – still multiple years away from release, and Bethesda has already been burned by its way-too-early announcement. And Starfield? Well, let’s talk about that.

Screenshot of Starfield (2023) first person view, aboard a spaceship. — What – if anything – is next for *Starfield*?

When Starfield wasn’t so much as mentioned at the Xbox Games Showcase, I saw a lot of folks overreacting. “Starfield is being abandoned!” said one. “Bethesda is ignoring it and moving on!” cried another. While I agree with the overall sentiment that Starfield underwhelmed in terms of both critical reception and sales, and is certainly in trouble, I don’t believe that we need to write its obituary quite yet. Let me explain why.

Starfield is, according to solid insider information, getting a PlayStation 5 port in the not-too-distant future. I wouldn’t be shocked to hear talk of a potential Switch 2 port, too, but that’s much more speculative on my part. But Microsoft and Xbox wouldn’t want to announce this news at their event; it’s like saying “you might as well just buy a PS5!” Instead, it seems much more likely to me that Starfield will be announced for PlayStation 5 later in the year – almost certainly in time for Christmas. Alongside that announcement may well be another piece of DLC.

Promo image of a PlayStation 5 console and control pad. — *Starfield* may be landing on PS5 soon…

Starfield hasn’t yet had a standalone expansion pack that Microsoft can really use to measure its future prospects. By that I mean that Shattered Space was sold as part of Starfield’s premium edition bundle, which players needed to buy if they wanted to play the game on its real release date in 2023 instead of a week later. Many folks who may have switched off from Starfield already paid for Shattered Space, even if they didn’t play it, and the expansion’s standalone sales in 2024 will be impacted by that. I feel absolutely convinced that Bethesda has enough in the tank for one last Starfield push – and a second expansion pack is certainly gonna be a part of that.

If Bethesda and Xbox have good sense, they’ll announce a PlayStation 5 “deluxe edition” port of Starfield, including not only Shattered Space but also the new DLC, as well as a similar release of the bundle for Xbox and PC. I’d imagine this DLC will be later this year; Shattered Space was in the autumn, so expect anywhere from September to November for this DLC. Some have pointed to Bethesda tradmarking the name “Starborn;” that could be the next DLC’s title.

Screenshot of Starfield (2023) showing the player hitting an invisible wall. — “You cannot go that way.”

So Starfield should be getting a second piece of DLC and a PS5 launch – with a potential Switch 2 port if things go well. But things are not going well right now, and Starfield is really in the last chance saloon. Failure to light up the board on PS5, and/or another poorly-received expansion pack will almost certainly lead to the game being quietly abandoned. There might still be occasional patches to fix major bugs and issues, but if Starfield doesn’t get its redemption arc soon, there really won’t be any point in Microsoft greenlighting even more money on the game’s continued support.

So Starfield isn’t dead… yet. We’ll have to see whether the next DLC addresses the game’s many issues, and whether it’s as big and transformative as it needs to be. Starfield needs something on the scale of Cyberpunk 2077′s Phantom Liberty, as I’ve said before. Whether Bethesda can even do something like that, though… well, we’ll find out later in the year, perhaps.

Steam DB's player numbers for Starfield as of October 2024. — Reviews for *Starfield* on Steam have been mixed, and the game’s former players didn’t show up in big numbers for *Shattered Space*.

Up next is The Elder Scrolls VI. I’ll level with you: I’m astonished that anyone thought they’d see this game at the Xbox Games Showcase this year. Some super-fans are still clinging to the desperate “cope” that The Elder Scrolls VI is coming out next year. It isn’t. It simply is not. It’s way too early in its development cycle – a cycle that has only lengthened over time. No, The Elder Scrolls VI might – if Bethesda pushes and Microsoft is okay with a buggy mess – make a late 2027 release date. But realistically, I still think 2028 or even 2029 are more likely.

Starfield took five full years of work. There were changes to Bethesda’s creaking, zombified, thirty-year-old game engine which took up some of that time, sure, but the game still took five years to make and polish. Microsoft insisted on a year-long delay which was largely spent on bug fixing; I shudder to think what Starfield might’ve looked like if it had been pushed out on its original release date! But why, then, have some folks convinced themselves that The Elder Scrolls VI will be ready in half the time? Bethesda hasn’t been working on the game since 2018; development only started in earnest after Starfield’s release in late 2023, and realistically, a significant portion of Bethesda’s team was still assigned to Starfield for several months after, working on hotfixes, patches, and DLC.

Still frame from the Bethesda Games event in June 2018 showing Todd Howard. — Todd Howard announced *The Elder Scrolls VI* seven years ago.

So let’s be bold and make a prediction: you will not see The Elder Scrolls VI this year. Not a teaser, not a trailer, not concept art… nothing. You probably won’t see any of that stuff next year, either, unless Microsoft has supreme confidence in the game and its ability to make a 2027 release date. The Elder Scrolls VI is still a ways off and it needs time in the oven. And there’s another potential wrinkle in this equation, too: the Oblivion remaster that was released earlier this year.

This is a little technical, but bear with me. Oblivion was remastered using a process that combined two different game engines. Oblivion’s original code is still there, running on Gamebryo/the Creation Engine. But layered on top of that is Unreal Engine 5, which renders the game’s graphics. This process has led to Oblivion looking absolutely fantastic, by the way… so might Bethesda want to implement the same technology into The Elder Scrolls VI? I mean, it would be pretty awkward if the game launches and people begin comparing it unfavourably to the Oblivion remaster! If Bethesda does choose to go down that route, that could add to the game’s development time – and it’s something Bethesda may not have even considered until recently.

Promo screenshot of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remaster. — The *Oblivion* remaster adds Unreal Engine 5 graphics to the game’s original code.

There is one additional consideration here, one that could bump up The Elder Scrolls VI’s release date a little. It seems that Microsoft may be intending to launch new hardware in 2027 – and you could hardly get a better-sounding launch title than the sequel to Skyrim! Microsoft might want The Elder Scrolls VI to be the new Xbox console’s “killer app;” a system-seller that could potentially outmanoeuvre PlayStation. If that’s the case, maybe the 2027 holiday season could be a targetted release window.

Finally, there’s talk of a remaster of Fallout 3 using the same process as Oblivion. With a new season of the Fallout TV series officially on the schedule for December this year – a mere six months from now – could we see that remaster sooner than we think? Timing it to coincide with the new season would be perfect, if Bethesda and partner Virtuos could manage it. It might be a tall order to release the Fallout 3 remaster so soon after the Oblivion remaster, though! Still, there could be news of that game sometime around the holidays, as hype for the show’s second season builds.

Still frame from the Fallout TV series showing Lucy. — Could a potential *Fallout 3* remaster be released in time for the show’s second season?

So that’s it for now. Those are the Bethesda rumours I keep hearing – and my response to them!

I’ve been a Bethesda fan since I played Morrowind on the original Xbox back in 2002. I still consider that game to be one of the best I’ve ever played, and I’ve enjoyed other Bethesda titles in the Elder Scrolls and Fallout franchises, too. But I’ll be honest with you… I’m not excited about anything the studio has on the slate right now. Starfield’s absolutely appalling microtransaction marketplace – which feels like something from a shitty free-to-play mobile game – speaks volumes about the company’s current direction and how they view their audience. Even if The Elder Scrolls VI looks great, and even if Starfield were to get a miraculous new update and expansion that completely transformed the game… I just don’t want to support that kind of behaviour in the single-player space.

Look around at other single-player role-playing games. Baldur’s Gate 3, Cyberpunk 2077, Kingdom Come: Deliverance… none of them have the kind of egregious in-game marketplace and paid mods that come baked-in with Starfield. If you think The Elder Scrolls VI will be spared the same fate, well… I wouldn’t bet on it. Bethesda has been trying to implement these kinds of paid mods and microtransactions for years, and I don’t see the company being persuaded to stop now.

Screenshot of Starfield (2023) showing the in-game microtransaction store. — Words cannot express how much I hate this.

Whether you’re okay with that… that’s up to you. For me, at the very least it’s reined in my potential hype or excitement for The Elder Scrolls VI. And even if Starfield were to get that Phantom Liberty-sized DLC that it desperately needs, if the microtransactions and paid mods remain in place, I’m still not inclined to play it or support it. It’s sad, because Bethesda used to be one of my favourite developers and, as I said, they created one of my favourite games of all-time. But this greed… it’s just sickening, to be honest with you.

Anyway, we got a little off-topic there at the end, but I think I said everything I wanted to about The Elder Scrolls VI and Starfield based on the rumours I keep hearing! I hope this has been interesting, at any rate. A lot of this is speculative, but I’m fairly confident about most of my predictions and my analysis!

Until next time!

Starfield and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered are out now for PC and Xbox Series consoles. All titles discussed above are the copyright of Bethesda Game Studios, Xbox Game Studios, and Microsoft. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

Uh-Oh: The Nintendo Switch 2 Is Still In Stock

Thu 05.06.25Dennis

When the Nintendo Wii launched here in the UK in late 2006, pre-orders sold out well in advance. I was on a waiting list that was months long, and it wasn’t until almost half a year later that I managed to finally get my hands on a console. In 2017, though I wasn’t on a waiting list and didn’t buy a Switch right away, I was well aware that there were waiting lists and some folks found it difficult to get their hands on a console on launch day. That’s to say nothing of the problems Sony and Microsoft had when the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series consoles launched a few years ago. Those machines were out of stock everywhere for basically an entire year – at least here in the UK.

Nintendo emailed me shortly after the Switch 2 was announced; a marketing circular hyping up the new console and inviting pre-orders. I didn’t actually meet Nintendo’s stringent pre-order requirements, having cancelled my Switch Online membership for lack of use a while ago! But Nintendo has been pushing hard for pre-orders, and there was even a minor controversy a few weeks ago when it seemed that Game, the UK’s only remaining chain of video game shops, had messed up some folks’ pre-orders. The Switch 2 was all set to be the hottest piece of tech of 2025 and looked like it’d be hard to find!

Which makes it feel profoundly odd that today, on launch day, consoles are available everywhere I look.

Screenshot of Amazon UK showing a Nintendo Switch 2 console. — The Nintendo Switch 2 hasn’t sold out… at least here in the UK at time of writing.

I don’t think it’s necessarily a damning indictment of the Switch 2 that it hasn’t sold out. In fact, if you remember my criticisms of Microsoft and Sony back in 2020, you’ll know that I argued then that companies needed to do more to ensure they had enough stock to go around before launch. Playing into the hands of touts and scalpers was really poor from both Xbox and PlayStation, and on the one hand I’m glad that Nintendo seems to have been better-prepared.

But on the other… I can’t shake a funny feeling. Nintendo has never been well-prepared for… well, anything. Go back twenty years and you’ll find jokes and memes doing the rounds about Nintendo machines and games being unavailable or out of stock, and I think I’m right in saying that even the beleaguered Wii U had stock issues when it was released back in 2012. So… has Nintendo finally got it right? Did the company, for what could be the first time ever, manage to gauge public interest perfectly, and successfully manufacture and ship enough units all across the world?

Promo image of the Nintendo Wii and a Wii Remote. — The Wii was out of stock everywhere for months after its launch.

Or could there be another explanation?

Is the Switch 2 still in stock today because… well, there just isn’t as much interest in the console as Nintendo had hoped? Even if you’re the hardest of hard-core Nintendo fanatics, you can’t deny that the Switch 2’s marketing campaign has been dominated by the high price of games, as well as the increased price of the system itself. I warned that pitching the Switch 2 at a comparable price to Xbox and PlayStation consoles would invite potentially unfavourable comparisons, and for gamers interested in a handheld, there are cheaper and more versatile handheld PCs on the market.

Then there’s the launch lineup. As I said last time, the only game I’d really call a “system seller” or “killer app” is Mario Kart World – the game which has attracted a ton of criticism for its price tag. Donkey Kong Bananza isn’t a launch title, and as a game in a second-tier franchise I doubt it would be a huge mover of Switch 2s on its own anyway. What other games are there at launch that are going to attract players? Enhanced ports of a handful of Switch 1 titles and underwhelming versions of games that look and run better on other consoles? I don’t mean to be unkind, but I doubt many folks are buying a £400 console to play Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess or the paid-for demo Welcome Tour.

Promo still of Mario Kart World showing Mario on a snowmobile wearing a cowboy hat. — Nintendo is clearly banking on *Mario Kart World* to shift a lot of consoles.

Maybe this is a weird quirk of the UK market, and perhaps gamers in the United States, Europe, and Japan are going to be waiting a while to get a chance to play on Nintendo’s latest machine. But I’m not so sure, and I’ll be very curious to see the Switch 2 sales figures – if Nintendo announces them – sometime in the autumn when the company talks about the current financial quarter.

There are issues in the UK with the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, inflation, and a government that seems hell-bent on punishing the poorest and least-well off in society. So that could absolutely be a contributing factor to why people aren’t confident in investing in a brand-new, relatively expensive, luxury item like a games console. But if that were true, I’d have expected to see sales of Xbox, PlayStation, PC, smartphones, and other gadgets in decline – which is something that hasn’t happened.

Screenshot of UK retailer Game, showing a Nintendo Switch 2 console. — Another UK retailer (Game) has Switch 2 consoles in stock.

So what’s going on? Maybe I’ll check back in a couple of days’ time and find that Switch 2 consoles are out of stock. Or maybe Nintendo finally got one right and managed to produce enough consoles to meet launch demand. There’s a first time for everything, after all. But I can’t shake the feeling at this very early stage that something isn’t quite going to plan, and that the Switch 2 might not be reaching the sales targets Nintendo and their corporate investors had in mind. But I’m not going to write the console’s obituary just yet! There’s still plenty of time for things to change; it’s literally the machine’s first day on sale. However, the simple fact that consoles haven’t already sold out has definitely caught me off guard.

If you put a gun to my head and told me to predict, right now, how well the Switch 2 would perform across its lifespan… I’d say that I still expect it to do well with Nintendo’s core fanbase, but that it might struggle to reach the same number of units sold as the original Switch. The price tag is a big part of that… but so is the console’s uninspired design. For decades, Nintendo consoles were new, innovative, and fresh. Sometimes that worked, and sometimes it didn’t work quite so well, but what you could never say about Nintendo was that they were stagnant. The company built a reputation around innovative, fun, family-friendly games. The Switch 2 is the company’s first console to feel repetitive and samey… and maybe, just maybe, that could be another contributing factor.

Or I could be totally wrong and by Saturday, it’ll be a six-month wait to get a Switch 2! Still… strange times.

The Nintendo Switch 2 is available to purchase now. The Switch, Switch 2, Super Mario, and other properties discussed above are the copyright of Nintendo. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

Marathon: Just Cancel It

Mon 26.05.25Dennis

I almost titled this piece Anthem: Just Cancel It, accidentally using the name of BioWare’s failed live service title… which I think is a reflection on how bland, generic, and forgettable Marathon is as the name of a video game. I’ll be honest: Marathon was never going to be my thing. I’m not interested in extraction shooters, competitive FPS titles, or really even online multiplayer in general. I didn’t play Bungie’s Destiny or Destiny 2 over the past ten-plus years, and in my humble opinion the company hasn’t really done anything halfway interesting since Halo Reach back in 2010. But the controversy swirling around Marathon has been inescapable over the past few days, so I felt compelled to share my thoughts on the upcoming game anyway.

Marathon should be cancelled. That’s the bottom line, and the reason is simple: right now, Marathon is on course for a Concord-esque failure, something which would surely condemn Bungie itself to the ignominious fate of being shut down. Although a lot of money has been invested in this game from Bungie, Sony, and elsewhere, it stands absolutely no chance of making its money back due to the controversies it’s embroiled in. Wasting more time on development is pointless; even a significant delay and total re-working of the game and its art assets won’t save Marathon now. If Sony and Bungie push ahead they’re just pissing away even more money. It’s time to cut your losses and try something else.

Just cancel Marathon.

This didn’t start with stolen art, but the revelation that Bungie – or, according to the studio, an unnamed “ex-employee” – stole a significant number of pieces of artwork that “somehow” ended up in the game has completely ruined whatever reputation Marathon might’ve been able to garner after an unimpressive closed play-test. Given how integral many of these art assets are to the game – literally defining its visual style – even removing the blatant thievery won’t be enough.

Marathon employs a deliberate visual style. When I saw it, quite honestly I didn’t like it. The game looked unfinished to my eye, as if character models and environments were all using placeholder images, waiting for higher-quality finished assets to be implemented. If you’ve ever seen an early build of a video game, you might know what I’m talking about. Marathon just looked like an early alpha version… unfinished. But that’s kind of beside the point, because that was a deliberate choice on the part of the developers. Unfortunately, however, it turns out that that entire aesthetic was stolen without accreditation or reimbursement from an artist who was never employed by Bungie.

Screenshot of a Twitter post by AntiReal alleging plagiarism by Bungie. — AntiReal’s tweet.

Like Concord last year, Marathon is arriving too late in a saturated market. Like Concord last year, Marathon is going to charge would-be players money up-front in a genre where the most popular titles are free-to-play. Like Concord last year, Marathon doesn’t have enough maps, characters, or basic features (like proximity chat) that other games in the genre have. And like Concord last year, Marathon has a generic and uninspired name, bog-standard gameplay, and really nothing special at all… other than its visual style.

I might not have been impressed with the way Marathon looks, but I can’t deny that the game’s aesthetic gives it something to help it stand out. In fact, it’s pretty much the only unique selling-point that Marathon could’ve reasonably been said to have. Art styles are a very subjective thing, but I can see a game that looks like Marathon finding an audience, or at least having its visuals as a key talking point at launch. That alone could bring in players… but now it’s ruined; soiled by Bungie’s incessant plagiarism.

Promotional screenshot of Marathon showing a first-person viewpoint. — The only thing *Marathon* arguably had going for it was its visual style.

This has happened before. Bungie has plagiarised art assets in Destiny 2 not once but twice, and has admitted as much. The studio is also embroiled in a lawsuit at present over stealing written work; in this case the storyline to one of Destiny 2′s expansion packs. And when Bungie launched a Nerf gun as a merchandising tie-in for Destiny 2, it turned out that the studio had also stolen the artwork that they used for that product. Plagiarism has become a way of life for Bungie, it seems.

Earlier in 2025, some players got to get their hands on an early version of Marathon – and the reaction was pretty poor. Some praised the game’s art style – ironically, given the theft of assets that has since been revealed – but noted that the game itself needs more time in the oven. There aren’t enough levels, the game is missing basic features, and while gameplay isn’t bad per se, it still needs a lot of work to reach the bar that fans of the extraction shooter genre would expect from a premium title. Marathon was already in big trouble… so this plagiarism controversy should be its death knell.

Promotional artwork for Marathon showing a weapon. — A close-up look at one of *Marathon’*s weapons.

It can be difficult to admit defeat and recognise that something you’ve worked hard on isn’t going to achieve its objectives. I get that, believe me. But to be realistic, that’s where Marathon is. I don’t think a delay is going to be enough. I don’t think stripping out all of the stolen art is going to be enough. I don’t even think that reworking the game from the ground up is going to be enough. At this point, it’s time to strip the game down to its basic parts, see if any of it is salvageable, and if possible, bring those pieces over to another project. There are bound to be some things – like animation work, weapon designs, or tweaks to the game engine – that could be recycled into another game.

Last year, the writing was on the wall for Concord before it even launched. And in 2025 (or 2026 if Sony and Bungie insist on a delay) the same feels true of Marathon. And I would argue that Marathon was already doomed before it emerged that Bungie had, once again, used stolen art assets all over the game. But given how controversial this blatant plagiarism has become, any residual support Marathon might’ve been able to count on seems to have evaporated. I really don’t see any successful path forward for the game at this point.

Still frame from the Concord trailer in 2024 showing the main characters. — If *Marathon* launches, it’ll be this year’s *Concord*.

I’m glad that AntiReal (or 4nt1r34l), the artist whose work was shamelessly stolen, was able to draw attention to what happened. Big companies can often feel like they’re above the law; that “little guys” have no power over them so they can do whatever they like. Social media and internet activism have shown, at least in this case, that people can come together when a company misbehaves. And make no mistake: Bungie would not have acted nor made any public statement on the issue if it hadn’t gone viral and picked up attention online. They’d surely have tried to brush it under the carpet and ignore it.

So it’s time to cancel Marathon. The game had a bunch of other problems even before it emerged that its entire visual identity – basically the only thing it had going for it – was based on thievery and plagiarism. This really should be the final nail in its coffin. Pressing ahead and trying to rework the game ahead of a purported launch this autumn won’t lead to any kind of success, so it’s better for Bungie and Sony to cut their (significant) losses and cancel the game. Unless they’re hoping to break Concord’s record as PlayStation’s biggest-ever failure.

At time of writing, Marathon is targeting a September 2025 release date. Marathon is the copyright of Sony and Bungie (or at least, the non-plagiarised parts are). Concord is the copyright of Firewalk Studios and Sony. Some images, screenshots, and promo artwork courtesy of Bungie and/or IGDB. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

Grand Theft Auto VI: The Delay and the Trailer

Sat 10.05.25Dennis

I was partway through writing this article about the recently-announced delay to Grand Theft Auto VI when Rockstar unexpectedly released the game’s second teaser trailer – so bear with me while I re-write a few sentences and shuffle things around!

The delay to Grand Theft Auto VI is going to be disappointing to a lot of people – but it’s also unquestionably the right call. Developer Rockstar Games is well-known in the industry for its abusive “crunch” practices in the run-up to big launches, so anything that potentially mitigates that and makes the working environment better for people is a hugely positive thing. Given Rockstar and Take-Two’s insane financial resources, and the continued revenue stream from Grand Theft Auto V’s online mode, there’s absolutely no justification for pushing to meet a self-imposed, arbitrary release window. If the game needs more time and more work, then delaying it is the right move.

*Grand Theft Auto VI* has been delayed to May 2026.

From a gameplay perspective, a delay is the right call, too. Since internet connectivity became commonplace on home consoles in the Xbox 360/PlayStation 3 days, more and more corporations have taken what I call the “release now, fix later” approach to game design – releasing a broken, unfinished game with the promise of patches and updates later to smooth things out. This rarely works as intended, and there are so many examples of games which should’ve been good that ended up being soiled by a poor launch. Even success stories, like Cyberpunk 2077, are still tainted for a lot of players, and will always have a little asterisk next to them explaining that, while the final version of the game may have been great, the launch version was piss-poor.

I don’t have any “insider information” from Take-Two or Rockstar, so I don’t know what might’ve been going on behind the scenes to prompt this delay. There wasn’t even an official release date for Grand Theft Auto VI, just a vague “2025” from the original announcement. As I said at the time, a delay felt like a reasonable prospect, so I’m not particularly surprised by the news. A second delay from spring to autumn 2026 also feels plausible – so watch this space, I guess!

Part of the game’s open world as seen in the recent trailer.

I’ve said it before and I’ll undoubtedly say it again: game delays are a good thing and should be celebrated, not criticised. I get it: it’s never fun when you hear that a game you’re excited about is going to be delayed, but if it means the finished product will be better (and, y’know, actually finished) then it’s going to be worth it. A game as large as Grand Theft Auto VI purports to be will take time for QA testers to work through, and I’m content to give Rockstar and Take-Two additional time to polish the experience and launch a better, more stable, less glitchy game. Even if that means waiting a year or two!

Thankfully, the reaction to delays from most players and fans these days is mature and acknowledges that simple reality. I think all of us have been burned at least once by a buggy, glitch-riddled, clearly unfinished game – and nobody wants to go through that again! There will be some upset players, of course, but I think most folks are mature enough to understand that this news, while it may be disappointing, will ultimately mean the launch version of Grand Theft Auto VI will be more polished and just an all-around better experience.

Hopefully *Grand Theft Auto VI’*s delay will result in a better finished product.

I do have a couple of things to add about the game, though, particularly now that we’ve seen the second teaser trailer.

Firstly, I’m a little disappointed that we still haven’t actually seen any bona fide gameplay in any of the marketing material that Rockstar and Take-Two have released so far. Both teaser trailers may be comprised of “in-engine footage,” but they show cut-scenes, carefully-curated clips, and content that may have been rendered especially for the game’s marketing. What we haven’t seen is any actual gameplay, and while you might say that’s fair enough if the game is more than a year away from launch, Grand Theft Auto VI was, until a few days ago, on the schedule for this year. I would’ve expected to see some glimpse of its gameplay by now, especially with Rockstar preparing that second trailer.

Any idiot can put together cut-scenes, clips, and pre-rendered artwork and make a compelling trailer. Trust me, I used to work in games marketing, so I know what it takes to showcase even the worst and most uninspired titles! Some absolutely atrocious games look decent in their own marketing material, and it’s a bit of a red flag for a game to have potentially been a few months or even just a few weeks away from launch with no gameplay on show.

Any game can look exciting with a carefully edited trailer comprised of pre-rendered cut-scenes and CGI.

This leads into my next point. I… I don’t feel blown away by anything we’ve seen from Grand Theft Auto VI so far. With the caveat that we still haven’t seen any official gameplay, the pre-rendered footage and cut-scenes that have been shown off just haven’t really stood out to me as being particularly special. There are some fantastic-looking games at the moment, particularly in the third-person action/adventure space, and for a game that Take-Two may genuinely try to sell for $100… I haven’t really seen anything in the Grand Theft Auto VI footage that could come close to justifying that.

That doesn’t mean I think the game “looks bad” or will be unenjoyable. But rather that I’d say it doesn’t look like anything special compared to the current crop of AAA titles on the market. Elden Ring, the remastered version of The Last of Us Part II, Alan Wake II, and even Rockstar’s own Red Dead Redemption II – which is now six-and-a-half years old – don’t feel particularly far behind what I’ve seen of Grand Theft Auto VI. Considering the upcoming game’s price point and all the hype around it, I would’ve expected to see a bit more by now to really sell me on why this’ll be a “once-in-a-generation experience;” the kind of thing I can’t afford to miss out on.

Nothing on show has really blown me away so far.

Grand Theft Auto VI looks like it’s going to be an outlaw story; a “modern-day Bonnie and Clyde,” with protagonists Jason and Lucia starting from a low point but taking Vice City by storm. I like that idea in theory, though a narrative can be hard to judge at this distance! But what I really want to see from Grand Theft Auto VI is its world. The characters and the story are incredibly important, of course, but that’s something I’ll discover for myself as I play the game. At this point in the marketing, we need to get a feel for the scale and depth of the world, and start to see what new gameplay features might be included.

Red Dead Redemption II is Rockstar’s magnum opus, and one of the finest games I’ve ever played. But after more than six years – seven going on eight by the time Grand Theft Auto VI actually launches – and an entire console generation, we should be seeing improvements. Grand Theft Auto V was originally released in 2013 on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, and players who skipped Red Dead Redemption II will be expecting much more significant improvements and changes. So far, from a couple of pre-rendered trailers, I’m just not feeling much of that.

Jason and Lucia – the game’s protagonists.

I don’t doubt that Grand Theft Auto VI will be a good game – but with the level of hype that’s been swirling around the project for over a decade at this point, will it be a great one? Can it possibly live up to these sky high expectations – and its rumoured $2 billion budget? If the game is on par with other open world titles from the last few years, will that be good enough for players who’ve been waiting for it for such a long time? These are the questions that Rockstar and Take-Two will have to answer – and the marketing campaign so far, while it’s admittedly at an early stage, hasn’t exactly dazzled me.

For those inclined to seek out such things, there are leaked videos and images of Grand Theft Auto VI – some dating back several years. I don’t want to judge the game based on leaks; having worked in the games industry in the past, I know the final build of a game can differ substantially from early versions! But the leaks are undeniably part of the conversation – and again… nothing’s really blowing me away. I see what looks to be a solid third-person action/adventure game, similar in tone and style to Grand Theft Auto V thanks to the familiar tropical setting, and… that’s it. Pre-judging a game based on leaks is silly, but what I’ve seen so far reminds me why I thought it would’ve been better for Grand Theft Auto VI to have been set in a different environment and possibly even in an earlier time period, too.

Should *Grand Theft Auto VI* have been set in a different city without a beach and palm trees?

You might remember me talking about this years ago. Before we had any official news about Grand Theft Auto VI, I said that I feared a modern-day story set in another tropical city by the beach might just be too samey and too familiar, and wouldn’t do much to give players invested in Grand Theft Auto V a reason to switch. Time will tell, of course, but I wonder if part of the reason why I don’t feel so enthused by the recent trailer (and the leaked footage) is because of how samey and familiar parts of it feel.

So that’s it for now. Grand Theft Auto VI has been delayed – and while that isn’t exactly fun, it’s good news in my book. I’d rather play a better, more polished version of the game a year later than a broken, buggy, unfinished version a year early. As to the story, setting, and gameplay, though… I’m not sure. I’m confident the game will be fun, and that could be good enough, I suppose. But for a game which could end up being the most expensive ever, raising the price of AAA games across the board, and after such a long wait in between titles? Rockstar and Take-Two still have work to do to convince me Grand Theft Auto VI will be worth the price of admission.

Oh, and there’s still not gonna be a simultaneous PC release, which is pretty shitty behaviour from Rockstar and Take-Two.

Grand Theft Auto VI is currently in development and is currently targeting a May 2026 release date. Grand Theft Auto VI is the copyright of Rockstar Games and Take-Two Interactive. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

The Xbox Price Hike

Fri 02.05.25Dennis

I’ve been critical of PlayStation and Nintendo in recent months for unnecessarily jacking up the prices of their consoles and games – and now it’s Xbox’s turn. If you haven’t heard, the prices of Xbox consoles, Xbox games, and most Xbox accessories are rising, coming hot on the heels of a significant price hike in Xbox’s Game Pass subscription service.

Don’t believe the lies: this isn’t because of “tariffs” or “inflation” – if anything, these price hikes are a cause of, not a reaction to, inflation. Xbox, like Nintendo and PlayStation before them, planned to jack up their prices months or even years ago. The latest economic turmoil may be a convenient excuse and shield – just like covid, “supply chain issues,” and inflation were a few years ago – but they aren’t the real reasons. The real reason is simple: greed.

Xbox consoles, games, and accessories just got a lot more expensive.

Not even two days ago, at the end of April, Microsoft bragged to investors on an earnings call about how well their Xbox brand and gaming division were performing. Where PlayStation, Nintendo, and other big players in the industry have been mostly stagnant for a couple of years, Xbox enjoyed significant growth – leading to higher than expected profits. Microsoft attributes this to the successes of Game Pass, the Call of Duty series, and Minecraft – the latter of which is probably connected to the release of A Minecraft Movie in cinemas.

The news caused Microsoft’s share price to rise, dragging up other related tech companies at a time when the stock market has been on a downward trend. Partly thanks to the continued success and growth of Xbox, Microsoft is now worth well over $3 trillion – that’s trillion, with a T. In spite of making record profits and enjoying growth that other gaming companies are struggling to maintain, less than two days later Microsoft has turned around and told customers and families that we’re going to have to pay significantly more for their products. They’re too expensive to make in these “challenging economic times.”

Microsoft boasted about ever-growing profits – including in its gaming business – mere hours before this announcement.
*Image: Microsoft Investor Relations*

Although these price hikes will have been planned months or years in advance, the timing of this announcement is – at least in my opinion – connected to the Nintendo Switch 2 situation that we talked about last month. Nintendo may have been roundly criticised for its announcement that games like Mario Kart World will cost $80/£75… but that doesn’t seem to have impacted pre-orders all that much at this stage. In fact, Nintendo announced record pre-order numbers at least in Japan, and as I suggested would happen, the vocal backlash to Nintendo’s announcement hasn’t been met with a comparable “boycott” or even a noticeable decrease in sales.

The same must be true of Sony and PlayStation. PlayStation consoles rose in price not that long ago, and the PlayStation 5 Pro became one of the most expensive pieces of hardware ever when it launched last year. But despite generating online protests, Sony’s devices and games have continued to sell – leading to the company making record profits in 2024. In that environment, Microsoft might as well join in, right? From a business and financial perspective, they’d be silly not to – it’s like leaving money on the table.

Nintendo was the first company to announce an $80/£75 game last month.

But for those of us who live in the real world, where incomes haven’t risen in line with inflation and where government help is harder to come by than ever, it’s a pretty tough pill to swallow. Nintendo and Xbox may claim at this stage that only “some” games will be priced at $80/£75 going forward, but that’s unlikely to hold for very long. Less than five years after the base price of games already went up by $10, another permanent price hike is happening. And if speculation about Grand Theft Auto VI turns out to be true, this might not be 2025’s only price rise. As I said when discussing the Nintendo Switch 2 situation just a couple of weeks ago: by this time next year, $90 or even $100 could be the asking price for AAA games across the board.

“But game development is expensive!” Or so goes the whiny retort from corporate sell-outs. Here’s my problem with that: if your corporation has literally never made more profit before in its existence, as is the case for Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft… that argument is dog shit. The same corporate suits can’t brag to investors and shareholders about how much money they’re making, then in the very next breath plead poverty to consumers and players. It doesn’t work like that – you gotta choose one or the other. If these companies were genuinely struggling to keep the lights on, I guess I’d be more receptive to that kind of argument. But when you see the financial reports and hear how eagerly the vacuous suits boast of their financial success, it’s pretty grating to be told that selling games for an already-inflated price is somehow “unaffordable.”

Microsoft brags about profits one minute then tries to plead poverty the next.

I said this several years ago, but here we go again: there really shouldn’t be a “cost of living crisis.” What we have is a “cost of greed crisis,” where almost every major corporation is making more money than ever, but they continue to jack up their prices to squeeze even more profit out of overstretched and overburdened people. It’s not because of “tariffs,” it’s not because of some nebulous concept of “inflation,” it’s pure and simple greed. And it’s disgusting.

That’s the lens through which I see Xbox’s price hike – and Nintendo’s and PlayStation’s, too.

The problem is that those three companies have an effective monopoly on the console gaming space. And while I’d never want to libel anyone by suggesting the executives at all three corporations are colluding to rig the market and raise prices… I wouldn’t put it past them. And if Xbox follows Nintendo’s lead and raises its prices to match – with Sony presumably set to do the same thing soon, too – what’s the difference? The end result is the same for those of us who just want to play a game or two.

The reality is that, even with disruption to the stock market and a potential recession looming, Microsoft and Xbox could’ve easily absorbed any financial impacts and still turned a very healthy profit. Nintendo could’ve done the same – even if it meant making a net loss on individual Switch 2 consoles in North America, the company would remain profitable. These price rises are a choice, one driven by corporate greed.

The main reason why I criticised PlayStation for hiking up the price of its consoles was because of how unusual a mid-generation price hike is. And Xbox is now firmly in the same camp. The trend for decades has been that consoles and games get less expensive as time goes on, not more. This console generation may have had some great games, but in many ways it’s been underwhelming. There’s been far less innovation, with corporations largely choosing to play it safe. There hasn’t been much by way of graphical improvement, thanks to companies choosing to launch many of their biggest titles on last-gen hardware. And there are fewer and fewer console exclusives – especially on Xbox’s side.

Most of Xbox’s biggest brands and games are available on other platforms.

With all of that in mind, is an Xbox Series S worth the new price of $400/£300? And is a Series X worth $600/£500? When the majority of the consoles’ price hikes are going directly into the pockets of investors, shareholders, and executives – and not to the people who are actually developing games – I’d say no. Absolutely not.

At the end of the day, as consumers we’re pretty stuck. If you want a home console, there are only three names in town – and they’re all jacking up their prices. If you want a brand-new game, from here on out they’re gonna cost $80/£75 at a minimum. Gaming just got a whole lot more expensive for no good reason.

All brands mentioned above are the copyright of their respective corporation/owner. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

The Oblivion Remaster’s Awful “Deluxe Edition”

Tue 22.04.25Dennis

In March of 2006, I distinctly remember rushing out of the office as soon as the workday ended to meet a friend. I didn’t yet own an Xbox 360, but my friend did – and he’d pre-ordered the sequel to one of my favourite games of all-time! I darted from the city centre down a side road to my friend’s place, which was a tiny attic apartment with one minuscule window and a sloping ceiling. As soon as I got there, we fired up The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and I spent the rest of the night hanging out with him as he created his character, played through the game’s iconic opening sequence, and stepped out into the world of Tamriel.

It wouldn’t be until 2008 or 2009 that I got to play Oblivion for myself, but when I did I had a whale of a time. I remember thinking that, while the game was more limited in some respects than Morrowind had been, other elements and mechanics more than made up for that deficit – and gave Oblivion a truly immersive world. All of the characters were fully voice-acted, facial animations and lip syncing looked great, and your character could mount and ride a horse! And the main storyline of Oblivion – the quest to find the Emperor’s heir and stop an invasion from another realm – was riveting stuff. I genuinely enjoyed my playthrough of Oblivion and its Shivering Isles DLC, and although I haven’t returned to the game since then, I still consider it to be a fantastic experience.

Screenshot of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion showing the iconic sewer exit scene. — Stepping out into *Oblivion’*s open world for the first time is an iconic scene in gaming for everyone who played through it.

I’d been hearing rumours of a remaster or remake of Oblivion for at least a year. But as you may know, I don’t like to cover hearsay here on the website, so I was content to wait until we heard from developers Bethesda and Virtuos in an official capacity before talking about the game. Earlier today, the Oblivion remaster was shown off – and I gotta say, it looks great. It won’t be a totally modern game, as it’s still built on the same bones of the original, but it’s been updated with all new graphics, additional voice acting, and some gameplay tweaks to bring things like combat and exploration closer to modern standards. As I write this, I’m actually downloading the Oblivion remaster and I plan to play it as soon as it’s ready!

But – and you knew there had to be a “but” coming after all of that – I feel pretty sickened by Oblivion’s £10 “Deluxe Edition.”

I’ll give Xbox and Bethesda a lot of credit for bundling Oblivion’s main pieces of DLC in with this remaster. Oblivion is almost twenty years old, and it’s retailing for £50 here in the UK, so trying to charge extra for Shivering Isles or Knights of the Nine would’ve been just plain wrong. But Bethesda is a greedy company, so there’s still something extra that players can purchase separately – and it’s connected to one of the most notorious episodes in the company’s history.

Promo image of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered with the Deluxe Edition content on one side. — The *Oblivion* remaster is launching with a £10 “deluxe edition.”

In April 2006, Bethesda released Oblivion’s horse armour DLC – one of the first pieces of small-scale cosmetic DLC for a single-player game. And the company was roundly criticised for trying to sell such a tiny and meaningless piece of content. Unfortunately for us all, and despite the relentless attacks from critics, the horse armour DLC sold reasonably well – well enough for Bethesda to keep going down this DLC road. Look at Starfield’s utterly disgusting in-game marketplace – which resembles something out of a free-to-play mobile game – to see where this approach ultimately led the company.

Other corporations in the games industry took note of both the backlash to, and the financial success of, Bethesda’s horse armour DLC… and it’s not unfair to say it was a harbinger of things to come. Many games now launch with little pieces of content hacked off to be sold separately, and it’s gotten so bad that I daresay most people won’t even bat an eye at the Oblivion remaster coming with a “deluxe edition.” But I’m afraid I do – I didn’t like it in 2006 and I like it even less now. Bethesda is, I would argue, one of the guiltiest parties in the games industry when it comes to pushing for and normalising the idea of single-player microtransactions – and that’s something which can quite literally ruin a game for me.

Screenshot of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion showing two armoured horses - a classic example of bad-value DLC. — The original *Oblivion’*s horse armour DLC was incredibly controversial in 2006.

So the Oblivion remaster is launching with an expensive £10 “deluxe edition.” Contained within that is the typical bullshit you might expect: a collection of JPEGs that self-importantly claims to be an “art book,” the game’s soundtrack, and… wait, what’s that? Surely it can’t be… horse armour? Bethesda wouldn’t do that again, surely? But it is. It’s horse armour.

Oh piss off, Bethesda.

Seriously? After all of the controversy in 2006, with horse armour becoming the quintessential example of bad-value DLC, you’re really going to do this again? It must be a joke, right? A self-aware nod and wink to fans and players. But Bethesda is still earnestly asking you to cough up an additional £10 to access this “deluxe edition” content, complete with horse armour.

Cropped image of the Oblivion Remastered Deluxe Edition content, showing two armoured horses. — We’re really doing this again, huh?

I could be wrong, because I haven’t played Oblivion in more than fifteen years at this point, but the “deluxe edition” horse armour in this remastered version doesn’t look the same as the original 2006 version. But is that because it’s brand-new content or is that just the way it looks in the remastered version? Visuals have changed across the board, so I genuinely can’t tell at a glance. If it’s brand-new, I guess that’s at least marginally better. But if this is the original horse armour updated for the remaster, still being sold separately… I mean. I’m at a loss for words.

Super Extra-Special Platinum Premium Deluxe Editions of most games are usually poor value. Worse, they carve out content that was developed alongside the main game and fully-integrated into it to be sold separately for extra cash. I really do miss the days when games came feature-complete out of the box, and when expansion packs added a meaningful amount of content. But to sell a “deluxe edition” for a twenty-year-old game which is already retailing for £50 is piss-poor from Bethesda. And that’s not even mentioning that this “deluxe edition” contains the poster child for bad-value DLC; horse armour was received so universally poorly that it became a meme and remains the textbook example of this kind of single-player microtransaction to this day. Heck, I’ve used horse armour as an example of a shitty microtransaction on several occasions here on the website.

Still frame from the Oblivion Remastered presentation, showing four people playing the game in an office setting. — Staff at Virtuos working on the *Oblivion* remaster.

I thought it was a joke when I first saw the leaked image of Oblivion’s “deluxe edition.” I could believe that Bethesda and Xbox would be greedy enough to create a poor-value “deluxe edition” of a twenty-year-old game, but when I saw the horse armour bit… I genuinely thought it must’ve been a joke. It looked like something a troll had mocked up to poke fun at Bethesda and the old controversy. But no, this is real. It’s 2025 and Bethesda is asking you to pay extra for horse armour in Oblivion all over again.

I think the Oblivion remaster looks good. The presentation that Bethesda and Virtuos put together was genuinely entertaining, and the people involved all seem to be passionate Elder Scrolls players and fans. That leads me to believe the game is in good hands. I’m a Game Pass subscriber, and the Oblivion remaster is available there, so it felt like a no-brainer to fire it up and step back into that world for the first time in more than fifteen years. But this “deluxe edition” has really taken the shine off the game for me. I don’t know if anyone else cares as much as I do; this doesn’t feel like a Nintendo Switch 2 type of situation, where the price is overshadowing everything else. But would it really have been such a financial hardship for Bethesda to offer the “art book,” soundtrack, and fucking horse armour as freebies? Is that content worth £10 to anyone?

Promo screenshot of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered. — A promotional screenshot of the *Oblivion* remaster.

Bethesda could really use a win right now. The company has endured basically a decade of controversy, with Fallout 4, Fallout 76, Starfield, and even some of its mobile games all having issues and being criticised. With The Elder Scrolls VI still years away, this launch of the Oblivion remaster was a chance to get people talking about the company and its games more positively for a change. It was an opportunity to remind players why they liked Bethesda’s games to begin with, as well as to keep the series in our minds as production on The Elder Scrolls VI continues. I can’t help but feel this “deluxe edition” greed is getting in the way of that, at least somewhat.

And I have to ask: was it worth it? This article could’ve been titled something like “Bethesda stuns everyone by shadow-dropping a remastered version of Oblivion!” and I could’ve spent this time talking about my memories of the game, what I like best about the remaster, and how cool it is in 2025 to see a big game being released immediately after its announcement. Instead, we’re talking about horse armour again, and how Bethesda is a greedy, money-grubbing company. We could’ve been reminded of what Bethesda games were when they were close to their best, but instead we’re reminded more of Starfield’s microtransactions than Oblivion’s storytelling.

I’m gonna play the Oblivion remaster, I’m gonna try to push the stupid “deluxe edition” out of my thoughts, and if I’m lucky (and if Virtuos hasn’t screwed things up) I daresay I’ll have a fun time getting lost in the world of Tamriel all over again. But I’m disappointed that the game launched like this, and I really don’t think it would’ve been too much to ask to include those tiny pieces of content in the already-expensive price of the remaster.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered is out now for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series S & X. The game is also available on PC Game Pass and Xbox Game Pass. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered is the copyright of Bethesda Game Studios, Virtuos Games, Xbox Game Studios, and/or Microsoft. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

Mario Kart World: Sky High Price, Unmet Expectations?

Sun 20.04.25Dennis

I’ve been looking forward to the game I’d been tentatively calling “Mario Kart 9” for years. Seriously, check out the dedicated Mario Kart page here on the website; five years ago, I was already putting together fantasy retro cups and talking about which characters could be included. I first played Super Mario Kart when I had a Super Nintendo in the early ’90s, and one of my favourite memories from my time spent working in the games industry is getting to play Mario Kart 8 in 2013 – a full year before it launched – at an official Nintendo press event. I’ve played every mainline game in the series on their original consoles (and maybe on a cheeky emulator, too) and I’ve had so much fun playing by myself and with friends. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is my most-played Switch game by quite a long way, and I still go back to it to play my favourite tracks every now and then.

So let’s re-emphasise that for the record: I am a Mario Kart fan!

Why do I feel the need to start this piece with such a big disclaimer? Well, having sat down to watch the Mario Kart World Nintendo Direct broadcast with pretty high expectations… I’m left feeling a little disappointed. Usually I don’t like to criticise a game before it’s even been released, but the way Nintendo is pitching Mario Kart World – and particularly how the corporation is pricing the game – hasn’t left a good first impression.

Still frame from the Mario Kart World Nintendo Direct broadcast showing Luigi racing on a desert track. — How do you feel about *Mario Kart World*?

I knew and understood that Mario Kart World would have fewer racetracks than Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has. That seemed blindingly obvious to me years ago, even before the Booster Course Pass doubled the number of tracks, so I don’t necessarily think it’s a problem or a bad thing that the new game will launch with what looks to be 32 race courses instead of 96. But… there’s no getting away from the fact that with fewer tracks comes less replayability and less diversity of environments. I can fire up Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and play a racetrack I haven’t seen in months; Mario Kart World’s roster – at one-third the size – will wear out its welcome relatively quickly in comparison.

And that comparison matters because, according to Nintendo, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (and presumably the Booster Course Pass, too) will be playable on the Switch 2. Not only that, but it’ll be slightly less expensive for way more racetracks: copies of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe retail for less than £40 here in the UK, with the Booster Course Pass as a downloadable add-on for an additional £22.50. The price of Mario Kart World is going to be £67 digitally or £75 for a physical copy.

The store listing for Mario Kart World. — *Mario Kart World’*s official Nintendo Store listing.

Some of the new and re-imagined racetracks look good, don’t get me wrong. Boo Cinema looks especially creative, DK Spaceport looks new and retro at the same time, and I really liked the new look at Wario Stadium from the N64 – which, in its original form, was one of my least-favourite tracks from that game.

There are a couple of oddities, however, among the roster of tracks. Firstly, even if you put a gun to my head I wouldn’t have included Sky High Sundae; that bland track is one of the worst from the Booster Course Pass and when there were so many better options, I don’t know why a boring food-themed oval would be included here! DS Desert Hills was also fairly uninspired in its original form, though at least there’s a bit more room for improvement there, perhaps. I’m also a little concerned about the Crown City racetrack being part of two different cups; not sure what’s going on there or how those tracks will be different, but I guess we’ll find out.

Still frame from the Mario Kart World Nintendo Direct broadcast showing Boo Cinema. — Boo Cinema looks like a very creative racetrack.

On the character roster, my main of Dry Bones is included, which was important for me personally! And obviously the cute cow is going to be a fan favourite, as will new additions like the Hammer Bro and Monty Mole. But again… Mario Kart 8 Deluxe still comes out on top here, and there are going to be some pretty disappointed players whose favourite drivers aren’t coming back this time. The likes of Isabelle and the Villager from the Animal Crossing series, Link from Zelda, Diddy and Funky Kong, and most of the Koopalings from the Super Mario series don’t seem to be included. There are also noteworthy omissions from Mario Kart Tour – the phone game that has proven to be quite popular. King Bob-Omb, Donkey Kong Jr., and Peachette are all missing. And where oh where is Pink Gold Peach?!

There also appear to be no Mii characters or other user-created characters. Again, this could be a bit of a blow to players who liked to put themselves into the Mario Kart experience.

Still frame from the Mario Kart World Nintendo Direct broadcast showing Cow. — I can’t be the only one who thought this character would have a different name, right?

I’m not especially disappointed that underwater driving seems to have been removed. In most cases in Mario Kart 7 and Mario Kart 8, underwater sections felt pretty samey, especially in tracks that weren’t really designed with that in mind. Amsterdam Drift is a case in point; its bland concrete channels filled with crystal-clear water felt nothing like the city they were supposed to represent. Having said that, removing a feature is something rare for the Mario Kart series… and Mario Kart World seems to have sacrificed several popular features and ways of racing.

In addition to underwater racing, we’re losing the glider and anti-gravity, too. This is going to be more of a limitation than you realise, as it’s going to impact which tracks can be brought into the new game in future. Courses like Mario Kart 8′s Mario Circuit, which used anti-gravity in a big way, or Piranha Plant Cove, which was almost entirely underwater, seem to be ruled out as future inclusions due to these changes.

Screenshot of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe + Booster Course Pass showing Dry Bones racing on Piranha Plant Cove. — Dry Bones racing on Piranha Plant Cove.

And we’re still just getting started with removed features. Battle Mode seems to have gotten a significant downgrade, not only in terms of there being fewer battle types available, but also with a lack of dedicated battle arenas. The Direct didn’t focus on Battle Mode for long, as it’s seemingly an afterthought in Mario Kart World, but from what we did see, all of the battle mode footage seems to be taking place on regular racetracks. Some of the tracks may have areas cordoned off to turn them into makeshift arenas, but that’s hardly the same thing has creating dedicated, hand-crafted ones. Fans of Battle Mode (a category into which I do not fall) may not be thrilled with these changes.

Then we come to the vehicles themselves. Kart customisation has been entirely removed. Instead of choosing wheels, bodies, and gliders separately – as we did in Mario Kart 7 and Mario Kart 8 – karts now come as complete units. There are different models to choose from, sure, but again the lack of customisation means there’s less choice than in previous titles. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe had literally hundreds of possible combinations, but Mario Kart World is narrowing this down with pre-made karts and bikes.

Still frame from the Mario Kart World Nintendo Direct broadcast showing the vehicle select screen. — There are no customisation options for vehicles this time.

200cc mode has been present in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Mario Kart Tour, but again it was noticeably absent from the Nintendo Direct. Is it possible that this mode is locked by default and needs to be unlocked through gameplay? Sure… but then why hasn’t Nintendo said so? Is it possible that this mode is locked and needs to be paid for to unlock it? That was the case in Tour, so I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s the reason for Nintendo’s radio silence. I’m gonna level with you – I’m a 150cc racer! 200cc has always been a bit too fast for my taste, but again it’s not just about what I want or what I’d miss. The fact that this mode – which is popular with some of Mario Kart’s biggest fans – is missing is significant.

So let’s recap. There are fewer battle modes with seemingly no dedicated battle areas. One-third as many racetracks as Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Missing drivers, including some fan-favourites from the most recent game in the series. No vehicle customisation. No underwater or anti-gravity racing. And possibly no 200cc mode. If that’s the sum total of what’s been removed, it begs the question… what’s going to take the place of all of these missing features?

Still frame from the Mario Kart World Nintendo Direct broadcast showing Mario in Battle Mode. — Battle Mode appears to have received a downgrade.

Mario Kart World’s marketing thus far has really hyped up its open world. That’s the main new feature; an inclusion so big it’s literally in the game’s title.

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: an open world is not the right choice for a lot of games. Too many franchises and series that try to emulate this popular style not only don’t do a good job, but they lose what made their earlier iterations so successful and/or unique in the process. There are plenty of examples of bland open worlds that are just too empty and too devoid of meaningful gameplay to be fun… and parts of the Mario Kart World Direct and marketing material are making me feel nervous in that respect.

Still frame from the Mario Kart World Nintendo Direct broadcast showing the game's map. — *Mario Kart World’*s map.

If the free roam mode were an entirely optional thing, I guess I’d say it wasn’t a huge deal. It would still be frustrating in some ways that Nintendo chose to add this open world area at the expense of some of the features, characters, and gameplay components we talked about above, but if it’s an optional thing that I can turn off and not engage with… that’s tolerable, right? But Mario Kart World is being built from the ground up around this open world mechanic… and I’m concerned that it’s going to have a negative impact on the main thing I want out of a Mario Kart game: fun, arcadey racing.

Driving from one racetrack to the next, either in Grand Prix mode or in one of the Knockout Rallies, could be a lot of fun, but that’ll depend on how interesting the in-between areas actually are. Some of the free roam highways and roads looked pretty straightforward, with not many twists or turns and no noticeable obstacles aside from a few cars. But what really concerns me the most is that in this mode – which is apparently the default – races are knocked down from the usual three laps to just one.

Still frame from the Mario Kart World Nintendo Direct broadcast showing the free roam title card. — How interesting will this free roam mode actually be?

To reiterate that: instead of racing three laps of each racetrack, the default option in Mario Kart World will be to race one lap, with these in-between sections taking up the rest of your time. Even if the open world is bigger, more interesting, and laid out better than I’m expecting based on what I’ve seen so far… that can’t be right, can it? The whole point of a Mario Kart game is to race around fun, well-constructed, cleverly-designed racetracks. To cut back on the main aspect of gameplay for this open world aspect just strikes me as being wrong; it’s as if Nintendo’s own developers and producers don’t realise what people want, expect, and enjoy the most in a Mario Kart game.

There have been open world racing games before. Forza Horizon 5 is one – and that’s a game I happen to really enjoy. But games like that are designed in such a way that every road and off-road track can be raced on, and I just don’t get that impression from Nintendo’s marketing material so far. If you’ve played Forza Horizon 5, for example, you’ll know that basically every road in the game is included in at least one race, and there are all kinds of different vehicles, different races to get involved in, and different challenges out in the open world. There’s no distinction between the racetrack and the open world; every road can be driven on in free roam mode and raced on in a variety of different races. That doesn’t appear to be true of Mario Kart World, which seems to have 32 racetracks separated by open world areas.

Still frame from the Mario Kart World Nintendo Direct broadcast showing four different free roam scenes. — Four examples of the game’s open world away from the racetrack.

The Nintendo Direct was the best opportunity to sell Mario Kart World and to show off how dense and full of stuff to do its open world is. Based on what was on display, I’m just not feeling very confident in this aspect of the game. And when the open world is so important to Mario Kart World that Nintendo is even willing to cut out laps of the main racetracks in Grand Prix mode, that isn’t great.

As far as I could see, there are four things to do in the open world. Firstly, you can drive from one racetrack to another in either the Rally or GP modes. Secondly, there are switches to hit which allow you to collect blue coins. What these coins do or whether there’s any point to them beyond a collect-a-thon wasn’t clear. Third, there’s a second kind of coin referred to as a “Peach Medallion” to collect. Again, what these do isn’t clear. Finally, there are question-mark panels to hit – but what these do, and what the point of hitting them is, wasn’t explained.

Still frame from the Mario Kart World Nintendo Direct broadcast showing a challenge/mission in free roam mode. — Do these challenges and collect-a-thons serve a greater purpose… or are they just filler?

Mario Kart isn’t a big, deep narrative experience. I don’t care about “spoilers” in a game like this, because there really isn’t anything substantial to spoil. So to me, this feels like a pretty big marketing fail on Nintendo’s part. By not explaining these open-world features in a bit more detail, Nintendo has left me with the impression that the blue coins, medallions, and question-blocks are basically going to be akin to the pigeons in Grand Theft Auto IV insofar as they don’t do anything, add nothing of substance to the game, and just serve to pad things out with unnecessary busywork for players. They could be an attempt to compensate for the lesser number of racetracks while offering a half-hearted justification for the open world format.

I could be wrong about that – and if so, I’ll definitely make a note of that if and when I play the game for myself. But speaking as someone who used to work in video games marketing, the fact that I’m coming out of this presentation with such a poor impression of the game’s biggest new feature and key selling-point? That’s not good, and Nintendo needs to do more in the weeks before Mario Kart World launches to clarify what some of these semi-hidden collectables will actually do, and if there’s going to be more to the open world than has been revealed so far.

Still frame from the Mario Kart World Nintendo Direct broadcast showing Yoshi finding a coin. — Yoshi closes in on a hidden coin.

In theory, an open world Mario Kart game is not a bad idea. But the open world side of the game – if it’s going to be implemented in this way as a core feature around which basically the entire rest of the game is being built – needs to have more to offer than we’ve seen so far. A few random collectables doesn’t, in my view, justify sacrificing a dozen or more dedicated racetracks that could’ve been added to the game, and driving in between races doesn’t seem like it’s gonna feel all that special if all there is to drive on are straight highways or empty off-road fields and patches of dirt. This free roam mode could be a fun idea if it were just a little additional area for players to muck about in while waiting in a multiplayer lobby, or to kill time with a friend on the couch. But when the entire game is built around an open world like this… let’s just say I hope it’s better than it looks and has much more going on than we’ve seen so far.

Art styles are a subjective thing, and there’s no denying that Mario Kart World looks better than Mario Kart 8 Deluxe did. But I’ll be blunt: I don’t think it looks a lot better. The art style is basically the same as it was in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and while there’s more texture to some parts of the game – like tyres, for example, or the metal on a Bullet Bill – I’m just having a hard time seeing the graphics as being a significant upgrade given the price hike.

Still frame from the Mario Kart World Nintendo Direct broadcast showing Bullet Bill. — This is definitely the best Bullet Bill has ever looked.

Mario Kart World will be, at launch, the most expensive racing game on the market. Heck, it’s technically the most expensive video game of all-time as no other Switch 2 titles are launching at £75/$80. But when you take even a cursory look around at other racing games, even in the arcade racing space, Mario Kart World looks positively last-gen. Again, this isn’t a criticism of the graphics or art style on their own, but rather how the game is priced relative to its competitors and how the price is seen in relation to the most recent entry in the series.

After more than eleven years and two entire console generations, Mario Kart World ought to be a massive step up in visual terms. But it isn’t. It’s a step up, sure, I won’t try to deny that. But it doesn’t feel like a game that can really push the Switch 2 to its limits. Even if we compare the Switch 2 to the previous-generation Xbox One and PlayStation 4, there are games on those consoles which looked better and did more with graphical fidelity than Mario Kart World is seemingly aiming for.

Still frame from the Mario Kart World Nintendo Direct broadcast showing photo mode (and the main characters from Super Mario Kart on a billboard). — Is *Mario Kart World* a significant enough visual and graphical upgrade given its high price?

In this respect, I feel like Nintendo is cheaping out. The corporation knows it has a winner in the Mario Kart series (Mario Kart 8 Deluxe sold something like 60 million copies on the Switch) so there’s less of a need to push the boat out. Resources that could’ve been spent on improving the game’s overall visual style and graphical fidelity have been reallocated, because Nintendo feels confident that the new game will sell incredibly well no matter what.

There was a moment in the Mario Kart World direct where my favourite racer, Dry Bones, does a little spin and momentarily faces the camera. That animation seems practically unchanged from Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (and trust me, I’ve spent hundreds of hours with Dry Bones in that game, so I know what his trick animations look like!) Neither the animation nor the character model itself look or feel noticeably different to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and I’m left underwhelmed by that. Nintendo has had years to work on improving the way Mario Kart looks… this new entry in the series feels like the least-impressive upgrade so far, at least in graphical terms.

Still frame from the Mario Kart World Nintendo Direct broadcast showing Dry Bones performing a trick. — This animation is lifted directly from *Mario Kart 8 Deluxe*.

Nintendo isn’t the only company to be graphically stuck, of course. I noted before the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 launched that this console generation was likely to be the least-impressive so far in terms of graphical upgrades, and I think four-and-a-bit years of cross-generational games have more than born that out! But Nintendo has been years behind Xbox and PlayStation in terms of graphical fidelity, so there was an opportunity with the Switch 2 and Mario Kart World to get closer to what current-gen (or even just last-gen) consoles were capable of. That opportunity doesn’t appear to have been taken, at least not fully.

So Mario Kart World looks better, but only iteratively so. Its deliberately cartoony style and bright colours covers some of that up, and I wouldn’t say anything about the game looks bad. But from my perspective, nothing about it blew me away, either – and again, this comes back to the price point. For $80, and as the most expensive racing game of all-time, does Mario Kart World look good enough? Is the graphical upgrade significant enough to justify a $20 price hike from a mere one generation ago?

Still frame from the Mario Kart World Nintendo Direct broadcast showing Mario racing on a snowmobile. — This is the best Mario Kart has ever looked… but not the best it *could* have looked with a bit more effort.

Mario Kart World is going to add some new features that look like a lot of fun. I noted above that anti-gravity racing is gone, but replacing it will be grinding on rails and hopping on vertical surfaces. These look like they have some potential to open up different ways to race, and I’m in favour of that. Gliders may be gone, but racing in the air isn’t, with karts seemingly transforming into planes at different points. Again, this looks like it could be a lot of fun, and while it’s not exactly ground-breaking in the way the introduction of gliders was in Mario Kart 7, I’m at least pleased to see it remains a part of the Mario Kart experience.

Then we have a feature that I can already tell is gonna be controversial: re-winding gameplay! Speaking for myself, I can see this having a very specific use: practicing particularly difficult jumps or shortcuts. Think about it: how many times have you played a track with a very precise shortcut, only to fail it and have to re-start? This re-wind feature seems like it’ll help players who want to practice certain parts of racetracks, and I don’t really have an issue with that. I don’t see it being especially useful in actual races, though, but it almost feels like an accessibility feature in some respects, which if you know me you’ll know I’m keen on in games in general.

Still frame from the Mario Kart World Nintendo Direct broadcast showing the rewind feature. — There’s a use for this feature. A limited use, sure, but still a use.

After proving to be a big hit in Mario Kart Tour (and Super Mario Odyssey, too) character costumes are coming to Mario Kart World. I like this – and I like the idea of unlockables! I just hope that Nintendo isn’t planning on selling skins like they did in Tour, trying to pretend like the most expensive racing game of all-time is a free-to-play mobile title. As I won’t be buying a Switch 2 at launch, I’ll be able to keep an eye on this from afar, and if it seems like a crappy skin marketplace is going to be added, that’ll be a huge red flag against Mario Kart World for me.

I gotta say, though, the way some of these costumes are unlocked feels a bit… weird. I mean, the way it was explained is that you visit some kind of roadside food truck, acquire a dish, and then your character is transformed. When I watched the Switch 2 Direct, I thought it was funny that Mario ate a cheeseburger then was wearing a stereotypically “American” outfit. That couldn’t be on purpose, I thought! But no, that’s literally how this mechanic works. Eat sushi and you get a Japanese costume. Eat a burger and your character turns into an American. I guess if you want to get a Spanish outfit you eat paella? Or if you eat fish and chips you turn British? It’s funny in some ways… I guess. But it also feels like it’s kind of stereotyping whole countries and cultures, boiling them down to one dish and one type of outfit. It also wasn’t made clear how many alternate outfits are present in the game – and whether characters like Dry Bones will have any. It seems like every character should have alternate appearances if this consuming food mechanic is a universal thing, but again this wasn’t explained in any of the marketing material.

Still frame from the Mario Kart World Nintendo Direct broadcast showing Luigi with a pizza. — Mamma mia! That’s-a one spicy pizza pie!

There are things I like in Mario Kart World. Some of the new items look interesting, like the coin shell and the ice flower. Kamek’s magic could be interesting, too, though I suspect it’ll be somewhat limited. I like the idea of character costumes even if I’m not entirely sold on how they’re unlocked and implemented. And there are some fun looking racetracks – both brand-new ones and reimagined retro courses. If Santa Claus gave me Mario Kart World for free, I would play it, I’d enjoy at least parts of it, and it would probably end the generation among my most-played Switch 2 games.

But a game can be good and still underwhelming, delivering a fun experience while failing to live up to the expectations that have been set for it. By pricing the game so high, Nintendo has set expectations that its marketing material strongly suggests Mario Kart World will not reach. Given the corporation’s penchant for monetisation and microtransactions, I’m also concerned that things like new tracks, new drivers, new costumes, and even items might be sold separately, driving up that sky high price even further.

Still frame from the Mario Kart World Nintendo Direct broadcast showing Bowser's Castle. — It’s Nintendo headquarters… I mean Bowser’s Castle!

So that’s how I feel coming out of the Mario Kart World Direct.

Nintendo has, in my view, not handled this situation particularly well. Mario Kart World’s marketing campaign is overwhelmingly dominated by its record-setting price point, meaning everything is being viewed through that lens. The sky high price comes with sky high expectations, and Mario Kart World may struggle to meet them for some players – such as myself. Of particular concern is the open world – will there be enough to do and enough variety of driving experiences in between the racetracks to make it a worthwhile addition to Mario Kart? I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

I hope this has been interesting – and not too depressing. If you’re beyond hyped for Mario Kart World, please keep in mind that all of this is just one player’s entirely subjective opinion, and I’m not trying to tell anyone how to feel or that they shouldn’t be excited for this game. In many ways, I’m still excited to play a new Mario Kart game. I’m just a little concerned that it won’t be as spectacular as it arguably should be given its price point, and as someone who used to work in games marketing, I’m left decidedly underwhelmed by the campaign Nintendo has created for its new console’s flagship launch title.

Mario Kart World will release alongside the Nintendo Switch 2 on the 5th of June 2025. Mario Kart World (and other titled mentioned above) is the copyright of Nintendo. Some promotional art courtesy of IGDB and/or the Mario Wiki. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

Nintendo Switch 2: The Price Problem

Fri 11.04.25Dennis

When I took a look at Nintendo’s Switch 2 broadcast earlier this month, I noted that the price for games has gone up – and that could be offputting for some players and families. It turns out that Nintendo’s self-inflicted price problem has blown up and quickly became one of the biggest talking points coming out of the presentation… so today I thought we could look at the issue in a bit more detail. We’re also going to answer a deceptively simple question: will it matter? Or by the time the console launches, will most people simply brush off the price hike and buy one anyway?

First of all, let’s separate the price of the Switch 2 console itself from the price of at least some of its flagship games. £400/$450 – which is the current price at time of writing, prior to any tariff-related adjustments – didn’t strike me as being terrible. It’s more or less in line with the current-gen Xbox and PlayStation consoles, sitting somewhere in between those consoles’ cheaper and more expensive variants. But is that the right price point for a Nintendo console – particularly one which is a hybrid, and far less powerful than its competitors?

Screenshot of Smyth's UK website showing the Switch 2 listing. — The Switch 2 will sell for £430 here in the UK.
*Image Credit: Smyth’s UK*

In 2018, I paid £280 for my Nintendo Switch. That’s just seven years ago, yet the price of a Nintendo console has gone up by 42% in that short span of time. That doesn’t feel right the more I think about it – and going back to earlier console generations, this is Nintendo’s biggest price jump… ever. In the ’90s, the price of Nintendo’s consoles stayed at $199 in the United States, even as inflation set in. The GameCube in 2002 cost the same $199 at launch as the Super NES had in 1991. From there, Nintendo consoles jumped up an average of 22% each generation from the GameCube to the original Switch. You can check out the numbers and do the sums for yourself if you like – all this information is publically available online.

All of this leads to a reasonable question. What is the Switch 2 offering to justify a 42% price hike over its predecessor?

It isn’t innovation. As we discussed last time, Nintendo seems content to double-down on the Switch format, not doing anything radically different. The Wii U, Wii, Nintendo 64, DS, 3DS, and other Nintendo machines all offered some kind of new or innovative way to play when they launched, but the company seems to have thrown in the towel on that front – at least for this current generation.

Still frame from the Nintendo Direct: Switch 2 broadcast showing Elden Ring. — *Elden Ring* – as it will appear on Switch 2.

It isn’t better graphics, either. The Switch 2, as I noted in my response to the Nintendo Direct, looks okay, but nothing blew me away in graphical terms. Some titles – like Elden Ring, Cyberpunk 2077, and Hogwarts Legacy – look noticeably worse on the Switch 2 than they do on other consoles or PC. Look at the trees in the screenshot above – see how flat and two-dimensional they look? Compare that screenshot from the Switch 2 to a comparable one from Elden Ring running on a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series console and see how there’s a significant downgrade.

So the Switch 2 is, in essence, an iterative improvement on the original Switch format. It retains the branding, the same colour scheme, the same cartridge format, the same hybrid nature, and the same controls, too. Graphically, it may be an incremental improvement – but it’s going to be running cutting-edge titles in a noticeably worse way than its two similarly-priced competitors. Some of the biggest games around – Grand Theft Auto VI most noticeably – won’t run or even attempt to run on the system, too.

Still frame from the Nintendo Direct: Switch 2 broadcast showing Mario Kart World. — *Mario Kart World* running on a Switch 2 in handheld mode.

But people don’t buy a Nintendo console to play Elden Ring, right? Not as their primary console, anyway. Most folks I’ve spoken to have enjoyed the Switch’s portability, and have commented on the novelty of playing full AAA games like The Witcher 3, Monster Hunter, or Minecraft on a portable device. But those same people have, almost universally, owned a PC or another console which they’ve used as their “primary” gaming machine.

Look at the best-selling Switch games: they’re almost all Nintendo originals. Super Mario Odyssey, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Breath of the Wild, the Pokémon series… these are the games people buy a Switch for. And in comparison to the current Switch, there’s no doubt that the likes of Mario, Luigi, Donkey Kong, and Pokémon are going to look better on the new machine. Nintendo has even shown off “enhanced editions” of some popular Switch games that will get visual upgrades on Switch 2.

Is the $450 price point too high for a console like that, though?

A stock photo of a hand holding a stack of $100 bills. — Is the Switch 2 overpriced?

Speaking for myself, I won’t be buying a Switch 2 this year. My original Switch felt like a good deal at under £300, but I’ve only seriously played four games on it in the seven years I’ve owned it: Luigi’s Mansion 3, Super Mario Odyssey, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. I’ve tried my hand at a few other games, but that’s it. Four games in seven years. And I won’t be the only person in that position… the reality is that Nintendo consoles have a pretty specific use, and the days of people choosing a Nintendo console instead of an Xbox or PlayStation are pretty much gone. So… who’s gonna pay $450 for a secondary console? Or a console that their kid is asking for?

By pitching the Switch 2 at the same price point as an Xbox, a PlayStation, and more importantly, handheld PCs like the Steam Deck, Nintendo is inviting comparisons to those devices. A Steam Deck, which starts at $349 in the United States, would be a much more versatile machine in many ways, and arguably a better purchase than a Switch 2 for someone looking to play games on the go. Can Nintendo really win over players and parents at this price point?

Promo photo of a Steam Deck. — The Switch 2 will be more expensive than a base model Steam Deck – and almost the same price as an Xbox Series X.

Really, the only thing the Switch 2 has going for it are its exclusives. And I gotta be honest here: the Nintendo Direct really only showed one which I could see being a system seller. Donkey Kong Bananza is the kind of game you buy when you’ve already got the console and you’re shopping for things to play. There’s no new Mario game or Mario spin-off. And there’s no Animal Crossing title, either, which could’ve taken advantage of the casual audience that showed up in droves for New Horizons. The Switch 2’s “killer app,” at least at launch, is Mario Kart World. That’s it. Everything else has either much more of a niche audience or just… won’t shift consoles on their own.

I don’t want to undervalue Mario Kart World. The game does look good, no question. Nintendo has always had the premiere kart-racer, and that shows no signs of changing! But as I said in my look at the Switch 2 Direct… I can’t justify £430 (which is the bundle price for the Switch 2 + Mario Kart World here in the UK) to play one game. And this is where the next problem comes in, because for a lot of people… one game might be all they can afford.

£75 ($80 in the US) for Mario Kart World is just obscene. Not only is it a ridiculous price for a simple kart racing game, but it’s a massive jump from the price of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – and other games on the current-gen Switch.

I paid £41 for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe on the Switch, a similar price for Mario Kart 8 when I was one of about seven people who owned a Wii U, and I paid £32 for Mario Kart Wii in early 2009. Even allowing for inflation – which has punched all of us in the face in the last few years – we’re talking about game prices almost doubling from the Switch to the Switch 2 in some cases. I don’t have receipts for every Switch game I’ve bought, but the ones I could find average out at around £45. At the high end I’d pay £50, at the lower end closer to £30 or £35 for a brand-new Switch game. Even going from £50 – the RRP for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – to £75 is a jump of 50% from one generation to the next; if a new Animal Crossing game is similarly-priced it’ll have basically doubled. These are massive increases, there’s no two ways about it.

Still frame from the Nintendo Direct: Animal Crossing broadcast showing an animal villager being surprised. — The next Animal Crossing game could easily be £75/$80 too.

There does seem to be some flexibility with pricing, as Donkey Kong Bananza will be less costly than Mario Kart World. So perhaps Nintendo is aiming to use the highest price only for its flagship titles, with “lesser” games in second-tier franchises coming in at the slightly lower price point. That’s not a bad idea in theory – and it’s something that the games industry has always done. But if the “lower” price for titles like Donkey Kong Bananza is still north of £60/$70… that’s not gonna feel like much of a saving.

There was talk earlier in the year of Take-Two Interactive and Rockstar potentially pricing Grand Theft Auto VI at $80, $90, or even $100 when it launches, and Nintendo’s price hike may well have cemented that – if it wasn’t guaranteed already. And this is another area where players are rightly concerned: if Nintendo gets away with jacking up its prices, what’s to stop everyone else in the industry from following suit? Gaming could be about to get a lot more expensive – less than five years after the basic price of many titles already leapt up by $10.

Still frame from the Grand Theft Auto VI trailer showing a character waving her arms in celebration while riding in a car. — Take-Two and Rockstar must feel like celebrating right now!

This is not entirely Nintendo’s fault, of course. And there’s truth to the argument that these price rises were going to happen sooner or later anyway, if not with the Switch 2 then with Grand Theft Auto VI, and if not then then at the very latest by 2028 or 2029 when new Xbox and PlayStation consoles launch. But I don’t think that absolves Nintendo of blame; despite what the corporation’s mega-fans might want to tell you, it’s a greedy, money-grubbing company that will do anything to make an extra buck or two. Look at the Pokémon series as a prime example: two nearly-identical versions of most games are released. Why? To wring extra money out of Pokémon’s biggest fans. Nintendo, unlike most other gaming powerhouses, rarely puts its titles on sale – and if it does, the discounts are far less generous than those you’d see elsewhere. Despite its attempt to cultivate a family-friendly image, Nintendo is as ruthless and greedy as every other big corporation out there – something hammered home by this price hike.

So the question players will have to wrangle with is this: no matter how good a game like Mario Kart World might look, could it possibly be worth $80? Is any game worth that much? And given that at least one DLC or “season pass” seems like a guarantee, is Mario Kart World going to be worth the $110-140 that the complete version will cost? I’m a Mario Kart fan and have been for decades, but when you start talking about the next entry in the series hitting triple figures like that… I mean, it’s pretty offputting.

There are die-hards who turn up for every Nintendo game and every console – and the company knows it has those people in the bag. But where Nintendo has found success over the past twenty years has been with a more casual audience. People who don’t play a lot of games might pick up a Switch to play one or two party games or cozy titles like Animal Crossing. Folks who already have a PlayStation or Xbox might pick up a Switch as a secondary console to play some first-party Nintendo games or to play their favourite titles on the move. The price point of Switch 2 games really gets in the way of that casual approach. It transforms the way folks will think about the console and its games from a secondary machine or a casual multiplayer experience into a bigger investment. And that could be seriously detrimental to its prospects. If Nintendo has mis-read where the bulk of its audience is, and misunderstood the reasons for the Switch’s success, this unashamed greed could prove the Switch 2’s downfall.

With all that being said, my gut feeling at this point is that the Switch 2 will find an audience. It may not launch to the unparalleled success of its predecessor right away, and it might never catch the Switch’s incredibly impressive 150 million sales. But I don’t think we’re looking at the next Virtual Boy or even another Wii U situation; there are enough players invested in Nintendo’s core titles to make the Switch 2 at least somewhat profitable. And, despite what we’ve talked about, there’s evidence from players already that price rises are acceptable. There will be complaints, no question – but at the end of the day, there are plenty of examples of players being vocal and upset about the price of a new game, only for that game to sell really well. It happened at the start of this current generation when prices went up, it’s happened incrementally with premium special editions and the like, and I see no reason why it won’t happen for Nintendo this time.

Still frame from Nintendo's website showing the price of Donkey Kong Bananza. — *Donkey Kong Banaza* will cost more than most other big releases this year, like *Assassin’s Creed Shadows* and *Kingdom Come Deliverance II*.

What all this means, then, is that gaming is about to get even more expensive. If you think PlayStation and Xbox will sit idly by and let Nintendo raise its prices while they don’t… I’m afraid you’re going to be proven wrong. It might not happen on the day the Switch 2 launches, but as we’ve already seen from Xbox and PlayStation this generation, if they can get away with it they will. And if there was any lingering fear at Take-Two headquarters about jacking up the price of Grand Theft Auto VI, I think we can safely say that’s gone, too. If GTA 6 launches later this year as scheduled, we might be looking at $90 or even $100 for AAA games across the board by this time next year.

Inflation has impacted games companies. But when they’re also making record profits… I really don’t have a lot of sympathy. Nintendo’s share price recently dropped a little due to tariff-related shenanigans that have impacted basically every publically-traded corporation, but the company made record profits across the Switch’s lifespan. “Game development is too expensive” doesn’t really fly as an excuse when Nintendo made $3.25 billion in profit last year.

Still frame from the Nintendo Direct: Switch 2 broadcast showing three Nintendo developers holding a Switch 2 console. — Three of Nintendo’s senior developers.

Most of us in the real world haven’t seen our incomes rise with inflation, and even in the games industry that’s true for developers and other employees. As Nintendo jacks up prices by 40% for its consoles and 33% for games, do you really think that money is going into the pockets of the folks who work there? Is anyone at Nintendo – aside from the executives, naturally – getting a 40% pay rise? I doubt it.

Food for thought, anyway, if you’re considering buying a Switch 2.

Gaming is getting more and more expensive, that’s for sure. With Nintendo pitching the Switch 2 at a comparable price point to Xbox and PlayStation consoles, as well as portable PCs, while jacking up the prices of its games beyond the current industry standard… all I can really forsee at this stage is comparable price hikes from other corporations. But maybe Nintendo’s gamble won’t pay off. Maybe we’ll look back on this decision in a couple of years’ time and say that the hefty price tag doomed the Switch 2 before it could even get out of the gate. I’m not rooting for it to fail, but I will be keeping an eye on the situation!

The Nintendo Switch 2 launches on the 5th of June. Pre-orders for the Nintendo Switch 2 are available now. The Switch 2, Super Mario, Mario Kart World, and other properties discussed above are the copyright of Nintendo. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

Nintendo Switch 2 Direct: Thoughts and Impressions

Thu 03.04.25Dennis

Yesterday was a big day for the entire world. No, not because of Trump’s tariffs… there was a Nintendo Direct all about the upcoming Switch 2! I thought it could be interesting to break down what was revealed (and talk about a few things that weren’t, too) so that’s what we’re going to get into today.

First of all, I have to admit that I’m surprised about the name and branding, as well as the overall look of the console. Last year, I said that I felt pretty sure that Nintendo wouldn’t use the name “Switch 2,” and that the console would likely come with a new colour scheme to distinguish itself. I was wrong on both counts… and I hope that won’t lead to any confusion. Switch 2 game cards are going to be the same size and come in similar packaging, with the same red colour. There could be some disappointed kids on Christmas morning unwrapping a Switch 2 game when they only have an original Switch – and I’m a little surprised that Nintendo didn’t do more to help the console differentiate itself from its predecessor.

Still frame from the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct showing three Nintendo executives and the Switch 2 console. — Nintendo executives Kouchi Kawamoto, Tetsuya Sasaki, and Takuhiro Dota presented the Switch 2 broadcast.

The same is true of the name. Every Nintendo console so far has had a unique name, even if those names were similar. The Super Nintendo Entertainment System followed the Nintendo Entertainment System, for example, but where a lot of folks seemed to get confused was with the Wii U. “Switch 2” is much more straightforward, so I don’t think there’ll be anywhere near the same level of confusion from the general public! But I am a bit surprised that the new console retains the Switch name, colour scheme, branding, and even really the same design. There are changes, particularly with the new Joy-Cons, but on a superficial level it’s hard to tell the consoles apart.

And I guess Nintendo is playing it safe. The Switch has been a massive success, so why risk doing something new and innovative when there’s clearly still a huge demand for this kind of hybrid system? The drawback, as a player, is that Nintendo has been the last of the massive game companies to really invest in innovation, and if they’re stepping back from that… it kind of leaves the gaming landscape feeling pretty static going into the second half of the 2020s. I mean, no one really expects a new Xbox or PlayStation to do something wild and unexpected; Nintendo has been the only game in town when it comes to inventing new control schemes and new ways to play. Not all of those have worked, of course, and playing it relatively safe is probably the smart move from a business point of view. But there was nothing earth-shattering in the Switch 2 Direct in the same way as there was when the original Switch, Wii U, Wii, or even GameCube were announced.

Still frame from the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct showing the Switch 2 console. — The Nintendo Switch 2.

Even though my platform of choice these days is PC, I confess that I really only use the mouse for strategy games; I generally prefer to use a control pad most of the time. But if there’s one thing I could say about the Switch 2 that feels different and interesting, it’s using a Joy-Con like a computer mouse. Nintendo isn’t new to this, by the way – there was a SNES mouse in the 1990s that was used in titles like Mario Paint. But it’s a first for a home console in the current generation, and Nintendo seems to be leaning into the mouse idea in a big way. I can see it being phenomenally useful in games like Civilization VII, which will be coming to the Switch 2, and I’m sure fans of first-person shooters will appreciate the idea of using it in titles like Metroid Prime 4, too.

What most intrigues me, though, is the idea of using both Joy-Cons at the same time – basically like having two mice. I’ve never seen a game which played that way, yet if you think about it, the possibilities for dual-mouse gameplay seem almost limitless! It’s something quite simple, yet it’s never been tried before (or if it has, it never caught on). Nintendo showed off a basketball-inspired game called Drag X Drive which seems to use the two Joy-Cons in this way – but I hope it won’t be the only game to offer that kind of control scheme. Drag x Drive looks great, and it’s wonderful to see some disability representation in a presentation like this, too. I’d really like to see what other developers might be able to do with this way of controlling a game.

Still frame from the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct showing the Joy Con controllers and Drag x Drive. — Using two Joy-Cons like this could be a really creative way to play games.

We’ll talk more about games in a moment, but if we stick with hardware for now… I was a bit surprised that Nintendo didn’t go into more detail about the Switch 2’s specs. We got a bit of information about the built-in screen, which will now be 1080p (full HD) instead of 720p, and that the Switch 2 can also scale up to 4K when docked. But there wasn’t a lot of meat on the bones; what kind of processor does the system have, how much VRAM, and pretty basic things like that weren’t mentioned.

I have to assume that this was a deliberate choice – that Nintendo knows the internals aren’t spectacular, so opted to talk about cameras and voice chat instead. From a totally unscientific look at the Switch 2 Direct – with the obvious caveat that a video presentation compressed for YouTube isn’t going to look its absolute best – I was underwhelmed with the graphics. It didn’t help that most games shown off aren’t brand-new, but nothing about the graphics on display really impressed me. If I had to guess, I’d say the Switch 2 is probably about on par with something like an Xbox Series S, which in turn was comparable to the previous generation of home consoles. So we’re talking about graphical fidelity that might’ve looked great in 2012… but is nothing special in 2025. That’s nothing new for Nintendo, of course, and it isn’t to say that (most of) the games on display didn’t look good! But it is notable that there doesn’t seem to be a significant graphical leap considering the price of the console and its games.

Still frame from the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct showing Welcome Tour. — We didn’t get much of a look at the Switch 2’s internals this time.

One part of the Switch 2 that has me nervous is the magnetic Joy-Con connection. Despite Nintendo’s promises, the dual magnets to hold the controller in place when in handheld mode just don’t seem as sturdy as they would need to be to keep the console safe. The way it was explained in the Direct also made it seem like something that could be accidentally knocked, so even if the magnets are as strong as advertised, the mechanism to keep them working might be vulnerable to bumps, drops, and knocks. If you want to screw with your friend when they have a Switch 2, flicking the little magnet button might be a naughty way to mess up their gameplay!

Alright, let’s talk about price. The console itself doesn’t feel over-priced. It’s an increase from the Switch, but after eight years (and an inflation problem in the interim) that’s to be expected. But the price of games has jumped up quite a lot, too, with Mario Kart World seeming to retail at £66 for a digital-only version and a whopping £75 for a physical game cart in a box. That’s more than the so-called “standard price” of most other video games on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series consoles, at least here in the UK. Assuming other titles will be similarly-priced, the Switch 2 seems like an expensive proposition right now.

Screenshot from Smyth's showing the Switch 2 pre-order page. — The Switch 2 – with *Mario Kart World* included – retails for £430 here in the UK.
*Image: Smyth’s UK*

There are other gripes with the way things are priced, and a lot of this is the typical and expected anti-consumer shite from Nintendo that the company’s fans always try to pretend doesn’t exist! Selling the Switch 2 camera separately is fine; not everyone is going to want one. But charging £50 for what looked like a cheap, crappy webcam that, even in Nintendo’s own marketing broadcast, didn’t seem to output a particularly high-quality image? That feels like highway robbery.

Why on earth is Switch 2 – Welcome Tour something to pay for? Nintendo bundled Wii Sports with the Wii when that console launched, introducing players to the Wii remotes and motion controls. If there are things I need to know about my new Switch 2, and Nintendo has created an interactive presentation for the express purpose of explaining those things… it’s not unreasonable to expect that to be included in the price, is it? The console is going to be £400 ($450 in the United States) at a minimum, so why be so stingy with this Welcome Tour thing? It also feels like an exceptionally bone-headed move… who’s really going to buy Welcome Tour, even if it’s only like £5? I can’t see it being a popular item.

I can’t help but feel Nintendo missed a trick with its Game Chat feature, at least based on the way it was marketed in the Direct. Being “alone together” would’ve been great… five years ago when it was lockdown! But now? I know online gaming is huge and it’s gonna find an audience, but the choice of marketing language just strikes me as odd. It’s as if Nintendo thinks people are still stuck at home, desperate to find ways to connect. There were other ways to show off this feature without harkening back to the covid era which, quite frankly, a lot of people want to forget.

Game Chat, on its own, is nothing new or revolutionary. People have been using voice chat while gaming for literally decades at this point, so Nintendo is unusually late to the party. I do, however, like the promise of a microphone that can isolate a voice and cut out background noise, and a camera that can crop out the background. Neither of these things are new; streamers have been using green screens to appear in their live streams for years. But to have it work smoothly, in real-time, with several people at once… that’s impressive. If it works as advertised!

Still frame from the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct showing a gamer using the Switch 2 Camera. — The Switch 2 will have a camera accessory.

Let’s get into the games! After all, what good is a console without any games?

I’ll do the third-party titles first, because I don’t really have that much to say about them. As I said above when we were talking graphics, none of the third-party games blew me away. In fact, Elden Ring in particular seemed to have gotten a noticeable downgrade, at least based on gameplay and screenshots that I’ve seen. The trees in particular looked exceptionally flat and two-dimensional, and I just didn’t think the game looked its best. The same was true of Cyberpunk 2077, which looks and runs great on my PC but seemed downgraded and less visually impressive on the Switch 2.

On the one hand, these are large, demanding games, so the fact that they’ll run at all on Switch 2 is impressive in itself. But… Cyberpunk 2077 is a game approaching its fifth anniversary and that launched on last-gen hardware (albeit in a poor state). So, the fact that it doesn’t look great on the Switch 2 seems to suggest that the internal hardware is lacking, which could have a knock-on effect for games later in the console’s lifespan. Maybe Switch 2 games in 2025 will look pretty good, but by the time we get to 2029 and a new PlayStation and Xbox are in the offing… what will players make of the Switch 2’s capabilities by then?

Still frame from the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct showing Elden Ring. — *Elden Ring’*s open world has never looked… flatter.

I’ve been intrigued by IO’s Project 007 since it was announced, and I’m a tad disappointed that we didn’t get so much as a whiff of gameplay. The game was teased… but that’s all! It’s not a bad thing necessarily, and it’s great for Nintendo fans to know a new Bond game is coming to Switch 2. But given that the game was prominently included in the Switch 2 Direct, I would’ve liked to have seen something more!

Onward to Nintendo’s own games!

So… the Switch 2 is launching with two cartoony racing games? Did I get that right? In addition to Mario Kart World, there’s also going to be Kirby Air Riders, which is the sequel to a GameCube title that I think I might’ve played once. As with so many things Nintendo does… this has confused me. By all means, have both games on the Switch 2. But should they both be releasing in the same year, perhaps just weeks apart? And should they have both been shown off as part of the new console’s marketing campaign? Really, Nintendo… you couldn’t have prioritised another game for 2025 and pushed Kirby Air Riders to next year? It just seems… repetitive.

Still frame from the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct showing Kirby Air Riders. — Did the Switch 2’s launch announcement really need *two* cartoony racing games?

When the Mario Kart World broadcast arrives later this month I might have more to say! But for now, I like the look of the new game. I’m not sold on the “free roam” idea necessarily, but it could be a fun addition and a way to shake things up. Games like Forza Horizon have done fun things with more of an open world design, and as long as there’s content and not just empty roads and fields, it should be okay. The Mario Kart series has always given players options, so adding new modes like “free roam” and the knockout race should be fun. I’m not sure how much I’d personally play either, but I can see them both becoming beloved by some Mario Kart players.

There seem to be character costumes in Mario Kart World, which is fantastic. And new mechanics seem to include transforming vehicles (I saw a boat, a plane, and a snowmobile), bouncing off walls, and even grinding on rails and cables. I’m not sure how big all of these new features will be, or whether they’ll only be available at certain places in certain racetracks – that’s almost certainly gonna be the case for the big articulated lorry that we saw! But these features all look like a lot of fun. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has been great on the Switch, and I’m hopeful for Mario Kart World’s prospects on the Switch 2. I just hope Nintendo won’t ruin the game by overly monetising features like alternate costumes.

Mario Kart World is getting its own dedicated Direct in a couple of weeks, so there might be more to add then. Be sure to check back!

Still frame from the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct showing Mario Kart World. — *Mario Kart World* is the Switch 2’s big launch title.

The final game to talk about is Donkey Kong Bananza. I was hoping for a new 3D Donkey Kong title – the first since Donkey Kong 64 a quarter of a century ago – and Bananza looks… well, it looks okay. I was kind of getting more of a Yooka-Laylee vibe than an Astro Bot vibe from the reveal, if that makes sense. I’m not sure it’ll be the first game I buy for the Switch 2, but if it reviews well I’ll definitely give it a try. I enjoyed Donkey Kong 64 on the Nintendo 64, and it’s definitely a treat to welcome back DK for another 3D adventure.

There were a couple of absences from the game lineup, though. There was a tiny glimpse of what looked like Animal Crossing: New Horizons, but other than that there was no mention of the series. Given that New Horizons is the best-selling Switch-exclusive title, that’s a bit of an oddity in my opinion! I guess that means a new Animal Crossing game isn’t imminent. There was also no new 3D Mario game – nor a 2D Mario game or a Mario sports title, come to that. A new 3D Mario title is unlikely to be too far away, and Donkey Kong Bananza is clearly intended to be in the same space for players. But I was a little surprised to see absolutely nothing from either of these big titles which I assume are in development.

Still frame from the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct showing Donkey Kong Bananza. — Donkey Kong is back for his first 3D adventure in a quarter of a century!

The final thing to talk about is pre-ordering. If you’re a massive Nintendo fan, you pay for Switch Online, and you play a ton of games… you still might not be able to pre-order a console. Why? Because even if you’re a paid Switch Online member and have been for years, if you haven’t opted in to marketing emails from Nintendo, you can’t pre-order from the Nintendo shop. What utter dog shite is that?

I had hoped Nintendo would’ve learned from the Wii and Switch about ensuring there’ll be enough consoles to meet demand, but apparently not. Nintendo seems to be deliberately setting up pre-orders in such a way as to assume there won’t be enough to go around… or, if I put my cynical hat on for a moment, to create an artificial and forced sense of scarcity. An attempt to drive up sales by playing on fans’ fears of missing out is just scummy, and I really hope that there will be enough Switch 2 consoles for everyone who wants one on launch day – and especially later in the year as Christmas approaches.

Still frame from the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct showing the console and its release date. — Given the weird pre-order requirements, will there be enough Switch 2 consoles for everyone who wants one on launch day?

So I think that’s everything from my notes!

Will I buy a Switch 2? Probably… but it’s unlikely to be in 2025. I really do like the look of Mario Kart World, and as someone who’s been playing Mario Kart since the first game back in the SNES days, I’m definitely excited to try it out for myself. On its own, though, Mario Kart World is a big ask when you’re talking about spending £430! Maybe when there’s news of a new 3D Mario game and/or the next Animal Crossing title, the Switch 2 will feel more like a “must-buy!”

So if you’re planning on pre-ordering a Switch 2, I guess you’re glad to hear that there’s at least one fewer competitor out there for what could be a limited number of consoles at launch!

The Switch 2 Direct was interesting, but I think it’s too early to really judge how successful the console will be. On the one hand, the original Switch has been a resounding win for Nintendo. But on the other, the high price of games on Switch 2 could be a hindrance, and while I could be alone in this, I feel that the new console’s design and marketing haven’t given it a strong identity of its own. Piggybacking on the Switch’s success could prove to be a masterstroke for Nintendo… but someone at the company said the same thing about the Wii U drawing on the popularity of the original Wii, and look how that turned out!

After the Mario Kart World Direct later this month, I may have more to say about that title. And as the year rolls on and the Switch 2 launches, I’ll definitely be checking out the reviews. I daresay I’ll have more to add before too long – so be sure to check back from time to time for more coverage of Mario Kart, the Switch 2, and Nintendo in general. I hope this look at the Switch 2 Direct has been interesting!

The Nintendo Switch 2 launches on the 5th of June. Pre-orders for the Nintendo Switch 2 go live on the 8th of April. The Switch 2, Super Mario, Mario Kart World, and other properties discussed above are the copyright of Nintendo. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

Civilization VII: Further Thoughts

Sun 02.03.25Wed 05.03.25Dennis

Since writing up my first impressions of Civilization VII a few weeks ago, I’ve continued to play the game. Today, I wanted to cover a few points that I didn’t make in that original piece – which I wrote after about six hours of gameplay – as well as make one amendment to something I feel was unclear last time.

For the record, I still think Civilization VII has a lot of potential. But right now, there are things holding it back – as well as a few bugs and issues that I didn’t notice at first that really need to be patched out as quickly as possible. I’ve kind of hit the wall with Civ VII after about 40 hours of gameplay, and I probably won’t jump back in until the next update. There’s a reason for that, and we’ll begin there.

Screenshot of Civilization VII (2025) showing a scout, forests, and ice. — A scout near the edge of the map.

At time of writing, there’s a bug – or at least a major imbalance – that has totally ruined several games for me. In short, either AI civs are underpowered or barbarian city-states are overpowered. In several recent games I’ve played – or rather, attempted to play – this has led to barbarians conquering and defeating AI players before the game can really get going. There’s no way to increase the number of AI players in the game to try to counteract this, and it isn’t something that’s only happening on lower difficulty settings or certain maps, either.

Having barbarians and hostile city-states is great, it adds a whole extra dynamic to gameplay and it makes the very early game feel more tense and dangerous. But these mini-factions have to be balanced better, because they shouldn’t be able to knock out AI civilisations except under rare and unusual circumstances. Making them an obstacle for human players is great – but making them so overpowered that they can kill one, two, or even three civs in the ancient era before the game has a chance to get going… that ruins the game for me. And I’m sure it has for other players, too.

…and the same city a few turns later after being captured.

I’m mostly familiar with Civilization VI. That was the first game in the series I played extensively, so it’s my point of comparison. Barbarian tribes in that game could be aggressive, particularly in the early game. And while I can’t call to mind any specific examples, it must’ve happened at least once that an AI civ was knocked out of the game by a particularly strong barbarian attack. If that did happen, though, it was a rare occurrence no matter what the settings were, and it simply isn’t something that should be happening so often in Civilization VII.

Because of the way Civ VII’s eras work, knocking out an AI player cuts down the amount of time an age lasts. In one recent game, the ancient age seemed to be over in a flash after not one but two AI players were defeated off-screen – presumably by barbarians. The game only has three eras to begin with… so speed-running one of them in this fashion isn’t great.

Screenshot of Civilization VII (2025) showing a barbarian camp/village. — A hostile city-state/barbarian village.

That leads into my next point. This is much bigger for Civilization VII and much less easy to fix… but there really aren’t enough ages in the game, and the way they operate as effectively three mini-games in one feels limiting.

I’m an adaptable person, and Civilization VII’s new rules and new gameplay mechanics should be surmountable for me. I’m not lashing out at the game because I “don’t like change,” or I want to keep playing Civ VI. Having played quite a few games now, with different leaders and factions, I’m beginning to get used to most of the changes and differences – but the way eras function is something I’m still struggling with.

I mentioned in my first impressions that war doesn’t carry over from one era to another – nor do most units. Even units that survive an era transition don’t remain where they had been placed on the map; they’re either grouped together in an army or dropped one by one into cities and towns – which also don’t survive the era transition in their previous form. All cities except for the capital revert to being towns, losing all of the bonuses cities get and forcing you to re-convert them later.

Screenshot of Civilization VII (2025) showing an army commander and a city. — The beginning of a new era removes some units entirely, relocates others, and changes most cities back into towns.

This really limits the way Civilization VII plays. To give one example: if I want to wage war in the ancient era, I basically have to build up my military from turn one and choose the first civ I meet as my target for conquest. There just isn’t enough time – even in a game with the maximum number of turns and eras that are as long as the game allows with its current, very limited options – to do things any other way. However you look at it, this is a limitation on play styles, because I’m forced to do one of two things. Either I have to write off the idea of an early war and conquest of a neighbour – which can be limiting and annoying, as AI civs have a tendency to forward-settle, placing cities right next to mine or even in the middle of my burgeoning empire. Or I have to prepare for war from turn one.

War can be time-consuming in a game like Civilization VII, and if you’re coming up on the end of an era, there’s basically no point in even starting one. The end of an era forces you to make peace with anyone you’re fighting, and it also removes units from the board and repositions others, meaning it isn’t possible to instantly re-start a conflict after the transition. This makes war in the early game much more limited – either you launch an attack as early as possible against whichever unlucky civ you’re right next to, or you’re stuck on the defensive, lacking enough time to build up a sufficiently-sized army to launch a full-scale conquest.

Screenshot of Civilization VII (2025) showing an Egyptian unit attacking a city. — War in the ancient era.

The one thing a 4X strategy game like Civilization VII mustn’t do is limit your options. War, diplomacy, exploration, peace… everything should be on the table, and as the player I should feel in control. Sure, there are gonna be times where I’m under attack and on the defensive. And there should be unpredictable elements in there. But if I know for a fact that there’s basically no point starting a war once the era clock reaches a certain point, or that all I have to do is hold on for a few more turns because a mandatory peace treaty is coming as soon as the era ends… that puts real limits on even defensive wars.

Beyond just war, though, I find the way eras are handled to be pretty limiting. Each faction has unique civics to unlock, for example, but these come at the expense of the regular civics tree, and with one civics tree per era your choice is either fall behind the AI or sacrifice those unique policies and bonuses. In a longer game with one civics tree, it might be easier to catch up – or to race ahead in order to dedicate time later on to unlocking those dedicated civilisation civics. But the eras limit this mechanic in a pretty disappointing way.

Screenshot of Civilization VII (2025) showing the Roman unique civics tree. — Each faction gets its own unique civics tree.

Eras also limit exploration, and by extension what kinds of maps are available. Because the middle exploration era is entirely focused on colonisation, it’s impossible to speed-run a tech like celestial navigation in order to settle islands or continents that are separated from your starting area by ocean tiles. There are also resources – like cocoa, for instance – that are locked until the exploration era. It isn’t even possible to explore islands and continents elsewhere on the map before the game deems it acceptable.

Again… this is really limiting. I can’t build a ship or a scout and send them off to the far corners of the map; I’m stuck on my starting continent or island until one-third of the game has passed. This, in turn, limits what kind of maps are available – there are no Mediterranean maps, for example, with land surrounding a body of water, or single-continent maps with outlying islands. There are fewer map types and less map variety in order to accommodate this eras system… and for me, the trade-off isn’t close to being worth it.

Screenshot of Civilization VII (2025) showing all six map options. — All six of the available map types.

Then we come to era transitions, and choosing new factions. In my first impressions, I noted that most factions are locked until certain gameplay requirements are met to unlock them – and I should clarify that I was referring to this transition between eras. In one case, I had been playing as Isabella and chose Spain for the exploration age. But when the era ended, I literally only had one option for the modern age: Mexico. All of the other modern era civs were locked because I hadn’t, for instance, settled a city on tundra or dug three oil wells. Because these requirements were not communicated well – and were not communicated at all in the preceding era – I had no choice but to finish that game as Mexico.

Obviously I’ve got nothing against playing as Mexico, and I would’ve picked that civ eventually. But why should Civ VII be so restrictive with its faction choices? Even in more recent games where I’m more aware of these limitations and I’ve tried to overcome them, there are always some civs locked when the ancient age transitions to the exploration age, or when the exploration age gives way to the modern age.

Screenshot of Civilization VII (2025) showing a Soldaderas unit on a road. — Mexico’s unique unit: the Soldaderas.

I can understand the developers wanting to make sure players don’t accidentally shoot themselves in the foot by choosing a civ with bonuses that aren’t applicable or with unique abilities that they’d struggle to take advantage of because of the way earlier era(s) have unfolded. But these restrictions feel way too limiting as they’re currently implemented, and with the whole “choose one civ per era” mechanic being Civilization VII’s biggest new feature, it shouldn’t be so difficult and finicky to work with. This is basically the entire selling-point of the game – so why make it so limited and restrictive?

Part of the appeal of Civilization VII is the idea that I can chart my own unique route through history. I can start as Egypt, then become the Inca, before ending the game as Prussia. If I play as Spain and find I can only transition to become Mexico… that completely robs this aspect of the game of its one unique selling-point, and is yet another limitation on gameplay styles in a game that already has no shortage of those.

Screenshot of Civilization VII (2025) showing several modern age factions. — In this example, two modern age civs are locked.

I want to be able to choose in what order I move units or set policies. Sometimes, Civilization VII will arbitrarily limit this, forcing me to choose the benefits of a celebration before I can move units. If I’m in the middle of a war or trying to lay siege to a city, I want to focus on that first and foremost! If I select a unit, I shouldn’t be forced to do something else before I can order it to move or attack.

There also seems to be a bug where, after building the Dogo Onsen wonder, every city in my empire gains population (meaning I have to manually grow each city by adding a tile or specialist). This is pretty annoying, especially when you have twenty-plus cities; having to manually click through all of them, adding a tile or specialist, before the game will let you do anything else takes up a lot of time. Hopefully this bug can be fixed in the next update.

Screenshot of Civilization VII (2025) showing a town being expanded. — Growing a town is fun… growing twenty in a single turn? Less so.

Speaking of bugs, I’m concerned that natural wonders are glitched. In short, every single game I’ve played has had the same three natural wonders: the Grand Canyon, the Redwood Forest, and Zhangjiajie. I’ve seen the Great Barrier Reef once in one other game – and that’s it. There are, according to the Civ Wiki, fourteen others… but I’ve never seen any of them even once, not in any of the games I’ve played. And this isn’t because I always pick the same civ or the same map type: I’ve played most leaders and most civs at least once, and I’ve tried out all of the map types (but not every size of map, to be fair).

So… is this a bug? Or in forty-some hours of gameplay, have I just been randomly unlucky to continually encounter the same three natural wonders every time? There’s something to be said for that level of random chance… so maybe I should buy a lottery ticket this week! Seriously, though, there are already a pretty sparse amount of these natural wonders – way more need to be added. To keep encountering the exact same ones is just boring and repetitive. If this is a bug I hope it’s patched out. If not… what the heck’s going on?

Screenshot of Civilization VII (2025) showing the Grand Canyon natural wonder. — There are more natural wonders… right?

I like the idea of crises. But unfortunately, this is another area where I fear a bug is causing games to feel repetitive and less-interesting – to the point where I’ve started turning off the crisis option when starting a new game. Crisis events throw up a challenge for your civilisation and force you to implement certain policies which have to be accommodated and worked around. But as above, in every single game I’ve played so far, I’ve encountered the exact same crisis in every age every time.

In the ancient age, I’ve only ever gotten the “revolt” crisis, which sees my empire tested by towns and cities losing happiness due to a variety of factors. There’s some potentially-interesting storytelling here, which is neat… but it gets boring game after game. In the exploration era, every game saw my cities laid waste by plagues. Again, this was potentially interesting, but it wore off after the fourth or fifth time I saw it in successive games. Then, when it came to the modern era, I don’t know if there even are any crises to be had – I haven’t encountered any.

Screenshot of Civilization VII (2025) showing a city suffering from plague. — A city afflicted by plague in the exploration age.

Adding in these kinds of events should be interesting. But if the same ones trigger every single time… is that a bug? I don’t play the game the same way every time, and with different leaders, different civs, and the game set up in totally different ways on different maps, why should I constantly encounter the same crisis events? It’s just another thing that feels, well, limiting. And it got to the point where I decided to just turn off crisis events altogether rather than have yet another instance of the same thing making my game feel repetitive and dull.

Finally, I’d like to talk about Civ VII’s art style – and particularly the way cities look.

I love Civilization VII’s graphics, and going for a more “realistic” look after the stylised and cartoonish Civ VI is a choice that I personally appreciated. It might not be to everyone’s taste, but I felt it was a step up, and I really like the way the game represents water and ships at sea in particular.

Screenshot of Civilization VII (2025) showing a battleship. — A battleship on the ocean.

However, there’s a problem – and I didn’t really notice it at first. In Civilization VI, it was really easy to tell at a glance which buildings you’d constructed in a city. Campuses and science buildings were blue, for example, and military buildings had red detailing. But in Civ VII, most buildings look very similar to one another, and with no districts or zones that are specific to certain types of building, they can be literally anywhere in a city. This makes it really hard to tell, without zooming in closely or digging through a menu, whether you’ve built all of the libraries and science buildings you wanted to, or whether a city has an important building like a railway station or a market.

This isn’t insurmountable, as it just takes a bit of checking. But when you have a sprawling empire of twenty-plus cities in the late game, it can be hard to keep track of every building. In order to ensure you’re getting the most out of your settlements and maximising your available yields, you need to be on top of what buildings you have and which ones you need. Being able to see, at a glance, which ones are present in which settlement is useful – and stripping this away to leave very generic-looking buildings and urban districts just gets in the way of that. It might make cities look “more realistic,” but it’s less useful and feels like a bit of a hurdle to smooth gameplay.

Screenshot of Civilization VII (2025) showing a Mexican city in the modern era. — Can you tell at a glance which buildings this city has and where they are?

So after playing a bit more Civ VII (okay, quite a lot more) those are some additional points that I wanted to make. Later in the year, after the game has received more updates, patches, and its first pieces of DLC, I’ll definitely jump back in and see if I want to write an updated review or some additional notes.

I still believe Civ VII is fun – I wouldn’t have played multiple games over forty-plus hours if I wasn’t having a good time most of the time. But there are more limitations than there were in Civilization VI, and the core eras mechanic is one that I feel is doing more to hold the game back than it is to improve it, at least as things sit in March 2025. I’d love to see some bug fixes, changes to the way menus and tech trees are displayed, and perhaps some visual or graphical changes to make certain key buildings more obvious. Those things feel achievable in the short-term, and perhaps updates or expansions could address some of the bigger issues I’ve found.

I hope this has been interesting. I paid a lot of money for Civilization VII, so I definitely want to see the game succeed. I raise these points not out of spite but because I want to see Civ VII improved. There’s a lot of potential in this game… but some of it is being denied or restricted by creative decisions that have limited key aspects of gameplay. There’s plenty of time to make changes and improvements, though, and it’s still early days. I’m hopeful that, in the next few months, things will get noticeably better for Civ VII.

Civilization VII is out now for PC, Mac, Linux, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S/X consoles. Civilization VII is the copyright of Firaxis and/or Take-Two Interactive. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

Civilization VII: First Impressions (From a Civ VI Fan)

Fri 07.02.25Dennis

I did something I never usually do: I pre-ordered a game. Violating yet another of my own game-buying rules, I paid extra for the “founder’s edition,” which – among other things – granted me access to Civilization VII on its actual release date instead of five days later. Do I detest myself for succumbing to that? Just a little. Was it worth the £120 (that I put on the credit card and plan to spread over a few months)? Well… read on to find out, I guess.

This piece is my “first impressions” of Civilization VII, and I suppose I should first define that term so we’re all on the same page! A game as massive and varied as Civilization VII will take days – weeks, even – to fully get a handle on. Having only played the game for around six hours (split into two sessions) and completed a single game, I can’t in good conscience call this a “review.” I’ve had an opportunity to jump in, played around with some of the settings, and completed what was basically a tutorial game. That’s enough to give me a taste of a game this massive, but not enough for an article that I could reasonably title a “review.” So in this piece I’m going to share my immediate thoughts and feelings about the game – and later in the year, perhaps when there have been one or two updates, patches, and pieces of additional content, I’ll return and share some further thoughts.

Screenshot of Civilization VII (2025) showing a solider from the opening cinematic. — A solider in the opening cinematic.

If that’s not what you’re looking for, that’s totally okay. I won’t be offended if you jump out and read someone else’s review instead! But if you like the sound of what I’m doing today, I hope you’ll read on.

For some context, I came late to the Civilization series. I think I played either the first game in the series or Civilization II in the mid-1990s, but only briefly on a friend’s computer. When I started getting into strategy games around that time, it was real-time strategy titles like Command and Conquer, Red Alert, and Age of Empires that I enjoyed the most. Turn-based strategy didn’t hold much appeal to me… not until Civilization VI came along twenty years later!

Screenshot of Civilization VII (2025) showing the beginning of a new game. — It’s time for the dawn of *Civilization VII*!

I’ve sunk well over 1,000 hours into Civilization VI since it launched in 2016, and it quickly became one of my favourite strategy titles of all-time. I’ve bought every single piece of DLC for it, played a bunch of scenarios and special campaigns, and I’ve had an absolute blast. When Civilization VII was announced last year, it shot right to the top of my “must-play” list, leading to me pre-ordering it so I could pre-install it and play it as soon as it was available! There are very, very few games for which I’d break my “never pre-order or pay for expensive premium editions” rules – so I hope Sid Meier, Firaxis, and Take-Two are especially grateful today!

If you just want the headline, I’ll say this: Civilization VII is already a lot of fun, and I only encountered one bug in my first six hours of playing. However, there are missing features that have been part of the series going all the way back, paywalling content at launch – including entire civilizations and leaders – is pretty scummy, and while the base game feels solid… it’s incomplete. There will undoubtedly be DLC packs over the next few months and years that add in a lot of the missing content and features, but all that will do is push up the price of a game that I’ve already paid a lot of money for. If you’re a Civilization VI fan ready to move on to a new challenge, Civilization VII feels like a no-brainer, and just getting started with the game and understanding all of the changes will take time. But if you’re brand-new to the series and looking to get started with a game that’s already complete… pick up the complete edition of Civilization VI when it’s on sale!

Screenshot of Civilization VII (2025) showing a small settlement and a unit of Mississippian Burning Arrow. — Mississippian archers (their unique unit) next to a city.

Visually, Civilization VII is stunning. I was surprised to see just how graphically impressive the game is considering its relatively small install size (Civilization VII takes up about 15GB of disc space) and that it’s a game that also has to function on the Nintendo Switch. I played the PC version, just so you’re aware of that. Units all have smooth animations for movement and combat, and there’s a ton of variety in the way units and buildings look depending on what era you’re in and which faction you’re playing as. There also seem to be more unique military units – each of the three civs I played as had at least one, which is noticeable coming from Civilization VI.

Environments look stunning, too. Mountains, deserts, and grassland all looked great – but where I was most impressed was in looking at coastal waters, rivers, and forests. These places feel genuinely alive in a way that they just didn’t in Civilization VI, and sending a unit marching into dense jungle or forest had a different feel to it as a result. Water looks great in the game, too, which is something some titles can struggle with. And the addition of navigable rivers adds a whole new challenge to exploration and combat.

Screenshot of Civilization VII (2025) showing a city, some elephants, and a large ship. — There are some beautiful environments in *Civilization VII*.

Let’s talk about Civilization VII’s biggest and most-discussed new feature: choosing leaders and factions separately from one another. This was a big part of the game’s marketing and one of the main ways Civilization VII stands apart not only from Civ VI but from other entries in the series, too. This isn’t a totally unique thing to Civilization VII, as choosing a new faction in each era was also a big part of the turn-based strategy game Humankind a couple of years ago – and I think that’s worth keeping in mind. But as to how it works in Civilization VII… I have to admit that I’m still on the fence.

On the surface, picking one leader and then being able to choose up to three different factions (one per age) as the game progresses is interesting. Not only that, but it means the number of potential combinations of leaders + civs is huge! Someone smarter than me will have to crunch the numbers on that, but if we assume new leaders and factions will be added periodically, the sheer variety on offer should mean that games never get old or feel repetitive. But is that really how it’s going to work?

Screenshot of Civilization VII (2025) showing the civ selection screen at the beginning of the Exploration Age. — Choosing a faction one-third of the way through the game!

Two things. Firstly, it seems to me that, in order to make sure every combination of leader + faction is competitive or at least functionally playable, some of the most different – and outstanding – unique features have to be toned down. A faction like Civilization VI’s Polynesians – whose unique traits were that they started with a ship at sea and could navigate ocean tiles from the start of the game – could never work with Civ VII’s random leaders and heavy focus on the middle age being one of maritime exploration.

It’s also clear that the developers want to prevent players from accidentally screwing themselves over by picking a leader whose traits make them somehow incompatible with a particular civilisation, or whose bonuses would be completely useless. As another example from Civilization VI, Canadian leader Wilfrid Laurier is granted bonuses for building on snow and tundra, while the Brazilian civ gets bonuses from rainforest tiles – which don’t spawn anywhere near snow and tundra. In order to avoid these problems and counteract them, Civilization VII’s leader bonuses and civilisation-specific bonuses feel a little bit more restricted. That isn’t to say they’re bad, it’s just they’re arguably toned-down from what they might’ve been if leaders and civs were joined at the hip as in past titles.

Screenshot of Civilization VII (2025) showing the civ selection screen with a leader already chosen. — Choosing a leader and civ separately is a first for the Civilization series.

This isn’t always a comfortable topic, but the Civilization series – and many other historical and strategy games, too – come in for criticism sometimes for being historically inaccurate or insensitive. Because of the way it breaks leaders and factions apart, it’s possible in Civilization VII for Napoleon to take charge of Egypt or Harriet Tubman to lead Prussia. While Civilization VII veers away from any truly controversial picks (there’s no Hitler or Chairman Mao, for example) some of the combinations are odd at best. The AI, for its part, doesn’t seem to really care which leaders and civs it chooses, so expect some truly random ones if, like me, you mostly play against the computer.

For all the criticism of past Civilization games for being western-centric, not reflecting real history, and so on… at least they could claim to attempt to fictionalise real-world empires and historical factions. This disconnect between leader and civ is going to take some getting used to on my end – which is to be expected, I admit – but something about it also feels a bit… I don’t know. Uncomfortable in a sense, perhaps. Maybe it’s because I was a student of history (it’s the subject I studied at university) but something about breaking leaders and their civs apart is something I don’t feel thrilled about.

Screenshot of Civilization VII (2025) showing the leader selection screen. — I’m not sold on the separate leaders and civs… not yet, anyway.

Mechanically, this separation also leads to one of Civilization VII’s biggest weaknesses: there are only three eras. In Civ VI, there were eight at launch, with a ninth added later. Not only that, but eras in that game were expanded to add “golden” and “dark” ages, giving new policies and other effects. There are a few “golden” and “dark” age elements in Civilization VII, but they don’t seem anywhere near as impactful. And to be fair, how could they be? If there are only three eras, who wants to spend at least one-third of the game in a dark age with all of the drawbacks that could bring? But to me, that highlights the difference between the two titles… and I’m not sure it’s an improvement.

What arguably is an improvement, though, is that every player in every age should be playing a civ with era-specific advantages. In Civilization VI, if you were playing a faction like Egypt, the majority of your bonuses and your only unique units were only any use in the early game. And if you played Germany or the United States, you’d have to wait until the late game to take advantage of your bonuses and unique advantages… if you could last that long. Civilization VII feels more balanced in that respect, with each civ having bonuses and advantages – based on real history – that make sense and work in their eras.

Screenshot of Civilization VII (2025) showing the beginning of the Age of Exploration screen. — There are fewer eras, but more civs that have relevant bonuses and unique abilities in those eras.

I was a little disappointed to see so few options when starting a new game. There are only a handful of map types – and they’re all pretty basic. As someone who prefers longer, slower games over short, fast-paced ones, there don’t seem to be a lot of options to play on a “massive” map over a longer time frame, which is also a bit of a letdown. Most leaders and factions are also locked until certain gameplay requirements are met to unlock them… which might be fun for you if you like the challenge that comes with unlocking things. For me, I’d usually rather everyone was available to play straight away, with those challenges and unlocks saved for things like achievements.

I’m also disappointed that, for some reason, it isn’t possible to re-name cities and towns. This is something I always like doing in any strategy game, and it was possible in Civ VI so I have no idea why it hasn’t been implemented here. There’s a petition on the Civilization forums to add city re-naming to Civilization VII, so I have to imagine it will be implemented sooner or later, but why couldn’t it be part of the game at launch? That doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.

Screenshot of Civilization VII (2025) showing a city with a wonder and a palace. — Why can’t I rename my cities?!

While we’re nitpicking and talking about relatively small things: why can’t I quit to the desktop from the in-game pause menu? That was possible in Civilization VI, and it’s silly to force me to go back to the menu only to have to quit to the desktop from there. A minor annoyance, sure, but a pretty basic thing to resolve that someone should’ve picked up on before Civilization VII launched!

In terms of gameplay, I found some AI units seemed to occasionally take a very circuitous route before attacking, which didn’t really make a lot of sense to me. While standing one tile away, you’d think they’d move to the next tile and attack. Instead, some AI units seemed to walk the longest route around before starting their attacks – and there wasn’t an obvious reason why. As far as I could tell they weren’t doing this to avoid terrain disadvantages or to link up with allied units; it was just a quirk of the game’s pathfinding or AI.

Screenshot of Civilization VII (2025) showing a route being planned out by the game for a unit. — AI pathfinding feels imperfect right now.

Diplomacy leaves something to be desired, unfortunately. Making friends and alliances with another faction works well enough, and while the system is different from Civilization VI it’s something I daresay I’ll get used to in time! But when a war comes to an end, it’s very odd – and very limiting – that there are so few options for making peace. In Civ VI, to end a war you could offer or demand money, great works, rare resources, and so on. In Civ VII, the only options on the table when trying to end a war are cities – and in some cases, it seems like an enemy won’t accept a peace offer if you refuse to give up a city – even if they haven’t conquered any of your cities or even killed a single unit in combat.

This really limits the way war works, and unless it’s addressed it’s going to be a weight around the game’s neck. There are occasions where, after capturing a city, I’ll want to keep it or sell it back as part of a peace treaty. But that’s far and away not the only way I want to make peace – in fact, in Civ VI cities were usually the bottom of my list when negotiating. The fact that some war-hungry powers won’t make peace very easily makes the game feel unbalanced, and it means war and combat – two of the most important features in a 4X strategy game – are less useful. Starting a war is always going to be a risk, but if I know that making peace is painfully difficult in some cases, it makes me far less interested in even attempting to play the game that way. Again, this is limiting.

Screenshot of Civilization VII (2025) showing the peace treaty screen. — The peace treaty system needs some work.

Weirdly, declarations of war don’t seem to survive the transition from one era to another. In short, if you’re at war with someone when the age ends, you won’t be when the new age begins. Since we were speaking of things that limit the warfare and combat system… that’s another.

Think about it: if you’re running out of time in the ancient or exploration ages, why would you start a war that you’d be unlikely to finish in time? I’m kind of hoping this is a bug or something that will be changed, because automatically ending a war just because the clock rolled over feels like something that really puts the brakes on that side of the game. Eras can be long, sure, but by the time you’ve got research and unit upgrades done, there might not always be time for a full-blown conquest. Now, the flip side is that this adds another level of strategic planning to the game, which some folks might appreciate. But in Civilization VI, if you were at war in one age you’d remain at war when the next one rolled around.

The exploration age ended while I was at war with three civs…

…but we were at peace when the modern age began in the very next turn.

I struggled with cities and towns rebelling – but not in the way you might think! Relatively early in my game, one nearby city rebelled from its founder and asked to join my empire (who wouldn’t want to be part of the great Empire of Dennis, after all?) This city then spent the rest of the game threatening to rebel against me… but without ever doing so. I don’t know why it never went into full-blown revolt; I had a military unit stationed there, but that was all. It became annoying to keep seeing these pop-ups warning me of an imminent rebellion, when no rebellion ever came.

It’s great, though, that cities can revolt if certain conditions are met. I just wish I knew what the conditions were so I could either trigger them in enemies or avoid them in my own settlements! This feels like an evolution of the way it worked in Civ VI, and it’s definitely something I want to dig into more in my next game.

Screenshot of Civilization VII (2025) showing a warning of an imminent revolt in a settlement. — I kept getting this message warning me that a revolt was imminent… but it never came.

Gwendoline Christie has taken over the role of narrator for Civilization VII. She has a wonderful voice, and particularly in the opening cinematic I think she did a good job. But… there… are… some… sentences… that… she… reads… with… a… lot… of… unnecessary… pauses… in… between… words… and… clauses. It’s almost like she’s doing a William Shatner impression – which, unfortunately, I don’t mean as a compliment. She also seems to have a tendency toward over-enunciating certain words, which I definitely picked up on. It’s not the worst thing in the world, sure, and I’ll get used to it. These lines can be skipped, too, with a simple click of the mouse. But I thought it was worth noting.

As in any new game, there are changes to the rules that can feel a little arbitrary. But given enough time, I’ll get used to all of them. I didn’t do spectacularly well in my first game, but I feel like I learned a lot and I’m starting to understand how some of the changes work. Civilization VII feels like a solid start, with plenty to build on in the months and years ahead.

Screenshot of Civilization VII (2025) showing two leaders declaring war. — Charlemagne and Hatshepsut are going to war!

One of the biggest changes for me was the lack of a builder unit. Builders in past Civilization games have played different roles, but I think I’m right in saying they’ve always been present in some form. Civilization VII doesn’t use builders, with buildings and occupied tiles being handled from the city menu. That’s definitely gonna take some getting used to!

Cities being different from towns is also a big change. Towns can’t construct wonders and can only purchase buildings and units with gold, but can also specialise and focus on one thing – food, happiness, gold, etc. – adding more of the chosen resource to your civilisation’s total. Again, this is something I’ll need to spend more time with to really get the hang of, but I think it’s at least an interesting change.

Screenshot of Civilization VII (2025) showing a sprawling city of the Qing Empire. — A large city in the modern age.

Civilization VI introduced several gameplay mechanics revolving around climate change – and these have been removed from Civ VII. I will concede that the implementation of sea level rise and climate mitigation in the previous game was imperfect, but it added a lot to the late game in particular – as well as forcing players to consider how they use resources earlier in the game, too. It made for a lot of calculations like whether I could risk waiting for the technology to do nuclear power and renewables or whether I’d have to industrialise and use coal and oil, then try to clean up the mess later! It was a creative inclusion, and one that I’m sure could’ve been adapted this time.

I wonder if things like climate change and sea levels will be added as DLC somewhere down the line. These mechanics weren’t part of the launch version of Civilization VI, so maybe the plan is to see how they could be implemented once Civ VII gets going. If so, I guess I can get on board with that.

Screenshot of Civilization VII (2025) showing the Redwood Forest natural wonder. — Discovering a natural wonder!

One element from Civ VI that its sequel retains, though, is natural disasters. In my first game I encountered a storm at sea, a blizzard, tornado outbreaks… and so many river floods. Seriously, there’s gotta be a way to tone down the frequency of some of these natural disasters, because when the same river has flooded for the twelfth time in a single playthrough… it starts to get annoying!

There also didn’t seem to be an easy way to ask for aid – in Civ VI, after suffering a natural disaster, players could request help in the form of gold. This added another layer to the game’s diplomacy, but it seems to be absent here. If natural disasters (floods especially) were less frequent, maybe I wouldn’t have even noticed!

Screenshot of Civilization VII (2025) showing a river flooding. — I genuinely lost count of how many times the rivers flooded in just one game.

So I think that’s everything I had in my notes.

Civilization VII has a lot of potential to be a fantastic strategy game, one I can already see myself playing for hour after hour. There are a lot of changes from Civ VI – some of which feel rather arbitrary – and some weaknesses compared to that game, too. For me, I think the biggest weakness right now is that there are only three ages (or eras) to play through. While these are different, and arguably bigger and better than they have been in the past, it makes Civilization VII feel… smaller.

I’m also not fully sold on the separate leader and civ mechanic – at least, not yet. I like that different factions in different eras all feel tailored to those eras, avoiding the problems that could come from playing a civ with bonuses that only worked in one part of a longer game. But in order to keep things relatively fair, I can’t help but feel some of the most unique and interesting leader and civ bonuses and abilities have had to be toned down.

Screenshot of Civilization VII (2025) showing a ranged attack being readied. — Archers preparing a ranged attack.

All that being said, my six hours flew by and I had a lot of fun getting into my first Civilization VII game. I tried my hand at exploration, diplomacy, war, combat, trading, and I even founded my own religion. There are a lot of fun-sounding civs to try out, including plenty that aren’t western or European, which is great to see. And as always, Civilization VII has a fantastic soundtrack!

Visually, the game shines. Animations look great, the landscape looks beautiful, and there are plenty of unique features in every civ in terms of the way units and buildings look. This definitely keeps things interesting and gives the game a ton of variety. I would say that, compared to Civ VI, Civilization VII is leaning more toward “realism” and going for a less cartoonish or board game-inspired look. Whether that’s your preference or not is going to be subject to personal taste!

Screenshot of Civilization VII (2025) showing a walled town and a ship. — A walled town.

I hope this has been interesting and informative. I tried to hit all of the big points from my first Civilization VII game so I could share my first impressions fairly, but there’s a lot more to this game that I need to explore. Later in the year, perhaps after some of the first patches, updates, and pieces of DLC have been released, I’ll definitely have more to say.

Now that I’m done writing this… I’m gonna jump back into Civilization VII, pick a new leader, and go around again. And if that isn’t a ringing endorsement (or a desperate cope from someone who spent £120 on this game) then I don’t know what is!

Seriously, though, unless you’re some kind of super-fan… just get the base game. I was silly to reward Firaxis and Take-Two for their shitty business practices, and I’m not pleased with myself for wasting extra money on in-game silliness that I didn’t need.

Switch 2: Five Games Nintendo Should Learn From

Tue 04.02.25Sat 08.02.25Dennis

Now that we have a bit more information about the Nintendo Switch 2, I thought it could be interesting to look ahead. My first-ever home console was a Super Nintendo, and I’ve also owned an N64, Wii, 3DS, Switch – and I was even one of about seven people who owned a Wii U ten or so years ago. So I like to think I have a tiny bit of a track record when it comes to Nintendo!

I gotta admit that I’m surprised about the Switch 2. Nintendo are the kings of innovation in gaming, with each of the company’s consoles having something different to entice players. The Switch 2 will be the first console in several generations (since either the GameCube or the Super Nintendo, depending on how we think about it) to play it so exceptionally safe. If I were being deliberately unkind, I might even suggest that the Switch 2 looks underwhelming and repetitive.

Still frame from the Nintendo Switch 2 trailer. — The Switch 2 in docked mode.

Until we’ve got a better look at the internals of the Switch 2, though, we won’t know for sure how different the machine really is and what its capabilities will be. I’m hoping to put a Switch 2 on my list of things to buy this year (or in 2026, if it won’t be launching in time for Christmas) but that will depend to a great degree on what games the console launches with – and how much better they might look compared to the current iteration of the Switch.

The Switch has some great games, that isn’t even a remotely controversial statement! And I’ve definitely been surprised to see that some very big, demanding games have survived being ported to the platform in a playable state. I’m thinking of titles like Hogwarts Legacy and The Witcher 3 in particular, but I’m sure there are others.

When it comes to Nintendo’s first-party titles, the Switch has excelled, too. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Super Mario Odyssey, and Animal Crossing: New Horizons ought to be in anyone’s top ten, with all three games taking established series and putting a new spin on them.

And it’s games I’d like to talk about today.

For all the innovation and advances that Nintendo has made, there are other companies in the gaming space that have gone beyond what Nintendo and the Switch have been capable of. As technology has improved, I don’t think it’s unfair to say that the Switch has, in some respects, held back Nintendo’s developers. Over the past few years, there have been quite a few games released in genres that Nintendo used to dominate… titles that have gone above and beyond the company’s recent output.

The Switch 2 will be Nintendo’s first console since 2017.

Today, we’re going to look at five games from the last few years that Nintendo needs to learn from in order to make their games on the Switch 2 the best they can be. Some fans will always be satisfied with more of the same – and that’s great! If you’re in that camp, that’s okay and I don’t intend any of this as some kind of attack. Speaking for myself, though, I’ve played several games in recent years (and watched gameplay from other titles, too) that genuinely eclipse anything Nintendo has created. Partly that might be down to the limitations of the Switch – but it’s also down to the inescapable fact that other companies and developers are innovating and pushing the boundaries in a way that Nintendo hasn’t been.

If Nintendo is to make the Switch 2 a success, then the company will need to read the room! Player expectations are always changing, and Nintendo can’t afford to remain stagnant and try to coast on past successes. A new console – with new, more powerful hardware at its heart – is an opportunity to catch up on a decade-plus of evolution and enhancements in game development, bringing at least some of Nintendo’s flagship series and franchises into the 2020s for the first time.

So let’s take a look at five games that I think Nintendo can learn from.

As always, a couple of caveats. Firstly, please keep in mind that all of this is the subjective opinion of just one person. If I make a point you disagree with, highlight a game you hate, or recommend a change that you think doesn’t need to be made… that’s okay! Nintendo fans are a passionate bunch, but there ought to be enough room in the fan community for civil discussion and polite disagreement.

I’ve also tried to be realistic in my selections. I’m not going to try and argue that Nintendo should turn the next Mario game into a gritty Red Dead Redemption II open-world, or that the next Animal Crossing ought to be an L.A. Noire-style murder mystery. I’ve chosen titles in either the same genre or a similar space that I believe Nintendo can learn from as the first few Switch 2 games are being worked on.

With all of that out of the way, let’s take a look at the list!

Game #1:
Palworld
Pokémon franchise

Promo screenshot of Palworld showing a yellow monster with a large gun. — A gun-toting monster from *Palworld.*

This is the game that really inspired me to put this list together! Last year, Palworld was a surprise hit. It took the monster-battling sub-genre and put its own spin on it, bringing in huge numbers of players in the process. I know several die-hard Pokémon fans who absolutely adore Palworld, and even looking in from the outside, I can see many ways in which the game goes beyond anything the Pokémon series has ever done.

Recent Pokémon titles have been pretty stale and stagnant – if they even worked at all. Sure, they might add new monsters to the roster or be set in a different region of the franchise’s world, but Pokémon’s basic gameplay hasn’t changed in years. The series needs a good shake-up, and Palworld’s success should be the kick in the backside that Nintendo, Game Freak, and the Pokémon Company need.

Promo screenshot of Pokemon Scarlet or Pokemon Violet showing the three starter Pokemon. — The starter Pokémon from *Pokémon Scarlet/Violet.*

Unfortunately, things aren’t looking great on this front. Nintendo has inexplicably chosen to try to sue Palworld and its developer out of existence with a frivolous lawsuit, something that shames Furukawa, Miyamoto, and all of the other cowardly executives. As I wrote last year: the history of gaming is one of piecemeal innovation, with companies from all across the industry seeing what works and building on it. Pokémon wouldn’t exist without the role-playing games, deck-building games, and top-down fantasy titles that came before it, and Nintendo doesn’t have the right to claim ownership of an entire genre.

So I hope, once the dust settles and the lawsuit is inevitably dismissed, Nintendo can do what it should’ve done from day one: learn what worked in Palworld and what players liked, and apply those findings to the next Pokémon game. That doesn’t mean copy Palworld beat-for-beat, but taking the best bits and the things players loved the most and using that knowledge to make Pokémon better.

Game #2:
Sonic Mania
2D Mario

Promo screenshot of Sonic Mania. — Sonic and Tails.

Super Mario Bros. Wonder has been very well-received by Nintendo fans – and that’s great! Ever since 2D Mario games returned from a decade-long hiatus almost twenty years ago, though, they’ve more or less retained the same art style. Wonder definitely added a lot of new things to the mix, and there have been new power-ups and levels with different settings… but maybe it’s time to take a step back and really go back to Mario’s roots.

Sonic Mania is a fantastic title that has a really interesting development history. It was originally a fan project, but Sega saw the potential in the game and swooped in, licensing it as an official entry in the Sonic series. And I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that Sonic Mania is one of the best Sonic games since the Mega Drive days.

Promo screenshot of Super Mario Bros. Wonder. — Mario in *Super Mario Bros. Wonder*.

I’d love to see Nintendo really lean into the NES or SNES visual style with their next 2D Mario game. It could be a side-project rather than a full mainline game, and I wouldn’t necessarily expect an “old-school” 2D Mario as the Switch 2’s big launch title. But as a love letter to fans in Super Mario’s 40th anniversary year… what could be better?

Sonic Mania genuinely feels like a 16-bit Mega Drive game, bringing back not only the visual and art style of that era, but gameplay mechanics, too. After all the talk of doing better and pushing the boat out, maybe this seems like a bit of an oddity – and I fully accept that. But as someone who really got into gaming in the early 1990s, I would love nothing more than to return to that style of 2D platformer. Sonic Mania could be the template for how to do that – and do it right.

Game #3:
Disney Dreamlight Valley
Animal Crossing series

Promo screenshot of Disney Dreamlight Valley showing the furniture placement screen and a custom character. — A player showing off their home in *Disney Dreamlight Valley*.

If you read my review of Disney Dreamlight Valley a couple of years ago, you might remember me saying that the game took basically all of my complaints about Animal Crossing: New Horizons and fixed them, while also adding in compelling characters and story missions to boot. I’m not sure that the next Animal Crossing needs a “main quest” of sorts… but there are so many other things that Dreamlight Valley does well.

Firstly, Dreamlight Valley has much more freedom in terms of decorating – both inside and out. With a simple button press, everything from small items of furniture to houses and trees can be moved, placed, and deleted, and there’s a near-unlimited amount of free choice in where things are placed and how many things can be placed. New Horizons, thanks to the Switch’s limited processing power, is notoriously laggy when too many items are placed outdoors – but the next game in the series should, at least, not suffer from that limitation.

Still frame from the Animal Crossing: New Horizons expansion pack trailer. — Even with its expansion pack, *New Horizons* wasn’t all it could’ve been.

Dreamlight Valley’s characters also feel more compelling and unique. Partly that’s because everyone gets a quest or series of quests, but it’s also because each character has a distinct personality – reflected not only in their choice of outfit and decoration, but dialogue, too. One of my biggest criticisms of New Horizons was how awfully repetitive the dialogue got after only a short amount of time – and without mini-games or other events to spice things up, as well as such a small number of villager “types” – I found I was getting the exact same line of dialogue over and over and over again from different characters.

In terms of design, customisation, character interactions, and more, Dreamlight Valley not only eclipses Animal Crossing… it blows it out of the water. There are pitfalls to be avoided, sure – Dreamlight Valley is too heavily-monetised for my taste – but it should be seen as a template for how to improve the Animal Crossing formula.

Game #4:
Doom Eternal
Metroid Prime series

Promo screenshot of Doom Eternal showing a first-person viewpoint. — *Doom Eternal* is fast-paced and fun.

With Metroid Prime 4 due for release on the Switch this year – presumably before the Switch 2 launches – there’s limited room for serious improvements. But if the Metroid Prime series continues and will get a new entry in the years ahead, the fast-paced combat of Doom Eternal should be the high bar that the series aims for.

I haven’t played a Metroid Prime game since the GameCube days, so maybe I’m not the best person to offer advice on this series! But I know what I look for in a single-player first-person shooter, and of all the games in that genre I’ve played over the years, none felt as energetic and exciting as Doom Eternal. With the Switch 2 offering the chance for a serious upgrade, the next Metroid Prime game could have more enemies on screen at the same time, a wider range of enemy types, more weapons, and so on.

Promo screenshot of Metroid Prime 4 showing the HUD, a weapon, and several enemies. — *Metroid Prime 4* is due for release this year on the Switch.

Doom Eternal’s grappling hook mechanic also worked exceptionally well, and something like that could be a fine addition to the Metroid Prime series, too. Adding in some platforming and puzzle-solving elements along with fast-paced combat could be a ton of fun.

I’d also be remiss not to mention the fantastic soundtrack that the modern Doom titles have had. A hard rock/heavy metal soundtrack was pitch-perfect for those games, and added so much to the wild action and thrill of gunning down hordes of demons. Metroid Prime doesn’t need to go down the heavy metal route, of course, but a soundtrack that helps bring the game to life and fits with its design philosophy will be essential.

Game #5:
Astro Bot
3D Mario

Promo artwork for Astro Bot. — *Astro Bot* is everything a 3D platformer should aim to be in 2025.

A moment ago, we talked about the next 2D Mario game and how I’d like to see the series go back to its roots – both in terms of gameplay and visual style. But 3D Mario should really aim to go above and beyond, pushing the Switch 2’s hardware to its limits while retaining the charm of titles like Super Mario 64 and Odyssey. PlayStation’s Astro Bot – which was in the running for game of the year on many publications’ lists in 2024 – is exactly the kind of game Nintendo should be paying attention to.

I have to admit that I haven’t played Astro Bot for myself; I don’t own a PS5 and, as much as I might want to, I can’t justify the expense of buying one just to play one game! But I’ve seen a lot of gameplay online, and Astro Bot looks like the kind of game that knows what it’s trying to be… and absolutely nails it.

Screenshot of Super Mario 64 showing Mario in the castle lobby. — *Super Mario 64* is still one of my favourite games.

Many critics have noted – quite correctly – that Astro Bot is drawing inspiration from Nintendo’s 3D platformers. But graphically and in terms of level design, it seems to go beyond them, too. Super Mario Odyssey, arguably the best and certainly the biggest 3D Mario game, is now almost eight years old, so fans are absolutely right to expect to see significant improvements when the next entry in the series is ready. Astro Bot shows how beautiful a 3D platformer can look with modern hardware, and it’s also a masterclass in level design.

I’m pretty sure that Nintendo will be hard at work on the next 3D Mario already. We’ve caught a glimpse of a new Mario Kart in the recent Switch 2 teaser, so that could well be the console’s big launch title. But a new 3D Mario is unlikely to be far behind. I hope some of the developers and producers have played Astro Bot to get a feel for how that game works and to see what it does well.

So that’s it!

We’ve taken a look at five games that I think Nintendo needs to examine closely and learn from as the Switch 2 and its games are in development.

The Switch 2 is definitely on my wishlist – if for no other reason than a brand-new Mario Kart game is always gonna be something I’ll want to play! But I’m curious to see how much more powerful the console can be, and whether Nintendo (and other third-party developers, too) are going to be able to fully take advantage of that. Better graphics and shinier-looking games should be a guarantee – but I’d love to see Nintendo also paying attention to the improvements and evolution in some of these genres. Although there’s been less of that in the last ten years than there was from, say, 1995 to 2005, there are still plenty of areas where Nintendo can improve.

When we learn more about the Switch 2 in April, I’ll definitely be sharing my thoughts on how the console is shaping up. I’ll be keeping my ear to the ground for news on launch titles, too! So when we have more news about Nintendo and the Switch 2, I hope you’ll join me here on the website. Until then, I hope this has been a fun and interesting look ahead.

The Nintendo Switch 2 will be officially shown off in April and will launch in 2025 or early 2026. All titles discussed above are the copyright of their respective publisher, developer, studio, and/or corporation. Some promotional art and images courtesy of Nintendo and IGDB. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

Grand Theft Auto VI Should Be Free

Thu 23.01.25Dennis

I recently read an article about the price of the highly-anticipated upcoming video game Grand Theft Auto VI. According to the journalist, a number of analysts and businesspeople in the games industry are “hoping” that Take-Two Interactive and Rockstar will price Grand Theft Auto VI higher than the current $70/£70 that has become standard since 2020. The reason for this is simple: it will open the door for other publishers to follow suit, increasing the prices of games across the board.

To me, that sounds absolutely repulsive. The corporations that make up the games industry have literally never made more profit than they’re making right now. Even expensive failures like Concord last year hardly registered as a blip on the charts; these corporations are making money hand over fist in a way they could’ve only dreamed of a few short years ago.

A still frame from the Grand Theft Auto VI trailer showing Lucia holding a wad of cash. — The games industry has never been richer and more profitable.

So today I’d like to propose a counter-argument: Grand Theft Auto VI should be free-to-play for everyone.

First of all, let’s clear up this myth surrounding the so-called standard price of video games. In most cases – and especially for AAA games released through corporate publishers – £70 only gets your foot in the door. The true price of fully feature-complete games has been well above £70 for years, and it’s only getting worse. So-called “premium editions” or “deluxe editions” aren’t giving players something extra, they’re cutting out content that was developed alongside the game, fully-integrated into it, and selling it back to us for a premium fee. Some of these special editions can be well over £100 – so that’s the true price tag of most AAA video games in 2025.

We’ve seen a recent trend in which AAA publishers are adding “early” access into deluxe editions of games, too. Charging players extra to play the game on its real release date instead of up to a week later is pretty shitty when you think about it, and just another way that corporations like Take-Two – and others in the AAA space – exploit their players.

Screenshot of the different editions for NBA 2K25. — Take-Two’s own NBA 2K series comes with “standard” and “all-star” editions, the latter having more content.

Grand Theft Auto VI will have a single-player campaign, and although Take-Two has cheaped out on development, cutting off PC players for some incomprehensible reason, I gotta confess that I’m genuinely looking forward to playing it. The Grand Theft Auto series has usually been good fun, and I’ve been playing since the first title was released in the late ’90s. Remember playing the first Grand Theft Auto with its top-down view? Those were the days, eh?

But let’s be honest: Grand Theft Auto VI is, first and foremost, a multiplayer title. That’s how Rockstar and Take-Two see it, and after the rampant success of Grand Theft Auto V’s online mode, they’re not wrong about that.

Screenshot of the Rockstar Store showing Grand Theft Auto V "Shark Cards" for sale at different price points. — In-game sales, like these Shark Cards for *Grand Theft Auto V*, are where Take-Two and Rockstar will make the most money.

Grand Theft Auto V isn’t just any online multiplayer game, though. It’s a game that has been monetised to death, incorporating basically every scummy pay-to-win trend going – and pioneering new ones that other corporations in the games industry have latched onto like parasites. Most games that charge players real money for an in-game currency, skins, cosmetic items, and particularly that charge for gameplay-enhancing vehicles, weapons, and items have something in common: they’re free.

So to reiterate: Grand Theft Auto VI should be free-to-play, and Take-Two should be content with making all of the money in the world from sales of in-game currency and pay-to-win items. Charging even £1 for the game up-front – let alone £90 or £100 as some corporate leaders are soiling themselves in anticipation over – just feels obscene for a game that’s going to be monetised to hell and back.

A still frame from the Grand Theft Auto VI trailer showing a flock of flamingoes. — A flock of flamingoes from the *Grand Theft Auto VI* trailer.

By including all of these pay-to-win mechanics, Take-Two and Rockstar want to have it all. They want to charge players money up-front, then keep charging them for in-game items, currency, and more. But that isn’t a fair approach – most publishers pick one or the other, and with Grand Theft Auto VI clearly having an online focus, it’s only right that it’s made available for free to everyone who wants to play it.

Do I think that’s a realistic outcome? Well… why not? Corporations are gonna try to grab as much cash as possible, of course, and there will be some desperately disappointed analysts, executives, and investors if Grand Theft Auto VI goes free-to-play from day one. But it would also be a statement; Rockstar and Take-Two could argue that they’re taking a stand and win some free positive PR in the process. Given that the overwhelming bulk of the money Grand Theft Auto V had made (and Grand Theft Auto VI intends to make) comes from in-game transactions anyway, it wouldn’t actually be a huge loss to Take-Two. Grand Theft Auto VI will still be hugely profitable.

A still frame from the Grand Theft Auto VI trailer showing Lucia wearing an orange prison uniform. — *Grand Theft Auto VI* should be free.

So that’s my proposal! Forget these desperate attempts to start the base price of the game at £80 or £90 and just go free-to-play. It’s the right thing to do for an online multiplayer game that’s sure to be crammed with pay-to-win mechanics, an in-game currency, and more cosmetic items and skins than you can count. It would also be a wonderful middle finger to corporate leaders, investors, and analysts who are already making more money than they’ve ever made before and are just being greedy. Plus, from Take-Two’s point of view, it would be a marketing and PR masterstroke if handled well.

So go on, Take-Two and Rockstar! It’s the right thing to do, it’s bound to score you plenty of free publicity and positive press, and it would be hilarious to boot. The Grand Theft Auto series has long satirised corporate America, get-rich-quick schemes, and greed… so why not pull the ultimate power move by making the newest entry in the series totally free for everyone to play? I think it’s a fantastic idea!

Will Grand Theft Auto VI really be free-to-play? Maybe we should start a rumour that it will be and see how panicked the games industry and its corporate overlords get!

Grand Theft Auto VI is still in development and is planned to be released on Xbox Series S/X and PlayStation 5 consoles in late 2025. Grand Theft Auto VI is the copyright of Rockstar Games and/or Take-Two Interactive Software. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

Multiple sources have reported on the “hope” in the games industry for a price hike from Take-Two and Rockstar when Grand Theft Auto VI launches. I’ve linked a handful below.

My Favourite Places in Shenmue

Thu 09.01.25Dennis

A Shenmue-themed spoiler warning graphic.

Spoiler Warning: There are spoilers ahead for Shenmue.

This year is all about Shenmue’s 25th anniversary! A little while ago, I wrote up my reflections of the game to mark the anniversary of its launch in Japan, but I find myself with more to say about this landmark, transformative game. So today I thought it could be a bit of fun to explore Shenmue’s game world together and visit a few of my favourite locations.

Shenmue was the first game I played that gave me a profound sense of freedom. The game’s world was open and explorable – and many buildings could be entered and investigated, too, including those that had nothing to do with the main quest. That was revolutionary twenty-five years ago, and went a long way to making Shenmue into the incredibly immersive title that it was. It wouldn’t be overstating it to say that Shenmue showed me what the future of gaming could look like in the 21st Century – and kept me playing at a time when I might’ve otherwise drifted away from the hobby.

Concept art for Shenmue (1999) showing Ryo Hazuki. — Concept art of Ryo Hazuki.

That’s really just a summary, though, so if you want to read more about my recollections of playing Shenmue, you can find the full article by clicking or tapping here.

A couple of caveats before we go any further! Firstly, all of this is just the subjective opinion of one player. If I highlight places and locales you hate, ignore somewhere you think is important, or you just don’t like what I have to say… that’s okay. There’s a lot to love about Shenmue, and there ought to be room in the fan community for differences of opinion and polite discussion.

A Sega Dreamcast console and control pad (USA/Japan edition) on an orange and blue background. — *Shenmue* was released in December 1999 for the Dreamcast.
(2000 in North America and Europe)

Secondly, I’m only going to be looking at locations from the first Shenmue on this occasion. When Shenmue II celebrates its 25th anniversary in September next year, I’m planning to do a similar write-up of the game… and possibly another piece like this one (assuming I’m still around and assuming I remember!) So don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten about Shenmue II… but it isn’t the focus of this piece today.

Phew! With all of that out of the way, let’s get started.

Location #1:
Hazuki Residence: The Kitchen

Screenshot of Shenmue (1999/2000) showing the Hazuki kitchen, with Ine-san.

Let’s start at home: which for Ryo is the Hazuki residence and dojo in Yamanose. There are plenty of iconic places around here – but an underrated one has to be the kitchen. In a normal house, the kitchen is usually a hub of activity; it’s where we cook, where we sit and eat, and a room we generally spend a large amount of time in. But in Shenmue – and many other similar games, to be fair – the kitchen is just… set decoration. It exists because without it, Ryo’s house would feel incomplete. But there’s not really much of a reason to spend time here, and aside from a couple of cut-scenes, the game’s story largely passes this room by.

And I think that’s what makes this room (and several of the other places on this list) so interesting to me. It’s a space where nothing happens, but it’s important for the immersion and world-building that a game like Shenmue needs. There are also a few interesting little things in the kitchen; Ryo can find a can of tuna for the kitten, for example. Cupboards and the fridge can be opened and examined, which is something that felt really immersive in 1999/2000. And it’s possible to chat with Ryo’s house-keeper/surrogate mother, Ine-san, too, as she spends a fair amount of her time in the kitchen.

Location #2:
The Harbour: Fishing Spot Behind the Lounge

Screenshot of Shenmue (1999/2000) showing Ryo walking at the harbour.

The harbour is one of my favourite places in Shenmue; it’s just so atmospheric. And for someone who grew up near a working harbour, it’s also the location in the game that probably feels the most familiar – at least in some ways. Directly behind the lounge, past the steps where the homeless man sits, is one of my favourite spots in the harbour. This is an area you’ve definitely walked through and driven through, but probably haven’t spent a lot of time in! There are occasionally fishermen here, as well as an NPC with a sketchbook, but other than that, Ryo has no reason to ever stop here; it’s a connection point between other, more densely-packed or story-rich areas.

I find something peaceful and serene about this area, though – especially after dark. The view across the water shows the far side of the bay, and there’s a large warship or other vessel in the distance. But this part of the harbour doesn’t see much action – aside from the odd pedestrian or forklift during daylight hours, you’re on your own. And that makes it a peaceful, easily-overlooked spot. The world of Shenmue – which feels so rich and deep thanks to its numerous NPCs with their own schedules – simply rolls along, passing you by as you take in the sights and sounds of the harbour.

Location #3:
Dobuita: Game You Arcade

Screenshot of Shenmue (1999/2000) showing the interior of Game You Arcade.

I grew up in a rural area, and where I lived there weren’t any video game arcades. I visited one a few times as a kid, when we’d visit a bigger city, but I never really had the arcade experience that many folks my age did – and I think it’s for that reason that I fell in love with Shenmue’s arcade. I’d played Hang On – or a motorcycle game similar to it, at any rate – at least once before, but Space Harrier was brand-new to me. I spent hours in the Game You arcade playing those titles, as well as the darts mini-game which was also surprisingly fun.

The arcade is compact, but beautifully detailed. The room is lit by old fluorescent lights, and the cabinets seem to glow, even from a distance. The whole thing has a very artificial feel – which, ironically, perfectly recreates this kind of environment. The arcade always has at least one other person present, yet it can feel empty and almost like a “liminal space;” the room exists to guide you to the mini-games, yet it’s a beautiful rendition of an ’80s video game arcade in its own right. It’s a very atmospheric space.

Location #4:
Yamanose: Down the Stairs

Screenshot of Shenmue (1999/2000) showing Ryo descending the stairs in Yamanose.

In Ryo’s hometown of Yamanose, there’s a flight of stairs that you’ll have passed by countless times on your adventures. But did you ever once descend those stairs to see the houses below? There’s only one reason to visit this area, and it’s easily overlooked: if you feed and pet Megumi’s kitten at the shrine, eventually it gets better and wanders off – and you can find it by one of the homes down these steps. But that side-quest is very much optional – so many players will have missed it.

For me, these houses just have a vibe to them that’s hard to put into words. They’re traditional Japanese houses, which I guess is part of it. But they help make Shenmue’s world feel lived-in and real; the people inside seem to have lives of their own, like everyone else in the game world. It would’ve been really easy for Shenmue’s developers to make this area inaccessible; set dressing for Yamanose. But you can explore this area, knock on doors, and even see the clotheslines, wheelbarrows, bicycles, and other little pieces of these people’s lives. Little details like that are what made Shenmue stand out to me when I first played it – and I always like taking a little detour to this uninteresting little corner of Yamanose.

Location #5:
Dobuita: Nagai Industries (The Yakuza Den)

Screenshot of Shenmue (1999/2000) showing the way into Nagai Industries.

Have you ever walked into a room and instantly known you weren’t supposed to be there? That’s the feeling I get when Ryo enters Nagai Industries in Dobuita, which is a Yakuza den masquerading as a legitimate business. That feeling is really hard to pull off in any form of media, and Shenmue absolutely nails it here. Ryo can be directed to Nagai Industries as part of his quest to find “men with tattoos,” but it isn’t an essential part of the story and it can be accessed at other times, too.

The conversation Ryo can have with the obviously shady man inside made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up the first time I accidentally triggered it – it’s so well-written. Even if you do find yourself going here as part of Ryo’s quest, you won’t spend long in the building – yet it’s a unique space in the game’s world. Ryo does get mixed up with a gang later on in the story… but it isn’t this gang. These criminals are just doing their own thing, and Ryo can wander into their office almost at random. It’s a strange interaction – and a fun place to visit.

Location #6:
The Harbour: Harbour Lounge

Screenshot of Shenmue (1999/2000) showing the harbour lounge while it's empty.

There’s a strange kind of beauty in urban decay… at least, sometimes there is. The harbour lounge feels like a well-used space that’s in need of a new coat of paint and a bit of TLC, and that’s exactly the kind of vibe that the developers wanted to convey. The paint on the walls is chipped and peeling, the leather seats have seen better days, and I just get the sense that the lounge is a heavily-trafficked space, probably bustling with sailors, harbour workers, ferry passengers, and the like. The soundscape for this area has inaudible conversation chatter playing, too.

Which makes it all the more eerie that the harbour lounge is usually all but deserted. Aside from the small shop counter in one corner, which is always staffed, the harbour lounge is usually empty. At most, you might encounter one or two people in here. Again, it’s giving me “liminal space” vibes; there’s an almost otherworldly feel to a place that should be packed with people – and has all the evidence of being well-used – yet is often empty.

Location #7:
Dobuita: Yamaji Soba Noodles

Screenshot of Shenmue (1999/2000) showing the inside of Yamaji Soba Noodles, including the owner.

The owners of Yamaji Soba Noodles clearly know Ryo, and one of the people Ryo needs to speak to on his quest is a regular patron. But there’s no reason to set foot in this noodle parlour… other than for the fun of exploring Dobuita and Shenmue’s game world. In 1999, no one knew what the term “open world” would come to mean, but to me, a shop like Yamaji Soba Noodles in Shenmue perfectly encapsulates the open world idea. It’s the kind of place that needs to exist in a real town; the denizens of Dobuita need places to eat. But from a gameplay perspective, it doesn’t have a purpose. It’s the kind of place that was created for the sole purpose of adding depth to Shenmue’s world… and I really admire that.

The noodle shop itself is compact with a bar area for patrons to sit, and behind the counter the owner can be seen working away. A member of the restaurant’s staff can be encountered out in Dobuita, and you can even find his apartment elsewhere on Dobuita Street. You can’t go inside… but again, this adds so much depth to the game world and makes these NPCs feel real in a way some open world games struggle with even today.

Location #8:
Dobuita: Car Park

Screenshot of Shenmue (1999/2000) showing Ryo entering the parking lot.

The car park near the end of Dobuita Street has an in-game function: it’s one of only a few places where Ryo can practice his moves in between fights. But I think it’s also worth acknowledging the area on its own merit – it’s more than just an empty arena to throw kicks and punches around! There are no cars on Dobuita Street – but there are plenty on the main road just beyond. The car park is, therefore, a space for both residents and visitors to leave their vehicles before venturing out on foot.

I’d never paid any attention to a car park in a video game before. I’m sure titles like Grand Theft Auto had car parks in their game worlds, but because of how rich and detailed Shenmue was, I felt compelled to explore this space more than I ever had before. The way it was integrated into the game, too, worked really well – and it quickly became my favourite place to practice Ryo’s martial arts moves.

Location #9:
The Harbour: Old Warehouse #8

Screenshot of Shenmue (1999/2000) showing the interior of Warehouse #8.

Nobody likes mandatory stealth sections in games… especially mandatory stealth sections in old games with janky controls and awkward AI. But once you get past the “sneaking in” portion, Old Warehouse #8 – home of Master Chen and Guizhang – is a really interesting place to be. Most of the time you’ll spend here comes in cut-scene form, but if you take a break from the story and just visit the warehouse, there’s a lot to see. It has a quiet, understated feel that contrasts with the bustling harbour outside.

I like antiques, and the warehouse isn’t the only place in Shenmue to find old and interesting artefacts! But there’s something special about walking around the warehouse, looking at some of the items on display. It’s an interesting place to spend a little time, and one that’s easily overlooked.

Location #10:
Sakuragaoka: The Taxi Cab

Screenshot of Shenmue (1999/2000) showing Ryo approaching a parked taxi.

At the end of the road in Sakuragaoka, past the park, you can find a taxi cab. Ryo can’t take a taxi anywhere, and because it’s located beyond both the park and any houses in Sakuragaoka that you might want to visit… there’s really no need to come here. But the taxi is interesting; it feels like more than just set dressing. There’s a man – Nomura-san – who Ryo can speak to who drives the taxi, and he clearly knows Ryo and will tell him a little about his life. Nomura-san can also be encountered in Dobuita, as well as seen tending to his taxi.

Walking beyond the “edge” of a game world can often feel empty; the world stops where the developers say it stops. But Shenmue has content beyond the edge of where its story takes place – there’s no reason to come here or talk to the taxi driver other than “because they’re there,” and I really love that about the game. Standing here, at the end of the street, doesn’t feel like the edge of a video game level with an invisible wall… it feels like a road with a taxi parked on it.

So that’s it.

Screenshot of Shenmue (1999/2000) showing Ryo at the end of the game. — Ryo is headed for Hong Kong!

We’ve taken a look at some of my favourite places in Shenmue… places that, maybe, you wouldn’t have expected to see on a list like this!

I wanted to convey just how immersive and interesting Shenmue’s world was twenty-five years ago… and still is today. Even in the smaller places, and areas with no storylines or quests, there are still interesting things to see, NPCs to talk to, and ways to soak in the atmosphere of this incredible game. Shenmue pioneered open-world designs and features that titles today are still striving for – and many modern games either miss out or don’t get right. It really is a landmark title, and one that I wish more people had paid attention to back in the day!

Screenshot of Shenmue (1999/2000) showing Ryo with Santa Claus. — I know Christmas is over… but it’s Ryo and Santa!

So I hope this has been something a bit different. I was inspired by a couple of YouTube channels: Wandering Through Shenmue, whose channel I encountered while looking for screenshots of specific locations in the game world when writing a couple of my other articles about Shenmue, and Any Austin, whose video essays on video game levels and designs are genuinely interesting. I hope you’ll check out both of those channels if you have time.

If you missed my piece celebrating Shenmue’s twenty-fifth anniversary, you can find it by clicking or tapping here. And if you want to check out my thoughts on whether the Shenmue saga might have a future in light of some recent news, you can find that by clicking or tapping here.

I honestly can’t believe that it’s been twenty-five years – a quarter of a century – since Shenmue launched. At any rate, I hope revisiting some of these locations with me was a bit of fun!

Shenmue I & II and Shenmue III are available now for PlayStation 4 and PC. Some images, promo artwork, and screenshots courtesy of Wandering Through Shenmue on YouTube and Shenmue Dojo. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

Looking Ahead To 2025

Wed 01.01.25Dennis

A spoiler warning graphic (featuring Sauruman).

Spoiler Warning: Beware of minor spoilers for some of the titles below.

Happy New Year!

I hope you had a wonderful time last night ringing in 2025 – and that you’ve recovered by now! As the year begins, it’s the perfect time to look ahead to some of the entertainment experiences we’ll hopefully be enjoying between now and next New Year’s Eve!

So today, I’ve picked out seven films, television programmes, and video games that are on my radar in 2025. I’ll share my thoughts on each of them – including what I’m most interested in or excited about. I like to do this every year; it’s a fun way to start things off, and it also gives me something to look forward to! I hope you can take a break from packing away the Christmas decorations and join me!

A stock photo of tangled Christmas lights. — The holidays are over for another year…

As always, a couple of caveats. This list is the subjective opinion of just one person – so if I don’t mention your favourite upcoming title, or I get excited about something that sounds like shit to you… that’s okay! There should be enough room for polite disagreements and differences of opinion. It’s also possible that some of these titles will be delayed and may not be available in 2025.

I think 2025 looks like a solid year. There are plenty of entertainment experiences on the horizon that have, at the very least, piqued my interest. So without any further ado, let’s jump into the list and talk about them!

Film #1:
28 Years Later

Still frame from the 28 Years Later trailer showing a man with a bow and arrow.

Horror really isn’t my thing – and after the 2010s were dominated by zombies and post-apocalyptic media in general, there are reasons to feel burned out on 28 Years Later’s premise! But I really loved 28 Days Later when it was released back in 2002; it’s a genre-redefining zombie film that genuinely frightened me. The “infected” zombies that debuted in 28 Days Later are terrifying – and it’s no coincidence that many of the best zombie films and games of the past twenty-plus years have drawn inspiration from the way Danny Boyle presented them.

28 Years Later recently premiered a fantastically haunting trailer, and I can really feel myself getting hyped up. The new film looks like it’s retained what made the original so special, while potentially expanding on the story to see what became of the UK and the rest of the world in the aftermath of 28 Weeks Later and the revelation that the rage virus may have escaped the confines of Great Britain. There’s one annoying thing for a pedant like me, though: it’s only been 23 years since the first film was released!

Film #2:
Lilo & Stitch

I wouldn’t say I’m “excited” about this live-action adaptation. It’s more a case of morbid curiosity – I’m interested to see whether Disney will be able to recreate even 1% of the charm of the original Lilo & Stitch when it moves to live-action. For me, Disney’s recent live-action adaptations have been more hit than miss, but even the best of them haven’t been as impactful (or as good) as the original animated films they were based on.

I can kind of understand the desire to remake a film like Snow White or Cinderella – both of which are decades old. But Lilo & Stitch was only released in 2002, making it the most recent Disney film to get the live-action treatment so far. I’m not convinced that it needed a remake, nor that the remake will be particularly good… but I’m going to tune in anyway to find out!

Film #3:
Star Trek: Section 31

Still frame from the Section 31 trailer showing a spaceship landed on an orange-tinted planet.

Do we count Section 31 as a “film?” I mean, it’s really a TV movie… but it’s my list, so I’m sticking it in this category! As you may know if you’ve read my article about the Section 31 trailers, the film doesn’t feel like it’ll be “my thing.” I’d love to be proven wrong, and I always give the Star Trek franchise a chance to impress me… but something about the “Star Trek does Suicide Squad” presentation from the trailers, and the potential for disappointing backsliding from the film’s main character have definitely left me feeling underwhelmed.

That being said, Section 31 has the potential to bring new eyes to Star Trek in a way that no other project has done since the 2009 reboot. Starring Oscar-winner Michelle Yeoh and with a tone and presentation clearly inspired by popular superhero flicks, I feel optimistic about Section 31′s prospects. I still don’t think I’m gonna love it… but we’ll know for sure in about three weeks’ time!

Film #4:
A Minecraft Movie

Still frame from the Minecraft Movie trailer showing Jack Black's character and a glowing portal.

I can’t tell whether A Minecraft Movie is going to be good, or whether it’s gonna end up being one of those “so bad it’s ironically good” films… but I’m keen to find out! Popular video game Minecraft wouldn’t have been my choice to adapt for the big screen, simply because it isn’t really a narrative adventure. Certainly my experiences of playing Minecraft – including back in 2011 while it was still in beta – were about creativity and “making your own fun” rather than following any kind of story.

I’m not convinced that Minecraft’s gameplay lends itself to a narrative adaptation. But I’ve been wrong before, and the tongue-in-cheek, silly fun vibe that I got from the trailer left a positive impression. There have been other expansions to the world of Minecraft that I haven’t played, so there’s definitely lore for the film to build upon. And any film featuring Jack Black will have, at the very least, one solid and entertaining performance to make me smile!

Film #5:
The Electric State

Still frame from the trailer for The Electric State showing several characters and robots.

The Electric State looks… interesting. A film set in a world where rebellious robots have been defeated and consigned to their own patch of land has, at the very least, a unique premise. I’m definitely getting a “more than meets the eye” feel from the trailer, and I expect the film to unravel the reason behind the aforementioned robot revolt – while the protagonists search the robots’ territory for a missing boy.

In a cinematic landscape dominated by sequels, franchises, and spin-offs, hopefully The Electric State can be something a little different. Chris Pratt and Stranger Things’ Millie Bobby Brown are in the lead roles, and the film will also star Woody Harrelson, Stanley Tucci, and Brian Cox, among others.

Film #6:
Train Dreams

Promo photo for Train Dreams showing two of the main characters laying down.

Based on a book from 2002, Train Dreams is going to be a particularly bleak drama film. Starring William H Macy, Felicity Jones, and Joel Edgerton, the story takes place in the first years of the 20th Century and focuses on a man who works on building the railroad across the western United States. The book won several awards in 2002/03, and this film adaptation seems genuinely interesting.

I’m not familiar with director Clint Bentley, but the main performers in Train Dreams all have pedigree. I think this picture has potential, and I’ll be interested to see how it’s received by audiences when it premieres.

Film #7:
Superman

Promo photo for Superman (2025) showing Superman and his pet dog.

I’m not the biggest fan of comic book/superhero movies. And Superman in particular can feel overpowered! But there have been some good Superman adaptations over the years, and this latest one, from director James Gunn, at least has potential. Superman is supposed to kick off a rebooted “Universe” of DC Comics films, which will also include a film based on Supergirl, among others.

DC has struggled to keep up with rival Marvel, whose MCU has been a driving force in cinema for fifteen years at this point. With Marvel seemingly faltering, however, perhaps the time is right for DC to strike – and with Superman, the company is at least trying to put its best foot forward. Whether this version of the character, and this film, can live up to fan expectations… we’ll have to wait and see!

TV Show #1:
Phineas and Ferb

Still frame from Phineas and Ferb Season 4 showing Phineas pointing and Ferb wearing a welding mask.

2025 is set to be the year that Phineas and Ferb returns to our screens! It’s been almost five years since Candace Against the Universe, and a full decade since the series finale, but I really can’t wait to go on some new adventures with the brothers and their friends. There are always concerns when a beloved property is brought back after such a long absence, but Candace Against the Universe demonstrated that co-creators Dan Povenmire and Jeff “Swampy” Marsh haven’t run out of ideas.

Phineas and Ferb has become one of my “comfort shows;” something I drift back to when I’m feeling low and need a pick-me-up. I’m optimistic about its revival, which has brought back most of the original voice actors, and I will be eagerly tuning in for every new episode.

TV Show #2:
King and Conqueror

Promo photo for King and Conqueror showing William on a battlefield holding a large shield.

Co-produced by the BBC here in the UK and American broadcaster CBS, King and Conqueror will tell the story of William the Conqueror and his fight to become King of England in 1066. Having cast Game of Thrones’ Nikolaj Coster-Waldau in the role of William, and with several other well-known names amidst the cast, I have pretty high expectations for this one!

There have been some great historical dramas over the years – but this is the first that I can recall that will look at the conflict between Harold and William in 1066. I first studied the Battle of Hastings years ago at school, and it’s one of those seminal moments in history that, at least in England, we give a lot of importance to. I’m quite eager to see a big-budget recreation of those events.

TV Show #3:
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

Still frame from Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 showing the USS Enterprise in space.

I still have to catch up on a couple of episodes from Season 2, but Strange New Worlds’ third season is on the schedule for this year. For me, Strange New Worlds has become the high-water mark of modern Star Trek; an excellent mix of episodic and serialised storytelling that I wish other parts of the franchise would try to emulate. Anson Mount is perfectly cast as Captain Christopher Pike, and I look forward to seeing what adventures the crew of the Enterprise will get caught up in this time!

There are several new secondary characters who will join the series this time, and perhaps we’ll begin to see Strange New Worlds bridging the gap between the Discovery era and The Original Series a bit more. I don’t want the show to go overboard with TOS characters and storylines, though! If Section 31 is what I’m kind of expecting it to be, then Strange New Worlds will undoubtedly be the highlight of the year for this old Trekkie!

TV Show #4:
The Rig

Promo poster for The Rig showing several main characters. Cropped.

I enjoyed the first season of The Rig a couple of years ago, and it ended on a cliffhanger! It seemed for a moment as if Amazon wouldn’t greenlight a second season – but they belatedly did, and Season 2 will premiere literally tomorrow! So I guess we won’t have to wait long to see if The Rig’s second season will be as good as its first.

I noted elements of films like The Thing and The Abyss in the show’s first season, and I’m genuinely curious to see the next part of its sci-fi/fantasy storyline unfold. Some parts of The Rig could be a little heavy-handed with its environmentalist messaging – which is ironic, as the show is produced by Amazon, one of the biggest emitters on the planet! – so I hope that can be toned down a little this time. Still, I’m pleased that a second season has been made, and I shall be tuning in tomorrow!

TV Show #5:
Spider-Noir

Promo artwork of Spider-Noir (the comic book version of the character).

Nicolas Cage starring as Spider-Man in a film noir-inspired story? That sounds great… doesn’t it? Spider-Noir is set in an alternate timeline, one in which Spider-Man is semi-retired and down on his luck. It’s set in the 1930s, and I think we can expect a lot of references to old detective movies and black-and-white crime dramas!

I like Nicolas Cage’s work, and to be honest I think he’s well-cast here. Spider-Noir also sounds like something a bit different in a superhero genre that can be repetitive and stale, which is something I definitely appreciate. At time of writing I don’t think filming has wrapped, so Spider-Noir most likely won’t premiere until later in the year. Still, one to keep an eye on!

TV Show #6:
Zero Day

Promo photo for Zero Day showing two characters in the Oval Office.

Zero Day has an interesting premise: a devastating cyber-attack takes place. The series is billed as a “political thriller” looking at the aftermath of this attack, the conspiracy around it, and the government’s response to it. I feel echoes of British thriller Cobra, from a few years ago, which looked at the UK government and Prime Minister in the aftermath of a natural disaster.

Starring Robert de Niro, Joan Allen, and Angela Bassett, and with Eric Newman of Narcos serving as showrunner, I think there’s a huge amount of potential in Zero Day. I love a good political thriller, and Zero Day could be a timely and modern examination of the government at a moment of crisis.

TV Show #7:
The Terror: Devil in Silver

The Terror has had two wonderful seasons under its belt – but with lower viewership for Season 2, it seemed for a time as if AMC had killed off the nascent anthology series. But The Terror is back in 2025, this time based on the novel The Devil in Silver, and set at a suitably creepy asylum!

The novel (which I admit I haven’t read) sees a man committed to an asylum, where he discovers that one of the other patients may be demonic – or even the devil. Stories about demons and supernatural things usually scare me, so I think The Terror: Devil in Silver might be perfect Halloween viewing later this year!

Video Game #1:
Civilization VII

Promo screenshot of Civilization VII showing tanks and planes in the game world.

Civilization VI is my most-played game of the last few years. I picked it up in 2016 and I’ve sunk hundreds of hours into it since then. So the next entry in this long-running series is definitely on my radar! I admit that I’m not fully sold on the game’s “change civilisation and leader” mechanic – not yet, anyway. It feels like a bit of a rip-off from 2021’s Humankind rather than something that the Civilization series developed on its own. But I’d love to be proven wrong about that!

There will be other changes and improvements, and it will probably take a while for me to adjust! Civilization VII might be the kind of game that’s best picked up a year or more after its launch, as there will have been time for rebalancing and fixing problems… but I daresay I’ll be ready to jump in on day one!

Video Game #2:
Tokyo Xtreme Racer

Promo screenshot for Tokyo Xtreme Racer (2025) showing an empty highway.

I did not have a revival of the Dreamcast-era racing game Tokyo Xtreme Racer on my bingo card… but here we are! Apparently Tokyo Xtreme Racer will be returning, and I’m not sure what to expect, to be honest! This feels like a game that could go either way; I was excited for Test Drive Unlimited’s return in 2024 but it turned out to be a bust… so this is definitely a “wait and see” rather than a “buy on day one” kind of game.

That being said, if Tokyo Xtreme Racer is the kind of old-school throwback that its name suggests, it could be a really fun experience – and something a little different. I’ll be following its progress and hopefully checking it out for myself later in the year.

Video Game #3:
Locomoto

Promo screenshot for Locomoto showing a train.

A game that brings together the kind of cozy gameplay that I’ve come to love with… a train? That sounds perfect! Locomoto bills itself as a “cozy life-sim adventure set on a train,” and I’m intrigued by the idea. Customising and decking out my very own train, meeting the passengers, and setting off on a journey just sounds whimsical and magical!

The art style and use of animal characters is giving Locomoto an Animal Crossing kind of vibe, and I’m definitely okay with that! I love the idea of having that kind of gameplay set on a moving train, and I’m hopeful that Locomoto will be a gentle but fun adventure.

Video Game #4:
Atomfall

Promo screenshot of Atomfall showing a bearded man with a gun, a cast iron signpost, and a house.

Atomfall is “British Fallout,” or at least that’s the idea! An open nuclear-ravaged wasteland to explore with post-apocalyptic monsters to battle… but this time it’s set in England’s Lake District! I love the idea, and while I think the Fallout comparison may end up setting expectations a little too high for some folks, I’m still hopeful that Atomfall will be able to deliver an engaging adventure.

Being able to explore a virtual world based on places I remember actually visiting will be a lot of fun; there aren’t that many games set in the UK, when you think about it, so Atomfall will stand out from the pack in that sense. The first trailer for the game looked solid, and there’s plenty of time to give Atomfall some polish if needed.

Video Game #5:
Winter Burrow

Promo screenshot of Winter Burrow showing the craft/cooking menu.

Another self-described “cozy game,” Winter Burrow sees players take on the role of a mouse restoring their family’s burrow. The game promises baking, knitting, decorating, and all of the things you’d expect – while also having some “survival” elements. I really love the animated art style that I’ve seen in promotional material – it reminds me of cartoons like The Animals of Farthing Wood.

Combining a hand-drawn style with some potentially complex crafting, and hopefully with a lot of aesthetic and decorative options… I really think that Winter Burrow could be a ton of fun this year. I’m trying not to get overly excited… but this really does look like it’s gonna be a time-sink for me!

Video Game #6:
Avowed

Promo image for Avowed showing a large glowing mushroom.

Avowed is an action RPG in a fantasy setting, crafted by Obsidian Entertainment. Aside from the excellent Knights of the Old Republic II, Obsidian has also made The Outer Worlds and Fallout: New Vegas, both of which got rave reviews. Avowed will be set in the same universe as the Pillars of Eternity series, so there’s established lore to work with.

I gotta say that all things considered, Avowed looks like it’s shaping up to be a fun time. There’s a studio with pedigree behind it, and the teasers and trailers have looked fantastic. A lot of players have been comparing the way the game looks to Bethesda’s Elder Scrolls series – but hopefully Avowed will bring some improvements to the table!

Video Game #7:
Crimson Desert

Promo screenshot for Crimson Desert showing a character on horseback overlooking a lake or bay.

I feel a little sceptical about any game that seems to be promising the moon… so time will tell whether Crimson Desert can really live up to the hype it’s already beginning to generate. I’m also not entirely sure that a game that has already been delayed by over a year will actually launch in “late 2025” as currently planned, but again time will tell!

According to a lot of players, Black Desert Online – the game upon which Crimson Desert was originally based – has one of the best character creators ever, so I’d love to see that in Crimson Desert, too. The scale of the game’s open world has also been talked up, and as long as there’s enough content relative to the size of the map, that’s a mark in its favour. I’ll definitely take a look at the reviews before I jump in… but there are reasons to be hopeful!

So that’s it!

Stock photo of a woman holding a television remote while eating popcorn. — We’ll look like this in 2025!

We’ve picked seven games, seven TV shows, and seven films that I think will be worth checking out between now and Christmas. Some are arriving this month, others not until later in the year.

Usually I’d say my most-anticipated film or show would be anything Star Trek – and Strange New Worlds’ new season should be great, for sure. I’m less sold on Section 31, though, and I think there are some other upcoming projects that look great. If I had to pick just one – which is nigh-on impossible – I guess I’d say Phineas and Ferb’s revival is at the top of my list.

Still frame from Phineas and Ferb Season 4 showing the brothers under a tree in their back yard. — *Phineas and Ferb* is coming back this year.

Once again, let me wish you a happy new year! I hope that 2025 has some fun entertainment experiences in store for all of us, and moreover that it’ll be a great year. Whatever your goal might be for the year or your new year’s resolution, I hope you achieve it. And I hope that this list has given you something to think about and maybe even look forward to!

As for me, I’ve got some tidying up to do! And I’ve got to finish taking down the Christmas lights and pack them away for another year. January can feel like a bare month, sometimes, with empty spaces left over when all the decorations come down. But at least we have some films, games, and TV shows to look forward to, eh?

I hope you have a great start to 2025, and please join me as the year rolls on for more reviews, commentary, and geeking out!

End-of-Year Awards 2024

Tue 31.12.24Tue 31.12.24Dennis

Spoiler Warning: Beware of minor spoilers for some of the titles below.

Another year has gone by in the blink of an eye, it seems! It feels like just a couple of days ago that I was writing about my favourite entertainment experiences of 2023… and then 2024 just sprinted past. With only a few hours left to go until 2025, it seems like the perfect moment to take stock of what was a fun year, entertainment-wise.

As always, a couple of important caveats. Firstly, I’m just one person, and I don’t have every hour of the day to dedicate to entertainment. There are several big titles from 2024 that seem to have entirely passed me by for one reason or another, even though I may have originally intended to watch or play them! As a result, they can’t be entered into consideration for an award.

19th Century photo showing six men standing and sitting next to several trophies. — Who will win this year’s top awards?

Secondly, all of this is the entirely subjective opinion of one individual critic. If I give a made-up award to a title you despise or disregard one of your favourites… that’s okay. There should be enough room for respectful disagreement – and while I’ll try to make the case for why I think a title is worthy of a coveted Trekking with Dennis award, I know not everyone will agree. That’s totally okay, and there’s no need to get upset about pretend trophies and imaginary statuettes!

These awards are divided into categories and sub-categories. Where possible, I’ve selected a runner-up and a winner (second and first place, if you prefer), but for some there’s just a winner and no second place. I’ll try to explain what I liked (or didn’t like) about all of them.

With all of that out of the way, let’s hand out the End-of-Year Awards for 2024!

Best Documentary

🏆Winner🏆
Michael Palin in Nigeria

Promo banner for Michael Palin in Nigeria with artwork/AI of Palin.

I was a huge fan of Michael Palin’s travel documentaries when he worked for the BBC. Around the World in Eighty Days, Pole to Pole, Sahara, and my top pick – Himalaya – are among my favourite TV programmes… ever. Full-stop. So it’s a little embarrassing to admit that I thought the ex-Monty Python star had hung up his boots years ago. I was wrong, and Palin has continued to produce travelogues for Channel 5, visiting North Korea, Iraq, and in 2024, Nigeria.

Nigeria is one of the world’s fastest-growing countries, and as its influence in Africa and beyond continues to grow, it’s natural to take an interest! I knew very little about Nigeria beyond the basics before Michael Palin took me on a whirlwind tour of the country, and as usual, his documentary was informative, creative, humorous, and exceptionally well-presented. Despite being 81 years old, Palin hasn’t lost a step and remains a wonderful and often funny guide to different parts of the world.

Best Web Series

🥈Runner-Up🥈
Oceanliner Designs

Promo photo for Oceanliner Designs showing a man in a suit next to a painting of the RMS Titanic.

Oceanliner Designs is a brilliant and informative YouTube series all about ships and shipping. The RMS Titanic often features on the channel, but so do other, lesser-known ships and shipwrecks. As a fan of history, machinery, and ships, Oceanliner Designs is right up my alley! But even if you only have a passing interest in all things nautical, I still think the channel is worth checking out.

Mike, the presenter, has a gentle way of speaking, and scripts his videos incredibly well. Following the narrative of a doomed ship from the moment it left port – or even earlier, sometimes – is riveting and often harrowing stuff, but the tone of the videos keeps things grounded. I’ve learned a lot about ships and shipwrecks thanks to this channel – and I even discovered the wonderful Project 401 interactive Titanic experience via Oceanliner Designs.

🏆Winner🏆
Adventures in Aardia
(Roll for Sandwich)

Title card for the YouTube version of Roll for Sandwich ep. 337.

This is the first time I’ve picked a TikTok series for my Best Web Series award, which I think also reflects the growth of that platform over the past few years… as well as how much more time I’ve been spending with it! Roll for Sandwich is a whimsical yet simple concept: each component of a sandwich is determined by a roll of the dice in a Dungeons and Dragons-inspired way. It’s a really creative idea, and one that’s been so much fun that it’s spawned its own little sub-genre of foodie shows on TikTok: I’ve seen people making their own versions for barbeque food, hot chocolate, and even breakfast cereal.

Across 2024, I don’t think I’ve missed an episode of Roll for Sandwich. The short episodes are a ton of fun, even when the dice lead to some truly unfortunate or unpleasant combinations of ingredients! The addition of cantrips and spells for things like toasting the bread or swapping out an ingredient has been fun, too, and continues the Dungeons and Dragons theme. An all-around brilliant idea – and one that I’m so pleased has taken off!

Funniest Election Result

🏆Winner🏆
Liz Truss loses her seat

Still frame from Sky News showing Liz Truss losing her seat on election night.

Depending on your political persuasion, you might not think it’s been a great year for election results. And I get that – believe me! But one result in particular was thoroughly deserved as well as being incredibly funny and cathartic. Disastrous former Prime Minister Liz Truss lost her seat in Parliament in the early hours of the 5th of July… and it was a truly delicious thing to watch.

Usually I don’t take much delight in the misery of a real human being… but after the damage Truss’ brief premiership inflicted on the UK and our economy, seeing her kicked out by her own party and her own constituents was schadenfreude of the best possible kind. I don’t agree with the talking heads and political journalists who say that this was a “Portillo moment,” either. Michael Portillo lost his seat in 1997 because he was a Conservative; Liz Truss lost her seat because she was Liz Truss. And I am so very glad that I stayed up all night watching the results – it was worth it for this moment alone.

Best Christmas Film

🏆Winner🏆
That Christmas

Still frame from That Christmas showing two characters building an igloo.

It’s been a few years since a brand-new Christmas film won me over – but That Christmas really was fantastic. Writer Richard Curtis weaved together a set of connected stories in a way that reminded me of his earlier film, Love Actually, and there was Christmas magic galore in the small English town of Wellington-on-Sea.

The holidays are coming to an end now, but if you missed That Christmas in 2024, make sure it’s on your watch list for next year! I really don’t think you’ll regret it. Oh, and is that the first time you’ve seen someone mention Christmas 2025?

Best Animated Film

🏆Winner🏆
Spellbound

Still frame from Spellbound showing Princess Ellian.

At the start of 2024, I really thought that Disney’s Wish would swoop in and take this award. And while I didn’t hate or even particularly dislike Wish, I didn’t feel it was anywhere near as good as Spellbound – from Netflix and Skydance Animation. The film was creative, funny, and clever, and had an interesting premise that I’m sure will have kept younger viewers hooked. Add in a couple of solid songs and you’ve got a film that can absolutely go toe-to-toe with Disney.

Rachel Zegler excels in Spellbound’s lead role, and the film is really sweet and touching in places, as well as having a creative main story. Some great animation work brings all of the characters to life, making Spellbound a must-watch for kids and adults alike.

Worst Film

🏆“Winner”🏆
Rebel Moon
(Parts One and Two)

Still frame from Rebel Moon Part One showing a shirtless man riding a large bird.

Zack Snyder, you’ve done it again! For the second time, a film directed by Zack Snyder takes this award. After the boring slog that was his cut of Justice League a few years ago, Snyder’s Rebel Moon takes the “award” for worst film of 2024. Rebel Moon – which was released in two parts and was supposed to be the beginning of a Star Wars-inspired sci-fi universe – was derivative, poorly-written, bland, and ultimately forgettable.

I actually had to go back to Rebel Moon just to remind myself of some of the names of characters and factions – even though I’d only seen it a few months ago. Nothing about Rebel Moon feels memorable, interesting, or worth revisiting, and while I commend Zack Snyder, Netflix, and the other studios and investors that bankrolled the project for stepping out of the shadow of existing sci-fi franchises to try and create something new… this wasn’t the way to do it.

Best Film

🥈Runner-Up🥈
Twisters

Still frame from Twisters showing a character in a car wearing sunglasses.

I wasn’t at all convinced that the 1996 classic disaster film Twister needed a semi-sequel. And to be fair, Twisters is less a sequel and more a cynical attempt to cash in on a familiar name! But you know what? I enjoy a good disaster film, and taken on its own merit, there’s nothing wrong with Twisters at all. It kept me entertained for a couple of hours while I munched on some popcorn – and that’s basically all I needed it to do.

Twisters is never gonna be anyone’s idea of high art, but that’s okay. Sometimes we all need to switch off for a couple of hours and watch some action, some adventure, and some unfolding disasters!

🏆Winner🏆
Civil War

Still frame from Civil War showing abandoned vehicles.

I thought Civil War was a very creative film. Going into it, based on the trailers, I was expecting a deeply political film… but it really wasn’t. Instead, it was more of a thoughtful examination of how people might react under challenging circumstances; a road trip movie with individual characters at its heart. The titular civil war was really the background for this story to play out in front of.

There were some well-composed scenes and sequences, creative use of sound and silence, and some pretty brutal depictions of conflict and death. With the story being told from the perspective of unarmed journalists, there was tension and a sense of danger all the way through – and some of the deaths were truly harrowing to watch. All in all, a very clever and thought-provoking picture that I’m happy to say was my favourite of 2024.

TV Series: Honourable Mention

🏆Winner🏆
Star Trek: Lower Decks
Season 5

Promo image for Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 5.

In 2025, I simply must get caught up with Lower Decks. But I couldn’t let the show’s final season pass unnoticed in my year-end awards; it’s been a great run, and I’m sad to see Lower Decks being wound down. The show’s light-heartedness, episodic nature, and fun characters have been fine additions to the Star Trek franchise, and I hope its cancellation won’t be Star Trek’s last adventure in the animated realm.

After I kind of burned out on Star Trek back in 2023, I’m still slowly working my way back. I watched Discovery’s fifth and final season this year, and I’ve been working through the episodes of Strange New Worlds that I missed, too. I’ll get around to Lower Decks sooner or later – but until then, I wanted to acknowledge the show and what it’s done for Star Trek.

Most Disappointing TV Series

🏆“Winner”🏆
Star Trek: Discovery
Season 5

Cropped promo poster for Star Trek: Discovery Season 5.

From one Star Trek project to another… and while I don’t like to pick on the Star Trek franchise too much, I’m afraid I have to say that Discovery’s fifth season was the most disappointing thing I watched in 2024. If you read my review earlier in the year you’ll know why, but the long and short of it is that the season was incredibly repetitive. Its main plot was another re-use of “the whole galaxy is in danger and only Michael Burnham, the Chosen One, can save it!!!” And major side-stories involved Burnham’s rocky relationship with Book, a pair of villains with a connection to a main character, and so on.

After four seasons that had used and re-used those same story outlines, I felt hopeful that Season 5 might try something different. Trailers and marketing material hinted at a kind of adventure quest, which could’ve seen Burnham and the crew setting off on a very different kind of mission. But unfortunately Discovery’s writers and producers lacked the boldness and/or the skill to do something genuinely different with the show and its characters. With that being the case, I stand by what I said in my review: it was the right time for Discovery to end.

Best TV Series

🥈Runner-Up🥈
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
Season 2

Still frame from The Rings of Power showing Estrid and Isildur on horseback.

The Rings of Power is – a little too slowly for some folks, perhaps – setting the stage for an engaging fantasy series. I thought that Season 2 was basically more of the same, so fans of Season 1 will have been pleased… but there was perhaps less on offer for people who didn’t feel Season 1 lived up to their expectations. I particularly enjoyed the arcs of Adar and Celebrimbor this time around, but the show’s connected storylines all had fun and interesting moments.

Durin and the dwarves continue to be a ton of fun – though I admit, I missed the bromance between Durin and Elrond this season. It can be hard to properly judge the middle seasons of a fully-serialised TV show; how we feel about what happened this time may ultimately change depending on how storylines and characters land in the future. But for now, suffice to say that The Rings of Power – with its big budget, intertwined storylines, and high fantasy setting – was one of the highlights of the year.

🏆Winner🏆
3 Body Problem
Season 1

Still frame from 3 Body Problem Season 1 showing Ye Wenjie.

Netflix’s adaptation of a Chinese novel series, helmed by David Benioff and DB Weiss, is my pick for the best TV show of the year. 3 Body Problem was fantastic; grown-up science-fiction of the very best kind. There’s so much going on here, with a story about unseen aliens, humanity’s first contact with extraterrestrials, a cultish plot to cover it all up, and finally a warlike response from humanity to the threat posed by the San-Ti.

I was on the edge of my seat – not just because of the show itself, but because it seemed for a while as if Netflix wasn’t going to greenlight a continuation. We have belatedly learned that two more seasons are coming – and I genuinely cannot wait! There were moments of mystery, history, action, and adventure – so if you somehow missed 3 Body Problem, go back and check it out. I really don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

Video Game: Honourable Mention

🏆Winner🏆
EA Sports PGA Tour

Screenshot of EA Sports PGA Tour showing a custom character swinging their club.

PGA Tour wasn’t released this year (it came out in 2023) but it’s my most-played game of the year by quite a long way. I would be remiss to let the year end without acknowledging that, because I’ve really had a lot of relaxing fun playing this unexpectedly enjoyable title. PGA Tour took me back to playing the likes of Actua Golf 2 in the late 1990s, bringing back nostalgic memories while also serving up a detailed and graphically impressive golf experience.

I don’t give a shit about golf in real life – and if you asked me who the current world champion is or even what the difference is between a wood and an iron, I wouldn’t know. There’s a lot of your typical EA monetisation nonsense in PGA Tour – and that’s offputting, especially as I only want to play in single-player mode. But despite all of that, I had a lot of fun on the golf course in 2024.

Worst Visual Downgrade

🏆“Winner”🏆
South Park: Snow Day

The creators of South Park had already perfected the video game formula: The Stick of Truth and its sequel, The Fractured But Whole, were fantastic. Those two games genuinely felt like playing through an extended episode of the TV show – and the visual style was just perfect. Both games nailed the look, sound, and feel of South Park.

So why – why?! – was this absolute abomination created? There was a way to make a multiplayer South Park game using the same engine or at least the same visual style as the previous titles, but this boring battle royale/multiplayer game looks at least two generations out of date and just… shit. If The Stick of Truth had never existed, I still don’t think Snow Day would’ve been anyone’s pick for game of the year. But having seen what a proper South Park game could look like… the disappointment was off the charts.

The “Much-Needed Kick Up The Backside” Award

🏆Winner🏆
Palworld

After years of ripping off its players, stagnating, and failing to improve in any meaningful way, the Pokémon series encountered something brand-new in 2024: a genuine, bona-fide competitor. And Palworld has clearly shaken the cowardly executives at Nintendo to their core, as the little bed-wetters have resorted to trying to sue the game and its developer out of existence. That is shameful.

Palworld took the Pokémon formula and, by all accounts, improved on it in many different ways, creating a game that even die-hard Poké-fans admit is just plain fun. After years of having the monster-battling sub-genre to itself, Nintendo has stagnated and now doesn’t know how to respond. Palworld was the kick up the backside that Pokémon needed – and a solid game in its own right.

Most Overpriced Port

🏆“Winner”🏆
Red Dead Redemption
PC Version

Promo screenshot of Red Dead Redemption with added dollar bills.

Rockstar… does your shameless greed know no bounds? A basic port of a fourteen-year-old game with no graphical upgrades or gameplay improvements should not be on sale for £40. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad that Red Dead Redemption is finally and belatedly available for PC players, and I’d love to give it a try one day. But £40 is way too high a price for a bog-standard port. There are brand-new games on the market for less than that; this version of Red Dead Redemption isn’t worth it.

For a company that started out by making PC games, Rockstar has a weirdly antagonistic relationship with PC gaming nowadays. We already know that Grand Theft Auto VI isn’t going to get a simultaneous PC release – because Rockstar, despite the billions of dollars coming in from Grand Theft Auto V’s online mode, has cheaped out on development. Red Dead Redemption II was also late with its PC release. But I really can’t understand this move – pricing Red Dead Redemption at, say, £15-20 would’ve been fair and would’ve generated some positive buzz around the port. Every review I’ve seen of the port has talked about its price in a negative light, and there was just no need for it. It’s greed, plain and simple.

Best Strategy Game

🥈Runner-Up🥈
War Hospital

A big caveat here: War Hospital launched back in January with some noticeable bugs and issues. However, there have been updates since then that have improved the experience, and it’s now in a state where I feel it’s earned its award. War Hospital has a unique premise – running a hospital during the First World War, managing resources, and caring for patients. Think Theme Hospital, but grittier and more depressing!

I felt that War Hospital had a genuinely creative idea at its heart, and that’s what drew me to the title. The gameplay was solid, making good on the original premise. I’d love to see the game expanded upon somehow – or perhaps a sequel created that allows for a bit more freedom, as I found War Hospital to be a little more linear than I’d expected. Regardless, it was an interesting experience – and something a little different in the strategy/tycoon genre.

🏆Winner🏆
Manor Lords

Promo screenshot of Manor Lords showing a village.

Manor Lords reminds me of one of my favourite city-builders: Banished. But the game goes far beyond what Banished had to offer, with more buildings, unit types, professions, and a much more in-depth and complex management system. It’s a game that I want to spend more time with in 2025, as I feel I’ve only just scratched the surface.

Being able to walk around the town I’d built in third-person was really a lot of fun. It added so much to the experience to be able to jump in and roam the streets (alright, mud tracks), meeting the villagers who call the place home. There’s more to come from Manor Lords, as the game is still technically in “early access,” so watch this space. I expect to see improvements and new features in 2025 and beyond.

Best Cozy Game

🏆Winner🏆
Tiny Glade

Screenshot of Tiny Glade showing a house in a forest.

I thought I was mastering Tiny Glade – a cute little “diorama-builder.” But that was before I hopped online and saw the incredible creations that other players have made! They put my poxy little huts and towers to shame! But that’s okay… I had a blast playing Tiny Glade this year and putting my artistic hat on.

Tiny Glade is all about crafting a scene. Using some pretty simple tools, it’s easy to add everything from trees to ponds, but buildings are the real stars of the show. I love the idea of creating a cozy cottage in the middle of a forest – or an intimidating tower overlooking a bridge. There’s a lot of fun to be had here, but it’s the kind of gentle fun that doesn’t require a lot of fast button-mashing!

Game of the Year

🥈Runner-Up🥈
The Plucky Squire

The Plucky Squire wasn’t on my radar at all in 2024, but it came out of nowhere to genuinely impress me. Developers All Possible Futures crammed so many different and creative gameplay ideas into this one single title that it’s hard to know where to begin! There’s also a cute story at the game’s core, pushing you forward.

The transition from 2D to 3D gameplay works so well in The Plucky Squire, and feels a cut above the way it worked in Super Mario Odyssey. The game is fundamentally a platformer, but it has so much else going on across a relatively short eight- or nine-hour runtime. If you missed The Plucky Squire – as I very nearly did – please give it a look. I really don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

🏆Winner🏆
Little Kitty, Big City

Screenshot of Little Kitty, Big City showing the feline protagonist on a rooftop.

Little Kitty, Big City is absolutely adorable. An adventure game in which you get to play as a cute black cat feels like something tailor-made for me, and I was really excited to jump in. What I found was nothing short of beautiful – a game with a fantastically old-school art style, but one that genuinely made me feel like I was a cat. The scale of the world, the verticality of some of the buildings, and the jumping and pouncing animations… it was all pitch-perfect.

There are even hats to collect to dress up your adorable kitty cat – and plenty of other animals and critters to meet on your journey back home. This really was an incredibly sweet and cute game, the most enjoyable I’ve played all year. So, little kitty, come and collect your well-deserved award! Or, y’know… push it off the counter onto the floor.

So That’s It For 2024!

Photo from the 2024 Golden Globes showing two award-winners. — We’ve handed out this year’s imaginary statuettes!
*Photo Credit: Getty/BBC News*

Did any of your favourites win a Trekking with Dennis award? Or did I surprise you with my choices this year? In any case, I hope it’s been a bit of fun to stroll through 2024 with me, picking out some of my favourites – and a couple of less-favourite entertainment experiences, too!

There’s more to come in 2025, and the website isn’t going anywhere. In the next few days, I’ll take a look ahead to some of the films, TV shows, and video games that I’m most looking forward to in the new year – and I hope you’ll join me for that. But before that, we’ve got New Year’s Eve to prepare for!

Still frame from 2000 Today showing Millennium Eve in London, Fireworks, and Big Ben. — The fireworks display in London on Millennium Eve.

Whatever your plans are for tonight, I hope you have a wonderful time ringing in the new year. 2025 will be the beginning of the second half of the 2020s, if you can believe that! The halfway point of the decade seems to have come around very quickly – and 2024 also seems to have raced past.

Here’s hoping that 2025 will be a safe, healthy, and enjoyable year for us all! I hope you have fun tonight – and I hope my silly little End-of-Year Awards were interesting and/or entertaining, too.

See you next year!

All titles listed above are the copyright of their respective studio, publisher, broadcaster, distributor, etc. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

Video Game Spotlight: Shenmue

Sun 29.12.24Wed 15.01.25Dennis

Spoiler Warning: There are spoilers ahead for Shenmue.

We’re marking an important anniversary today! Shenmue – a title which, for many folks, came to define the Dreamcast and Sega – launched in Japan on the 29th of December 1999. This game is one of my favourites, not only of the Dreamcast nor of the early 2000s, but… ever. Even twenty-five years later, and despite all of the problems that the saga has faced, Shenmue is still up there as one of my favourite games of all-time.

Here in the UK, we didn’t actually get Shenmue in December 1999. We’d have to wait eleven months for the game to arrive, but I already owned a Dreamcast at that point and I really couldn’t wait! I’d read all about Shenmue in the first issue of the UK’s Official Dreamcast Magazine, and I was immediately hooked in by how the game looked in those very first teaser screenshots, but more importantly how it was being described. This felt like a genuinely revolutionary title.

Crop of the Official Dreamcast Magazine (UK) November 1999 issue cover, featuring Shenmue. — *Shenmue* was teased ahead of its launch in the *Official Dreamcast Magazine*.

So for months I was left in limbo, waiting to get my hands on the game for myself! After the dust had settled on the excitement of the celebrations for Millennium Eve, a new year got underway – and I knew that, at some point in the year 2000, I’d finally be able to play Shenmue! It really was one of the entertainment experiences that I was most looking forward to – and it remained in that position all year.

Perhaps it’s because I picked up Shenmue in early December, but it’s a game that I associate with this time of year. There are some in-game Christmas events, too, with a Santa Claus figure appearing in Dobuita, snow falling, and Christmas Day being noted – if you’re still playing when the calendar reaches that point! So for me, Shenmue and the holiday season have always been joined at the hip, and it’s a game that feels particularly well-suited to this time of year. Playing Shenmue in December also, I would argue, adds a little something extra to the role-playing side of things!

Screenshot of Shenmue (1999) showing Ryo meeting Santa Claus. — Ryo can meet Santa Claus in Dobuita!

I’ve enjoyed video games since I first picked up a joystick at a kids’ club in the late ’80s. This’ll have to be the subject of a longer piece one day, but I think what fascinated me the most about gaming was being able to control what was happening on the TV screen. I can’t remember a time without TV, and being able to be “in charge” of what was going on on the most important screen in the house… I remember it being a really powerful and exciting feeling.

But by 1999, I was beginning to feel that I’d gone as far as I could with games. Most games I’d played on the Super Nintendo and N64 were basically digital toys – and I don’t say that with too much disrespect intended! There had been some fun games on the N64, which was the console I’d owned before picking up a Dreamcast, and I was still enjoying several of them in 1999/2000. But none of those games were what you’d call “cinematic” or “grown-up,” and I guess I was beginning to feel like I was ageing out of the gaming hobby – particularly as I was working, commuting, going to school, and trying to balance all of that with my social life and finding time for friends and family.

Stock photo of a Dreamcast console. — *Shenmue* was released for the Dreamcast on this day in 1999.

But Shenmue changed all of that. It was the first game I played that felt gritty, realistic, and genuinely cinematic, telling a modern-day story set in the real world that would’ve been right at home on the big screen. It’s hard to speculate and deal in “what-ifs,” but I’ve wondered more than once if I’d have kept playing games beyond the early 2000s if it hadn’t been for Shenmue showing me what interactive media could be when it’s at its best.

It’s hard to put into words how many ground-breaking gameplay, visual, and narrative elements were present in this one single title. Things players have taken for granted for years – like lip-synced dialogue or hands with individual fingers – leapt out at me when I finally got my hands on the game for myself, and they felt like a gigantic leap forward from the blocky, polygonal graphics of the N64 generation.

Screenshot of Shenmue (1999) showing Ryo holding a Sonic the Hedgehog toy. — Being able to hold in-game items and examine them up close was ground-breaking in 1999!

Perhaps the most impressive feature of Shenmue was its world. No one in 1999 knew what the term “open world” would come to mean, but Shenmue was the first game I played that is reasonably close to that category. The limitations of the Dreamcast still kept Shenmue divided up into several areas – but these were large, densely-packed, and diverse. Moreover, they were incredibly well-detailed, making just strolling down the street in Ryo’s home town of Yamanose feel like being transported thousands of miles across the sea to Japan.

Within Shenmue’s open world, every non-player character had a purpose. They ran a shop or went shopping, they swept the road outside their house and then went inside to take a break; they had jobs, they had objectives… and they felt real in a way that, even today, many NPCs just don’t. These characters, their schedules, and the way shops and businesses would open and close as the day wore on… they were completely revolutionary things at the time, and features that some open-world games today are worse and less realistic for failing to include. Shenmue also opened up almost every shop and building in the game for exploration – even those that had nothing whatsoever to do with the main story.

Screenshot of Shenmue (1999) showing the bakery in Dobuita. — NPCs going about their lives in Dobuita.

For someone who had grown up playing games that had been, up until that point, pretty linear experiences, the freedom Shenmue allowed me felt incredible. I was free to totally ignore Ryo’s quest, instead taking his pocket money and squandering it on collectible figures – or at the arcade! An arcade which, need I remind you, contained two full-size games from the 1980s, as well as a fun darts mini-game and a QTE mini-game to boot.

I hadn’t played Space Harrier before I played Shenmue, but I have a vague recollection of playing Hang On – or a game like it, at least – on a rare visit to an arcade at some point in the late ’80s or early ’90s. So to get that experience again inside of another video game… it was a huge treat. I spent hours playing these games-within-a-game; it was just so much fun to visit the arcade and put other activities and the quest on the back burner!

Screenshot of Shenmue (1999) showing the arcade. — I spent hours of my life (and Ryo’s) in the arcade…

Having Space Harrier and Hang On inside Shenmue’s arcade felt like a real power play from Sega – wrapping up two games inside of a much bigger, more elaborate game was a real flex and a way to show off how much bigger and better the Dreamcast was. And for someone who grew up in a rural area where there weren’t any arcades, being able to visit a digital arcade was pretty cathartic, too!

Shenmue began life in the mid-90s as Virtual Fighter RPG, a spin-off from Sega’s established fighting game series. Taking one of the Virtua Fighter characters as a starting point, creator Yu Suzuki began to build his magnum opus. Development was originally planned for the Sega Saturn console, but this later switched to the Dreamcast. The connection to Virtual Fighter was also abandoned, with the game taking on a fully standalone story. Shenmue and its sequel – Shenmue II – were in development at the same time, with work on the second game being well underway by the time the first game was released.

Concept art for Shenmue (1999) showing two sketches of Ryo. — Early concept art of Ryo Hazuki.

Shenmue is famous – or rather, infamous – for its development budget. In 1999, it was reported that the game cost over $70 million to make, though this also includes part of the development costs of Shenmue II. Regardless, Shenmue was an expensive undertaking, and a big gamble for Sega. If the Dreamcast had sold as Sega hoped, and Shenmue had been its “killer app,” recouping that investment would’ve been possible. But with the Dreamcast underperforming, there was no way for Shenmue to make its money back, leading to the game being best-remembered outside of its fan community as one of the most expensive failures in video gaming history – at least for the time.

Of course, I didn’t know any of that at the time I bought a Dreamcast! I was dimly aware of the game’s reputation as an expensive undertaking, but at the time that just seemed like an even bigger boast on the part of Sega! “The most expensive game of all-time” shipped with some incredible features and an insane level of detail, genuinely changing my relationship with games and setting expectations that, time and again, other titles fail to live up to in one way or another.

Screenshot of Shenmue (1999) showing Ryo in the cafe. — Ryo at the harbour cafe.

At the heart of Shenmue’s story was a relatable protagonist caught up in a quest for answers – and revenge. Ryo Hazuki is an incredibly well-written character, someone who’s sympathetic and relatable, while also being from a completely different culture and having at least some characteristics of an anti-hero. Several times in Shenmue, Ryo’s friends and confidants would try to dissuade him from pursuing his quest for revenge, but he’d remain steadfast.

The concept of revenge is a difficult one, and the game doesn’t shy away from that. Rather than reporting the crime of his father’s murder to the police – which you can literally attempt to do in-game using the telephone – Ryo is determined to solve things on his own. He wants to kill the man who killed his father – but along the way, he’s forced to confront difficult questions about who his father truly was and how well he really knew him. There’s a lot of complexity and nuance to this story, and while Shenmue firmly places the player in Ryo’s shoes, questions linger about how justified he is in taking this course of action.

Screenshot of Shenmue (1999) showing Lan Di standing over Iwao at the beginning of the game. — *Shenmue* is a classic revenge story.

There are areas of Shenmue that, by today’s standards, seem a little dated. The control scheme was designed before twin analogue sticks were a standard part of control pads, and on the Dreamcast, movement still used a four-way D-pad. This could feel clunky and often led to awkward moments as Ryo struggled to navigate a doorway or successfully climb a flight of stairs!

The clunky controls also extended to fighting sequences. Complicated multi-button combos worked well in Virtua Fighter and other 2D fighting games of that era, but I never felt they translated all that well to a fully 3D environment. I’m far from the best gamer, but even in the Dreamcast days I’d find Ryo flailing around, swinging punches and kicks at mid-air as an opponent moved out of range or to one side. In bigger fights with multiple enemies, that was less of a problem. In one-on-one situations, though, it could occasionally get annoying!

Screenshot of Shenmue (1999) showing Ryo fighting Chai at the arcade. — Ryo swings a kick at a villain.

In keeping with Shenmue’s philosophy of F.R.E.E – full reactive eyes entertainment; an early open-world, free-roaming idea – it was possible to practice fighting in one of several areas around the game world. I confess that I probably didn’t practice as much as I should’ve, and I didn’t make use of very many of the more complicated multi-button moves that Ryo could learn. I found that once I had a couple of solid kicks and strikes in my arsenal, the rest were just superfluous! Was that the right way to play? Well… isn’t that the fun of a game like Shenmue? That there are different ways to approach some of these sequences?

For me, the fighting portions of the game were really just bridges in between exploration and story sections. As long as I could get through a fight without losing repeatedly, I was content to play through them to advance the story. And that was a genuinely new feeling for me at the time – the idea that a video game could have such an engrossing story that the actual gameplay side of things was in a distant second place. Sure, I’d played story-driven games before Shenmue – titles like Shadows of the Empire and Jet Force Gemini come to mind – but this really was the first game with a realistic, gritty, and truly engaging story that I found myself getting lost in.

Screenshot of Shenmue (1999) showing Ryo with his father's sword. — The katana.

For better or worse, Shenmue was the game that coined the phrase “quick-time event” and introduced this mechanic to a wider audience. We can debate whether QTEs were invented by Shenmue or not, but Shenmue’s marketing came up with the name – and QTEs have, in the years since, become rather controversial!

I’d like to defend quick-time events in Shenmue. Firstly, they felt genuinely new and revolutionary at the time, taking a part of the game that would’ve otherwise been a non-interactive cut-scene and making it part of gameplay – with consequences for messing up. And secondly, QTEs as they appeared in the first Shenmue didn’t feel overdone or particularly obtrusive. Shenmue’s QTEs felt like a big leap forward in terms of interactive storytelling.

Screenshot of Shenmue (1999) showing Ryo chasing a travel agent during a quick-time event. — *Shenmue* even found a way to make cut-scenes interactive.

Quick-time events have acquired a reputation through over-use in other titles in the years since Shenmue – rather than because of the way they were used in this game in particular! And sure, as the title that popularised QTEs, Shenmue might come in for some criticism – and I get that. But I maintain that the way they’re used in Shenmue itself is actually fine, and if other games stuck to that formula, maybe players today would have less of an issue with QTEs. But we’re dangerously close to veering off-topic.

Aside from Ryo himself, who was an especially well-written protagonist, Shenmue’s world was populated with some wonderful secondary characters. Ryo’s friend/crush Nozomi is sweet, and the interactions the two have across the game really raise the stakes when she’s put in danger later on. Tom, Ryo’s friend who sells hot dogs, is a great character too – and the friendship the two built up really packs an emotional punch, especially when Tom leaves Japan toward the end of the game. Fuku-san and Ine-san are the familiar faces of home that Ryo leaves behind – and occasionally seems to push away – as part of his quest. And Ryo’s other friends all have an impact, too.

Screenshot of Shenmue (1999) showing Ryo and Nozomi on a motorcycle. — Ryo and Nozomi.

Then there are the villains. Lan Di, though only seen in person at the beginning of the game, just oozes strength and power, and the mystery tied up with Iwao, Ryo’s father, is tantalising. Then there’s Chai – a genuinely disturbing, weird little guy! Chai’s way of speaking, his facial appearance, and his crouching gait all come together to make a really unsettling presentation. The way Chai interfered with Ryo’s quest was infuriating, too – deliberately so! A truly well-crafted villain that, to this day, makes my skin crawl!

At the harbour we also have the occupants of Warehouse #8: Master Chen and Guizhang. This mysterious father-and-son duo have a connection to Ryo’s father – and to Lan Di. Just tracking them down is a whole mystery in and of itself, and sneaking into their base can be difficult! I’m not really in favour of mandatory stealth sections in games, but once you know what you’re doing and get your bearings in the Old Warehouse District, getting there shouldn’t be too difficult.

Screenshot of Shenmue (1999) showing Ryo hiding from security guards at the Old Warehouse District. — Hiding from guards in the Old Warehouse District…

The harbour is probably my favourite individual area of Shenmue’s game world. It’s so atmospheric, with large warehouses, a rippling sea, and tired sailors and workmen all milling around. Particularly at night, the harbour really feels like a real place – but also a strangely nostalgic one, if that makes sense. I could spend hours at the harbour just walking around, soaking it all in.

The harbour is also where Ryo would get a job – and despite what you might’ve heard, driving a forklift and stacking crates was a lot of fun! The forklift race at the beginning of each day was great, too – and another totally unexpected gameplay feature in a game laden with mini-games, creative mechanics, and different things to do. The forklift gameplay was also strangely relaxing; the kind of “cozy” gameplay that makes people fall in love with simulator titles. Picking up crates and stacking them just right was a lot of fun.

Screenshot of Shenmue (1999) showing Ryo driving a forklift at the harbour. — I genuinely enjoyed being a forklift driver.

The only downside to Ryo’s forklift job is that it’s relatively short and comes at the beginning of the end of Shenmue. By the time you start the job at the harbour, you’re basically on the path to the endgame and the climactic final battles – and I could’ve happily spent an in-game month or two just having fun playing forklift driver at the harbour!

Ryo and Guizhang team up to take on seventy opponents at the end of the game; an epic, climactic battle that throws wave after wave of opponents at them at the harbour. This battle is difficult, but it’s also a ton of fun compared with some of the earlier one-on-one boss fights. Ryo has moves that can knock back several people at once, like his spinning kick, and smashing your way through huge numbers of gangsters… there was nothing like it at the time! The closest comparison I can think of to the game’s climactic seventy-person battle (from the same time period) is Dynasty Warriors 2, which released about six months later.

Screenshot of Shenmue (1999) showing Ryo and Guizhang preparing to do battle. — Ryo and Guizhang.

Shenmue was more than just a game. This landmark title completely changed how I came to see interactive media, set expectations for narrative games that, even today, many titles fail to live up to, created a living, breathing world years before anyone else even tried it, and above all, kept me invested in gaming as a hobby at a point in my life where I might’ve otherwise began to drift away. Twenty-five years on from its launch, it remains one of my favourite games of all-time.

For me, that’s Shenmue’s real legacy. It’s a game that set the bar for narrative action/adventure experiences, and even today I find myself comparing brand-new games to Shenmue, or noting that Shenmue was the first game I played with a particular feature or gameplay mechanic. I revisited Shenmue in 2017, shortly after it was re-released on PC, and I had a blast getting lost in that world all over again. Although some aspects of the game are definitely dated today, it’s amazing how well the world itself holds up.

Screenshot of Shenmue (1999) showing Ryo walking toward the bus stop near the end of the game. — Ryo with his backpack, headed for Hong Kong.

I wanted to acknowledge Shenmue’s milestone quarter-of-a-century anniversary, and I hope I’ve been able to adequately convey just how much this game meant to me – and how much it continues to matter all these years later. Despite the disappointment I felt at the developers’ inability to bring the story to a conclusion, I still look back on Shenmue with incredible fondness.

I’m so glad I got to play through this game on the Dreamcast, and it’s still a title I find myself recommending to players who missed it the first time around. With a port currently available on PC and PlayStation 4 – usually at a reasonable price, especially when there are sales – it’s incredibly easy to get started with Shenmue, and I honestly can’t recommend it enough. Sure, it’s a piece of gaming history nowadays – but it’s also an incredible narrative experience.

Screenshot of Shenmue (1999) showing a cut-scene at the harbour with Ryo, the foreman, and a forklift. — At the harbour.

A few weeks ago, I tackled the difficult question of whether the Shenmue saga has a future. Five years on from Shenmue III, is there a chance of yet another reprieve for this incredible – yet overlooked – series? Check out my answer to that question by clicking or tapping here! And at some point soon, I’d love to watch and review Shenmue – The Animation; the anime adaptation of the first two games. So be sure to check back for that.

Until then, I really hope this has been an interesting look back at one of my favourite games… ever. Shenmue blew my mind twenty-five years ago, and I really wanted to celebrate its anniversary in style. If you’ve never played it, do us both a favour and try and track down a copy! If you like games with a strong story, I really don’t think you’ll regret it. If you loved Shenmue in the Dreamcast days, or came to it after the fact when it was re-released, I hope you’ll join me in raising a glass to one of the most revolutionary, creative, and transformational games of its era.

Happy anniversary, Shenmue!

Shenmue I & II is available now for PC and PlayStation 4. Shenmue – The Animation may be available to stream on CrunchyRoll. Shenmue is the copyright of YSNet and/or Sega. Some images, screenshots, and artwork courtesy of Sega, YSNet, Shenmue Dojo, and Wandering Through Shenmue on YouTube. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

Some Great Holiday Sale Deals For PC Gamers

Sat 21.12.24Dennis

A spoiler warning graphic (with Father Christmas!)

Spoiler Warning: Beware of minor spoilers for some of the entries on this list.

Every year, I like to share a few of my recommendations when PC games go on sale. With only a few days left until Christmas, Steam, GOG, and Epic Games have all kick-started their annual holiday sales – and there are some great games available at a discount.

These sales are great for gamers – and they help make up for the fact that PC gaming can be more expensive to get started with when compared with a home console. Or at least, that feels like a good rationalisation when buying expensive PC components! The fact that many titles can be discounted even within just a few months of release makes PC gaming feel like a good deal – and the best platform for enjoying interactive media!

A stock photo of the inside of a gaming PC, with spinning fans, a graphics card, and a motherboard all visible. — Some powerful hardware!

So as I do every year, I’m going to pull out a few games that I think are worth your attention now that they’re discounted. If you missed any of these titles when they were new, or if you’ve been hanging around hoping they’d go on sale, now could be a great time to pick them up – either as an early Christmas treat for yourself or as a gift for someone else.

Now for the important bit! All prices below were correct at time of writing and are in pounds sterling as I’m based in the UK. Prices may vary by region and/or currency, and will no longer be accurate as of January when the sales end. It’s up to you to check with the store and make sure you’re happy with the price as well as any other terms and conditions that may apply; I’m just a random person on the internet making a list of games!

Title card of the Star Trek episode The Ultimate Computer, with the USS Enterprise visible. — Ready to play some games on… the ultimate computer?

As always, everything we’re gonna talk about is the wholly subjective opinion of just one person – so if you hate all of my recommendations or I exclude one of your personal favourites… that’s okay. There’s plenty of room in the community for differences of opinion and disagreements. I share this list in the spirit of the holiday season, and to hopefully draw your attention to a game or two that you may not have considered.

Let’s jump into the deals!

Deal #1:
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
Steam: 75% discount, £14.99

Screenshot of Jedi: Survivor showing Cal posing with his lightsaber (and a handsome moustache).

Truth be told, I didn’t enjoy Jedi: Survivor anywhere near as much as its predecessor. Jedi: Fallen Order was fantastic – and its sequel didn’t do enough, for me anyway, to live up to that. However, with the game being so heavily discounted, it’s an easy recommendation for either Star Wars fans, fans of the first game, or just players who enjoy a single-player action/adventure title.

There are still bugs left over from a rocky launch, but your mileage may vary with the game’s narrative – and if you enjoy Cal’s adventure more than I did, you might look back at this one as being a steal! With a sequel in the works, it’s worth sticking with Jedi: Survivor… if only in the hopes that a better continuation of the story is right around the corner.

Deal #2:
The Plucky Squire
Steam: 25% discount, £18.74

Promotional screenshot of The Plucky Squire.

Spoiler alert for later this month, but The Plucky Squire is one of my favourite games of 2024. I adore the art style, the cute characters, and the incredibly fun and creative approach to gameplay. There’s a lot going on in this relatively short experience, and this is the type of game you can play through in an afternoon or two – it’s not something that requires a huge time commitment.

Considering it only released in September, and it’s been getting rave reviews, a 25% discount at this stage feels generous! If you missed The Plucky Squire this autumn, though, I really do think you’ll enjoy it if you give it a shot. There’s a lot to love here.

Deal #3:
Ghost of Tsushima
Steam: 20% discount, £39.99

Promotional screenshot of Ghost of Tsushima showing Jin looking out over a landscape.

Ghost of Tsushima had been on my radar for a while, and I’m glad to have finally picked it up. The game is, by all accounts, one of the best open-world action games of the last few years, and the samurai/ninja warrior game we all used to fantasise about when we were kids! There’s a beautiful, realistic open world set on the Japanese island of Tsushima to explore, and the Mongolian horde to defeat.

I’d been looking forward to the PC port of Ghost of Tsushima for a while, so I’m glad to finally have the chance to jump in. There are so many glowing reviews out there that it’s impossible not to recommend Ghost of Tsushima while it’s on sale.

Deal #4:
Alan Wake 2
Epic Games: 50% discount, £19.99

Promo image of Alan Wake 2 with an FBI Agent standing in the middle of a road.

I played and adored Remedy Entertainment’s Control a few years ago, and although I didn’t know it at the time, there were some subtle story connections to their earlier title Alan Wake. Alan Wake 2 came out just over a year ago, and was well-received by critics – though with many noting that the game’s tone has shifted in more of a survival horror direction.

I’m not usually a horror fan, but I enjoy the mysterious worlds that Remedy have been able to create. There’s something otherworldly about their stories, but at the same time, having everyday people with understandable motivations at the centre helps keep things grounded. At half price, who could say no? And while you’re at it, the remastered version of the original game is less than £7.

Deal #5:
Star Trek: Voyager – Elite Force
GOG: 25% discount, £6.29

Elite Force is one of the rare Star Trek games to have genuinely crossed over and picked up players outside of the Trekkie community! Shortly after its release (which is now almost a quarter of a century ago; I’m ancient) the game’s multiplayer scene was buzzing. In the days of LAN parties and the beginning of online multiplayer titles, Elite Force put in a creditable showing.

There’s also a fun and engaging single-player campaign that Trekkies will appreciate. It’s true that the game’s graphics look outdated by today’s standards, but most of the Voyager cast reprise their roles in voiceover, and there’s a strong story for players and Trekkies able to look past the game’s visual presentation. Elite Force feels like playing through an extended episode of the series.

Deal #6:
Mass Effect: Legendary Edition
Steam: 92% discount, £3.99

Screenshot of Mass Effect 3 showing Commander Shepard crouching behind an obstacle.

You basically have no excuse not to pick this up. I mean, three of the best single-player sci-fi action-RPGs ever made for the price of a coffee? How could anyone pass that up? Jokes aside, while I have some major gripes with the laziness of BioWare’s “remaster” of the Mass Effect trilogy, getting all three games and all of their DLC in one package is a great way to either get the games for the first time or re-acquire them on PC… and for such a low price it seems like a fantastic opportunity.

The world of Mass Effect is rich and detailed, and the story the trilogy tells is intense, action-packed, and emotional. Anyone who missed the games during the Xbox 360 era should definitely give them a shot, and while Legendary Edition isn’t all it could be, it’s by far the best way to get started with Mass Effect.

Deal #7:
Baldur’s Gate 3
Steam/GOG: 20% discount, £39.99

Screenshot of Baldur's Gate 3 showing the character creator - and a custom halfling character with green skin.

I think I’m going to be recommending Baldur’s Gate 3 to everyone I meet for as long as I live! The game is an absolute masterpiece in every sense of the word; a role-playing game with genuine roles to play that are distinct and different from one another. In many games, it doesn’t really make much difference what class or background you choose when making your character – but in Baldur’s Gate 3 it can impact everything from gameplay to character interactions and more.

There are so many ways to play Baldur’s Gate 3 that the game feels like a completely different experience on a second or third playthrough. There are incredibly in-depth systems for magic spells, combat, persuasion, and more – and the ever-present dice rolls help spice things up, too! It’s one of the best games I’ve ever played – and if that’s not a good enough endorsement, then I don’t know what’ll convince you to check this out!

Deal #8:
Little Kitty, Big City
Steam: 30% discount, £14.69

Screenshot of Little Kitty, Big City showing the player character - a black cat.

Another spoiler alert, but Little Kitty, Big City is another of my favourite titles of 2024! I absolutely adored roaming the streets of a Japanese city as an adorable black cat, meeting other animal critters, and generally causing mischief. I’m a cat lover, so a game like this was always going to be fun for me, but I was genuinely impressed at how well-built Little Kitty, Big City was.

I know it sounds silly, but I actually felt like a cat while playing this game. The scale of the world compared to the small cat, the jumping and pouncing abilities that had such cute animation work… the whole thing came together to really hit me with that sensation in a way I wasn’t expecting. It’s an adorable game, a cute, sweet, and fun experience – and one I cannot recommend highly enough!

Deal #9:
Manor Lords
Steam/Epic: 30% discount, £24.49

Promo image of Manor Lords showing a medieval village in the snow.

I haven’t played as much of Manor Lords as I should’ve this year… but the game is fantastic. If you’re familiar with the likes of Banished (which is a game I also recommend, especially when it’s on sale for £7.49) then you’ll know the basics of Manor Lords. But this game goes beyond Banished, with a region map of areas that can be colonised, more types of crops, buildings, and professions, and other additions, too.

Manor Lords feels like a game that might take a little while to get the hang of – but when you know what you’re doing and get started, there’s a huge variety of options for your little medieval settlement! Balancing villagers’ needs isn’t easy, nor is acquiring and storing all of the resources you’ll need to get through the winter. But there’s a ton of fun to be had here, so if building and simulation are your thing, don’t sleep on Manor Lords… even though it’s technically still in early access!

Deal #10:
Disney Dreamlight Valley
Steam: 25% discount, £25.11

Promo image of Disney Dreamlight Valley showing a player character, Rapunzel, and a capybara.

Be careful with Disney Dreamlight Valley – my earlier recommendation of the game from a couple of years ago now comes with the caveat that there’s a lot more monetisation in play. But if you can look past that, there’s a really cute and fun Animal Crossing-esque experience here. In fact, I’d argue that Disney Dreamlight Valley has completely eclipsed the Animal Crossing series – and should give Nintendo a serious kick up the backside!

All of your favourite Disney characters are here, living together in a beautiful little valley. Each character has their own house, and there are character quests and a main quest to get stuck into – uncovering the mysteries of the valley! There are also many different cosmetic items and pieces of furniture to both dress up your character and decorate their home. New content is added all the time – though some of it is either wholly or partially paywalled. I still love Disney Dreamlight Valley, but just remember to turn on parental controls if you have little ones!

Deal #11:
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
Steam/GOG: 60% discount, £5.19

One of Morrowind's loading screens showing artwork of a Netch.

If you’re burned out on Bethesda’s latest game – Starfield – but still craving something similar to play, why not step back to Morrowind? Most people have played Skyrim by now, but Morrowind – which was released on PC and Xbox back in 2002 – may have been too early for some of you young’ins! With some modern graphics mods, though, the game doesn’t need to look like a twenty-year-old title.

Here’s why Morrowind remains, for me, Bethesda’s high-water mark and the title to which I compare all of their subsequent games: there’s so much to do. There are literally quests in Morrowind that I haven’t played twenty years later. There are more weapon types, magical spells, and characters to interact with than in either Oblivion or Skyrim, and the game has a world that’s so rich, so detailed, and so different and alien in the way parts of it feel that it really is possible to get lost there, or just spend hours walking around, soaking it all in.

Deal #12:
The Last Of Us Part 1
Steam/Epic: 50% discount, £24.99

Promo screenshot for The Last Of Us Part 1 showing Ellie and a herd of giraffes.

The Last Of Us Part 2 is coming to PC next year – so it could be a great time to catch up on or re-play the first entry in the series. A mushroom apocalypse might sound weird at first, but the game is beautifully-written and incredibly well-paced, with intense moments of action as Joel and Ellie navigate a road-trip across a post-apocalyptic United States.

I adored The Last Of Us on the PlayStation 3, and while I don’t think it needed a remaster or a remake – and it certainly didn’t need two – there’s no denying that the game looks fantastic on PC when you crank the settings up! There’s some great gameplay here, but what makes The Last Of Us truly special are its story and characters.

So that’s it!

Black-and-white photo of a person holding a video game controller. — Let’s play some games!

We’ve picked out a few deals from the various sales that are going on in the PC gaming space at this time of year. For 2024, I seem to have almost entirely chosen third-person, single-player action/adventure games and RPGs… that wasn’t intentional, but those are just the kinds of games I’ve enjoyed playing, I guess!

Do keep in mind that not every game is on sale (or given the same discount) in every digital shop; several examples just on this list are discounted in one place but not in another, so it’s always worth double-checking to make sure you’re getting the best discount and the best deal.

If I’ve helped even one person find one new game to play this holiday season, I reckon I’ve done a good job!

All titles listed above are the copyright of their respective studio, developer, and/or publisher. Some screenshots and promotional artwork courtesy of IGDB. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

The Elder Scrolls VI: A Game In Peril?

Wed 18.12.24Dennis

It seems silly to be talking about a game this far out from its potential launch – and I can appreciate that. However, I find myself with things to say about The Elder Scrolls VI, in part to expand upon something I touched on earlier in the year when discussing Starfield’s absolutely disgusting microtransaction marketplace, and with news breaking in 2024 that Bethesda Game Studios is ramping up development on The Elder Scrolls VI… well, it can’t hurt to share my thoughts at this early stage, right?

Let’s briefly re-tread some ground so we’re all on the same page. The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind is one of my favourite games of all-time, and I also enjoyed Oblivion, Skyrim, and Bethesda’s entries in the Fallout series. In 2023, I got swept up in the hype for Starfield… only to crash and burn on that game pretty quickly when I found it to be last-gen, small, and basically just boring. I am not any kind of “hater” of Bethesda or their games – and I’m definitely not trying to pick on any individual developers, producers, or creative folks. I approach this subject as someone who desperately wants to enjoy The Elder Scrolls VI… but I feel so incredibly turned off the game at this early stage that it would take a miracle to even convince me to play it.

Screenshot of Morrowind showing the settlement of Ghostgate (two buildings, a gateway, and a magical fence). — *Morrowind* is one of my favourite games of all-time.

The Elder Scrolls VI feels vulnerable right now. Bethesda is, to be frank, coming off not just one poorly-received game… but a decade’s worth. Fallout 4, while enjoyable enough, is generally considered to be less impressive than its predecessor, with fans proclaiming Obsidian’s spin-off Fallout New Vegas as the “best” entry in that series since Bethesda acquired the license. Fallout 76 has, to my surprise I will admit, clawed back some players and gone some way to rehabilitating its reputation as a multiplayer title… but it launched in such a shockingly poor state that there was a very low bar. And then we come to Starfield and its Shattered Space expansion.

Starfield was the game that, for me, hammered home how little Bethesda has learned and how unwilling the company is to adapt and evolve. Starfield was built on the creaking reanimated corpse of a twenty-five-year-old game engine… and it showed. Massively outdated gameplay was compounded by weak world-building and an uninspired and incomplete main quest – leading me to uninstall the game after a meagre thirty hours of gameplay. I was then massively disappointed to see Bethesda add paid mods and microtransactions to this single-player title.

Screenshot of Starfield showing a first-person perspective, a rifle, and a custom spaceship. — *Starfield* has led to me feeling sceptical about Bethesda’s next game.

The microtransactions really stand out to me. They reveal how Bethesda sees Starfield – and by extension, how the company will presumably treat The Elder Scrolls VI, too. Instead of making a complete game with an expansion or two – like they used to do in the Morrowind days – Bethesda sees its games as platforms for every shitty monetisation trend going. Starfield’s in-game marketplace looks like something out of a free-to-play mobile game, complete with an in-game currency that has an awkward exchange rate, tiny packs of massively overpriced skins and cosmetic items, and even whole missions locked behind a paywall. I was disgusted to see the game descend so quickly into this overly-monetised mess – even more so because Bethesda hid the extent of microtransactions during Starfield’s important first few months on sale.

Paid mods will have to be the subject of a longer piece one day, but for now it’s sufficient to say that I’m not a supporter of the idea and never have been. But to see Bethesda greedily trying to grab even more money for something they didn’t even make… it makes me sick to my stomach to see how ridiculous Starfield’s in-game marketplace is.

Screenshot of the Starfield in-game shop showing one of the items available for purchase (a pack of cosmetic items). — One of *Starfield’*s many microtransactions.

And that, I’m afraid, has completely changed how I feel about The Elder Scrolls VI.

I could have written off Starfield as an unsuccessful experiment; a game with some good ideas but that was let down by an overreliance on outdated tech and poor world-building that never succeeded at generating that sense of scale that a game set in space needs to have. I would have been content to put Starfield back on the digital shelf and see what Bethesda could do with the next entry in a series that I have a genuine fondness for.

There would still have been concerns, of course. The Creation Engine is so outdated that using it for yet another game feels like a seriously bad idea, one that could harm The Elder Scrolls VI immeasurably. But I would have looked past that if the story and world-building were good enough – just as I can look past the jankiness of titles like Morrowind.

Bethesda’s insistence on retaining the outdated Creation Engine was always going to be a cause for concern.

But having seen the microtransaction hell-hole that Bethesda created, paywalling off little packages of content left, right, and centre in a game that – let’s be blunt – wasn’t exactly brimming with content to begin with… I feel increasingly sure that that’s how the company plans to make games from now on. The Elder Scrolls VI may launch with no microtransactions, but if it follows the Starfield pattern they’ll be added in within the game’s first few months – and you can expect to pay extra for anything from a shiny new pair of boots to an entire questline or faction.

I loathe this approach to single-player games, and I really don’t think it’s too much to ask for to be able to buy and play a complete game. Look at other titles in the single-player action/RPG space: Cyberpunk 2077, Elden Ring, Kingdom Come: Deliverance, Baldur’s Gate 3… what do they all have in common? They might have an expansion pack or two, but they don’t paywall fan-made mods, they don’t make you pay for in-game currency, and they don’t try to sell you skins, cosmetic items, and missions.

If Baldur’s Gate 3 can succeed and turn a profit without microtransactions, why can’t Bethesda’s games?

But that’s just my personal take on Bethesda, Starfield, and how I feel about The Elder Scrolls VI. There’s more to say – and I think there are legitimate reasons for Microsoft and Bethesda to worry about the prospects of this game as it’s currently envisioned.

Starfield was in development for a long time – and Bethesda, over the past few years, has taken anywhere from four to six years on development. Rumours abound that Starfield was forcibly delayed by Microsoft in order to quash as many bugs as possible, with perhaps as much as a year of “polish” and bug-fixing after the game’s primary development was complete. It doesn’t seem unreasonable to me to think a similar five- or six-year timeframe is likely for The Elder Scrolls VI.

Screenshot of Starfield showing a first-person perspective and a circular building in the distance. — *Starfield* took Bethesda years to create.

If we generously assume that Bethesda jump-started full development on The Elder Scrolls VI the second Starfield was out the door in September 2023, that puts the game’s potential launch in late 2028 or even 2029. Forget these so-called “rumours” of a 2026 launch… that seems like a total fantasy to me. It will take time to develop a game like this… and if I dare to hope, Bethesda may be taking on board feedback from Starfield and perhaps making some changes – like reducing the need for loading screens in between areas – which may make things take even longer.

So what else might be happening in 2028 or 2029? Well… in 2024 we’re about halfway through the current generation of home consoles, right? It doesn’t seem impossible to me that the PlayStation 6 and perhaps a new Xbox console could be targeting a 2028 or 2029 launch; I’d be surprised if we don’t see the next generation of home consoles before the end of the decade. With a new console generation there will be new games – and new improvements to graphical fidelity and gameplay. That doesn’t bode well for a game that’s being created on underlying technology that will be thirty years out of date by the time it launches.

A PlayStation 2 Emotion Engine chip; a silver chip mounted to a green circuit board. — By the time *The Elders Scrolls VI* is ready, a new generation of home consoles could already be on the way.
*Pictured: A PlayStation 2 Emotion Engine chip*.

I’m not saying that The Elder Scrolls VI will be exclusive to next-gen hardware; I think it’s almost guaranteed that it’ll launch on the Xbox Series S and X – with the possibility, perhaps, of a deal to bring it to PlayStation 5 further down the line. But what I am saying is that, if the game arrives in 2028 or 2029 as predicted above, it’ll be landing in a very competitive marketplace, one where people are beginning to get hyped for new consoles – or where new consoles may even have launched.

That isn’t to say being late to the party in a console generation is always a bad thing. The Last Of Us was one of the final PlayStation 3 exclusives, for example, and it launched to critical and commercial acclaim. Microsoft could well be hoping that The Elder Scrolls VI will net Xbox a late consolation goal – ending a troubled console generation on a high note. That’s a good aspiration to have, I guess.

Still frame from the 2018 teaser trailer for The Elder Scrolls VI showing mountains in the mist. — Is Microsoft banking on *The Elder Scrolls VI* to see out this generation with a bang?

But even if the PlayStation 6 and the next Xbox aren’t out by the time The Elder Scrolls VI launches, it’s quite possible that players will already be seeing trailers and teasers for those consoles’ launch titles – and those games could look bigger, better, and much more visually impressive than anything Bethesda is capable of. The Elder Scrolls VI could seem underwhelming or disappointing to an audience already preparing to move on from this console generation.

There’s also a perception – an incorrect one, but one that Bethesda inflicted upon itself – that The Elder Scrolls VI has been in development since 2018. While it’s true that early pre-production was going on during Starfield’s development, it simply won’t be true in 2028 that this game “took ten years to make.” But I already see this idea taking root, and even some commentators and critics who should know better have been talking about The Elder Scrolls VI as a game that’s been in development since 2018.

Still frame from Bethesda's 2018 E3 presentation showing producer Todd Howard. — *The Elder Scrolls VI* was announced in 2018.

By announcing The Elder Scrolls VI so early, before any major work had been done on the game, Bethesda has set some dangerously wrong expectations. If the game is bad – or even if it’s good but not great – people will ask “what did you waste ten years doing?” or “how did a game this mid take a decade to make?” There’s nothing that can be done about that now; the 2018 announcement is out there and has been part of the gaming landscape for six years at this point. But it was an own goal from Bethesda; the company shouldn’t have rushed to announce a game that they weren’t actively working on and that they knew wouldn’t be ready any time soon.

Skyrim is, for many folks, Bethesda’s high-water mark. It was a landmark title that did a lot for the fantasy genre in gaming as well as action/RPGs. There hasn’t been a new mainline Elder Scrolls game since 2011; by 2028 we’ll be closing in on Skyrim’s 20th anniversary. Such a huge gap in between games brings with it its own expectations, and players will expect to see genuine improvements in everything from combat and exploration to world-building and voice acting. Failing to live up to those expectations will cause the game to suffer – and if there’s a gulf in between player expectations and reality, that could be catastrophic.

Screenshot of Starfield showing the player reaching an invisible wall at the edge of the map. — “Walk on, brave explorer.”

Bethesda is also a company that I would argue massively over-promises – to the point where some statements in the run-up to Starfield’s launch felt borderline deceptive. Remember “walk on, brave explorer?” Well, it turned out you could “walk on” for about ten minutes before hitting an invisible wall… which wasn’t exactly a great look. You can shout at me till you’re blue in the face that technically nothing they said was an out-and-out lie, but there’s no doubt in my mind that Starfield’s marketing was mishandled and that Bethesda deliberately encouraged excessive hype – hype that ultimately ended up harming many players’ enjoyment of the game.

The Elder Scrolls VI needs to be marketed fairly and honestly – even if it’s not actually that good! The basic job of marketing is to show a product in the best possible light, but it’s also incumbent upon a good marketing department not to set incorrect expectations nor allow hype to get out of control. That happened with Starfield, and the result was that too many players crashed down to earth pretty quickly when they hit the game’s limitations – and loading screens.

Screenshot of Starfield showing an NPC on a medical bed. — It must be some kind of visual metaphor…

For me, The Elder Scrolls VI is – at best – a game I’m going to wait a year to decide on after it launches. Bethesda was duplicitous with Starfield’s microtransactions and paid mods, concealing them as best they could during the game’s first few months on sale – and while reviews were being written – before adding them in later. If Bethesda won’t explicitly commit to having no such marketplace in The Elder Scrolls VI, then I’m going to wait at least a year to see if they add one in and how bad it is. If it’s anything like Starfield, I really don’t think anyone will be able to convince me to play it.

But there are other reasons to be sceptical of this game. Bethesda’s refusal to modernise – in terms of the underlying game engine as well as in both writing and game design – left Starfield feeling decidedly out of date; a game surpassed in so many ways not only by its contemporaries, but by games that were several years old by 2023. Without major changes internally, I worry that The Elder Scrolls VI will be in the same boat. If that’s what fans want – and some fans will clearly be satisfied with “just” another Bethesda game that’s no different from all the others – then that’s okay, I guess. But when I look ahead to the second half of the 2020s and beyond, I hope and expect to see improvements in game design… improvements that Bethesda has shown absolutely no signs of making.

Promotional screenshot of The Witcher 3 showing Geralt on his horse. — Bethesda doesn’t seem to have learned anything from its competitors in the action/RPG space.
*Pictured:* The Witcher 3 from CD Projekt Red

So that’s where I am when it comes to The Elder Scrolls VI… at least at this early stage. There are red flags galore and plenty of reasons to leave this game on the shelf, even if it launches to positive reviews. And after a difficult few years for Bethesda – a decade, basically, in which their least-bad title is arguably Fallout 76 – there is a lot riding on the success of The Elder Scrolls VI. Despite Starfield’s issues, its mediocre reviews, and a player base that seems to have largely deserted the game, Microsoft seems content at this stage to let Bethesda do its thing and push ahead with The Elder Scrolls VI. I find it impossible to think that Microsoft and Xbox will tolerate another disappointment on that scale, though.

Bethesda may have earned some goodwill through publishing titles like Doom Eternal and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle – the latter having become a surprise hit just this month. But the company’s development arm is struggling, and Microsoft has shown it can be brutal when it comes to shutting down studios that fail to deliver. It’s incredibly important for Bethesda that they get this right.

The Elder Scrolls VI is currently in development and will release on PC and Xbox Series consoles at an unknown future date. The Elder Scroll series, Starfield, and other properties discussed above are the copyright of Bethesda Softworks, ZeniMax Media, Inc., and/or Microsoft. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

Does Shenmue Have A Future?

Sun 24.11.24Dennis

One of the first subjects I wrote about here on Trekking with Dennis almost five years ago was the Shenmue saga – Shenmue III specifically. With 2024 being the fifth anniversary of Shenmue III and the twenty-fifth anniversary of the first Shenmue… I thought it could be interesting to look at what – if anything – may lie ahead for the series.

For context, I played and loved both Shenmue and Shenmue II when I owned a Dreamcast just after the turn of the millennium. I was left disappointed by Sega and Yu Suzuki’s inability to conclude the story, as I found it incredibly fun and engaging. As I’ve said more than once here on the website, Shenmue was the first game I played that felt truly cinematic; as if its story would be right at home on the big screen. The combination of its open level design, realistic NPCs who seemed to have lives of their own, the modern-day setting, and engrossing narrative all came together to make it one of the best games I’ve ever played – and its sequel was just as good.

Screenshot of Shenmue I showing Ryo in Dobuita. — *Shenmue’*s world was unlike any I’d ever experienced in a video game before.

But here’s the thing: Shenmue was a failure. While critically acclaimed and spawning a vocal fan community that persists to this day, by every other metric the Shenmue saga completely failed. The incredibly expensive undertaking never came close to making its money back for Sega, and the failure of the Dreamcast meant that there was no way to recoup most of the two games’ development costs. Even a release of Shenmue II on Xbox didn’t help things. As bitterly upset as I may have been, I came to accept that this ahead-of-its-time masterpiece was underappreciated and would remain unfinished.

When Yu Suzuki and his independent development studio YSNet were able to buy the rights to Shenmue from Sega, it seemed as if things might be looking up. A Kickstarter campaign came along at just the right moment – when interest in crowd-funding was close to its peak – and the latent Shenmue fan community stumped up an astonishing $7 million with the hopes of concluding the saga. Backed up by additional investment from Sony, Epic Games, and others, it seemed as if the failed series was about to get one last chance.

Shenmue III was developed by YSNet.

A re-release of Shenmue I & II came to PC and PlayStation 4 consoles a couple of years ahead of Shenmue III’s launch. For the first time in well over a decade (since I put my Dreamcast and most of its games in a box in the attic) I re-played the games – and I had a blast all over again. But then came what I considered to be devastating news from YSNet.

The Shenmue saga was always planned as a multi-game story. Shenmue and Shenmue II told the first chapters, but there were several chapters still to tell. For reasons that, years later, I still find pig-headed and incomprehensibly stupid, YSNet was unwilling to adapt the planned story to make Shenmue III the saga’s finale. Instead, it would simply move the story along… presumably with the expectation of high sales or another crowd-funding campaign to keep Shenmue going. That always seemed completely impossible to me – and as much as I hate to say it, I was right about that. I didn’t even bother to buy Shenmue III in 2019, because what was the point? The game had, in my opinion, one job: to finish the Shenmue story. Yu Suzuki and his studio had been given a once-in-a-lifetime chance to do that by a dedicated group of fans… and they blew it.

Photograph of Yu Suzuki. — Yu Suzuki, creator of the Shenmue series.
*Photo Credit: YSNet; ysnet.games*

The re-release of Shenmue I & II (and no, I don’t consider it a “remaster” or anything close; it’s a port) didn’t sell particularly well on PC and PlayStation – which was an ominous warning sign for Shenmue III. When Shenmue III finally launched amidst controversy over its Epic Games exclusivity on PC, it also didn’t sell very well. It seemed to me as if most of the people who might’ve conceivably been interested in buying it had already backed the Kickstarter project – one of the benefits of which was a copy of the game upon release. In its first week, Shenmue III grazed the lower reaches of the PlayStation sales charts in Japan… but didn’t even register anywhere else.

I did eventually buy Shenmue III when it was on sale on Steam. I haven’t played it yet, despite owning it for a while, and I have no real plans to. But when it was on sale for £15 or so, it seemed like a reasonable purchase. And if there’s ever news of a fourth game… maybe I’ll get around to checking it out.

I did belatedly purchase Shenmue III… but I have no plans to play it right now.

The way I see it, lacklustre sales for both the re-release of Shenmue I & II and Shenmue III demonstrate pretty clearly that this series has no mainstream appeal. Shenmue III was the last opportunity to change that – but again, the game failed to do so. So at this point, the remaining fans of the series are pretty much shouting into a void; tweet-a-thons that garner a few thousand posts at the very most feel like the last wriggles of a series in its death throes.

Shenmue’s anime adaptation also failed to bring renewed interest to the saga. I don’t have the numbers to hand, but Shenmue: The Animation ran for a single season back in 2022, and during that time, sales of the re-release and Shenmue III barely moved.

Still frame from Shenmue: The Animation showing Ryo and a female character. — There was an anime adaptation of *Shenmue* a couple of years ago.

Shenmue: The Animation was itself cancelled after just one season. Having adapted the story of the first two games, there was scope for a second season to dip into Shenmue III or perhaps even go beyond that… but the audience just wasn’t there either in Japan or in the west.

There was finally some Shenmue news just a few days ago, though. A new publisher – ININ Games, a company with a focus on older, retro titles – picked up the publishing rights to Shenmue III, and there’s been talk of potential ports to the Nintendo Switch and other platforms. This is by far the biggest news for Shenmue since Shenmue III’s launch back in 2019… and while I don’t expect it to really go anywhere, it’s at least noteworthy that someone, somewhere, thinks Shenmue is worth spending a little money on.

Promo image for Shenmue II showing Ryo in Hong Kong. — Ryo in Hong Kong.

At this point, twenty-five years on from the first game and five years after Shenmue III failed to light up the board, I really don’t see Shenmue IV ever getting off the ground. YSNet burned a lot of its bridges with members of the fan community with their first Kickstarter campaign, and with the decline of crowd-funding in general, raising millions of dollars that way seems like it’s off the table. With a clear and demonstrable lack of success with both the re-released titles and Shenmue III, getting significant outside investment also feels pretty unlikely.

However, the new publishing deal for Shenmue III and talk of a potential port of the game to a new platform has raised some hopes in the fan community. So let’s think about what Shenmue IV could and should look like.

Screenshot of Shenmue I showing Ryo and Santa Claus in Dobuita. — Meeting Santa Claus in Dobuita.

For me, the bottom line is this: Shenmue IV needs to be the end. I don’t care how many chapters Yu Suzuki originally planned in the ’90s. I don’t care how much of the story would need to be slimmed down or skipped in order to get to the end. At this point, if the stars align and through some absolutely miraculous good fortune Shenmue IV is able to get off the ground, it simply must bring the story to an end. That was what Shenmue III was supposed to do – and having failed again, there may not be another chance.

Shenmue IV won’t bring in new fans – not in any significant numbers, anyway. The re-release didn’t do that and neither did Shenmue III, so as much as I wish the games were held in higher esteem and celebrated more widely, it’s time to acknowledge that Shenmue is and always has been a niche product with a small audience. But that could be a positive thing! Without needing to worry about making a game with broader appeal, YSNet could tailor Shenmue IV to the built-in audience it already has, keeping things simpler for the team.

Promo image for Shenmue III showing Ryo driving a forklift. — A promo image for *Shenmue III*.

And there are ways to tell other chapters of the story if Yu Suzuki is still insistent on doing so. A book, graphic novel, or even a series of cheaply-animated YouTube shorts could cover whatever gaps may emerge from condensing two or three games’ worth of story into a single title. Shenmue IV wouldn’t need to cut out one massive chunk of narrative, either: it could pick up different pieces of the story with in-game cut-scenes covering the basics of the rest. In short, there are ways around this stumbling block – as there were in the 2010s when Shenmue III was being developed. Unlike last time, however, someone needs to come in and make cuts to the bloated story and gameplay – and if Yu Suzuki and his team can’t or won’t do it, then it needs to be an outsider.

I haven’t played Shenmue III and I’ve managed to avoid major spoilers since it launched. But clips of the game that I’ve seen have included things like mini-games, a stamina system that limited how far Ryo could run, and other such bloat. Cutting some of this stuff out to focus on the core narrative – that of Ryo’s quest to track down the murderous Lan Di – would go a long way to helping a hypothetical next title move along at a much more reasonable pace.

Screenshot of Shenmue III showing a tortoise race. — Cutting back on things like mini-games could help a future Shenmue game stick to what matters: the story.

There’s an expression that I think is relevant here: “don’t let ‘perfect’ be the enemy of ‘good.'” In this case, I will happily concede that a cut-down Shenmue IV with some of its QTEs, mini-games, and open-world exploration elements removed wouldn’t be the ideal experience. It wouldn’t be completely true to the Shenmue series, either. But if it finished the story – a story I began almost a quarter of a century ago – it would be worth it. I’ll make that compromise to see the end of Ryo’s story… and that’s what I genuinely expected would happen with Shenmue III. In that sense, I’ve already committed myself to and steeled myself against those kinds of compromises.

Both Yu Suzuki himself and some die-hard Shenmue fans evidently hate this idea. But my question to them is a pretty basic one: if it’s this cut-down game or nothing, what would you rather have? I know that, speaking for myself, I’d rather see the story brought to an end, even if the journey to that end point is shorter and less free-roaming than the first chapters of the story. If you don’t agree… how long are you willing to hang on in the hopes that the “perfect” version of Shenmue IV and Shenmue V that you have in your head will ever make it to release?

Wouldn’t something be better than nothing at all?

Promo wallpaper for Shenmue/Shenmue III showing Ryo raising his fist. — Them’s fightin’ words!

I’m not getting any younger. I’m the wrong side of forty and, as regular readers will know, I’m not in great shape health-wise. There’s a non-zero chance that I won’t be here in ten years’ time, and with arthritis already affecting my hands and fingers, my ability to play games is beginning to wane. In short… I don’t have the time to wait for a mythological Shenmue-loving corporation to step in and fund development. If I was Elon Musk I’d happily do it… but who has that kind of money just lying around?

Shenmue is one of my favourite games of all-time. More than that, it’s the game that showed me what interactive media could be in the new millennium, and at a time in my life where I might’ve begun to drift away from the hobby, it’s a title that kept me engaged and kept me playing. I love Shenmue and Shenmue II. And I would have given anything to see its story continue. But we’re at a point now where repeated failures and some poor decision-making have left the series’ future not so much uncertain as dead. Shenmue is, in my opinion at least, almost certainly not coming back.

Box art/promo art for Shenmue I showing Ryo, Shen Hua, and Lan Di. — I’d love to be wrong, but I don’t see a future for Shenmue right now.

Maybe you’re of the opinion that, even if it takes another quarter of a century, we should let YSNet do its thing and tell the story they want to tell in the way they want to tell it. I’m telling you now: I don’t have that kind of time. If this new publisher is interested in another game – and despite my scepticism, I hope that they are – then my only request is this: make it the final game. Finish the story somehow, even if that means cutting back on the scope of the narrative and/or gameplay. If Ryo is going to get a miraculous third chance that, from a business standpoint, he categorically does not deserve, then have the decency to finish his story and bring the Shenmue saga to a belated conclusion.

But that’s the same red line I had back in the 2010s, and YSNet blew it. Yu Suzuki and his studio squandered the best (and probably the only) chance they had to conclude Ryo’s story, and as much as I’d like to think they’ll get a reprieve… I still struggle to see it. Five years on from Shenmue III and I feel more justified than ever in my stance back then. I said in 2019 that I was unwilling to pick up the threads of that story only to end up disappointed for the second time when it’s yet again left incomplete – and with nothing beyond vague suggestions about what YSNet might like the next game to look like, as well as sales so underwhelming that they’d make any company baulk at the notion of signing on, I get to take a very bitter victory lap… one I really don’t want to take.

Promo image for Shenmue III showing Shen Hua. — *Shenmue III* was the best chance to tell the rest of the story.

If you asked me now, in November 2024, whether we’ll ever see a fourth Shenmue game, my answer would be almost certainly not. I don’t see how the series has a future, despite a new publisher signing on and talk of a potential Shenmue III port to another console. A few thousand remaining fans tweeting into the void isn’t gonna change that, because as loud and vocal as Shenmue fans can be, we’re a tiny and ever-diminishing number.

There are multiple tragedies in the Shenmue saga. The first game was light-years ahead of its time, pioneering a dense, lived-in open world years before anyone else even tried it. The world of those first two games still outpaces many modern titles in terms of depth and complexity. The demise of the Dreamcast and a player base that preferred faster-paced action-packed titles doomed the series… but that isn’t where the tragedy ends.

Screenshot of Shenmue II showing Ryo in Hong Kong. — The harbour in Hong Kong.

YSNet’s failure to recognise that the crowd-funding campaign was lightning in a bottle; a once-in-a-lifetime chance to bring a dead series back to life… that’s the final tragedy of Shenmue. Fans gifted Yu Suzuki a golden opportunity to conclude the story he started more than fifteen years earlier… and he blew it. He allowed “perfect” to become the enemy of “good,” and stubbornly refused to deviate from a planned multi-game series even when it should’ve been clear that there would never be another opportunity to bring Ryo’s story to an end.

I could’ve lived with Shenmue and Shenmue II as a disappointingly incomplete story; a millennial masterpiece that, for reasons beyond anyone’s control, would remain unfinished. But I’ve really struggled to forgive Yu Suzuki and YSNet for taking the incredible opportunity presented to them by the fan community and pissing it away on a frivolous, bloated, still-unfinished third game.

And as to the future? Maybe the jury really is still out. Maybe this ININ Games genuinely sees the potential in Shenmue IV. But until the game’s officially in production and ready to go, I’ll be sceptical. I’m pretty sure that this is where the Shenmue saga ends.

Shenmue I & II and Shenmue III are available now for PC and PlayStation 4. The Shenmue series – including all titles and properties discussed above – may be the copyright of YSNet, ININ Games, Sega, and others. Some images courtesy of Shenmue Dojo and IGDB. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

The Mass Effect TV Series Has Been Announced (Again)

Thu 14.11.24Dennis

Spoiler Warning: Beware of spoilers for the Mass Effect trilogy.

I think it was back in 2020 or 2021 when I first covered the news that Amazon’s television studio had picked up the rights to Mass Effect. Since then we’ve heard next to nothing about the project, even as the triolgy’s Legendary Edition came and went, and I kind of assumed that it was either stuck in development hell or that Amazon’s executives had passed on whatever had been pitched. Not so, it seems!

Although details are still pretty sparse, we’ve recently heard from Amazon and game developer BioWare that the Mass Effect TV series is still happening, so today I wanted to talk a little about it and consider what the show might eventually look like. We’re going to talk spoilers for all three mainline Mass Effect games, so if you haven’t played the trilogy and want to go into it un-spoiled, this is your last chance to jump ship!

Screenshot of Mass Effect 2 showing Commander Shepard jumping aboard the Normandy. — Jumping ship… get it?

A couple of caveats before we get started. Firstly, I have no “insider information” from BioWare, Amazon, or any of the other studios that may or may not be attached to this project. I’m speculating based on publicly available information and sharing my own thoughts and opinions on the potential series – which may never even see the light of day given how early in its pre-production it seems to be!

Secondly, this is just the subjective opinion of one Mass Effect fan. If you don’t agree with my take on where the TV series could or might go, or if I ignore some aspect of the games that seems important to you… that’s okay! There ought to be enough room in the Mass Effect fan community for differences of opinion and polite discussion. Nothing we’re going to talk about today is in any way official or confirmed in any case.

With all of that out of the way, let’s talk about what a Mass Effect television series could look like.

Concept art from Mass Effect 1. — Concept art of the main characters from *Mass Effect 1*.

The first thing to say is this: Amazon has a crap ton of money! And as we’ve seen from the corporation’s investment in titles like The Expanse, Fallout, The Boys, and The Rings of Power… Amazon doesn’t mind splashing the cash when it comes to making scripted TV shows. On the surface, this bodes well for a Mass Effect series, as Amazon has the resources to give the show a decently high budget.

This matters because creating a sci-fi galaxy from scratch is going to be expensive. Sets will have to be built for spaceships, location shoots will be necessary to capture the look and feel of visiting wildly different planets, and the combination of practical and digital effects necessary to create some of Mass Effect’s non-humanoid aliens will take a lot of time and money.

Screenshot of Mass Effect 3 showing the Silversun Strip from the Citadel DLC. — Part of the Citadel – the capital of the Mass Effect galaxy.

On that last point, one of the things I like about the Mass Effect games is how they introduce several very “alien-feeling” alien races. The likes of the Krogan, Hanar, and Volus all feel much less human and much more extraterrestrial than many races from comparable sci-fi stories. BioWare was initially able to create these non-humanoid aliens because the world of Mass Effect was created for a video game; there were no constraints in terms of prosthetics or make-up that have forced the likes of Star Trek and Star Wars to rely primarily on humanoid life-forms.

Transitioning some of these races to the small screen will be a challenge, but it’s one that should be surmountable. I’d love to see a combination of practical special effects and prosthetic makeup with CGI, instead of relying entirely on animation to breathe life into the likes of the Krogan and Turians. In recent years we’ve seen this from other sci-fi franchises like Star Trek, so I really think it’s achievable to use a combination of puppets, prosthetics, and practical special effects alongside CGI.

Screenshot of Mass Effect 1 showing a Hanar character. — Bringing non-humanoid races like the Hanar to the small screen may prove challenging!

I don’t want to get into the minutia of things like filming locations or casting; there’s plenty of time to think about who should play some of the franchise’s iconic roles! It would be great if the likes of Jennifer Hale and Mark Meer could be involved in some way – the duo voiced the female and male versions of Commander Shepard respectively, and could at the very least be offered cameo roles in the show.

But that leads into my next point: is this (and should this be) a direct adaptation of the story of the Mass Effect games?

Concept art for Mass Effect 1 showing several characters in a sci-fi city. — Concept art for *Mass Effect 1*.

My inclination at this stage is that re-telling the Mass Effect story in a new format is a great idea, so I’d be happy to see the trilogy’s story adapted as a TV show. I think it’s a strong story with a great cast of characters, and while it would be an adjustment to get used to some different portrayals in those key roles… I think the story of the Mass Effect trilogy offers the show the best chance of success when compared to trying to tell a brand-new story set in the same world.

We have a couple of examples to point to. The TV adaptation of The Last of Us was a more or less straight adaptation of the video game it was based on. The Halo TV series took the barest bones of the Halo story but made significant changes. One was critically and commercially successful, the other was recently cancelled after just two seasons. There are counter-examples: Amazon’s own Fallout adaptation is a new story set in the same world, for example. But for my money, the story of the Mass Effect trilogy was so strong, so powerful, and such a singular event in its setting that trying to re-make it from the ground up or stepping away from it to do something completely different just doesn’t seem like a good idea. Why go to all the trouble of licensing a successful story if you aren’t going to adapt that story, after all?

Still frame from Halo Season 2 showing the Fall of Reach. — The Fall of Reach played out very differently in the *Halo* TV series compared to the games.

Is it possible that a Mass Effect TV show will start somewhere else, like humanity’s first encounter with a Mass Relay or the war between humans and Turians? Sure. It’s possible. But would that be the strongest foundation to take this rich and wonderful sci-fi universe to a new audience and a new medium? I’m not convinced – and I think the struggles of the likes of not only the Halo series but also Amazon’s The Rings of Power (which has diverged from its source material in a way that has upset some fans of Tolkien’s Middle-earth) show the pitfalls in that approach.

Every writer and producer wants to put their own unique stamp on the projects they work on – and I get that. But when you’re taking a successful, much-loved story and adapting it, fans have certain expectations for what they want to see. I’m sure there are some Mass Effect fans who’d love to see a story about humanity’s first forays into space or how humans came to be accepted by the other Citadel races. But I’m not sure that such a story would be strong enough to carry Mass Effect to a wider audience – and when there’s a fantastic, deep, and emotional story populated by a stellar cast of characters just sitting there, it almost seems like malpractice to ignore it or make radical changes to it.

Screenshot of Mass Effect 3 showing Shepard and Javik. — Commander Shepard with Javik in *Mass Effect 3*.

If we assume, then, that the Mass Effect TV series will be a straight adaptation of the original Mass Effect trilogy, that raises some questions of its own! Firstly, a big part of the Mass Effect games – the first two, anyway – was that players had a lot of freedom to make narrative-altering choices. In the first game, for example, whole companions could be ignored and never recruited, and in Mass Effect 2 practically everyone on Shepard’s squad could die in the game’s climactic final act. Mass Effect 3 arguably failed to do enough to give many of these choices the impact they should’ve had, but even in that game there were hugely consequential choices that players could make.

So if the Mass Effect TV show is going to adapt the story of the Mass Effect trilogy, here’s my question: which story, exactly? There are dozens of inflection points in the games, places where the story can branch in different directions. Helping one character could lead to conflict with another, main characters can die, new characters can appear to take over their roles, and even Shepard can be a radically different person depending on the choices players make. No TV show could reasonably take into account all of these choices – producers would have to pick one route through the story and follow it to its conclusion.

Screenshot of Mass Effect 2 showing Tali pointing a weapon at Legion. — All three games have moments where players have to make decisions.

It seems pretty obvious to me that for the TV series to be entertaining, Shepard will have to mostly fall on the paragon side of things. Nuanced and complex characters are great, and there’s still scope for a paragon Shepard to make renegade-leaning decisions from time to time. But setting up the character to be quick to anger, rude, and excessively violent… it would make Shepard into a difficult protagonist to root for. So a paragon Shepard who occasionally makes renegade decisions seems like the least-bad option here.

But would Commander Shepard be a man or woman? When writing about Mass Effect I usually use “they/them” when referring to Shepard; the character can be male or female depending on the player’s choice. Given that a Mass Effect TV series would only have room for one Commander Shepard, a decision will have to be taken as to which option to go with. And no, I don’t think a non-binary or genderfluid Shepard is on the cards… as much as some people might want that!

Concept art for Mass Effect 3 showing two different versions of Commander Shepard. — Should the Mass Effect TV show cast a male or female performer as Commander Shepard?

I genuinely don’t know which way the show’s writers and producers would go. There are pros and cons whichever way you look at it, and I can see the casting choice for Commander Shepard being controversial no matter how it’s handled. I don’t think it would really be possible to split the role in two, either – having twin Shepards (like the Ryder twins from Andromeda) or even giving Shepard a second-in-command. A huge part of what made Mass Effect work was Commander Shepard, so if the TV show adapts this story, getting the right performer in the lead role will be incredibly important.

Unfortunately, I see this as a likely point of contention. If Commander Shepard is cast as a woman or person of colour, I can see the “anti-woke” crowd attacking the series and trying to get it cancelled before a single episode has aired. Look at the reaction to “black dwarves” in The Rings of Power or the triggering power the mere presence of a non-binary character had in Dragon Age: The Veilguard. It’s a shame that discussion of media and entertainment online so quickly descends into these dark places… but it’s something that the producers of the Mass Effect TV show will have to contend with one way or another. The original games featured a pretty diverse cast, but cries of race- or gender-bending will be hurled at the series if any of these characters’ fundamentals are altered.

Screenshot of Mass Effect 3 showing Shepard in the Normandy's cockpit. — Commander Shepard on the bridge of *her* ship.

I think most fans would accept a female Commander Shepard. Female-led shows and films from Alien and Star Trek: Voyager to Fallout and Everything Everywhere All At Once have been well-received, and with “femShep” having been a part of Mass Effect since the beginning, critics would really have very little to complain about. Adding a new female-led sci-fi show to the lineup would, in my view, be a positive thing. The casting needs to be right first and foremost, and I’m not saying Mass Effect needs a woman in its lead role. But why not? It could be great to see a female Commander Shepard taking the fight to the Reapers!

Let’s try to set that aside for now! I hope that whoever is cast in the lead role will do a great job, and will end up making any criticisms from the “anti-woke” crowd seem even sillier than usual.

Screenshot of Mass Effect 3 showing Shepard crouching behind a wall. — A male Commander Shepard taking cover.

I’d like to talk next about the potential structure of a Mass Effect television series – because there really are interesting ways to adapt the games’ side-missions and secondary storylines.

One thing I love about television compared to film is how much more time there is to spend with characters, and how much richer and deeper their stories can be as a result. The same is true of video games, and the Mass Effect trilogy is a fantastic example of interactive storytelling. Characters grow and change over the course of their adventures, and the bonds between them strengthen as they get to know and trust each other. There are themes of bridging racial and social divides that could be incredibly relevant, and character arcs and pairings that are just beautiful to watch unfold. All of these things could – and should – be part of a Mass Effect TV series, as its the characters that make the story into something special.

Concept art for Mass Effect 2 showing the main companions. — Most of the main companions from *Mass Effect 2*.

As someone who loved shows like Star Trek: The Next Generation, Space Precinct, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer in the ’90s, believe me when I say that I love episodic storytelling. Any Mass Effect TV series would be a wholly serialised affair, in the mold of recent hits like Game of Thrones. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for some degree of episodic storytelling – and that’s where the aforementioned side-missions and quests come in.

Again, for the purposes of this argument we’re assuming that the TV show will be based on the original Mass Effect trilogy. Those games all had side-quests, lower-priority missions, and storylines focusing on individual companion characters. It would be tempting for a serialised show to skip all of that and focus on Shepard and the Reapers… but I think that would be a mistake. Not only do these missions have some of the best storytelling and most emotional moments in the entire series, but they add so much to the world of Mass Effect and to Shepard as a leader.

Screenshot of Mass Effect 3 showing the SSV Normandy taking off from a planet. — The Normandy.

There are ways to mix episodic storytelling with multi-season narrative arcs. Look at Star Trek: Strange New Worlds as a great example of this; the show follows its characters as they take part in a wide range of missions and stories, but they retain their growth and development from one episode to the next, even when those episodes are completely different in story, structure, and tone. There are season-long storylines running in the background, too, even when the focus of one episode is mostly elsewhere.

In short, a Mass Effect TV show wouldn’t need to skip over the likes of the Rogue VI mission from Mass Effect 1, or the character loyalty missions from Mass Effect 2 – these could be integral parts of the show, while also breaking up the main plot to take Shepard and their companions to different places. Some of the side-missions cement Shepard’s relationships with characters who will be among their closest friends for the entire story, and without including missions like “Find Dr Saleon” or “Family Armor” from Mass Effect 1 Shepard’s relationships with Garrus and Wrex might feel… less impactful.

Screenshot of Mass Effect 3 showing Garrus on the Citadel. — Garrus Vakarian: Shepard’s BFF.

I’m not saying that the Mass Effect TV show should recreate every single side-mission. But there’s something to be said for a series that doesn’t always do the same thing, and changes in style, tone, and which characters are in focus can break things up and make for a more interesting presentation. Not only that, but some of the missions that are nominally optional in the games can have a big impact on other storylines.

Take the “Rogue VI” mission from Mass Effect 1 as an example. I hated playing through this; it’s a boring slog of a mission which involves using the Mako (barf) to visit four identical outposts at which Shepard and co. have to fight through generic enemies and push a button to shut down an advanced computer that’s gotten out of control. But you later learn, in Mass Effect 3, that the out-of-control VI was the source of EDI’s programming and personality – completely reframing the mission and tying it into one of the game’s main characters. It was a great bit of storytelling that made re-playing an otherwise bland side-mission feel a lot better on repeat playthroughs.

Screenshot of Mass Effect 1 showing the Mako on Luna. — The “Rogue VI” mission.

There are also some great moments of characterisation in the Mass Effect 2 loyalty missions. Jack uncovers the truth behind her shocking childhood at the facility she escaped from. Jacob reunites with his estranged father – but in the worst possible way. And Shepard ends up in serious danger while helping Samara track down her daugher… who’s a serial killer. These missions vary in terms of location, but they also vary wildly in tone, with some being light-hearted and even fun while others are intense and violent. There’s a lot to be said for finding ways to include as many as possible.

According to the website HowLongToBeat, playthroughs of the Mass Effect trilogy can take anywhere from 60-140 hours. This varies a lot depending on things like the difficulty setting and how much of the side-content players engage with. My own estimate would be somewhere around 90 hours; that’s how long my most recent playthrough of the trilogy took. So this is a long story – and one that’s going to take multiple seasons of television in order to tell.

Screenshot of Mass Effect 1 showing the Council. — The Citadel Council.

There are things from the games that can be cut out. Some levels are deliberately padded out with generic enemies to stomp just to give the player something to do; a mission that might’ve taken an hour to play doesn’t necessarily need to be an entire episode of TV on its own. But we’re still talking about a show that would need to be at least five seasons – assuming eight to ten episodes per season, as is common nowadays. I don’t think three seasons (one per game) would be enough to really get to grips with how deep the world of Mass Effect really is, especially when you consider that a new audience is going to need an introduction to this brand-new universe.

In 2012, Mass Effect 3 came in for a lot of criticism, particularly of its ending. I wasn’t wild about the “pick a colour” ending, but I felt that wasn’t actually the worst part. Where I felt most let down by the game was how different choices – or combinations of multiple choices across the trilogy – just didn’t seem to matter and weren’t even mentioned as the story reached its crescendo. The example I’ve given before is this: through careful choices across all three games, it’s possible at a crucial moment in Mass Effect 3 to save the Quarians and Geth when it looks like it should only be possible to save one. This is not easy to pull off… but after the mission is over, there’s basically no impact at all apart from a few static images in the war assets menu.

Screenshot of Mass Effect 3 showing a Mass Relay detonating. — The final third of *Mass Effect 3* needed work.

Long story short, I think a Mass Effect television series could do more with some of these storylines than the games did – and by choosing a single outcome to include in the series, there’d be more freedom to tailor the story to fit. If the TV show kills off Wrex, for instance, there’d be no need to have Urdnot Wreav behave quite the same as he does in the games where he’s basically a stand-in for the missing Wrex; he could be his own character. And much more could be made of the Quarians and Geth coming together to achieve peace. By cutting out different narrative outcomes, we could get a much more detailed look at some of the choices that I felt weren’t properly acknowledged in the original games.

Finally, there’s the elephant in the room: Mass Effect 4… or whatever we’re calling the next game in the series. At time of writing, BioWare is working on a new Mass Effect game, and based on the very brief tease that was shown off a couple of years ago, it will feature at least one main character from the original trilogy. Would BioWare, EA, and Amazon want to create a TV show that’s based on or directly connected to the new game? Given how early in development both projects are, could there be an attempt to get them to release at more or less the same time?

Graphic based on the Mass Effect teaser trailer showing a mock-up of a Mass Effect 4 box. — Will the TV show tie in with *Mass Effect 4* in some way?

If so, does that mean that a re-telling of the original trilogy is off the cards? While I can understand the temptation of making a game and TV show that are connected, I wonder if that’s the right approach. If Mass Effect 4 is going to be a direct sequel to the original trilogy, not a spin-off or prequel, having the TV show re-tell that story could actually work really well. It could give fans who might be turned off by playing older games an easy route into the story just in time to pick up the newest entry in the series.

Of course, that might not be the route BioWare and Amazon want to go down. And there are points in favour of setting the TV series in the same timeline as the new game. Doing so could draw a line under the original Mass Effect story, setting the stage for something brand-new. The concern I’ll have, if that’s the way things go, is whether the new story will be as good as the original one, or whether this iteration of Mass Effect can live up to what came before.

Screenshot of Mass Effect 3 showing Shepard opening a door. — Hacking a locked door.

So I think that’s everything I had in my notes. It goes without saying that the Mass Effect television series is several years away at least – and that it could be delayed again or even cancelled outright. The show seems to be in a very early stage of development, and while I welcome Amazon’s re-commitment to it, until we get more concrete information, part of me will remain sceptical about whether I’ll ever get to see it! I’m not getting any younger (or healthier) after all!

The Mass Effect games built up a rich, detailed, lived-in world that feels ripe for exploration in a different way. As much fun as it was to play through those games, I’m genuinely thrilled at the prospect of being able to enjoy the story all over again in a different way. It won’t be the same – and it will be an adjustment getting used to different performers in key roles and perhaps slightly different designs and aesthetic choices. But I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to call Mass Effect one of my favourite sci-fi stories… ever. If and when it makes it to the small screen, I’m really hopeful that it will be an exciting and enjoyable ride.

Screenshot of Mass Effect 3 showing Shepard speaking with Mordin via a holo-communicator. — Here’s hoping we’ll get an excellent adaptaion!

I hope this has been interesting. I know we got into wildly speculative territory, but there was a surprising amount to say about a TV series that’s still in early production! I could be wrong about re-telling the story of the original games, and I’ll try not to be too disappointed if the show ultimately tells a story that ties in with Mass Effect 4 or shoots off to the Andromeda galaxy!

I haven’t played Mass Effect in a while, so maybe it’s time to re-install Legendary Edition and go round again!

The Mass Effect video games – including Legendary Edition – are the copyright of BioWare and Electronic Arts. The Mass Effect television series (currently untitled) may be the copyright of Amazon Studios, Amazon Prime Video, and/or Electronic Arts. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

Games Industry “Hot Takes”

Wed 13.11.24Dennis

A few months ago, I put together a list of “hot takes” about video games. As much as I enjoy gaming as a hobby, there are things that annoy me and things to criticise! There were a few other things that I considered including, but they didn’t really fit with that list. These “hot takes” have less to do with games themselves and more to do with the games industry, development, and gaming as a whole – so that’s what we’re going to discuss today!

If you’re interested in checking out that earlier list, by the way, you can find part one by clicking or tapping here, and part two by clicking or tapping here.

Whenever I use the term “hot take” it’s because I’m acutely aware that we’re talking about something contentious! So before we get started, let’s re-emphasise that: these are all topics of debate among players and critics, and mine may well be the minority position. I don’t pretend to be 100% right, and I welcome disagreements and differences of opinion.

A stock photo of a crying girl. — Let’s not throw a tantrum if we disagree, okay?

I worked in the games industry for close to a decade, and I worked with large and small games companies in that time. I’ve got a bit of a feel for how development works from the time I spent “on the inside,” and I know that developers are passionate people who care deeply about their art. But that doesn’t mean games get a free pass; a bad game is a bad game, no matter how well-intentioned it may have been!

As I always like to say: all of this is just the subjective opinion of one player, and I believe that there should be enough room in the community for differences of opinion and respectful disagreement. The topics we’re going to get into today are the subject of discussion and debate, and there isn’t a right answer – just opinions.

If you aren’t in the right headspace to see some potentially controversial games industry opinions, this is your final chance to nope out – because we’re about to jump into the list!

“Hot Take” #1:
“Game development is hard” isn’t an excuse for selling a sub-par title.

Stock photo of a woman working at a computer with two monitors. — A lot of people work really hard on some absolutely shite games…

Speaking as both a player and as someone who used to work in the industry, believe me when I say that I get it. Game development is undeniably difficult, it isn’t straightforward, and there are many, many reasons why a game may not be as good, enjoyable, or polished as we’d like it to be. There can be problems getting an engine to work, fixing one bug might cause ten more to pop up elsewhere, and the more complex and in-depth a title is, the greater the chance of these kinds of issues occurring. Publishers and corporations also meddle, moving the goalposts and pushing developers to hit unreasonable deadlines. So I get it. But that doesn’t make “development is hard” a good enough excuse.

Here’s a helpful analogy: suppose I buy a house, move in, and every time I turn on the washing machine, the electric goes off. Then when I ring the electrician, he basically says “wiring a house is really hard. You wouldn’t get it because you aren’t an electrician.” That’s not an excuse. If I go to a bakery and the bread is stale and mouldy, I likewise wouldn’t accept the excuses that “baking is really difficult,” or “running a business and keeping track of sell-by dates is hard.” The same basic principle applies to video games.

Stock photo of loaves of bread in a bakery. — You wouldn’t accept sub-par bread from a baker, so why should you accept a sub-par game from a developer?

I will acknowledge and agree that game development is hard, and that bigger games are harder to make; it’s an almost exponential scale of difficulty. But trying your best and failing is still failing, and in a competitive marketplace where most games aren’t free, if you release a sub-par, broken, uninspired, or inferior game, you’re gonna get called out for it. Media criticism exists for this purpose, and just because a critic has never worked in the games industry or has no experience with development doesn’t invalidate their criticism.

When a game is listed for sale, even if it’s discounted or at a low price, players still have expectations – and those expectations aren’t “wrong” just because they didn’t see how hard the game was to create. If you’re a brand-new developer releasing your first-ever game for free and asking for feedback, then maybe some of the harshest words should be held back. But this asinine argument is too often made by publishers and executives who work for massive companies. When a game underperforms, they trot out the trusty old “game development is hard” argument as a rebuttal to critics.

Screenshot of The Lord of the Rings: Gollum showing a serious bug. — *The Lord of the Rings: Gollum* was widely criticised upon its release for being riddled with bugs and glitches.

In no other business or industry would customers be told that “my job is hard, you should be grateful for what you got” as a response to genuine criticism. Selling a game that’s outdated, riddled with glitches, or just not fun can’t be excused in this way, and developers – no matter how hard they may have worked and no matter what programming hurdles they may have had to overcome – have to accept that. Criticism is inevitable in entertainment and media, and even if a developer had created an impossibly perfect game, there’d still be players who didn’t like it in whole or in part, or who just weren’t interested in its narrative or its gameplay. That’s unavoidable.

Some developers and studios actively make things worse for themselves by trying to respond to criticism in this way. It never works, it never succeeds at garnering sympathy, and practically zero players come away from this conversation having more positive thoughts about the game. It’s an argument that needs to go away, and developers and publishers should think long and hard before reacting to genuine criticism with this irritating whine.

“Hot Take” #2:
Subscriptions are happening and physical discs and cartridges are dying out.

A stock photo of Mega Drive games. — A selection of Sega Mega Drive game cartridges.

This is a subject I’ve tackled before in a longer column here on the website. In that piece I took a look at the media landscape in general, talking about how the move away from physical media started with music, then moved to film and TV, and is now belatedly arriving in gaming, too. You can find that piece by clicking or tapping here, if you’re interested! But for the games industry specifically, a move away from discs and cartridges has been happening for a long time – and the rise of subscriptions could well be the final nail in the coffin.

In the very early days, no one owned a video game outright. If you wanted to play a game, you had to go to where the games were: an arcade. It was only with the growth of home consoles in the ’80s that physically owning a video game became possible for a mainstream audience, and even then, renting games or even whole systems was still a big deal. Many of the SNES, Nintendo 64, and Dreamcast games that I played in through the ’90s and into the new millennium were rented, not purchased outright. The idea of owning a massive media library is, when you think about it, a relatively new phenomenon that was kicked into a higher gear when DVD box sets became a thing in the mid-2000s.

Concept art for Wreck-It Ralph showing the arcade. — Arcades (like this one from *Wreck-It Ralph*) used to be the only place to play video games.

In that sense, we could argue that subscriptions aren’t “changing” the way people engage with media, they’re just a return to the 20th Century status quo. For much of the history of film, television, music, and gaming, audiences have had a temporary or impermanent relationship with media… and to me, that’s absolutely fine. It’s a trade-off I and many other players are happy to make.

I could probably count on my fingers the number of games I’d want a permanent hard copy of… because most games aren’t gonna be played on a loop forever nor returned to every few months. Just like when I used to rent SNES and N64 games in the ’90s, I’m totally okay with not having a huge library of titles gathering dust on a shelf (or metaphorical dust in a digital library), because once I’ve beaten a title like Donkey Kong 64 or Bioshock, I’m in no rush to play them again.

Promo screenshot of Red Dead Redemption II. — *Red Dead Redemption II* is one of just a handful of games I might conceivably want a hard copy of.

Speaking as someone on a low income, subscription services like Netflix and Xbox Game Pass open up a huge library of titles to me – allowing me to play more games than I’d ever be able to afford if I had to buy or even rent them individually. I’ve played dozens of games over the past couple of years that I’d never have bought for myself, and some of them have become personal favourites. Subscriptions like Game Pass are a great way into gaming for players on a budget – because for a single monthly fee a huge library of titles become available.

If the trade-off for that is that titles are occasionally removed from the platform and become unplayable… well, I’m okay with that. And for one-in-a-generation masterpieces like Red Dead Redemption II or Baldur’s Gate 3, I’m happy to splash out. When you consider that an annual subscription to Game Pass is more or less the same price as buying one or two games… you start to see why people are choosing to sign up. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Xbox, PlayStation, or both choose to go all-digital later in the decade when their next-generation machines are ready.

“Hot Take” #3:
Microtransactions have no place in single-player games.

A screenshot of part of Starfield's in-game shop. — *cough* *Starfield* *cough*

I’m not wild about microtransactions in general – but in online multiplayer games and especially free-to-play titles, I accept that they’re an established funding model. They should still be regulated and prevented from being exploitative, but in those genres the microtransaction model seems to work well enough. But in a single-player game? Microtransactions need to GTFO.

Going back decades, games have released expansion packs – and large pieces of content that add new maps, quests, characters, and so on are usually okay. Look at something like Morrowind’s expansion Bloodmoon, or a more recent example like Phantom Liberty for Cyberpunk 2077. These are the kinds of expansion packs that have always been okay. Some are better than others, sure, and some expansions offer much more in terms of value. But as a general rule, I’m okay with expansion packs.

A still frame from the trailer for Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty showing Johnny Silverhand in a helicopter. — *Phantom Liberty* is a great example of an expansion pack that offers good value.

But in a single-player game, I shouldn’t be asked to purchase a “premium currency,” weapon skins, cosmetic items, and so forth. These microtransactions have no place in a single-player title, and there’s no excuse for adding them in other than pure, unadulterated greed. If a game like No Man’s Sky can remain profitable for Hello Games for close to a decade without charging for a single additional piece of content, there’s no excuse for the disgusting in-game marketplace in a title like Starfield.

I love a game with cosmetic customisation. Making my character feel personal to me goes a long way to enhancing the experience and making my playthrough feel like “mine,” so I enjoy having the option to change a hairstyle, outfit, or do things like re-paint a vehicle. But these things are an integral part of the game experience – not something to charge extra for. Exploiting players by locking basic items behind a paywall is despicable – and that’s before we say anything about “XP boosters,” damage multipliers, and other pay-to-win or pay-to-skip-the-grind items.

Steam page for No Man's Sky showing that the game has no DLC. — Oh look, it’s all of the DLC available for *No Man’s Sky*…

I’ll also include in this category “super premium deluxe editions” of games that come with exclusive content. You might think that Han Solo’s vest in Star Wars Outlaws is okay to lock behind a paywall, but some games do this with whole quests. Hogwarts Legacy infamously locked an entire mission behind a paywall, and it’s far from the only game to have done so in recent years. Offering an in-game item as a pre-order bonus is one thing, locking a whole chest full of items and even pieces of gameplay behind an expensive “luxury edition” that can easily run to $100 or more is just scummy.

If I’m paying full price for a game, I don’t expect that game to reach into my wallet and try to grab even more cash every time I want to use a consumable item or change my character’s appearance. I tend to avoid online multiplayer games, where this phenomenon primarily exists, but inserting a microtransaction marketplace into a single-player game where it has absolutely no business being is enough to make me uninstall that title and never return to it. I’ll even refund it if I can. Some studios have even taken to concealing in-game marketplaces at launch, hoping to garner better reviews and more sales, before adding them in a few weeks or months later. Truly disgusting stuff.

“Hot Take” #4:
You aren’t paying for “early access,” you’re being charged an additional fee to play the game on its real release date.

Early access info for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. — An example of what I’m talking about.

“Early access” is controversial in general, but let me just say before we start that I’m generally supportive of smaller studios and indie developers using early access as a way to get feedback and even to keep the lights on during what can be a difficult process. I very rarely touch an early access title, but independent devs should always feel free to use whatever tools are available to them, including launching an early access version of their game. But that’s where my patience with early access ends.

Recently we’ve seen two pretty shitty trends in the games industry: firstly, massive studios backed up by big publishers have been abusing early access, sometimes leaving a game officially unreleased for four, five, or six years, charging almost full price for it all the while. And secondly, the issue we’re looking at today: “early” access for an extra charge.

Promo graphic for Star Wars Outlaws showing the different versions of the game. — Ubisoft wanted to charge players an extortionate amount of money to play *Star Wars Outlaws* on its real release date.

This kind of “early” access usually grants players access to a game a few days or maybe a week ahead of its official release date, but by that point the game is finished and should be ready to go. The “early” version that players get is usually no different from the launch version, and there’s no time for a studio to act on player feedback or patch bugs. This is a scam, plain and simple, and an excuse for wringing even more money out of players.

If a game launches on the 1st of September for players who pay £100, and the 6th of September for players who “only” pay £65, then the release date is the 1st of September. They’ve just charged more to players who want to play on release day – or, if you flip things around, deliberately penalised players who didn’t splash the extra cash. These versions of games – which I think we should call “real release date” versions – are often $20, $30, or $40 more expensive than their delayed counterparts.

A stock photo of a hand holding burning dollar bills. — And who has that kind of money to waste these days?

Buying a game on day one is a risk nowadays. So many games – even those that go on to be hailed as masterpieces – arrive on launch day with bugs, glitches, and other problems. So paying extra to play what is almost always a demonstrably shittier version of a game just feels… stupid. I’ve been burned by this before, and just as with pre-orders, I’ve sworn to never again pay for so-called “early” access.

I’d like to see digital stores like Steam, Epic Games, and ideally Xbox and PlayStation too clamp down on this practice. Early access should be reserved for studios that need it, and charging players extra to play a game on release day is something that should be banned outright.

“Hot Take” #5:
Players’ expectations aren’t “too high.”

A stock photo of an angry man holding a PlayStation control pad. — It isn’t the players that are wrong…

There have been some fantastic games released over the last few years. Red Dead Redemption II, Baldur’s Gate 3, and Kena: Bridge of Spirits all come to mind in the single-player space, but I’m sure you have your own favourite. These games are, in a word, masterpieces; titles that did everything right and are rightly considered to be at the very pinnacle of not only their genres but video games as an art form in general. So… if your game doesn’t get that kind of glowing reception, whose fault is it?

Some developers think it’s the fault of players, and that we’ve had our expectations set “too high.” They argue that it was unrealistic to expect their game to be as engaging or entertaining as others in the genre, and we should be grateful for what we got. They worked hard on it, after all.

A screenshot from Starfield showing a first-person perspective and three NPCs. — I wonder which game might’ve prompted this “hot take.”

The tl;dr is this: it isn’t the fault of players if they don’t like your game – it’s yours. Complaining about high expectations makes no sense when other titles have demonstrably been able to meet and even exceed those expectations, so if you learned nothing from your competition, once again that isn’t anyone else’s fault but yours! That’s to say nothing of the out-of-control and frequently dishonest marketing that promises players way more than the game can deliver. Studios and publishers are responsible for reining in hype and keeping their marketing honest. That, more than anything else, will help players set appropriate expectations.

I get it: it isn’t fun to be criticised or see your work picked apart. It’s even less fun to see a game you worked hard on for a long time compared negatively to another title in the same space. But to lash out at players – the people who are supposed to be your customers and the people it’s your job to entertain – just doesn’t make any sense to me. Not only is it wrong, but it also risks building up resentment and ill-will, so the next time you work on a game and get it ready for launch, players will be even more sceptical and perhaps even quicker to criticise.

A stock photo of a smartphone showing social media apps. — This is a problem exacerbated by social media.

Thankfully, it isn’t all developers who say this – at least not in public! I heard complaints like this from time to time when I worked in the industry, but most developers I worked with were smart enough to keep such thoughts to themselves if they had them. So we’re fortunate that it’s only a minority of developers who take this argument into the public square.

Some developers need to get off social media. Social media is a great tool, don’t get me wrong, and being able to communicate directly with players can be useful in some situations. But if a developer is so thin-skinned that they feel the need to react in real-time and respond to every armchair critic and Twitter troll… that can’t be good for them, and it certainly isn’t good for the company they work for. For their own good, some developers need to shut down their social media profiles!

So that’s it… for now!

A promo graphic of an Xbox Series control pad. — I hope this wasn’t *too* controversial!

I’m always finding more “hot takes” and things to criticise in the games industry, so I daresay this won’t be the last time I put together a piece like this one! Despite what I’ve said today, I still really enjoy gaming as a hobby and I find there are far more positives than negatives. And if you hated all of my points, just remember that all of this is the entirely subjective opinion of a single old gamer.

So I hope this has been a bit of fun… and maybe a little thought-provoking in places, too. If you don’t agree with any of my points that’s totally okay! I tried my best to present my arguments as articulately as possible, but these are “hot takes” so I’m sure plenty of people can and will disagree with all of them. If I gave you a chuckle or you found this discussion interesting in some way, then I reckon I’ve done my job!

Until next time… and happy gaming!

All titles discussed above are the copyright of their respective publisher, studio, and/or developer. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

Five Years, Five Recommendations

Mon 11.11.24Dennis

Spoiler Warning: Minor spoilers may be present for some of the titles on this list.

This month (November 2024) marks the fifth anniversary of Trekking with Dennis! That’s right, I’ve been online talking about Star Trek and the wide world of geekdom for almost five years – and what better way to celebrate or mark the occasion than by making five recommendations to you based on the films, games, and TV shows that I’ve enjoyed in that time? This isn’t my “end-of-year awards” piece for 2024; that’s still on the schedule for late December. Instead, what I’m going to do today is highlight five films, five games, and five TV shows from late 2019 through late 2024 that I think could be worth a look.

We’ll get into more personal reflections and a bit of a retrospective look back at the website’s progress later this month, but for now suffice to say that I’m satisfied with things. I don’t write as often as I did when I was getting started, and I have certainly experienced periods of writer’s block and burnout. But by and large I’m still enjoying what I do here; this little side-project gives the old brain cells a bit of a workout!

A stock photo of a person typing on a laptop.

As always, I have a couple of caveats before we jump into the list. First of all, I’m picking titles that were released between November 2019 – the month Trekking with Dennis first came online – and November 2024. Older titles won’t be included. Secondly, this isn’t meant to be a “top five” or my “all-time favourites;” these are just titles I’ve enjoyed that I’m happy to recommend. And finally, as I always say: all of this is just the subjective opinion of one person. If I include something you hate or miss out something you love… that’s okay! We all have different opinions when it comes to media and entertainment.

Phew! With all of that out of the way, let’s take a look at a few films, games, and TV programmes from the last five years.

Film #1:
Raya and the Last Dragon

Still frame from Raya and the Last Dragon showing Sisu wearing a hat.

Raya and the Last Dragon was unfortunate to be released while many cinemas were either still closed or limited in the amount of seats they could sell, and the film wound up on Disney+ shortly after its release – for an additional charge, naturally. As a result, I don’t think it picked up as much attention as it otherwise might’ve done, and that’s a shame because it’s a genuinely enjoyable film with a strong story.

Titular heroine Raya must travel across the broken land of Kumandra – a fictional realm based loosely on South-East Asia. In her quest to bring back the dragons and defeat the deadly Druun, she encounters a host of fun characters, visits diverse locations, and is swept up in a thrilling adventure. I had a blast with this film – though it was a little odd that there were no musical numbers in a Disney animated picture!

Film #2:
The Super Mario Bros. Movie

Still frame from The Super Mario Bros. Movie.

Alright, I admit it: the 1993 live-action Super Mario Bros. is a “guilty pleasure” favourite of mine! But there’s no denying that the animated film from last year blows it out of the water in every possible way. Nintendo was understandably cautious with its top-tier franchise after the reaction to the live-action version in the ’90s, but the corporation was eventually persuaded to give Mario another chance at the box office. What resulted was my favourite film of 2023 by far.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie puts an updated twist on the tired “save the princess” trope by putting Luigi in danger and having Mario team up with Peach to rescue him from Bowser. Practically all of the Mushroom Kingdom gang join the fun, and there’s even a fun sequence based on the Mario Kart games. Visually, the film was an absolute treat, with the Mushroom Kingdom being brought to life and looking better than ever. A great soundtrack was the icing on the cake for a truly delightful film.

Film #3:
Civil War

Earlier this year I watched Civil War, a fascinating film about a near-future America that was at war with itself. The film didn’t have the political angle that I’d been expecting based on its marketing material, with the titular conflict being more of a backdrop for a road trip the main characters took through different parts of a war-ravaged nation. There were some incredibly brutal depictions of violence, showing how the breakdown of social order can turn average, everyday people into killers.

The main characters were all interesting, and a focus on journalists lent the film something a little different in a war genre that can sometimes get repetitive. The final sequence involving the storming of the White House and the killing of an apparently very unpopular president has parallels that are genuinely disturbing and thought-provoking, too.

Film #4:
Dune (Parts One and Two)

I was very worried that Denis Villeneuve might not get the opportunity to complete his two-part adaptation of Dune – but I’m so glad to have been proven wrong about that! The book has proven notoriously difficult to adapt thanks to a dense story, and realistically we could have a multi-season TV series based on just the first entry in the series. But this two-part film adaptation (which will shortly be joined by a prequel TV show set in the same universe) was absolutely fantastic.

What’s great about Dune and Dune: Part Two is how both films brought in a much bigger audience than you’d expect for a sci-fi property. Expanding the genre to new fans is a great thing, and it’s something to celebrate. In terms of cinematography, sound design, acting performances, and basically everything across the board, this two-part adaptation of Dune was beautiful science-fiction perfection.

Film #5:
The Matrix Resurrections

Still frame from The Matrix Resurrections showing Neo in the Matrix.

Maybe it’s a “hot take” to say this was a brilliant film… but it genuinely resonated with me in a way that very few titles ever have. I respect director Lana Wachowski for returning to the world of The Matrix almost twenty years later, and bringing back a deeply metaphorical style of storytelling.

I described The Matrix Resurrections as brutal and raw, and it could even be an uncomfortable watch in places. Some viewers these days have an understandable bias against franchises being brought back or revisited – because all too often, the reason corporations do so is purely to profit off of a successful name. But Resurrections (despite its name) is different, and it finds a story worth telling and an analogy worth paying attention to. I’d encourage anyone who missed it to at least give it a chance.

Video Game #1:
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

Concept art for Jedi: Fallen Order showing Cal, BD-1, and a landscape.

Jedi: Fallen Order isn’t just a great game, it’s one of the best pieces of Star Wars media of the last five years, period. The game follows Cal Kestis – a young Jedi who barely survived the events of Order 66 (as depicted in Revenge of the Sith) as he goes on a galaxy-spanning adventure and rediscovers his connection with the Force. It’s an intense and, at times, emotional journey, and there are some great moments of characterisation as Cal develops friendships with some of the people he meets along the way.

Mechanically, Jedi: Fallen Order is a “souls-like” third-person adventure game, but from my point of view it has an easier mode so that’s great! There were a couple of things I didn’t like as much – like having to re-play whole chunks of the same level – but by and large it was a blast. It’s a shame its sequel came with a much weaker story!

Video Game #2:
Cyberpunk 2077 (plus the Phantom Liberty DLC)

Screenshot of Cyberpunk 2077 showing a combat encounter.

I genuinely did not expect to ever be in a position where I could recommend Cyberpunk 2077 in good conscience. The game launched in an appalling state back in 2020, a fact made worse by the lies its developer, CD Projekt Red, told about the condition it was in. It took several years of continued development just to patch out the bugs, and even then the game was held back by outdated mechanics and systems.

But last year’s massive 2.0 update and the launch of Phantom Liberty completely changed the Cyberpunk 2077 experience, and now the game really is a must-play for fans of role-playing games, action games, or even just great single-player stories. The narrative was always strong enough to keep me playing, even when I was underwhelmed by other aspects of the gameplay. But with many of my original complaints having been completely fixed… this could be one of the best games of the decade.

Video Game #3:
Kena: Bridge of Spirits

Screenshot of Kena: Bridge of Spirits showing the game world.

My pick for “game of the year” in 2021 was this delightfully old-school adventure game with 3D platforming elements. Kena: Bridge of Spirits was the first-ever game by a new indie studio, and the developers took their experience from working on CGI in the film and TV space to create one of the best games of the past few years. Collecting cute critters isn’t just a fun side-activity, it’s an integral part of how you progress through the game. The enchanted forest and village are wonderfully interactive environments. And the game is perfectly paced; neither outstaying its welcome nor ending too soon.

I also felt that Kena: Bridge of Spirits wasn’t a game that held my hand. It gave me all of the pieces I needed to solve a puzzle or navigate an obstacle, but it didn’t point out everything with a map marker or giant arrow. I could infer from the skills Kena had recently learned what I was supposed to do, and I really appreciated that. The graphics are also absolutely stunning, with the game looking like an interactive Disney or Dreamworks movie.

Video Game #4:
Fall Guys

I haven’t played Fall Guys in a while, but I was obsessed with this adorable battle royale when it launched back in 2020. The game has since gone free-to-play, but its monetisation didn’t feel aggressive or in-your-face the last time I jumped in. Fall Guys is, in brief, a game about running obstacle courses and taking part in multiplayer challenges. Sixty players start each round, but only one will progress through to become the ultimate champion!

There are some wonderfully creative rounds in Fall Guys, from standard obstacle courses to team games, and some have different themes like sci-fi or the holiday season. There’s no story to speak of, and while I’d usually never be interested in an online competitive multiplayer game… Fall Guys really did succeed at pulling me in. I spent hours playing it in 2020 and 2021, and I really should revisit it one day.

Video Game #5:
EA Sports PGA Tour

Screenshot of PGA Tour showing a golfer putting the ball.

I know this seems like a strange pick, but I’ve lost count of the hours I’ve spent playing PGA Tour this year. The game relaxes me in a way few titles do, and reminds me of playing the likes of Actua Golf 2 on my PC in the late ’90s or Wii Sports with friends a few years later. For a game about golf – a sport I have absolutely no interest in and never watch – it sure does succeed at giving me nostalgic, cozy feelings!

There are plenty of things to criticise. This is an EA Sports title, which means it’s pumped full of microtransactions and ways to part with your money. Some of the graphics and animation work for characters feels outdated. And I’d be happy if more lines of commentary were added! But I’m going to end 2024 with PGA Tour as my most-played game by far, and it’s a title I go back to when I need to de-stress, take a break, and play something that’s challenging but not too physically demanding on my arthritic hands.

TV Show #1:
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

Still frame from Strange New Worlds Season 2 showing the USS Enterprise.

Strange New Worlds is, for me, the absolute highlight of modern Star Trek. Technically a spin-off from Discovery, the show returns the franchise to its episodic roots while retaining modern trappings like character development and season-long arcs that rumble in the background. In just two seasons the series has dipped its toes in genres from musical to horror, and there’s plenty more to come with two upcoming seasons still waiting to be broadcast.

Returning to the USS Enterprise to see Captain Pike in command has proven to be an unexpected masterstroke for the Star Trek franchise, and stepping back to a more episodic style of storytelling after Discovery and Picard were both much more serialised has been incredibly cathartic for this old Trekkie. I would challenge anyone who didn’t enjoy those other live-action Star Trek shows to give Strange New Worlds a chance – I really don’t think you’ll regret it! It’s my hope that this will become the franchise’s new “flagship” series, carrying Star Trek forward through its sixtieth anniversary and beyond.

TV Show #2:
Silo

Still frame from Silo showing Juliette Nichols at her desk.

A different kind of post-apocalyptic drama, Silo was one of the highlights of 2023 for me. Taking place in an underground bunker (the titular “silo”), the show follows an intriguing murder mystery which threatens to unravel the carefully-constructed subterranean world. Rebecca Ferguson leads a star-studded cast, and her character Juliette Nichols makes for a wonderful protagonist.

Apple TV+ invested heavily in Silo, and I think the result of that investment speaks for itself. The show is incredibly well put-together, with everything from sound design and special effects to set design and costumes all building up a creative post-apocalyptic setting. Season 2 is scheduled to premiere in just a few days’ time – and I can’t wait!

TV Show #3:
3 Body Problem

Promo poster (cropped) for 3 Body Problem.

I’m so glad that Netflix belatedly renewed 3 Body Problem, as it’s probably my favourite show of 2024. A really creative work of sci-fi based on a Chinese novel series, 3 Body Problem depicts humanity’s first encounter with an extraterrestrial race – and the incredibly “alien” nature of the San-Ti can be both shocking and frightening. The first season feels like a really solid start for building up a great story, and with the book series already complete, there’s less danger for co-creators David Benioff and DB Weiss than there was with Game of Thrones!

A modern-day setting served 3 Body Problem well, and I loved seeing its seemingly-disconnected storylines and characters slowly come together over the course of several episodes. There were elements of mystery, drama, and horror to go along with a sci-fi premise that could feel quite weighty… and I cannot wait for Season 2 to pick up this story and tell the next part of the tale.

TV Show #4:
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power

Still frame from The Rings of Power showing Galadriel and her ring.

After two seasons, I think The Rings of Power has laid the groundwork for a successful fantasy series. There are things to criticise, and I’m not sure that enough has been done – yet – to fully justify the price tag of one of the most expensive TV shows of all time… but there are plenty of positives to take away from this return to Middle-earth. Interconnected stories, elements of mystery, and some great character moments all give me reasons to keep watching.

I’ve been in love with Tolkien’s world since I first read The Hobbit as a geeky little kid, and getting to see another story like this unfold on the small screen has been fantastic. I just hope that future seasons can be ready a bit faster; waits of two-plus years in between truncated eight-episode seasons puts a bit of a downer on things! But overall I’ve had a good time with The Rings of Power and look forward to its continuation.

TV Show #5:
Five Days at Memorial

Still frame from Five Days At Memorial showing the flooded hospital.

This miniseries had the difficult task of dramatising a recent real-world event: Hurricane Katrina and the effect it had on Memorial Hospital in New Orleans. For my money, everyone involved did a fantastic job. Five Days at Memorial could easily have come across as sensationalist or overplaying its hand, but it manages to be restrained in its criticism of the real people involved while remaining a gripping and occasionally harrowing watch.

The miniseries is also very well-balanced, refusing to condemn or totally exonerate the people involved, choosing instead to show the decisions they made in the context of an incredibly difficult situation. I remember the news reports about Memorial Hospital in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, but seeing the story like this, from the point of view of those involved, was really intense stuff. The sense of abandonment that the staff felt echoes how many people – particularly African Americans who lived in New Orleans – felt and continue to feel to this day. The scars of Hurricane Katrina still haven’t fully healed.

The Best of the Rest

In this category I’m going to make five other recommendations that don’t fit in any of the categories above. These are all entertainment and media-related, but I felt they either deserved their own spotlight or didn’t easily slot into any of the categories above.

Social Media Platform:
TikTok

I’ve found myself spending a bit more time with TikTok over the past couple of years. At first I was pretty dismissive of the platform; short-form videos in a vertical format didn’t really hold much appeal! But there are some incredible creators on TikTok who use the platform in interesting ways, and you can find everything from cookery to political commentary and travelogues to media criticism.

TikTok’s “For You Page” format also works well, and the app’s algorithm seems to be creepily clever in the way it chooses videos to recommend! I swear that I’ll have been thinking about something, only to see a video about it pop up a few moments later during my next TikTok scrolling session. YouTube is belatedly trying to catch up with Shorts, but TikTok is well on its way to becoming the dominant video app for the younger generation in particular.

Web Series:
Food Wishes

What I like to watch on YouTube can vary a lot, but I’ve always loved a good cookery show. Food Wishes has been running since 2007, and what’s remarkable is how little it’s changed in that time. Host Chef John doesn’t usually appear on camera, making the food he’s preparing the real star of the show. At time of writing there are well over 1,000 videos on the channel, and more are added almost every week.

Chef John teaches us how to cook everything from sandwiches to a full thanksgiving dinner, and often prepares dishes from cuisines and cultures that I would have never thought of! I’ve tried a few recipes for myself, and even though I’m far from the best cook, Chef John’s instructions make things feel simple. Food Wishes is easily one of my favourite web shows of all-time.

Documentary:
We Need To Talk About A.I.

Still frame from We Need To Talk About A.I. showing a digital brain.

Though arguably a little alarmist, We Need To Talk About A.I. was an interesting watch – and is made even more relevant by developments in the few short years since its original broadcast. Keir Dullea, famous for his role in 2001: A Space Odyssey, is the documentary’s presenter and narrator, and he brings a much-needed weight to the role.

The film interviewed several interesting people, including director James Cameron and several A.I. researchers, as it charted humanity’s potential path to creating general artificial intelligence; a sentient machine. A lot of people have been ringing alarm bells about what a hyper-intelligent, sentient machine might be able to do if it were ever created, and this documentary examines some of the worst-case scenarios! With advances in A.I. seemingly happening all the time, perhaps we’re closer to that future than we might think right now.

Browser Game:
Wordle

Yes, I still play Wordle! I lost for the first time in ages a few weeks ago and it really pissed me off! But that aside, this fun little browser game has become a part of my daily routine – and I don’t know where I’d be without it! I was never one to play anagrams, word searches, or sudoku, but something about the elegant simplicity of Wordle has kept me playing for over two years at this point.

And as long as Wordle remains online, I daresay I’ll keep playing. The hype around the game seems to have died down – it seemed for a while that you couldn’t move on social media without seeing people sharing their Wordle scores – but it obviously retains a sizeable player base.

Subscription:
Xbox/PC Game Pass

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Game Pass feels like a really good deal. If I were asked what the most cost-effective route into current-gen gaming is, I’d say without hesitation that an Xbox Series S with a Game Pass subscription is far and away the best option for players on a budget. Game Pass opens up a huge library of titles for a single monthly fee, and I remain surprised at how much pushback it continues to receive in some quarters!

I’ve been a subscriber to Game Pass on PC for a couple of years, and I’ve tried brand-new games I’d never have been able to afford, experimented with some very different titles I’d almost certainly never have even heard of, and jumped head-first into some big blockbusters all thanks to the service. Sure, there are drawbacks to Game Pass… but subscriptions feel like the way media in general is going, and I’m pretty confident that Microsoft will be able to iron out the bugs and inconsistencies to make Game Pass even better than it already is.

The Best Is Yet To Come…

Before we wrap things up, I want to highlight five announcements that have been made over the past few years. These are all projects that I’m really looking forward to in the months and years ahead.

Announcement #1:
Wicked

The (long-overdue) cinematic adaptation of Wicked is now just a few weeks away, and I really am looking forward to seeing this fantastic story on the big screen for the first time. Years ago I had the privilege of seeing Wicked on the stage in London, and I fell in love with its story, characters, and songs. I’m not usually someone who loves musicals, but Wicked has a truly outstanding soundtrack that I can’t wait to see recreated.

The decision to split Wicked into two parts is interesting, but hopefully will be more of a positive than a negative. Everything I’ve seen so far has just increased my excitement, so I really hope Wicked doesn’t let me down when I’m finally able to sit down and watch it!

Announcement #2:
Future Star Trek projects

Announcement graphic for a new live-action Star Trek series.

At time of writing there are at least two brand-new TV shows in development for the Star Trek franchise, as well as two new seasons of Strange New Worlds. This will keep Star Trek on the air well past its sixtieth anniversary in 2026, which is fantastic news. The likes of Section 31 and Starfleet Academy have the potential to reach out beyond Star Trek’s usual niche to whole new audiences – something the franchise needs to do in order to survive and remain relevant – and that’s positive, too.

I’ve been a huge Trekkie since I first got into The Next Generation in the early 1990s, and to think that there’s still more Star Trek to come in the years ahead is great news. It’s true that I’ve gone through a bit of burnout with Star Trek, and that not every recent project has been fantastic, but there’s still a lot to love in my favourite franchise – and a lot to be excited about as Star Trek continues.

Announcement #3:
Phineas and Ferb Seasons 5 and 6

Still frame from Phineas and Ferb Season 1.

I really was pleased to see Phineas and Ferb get the green light for a full-blown revival. The cartoon has become one of my “comfort shows;” something I drift back to on days when my mental health isn’t great and I’m not feeling my best. The bright colours, wacky storylines, and fun characters just feel comfortable and safe. There’s a lot to love in Phineas and Ferb for an adult audience, too, as the show has plenty of jokes and storylines that aren’t just for kids.

Bringing back a beloved series after a long time away is a risk, but I’m hopeful that creators Dan Povenmire and Jeff “Swampy” Marsh have new ideas for where to take Phineas, Ferb, Perry, Dr Doofenshmirtz, and the rest of the gang. New adventures and inators await!

Announcement #4:
Grand Theft Auto VI

One of the first subjects I wrote about here on the website back in 2019 was Grand Theft Auto VI… and the game still isn’t out! I’m pretty annoyed with Rockstar for continuing to milk Grand Theft Auto V at the expense of everything else, and I’m even more disappointed that its sequel isn’t going to get a simultaneous PC release. For a company like Rockstar to cheap out on development given the growth of PC gaming over the last few years is pretty stupid to say the least.

However… I will eventually get my hands on this game, and from what I’ve seen and heard so far, it looks like it’s gonna be a fun time. Maybe it won’t hit the heights of Red Dead Redemption II, but then again, could any game manage that? I’m trying to keep my expectations in check, but there’s no denying that I’m very keen to play Grand Theft Auto VI after such a long wait.

Announcement #5:
Nintendo’s next console

Earlier this year we heard from Nintendo that the company’s still-untitled new console is well underway. I’m expecting to see a release sometime between April 2025 and March 2026, so we might be pretty close! I’m already excited at the prospect of a new 3D Mario game, a new Animal Crossing title, a new Mario Kart game… and so on! I had fun with my Nintendo Switch, but I agree – it’s time for a new console.

There are reasons to be sceptical about Nintendo – their attempt to sue a competitor to the Pokemon series out of existence being just one of the shitty things the company has done of late. But as someone who’s been a Nintendo fan since I bought my first ever home console, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t really excited to see what Nintendo is going to do next. The smart money is on another hybrid console; a more powerful Switch. But I wouldn’t be surprised if Nintendo has a new gimmick in store to help the new machine stand out.

So that’s it!

A stock photo of a smart TV with streaming apps.

Five years, five recommendations in a bunch of different categories. I hope this has been a bit of fun!

I certainly enjoyed returning to these titles! In some ways, it feels like no time at all since I was first beginning to put together the pieces of what would eventually become Trekking with Dennis. But in other ways, a lot has happened over the past five years – both personally and in a more general sense. The world of entertainment feels less stable, in some ways at least, than it did back then.

I hope you’ll join me at the end of November for a more individual perspective on the last five years. This website is, rather embarrassingly, the longest-running project I’ve ever had. It’s outlasted any job I’ve ever had, any other hobby or side-gig, and even though I spend less time writing here than I did when I first started, I still enjoy having my own little slice of the interweb where I can share my thoughts on some of my favourite (and least-favourite) titles. I hope to see you again soon!

All titles discussed above are the copyright of their respective publisher, broadcaster, distributor, corporation, etc. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

Shattered Space: Thoughts and Advice for Bethesda

Thu 03.10.24Dennis

Remember Starfield? That space game we got all excited about in 2023? I wouldn’t blame you if you’d forgotten all about it by now; I haven’t touched the game in months myself and I have no real plans to go back to it. Any lingering feelings of positivity I might’ve had toward the game – and developer Bethesda Game Studios in a more general sense – evaporated pretty quickly when microtransactions and paid mods were added to this single-player title, so I’ve pretty much moved on.

But the launch of Shattered Space – the first of several larger pieces of DLC that are planned for the game – has dragged up the shambling corpse of Starfield for me once again, and I couldn’t let it pass by without sharing my thoughts on what I’ve seen… and offering some unsolicited advice to Bethesda and parent company Microsoft. There are things to consider for both Starfield’s future as well as any potential new games that Bethesda may be lucky enough to make. Let’s get into all of that today.

Still frame from the Shattered Space launch trailer showing a character approaching an alien structure. — So far at least, *Shattered Space* doesn’t appear to have saved (or even really helped) *Starfield*.

The reaction to Shattered Space has been mediocre at best outside of Bethesda and Starfield mega-fans. The expansion is currently sitting at a “mixed” rating on Steam… but far more worrying for Microsoft and Bethesda should be the real lack of engagement that Shattered Space is driving. There are, at time of writing, fewer than 1,000 reviews of Shattered Space on Steam – a number that seems pitifully small for the first major expansion pack for the newest Bethesda role-playing game. And the release of Shattered Space didn’t give the game much of a boost in terms of player numbers, either; Starfield was beaten by both Fallout 4 and Skyrim on the day the expansion launched and every day since.

This is even more alarming when you consider that many players will have already pre-purchased Shattered Space last year. In order to pick up the “deluxe” version of Starfield (or whatever it was called), which gave players access to the game on its real release date instead of almost a week later, players had to fork over an additional £35 on Xbox, Steam, and even Game Pass. Included in that price was Shattered Space, so even players left underwhelmed by the base game should have still had access to this DLC. The fact that so few of them could be bothered to even download it or check it out should be ringing alarm bells at Bethesda HQ and for Xbox, too.

Screenshot of SteamDB and Steam showing player counts for Starfield and reviews for Shattered Space. — *Shattered Space’*s launch (date highlighted) didn’t bring in a lot of players.
*Image Credit: SteamDB (above) and Steam (below).*

The mixed reception to Shattered Space from those who did bother to fire it up is something that I think could’ve been avoided – and could at least be mitigated in the future. But it would require a change in approach from Bethesda. I’ll try to explain what I mean.

Over the last few weeks and months, Bethesda has been rolling out updates to Starfield. Among the biggest of these have been the rover/buggy, which allows players to traverse the game’s maps more quickly, and also the ability to decorate the interior of spaceships. Both of these were highly-requested by players, and the fact that Bethesda added them is a positive thing.

But part of the disappointment some players and critics are noting with Shattered Space is that it’s “only” a story expansion. The DLC doesn’t add anything of substance to Starfield beyond one new planet and some quests, and that’s leaving some people feeling underwhelmed yet again.

Still frame from the Shattered Space launch trailer showing a character praying. — A scene from the *Shattered Space* trailer.

A few months ago, I wrote a piece here on the website in which I argued that Starfield’s first piece of DLC needed to be comparable in how transformative it is to Cyberpunk 2077′s Phantom Liberty, which was released last year. That expansion came with a new area of the map and new quests – just like Shattered Space. But it also came with a major update that overhauled whole in-game systems, completely fixed some of the biggest disappointments with the game, and significantly improved the experience. That’s what Starfield needed… and that’s what it still needs.

The conversation around Shattered Space might’ve been different if things like detailed city maps, interior ship decorating, and the rover vehicle had all arrived along with it. It wouldn’t have fundamentally “fixed” Starfield, but it might’ve given the game more of a boost and gotten more players talking about the game in a positive light for a change. Instead, this opportunity was missed.

Still frame from the Shattered Space launch trailer showing a rover. — *Starfield* has a rover now.

So here’s my advice for Microsoft and Bethesda: stop the trickle of minor updates. Obviously you’ve gotta keep working on fixing bugs, so there can’t be a total lack of patches, but from now on, everything should be saved up for the next DLC. The next and final DLC.

Take two years – or three, if that’s what you need. Use that time to craft a larger expansion to Starfield’s world and story – perhaps one with an actual ending to the game’s main quest. But save up all of the smaller things that might’ve been added along the way, and add them all at once. Instead of trying to wring as much money as possible out of a disappointed and shrinking player base, focus on transforming the game into something that more people might actually want to buy. For me, that also means stripping out the entire microtransaction marketplace… but since that doesn’t seem realistic, at the very least focus on making one significantly larger expansion that can launch alongside overhauls to in-game systems. In a word, make Phantom Liberty… but for Starfield.

Still frame from the Starfield Direct (2023) showing executive producer Todd Howard. — *Starfield’*s executive producer Todd Howard.

Starfield feels like a very greedy game right now, and £35 for a single expansion pack that only really adds one new location and questline isn’t doing anything to change the narrative. A “single-player live service” type of game – which is clearly what Bethesda wanted to create – is absolutely not my thing and never will be, and for that reason I’m almost certainly never going to play Starfield again. But even knowing that, and knowing what kind of penny-pinching game this is… Shattered Space still seems pretty unexceptional.

There should be a way around this, but only if Bethesda and Microsoft are willing to listen to feedback. Right now, Starfield is on its last legs. It’s been surpassed in so many ways by its contemporaries, and most players have just moved on already. Shattered Space, because of how it was designed and launched, was never going to bring them back en masse. And part of that is because of the way the DLC was structured and how these other free updates have been drip-fed to players over the months since Starfield launched. At a time when the game needed a win, decisions taken earlier in the year tripped up Shattered Space’s launch… and the end result seems to be that most players just aren’t paying attention any more.

Screenshot of the Xbox store showing in-game currency packs for Starfield. — Microtransactions and paid mods have been added to *Starfield* since the game was released last year.

For me, Starfield would only become playable again if the microtransactions and paid mods were removed and all of that content added either totally for free or as part of the next expansion. Given the lack of things like costumes, skins, and other cosmetic items in both the base game and Shattered Space, I’d argue that all of those should be added for free. But rather than doing so bit by bit in small updates over the span of months, what Starfield really needs is one big update and one big expansion that can get players talking about the game once again. Phantom Liberty for Cyberpunk 2077 is my go-to point of comparison, but I’m sure you can think of other similarly large and similarly transformative expansion packs that have been released over the years.

As to the content of Shattered Space itself… I have to say that, based on what I remember of the game, this House Va’Ruun stuff seems like it should’ve been part of the base game from day one. I mean, you literally have a companion character who’s an ex-member of this faction, and they’re mentioned multiple times across the main quest. Shattered Space, having been planned and developed alongside Starfield, basically feels like cut content to me.

Screenshot from Starfield (2023) showing a first-person view. — I’m over *Starfield* at this point.

I’m not surprised that Shattered Space hasn’t turned things around for Starfield based on what I’ve seen. And as someone who was genuinely looking forward to this game once upon a time, my concern now is that Bethesda is running out of chances to make Starfield into the game that I thought it should’ve been. Without a serious re-think and complete change in approach, I don’t see that happening. And given how brutal Microsoft can be when games and studios aren’t performing to their high expectations… well, let’s just say it probably isn’t a great time to be a Bethesda executive right now.

Despite how I feel, I will be keeping up with the latest Starfield news to see if there are going to be changes or improvements in the future. I sincerely hope that Bethesda takes its time with the next update and expansion, because that feels like the game’s best chance to come back strong and re-capture at least some of its lapsed players.

But I have to be honest: the microtransaction marketplace has killed any residual support I had for the game, and it will be a weight around its neck for as long as it continues to exist. Charging £10 for a single mission, £7 or £8 for a tiny pack of cosmetic items, and selling in-game currency at the usual awkward exchange rate are all truly scummy, shitty things for a massive company to try to get away with. I loathe Starfield’s microtransactions, and seeing the way Bethesda has behaved not only with this game but with Skyrim’s “creation club” and Fallout 76 too… it’s really put me off The Elder Scrolls VI. I can’t root for Starfield’s redemption as long as this stupid live service marketplace remains in a single-player game.

Starfield and the Shattered Space DLC are out now for PC and Xbox Series consoles. Starfield, Shattered Space, and all other properties discussed above are the copyright of Bethesda Softworks, Bethesda Game Studios, Xbox Game Studios, and/or Microsoft. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

The PlayStation 5 Pro Is An Omen Of Worse To Come…

Fri 13.09.24Dennis

By now I’m sure you’ve heard about the PlayStation 5 Pro controversy. Sony’s mid-generation update to its flagship console will come with an outrageous price tag, will be missing basic components, and doesn’t even seem – at first glance, anyway – to offer a significant visual upgrade. With better frame-rates and higher resolutions being basically the only reason to pick up a PS5 Pro for someone who’s already a PlayStation customer… that’s not great.

But I think there’s a lot more to say – and unfortunately, it gets worse! At time of writing, pre-orders for the PlayStation 5 Pro haven’t gone live in the UK, but there’s already a ton of interest in the console, its missing disc drive, and even its ridiculously overpriced stand. The stand is basically just a small ring of metal and plastic, and shouldn’t be worth anywhere close to its purported £25 price tag. But it seems as if eager fans and gamers are queuing around the digital block to pick up the console and its add-ons; pre-orders for the disc drive have sold out in some places in the United States already.

I’ve already criticised Sony here on the website for hiking up the price of the base PlayStation 5 at a time when the corporation is making record profits. To clarify that: Sony has never, in its corporate life, made more money or had a greater profit margin than it has right now – and yet these ridiculous price hikes continue. Microsoft is not immune from this, either – and I’ve been critical of Xbox in recent months too, so please don’t think I’m coming at this issue from a “console war” perspective! If anything, I’m trying to approach this subject from a consumer perspective and a basic fairness perspective. Nintendo… the jury’s out. But I wouldn’t be surprised if the new Nintendo console follows suit and is similarly burdened with a high price tag.

There are two reasons why I find the PlayStation 5 price tag so disturbing, and we’ll look at these issues in turn.

First of all, despite the outrage and dissatisfaction on social media, as mentioned there are plenty of people who seem quite happy to pay the inflated price for the new console – as well as its expensive add-ons. In fact, I wouldn’t be shocked to see the PlayStation 5 Pro become one of this year’s festive bestsellers, with high demand from gamers and parents as Christmas draws nearer. It will almost certainly out-sell anything that Xbox has to offer, and with Nintendo’s new console not due until next year at the earliest, the PS5 Pro could have a fairly open market when it launches this November.

Video games are a consumer marketplace – and that means if there are willing buyers, Sony will be able to get away with selling this underpowered, overpriced, incomplete console to all and sundry. We often hear some variant of the expression “social media is not real life,” and for all of the outrage and criticism that has been thrown at Sony since the PlayStation 5 Pro was announced… that won’t actually matter to the company’s bottom line if people still show up and buy the damn thing en masse. And it seems like that’s exactly what’s gonna happen.

Which leads into my second problem with Sony’s price hike: other companies in the games industry are watching, they’ll see Sony succeed, and they’ll follow suit. Maybe Xbox will release an updated console with a disc drive sold separately. Maybe Nintendo will see Sony’s high price point and bump up the price of its next console by £50 or £100. If Sony’s getting away with it, it will encourage everyone else to do the same thing.

Other companies will be watching to see if Sony’s high price point succeeds.

When Sony jacked up the price of the base PlayStation 5 a couple of years ago, Microsoft was quick to jump in and promise that the price of the Xbox Series X would stay the same. And that lasted all of a few months before the price was quietly raised. At the beginning of this generation – less than four years ago – the base price of a standard video game was usually £55 here in the UK – $60 in the United States. 2K Games then announced that their next-gen sports titles would be priced at £65/$70… and what happened next? There was a fuss online… but then those games sold pretty well and every major publisher in the industry followed suit and jacked up the prices of their games, too.

It will happen again with the PlayStation 5 Pro, so I hope you’re prepared to pay £700 or more for a video game console. By the time the next generation of machines are ready in, say, 2028 or 2029… could it be more? Could a PlayStation 6 be £900? Who will be the first to break the £1,000 barrier for new consoles? It now feels like a matter of “when” not “if” that happens.

Gaming is getting more expensive all the time.

In the early days, video game consoles actually were pretty expensive. The Atari 2600, one of the earliest home consoles to sell a significant number of units, was priced at $190 in the United States when it launched in 1977 – the equivalent of more than $900 today when accounting for inflation. Its competitors, like the Magnavox Odyssey 2 and Intellivision, were similarly-priced. But the price of consoles came down with the price of home computers in general, and by the time I was buying my first console – a Super Nintendo – in the early 1990s, prices were similar to where they are today when you account for inflation. My SNES was £150 when I bought it (after saving up my pocket money for ages!) which is close to £400 in today’s money.

So for a long time – several generations at least – consoles have been hovering around that price point. There have been some that were cheaper and some that were more expensive, like the Xbox One, but by and large folks have come to expect that home consoles will be affordable. £700 is really pushing the boat out; that’s approaching the kind of money you could spend on a gaming PC. In fact, after a brief Google search I found several gaming PCs at that exact price point!

At time of writing you can get this gaming PC – and many others – for the same money as a PS5 Pro.

I’m sick of profiteering and price-gouging by these corporations. The so-called “cost of living crisis” that we’ve been going through for several years now is at the very least being exacerbated by greedy corporations that are trying to use it as an excuse to grab as much money as possible and make as much profit as possible. There have been record-breaking profits announced by everyone from supermarkets and tech companies to oil companies and banks… and it all comes at our expense. That’s the lens through which I view the PlayStation 5 Pro’s exorbitant price tag.

The sad thing is that, in lieu of better options, people will shell out for the PS5 Pro this winter. Folks who don’t have a PlayStation 5 yet may wait to get the refreshed model, and some will undoubtedly be tempted by promises of higher frame-rates and more visually stunning games. Even though the comparison between the base PS5 and the PS5 Pro leaves a lot to be desired, in my opinion!

And as I said at the beginning, this feels like an omen of more price rises to come. Nintendo, Microsoft, and other big players in the games industry will be watching the PlayStation 5 Pro. They’ve already taken note of the criticism and backlash it received… but if it still sells like hot-cakes, we can surely expect further price rises when other companies follow suit. It’s disappointing, but honestly not unexpected in this late-stage capitalist marketplace that we all have to wade through.

Sony should be riding high at the moment. The PlayStation 5 has been selling really well, recent console exclusives like Astro Bot and Helldivers II have been well-received, and in spite of Concord proving to be a high-profile flop, the company is raking in money and seems to be at the pinnacle of the games industry right now. The company’s reputation will take a hit from this price hike and the ridiculously expensive add-ons for the PS5 Pro… but as I said a few weeks ago when talking about Concord, I doubt it’ll matter in the long run. Sony probably priced in a certain amount of anger and backlash, and from the company’s point of view it won’t matter as long as players turn up and buy the console; even a begrudging sale is still a sale, at the end of the day.

As we pass the midpoint of this console generation, and with Nintendo preparing its new machine for release, I think the PlayStation 5 Pro and its price tag are just the beginning. A harbinger of things to come.

The PlayStation 5 Pro will be release in the UK on the 7th of November 2024. The PlayStation brand and all related properties discussed above are the copyright of Sony Interactive Entertainment. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

The Official* Star Wars Tier List

Sun 08.09.24Sun 08.09.24Dennis

Spoiler Warning: There are spoilers ahead for practically the entire Star Wars franchise.

I don’t know who first came up with the format, but I really like the way tier lists work. Instead of trying to rank every film or episode in a series in perfect order, we can just give them a grade – which is a nice and easy way of expressing how we feel! So today, I thought it could be fun to make The Official* Star Wars Tier List… of all the shows and films that I’ve seen, at any rate.

I first came to Star Wars in the early 1990s, when I watched the original trilogy at the insistence of a schoolfriend. He had just bought the films on VHS, and even though I’d been getting into sci-fi with TV shows Star Trek: The Next Generation, Space 1999, Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, and films like Flight of the Navigator, E.T., and Back to the Future, somehow Star Wars had completely passed me by. I might’ve seen a few toys in the shops, but that was all. I grew up in a rural part of England in the ’80s and ’90s – but I was too young to have seen any of the Star Wars films at the cinema, so I just hadn’t engaged with the franchise at all.

The Star Wars trilogy on VHS on a starry background. — I first watched the Star Wars trilogy on VHS in the early ’90s.

I was aware of the Star Trek-versus-Star Wars rivalry that fans at the time were still battling out, and as such I recall being unimpressed with Star Wars on that very first viewing. I felt it was somehow in opposition to “my” fandom – Star Trek: The Next Generation – and that some of its storylines were pretty basic and violent compared to what I guess I considered to be the more sophisticated and “grown-up” Star Trek. But that attitude didn’t last long – and after watching the films a couple more times and playing Super Star Wars on the SNES, as well as spending more time with my Star Wars-loving chum, I was officially a convert! I was a Star Wars fan!

And a Star Wars fan I remain to this day – even if I haven’t loved everything that the franchise has put out in the thirty-plus years I’ve been following it. But that’s a brief summary of my history with Star Wars to give you a bit of background as we put this tier list together.

A blank tier list. — Let’s fill out this tier list together!

Before we jump into the list, a couple of important caveats. As I always say, all of this is the entirely subjective opinion of just one fan. If you hate all of my rankings, if I put a film you hate way too high, or a series you adore way too low… that’s okay! Nothing about this is in any way “objective,” and while I will try to justify my rankings and explain why I placed each production in its tier, you are free to disagree vehemently. There should be enough room in the Star Wars fan community for civil discussion and polite disagreement.

Secondly, I will be ranking a number of Star Wars films, television shows, and – perhaps somewhat controversially – video games. I don’t know about you, but speaking for myself some of the best Star Wars stories have come from interactive media, and there are a couple of Star Wars games that I genuinely believe surpass the films and TV shows in terms of the quality of their storytelling, characterisation, and so on. It wouldn’t feel right to exclude those stories from this tier list… so I’m not!

Lego Star Wars minifigures. — We won’t be including every single Star Wars production this time!

Finally, I won’t be including any production that I haven’t seen for myself. What would be the point in pretending to rank a series or film I haven’t seen, after all? At the end I’ll make a note of these, but for reasons that I hope are obvious they aren’t going on the list.

I will be giving each Star Wars production one of the following grades: S, A, B, C, D, and F. These work like grades you might remember from school: F-tier is reserved for the worst of the worst, D-tier is pretty bad but a step up, C-tier is mediocre but not terrible, B-tier is generally good, A-tier is pretty great, and S-tier is the absolute cream of the crop! I will rank each production that I’ve seen/played in release order, beginning with the original Star Wars in 1977 and going through to 2024’s The Acolyte – which is the most recent Star Wars production at time of writing.

Phew! With all of that out of the way, let’s jump into the list.

Star Wars
(Episode IV: A New Hope)
1977
Tier: A

Still frame from Star Wars (1977) showing the main characters aboard the Millennium Falcon.

I think we have to rank the original Star Wars pretty highly, right? This is the film that created the entire franchise; without it, Star Wars wouldn’t exist. It introduced us to some great characters, established a setting that was crying out to be expanded upon, and above all told a really engaging story about the Rebel Alliance, the evil Empire, and a young man caught in the middle of it all. Luke Skywalker is a wonderful protagonist, point-of-view character, and introduction to this world.

The Death Star trench run has become iconic, as have the designs of ships like the X-Wing and Millennium Falcon. The characters of Ben Kenobi, Princess Leia, and Han Solo all felt like they had their own personalities and motivations, seeming to be real people inhabiting this fictional setting. The villainous duo of Darth Vader and Grand Moff Tarkin had weight, meaning our heroes felt like they were in constant danger. All in all, a wonderful start to the franchise and a film I’m always happy to revisit.

Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
1980
Tier: S

Still frame from The Empire Strikes Back (1980) showing Luke Skywalker's crashed X-Wing.

I’m not alone in considering The Empire Strikes Back to be Star Wars’ high-water mark, and I think you’ll see it right at the top of many folks’ ranked lists! And it’s easy to see why: this is a fantastic film. The opening scenes on Hoth set the tone for a story where the villains are on the march, and everything our heroes accomplished last time is at risk of being undone. Luke is able to follow in his father’s footsteps and pick up his Jedi training with the absolutely iconic Yoda, while Han and Leia are betrayed on Cloud City.

The Empire Strikes Back also contains one of the most iconic scenes in all of cinema: when Luke finds out that Darth Vader is his father. This was a pretty shocking twist, and one that reframed much of the story. Lightsaber duelling stepped up about ten notches in this film, and we were also introduced – albeit briefly – to Darth Vader’s master: the Emperor. Iconic designs like the AT-AT and Snowspeeder debuted here, and the Battle of Hoth is still one of the most tense and exciting that the franchise has ever produced. No doubt that The Empire Strikes Back is a top-tier Star Wars production.

Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
1983
Tier: C

Still frame from Return of the Jedi (1983) showing Princess Leia holding a blaster.

On that first viewing of the Star Wars films that I told you about, my friend’s father insisted that Return of the Jedi was a crap film and a poor way for the trilogy to end. And this was not an uncommon view at the time: a second Death Star already feels pretty derivative, the conflict at Jabba’s palace drags on too long, and the Ewoks were an army of teddy bears that disrupted the Emperor’s carefully-laid plans! I wouldn’t say Return of the Jedi is “bad,” but I would say it’s nowhere near as good as its predecessors.

Return of the Jedi also retconned the relationship between Luke and Leia. I maintain that this decision was a mistake, one that’s been compounded by subsequent productions. Having Luke be Vader’s son was a shocking twist that worked; having Leia be Luke’s sister was an attempt to replicate that… but it didn’t live up to what had come before and doesn’t make a ton of sense, either. Return of the Jedi is also the film that introduced “from a certain point of view;” an overly complicated work of semantic gymnastics to justify the retcon in The Empire Strikes Back – and something that was not only entirely unnecessary, but that has also proven damaging to other stories as the franchise has doubled-down.

The Super Star Wars trilogy
1992-1994
Tier: B

Box art for the SNES game Super Star Wars.

The first part of this trio of SNES games was my first introduction to Star Wars in the video game realm – and it was a lot of fun. These games are challenging 2D platformers, and they don’t always succeed at faithfully adapting the story of the films! In order to make some Star Wars scenes and settings fit the 2D platforming mould, some pretty big liberties were taken and the games diverge from those stories in a significant way. However, there’s plenty of enjoyment to be had jumping and blasting your way across a variety of Star Wars environments… or at least there was in the early ’90s!

X-Wing and TIE Fighter
1993/1994
Tier: B

Screenshot of TIE Fighter (1994) showing a space battle.

Although undeniably dated by today’s standards, I loved playing TIE Fighter in the mid-90s. I didn’t go back to play X-Wing for several years (I didn’t own a copy at the time), but when I did I enjoyed that game, too. Both of these titles really let players feel like they were genuine starfighter pilots in a galaxy far away – even more so if you played with a joystick! These games were tremendous fun… but also pretty difficult! I imagine returning to them nowadays would be pretty hard, and I admit that I’m definitely cruising on my gamer nostalgia here!

Shadows of the Empire
1996
Tier: A

Box art for Shadows of the Empire (1996).

Shadows of the Empire was one of the first games I bought after getting a Nintendo 64 for Christmas in 1997, and I had a blast going on my very own Star Wars adventure. Shadows of the Empire introduced a brand-new character – Dash Rendar – and dropped him into the story of The Empire Strikes Back. After playing through the Battle of Hoth, Dash has his own adjacent adventure that sees him team up with all of the heroes of the original trilogy while battling against the likes of Boba Fett and IG-88.

This was the first game to really give me the sense of being part of the Star Wars galaxy on my own terms, and I think that’s because of how well-written Dash is as a protagonist. He feels like a real character with his own story to tell, and unlike in games like Super Star Wars, where you’d play as Luke and other characters, introducing someone brand-new really expanded the story. It was a ton of fun to go on this adventure through some wonderfully diverse levels – and the combination of gameplay in space and on the ground was neat, too.

Rogue Squadron
1998
Tier: B

Screenshot from Rogue Squadron (1998) showing an X-Wing.

Another classic from the Nintendo 64, Rogue Squadron felt like a huge step up from TIE Fighter thanks to its 3D models and more diverse levels. It was also a lot easier than those other titles, with a better control scheme and more forgiving gameplay. There were also different spaceships to pilot: the X-Wing, of course, but also the A-Wing, Y-Wing, and Snowspeeder, each of which had different weapons that could be useful in different missions.

Episode I: The Phantom Menace
1999
Tier: F

Still frame from The Phantom Menace (1999) showing the pod race.

I went back and forth on this, trying to decide if The Phantom Menace does enough to scrape its way into D-tier. But unfortunately it doesn’t, and the film remains one of the low points of the Star Wars franchise for me. I remember the buzz and excitement The Phantom Menace generated on its release in cinemas… and I also remember the controversy and disappointment it caused.

I’ve addressed this before, but the short version is that The Phantom Menace kick-started a story that just didn’t need to be told. We knew everything we needed to know about Anakin, Palpatine, and Obi-Wan Kenobi from the original trilogy, and seeing the rise and fall of Anakin Skywalker just wasn’t necessary. The Phantom Menace also contained some poorly-written dialogue, a convoluted storyline, some questionable character inclusions, and more. However, I will give the film credit for successfully bringing a whole new generation of Star Wars fans on board – and that, more so than anything else, was its objective.

Episode I: Jedi Power Battles
2000
Tier: B

Screenshot of Jedi Power Battles (2000) showing a Jedi fighting battle droids.

Although less well-remembered than Episode I: Racer these days, Jedi Power Battles was a surprisingly fun action-platformer. The film it was based on may have been a disappointment, but Jedi Power Battles turned out to be a genuinely good time. I picked it up on the Dreamcast, and playing it co-op with a friend on the couch was a lot of fun (especially after a few drinks!)

Jedi Power Battles expanded the roster of characters, with some minor and background Jedi from the film becoming playable. As with Shadows of the Empire above, taking on different roles and playing as new and unknown characters felt pretty good, and the additional characters played well with the game’s expanded story. All in all, a fun romp – albeit held back by the source material’s weak story.

Episode II: Attack of the Clones
2002
Tier: D

Still frame from Attack of the Clones (2002) showing the CGI clone army.

Attack of the Clones was Star Wars’ chance to redeem itself after The Phantom Menace… and if that was its objective, the film failed miserably. The writing and dialogue could be shockingly bad (“I don’t like sand,” anyone?) and the film’s overreliance on green screens and CGI that just wasn’t at the level it needed to be has meant it’s aged incredibly poorly. Seriously: the original trilogy, made more than two decades earlier, looks a heck of a lot better than Attack of the Clones, which looks like a Dreamcast-era cut-scene in places.

Attack of the Clones also continued Star Wars’ annoying trend of making every major and minor character related to someone else. In this case we meet Jango Fett – father of Boba Fett and the “template” for the Kaminoans’ clone army. I like watching Palpatine’s scheme unfold, and Count Dooku – played by the late great Christopher Lee – is a fine addition as a villain. But overall, the film still struggles. Attack of the Clones also has characters and story beats that were either set up or expanded upon in comics or other spin-off media, and this left it feeling somewhat incomplete when the credits rolled.

Knights of the Old Republic
2003
Tier: A

Concept art for Knights of the Old Republic showing Darth Malak.

Now we’re getting somewhere! Knights of the Old Republic helped me to fall in love with Star Wars all over again and put the disappointment of the first two prequel films to bed. There are prequel-era references throughout, of course, but KOtoR told a story that stood on its own two feet, fully separate from the characters of both the original films and prequels for the very first time. I absolutely adored this adventure, and creating my own character and taking them across the galaxy was just fantastic.

KOtoR’s innovative light side-dark side system was a blast, giving the game more replayability. The companion characters and villains were all absolutely incredible, and the variety of levels and missions on offer was outstanding, too. And the twist! I genuinely did not see the game’s big revelation coming until almost the last second, and when it was revealed I can vividly remember sitting on my couch, holding my Xbox control pad with my mouth just hanging open in shock. After the Vader-Luke reveal in The Empire Strikes Back, KOtoR’s twist is the best the franchise has ever pulled off.

Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords
2004
Tier: S

Screenshot from Knights of the Old Republic II showing a Quarren character.

As great as the first KOtoR had been, its sequel was even better. Despite being a rushed game with some content having to be cut, the story is just absolutely phenomenal, with stunning planets to visit, a war-torn protagonist still suffering the effects of their service and choices they made, and a stellar cast of secondary characters who all feel like real people. My Star Wars love is Visas Marr, by the way, and her arc from Sith assassin to Jedi apprentice is one of the best and most touching in any Star Wars production to date.

There are some wonderful set-pieces in KOtoR II, as the Jedi Exile travels the galaxy in search of the few remaining Jedi Knights and the Sith Lords who had been hunting them. Boss fights against these Sith – and the final climactic fight against Darth Traya – are tense and a ton of fun, and the game’s story is gripping from start to finish. Twenty years later and I’d still love nothing more than to get a proper sequel to this game.

Battlefront and Battlefront II
2004-2005
Tier: B

Screenshot from Battlefront II (2005) showing a Stormtrooper engaging Rebel soldiers.

The original Battlefront games – before EA sunk its money-tainted claws into the series – were great fun. I’m not really a multiplayer gamer, and I like games with strong narratives first and foremost, but there was a lot of enjoyment to get from both of these games. Even the levels focused on the prequel trilogy were solid, and fighting wave after wave of enemy soldiers was something that most games at the time didn’t offer – not like this, at any rate.

In multiplayer was where Battlefront and Battlefront II really excelled, though, and if you could find three friends to play with on the couch, you were definitely in for a fun night!

Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
2005
Tier: C

Still frame from Revenge of the Sith (2005) showing Anakin Skywalker in a hooded robe.

The final part of the prequel trilogy went some way to redeeming the story, and was certainly a cut above what had come before. There are still issues with visuals and CGI as well as some clumsily-written dialogue, but there are also some tense and exciting moments as the Jedi Order falls and Anakin loses himself to the dark side. The main lightsaber duel between Anakin and Obi-Wan runs way too long for me, but other fights earlier in the film – including against Grievous and Count Dooku – were pretty great.

A critic far smarter than I am once suggested that an extended Revenge of the Sith could have replaced the prequel trilogy, and I don’t think that’s a bad idea on the whole. There would’ve been more time for Anakin’s premonitions and slide to darkness to be shown, and for Palpatine’s manipulation of the situation to play out. All in all, though, Revenge of the Sith may not be perfect, but it’s by far the best part of the prequel trilogy.

Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga
2007
Tier: A

Screenshot of Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga (2007) showing two characters on Tatooine.

I wasn’t sure whether to include this game, but it’s a ton of fun so why not? This compilation brought together the two earlier Lego Star Wars titles into one package – and with Star Wars apparently complete as a six-film series, it took a comedic romp through the entire story. Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga was just overstuffed with content – so many characters to unlock, things to collect, and areas of levels that weren’t accessible on a first run. The lack of dialogue and mumbling also made the game feel light-hearted and funny – and after the relative disappointment of the prequel trilogy, putting a different spin on Star Wars to make it fun and entertaining again was just what I needed!

Episode VII: The Force Awakens
2015
Tier: D

Still frame from The Force Awakens (2015) showing Kylo Ren holding a lightsaber to Rey's neck.

In 2015, I adored The Force Awakens. Returning to Star Wars’ “greatest hits” seemed to be just what the doctor ordered as a new era for the franchise got underway. However, with the benefit of hindsight the film’s weaknesses come into full view. The decision to have Luke Skywalker go missing – with no reason for why he’d disappeared being written – was a mistake, and with the death of Han Solo, any chance of reuniting the trio of heroes from the original trilogy was gone. The film is also incredibly derivative to the point of outright copying: a young Force-sensitive person from a desert planet joins a rebellion against a faction of space fascists and helps them blow up a planet-destroying super-weapon. There’s even a “trench run,” for goodness’ sake.

Unfortunately, The Force Awakens was a weak foundation upon which to build the rest of the sequel trilogy, and the decision to allow each writer/director free rein to do whatever they wanted led to a jumbled narrative mess. There were positives in The Force Awakens – the character of Finn, for instance, and his story of defecting from the First Order and overcoming his indoctrination, as well as a story that involved an older Han and Leia reuniting to try to save their son. But there were too many missteps and mistakes – and I just can’t forgive that the film squandered so many of the opportunities that a Star Wars sequel should have had.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
2016
Tier: S

Still frame from Rogue One (2016) showing the Death Star being assembled.

I didn’t really have high expectations for Rogue One when I heard about it. A prequel all about stealing the Death Star plans just didn’t sound all that exciting – but I was wrong about that! Jyn Erso made for a wonderful protagonist, and her story took her from being apathetic and sitting on the sidelines to leading the mission that inspired the Rebellion. Cassian Andor was such a great character that he ended up getting his own spin-off. The decision to kill off practically all of the main characters was also incredibly bold for this franchise.

There are so many great moments and sequences in Rogue One that we’d run out of time trying to list them all! The mission to Jedha was incredible, characters like Krennic and Saw Gerrera have become iconic, and while I never felt that the destruction of the Death Star needed an in-universe explanation, learning how it came to be sabotaged was genuinely interesting. An unexpected story that expanded upon the lore of Star Wars in a really fun way.

Episode VIII: The Last Jedi
2017
Tier: A

Still frame from The Force Awakens (2017) showing the Holdo manoeuvre.

The Last Jedi is a great film. It isn’t as great as it wants to be, and there are places where it misses the mark or where its storytelling gets too in-your-face. But it represents a brave attempt to take the franchise in a different direction, far away from the copycat narrative of its predecessor. Some of the things introduced here really work well and expand our understanding of the Star Wars galaxy. I really like the Holdo manoeuvre, for example, and how the film took a look at the galaxy’s mega-rich citizens who are content to sit out the war, knowing that whichever side wins they’ll still come out on top.

Moreover, the film puts two big twists on the story of the sequels. First, Rey turned out not to be descended from a known character. For me, this made her far more interesting and set her up as a protagonist in her own right. Secondly, Kylo rejected any pull to the light side and tried to seize power for himself, setting himself up as the ruler of the First Order. Both of these twists worked exceptionally well… before they were immediately undone in the final instalment of the trilogy.

Solo: A Star Wars Story
2018
Tier: C

Still frame from Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) showing Lando and Han in the cockpit.

There’s nothing wrong with the main thrust of the plot in Solo: A Star Wars Story… but nothing about the film feels all that special or interesting, either. The story basically doubles down on Star Wars’ prequel problem; we just didn’t need to see this chapter of Han Solo’s life to understand who he is or what his priorities are. We’d already been able to infer all of that from his earlier appearances, and while we learned a bit more about Han in a strictly factual sense… none of that really mattered.

I also loathe the resurrection of the obviously-dead Darth Maul and his insertion into Disney-era canon. Star Wars has continually struggled to let go of characters – even relatively minor and unsuccessful ones – and to see Maul popping up as a “crime lord” of all things was just… ugh. I hated it. The central heist at the film’s core was good enough and there were some solid moments of characterisation. But the film was let down by its fundamental premise.

The Mandalorian
2019-Present
Tier: C

Still frame from The Mandalorian Season 1 (2019) showing the title character knocked down on the ground.

The Mandalorian has some fun scenes and great design elements, introduces some creative new characters, takes us to new worlds, and tells a story that dives deeply into a little-known faction. But for me, The Mandalorian didn’t really hit the mark. Its premise of following “the adventures of a gunslinger beyond the reach of the New Republic” sounded spectacular… but within two episodes the show brought the Force back into play. Things only got worse from there, with Luke Skywalker eventually showing up in person to hammer home that this series can’t escape the clutches of nostalgia.

Worse, though, was the protagonist himself – who seemed, for the first season-and-a-half at least, to have no understandable motivation for doing… anything. Mandy seemed to act at the behest of a room full of TV writers, and it showed, with massive story points like betraying his client to save Baby Yoda coming from nowhere. The series is also too short, with Seasons 1 and 2 barely amounting to the runtime of just one season of television – and sharing two halves of a story that would’ve been a lot better if it had played out in a single season instead of two. Things have improved and the series has grown on me, but I can’t escape the feeling that there’s some wasted potential here.

Jedi: Fallen Order
2019
Tier: A

Screenshot of Jedi: Fallen Order showing the player character sliding down an icy canyon.

I had a great time with Jedi: Fallen Order. After the disappointments of both The Mandalorian and The Rise of Skywalker (which I watched before playing the game), I was glad to see that I hadn’t entirely fallen out of love with Star Wars. Cal’s story of re-establishing his connection to the Force, rediscovering his Jedi side, and going on a rip-roaring adventure across the galaxy was great, and I felt like I was right there with him thanks to some outstanding voice acting and animation work.

Jedi: Fallen Order also gave me what is probably my favourite Star Wars video game moment: piloting an AT-AT! This sequence is one of the best in the game and is just perfectly-paced. There are a few points that come together to deny Fallen Order S-tier status, though: overuse of Super Mario 64′s sliding mechanic, having to both re-play levels and backtrack through them after finishing an objective, and a confusing false choice early in the game all took some of the shine off of what was an otherwise fantastic experience.

Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker
2019
Tier: F

Still frame from The Rise of Skywalker (2019) showing General Hux wounded.

What an atrocious film. The Rise of Skywalker jumps around, barely spending more than a few seconds per scene, desperately trying to undo the big story points from The Last Jedi. It basically tries to cram two films’ worth of plot into the runtime of a single title, and so many of the storylines it tries to include just fall flat on their face. The clumsy insertion of Palpatine into a story that was never meant to be his not only ruins this film, but manages to make the rest of the sequel trilogy and even the original trilogy feel worse in retrospect.

The Rise of Skywalker betrays or completely misunderstands most of the characters it includes, like Kylo, Rey, and General Hux, undoing key parts of their stories and characterisations. It ignores altogether major characters like Rose and Finn, relegating them to the sidelines and having no idea how to use them. And finally, it contains probably the single worst line of dialogue in the entire Star Wars franchise: “Somehow Palpatine returned.” I don’t like to single out individual writers or creatives for criticism, but I genuinely hope that the people who wrote that line, approved it, and got it into the film never work in the entertainment industry again.

Star Wars Squadrons
2020
Tier: B

Screenshot from the Star Wars Squadrons trailer showing a starfighter cockpit.

Squadrons feels like an updated TIE Fighter or Rogue Squadron – and yes, those are compliments! Thanks to major advances in graphics, sitting in the pilot seat of a starfighter has never looked more beautiful, and the game really succeeds at capturing that sensation in a way few titles ever have. Narratively there wasn’t a lot to say, but the story was worth following to its conclusion, and the side characters were solid in their own ways. I haven’t fired up Squadrons for a while, but I really should jump back in and have another go – it really is the best Star Wars simulator out there right now.

The Disney+ Lego Star Wars Specials
2020-Present
Tier: A

Still frame from The Lego Star Wars Holiday Special showing the main characters and a Christmas tree.

There have been three Lego Star Wars specials made for Disney+ at time of writing – though a fourth is arriving imminently. And all of them have been great fun! I like the less serious tone of these specials, and how each one so far has had a seasonal theme. Terrifying Tales also did more to give backstory to Ben Solo and the Knights of Ren than the entire sequel trilogy had done, and it was quite cathartic to see that!

Star Wars shouldn’t be taken too seriously all the time, and these Lego specials really lean into the more fun, light-hearted, and casual side of the franchise. At the end of the day, Star Wars is supposed to be entertaining – and if there’s one thing I can say about the Lego Star Wars specials it’s that they absolutely entertained me!

The Book of Boba Fett
2021
Tier: A

Still frame from The Book of Boba Fett showing the famous "like a bantha" scene.

I really did not expect to like The Book of Boba Fett. Boba himself always felt like a non-entity to me; a minor character elevated, somehow, through high sales of his action figure, but who did nothing of consequence in the original films and who died incredibly easily in his only big fight! The series also had a huge hurdle to overcome: how did Boba survive dying in Return of the Jedi? I wouldn’t have chosen to greenlight The Book of Boba Fett if I’d been in charge!

But I was wrong, and I found a surprisingly entertaining series with heart. Boba’s adventure on Tatooine was just plain fun in a way that I really hadn’t been expecting, and this miniseries about a character I’d always been underwhelmed by was much, much better than I could have expected. It wasn’t perfect, of course, and in some ways it felt closer to The Mandalorian Season 3 than a standalone project. But I had fun with The Book of Boba Fett for what it was, and I enjoyed its contribution to the Star Wars galaxy.

Obi-Wan Kenobi
2022
Tier: F

Still frame from Obi-Wan Kenobi showing an Inquisitor and a large group of Stormtroopers.

Obi-Wan Kenobi has done the impossible: it has eclipsed both The Phantom Menace and The Rise of Skywalker to become my least-favourite Star Wars project of all time. The series was already going to tell the least-interesting chapter in Obi-Wan’s life, but it ended up completely ruining his character and undermining one of the most powerful moments in A New Hope. It’s the textbook example of why prequels and mid-quels have to be handled with care, and honestly I could write a book about all the things this series got wrong.

In principle, the idea of Obi-Wan leaving Tatooine to rescue Leia could have worked, but it would’ve needed to be a completely different story, one that kept Darth Vader completely out of it. Bringing back Vader for yet more lightsaber duelling with Obi-Wan just felt desperate and tacky, and the entire series fell apart. It was unnecessary in the first place, poorly-written, and with a central premise that completely undermines Ben Kenobi’s role in A New Hope.

Jedi: Survivor
2023
Tier: D

Screenshot from Jedi: Survivor showing a customised Cal Kestis.

I was properly excited to get a sequel to Fallen Order and to get back out in the Star Wars galaxy with Cal and the crew of the Stinger Mantis. But the story Jedi: Survivor told was pretty weak and convoluted by comparison. The sheer randomness of parts of the story – like Greez just accidentally building his cantina atop ancient Jedi ruins – went a long way to undermining it, the surprise return of Master Cordova completely fell flat, an ancient Jedi sealed in a bacta tank for centuries was kind of silly, and a “lost” planet that no one could reach just felt like a boring macguffin. Fallen Order gave Cal a quest that I could follow and that seemed to flow naturally from point to point. Survivor felt much more artificial and constructed.

The game was also let down, in my view, by a reliance on open-world level design that just didn’t fit the story. The supposedly hidden, off-the-beaten-path settlement of Ramblers Reach was located a stone’s throw from two huge Imperial bases and the headquarters of a pirate warlord, and the Jedi outpost on Jedha was walking distance from two massively important areas, too. And of course, there was a traitor in Cal’s group who was so incredibly obvious from his first second on screen that he might as well have had the words “secret bad guy” tattooed across his forehead. The game being released way too early while unfinished and full of glitches didn’t help matters, either.

The Acolyte
2024
Tier: B

So we come to The Acolyte – the latest Star Wars series at time of writing! Although it proved to be controversial, I generally liked what I saw in this one-and-done series. Stepping away from the “Skywalker saga” to tell a story in a different time period is something I’d been wanting to see on the big or small screen for a long time, and a focus on the Sith was also something interesting. I don’t think The Acolyte hit all of the high notes it was aiming for, but it was decent nevertheless.

If Star Wars is going to survive long-term, stepping away from familiar characters and the time period of the Empire will be necessary, and The Acolyte is the franchise’s first real attempt to do so. That is admirable, even if it comes a bit late in the day! The story also framed the Jedi Order in somewhat of a negative way, showing how it can fall prey to internal politicking, emotion, and disagreement – all of which were themes that were present in the prequel and sequel trilogies.

So that’s it!

Still frame from Star Wars (1977) showing Old Ben Kenobi. — It’s Old Ben Kenobi!

I’m pretty sure that those are all of the Star Wars films, games, and TV shows that I’ve spent enough time with to place on this list. You’ll note some absences: the animated Star Wars shows of the 2000s/2010s, as well as Andor, Ahsoka, and the Force Unleashed games, to name but a few. I haven’t watched or played everything in the Star Wars franchise – and I probably won’t get around to all of them. That’s why they’re not part of this list.

Let’s take a look at how the final tier list looks:

A tier list showing various Star Wars productions. — You can open this image in a new tab if you want a closer look!

Putting this tier list together has been great fun, and it’s been interesting to revisit some of these Star Wars projects. It’s been a long time since I so much as thought about the TIE Fighter game, and I haven’t re-watched the likes of The Mandalorian Season 1 since it premiered, so going back to them has certainly been something different.

I hope none of these opinions proved to be too controversial! At the end of the day, I’m a Star Wars fan – but I don’t enjoy every single thing that has been produced for the franchise. Still, whether we agree or disagree on what the highlights are, I think you can see that there are more positives than negatives in this wonderful space epic!

All that remains to say is this: May the Force be with you! And I hope you’ll check back soon for more Star Wars discussion here on Trekking with Dennis.

*Obviously this list is not official in any way. The title is a joke!

Most films and TV shows in the Star Wars franchise can be streamed on Disney+ or purchased on DVD, Blu-ray, or digitally. Some games discussed above are out-of-print, others may be available on PC, Xbox, PlayStation, and/or Nintendo consoles. The Star Wars franchise – including all films, games, and television shows discussed above – is the copyright of Lucasfilm and The Walt Disney Company. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

Mario Kart 9: Let’s Predict the Retro Racetracks!

Wed 04.09.24Dennis

Last year, I put all ninety-six of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe’s racetracks into a tier list! Since then, I’ve kind of taken a break from writing about Nintendo’s premiere kart racing series; with no new tracks being added and with Mario Kart Tour also on its last legs, there hasn’t been a lot to say. But with Nintendo planning to launch its next console within the next year-ish, it’s quite possible that a new Mario Kart game could be closer than we think! With that in mind, I thought it could be a bit of fun to predict which racetracks from previous games might be in Mario Kart 9 at launch.

Those last two words – “at launch” – are critical here, because I believe that Nintendo will see Mario Kart 9 as a kind of live-service title, building on what was accomplished with Mario Kart 8′s DLC, Tour, and finally the Booster Course Pass. Across Mario Kart 9′s lifetime, I expect to see new racetracks added periodically – and perhaps new and different variants of tracks as well. So I guess that’s my first prediction about Mario Kart 9: the game will be an ongoing “live-service” type of experience, perhaps with some kind of additional charge to download all of the new racetracks as they’re created… or god forbid, a monthly subscription and microtransactions!

A tier list showing all the racetracks in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. — This is my full *Mario Kart 8 Deluxe + Booster Course Pass* tier list, in case you missed it last year!

For this list, I’m going to assume that Mario Kart 9 will launch with the same number of racetracks as Mario Kart 8 did in 2014. I was one of about seventeen people who owned a Wii U at the time, so in case you weren’t – or in case you’ve forgotten because it was literally a decade ago – Mario Kart 8 arrived with 32 racetracks. Sixteen were brand-new and sixteen retro tracks returned from earlier games in the series. I’ll be picking sixteen retro tracks today that either seem very likely to be part of the next Mario Kart game or that I’d really like to see included.

As always, an important caveat: this list is the entirely subjective opinion of one Mario Kart fan. Nothing I say is in any way “objective,” so if you hate all of my choices or I exclude a racetrack that seems blindingly obvious to you… that’s okay! There’s enough room in the Nintendo fan community for polite discussion and differences of opinion. Secondly, I don’t have any “insider information,” and I’m not trying to claim that any of these racetracks will be part of the next Mario Kart game. I’m not even certain that Mario Kart 9 is in development – and a port of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe + The Booster Course Pass could be just as likely to be part of the launch lineup for Nintendo’s next console.

Screenshot from Mario Kart 8 Deluxe showing Dry Bones on a racetrack. — Dry Bones racing on SNES Mario Circuit 3.

I’ve placed my sixteen retro racetracks in four “cups” – just like they would appear in a real Mario Kart game. I’ve tried not to pick too many tracks from the same game, nor exclude any of the games in the Mario Kart series. While I’ve prioritised racetracks that didn’t appear in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and the Booster Course Pass, there will undoubtedly be some retro racetracks from that game and its expansion pack, so I haven’t excluded them.

Phew! With all of that out of the way, let’s take a look at my predictions!

The Dennis Cup

Track #1:
SNES Vanilla Lake 1

Screenshot from Mario Kart Tour showing Vanilla Lake 1.

I genuinely thought we’d get a Vanilla Lake track in the Booster Course Pass – but we didn’t! This snow and ice track was part of Super Mario Kart way back when, and it provided a bit of variety thanks to its slippery surface and wintery theme. Of the two Vanilla Lake tracks in Super Mario Kart, the first one actually has a little more variety with a narrow section near the finish line and a couple of patches of melted/broken ice as hazards to avoid. I think there’s a lot that Nintendo could do with this track, in spite of its pretty boring circular layout, as we’ve seen with other recreated SNES and GBA tracks.

Track #2:
3DS Wuhu Mountain Loop/Maka Wuhu

Screenshot from Mario Kart 7 showing Maka Wuhu.

Mario Kart 7 was the first game in the series to have racetracks split into sections instead of laps – and Wuhu Mountain Loop was an incredibly fun and diverse racetrack as a result! Based on the island setting of Wii Sports Resort, Wuhu Mountain Loop takes racers on a real journey right across the island, and includes beach scenes, a road, a town, a cave, an underwater section, and a long glide to the finish line. Unlike most racetracks – which only use one or two themes – Wuhu Mountain Loop has basically everything that Mario Kart 7 had to offer.

Track #3
Wii Toad’s Factory

Screenshot from Mario Kart Wii showing Toad's Factory.

I know this is a minority opinion… but I really don’t enjoy Toad’s Factory. Its layout isn’t anything special, there are a couple of awkward pinch points, and its musical accompaniment is one of the worst in Mario Kart Wii in my opinion. All that being said, Toad’s Factory is probably the most memorable and unique Wii racetrack that hasn’t yet made a return. Speculation was rife that it would be part of the Booster Course Pass, and it feels all but certain to join the roster of the next Mario Kart game… even if I wish it wouldn’t!

Track #4:
Tour Piranha Plant Pipeline

Screenshot from Mario Kart Tour showing Piranha Plant Pipeline.

Not to be confused with the 3DS track Piranha Plant Pipeway, this Tour track is the only one from the game not to have been brought into the Booster Course Pass. As such, I feel it’s a dead cert to join the next Mario Kart game. I haven’t played this one for myself, but from the gameplay I’ve seen online it looks like a fun romp through some of the Mushroom Kingdom’s famous warp pipes. There are a couple of different variants, so this could be one that has a different layout for each lap as we’ve seen with other Tour tracks.

The Chris Pratt Cup

Track #1:
N64 Luigi Raceway

Crop from the Mario Kart 64 guidebook showing Luigi Raceway.

Every Mario Kart game needs one or two relatively straightforward racetracks to ease newbies into the experience, and Luigi Raceway from Mario Kart 64 fits the bill. When I first played it on the N64 I remember being blown away by the big screen above the tunnel that showed my driver in action – that was an incredibly cool feature at the time! This racetrack returned in Mario Kart 7 and Tour, so I think it’s a pretty good candidate for a full-scale remake.

Track #2:
DS Luigi’s Mansion

There have been plenty of dark, spooky, ghostly racetracks across the Mario Kart series… but none are as unique as Luigi’s Mansion. Based on the GameCube game of the same name, this racetrack takes the haunted house theme in a really fun direction. There’s a swamp and part of a forest outside, and the race through the mansion passes by several locations from the first game in a series that’s now established itself as one of Nintendo’s best-sellers. If a fourth Luigi’s Mansion game is in the offing, bringing this racetrack back could be a great decision.

Track #3:
Wii U Animal Crossing

Screenshot from Mario Kart 8 Deluxe showing Dry Bones on Animal Crossing.

I just adore this racetrack. I love how there are four different versions for different times of year, the music is beautiful, and the racetrack is overstuffed with characters, buildings, and other references from the Animal Crossing series. New Horizons is the second-best-selling Switch game, and a new entry in the series is surely coming, so adding this racetrack into the next Mario Kart game is a great way to keep the series in players’ minds. The only reason I could see Nintendo opting not to include this racetrack is if the developers of Mario Kart 9 wanted to create a four-track Animal Crossing cup, with different racetracks based on different parts of the Animal Crossing island.

Track #4:
Tour New York Minute

Screenshot from Mario Kart 8 Deluxe showing Dry Bones on New York Minute.

I would argue that there were probably too many Mario Kart Tour city racetracks in the Booster Course Pass, and by the end the novelty of racing through real-life locations had begun to wear off. With that in mind, I doubt that all or even most of the cities will return when Mario Kart 9 launches – though they may be added later, if my theory of regular racetrack additions proves accurate! If Nintendo picks only one of these to bring back at the beginning, though, I hope it’s New York Minute. I adore the jazz soundtrack, the city and its locations feel really great, and I even recognised some of the places from my own visit to New York City some years ago.

The “Why Does Pink Gold Peach Exist?” Cup

Track #1:
GBA Lakeside Park

Screenshot from Mario Kart Super Circuit showing Wario on Lakeside Park.

I love this track’s primaeval feel, with a jungle and volcanoes in the background. The volcanoes also begin to erupt once the race reaches lap 2 – something pretty creative for the Game Boy Advance! Though it doesn’t have a ton of Mario or Nintendo theming, there’s a lot to love about this track’s aesthetic and design. It’s also been brought back in Tour – but a proper remake, perhaps incorporating new features like gliding or underwater racing, could be an absolute blast.

Track #2:
Switch Squeaky Clean Sprint

Screenshot from Mario Kart 8 Deluxe showing Dry Bones on Squeaky Clean Sprint.

Shrinking down Mario and the gang for a race around a bathroom was a surprising amount of fun in the Booster Course Pass! The race down the plughole, complete with muck and grime, felt truly icky the first few times I raced on this track, and there’s just something humourous about a bathroom setting that makes Squeaky Clean Sprint feel… well, fun! There are a few ways that I could see it being adapted for new styles of play, too, perhaps with some way of shrinking and growing racers through different sections of the track, for example.

Track #3:
N64 Bowser’s Castle

Crop from the Mario Kart 64 guidebook showing Bowser's Castle.

Every Mario Kart needs at least one retro Bowser’s Castle track… right? For me, the Nintendo 64 version of this Mario Kart staple is still the high-water mark that others have yet to reach. Giving it a full remake, perhaps adding in a couple of new features or places where gliding or anti-gravity are present, could work wonders. This track’s theming, music, obstacles, and layout are damn near perfect, though, so I hope the developers don’t change it too much!

Track #4:
GCN Mushroom City

Screenshot from Mario Kart Double Dash showing Mushroom City.

Mushroom City is one of a handful of racetracks from the GameCube to have never returned – and I think it’s time to change that! Moving vehicles always make for interesting obstacles in Mario Kart, keeping races on the same track feeling different and perhaps a bit more tense! Mushroom City is certainly a good example of how well this can work, and its night time setting in an urban cityscape is something a bit different for the series, too.

The Mario’s Moustache Cup

Track #1:
Switch/Tour Merry Mountain

Screenshot from Mario Kart 8 Deluxe showing Dry Bones on Merry Mountain.

I adore Merry Mountain’s Christmas village theming, and the musical accompaniment is perfect, too. Maybe the final downhill portion could be worked on to make it a bit more interesting, but I really can’t fault this wonderful Christmassy track. Both Mario Kart Tour and the Booster Course Pass can lay claim to this one; it was released for both games at about the same time. It’s always a blast to see Mario and the crew racing through Santa’s village, past a flying Christmas train, and down the mountain to the finish line!

Track #2:
3DS Shy Guy Bazaar

Screenshot from Mario Kart 7 showing Shy Guy Bazaar.

Desert racetracks in Mario Kart are seldom my favourites. They tend to be a bit too one-note and bland – but Shy Guy Bazaar put a totally different spin on the theme. Set at an Arabian Knights-style marketplace after sunset, the track just has a really nice vibe to it that’s totally different from any other desert track in the series. I hoped it would come back in the Booster Course Pass – but maybe Nintendo has been saving this one for Mario Kart 9!

Track #3:
SNES Ghost Valley 1

Screenshot from Mario Kart Tour showing Ghost Valley 1.

Boo Lake’s remake in the Booster Course Pass showed what Nintendo can do with a retro ghost-themed track, and I think we need to see more racetracks from the first game in the series! Ghost Valley 1 has a fun shortcut that, with a little bit of work, could be adapted in all sorts of fun and interesting ways. I like the boardwalk and the creepy yet understated music as well as a fun layout. Ghost Valley 1 could be the perfect track to race through next Halloween!

Track #4:
GCN Rainbow Road

Screenshot from Mario Kart Double Dash showing Rainbow Road.

My heart says that Nintendo should take another crack at recreating N64’s Rainbow Road because that’s my favourite, and my head says that SNES Rainbow Road will be back for the fifth game in a row because of how popular it is – but this time I hope Nintendo revisits one of the only Rainbow Road tracks that has never been recreated. This version, from the GameCube, has some really fun features in its own right, as well as a cool design and a great soundtrack. Bringing back tracks that haven’t been seen in a while should be part of the next game – and there’s room for at least one Rainbow Road in the lineup!

So that’s it!

Screenshot from Mario Kart 8 Deluxe showing a racer reversing. — Did your favourite make the list?

Those are my totally-not-official predictions for the racetracks that Nintendo could choose to include in the launch version of Mario Kart 9 – or whatever the next game in the series will be called!

I’m in two minds about when we could see a new Mario Kart game. On the one hand, the upcoming launch of a new Nintendo console and the fact that Mario Kart 8 is now more than ten years old should surely mean that a new entry in the series is imminent – perhaps even as a launch title for the new console. On the other, the Booster Course Pass only wrapped up a few months back, and there’s a case to be made that porting Mario Kart 8 Deluxe to the new console instead of creating a brand-new game is the way to go. Players are still enjoying the Booster Course Pass – and I’ve only played some of the tracks in the final couple of waves a few times apiece. So… I genuinely couldn’t tell you whether Mario Kart 9 is going to arrive next year or not for several years!

Screenshot from Mario Kart 8 Deluxe showing two racers. — Dry Bones using a super horn to overtake Baby Daisy at Sunshine Airport.

That being said, I hope this has been a bit of fun. I tried to concentrate on racetracks that haven’t had a lot of attention in recent years, as well as a few of my personal favourites. It’s amazing how often those two categories overlap, now that I come to think of it! I had a blast going back to revisit some of these racetracks while putting together this list, at any rate.

Whether we get a brand-new Mario Kart game in the next few months or whether we’ll have to make do with a port, I hope you’ll stay tuned here on the website. When we eventually get news about Nintendo’s next console and its launch lineup, I’ll do my best to take a look and share my thoughts.

Until then… see you on the racetrack!

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and the Booster Course Pass DLC are available now for Nintendo Switch. Mario Kart Tour is available for iOS and Android devices. The Mario Kart series – including all titles and properties discussed above – is the copyright of Nintendo. Some screenshots courtesy of the Super Mario Wiki. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

Concord… Oof.

Tue 03.09.24Dennis

We’ve just seen one of the biggest and most expensive failures in the history of video games. That isn’t hyperbole: Sony’s hero-shooter Concord is now one of the worst flops of all time. Whole books could be written on this topic, with Concord becoming a case study in how not to develop and launch a game – but for now, I’ll try my best to break down what happened, what went wrong for Sony… and most curiously of all, why it won’t actually matter to the company or its PlayStation brand.

The tl;dr is this: Concord was launched years too late into a massively competitive genre, one that has already seen high-profile flops from big studios and developers. Its art style was generic, it didn’t stand out from the pack, and it offered prospective players no reason to switch from other, better-established titles in the hero-shooter genre. But worst of all, Sony was demanding $40/£35 for a game in a genre where the most successful titles are free-to-play. There was no way players were gonna take a punt on an expensive new game when there are so many free ones with huge, established playerbases.

Still frame from the release trailer for Concord (2024) showing gameplay. — Everything about *Concord* just screams “generic.”

But that isn’t all there is to say. Concord caught criticism for “being woke,” finding itself on the wrong side of the culture war in the video games arena. Releasing at the same time as both Dustborn – which was also highly criticised for its social justice narrative – and Black Myth Wukong, which the “anti-woke” crowd have rallied around thanks to dubious claims surrounding its development and supposed rejection of “interference” by companies allegedly pushing “an agenda.” Concord was harmed by these comparisons, no doubt.

There’s also the fact that the live service/games-as-a-service marketplace is oversaturated. There are only so many players who want always-online competitive multiplayer titles, and most of them are already committed to one or two games. If Concord had been free-to-play, more people might’ve been willing to at least fire it up and give it a try. But for the stupidly high price that Sony demanded? It’s really no surprise that Concord failed to make a dent in this very difficult market.

Still frame from the release trailer for Concord (2024) showing the game's tagline. — *Concord* promised to let players “battle across the galaxy!”

Shortly before I started to write this article, Sony announced that everyone who bought Concord would be given a full refund and the game would be pulled from sale. The game was only released at the end of August; Concord didn’t even last two weeks before Sony pulled the plug. And unlike in the past when some publishers have killed their live-service games… I completely understand why Sony did it and I can even say without a hint of irony that it was the right call. If no one is playing your live service game – and Concord, at least on PC, was seeing player counts of well below 100 concurrent users – then keeping it online is only going to cost money. And Concord has already proven to be a huge expense for Sony.

The claim that Concord had been in development for “eight years” seems to stem from a single quote from one of the developers and hasn’t been fully confirmed. But at the very least, the game was in full development for well over five years, and Sony even pulled resources away from other titles to support Concord. The game has cost Sony well over $100 million, not even counting the money spent on marketing it over the last couple of months. This is certainly one of the most expensive failures that the video games industry has ever seen.

Screenshot showing Concord's player count. — *Concord’*s player count on the 3rd of September 2024.
*Image Credit: SteamDB.info*

But the strange thing is that Concord’s failure really won’t have much of an impact on Sony. The company doesn’t have all of its eggs in one basket, and both its hardware and software divisions are making money hand over fist elsewhere. Sony may even be able to write off Concord’s development costs – or a large portion of them, at any rate – as a loss against its tax bill, further reducing the impact of the game’s catastrophic launch.

This is something that’s increasingly happening in the video games industry. The few massive corporations that dominate the gaming landscape are quite happy to spend vast sums of money on creating new games, because they only need to find one successful title out of a whole bunch. Sony can write off Concord without doing much harm to its broader business model. Would the company have preferred it if Concord had been the next big thing, dethroning Overwatch and Grand Theft Auto V to become the best-selling multiplayer game of the decade? Sure! But you can bet that no Sony executive will lose any sleep over its failure. They have many more titles coming along across a range of genres – and they only need one or two to become big hits.

Screenshot of Sony's profits in the first quarter of FY 2022. — Sony’s profits from the first quarter of 2022. The company absolutely will not care or even notice *Concord’*s failure.

If developer Firewalk Studios had been working independently, Concord’s failure would have undoubtedly ruined the company and its leadership team. And while it’s still quite possible – likely, even – that Firewalk will be shut down by Sony as a result of this situation, Sony itself will carry on virtually unscathed. Such is the nature of the business now that gaming has gone down this corporate path.

Concord was created to be Sony’s answer to Overwatch, Apex Legends, and Valorant. The company saw the potential in the hero-shooter genre and thought it could find a way in, hoping to print money on the scale of some of those other games. But nothing about Concord stood out – the game itself looked like a cheap copy of more successful titles. Which is what it was, at the end of the day.

Games need something to get players interested. The first thing many players notice – consciously or subconsciously – is the way a game looks. And everything I’ve seen of Concord from its level design, weapons, and characters just looked derivative and unimpressive. There’s nothing wrong with games taking inspiration from successful titles – remember when first-person shooters were literally known as “Doom clones?” But in the current highly-competitive market, a new title trying to garner attention and support from players who are already immersed in other titles needs something to stand out. And Concord had nothing.

I feel for the developers who poured years of work into Concord. I spent a decade working in the games industry, and I know that developers are passionate people who genuinely care about making the best, most creative titles they can. Concord’s failure will be a crushing blow to the people who worked hard to bring it to life, and we mustn’t forget the human element in this story. The game could also be damaging to people’s careers and future prospects in the industry – particularly if Firewalk Studios is shut down, as seems likely.

Will Sony keep Firewalk Studios around after this flop?

Because Concord’s potential failure was built into Sony’s plans, nothing will happen to the company. The situation is embarrassing for Sony, sure – no one wants to win the gold medal for “worst-selling game of all-time.” But Sony has the money and the market share to walk it off, and when Concord is completely forgotten in a few weeks’ time, there genuinely won’t be any consequences for the company or for the executives who pushed for this game to be created, marketed, and sold in the way that it was. Sony will refocus its efforts on its next live service, always-online multiplayer title… and then the next one after that, if it also ends up like Concord.

We are firmly in an era of “live service spirals,” and the industry’s big corporations can afford to keep sharting out games like Concord every few months, if necessary. They’re all just hoping to either create or buy the “next big thing,” and they’re willing to waste as much money as necessary to ultimately make as much money as possible. This is why Microsoft bought Activision and why Sony shelled out to buy Bungie, just to pick on two recent developments.

Screenshot of Sony's blog post announcing Concord's imminent shutdown. — The “important update” turned out to be the game’s imminent shutdown and de-listing.

Concord was dead on arrival. Asking for £35 in a marketplace where other games are free-to-play while offering nothing interesting-looking or unique would have doomed it regardless of other factors. Releasing alongside the popular and successful Black Myth Wukong and the derided Dustborn didn’t help by comparison, but the fundamental premise of the game was really what killed it. For a game that took five-plus years to make and cost well over $100 million, that’s appalling. These corporations need people, somewhere in the chain of command, who know the industry and its trends and will pull the plug or restart development way before release. Concord should have been shut down or completely changed months if not years ago – and it’s on Sony’s leadership that that didn’t happen.

Sony is capable of doing that: remember when the Knights of the Old Republic remake was almost killed? That was, at least in part, Sony’s doing – the company saw a “vertical slice” of the game and hated it so much that the development studio that had been working on it was removed and production completely re-started. If they could do that to the KotOR remake – a title that should be a guaranteed hit – why was no one stepping in to insist on changes to Concord?

Still frame from the release trailer for Concord (2024) showing playable characters. — The playable characters from *Concord*.

It’s a shame. I never like to see a big game fail in this way, and I really feel sympathy for the development team who undeniably worked their socks off to make Concord. But this failure is a consequence of the way modern games are created – Concord wasn’t an organic idea that a passionate developer had. It was a corporate product, designed from day one to make as much money as possible by piggybacking on successful trends. Sony won’t care that it didn’t work, because the company has other upcoming titles that its executives hope will succeed.

So farewell, Concord. Despite Sony’s ambiguous wording leaving open the possibility of the game returning one day, perhaps in a free-to-play form, I suspect that won’t happen. The embarrassment associated with the name “Concord” has hardened hearts against it, and wasting even more money trying to convert it to a freemium title honestly won’t be worth it. Even if Concord re-launched in a few months’ time as a free title, I don’t see it getting off the ground, so the least bad option is to just quietly kill it off. I hope that Firewalk Studios and its developers will be able to move on to other, more successful projects.

Unfortunately, Concord’s failure was all but inevitable.

Concord is in the process of being de-listed with refunds offered to all players. Concord will be fully shut down on the 6th of September 2024. Concord remains the copyright of Firewalk Studios and Sony Interactive Entertainment. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

Thoughts on Nintendo’s New Console

Sat 31.08.24Sat 31.08.24Dennis

A few weeks ago, Nintendo broke the news that we’ve all been waiting for: they plan to release a new console sometime in the next fiscal year. The company did so in an incredibly barebones, investor-focused Twitter/X post, but that was enough to get the rumour mill going and to send Nintendo fans into a frenzy! It’s gotten to the point where Nintendo had to say that it won’t be talking about its new console ahead of the latest Nintendo Direct broadcast just to avoid fans and spectators getting upset.

Although no details about the console have been announced – and its release window is any time from April 2025 to March 2026 – today I thought it could be interesting to look ahead and speculate about what the console might be… as well as what it might not be! My usual caveat applies: I have no “insider information.” All I’m doing is speculating and perhaps taking a look at a couple of prominent rumours.

This Tweet/X post officially confirmed that a new Nintendo console is in the works.

First of all, let’s talk about the name. Thus far, when communicating in English, Nintendo has referred to its next machine as “the Nintendo Switch successor console.” Some fans have taken to using the names “Switch 2” or “Switch Pro” basically as placeholder titles whenever the console is being discussed – but I’m confident that Nintendo won’t use either of those names! In fact, I doubt very much whether Nintendo will re-use the “Switch” branding at all, and I expect the new console to have a brand-new monicker.

Although the Switch has been a successful console that has sold incredibly well for Nintendo, it’s not the company’s core identity. Sony has PlayStation and Microsoft has Xbox – and those gaming brands have become well-known for those corporations. But Nintendo is Nintendo – and its consoles have always been known by their names or nicknames. Furthermore, the only time Nintendo has tried to capitalise on the well-known branding of a console to help popularise its successor, it failed spectacularly!

The Wii U did not succeed at replicating the Wii’s success.

The Wii U tried to recycle or retain the “Wii” branding, with Nintendo incorrectly assuming that it would be a selling-point. It turned out not to be, in part because the confused naming and branding led many casual players and parents – a core part of Nintendo’s audience over the past couple of decades – not to fully understand what the Wii U was. Even as late as 2014, two full years after the console’s underwhelming launch, I was still encountering players who believed that the Wii U was nothing more than an accessory for the original Wii.

Nintendo will have learned a lesson from that, and that leads me to beleive the new console will have a new name, and that the company will fully break with the “Switch” branding. As Nintendo has done in the past, a new colour is even likely to come along to help visually brand the new machine. The GameCube had indigo, the Wii had white, the Wii U had a kind of aqua-blue, and the Switch has had bright red. I don’t know what the new colour will be – but I think we can safely assume it won’t be Xbox green or PlayStation blue!

Every Nintendo console (of the past twenty years, at least) has had its own distinct colour scheme.

As for the console itself… I’m in two minds at this point. Will Nintendo stick with the handheld-home console hybrid format that has worked so well for them with the Switch? That seems to be the prevailing wisdom; why change something that’s clearly working and that gamers clearly want, after all? But on the other hand, for the past twenty years Nintendo has been focused on innovating and trying out new and different ways to play. We saw that with the Wii’s motion controls, with the Wii U’s gamepad and asymmetrical multiplayer, and with the Switch’s hybrid system. Will the company be content to simply build a more powerful version of the Switch… or will this desire to innovate mean that Nintendo’s new console will look completely different?

We’ve seen in recent years other companies trying to replicate Nintendo’s hybrid success. PlayStation has a handheld accessory for the PlayStation 5, allowing players to take their favourite PS5 games on the go… at least within their own house. And handheld PCs like the Steam Deck and the ROG Ally are taking the handheld gaming console to new heights of performance. These devices and others are all, I would argue, firmly inspired by Nintendo… but they also surpass what the Switch is capable of in different ways. They also offer players who were unimpressed with the Switch a more powerful handheld experience.

Other companies have jumped on the hybrid model that the Nintendo Switch pioneered.

Perhaps the next Nintendo console might look more like the PlayStation 5 and less like the Switch, with a home console for players who want to play on the couch and a handheld accessory for gaming on the go. If the two systems were linked, sharing a single account, players could have both and get the “best of both worlds.” Or maybe it will look like a beefier, more powerful Switch – a handheld console with a dock to connect it to a TV or bigger screen. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Nintendo follow Xbox and PlayStation in releasing two models – one that has a slot for game cartridges and one that’s digital/download only.

Beyond those ideas, though, I really do wonder whether Nintendo’s desire for innovation will lead to a very unpredictable console! Having experimented with motion controls, could the new Nintendo machine have a more refined and accurate motion controller, for example? Or could it ditch the controller altogether, opting for a gesture-based interface like Microsoft tried to achieve with Kinect? Maybe Nintendo will ditch physical buttons and analogue sticks in favour of a touch-screen interface, reaching out to players who are used to gaming on phones and tablets. Any of these things – and many more that I can’t even think of – seem plausible right now!

Nintendo has never been afraid of innovating – like when they released the bazooka-looking Super Scope for the SNES!

Then there’s the question of games. Nintendo is already working with other companies in the games industry to bring third-party titles to the new console. Development kits have been sent out to some of the industry’s biggest names, so we can expect to see some popular titles and upcoming games join the system on release. As for first-party games, though… I’m not sure what to expect.

There has only just been a new Zelda title – Tears of the Kingdom was released in mid-2023. And Mario just got his latest 2D platformer a few months ago, too. Both of those games could be ported to the new console – and I expect they will be if for no other reason than to pad out the launch lineup. But Nintendo will have to do more than that; the company needs a “killer app” to really get players excited on launch day.

Mario has just had another 2D adventure on the Switch.

There are a couple of games that I think Nintendo might be planning on releasing alongside the new console. The first is a new 3D Mario game – Odyssey was almost seven years ago already, so surely the next game in that series has to be in development. As with the name “Switch 2,” don’t expect to see Mario Odyssey 2 – I’m confident that Nintendo will have a new adventure planned for its mascot! But a new 3D Mario title could build on the success of Odyssey in many ways, and take 3D platforming to new heights.

The second game that I increasingly feel Nintendo will be planning to launch either alongside the new console or within its first few months is Animal Crossing. Now, I’ve been critical of Animal Crossing: New Horizons on the Switch… but the game sold incredibly well, and is the best-selling Switch-exclusive game. No, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe doesn’t count: that’s a port! So with Animal Crossing having exploded in popularity, Nintendo would be well-advised to get the next entry in the series ready in time to launch alongside its new console!

A new Animal Crossing game could be on the cards.

I mentioned Mario Kart 8 Deluxe there… and while I truly believe a new Mario Kart game is coming some time soon, I wouldn’t be shocked at all if Mario Kart 8 Deluxe ended up being ported to the new console, too. Perhaps it would be bundled with the Booster Course Pass – as Mario Kart 8 was bundled with its Wii U DLC packs when it was ported to the Switch. But in lieu of Mario Kart 9 and with the Booster Course Pass having only recently finished adding new racetracks and characters, I wouldn’t be shocked to see Nintendo choosing to double- or triple-down on that game as a relatively easy money-maker on its new console.

So that’s where we’re at, at least as I see it. The name “Switch” is almost certainly going away, and I fully expect to see a brand-new console with a new name, new design, new colour scheme, and so on. Nintendo will surely seek to take advantage of more online features, more live-service/recurring revenue ideas, and the like… but I still believe we’ll get a machine that can be used like a regular old home console. I’m not convinced we won’t see some brand-new gimmick, too – perhaps something that’s not on anyone’s radar right now!

If Nintendo plans to launch its new console next spring – say in April or May – then we could see a full announcement as soon as next month. Regardless, as and when that happens I’ll do my best to take a look at it here on the website – so I hope you’ll check in for that! Until then, I hope this has been an interesting look ahead.

The new Nintendo console is currently scheduled for release between April 2025 and March 2026 to coincide with Nintendo’s next fiscal year. All properties, games, and other titles discussed above are the copyright of Nintendo. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

$tarfield

Sun 07.07.24Dennis

As part of Xbox’s Summer Showcase event last month, we got some big news about Bethesda’s failing space game Starfield… and it isn’t good. In fact, I’m beyond disappointed in the latest updates about the game, and I now feel incredibly sceptical about Bethesda’s longer-term future and its upcoming titles in the Elder Scrolls and Fallout franchises. Today, I’d like to talk about what it is that I don’t like – and why it should matter to fans of Starfield, haters of Starfield, and even folks who’ve never played a single Bethesda Game Studios title.

Last year, I had pretty high hopes for Starfield. But as you may already know if you’ve read my first impressions of the game – and my other post-launch articles – I didn’t enjoy what was on offer. The world-building and setting just didn’t grab me in any way, and I progressed through some pretty boring missions and bland environments not really giving a shit about the galaxy that Bethesda had created or the characters who inhabited it. After spending as much time with the game as I reasonably could, I put Starfield down and haven’t returned to it – save for taking a few screenshots here and there to use on the website.

Screenshot of Starfield showing a first-person viewpoint. — Screenshots like this one!

But what we’re going to talk about today doesn’t come from a place of “hate.” I’m not blindly attacking these decisions from Bethesda and Xbox because Starfield left me disappointed and I want to twist the knife even more. On the contrary: it’s precisely because I’ve enjoyed other Bethesda titles and because I had hoped to enjoy new ones in the future that I feel compelled to share my criticisms.

In short, Starfield is being catastrophically over-monetised. Bethesda and Microsoft seem desperate to wring every last penny out of the game, no matter what. Not content with making a lot of money from sales and subscriptions to Game Pass, Xbox and Bethesda are greedily grabbing every penny they can using every dirty trick from the games industry playbook. Having already charged £35 extra to players who wanted to play the game on its real release date, Bethesda and Xbox have now set up an in-game marketplace that wouldn’t look out of place in a crappy free-to-play mobile game, one that charges players for basic items and even fan-made mods.

Screenshot of Starfield's microtransaction marketplace. — What the fuck is this shit?

Shattered Space is going to be one of several larger pieces of DLC, and I’ve always given big expansion packs a lot of leeway when it comes to criticisms like this. But the fact that Shattered Space was planned during development of the base game – and appears to contain a faction that I would argue should have been part of the main game given its prominence and relevance to the plot and to major characters – even that starts to feel shady. The fact that Bethesda and Xbox were selling pre-orders for Shattered Space before Starfield even launched last year is just more proof of that. This is basically cut content: storylines and missions developed alongside the game’s main content that were carved out to be sold separately later on.

Whether you love or loathe Starfield, you have to admit that this is a poor way to run a single-player game. Look around at some of Starfield’s biggest competitors in the single-player action-RPG space. Baldur’s Gate 3 was complete at launch, with no major DLC and only one small content pack being sold separately. Cyberpunk 2077 comes with a single piece of DLC – and it’s a massive, game-changing one. Elden Ring likewise only has the one piece of DLC, too. None of these games paywall their fan-made mods, either.

Comparable games – like Elden Ring – aren’t subject to this ridiculous level of monetisation.

If this is the route Bethesda wants to go down – and it clearly is, as we’ve already seen with Fallout 76′s microtransactions and expensive add-ons – then I don’t think I want them to make The Elder Scrolls VI any more. Or Fallout 5. The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind is one of my favourite games of all-time, and even though it’s been a while since I last played Skyrim or Oblivion, I still felt a sense of excitement knowing that a return to the world of Tamriel was on the cards. But now? Fuck it, I’m out.

Gamers have become desensitised to this kind of over-monetisation, but for a single-player title Starfield’s in-game marketplace is one of the worst and most egregious I’ve ever seen. We’re looking at a single mission that costs $10, item packs containing a scant handful of items for £10 or more, and much more besides. Players also need to buy an in-game currency – at the usual awkward exchange rate – before they can buy any of these microtransactions. More games industry bullshit from Bethesda there.

I get that developers need to be paid for their time and work. But this isn’t the way to do it. If Larian Studios and FromSoftware can release profitable games that don’t need to rely on this kind of shocking in-game marketplace, surely Bethesda can too. And if CD Projekt Red can recover from Cyberpunk 2077′s shockingly poor launch (and even the game’s removal from an entire platform for months) to turn a huge profit from a game that only has a single piece of DLC, why can’t Bethesda? I don’t buy the excuse that Starfield wouldn’t be profitable without this microtransaction storefront – especially given that many of the offerings are fan-made mods that didn’t cost Bethesda a penny to create.

Maybe I’m too old and times have changed, but I’ve always believed that fan-made mods should be free. They’re a passion project, something players do for a bit of fun or to tweak a game they enjoy to be more to their liking. The idea of paying for mods has never sat right with me, and while I love the idea of up-and-coming or budding developers viewing modding as a way into the industry… they shouldn’t be expecting to make modding someone else’s game their full-time job. So paid mods are already a no-no for me, but knowing that Bethesda and Xbox are taking a cut of the proceeds for something they didn’t even make? It’s sickening.

I said months ago that, with Shattered Space just being the first of several pieces of planned DLC, the total cost of Starfield could soar well past the £200 mark – but I didn’t expect that warning to come true so quickly. At time of writing, just to pick up the microtransactions in the “featured” category you’ll need to spend over £50 – on top of buying the base game for £60 and Shattered Space for £35. With more microtransactions being added all the time, it won’t be long before Starfield will be asking for north of £500 or even £1,000 for the complete package. That’s completely unacceptable to me for a single-player title.

It’s not wrong to want good, high-quality, complete games from studios. Other developers are capable of turning a profit by making and releasing games, so there’s no justification for this cash-grab from Bethesda and Xbox. And if this is how the company plans to make and monetise its games, then quite frankly I hope Bethesda Game Studios goes the way of Tango Gameworks and Arkane Austin. Given the abject failure of Starfield already, and the controversy that these microtransactions are bound to cause, maybe Microsoft ought to consider taking The Elder Scrolls VI and the Fallout license away from Bethesda. The corporation has enough other studios under its umbrella at this point that it would be quite feasible to pass these titles to someone else.

Maybe someone else should make The Elder Scrolls VI.

I’ve lost all interest in The Elder Scrolls VI now, anyway. And unless Microsoft were to announce a massive change in that game’s development, I doubt I’ll pick it up. It’s clear to me now how Bethesda sees its games – less as complete experiences than as platforms for monetisation, microtransactions, and expensive in-game purchases. Rather than creating games to be published and sold, Bethesda is going all-in on live services and “recurring revenue,” hoping to monetise its titles for years after release. If the company was making multiplayer games, where this business model has worked, I’d leave them to it. But in the single-player space I find it objectionable… actually no, I find it disgusting.

This time last year, coming out of Bethesda’s big Starfield presentation, I could hardly have been more excited about the game and its prospects. A friend of mine said to me that they genuinely felt Starfield “could be the best game either of us will ever play” – such was the level of hype and excitement that Bethesda and Xbox had successfully built up. But it wasn’t meant to be.

Pre-release concept art for Starfield showing a space station corridor. — Pre-release concept art for *Starfield*.

Instead, Starfield was a game that was mediocre at best; a title comprised entirely of systems and mechanics that other titles have been doing better for years. As I wrote once, Bethesda should have been less focused on turning Starfield into a “ten-year experience” and instead ought to have been spending time catching up on a decade’s worth of improvements in game design and development. The company’s executives were entirely focused on the wrong ten years!

At the end of the day, I could have overlooked bland gameplay, uninspired mission design, and even a lack of decorative and cosmetic options if the world-building and narratives present in Starfield had been up to scratch. But they weren’t – and all of this lacklustre gameplay was taking place in a boring, small-scale world that I couldn’t find a way to get invested in or care about.

Screenshot of Starfield showing a player character at a mission board. — *Starfield’*s world-building was disappointing.

All of this leads to one question: why on earth is Starfield – with its bland, uninteresting, small world and outdated, mediocre, often-buggy gameplay – worth spending more money on? The kinds of things that these microtransactions are adding should be free – and given the crap state that the game remains in almost a year after its underwhelming launch, Bethesda should be continually adding new features, new missions, new cosmetic items and the like. And if there are going to be paid-for expansion packs like Shattered Space, then realistically they need to be as big and as transformative for Starfield as Phantom Liberty was for Cyberpunk 2077.

Without that kind of large-scale change to the game, I don’t see Starfield surviving. Many of the players who picked it up on launch day or in the latter part of 2023 have already drifted away and are finding new gaming experiences to get stuck into. It’s already a tough sell to win back disappointed ex-players, and adding microtransactions – including a single mission for $10 – is categorically not the way to do it. It would be bad enough if Starfield was a popular title with a large playerbase… but it isn’t. And this kind of egregious in-game shop isn’t going to do anything to bring players back.

So I guess I really am done with Starfield. I held out hope for a while that there might be an update or DLC pack that would genuinely transform the game, bringing it closer to the original promises that Bethesda made and making it a title I might actually enjoy playing. But with the company seemingly wedded to this microtransaction and paid mods approach that wouldn’t feel out of place in a free-to-play mobile game… I’m out. This game isn’t worth it, and even if it had been a title with a fun story and great world-building, I think I’d still be so turned off by the over-monetisation that I’d walk away.

On the one hand I get it: I’m a dinosaur in a gaming marketplace that’s changed. Morrowind, with its two expansion packs, was more than twenty years ago, and many developers nowadays go down the route of microtransactions, “gold editions,” paid early access, and so on. But there are still games that don’t, especially in the single-player space, and I don’t think it’s unreasonable to ask for a game that I play alone and offline to be basically feature-complete and not try to grab every penny out of my wallet every time I want to change my character’s outfit or decorate their living space.

I’ll finish this piece with a warning for Xbox and Bethesda: players will remember what you tried to pull with Starfield when the next Fallout game or The Elder Scrolls VI are being readied for launch.

Starfield is out now for PC and Xbox Series S/X consoles. The Shattered Space DLC pack will be released in autumn 2024. Starfield is the copyright of Bethesda Game Studios, Xbox Game Studios, and Microsoft. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

We’re Halfway Through 2024!

Sun 30.06.24Dennis

Spoiler Warning: Beware minor spoilers for some of the titles below.

Although I can scarcely believe I’m writing these words… 2024 is officially halfway over! The summer solstice has passed, the nights are getting longer, and before you know it the leaves will be falling from the trees and we’ll be thinking about getting the Christmas decorations out of storage! Maybe that’s a depressing thought for some of you, but I gotta be honest: I love the autumn and winter seasons!

The last day of June marks the halfway point of the year, and I think that makes it a good opportunity not to look behind, but ahead. In late December I’ll dish out my annual End-of-Year Awards, but today is about looking forward to some of the entertainment experiences we might enjoy between now and Christmas. I’ve picked six films, six video games, and six television shows that I think could be fun to watch or play in the second half of 2024.

Still frame from the BBC's New Year's Eve coverage showing Big Ben and the London Eye. — Have you started making plans for New Year’s Eve yet?

As always, a couple of caveats! This list is just one person’s subjective opinion, so if I highlight a production that looks just awful to you, or if I miss something that you think is super obvious… that’s okay! There are loads of things to get excited about and I can’t cover all of them. Secondly, with strikes, pandemics, and other possible issues, it’s possible that some or all of these titles will miss their intended release dates or even slip back into 2025. Everything listed below is scheduled for 2024 at time of writing, but things can change!

With all of that out of the way, let’s look ahead to some of the entertainment experiences we might be enjoying between now and New Year’s Eve.

Films:

Stock photo of a popcorn bucket. — Shall we go to the movies?

I have to be honest: I haven’t seen any brand-new films so far this year! There are a couple on my radar from the first six months of 2024: Civil War, for instance, and the two-part Rebel Moon, but I just haven’t made time for any of them yet. Hopefully that’ll change… I’d love to get a review or two written in the weeks ahead!

Film #1:
The Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim

Promo image for War of the Rohirrim showing a girl wielding a sword. — Promo image for *War of the Rohirrim*.

2024 is shaping up to be an interesting year for Tolkien fans. The Rings of Power is returning for its second season, but we’re also getting the first of several brand-new projects: War of the Rohirrim. Set a hundred years before the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, War of the Rohirrim will focus on the “Riders of Rohan” and the King of Rohan Helm Hammerhand. Helm and his men will defend their kingdom… and presumably establish the legendary fortress of Helm’s Deep.

One interesting thing about this film is that it’s animated rather than live-action, and its success could pave the way for more animated Middle-earth projects, perhaps. Director Kenji Kamiyama is well-known in Japan for his work on anime titles like Ghost in the Shell and Eden of the East. As someone who doesn’t know the first thing about anime… I’ll be very curious to see what comes of this fusion of Tolkien’s world with a uniquely Japanese filmmaking style.

Film #2:
Megalopolis

Title card for Megalopolis. — Title card for *Megalopolis*.

Francis Ford Coppola’s epic film has been decades in the making, and the legendary director has poured a lot of his time, effort, and talent into creating it – and no small amount of his own money, too. I genuinely don’t know what the result will be; are we going to get a picture comparable to the likes of Coppola’s own Apocalypse Now… or a truly spectacular flop? Some folks seem to have already decided that Megalopolis will be the latter, but until I’ve seen it for myself I don’t want to pass judgement!

The film is set against the backdrop of a New York-inspired city having been destroyed, and the attempts to rebuild it being hampered by a corrupt elite. There could be an interesting message there, perhaps, given events out here in the real world. Either way, I’ll be curious to see what this long-awaited film actually looks like when the dust settles.

Film #3:
Horizon: An American Saga
Parts 1 & 2

Cropped poster for Horizon: An American Saga showing Kevin Costner's character. — Kevin Costner wrote, produced, directed, and stars in *Horizon: An American Saga*.

Some folks will tell you that the western died a long time ago… but I don’t think that’s really true! There have been fewer westerns produced in recent years than there were at the genre’s peak, but new titles are still making their way to the big screen. Kevin Costner’s Horizon: An American Saga is one of them – and the first two of a purported four-part series are slated to be released this year. I love a good western, and some recent titles in the space have done very different things, from gritty realism to flipping traditional narrative archetypes on their head.

Horizon: An American Saga is set before and after the American Civil War, and all we really know at this stage is that it will depict different characters and families as they settle the western portion of the United States. There are some good actors in the ensemble cast, including Kevin Costner himself, Avatar’s Sam Worthington, Will Patton, and Michael Rooker from The Walking Dead.

Film #4:
Moana 2

Promo artwork for Moana 2. — Maui and Moana (and a bioluminescent whale) in a promo image for *Moana 2*.

I felt it was a tad unfortunate that the original Moana was released the same year as Zootopia, as the latter film seemed – for a time, anyway – to have really captured the attention of a younger audience! Over time, however, I think Moana has done very well for Disney, and is arguably one of the corporation’s last animated feature films to have been a major success in its own right. Disney has since pivoted to sequels and live-action remakes… which is why we’re getting not only Moana 2 but a new adaptation of the original film!

Disney’s sequels have always struggled with one problem: what comes after “happily ever after?” For most of the company’s animated films, the answer has been “not much,” with the resultant pictures going straight-to-video or being worked into Disney Channel series! But Frozen II showed that Disney can do high-quality sequels on the big screen… so there’s hope for Moana 2, at least.

Film #5:
Red One

Promo photo for Red One showing Santa's sleigh and reindeer. — Ho ho ho…

Santa Claus gets kidnapped? And his chief of security, The Rock, has to rescue him? That sounds like the setup for a film that could be absolutely awful… or maybe brilliant! Truth be told, I love a good Christmas story, and Red One seems to be putting an action-comedy spin on the whole “Christmas is in danger” concept that’s become a timeless holiday staple.

Red One features a stellar cast, including Chris Evans, J.K. Simmons, and Lucy Liu alongside Dwayne Johnson. A couple of years ago I was hearing talk of the film being the first part of a kind of “expanded universe” of holiday-related films. Not sure if that’s still going ahead, but Red One could be a fun title regardless. Whether it’ll be the kind of classic that we’ll want to return to at Christmas time every year… I’m not sure! But you never know.

Film #6:
Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl

Promo image for Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl showing Feathers McGraw's mug shot. — Guess who’s back?

The most evil penguin in the world – and one of cinema’s great villains – is finally returning this Christmas! Vengeance Most Fowl will see the long-awaited return of Feathers McGraw, and he seems set on getting his revenge on those who wronged him all those years ago! I’m genuinely looking forward to this one – the Wallace and Gromit pictures have all been a ton of fun, and stop-motion with plasticine figures is something genuinely different in an animation landscape overrun by CGI.

As to the plot… I confess that I’m not entirely convinced that returning to a storyline from a previous adventure is the right move. I could certainly have entertained the idea of telling an entirely new story. But I’m definitely going to be checking out Wallace and Gromit’s latest adventure no matter what!

Television:

The first half of 2024 has seen some interesting TV shows. My current favourite has to be Netflix’s 3 Body Problem, which has belatedly been renewed for two further seasons. I have a review you can find by clicking or tapping here if you’re interested! But there’s more to come, and the next six months promise some new and exciting programmes to enjoy.

TV Show #1:
Lego Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy

Promo image from Lego Star Wars: Rebuild The Galaxy showing Jar Jar Binks holding a lightsaber. — Did Disney just confirm the “Darth Jar Jar” theory?!

Here at Trekking with Dennis, we love and support the Lego Star Wars specials on Disney+! There have been three so far: one Christmas-themed, one Halloween-themed, and one set in the summertime. All have been fantastic, light-hearted takes on Star Wars… and given the bitterness and division in the Star Wars fan community, that can be just what we all need to see sometimes!

Rebuild the Galaxy sounds like it will be a time-travelling tale of undoing mistakes and restoring the correct timeline… with a few fun alternative ideas about Star Wars in the mix, too. Darth Jar Jar, anyone? Hopefully it’ll be a ton of fun, with Mark Hamill and Ahmed Best joining in to voice their iconic characters.

TV Show #2:
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
Season 2

Still frame from The Rings of Power Season 2 trailer showing a tower and a desolate landscape. — Sauron’s tower rises…

As I said when I took a look at The Rings of Power’s upcoming second season a few weeks ago, there are reasons to be positive as the series returns after a two-year hiatus. But I also don’t see any kind of reboot or resetting of a series that, in some quarters, has proven to be controversial, which could mean that this incredibly expensive production will continue to struggle to win over both longstanding fans of Middle-earth and a wider audience.

For what it’s worth, I enjoyed what The Rings of Power did. Particularly when the series stepped away from big questions about Sauron’s reign and the shape of the world and told smaller, more character-oriented stories, I felt there were sparks of genius. And I will never not be interested in a high-budget production that expands our understanding of one of the original, foundational fantasy worlds. Maybe The Rings of Power is imperfect, and maybe Season 2 won’t be the soft reboot that it arguably needed… but I’m still looking forward to it!

TV Show #3:
Phineas and Ferb
Season 5

Still frame from Phineas and Ferb showing Candace looking at the boys on a TV screen. — *Phineas and Ferb* will be back on our screens before too long!

This one is tentative, but Phineas and Ferb’s return is supposedly still on the schedule for 2024. We don’t have anything official on that, and we haven’t seen any trailers, but it would be great to see Phineas and Ferb back on our screens this autumn or winter. I felt that the TV film Candace Against the Universe was fantastic, and if the writers have found new and exciting storylines for the kids and Dr Doofenshmirtz, we should be in for a fun time!

Phineas and Ferb has become one of my “comfort shows,” and I often drift back to it on days when I’m struggling with my mental health. From my perspective, I’m really happy at the prospect of getting some new adventures with Phineas, Ferb, Perry the Platypus, and the rest of the gang. The challenge for any revived or renewed series is finding a way to recapture the magic of those earlier seasons… and finding a better justification for a return than “because money.” I’m crossing my fingers… but I’m more than happy to wait until 2025 or even 2026 if it means better episodes and stories.

TV Show #4:
Those About To Die

Promo photo for Those About To Die showing the Roman Emperor. — Anthony Hopkins in *Those About To Die*.

Those About To Die is a series focusing on gladiators in the Roman Empire. It will star Anthony Hopkins as the Roman Emperor… and that’s about all I know at this stage! The trailer left me with echoes of Game of Thrones (and not just because of the presence of actor Iwan Rheon) with themes of politicking, backstabbing, and control of the Empire all seemingly in play.

There hasn’t been a big-budget production set in ancient Rome for quite some time, so I’ll be curious to see what director Roland Emmerich can do with this unique setting. Hopefully we’ll get some action and excitement at the very least!

TV Show #5:
Star Trek: Lower Decks
Season 5

Still frame from Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 2 showing the four main characters at at table. — The four ensigns in Season 2.

I really need to climb out of my Star Trek doldrums and watch Season 4 of Lower Decks before I can get too excited about Season 5! Unfortunately, this is set to be the final outing for Mariner, Boimler, and the rest of the crew of the Cerritos, as Paramount cancelled the series earlier this year. Hopefully we’ll get a fitting send-off for an enjoyable series and cast of characters.

Lower Decks has been an interesting experiment for the Star Trek franchise – one that would probably have worked better were it not drowned out, at times, by too many other Star Trek productions on our screens all at once. But I hope this won’t be the end for the franchise’s flirtation with animation – it’s a format that has worked well. Lower Decks also took Star Trek back to an older, more episodic style of storytelling, which is something I continue to appreciate.

TV Show #6:
Leonardo da Vinci

A page from Leonardo da Vinci's sketchbook. — One of da Vinci’s designs.

I’ve been a big fan of Ken Burns’ work for a long time, and Leonardo da Vinci will be the acclaimed filmmaker’s first documentary about a non-American subject. Da Vinci led a fascinating life, and I have no doubt that we’ll all learn a lot about the legendary scientist and artist through this new two-part miniseries.

Ken Burns has a unique style that makes his documentaries for PBS really stand out, so I’m looking forward to seeing what his take will be on one of the greatest polymaths of the Renaissance era.

Video Games:

Photo of a young child playing a racing video game. — There are some fun games on the horizon.

Don’t tell anyone, but I think I already know what my “game of the year” will be when I hand out some imaginary statuettes in December! Little Kitty, Big City is an adorable and incredibly fun title, but I’ve also had fun in the first half of 2024 playing EA Sports PGA Tour… a golf game. There’s a lot more to come before Christmas rolls around, though!

Video Game #1:
Star Wars: Outlaws

Promo image for Star Wars: Outlaws showing the main character. — Protagonist Kay Vess and her pet… lizard-axolotl-thing.

One of the things I’ve argued that Star Wars needs to do is step away from the Jedi, Sith, and the Force and show us more about how the regular citizens of the galaxy live. Outlaws seems poised to do just that, focusing on the criminal underworld that we’ve caught glimpses of in other productions. This is, however, a Ubisoft open-world title – and Ubisoft’s particular formula for making games like that is arguably played out at this point. Not to mention there are about a dozen different “editions” of the game, all of which offer some kind of exclusive content and cost a lot more money!

I wouldn’t say that I have sky-high expectations for Outlaws, and having come away from last year’s Jedi: Survivor feeling pretty disappointed, this is a game I admit that I have reservations about. If it all comes together, though, I think we could finally get that personal Han Solo-inspired adventure that many Star Wars fans – myself included – have been interested in for a long time. Just please… don’t make protagonist Kay Vess another “secret Jedi in disguise!”

~~Video Game #2:~~
~~Life By You~~

Title card of the cancelled Life By You. — What a disappointment.

I was all ready to tell you about how genuinely excited I was at the prospect of a proper competitor to The Sims… only to belatedly learn that publisher Paradox cancelled Life By You just months before it was scheduled to be released. That’s disappointing – not only for those of us who might’ve wanted to play it, but for the developers who’d been working on it for over five years at this point.

The Sims has had this genre almost all to itself for a long time, and the result has been a game drowning in expensive add-ons and “content packs.” Life By You could, perhaps, have shaken up a stale genre and done things differently. We’ll never know what might have been.

Video Game #3:
Star Trucker

Promo image for Star Trucker. — Ready to get behind the wheel… or control stick?

Euro Truck Simulator meets science fiction! If that sounds like fun to you, maybe you’ll like Star Trucker. As the name suggests, it’s a game about piloting – or should that be driving? – cargo ships in a sci-fi setting. It looks like a ton of fun; the kind of “cozy game” that I can find myself losing hours of my life playing!

Star Trucker hadn’t been on my radar at all until I saw it at Xbox’s Summer Showcase event a few weeks ago, but now I’m definitely curious to give it a go. I’ve played a fair amount of games like Euro Truck Simulator and Train Simulator, and taking that kind of gameplay to a weirder outer space setting seems like it could be a blast.

Video Game #4:
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle

Promo image for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle showing first-person gameplay. — Let’s punch some Nazis!

I have to be honest with you: I’m not sure about this one. Something about the marketing material for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is just rubbing me the wrong way, and the game’s visuals feel decidedly underwhelming, too. Still, as a child of the ’80s I feel a strong connection with the Indiana Jones series… and after recent films have failed to impress, surely Indy is overdue for a hit?

The likes of Tomb Raider and Uncharted have shown that video games can do incredibly well with these kinds of historical mystery-adventures, so it could be great to give the granddaddy of the genre one more chance in the video game realm. Maybe, just maybe, I’m wrong about this one and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle will be the kind of rip-roaring adventure I’m looking for. Fingers crossed, eh?

Video Game #5:
Super Mario Party Jamboree

Promo image for Super Mario Bros Jamboree. — Promo image for *Super Mario Party Jamboree*.

I’ve had a soft spot for the Mario Party series since I played the first entry on the Nintendo 64 way back when! It’s great to see that Nintendo is keeping this fun, family-friendly party series around, and even more so to see that a couple of game boards from those early N64 titles are being recreated this time around. It looks like there will be plenty of fun to be had for Mario and the gang!

As the Nintendo Switch begins to wind down and rumors of a new console have even been confirmed by Nintendo, Super Mario Party Jamboree could end up being one of the last big first-party titles created for the machine. With more than 100 mini-games, seven game boards, and a robust online mode, it seems like it’ll be a great send-off for the Switch.

Video Game #6:
Tales of the Shire

Promo image for Tales of the Shire (2024). — Hobbit-holes!

Tales of the Shire feels like it could be The Hobbit meets Animal Crossing! Pitched as a life sim set in the world of Tolkien’s Middle-earth, it looks like there will be a lot of customisation for both player characters and their Hobbit-holes, and a lot of fun, cozy gameplay to get stuck into.

There’s a lot of Middle-earth content on the way, including several new films that were announced earlier in 2024. There’s definitely space for a title like Tales of the Shire… let’s just hope it fares better than Gollum did last year!

So that’s it!

Two coconut beverages with straws on a pier overlooking the sea. — What are your plans for the summer?

We’ve taken a look at a handful of films, TV series, and video games that I think are worth keeping an eye on as the second half of 2024 gets underway. Though it scarcely seems like any time has passed since we were taking down the last of the Christmas ornaments (and I still have an uneaten Christmas pudding in my cupboard), time’s marching on, and the autumn and winter seasons will be upon us before too long!

I hope I’ve given you an idea or two, at any rate. There are plenty of interesting-sounding titles that didn’t make the list this time around, and as I noted just last year, some of my favourite entertainment experiences came out of nowhere and completely surprised me! So I hope there will be some unexpected titles in the mix in the second half of 2024, too.

As the summer season gets underway, I wish you all the best.

All titles discussed above are the copyright of their respective owner, distributor, studio, broadcaster, publisher, etc. Some images and promotional artwork courtesy of IMDB and IGDB. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

Let’s Play… Golf?

Fri 07.06.24Dennis

In 1997 or 1998, I had a lot of fun playing Actua Golf 2 on my PC. I didn’t have a lot of PC games at the time – my platform of choice in the second half of the ’90s was a Nintendo 64 – but Actua Golf 2 was a game that ran well on a fairly limited computer that was supposed to be used primarily for school work! It’s strange that I would’ve been interested in a game like that, but having played a demo version and with the game not being particularly expensive, I didn’t mind splashing out.

I found Actua Golf 2 to be a fun and surprisingly challenging title. It was more strategic than most sports games and less about hitting fast button combos, and I found that lining up my shots, choosing which club to use, and so on was a blast – certainly way more entertaining than I would’ve expected. There was a thrill to hitting the ball just right after making all of the right choices, and landing it within touching distance of the hole.

Screenshot of Actua Golf 2 (1997). — *Actua Golf 2* was released for PC and PlayStation in 1997.

When the Nintendo Wii came along in 2006, I was on a long waiting list for a console. Even in those days, manufacturers couldn’t keep up with demand! The Wii launched with Wii Sports bundled alongside, and one of the events included was golf. Tennis and bowling were fun too, don’t get me wrong – and maybe one day we’ll have to take a longer look at Wii Sports! But for now, suffice to say that I had a blast playing golf with my little Wiimote, and of the games included in the package, it was by far the most fun to play on my own. Tennis, bowling, and boxing were definitely games that benefited from having a second player!

Wii Sports was obviously a very different kind of experience from Actua Golf 2, with a much more arcadey, casual feel. Using the Wii’s motion controls felt gimmicky at first, I must admit, but even though due to my declining health I could only play while seated, I still had fun with it. Nintendo really nailed the whole “casual game” concept with the Wii, and the nature of golf makes it a great sport to use for a gentler, less intense experience. It still took full advantage of the Wii’s motion control system, but in a completely different way from the tennis or boxing games.

Promo screenshot of Wii Sports (2006). — *Wii Sports* was a ton of fun!

I’ve never been a particularly sporty person in real life. Even as a kid, when I wasn’t bedevilled by health issues and disability, playing sports wasn’t something that held a great deal of appeal. I played rugby at school – but only when forced to in PE lessons – and as a kid, football was regularly played at one of the clubs I attended. But the rest of the time, I’d have my nose in a book or I’d be doing other things. One kid I knew at school had a dad who played golf regularly, but I never went to the course with them. The closest I’ve ever gotten to playing a real round was when I went to the mini-golf course!

All of this is to say that I have a weird history with golf and golf games! It’s not a sport I care about in the slightest, and if you asked me to explain what the difference is between a wedge and an iron, or who the current champions are on the world tour, I wouldn’t have the faintest idea. But as a casual gamer, and as someone who enjoys slower-paced, “cosy” gaming experiences, I find golf games fit the bill. And that’s how I came to spend much of the first half of 2024 playing EA Sports PGA Tour on my PC.

Screenshot of EA Sports PGA Tour (2023) showing a close-up of the player character. — It’s true… I’m a golfer.

I’ve been a subscriber to Microsoft’s PC Game Pass service for a couple of years now, and having that subscription has felt like a pretty good deal most of the time. I got to play games I never would’ve purchased for myself – especially at full-price – thanks to Game Pass, and I’ve even tried out titles that wouldn’t have even been on my radar. Not all of them have been “my thing,” and there have been some disappointments with Game Pass along the way, too. But by and large, I’m someone who’ll speak positively about Game Pass. In my opinion, it’s a great way for players on a budget to get into current-gen gaming.

But I think we’re slightly off-topic!

Microsoft has a deal with Electronic Arts that has brought more than eighty EA games to Game Pass. I don’t think Game Pass gets the most up-to-date versions of all of EA’s sports games – the likes of EA Sports FC and the Madden American football titles don’t seem to join the service on release day. Don’t quote me on that, but I think that’s how it works. Anyway, one of the EA sports games that has recently joined the Game Pass lineup has been the aforementioned EA Sports PGA Tour. And although it had been a while since I last played much simulated golf, I thought I’d give it a whirl.

Microsoft and Electronic Arts have a deal that’s brought a number of EA Sports titles (and other EA games) to Game Pass.

I don’t play a lot of sports games or even really games published by Electronic Arts. And it’s definitely worth taking a detour to talk about just how over-monetised EA’s sports franchises have become. FIFA – or EA Sports FC as it’s now known – has become notorious for its random in-game gambling, and for selling expensive items and in-game “points,” but I confess that I was surprised to see how corrupt PGA Tour is in that regard, too. I’m not an online gamer, but even in PGA Tour’s offline mode, spending in-game currency is required to get all but the most basic golf clubs and outfits for the player character, and there are plenty of “XP boosters” and other single-use items to briefly improve your stats.

An article or essay on the shocking state of microtransactions is long overdue here on the website. But for now, suffice to say that I find these things offensive. A simple piece of clothing like a hat or a pair of shoes, or basic cosmetic equipment like different ball colours or club designs – none of which have any impact on gameplay – are not things that should be locked behind a paywall. In-game currency is “earned” at an impossibly slow rate when playing in single-player mode, and PGA Tour also employs a storefront that only carries a handful of items at a time – presumably to heighten the need for players to pay extra for in-game currency for fear of missing out. These psychological tricks are manipulative and obscene, yet they’ve become so common in modern titles that I doubt any player would even bat an eye at the state of a game like PGA Tour any more.

Screenshot of EA Sports PGA Tour (2023) showing the in-game storefront. — Part of the in-game microtransaction shop.

I enjoy a game with good customisation options, and a title like PGA Tour – where you see your character all the time from a third-person perspective – should be one where changing outfits and trying on different shirts, hats, and golf club designs simply adds to the fun. EA has chosen to monetise this as much as possible, providing a meagre selection of basic cosmetics at the start of the game and effectively locking the rest behind an expensive paywall. I get it: this isn’t The Sims or a role-playing game where outfits and costumes are a huge part of gameplay. But the fact that these basic items are unavailable except to players who are either willing to grind through a bunch of deliberately awkward challenges or pay up… it makes me angry, to be honest. And as we’re going to talk about, that’s not what I come to a golf game for!

When the Star Wars Battlefront II debacle exploded a few years ago, I really thought that the industry might be about to turn the page on microtransactions and randomised lootboxes. The backlash to that game was so intense that even governments started getting involved, and it seemed for a brief moment as if genuine change was a possibility. Slowly, though, the greedy corporations at the top of the industry have kept pushing, and microtransactions in games today are at least as bad – and in some cases, are much worse – than they ever were in Battlefront II. For me, PGA Tour is a disappointing example of this – but I’m sure you can think of a great many others.

Screenshot of EA Sports PGA Tour (2023) showing a golf ball making its way to the hole. — A golf ball in flight.

However, when I step away from the microtransaction marketplace… I gotta admit that I’m having a lot of fun playing EA Sports PGA Tour. There are some things about the game that I don’t like, sure, but by and large it’s recapturing that feeling that I used to get from Actua Golf 2 almost thirty years ago. It’s gentle, more often than not relaxing, but still a game that poses a challenge and that requires some thinking. Button-mashing won’t get you very far – and that’s something I appreciate!

I’ve mentioned this before here on the website, but I suffer from arthritis that affects my hands and fingers. My dominant hand has been made worse this past year after I suffered several broken bones in a fall, and I find that my ability to make frame-perfect button presses or complicated multi-button combos is greatly diminished. I was never the world’s best gamer by any stretch, but my abilities continue to decline thanks to health-related issues. Faster-paced titles like fighting games or first-person shooters are increasingly difficult!

Screenshot of EA Sports PGA Tour (2023) showing a golfer swinging their club. — Swinging the golf club.

One thing I’ve enjoyed about playing PGA Tour is how few buttons I need to press and how I don’t have to continuously grip the control pad. The default control scheme when using a control pad involves pulling back and flicking one of the analogue sticks to swing the club and strike the ball, and I actually really like this method. It feels interactive; like a half-step (or a quarter-step, I guess) between the simple button presses or mouse clicks of older golf games and the full motion controls of the Wii. And most importantly from a selfish point of view: it’s something I can do without pain!

That’s not to say I’m especially good at it; my timing can still absolutely suck! But controlling a golf game this way feels surprisingly intuitive. I know I’m probably a decade late (or more) with this compliment, but I really enjoy what this control scheme has done for what was already a fun experience. After lining up my shot, I like that I can set the controller down and really focus on getting my “swing” just right!

Screenshot of EA Sports PGA Tour (2023) showing a golfer putting. — Putting the ball.

There are a good number of golf courses in PGA Tour, and these range in terms of difficulty. I think there’s perhaps an overabundance of courses in the United States, and this comes at the expense of other parts of the world. There are no courses at all from Asia, Africa, or South/Central America, for instance, and only one each from France, Italy, New Zealand, Canada, and the Dominican Republic. If PGA Tour is still being supported and updated, adding a handful of new courses from different parts of the world would be a nice touch.

There is diversity of environments in the courses on offer, though, with courses built in desert locales, mountains, and on coastlines all being present. And all of them are rendered beautifully.

Screenshot of EA Sports PGA Tour (2023) showing a flyover of St. Andrews. — St. Andrews: the home of golf!

PGA Tour is nothing special when it comes to the way human characters look, and facial expressions in particular can be pretty lacklustre. Nothing about the way people look feels current-gen, and some of the crowds can actually feel quite outdated in terms of both appearance and their simplified, copy-and-pasted animations. Player characters look a bit better, but still unspectacular. Compared with what we know is possible on current-gen hardware, there’s a lot of work to do for the next iteration of this series!

But the courses themselves are something else. They look outstanding, with grass, trees, plants, and even water being beautifully recreated. Running on my PC, with an RTX 3070 Ti graphics card, these courses have all looked absolutely fantastic, and sometimes it’s been fun to just watch the flyover of each hole and take in the setting. I’m never gonna get invited to any of these fancy places, so seeing them digitally recreated is the closest I can hope to get! Thankfully, PGA Tour does a good job.

Screenshot of EA Sports PGA Tour (2023) showing a flyover of TCP Scottsdale. — There are some beautiful courses in *PGA Tour*.

I think the beautiful and realistic courses are another reason why playing PGA Tour has been so relaxing for me over these recent months. Getting lost in a digital setting isn’t always an easy feeling for any game to conjure up, so when a title can bring its environments to life like this… it really is a thing to see. I don’t think we’re at quite the same level of graphical beauty as a title like Kena: Bridge of Spirits or Red Dead Redemption II managed… but it’s not a million miles away.

As with many other sports games, PGA Tour features commentary from real commentators. I confess that I had no idea who any of them were before playing the game, but I daresay folks who regularly watch golf events on television will, and the inclusion of familiar voices in the commentary box will be another fun addition. One thing I’ve enjoyed about the commentary in PGA Tour is how the commentators will share their knowledge of not only each course, but most of the individual holes as well; rather than just commenting on events as they unfold, that little bit of extra information at the beginning is neat.

Screenshot of EA Sports PGA Tour (2023) showing a golfer teeing off. — It can be worth listening to what the commentators have to say at the beginning of each hole.

There are places where the commentary is limited, of course – as you’d expect from any sports game, really! I find that I hear a few lines repeated quite often, and in some situations the game only has a single line from the commentators, so there isn’t always a lot of variety. If, like me, you regularly miss your longer putts and end up having to take an extra shot, well… be prepared to hear the commentators take note of that. Over and over again!

Jokes aside, I’ve been having a fun time with PGA Tour. It reminds me of playing Actua Golf 2 way back when, and it’s been both an entertaining challenge and a surprisingly relaxing experience. I would never have chosen to go out and buy a golf game, but when I was browsing Game Pass it leapt out at me, and I’m glad I gave it a whirl. It’s not gonna be anyone’s “game of the year” or anything like that – not unless you’re a hardened golf fanatic! But I’ve sunk quite a few hours into the game by this point, and in spite of some limitations and a downright aggressive in-game storefront, I’ve had fun.

All titles discussed above are the copyright of their respective studio, developer, and/or publisher. Actua Golf 2 and Wii Sports are currently out of print, but second-hand copies are often available for purchase. EA Sports PGA Tour is out now for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series consoles. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

Answering Ten of the Biggest Geeky Questions!

Sun 26.05.24Sun 26.05.24Dennis

Spoiler Warning: Spoilers may be present for some of the franchises/properties discussed below.

There are a handful of “big questions” that define one’s place in geekdom – and today it’s my turn to answer some of them!

I thought it could be a bit of fun to consider some of the biggest questions that geeks like us have to wrangle with. Which fictional character is stronger? Which gaming platform is the best? These questions are contentious, especially here on the interweb – but I hope you’ll engage with this piece in the spirit of light-hearted fun! That’s how I’m choosing to present my answers, in any case.

As I always like to say, nothing we’re going to talk about today is in any way “objective!” These are my wholly subjective takes on questions that are intended to evoke strong reactions, so I hope you’ll keep that in mind! Although I’ve said that these are ten of the “biggest” geeky questions, I’m sure you can think of others – so this is by no means a definitive list.

A stock photo of a contemplative man surrounded by question marks. — Let’s contemplate some big questions together!

I’ve considered myself a geek – and been considered a geek by others – for basically my whole life. As a kid and a teenager, I moved in nerdy circles and friend groups where the likes of fantasy, sci-fi, horror, and video games were frequent topics of conversation. And in the ’80s and ’90s, those things were far less “mainstream” than they are nowadays! It’s actually been really cool to see the likes of The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and Marvel become some of the biggest entertainment properties on the planet – as well as the explosion in popularity of video games. When I was at school, and even into my young adulthood, admitting to being interested in those kinds of things could lead to mockery and even bullying!

For these questions today, I’ve set myself the rule of providing an actual answer – no cop-out, fence-sitting, “I like both equally” answers here! As I’ve already said, all of this is just one person’s opinion – and at the end of the day, this is supposed to just be for fun. So please try not to take it too seriously; none of this is worth getting into an argument over!

With the introduction out of the way, let’s answer some tough geeky questions!

Question #1:
Who’s the best Doctor?
Doctor Who

A promo image for Doctor Who showing all of the various incarnations of the titular character. — All of the Doctors – so far!

I don’t really remember watching much Doctor Who as a kid. The original incarnation of the long-running BBC sci-fi series was coming to an end when I was younger, and by the time I was getting interested in the genre, it was Star Trek: The Next Generation that really captured my imagination. As a result, I’m going to exclude all of the pre-2005 Doctors from consideration; I simply haven’t seen enough of any of them to really have a favourite.

Of the Doctors that have been part of the revived series, the Twelfth – played by Peter Capaldi – is my favourite… but with a big caveat! Capaldi gave the best individual performance as the Doctor in the role – hands down. No disrespect meant to any of the others… but I don’t think it’s even close. He’s a performer with exactly the right style, look, and gravitas – and in my view, he played the role absolutely perfectly. That’s why I didn’t hesitate when it came to naming him as my favourite!

Still frame from Doctor Who (2005) showing Pearl Mackie and Peter Capaldi. — Peter Capaldi’s Twelfth Doctor is my personal favourite.

But there’s a catch, as I said. Capaldi’s seasons as the Doctor – Seasons 8 through 10 of the post-2005 series – were almost universally terrible. There was one decent companion (Bill, played by Pearl Mackie) but her character was treated almost as an afterthought and she met a stupid and unsatisfying end. There were hardly any decent villains or antagonists, no truly standout episodes, and really very few memorable moments at all. In fact, Capaldi’s tenure as the Doctor marked a significant decline in Doctor Who’s quality… and the series doesn’t seem to have recovered.

In terms of the best seasons of the revived Doctor Who, I’d have to give the award – somewhat begrudgingly – to Seasons 2 through 4, which starred David Tennant in the title role. The quality of the stories produced at that time was so much higher, with some truly outstanding adventures in the mix. If only there was some way to go back in time and combine Capaldi’s performance with Tennant’s storylines. Where’s a Tardis when you need one, eh?

Question #2:
Who would win in a fight: Batman or Superman?
DC Comics

Cropped poster for Batman vs Superman (2016) featuring the title characters. — Wasn’t there a mediocre film dedicated to answering this question?

Uh, this one should be obvious. It’s Superman, right? It has to be – if you gave any other answer then I don’t think you’ve been paying attention! Who would win in a fight between an overpowered demigod and a billionaire with some expensive gadgets? Yeah… the demigod is gonna win this one. He could launch Batman into the sun, punch him so hard that every bone in his body would shatter, use his heat-vision on him from half a mile away… the list of ways in which Superman could not just defeat but murder and utterly annihilate Batman is nearly endless!

Superman is, I would argue, increasingly difficult to depict in film because of how blatantly overpowered he is. If you read my review of Zack Snyder’s Justice League a couple of years ago, you might remember me saying that the film flopped around, desperately trying to find a way to include the rest of its cast of superheroes… but to no avail. There was no getting away from the simple fact that Superman could do it all single-handedly without even breaking a sweat.

Cropped cover of Action Comics #19 showing Superman. — Superman on the cover of *Action Comics #19* in 1939.

At the time the character of Superman was first created, all the way back in 1938, it wasn’t a problem. In fact, creating an “all-round, all-American hero” for comic books aimed at children was exactly the point. Superman is textbook escapism – he’s the perfect hero archetype that can do it all. In context, Superman works, and when all you want is a “good guy” to save the day and stop the evil villains, he’s perfect for the part.

But any story that puts Superman in genuine danger has to come up with a reason why. The man’s basically invincible, save for the mysterious crystal known as kryptonite, and I think at least some of Superman’s big-screen and small-screen adventures suffer as a result of that. But to get back on topic: Superman would win in a fight, and he’d win incredibly quickly and incredibly easily!

Question #3:
Console or PC?

A Super Nintendo console on a red background. — A Super Nintendo – or SNES.

In the early ’90s, the first home console I ever owned was a Super Nintendo. From then on, all the way through to the middle of the last decade, console was my preference. I liked the pick-up-and-play nature of consoles, with no need to check system requirements or fiddle with settings to just get a game running. The underpowered PCs that I had in the ’90s weren’t much good for gaming, so I think that’s part of it, too. But you have to also remember that, for a long time, consoles were just better in terms of performance – and especially in terms of value – than PC.

But nowadays I’m firmly on Team PC! I built my own PC for the first time a couple of years ago, and prior to that I had a moderately-priced “gaming” PC. Since about the middle of the 2010s, PC has been my platform of choice for practically everything. I will consider picking up Nintendo’s next machine when it’s ready, but my Nintendo Switch has been gathering dust since I stopped playing Animal Crossing and Mario Kart 8… so I’m not sure how great of an investment that’ll really be!

Stock photo of a gaming PC. — A very pretty gaming PC setup.

PC offers the best of both worlds. Wanna play an in-depth strategy game or city-builder with loads of options and menus that really need a mouse and keyboard to navigate? PC can do that. Wanna plug in a modern control pad to play a third-person adventure title? PC can do that too. Wanna install a virtual machine and play games from the Windows 95 era? PC can do that! Wanna emulate every console from the Atari 2600 to the Dreamcast and play games that are out-of-print everywhere? PC can do that too!

With Game Pass bringing a lot of new titles to PC on launch day, and with Sony even porting over some of its previously-exclusive titles too, PC really feels like the place to be. It’s a lot more expensive to get started with – and that’s still a massive point in favour of consoles for players on a budget. But once that initial expense is out of the way, the abundance of sales on platforms like Steam means that a lot of titles – even newer ones – can be picked up at a discount. I’m really happy with my PC as my main gaming platform, and I doubt I’ll be picking up an Xbox or PlayStation this generation.

Question #4:
What would be the best fictional world to live in?

There are plenty of fictional worlds to choose from!

There are loads of absolutely awful answers that people give to this question! Who’d want to live in Star Wars’ fascist-corporate dystopia, for example, which seems absolutely terrible for anyone not blessed with space magic? Or any fantasy setting with a medieval level of technology? Sure, you might have a magic elf as your buddy… but if there’s no central heating, antibiotics, or flushing toilets… you’re gonna have a bad time!

My pick is simple: Star Trek’s 24th Century. There are things to worry about, sure: the Borg, the Cardassians, and the Klingons to name but a few threats! But there are so many wonderful inventions and technologies that would make life so much better. For me, as someone with disabilities, the idea of some or all of my health issues being cured is perhaps the biggest – but there are plenty of others, too.

Star Trek does not depict, as some have tried to claim, a “communist utopia.” As we see on multiple occasions throughout the franchise, private property still exists, and people have a great deal of freedom and autonomy. Star Trek’s future could be more accurately described as a post-scarcity society – one in which technological improvements have brought unlimited power generation, food, and other resources to the people.

There are some dark spots in Star Trek’s future – but these tend to be places outside of or separate from the Federation. Assuming I could live somewhere in the Federation, and have access to replicators, warp drive, weather-controlling satellites, and Starfleet for defence… I think it would be bliss! And so much better than anywhere else I can think of.

Question #5:
Martin or Tolkien?

I don’t need to think too long about this one! JRR Tolkien is, for me, one of the greatest authors of all-time. George RR Martin, in contrast, can’t even finish his own story, and seems far too easily distracted by other projects – including writing TV episodes and working on video games. And c’mon… he literally copied the “RR” part of Tolkien’s name for his own pen name!

Jokes aside, I think both writers are pretty great. Tolkien could be, in places, a little too black-and-white with his protagonists and antagonists, with the goodies being pure and virtuous and the villains being corrupt and evil. Martin’s work deliberately upends many of those notions, and he places imperfect and even selfish characters at the heart of his stories. Some of George RR Martin’s characters feel more nuanced – and dare I say more human – than Tolkien’s.

The Fellowship of the Ring at Rivendell from the 2001 film adaptation.

But Tolkien was a pioneer, writing the first modern fantasy epic. Martin, and countless other writers, are simply following in his footsteps. While Martin’s work is hardly derivative, some of the choices he makes in his writing are a reaction to the way Tolkien’s worlds and characters were set up. It’s impossible to critique A Song of Ice and Fire without making multiple references to Tolkien – whereas Tolkien’s work has always stood on its own two feet.

I would love it if George RR Martin would finish his magnum opus, but as time passes I feel less and less sure that he’s even interested in doing so. Now that Game of Thrones has finished its run on television, and Martin has seen the overwhelmingly negative reaction to its ending – which will have contained at least some elements that he planned to include in the remaining books – I just don’t get the impression that his heart is in it in the same way it was a few years ago. Tolkien’s work, in contrast, is complete and has been for decades – and people are still interested in new adaptations.

Question #6:
Who’s the best Star Trek captain?

Promo banner for Star Trek Day showing multiple characters. — Multiple captains on a promo banner for “Star Trek Day.”

I’ve always struggled with this question. But I’ve gone on record several times here on the website as saying that if you put a gun to my head and forced me to choose – as this question is metaphorically doing – I’d pick Deep Space Nine’s Captain Benjamin Sisko. So that’s gonna be my answer!

There’s a lot to be said for Captain Kirk – Star Trek’s first captain. He paved the way for all of the others, and without him, Star Trek would not be the same today – if it even existed at all. And Captain Picard was my personal first captain; it was through The Next Generation that I became a Trekkie in the early ’90s. Without him and the crew he led, there’s a chance I would never have fallen in love with Star Trek in the way that I did. And all of the other captains from Janeway and Burnham to Archer and Pike all have wonderful qualities that make Star Trek into the franchise it is today.

Still frame from the documentary What We Left Behind showing Avery Brooks as Captain Sisko in a remastered clip. — Captain Benjamin Sisko.

But Captain Sisko has always stuck out to me. In the first few seasons of Deep Space Nine he only held the rank of Commander, so we got to see his rise to the rank of captain as the story of that show unfolded. He was also a man with a deeply traumatic past, having to come to terms with the death of his wife while raising his son alone. He was a fantastic leader – not just of a crew, but of a community. Sisko could reach out across the cultural divide to Ferengi, Klingons, changelings, Bajorans, and more. He turned DS9 from a military outpost into a friendly place to visit and a bustling port.

Although words like “scientist” and “explorer” might not be the first ones that spring to mind when we think of Captain Sisko, he had those traditional Starfleet qualities, too. We’d see him as a pioneer of exploring the Gamma Quadrant and the wormhole, as well as interacting with the non-corporeal Prophets – the very definition of seeking out new life! Sisko could also be a soldier and a diplomat when he needed to be – and to me, he embodies the very best of Starfleet in the 24th Century.

Question #7:
Marvel or DC?

I don’t read comic books – and I never did, even as a kid. So my limited knowledge of both of these brands comes from their cinematic outings, not the original source material! I wanted to get that caveat out of the way before we got into the weeds with this one.

If you were to ask 100 people on the street to name a superhero, I think Superman and Batman would probably be the two names you’d hear most often. So DC, at least in my opinion, has produced the two most memorable and noteworthy superheroes. But Marvel, at least on the big screen, has a bigger and stronger ensemble – as we saw when Avengers Endgame briefly became the highest-grossing film of all time.

Still frame from Batman & Robin (1997). — *Batman & Robin* (1997).

Although I want to say that I’ve gotten roughly equal enjoyment from DC and Marvel over the years, I promised you no fence-sitting and no cop-outs! Based on the strength of characters like Batman, who have starred in some really great films over the years, I think I have to give the win to DC. Marvel’s output is becoming increasingly convoluted, and just keeping up with the franchise to know who’s who and what happened last time can feel like a full-time job! At least DC still produces some standalone or semi-standalone films and TV shows that I can dip in and out of.

Aside from Batman and Superman, though, DC hasn’t really been able to successfully capitalise on its other superheroes – let alone turn them into household names. Wonder Woman, Aquaman, the Flash, and Green Arrow have all had limited success in a single film or TV series, but others have struggled. Batman may drag DC over the finish line this time… but there’s still room for improvement!

Question #8:
Star Wars or Star Trek?

Still frame from Star Wars (1977) showing the Death Star. — The Death Star at Yavin IV in *Star Wars*.

If you’ve read the name of this website, I’m sure you can guess which way this one’s going to go! Thankfully the whole “Star Wars versus Star Trek” rivalry that was a big deal a few years ago has more or less died out, and fans no longer feel quite so tribal about which is the best. There’s been a lot more crossover in recent years, with Trekkies and Star Wars fans happy to enjoy both franchises.

I consider myself a Trekkie first and foremost – so I’ll answer this question by saying that I prefer Star Trek over Star Wars. But that doesn’t mean I hate or dislike Star Wars by any stretch. In fact, some of my favourite entertainment experiences of all-time have come courtesy of the Star Wars franchise: games like Knights of the Old Republic and films like Rogue One are genuinely fantastic.

Promo photo of the main cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 2 (1988). — The cast of *Star Trek: The Next Generation* Season 2.

What I like about Star Trek is that many of its stories aren’t about fighting a villain or defeating an adversary – but about exploration, science, engineering, and just what it might be like to live in space in the future. Star Wars, by its very nature, is more violent, with more of a focus on conflict. That’s fine when I’m in more of an action mood – but there are times when a story about seeking out new life or learning to communicate is what I’m looking for.

It’s also worth pointing out that there’s a heck of a lot more Star Trek than Star Wars! At the time I first encountered the franchises, it wouldn’t be totally unfair to say that there were two good Star Wars films and one okay-ish one – at least in the opinion of a lot of folks! Star Trek already had more than 100 episodes of TV and five films under its belt, so there was plenty to get stuck into as a viewer in the early ’90s! Quantity over quality is never a good argument, of course… but if I’m enjoying something I’m always going to be happy to get more of it! Star Wars is slowly catching up to Star Trek now that Disney has commissioned several made-for-streaming series, but there’s still a long way to go to reach Star Trek’s 900+ episodes!

Question #9:
Sci-Fi or Fantasy?

*The NeverEnding Story* (1984) was one of my favourite films as a kid.

This may come as a surprise, but fantasy was my first love long before I got interested in sci-fi, space, and the “final frontier!” Among my earliest memories is reading The Hobbit – a book that was originally intended for children, lest we forget. I can even remember pointing out to my parents that there was a typo on one page; the word “wolves” had been misprinted as “wolevs.” Aside from Tolkien’s legendary novel, I read other children’s stories including Enid Blyton’s The Faraway Tree, and watched films like The Neverending Story.

But it’s not unfair to say that sci-fi became a much bigger deal for me by the time I was reaching adolescence. Inspired by Star Trek: The Next Generation I immersed myself in science fiction, reading as many books about space and the future as I could get my hands on, and watching films like Alien and the Star Wars trilogy. TV shows like Quantum Leap, Space Precinct, and Buck Rogers in the 25th Century graced my screens in the ’90s, as did more kid-friendly offerings like Captain Scarlet.

*Star Trek: The Next Generation* turned me into a sci-fi fan!

So while I can happily say that I enjoy both genres for what they offer, sci-fi has been my preference going back more than thirty years at this point! Star Trek opened my eyes to science fiction and remains one of my biggest fandoms to this day! But there are many other sci-fi films, shows, books, and video games that I’ve enjoyed – everything from Mass Effect and Foundation to Battlestar Galactica and Halo. Sci-fi is great escapism, and I love the feeling of being whisked away to another world or another moment in time.

Though I haven’t forgotten my roots as a fan of fantasy, and still enjoy many fantasy titles across all forms of media, if I had to choose I’d definitely say that I’m a fan of sci-fi first and foremost. Sci-fi feels broader and more varied in some respects – there are radically different presentations of humanity’s future, the kinds of aliens we might engage with, and so on. Modern fantasy tends to stick to a medieval level of technology and use the same kinds of magical spells and the same handful of races – Elves, Dwarves, Orcs, and so on – in different combinations depending on the story.

Question #10:
What’s your favourite anime/cartoon series?

Still frame from Shenmue: The Animation showing Ryo and Fangmei. — There’s an anime adaptation of *Shenmue*.

I have to confess something at this point: I’ve never seen any anime. I don’t know why exactly – I’ve never really been in friendship groups where anime was a topic of conversation, and when I was a kid, there wasn’t any anime on TV or in the cinema that I can recall. I’ve yet to encounter an anime series that felt like a must-watch – with the only exception being the adaptation of Shenmue that I really ought to get around to watching one of these days! But until I do… no anime for me.

I had to think about this question for a while, though. There are some great adult animation programmes: Lower Decks, Futurama, Rick and Morty, South Park, and The Simpsons all come to mind. The Simpsons in particular was a pioneer of adult animation, and a series I remember with fondness from its ’90s heyday here in the UK! The fact that my parents – and many others of their generation – absolutely loathed The Simpsons was a huge mark in its favour for a renegade adolescent!

Still frame from the Phineas and Ferb Season 3 episode What A Croc showing the kids on jet skis. — *Phineas and Ferb*.

But on this occasion, I’m giving the award to Phineas and Ferb. Regular readers might remember me talking about this series as one of my “comfort shows;” a programme I often return to when I need a pick-me-up. I recall watching a promo for the series circa 2007-08, and although kids’ cartoons on the Disney Channel should’ve held no appeal… something about Phineas and Ferb called out to me. I tuned in and I was hooked from almost the first moment.

Phineas and Ferb’s two-and-a-half story structure – with the kids making an invention, their sister trying to bust them for it, and special agent Perry the Platypus on a mission to fight evil – felt incredibly fun and innovative, and more often than not the storylines would intersect in creative and unexpected ways. There are also some fantastic moments of characterisation in Phineas and Ferb, particularly with the breakout character of Dr Doofenshmirtz. I was thrilled to learn that the series will be returning for two new seasons and a whopping forty new episodes, and I really hope it will be as good as it was the first time around.

So that’s it!

The famous "that's all folks" card shown at the end of Looney Tunes cartoons. — That’s all for now!

I hope this has been a bit of fun – and maybe bolstered my geeky credentials just a little. As I said at the beginning, I don’t think any of these subjects are worth fighting about or losing friends over, but I’ve had fun sharing my thoughts and nailing my colours to a few different masts!

The great thing about sci-fi, fantasy, gaming, and the wide world of geekdom is just how much of it there is nowadays. There are so many high-budget productions on the big screen, the small screen, and in the gaming realm that we’re really spoilt for choice. As much fun as it is to play favourites and pick one series or franchise over another… more than anything else I’m just glad to be living through a moment where geekdom is having its turn in the spotlight! That may not last forever – a return to action movies, westerns, or whatever else might be on the cards one day. So we should all make the most of it and enjoy it while it lasts!

It’s been interesting to consider some of these questions, and I hope reading my answers has been entertaining for you, too!

All properties discussed above are the copyright of their respective owner, company, distributor, broadcaster, publisher, etc. Some stock photos courtesy of Unsplash. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

What’s Going On At Xbox?

Sat 18.05.24Dennis

Uh, Xbox? You okay there?

I’m genuinely flummoxed by recent decision-making over at Xbox. I’ve said before that, while I’m a Game Pass subscriber on PC, I don’t own either of the current-gen home consoles – so I’m not coming at this from some kind of console war/fanboy perspective. But it’s pretty concerning to see Xbox flopping around like a dying fish, seemingly unable to turn its massive and ever-expanding gaming empire into anything remotely profitable.

If you haven’t heard the news, Xbox recently announced the closures of four subsidiary studios. One of those is the beleaguered Arkane Austin, developers of Redfall – which was one of the biggest flops of 2023. I’m never in favour of a studio being shut down after one failed project – especially when that studio has a previous track record of success. But I could at least understand why something like that might happen; we’ve seen it often enough with publishers like Electronic Arts, for example. Blame for a failed title gets pushed onto the developer – often unfairly, as studios are increasingly pushed to work on titles outside of their areas of expertise by publishers – and then they end up being closed down. It sucks, but it’s happened before.

Arkane Austin, the developer of the ill-fated *Redfall*, has been shut down.

But what I honestly cannot understand is Microsoft’s decision to close Tango Gameworks – developers of Ghostwire Tokyo and Hi-Fi Rush, both of which have been successful titles for Xbox and Game Pass, with the latter even being launched on PlayStation to great fanfare. Closing down a studio after a high-profile failure is one thing, but after releasing critically-acclaimed titles that achieved more than anyone could have expected? It makes absolutely no sense – and seems to be indicative of a company in disarray.

Microsoft and Xbox may have bitten off more than they could chew with the recent Activision-Blizzard acquisition. Although that side of the company is one of the only profitable spots for Xbox at the moment, the massive outlay to purchase the company in the first place has clearly burned a hole in the once-infinite pockets of Microsoft, and that appears to have led to some very short-term thinking on the part of some executives. They’re scrambling, looking for any and all money-saving options.

Twitter screenshot showing a post by Aaron Greenberg. — VP of Xbox Marketing Aaron Greenberg hailed the success of *Hi-Fi Rush*… shortly before the developer that made it was shut down.

Xbox has been running way behind PlayStation since the end of the Xbox 360 era, and that shows no signs of changing any time soon. PlayStation 5 consoles are outselling Xbox Series S and X consoles by a huge margin, and Microsoft has been struggling with that for a while. But Xbox’s ace in the hole should be Game Pass – as I’ve said more than once, subscriptions seem to be the direction of travel not only in the gaming marketplace, but in media in general, and Xbox has been first out of the gate with the biggest gaming subscription around. There have even been calls in some quarters for Xbox Game Pass to launch on PlayStation, such is the demand for the service.

But Game Pass is, as we’ve also discussed, somewhat of a double-edged sword. More people signing up naturally means fewer direct sales of games – because any player who’s joined Game Pass is incredibly unlikely to shell out extra money for a copy of a game they can already play. When some critics of Game Pass tried to spin this as a major “problem,” I pushed back on that, saying it was a silly argument. Microsoft and Xbox know what they’re doing, I argued, and a short-term hit to individual sales will have simply been an expected part of the equation as Game Pass establishes itself. But apparently I’ve over-estimated the intelligence of some of Microsoft’s executives…

A promo graphic for Xbox Game Pass. — Does Microsoft not know how to handle Game Pass?

Senior folks at Xbox have been seen in public expressing concern over “flat” sales, and the company doesn’t seem to know how to handle its own Game Pass subscription service – you know, the platform it set up with the explicit intention of changing the way in which Xbox and PC players pay for and engage with games. How on earth that managed to happen is just beyond me, and some of this ridiculous short-term thinking on the part of senior management at Xbox seems to run completely counter to the company’s stated longer-term goals.

Maybe Game Pass isn’t doing as well as Microsoft hoped. It seems, from publicly available data, that the service hasn’t seen a huge influx of new subscribers over the past twelve months, even with the release of major titles like Starfield. But as any film/TV streamer could tell them, building up a user base takes time, and there are bound to be bumps in the road along the way. Hitting the panic button after a few rough months and closing down studios that should be making exactly the kinds of games that Xbox claims to want to prioritise is so stupidly short-sighted that it’s almost incomprehensible.

Screenshot of Starfield (2023) showing three citizens in New Atlantis. — *Starfield* doesn’t appear to have led to a massive influx of new Game Pass subscribers.

Not for the first time, I feel echoes of Sega’s rather unceremonious exit from the console war some twenty-plus years ago. Perhaps that’s the next step for Microsoft, with its gaggle of newly-acquired studios. Rather than becoming a gaming powerhouse like Nintendo or Sony, producing a glut of high-quality exclusive content, Microsoft is instead going to end up as another Electronic Arts – a publisher owning a number of different studios, ready to close all of them at the drop of a hat if there’s so much as a whiff of underwhelming sales numbers.

That would not be good for gaming. Whatever you may think of Xbox consoles or Game Pass, the games industry needs competition in order to innovate, grow, and provide some semblance of consumer-friendliness. With Nintendo not directly competing with PlayStation for the same audience – being off to one side carving out its own niche – it’s up to Xbox to be the competitor that the gaming landscape needs. If Xbox is indeed failing, in danger of crashing out of the market… that’s not going to be good for anyone in the longer-term.

Packaging for an Xbox Series X console. — An Xbox Series X box.

I don’t believe for a second that this will be the end of the line for Game Pass, nor for subscriptions in gaming in general. Those things are here to stay – even if Microsoft and Xbox can’t figure out how to make them work properly right now. The direction of travel in media is still toward subscriptions and away from box sets and physical discs, and I don’t see that changing in the short-to-medium term. Game Pass, while it may be struggling to attract new users right now, is still an exceptionally good deal and a great way into current-gen gaming for players on a budget… but it’s on Microsoft and Xbox to find a better way to take advantage of that. Top tip: shutting down studios that could produce brand-new titles to add to the service that would attract new subscribers is categorically not the way to do it!

On a personal level, it’s hard not to feel for the folks at Arkane Austin, Tango Gameworks, and the other studios that Microsoft has killed off this month. And for the dozens of other studios that other big publishers have shut down. The games industry in general feels quite unstable right now, with high-profile flops, studio closures, and large numbers of people being laid off left, right, and centre. Corporate greed accounts for a huge chunk of that, by the way, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Many of these decisions are being taken to boost already record-breaking profits and to provide even more money for shareholders and investors.

There was no need to shut down Tango Gameworks.

All of this self-inflicted bad news for Xbox comes just a few weeks before the company’s big Summer Showcase event, at which several new titles are supposed to be revealed. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Avowed, Flight Simulator 2024, and Starfield’s Shattered Space DLC are all likely to be shown off in detail at the event, and there’s even going to be a special Call of Duty-themed presentation following Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision. But it’s hard not to see that event being totally overshadowed by recent closures and lay-offs, and the general sense that Xbox as a brand is struggling to find a direction and an identity right now.

For players who might tune into the Showcase, or who might be subscribed to gaming news publications that will cover the event… what are they to make of Xbox, when the company seems to be all over the map with its exclusives, lack of exclusives, new studios, and studios that have just been shut down? With some of Xbox’s precious few exclusive titles already making their way to competing platforms, and studios that developed popular and successful titles being unceremoniously killed off, how can any player have faith in Xbox and the upcoming titles it wants to highlight?

Promo graphic for Xbox's 2024 Summer Showcase. — The Xbox Games Showcase is just a few weeks away.

Suppose Shattered Space doesn’t cut it for Starfield, and player numbers remain low. Will Xbox insist that future development on Bethesda’s attempted space epic is halted? What if Avowed does incredibly well and wins some big awards… but executives decide to shut down Obsidian Entertainment anyway? If I’m looking on as a potential player… why shouldn’t I just wait six months until some or all of these games come to PlayStation or to Nintendo’s next console? What’s the point in buying an Xbox any more?

All of these are questions that Microsoft has opened up by some truly bizarre and desperately short-term moves over the past few weeks and months. If you’d asked me even a year ago what Xbox’s strategy was, I’d have said clearly that there’s a focus on building up Game Pass as a subscription service with a guaranteed income, backed up by some expensive studio and publisher acquisitions to make new titles to add to the platform. But now? What is Xbox trying to do? Where’s the longer-term planning, and where does Microsoft see the Xbox brand in ten years’ time, five years’ time… or even just this time next year? I genuinely don’t know any more.

Promo graphic of an Xbox Series X control pad. — Where will Xbox be five years from now?

It’s a strange time to be following the games industry – and I suppose that’s been true for a while now, really. Despite the predictions of some doomsters, I doubt very much that we’re heading for a 1983-style “market crash.” Gaming has grown so much since those days, and I just can’t imagine a collapse of that nature happening… at least not in the immediate term. But bigger changes may be afoot, and if Xbox is losing money and unable to keep up with PlayStation, well… sooner or later, something’s gotta change.

As I said a few months ago when talking about Xbox and its exclusivity problem, I don’t believe that the company ceasing to produce consoles would be a good move for the market overall. But, as Sega found just after the turn of the millennium, focusing on software instead of fighting a losing battle on the hardware front might be what’s needed to save the brand.

Strange times indeed.

All titles discussed above are the copyright of their respective developer, studio, and/or publisher. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

Little Kitty, Big City: Video Game Review

Fri 10.05.24Fri 10.05.24Dennis

Little Kitty, Big City caught me off-guard. I’d added the game to my wishlist a long time ago, and I knew it was on the cards for 2024 – I even included it on my annual “look ahead” list just after New Year. But I’d missed developer/publisher Double Dagger Studio announcing an actual release date – so you can imagine my pleasant surprise to receive an email saying that the game had been released and was available to pick up!

A couple of years ago, another indie title called Stray took the “playing as a cat” idea in somewhat of a serious direction. That game was one of my favourites of 2022, and as a big cat person, I was champing at the bit for another cat game! Little Kitty, Big City isn’t going to be very complex or taxing – even on my ageing, arthritic fingers and thumbs. It’s a sweet, gentle game with lots of heart, plenty of sunshine and bright colours, and a charming art style that harkens back to the “glory days” of ’90s and early ’00s 3D platformers.

Little Kitty, Big City is an indie title developed and published by Double Dagger Studio.

I’ll make a bold prediction right now, with less than half of 2024 in the bag and some big, exciting releases still on the calendar: Little Kitty, Big City is absolutely going to be in contention for my “game of the year” award. At the very least it’s likely to go down as the best 3D platformer I’ll play this year, but its incredibly cute main character, heartstring-tugging premise, and gameplay that’s just good fun should absolutely put it in contention for the top prize.

Check back in late December to see if the little kitty manages to snatch the award – or rather, knock it off the shelf!

I felt echoes of the likes of Banjo Kazooie in Little Kitty, Big City. Gameplay-wise, the combination of 3D platforming with hidden collectables definitely reminds me of that style of game – but also the way in-game dialogue is presented through text boxes with animal noises also felt reminiscent of games of that era. For a game clearly pitched at a younger audience, it’s refreshing to see some decidedly old-school trappings!

Screenshot of Little Kitty, Big City (2024) showing a dialogue box. — Chatting with a crow.

I adore cats. My oldest is just shy of her tenth birthday, and most cats I’ve rescued over the years are black cats. There are some silly superstitions about black cats and bad luck that often sees them abandoned or never being adopted, with some even having to be put down as a result. As a black cat lover, then, it’s so incredibly sweet to see the protagonist of Little Kitty, Big City as a black cat – at least by default. I’m sure mods will be created for the PC version (if they haven’t been already) to transform the kitty with all manner of fur coats and patterns! Watch this space.

This game feels perfect for cat fanatics like me, and I’m sure that there will be plenty of cat owners and cat-obsessed kids who will fall in love with it as a result. With the exception of Nintendogs + Cats and the aforementioned Stray, there really aren’t many experiences like this; animal protagonists in general are a relative rarity. The concept could, in a worse game, come across as gimmicky… but in a title built from the ground up with its furry protagonist in mind, it doesn’t feel that way at all. In fact, the game’s levels are perfectly-designed for feline exploration, with collectables tucked away out of human reach!

Screenshot of Little Kitty, Big City (2024) showing the inventory screen. — There are some cute hats to try on!

With Little Kitty, Big City being set in Japan, the titular city has a lot of Japanese theming. It doesn’t feel “generic” by any stretch, and if you’ve played games as diverse as Ghostwire Tokyo or Shenmue – or, of course, if you’re lucky enough to have been to Japan – there’ll be a lot of things that feel familiar. When I first booted up the game and got started with exploring the city, it was the depiction of Japanese homes in Shenmue that first leapt to my mind. I’ve never been to Japan, but having that frame of reference gave some familiarity to Little Kitty, Big City and its streets.

In terms of gameplay mechanics, I love the addition of what we might call “cat-specific” moves to the standard 3D platformer lineup! Being able to swipe at objects to knock them off shelves or walls is incredibly cute, picking up objects and carrying them by mouth is also ridiculously adorable, and changing the name of “sprint” to “zoomies” was just pitch-perfect. The titular kitty can crawl, run, pick up objects, knock things out of their way, and – of course – jump.

Screenshot of Little Kitty, Big City (2024) showing a jump preview line. — Lining up the perfect pounce.

The way the jump mechanic is handled here is actually really great. I can’t remember playing another 3D platformer with a “jump preview,” showing both the intended arc and landing site, but being able to see exactly where the kitty cat will jump and land simply by holding down the jump button is a great inclusion. It means less time wasted trying to line up impossible jumps, as well as making sure you’re going to land in the right place before hitting the button. This kind of thing could – and arguably should – be an accessibility feature in other titles, and I think some other developers could take notes from the way “jump previews” are implemented here. Obviously it’s not something that every game needs – but it works incredibly well in Little Kitty, Big City.

With everything from roads and buildings to traffic cones and empty soda cans sized up, the scale of the city really does hit you in those first few minutes. The sense of being genuinely lost is something that many folks don’t experience very often – even less in the days of Google Maps and smartphones. But there’s something about the combination of being small in this very large world and being lost and alone that I felt drew on shared memories of childhood. How many times can you remember, as a kid, getting lost in a supermarket or on the high street, and feeling very small in a world that was too big for you? For me, at least, Little Kitty, Big City really nailed that very specific feeling in a way that I wasn’t really expecting.

Screenshot of Little Kitty, Big City (2024) showing the cat on a street. — Everything feels huge when you’re a small kitty cat!

At the core of the game, of course, is the idea of being lost and alone – and while this is masked, to an extent, by fun gameplay and a vibrant colour scheme, there’s still something dark and worrying hiding inside. The protagonist of Little Kitty, Big City – through whose eyes we experience this beautifully-crafted game world – is desperate to get home, to escape this strange world in which they find themselves. There’s a primal fear, perhaps, as a kid of being separated from one’s caregiver, and being unable to get back to safety. Little Kitty, Big City draws on this – and while there’s still plenty of light-hearted fun with talking crows, jars of jam to knock down, pedestrians’ phones to steal, and so on… I found myself empathising with the protagonist all the more because of those distant memories.

But maybe I’m turning into my old English teacher and over-analysing something that should just be treated as good, solid fun! That’s what Little Kitty, Big City is, at the end of the day. It’s an incredibly fun platformer with an adorable feline protagonist. Jumping on cars, nuzzling pedestrians, and causing more than a little chaos as a black cat is genuinely one of the most enjoyable gaming experiences that I’ve had in a long time – and certainly one of the best of 2024 so far.

Screenshot of Little Kitty, Big City (2024) showing the cat holding a smartphone in its mouth. — Stealing someone’s smartphone has never been more fun… or cuter!

If you have Game Pass, Little Kitty, Big City is available there and it’s really a no-brainer. It’s a small file to download at 1.4GB, meaning you can be playing it in a matter of minutes! I also think the game will be fantastic on Nintendo Switch; being able to play it on the go, during a lunch break, or while commuting is going to be amazing. Little Kitty, Big City is also a title that I feel is priced appropriately: there’s no £60/$70 “base version” here; the game’s developers understood that it’s not the kind of game that needs that price point. It’s not an especially long game – but the different hats to collect and the fun, gentle gameplay give it a lot of replayability in my opinion. At time of writing, Little Kitty, Big City is slightly discounted on Steam, but even at its RRP it’s an easy title to recommend.

I’ve been having a whale of a time with Little Kitty, Big City – and as soon as I’m done writing up this review I’m going to jump back in! It’s easily my favourite game of 2024 so far.

Little Kitty, Big City is available now on Nintendo Switch, PC, Xbox Series S/X, and Xbox One consoles. Little Kitty, Big City is the copyright of Double Dagger Studio. This review contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

Ten Ways To Improve Starfield

Thu 02.05.24Thu 02.05.24Dennis

Spoiler Warning: There are spoilers ahead for Starfield’s main quest – including its ending.

I know, I know: I keep telling you that I’m “done” talking about Starfield… only to pop up again a few weeks later with another new article or something else to add! So perhaps I’d better stop saying that this will be my last-ever piece about Starfield and just take it as it comes!

Over the past couple of weeks, Starfield has come back into focus for me. The recent Fallout television series has seen a surge of interest in Bethesda’s other sci-fi property, with both Fallout 76 and Fallout 4 seeing massive player numbers in April 2024. Both games were already running ahead of Starfield – which seems to have dropped out of the charts altogether by this point – but with talk of Bethesda potentially greenlighting some new Fallout project to tie in with the second season of the show, it really puts into perspective how far Starfield has fallen.

Don’t forget to check out my review of the Fallout TV series, by the way. You can find it by clicking or tapping here.

Cropped promo poster for the Fallout TV series. — The *Fallout* TV series has given a big boost to the games.

So here’s the deal: if you’ve read my first impressions of the game, or any of my other post-launch articles, you’ll know that I was underwhelmed by Starfield. There were elements of the game that had potential – but none that truly lived up to the hype. I didn’t hate Starfield by any means, and when I looked back at the worst or most disappointing gaming experiences of 2023, it didn’t seem fair to include it there, either. But the game was clearly not all it could’ve been.

Today, what I’d like to do is throw out a few of my (totally unsolicited) ideas for how Starfield could be improved. None of these are “magic bullets” capable of turning the game into a 10/10 perfect experience. I think that ship has sailed! But even within the confines of Starfield’s limitations, there are ways in which the game could be improved to make it worth returning to. I’m not proposing a total overhaul or re-making of the game, nor am I asking for something totally unrealistic like a brand-new main quest or recreating the game in a new engine. Instead, I’m trying to propose reasonable changes to certain systems or additions that wouldn’t undermine or fundamentally break the game as it currently exists.

Screenshot of Starfield (2023) showing the player character wearing a spacesuit. — My character on the surface of an icy moon.

If that sounds like something you’re interested in, let me begin with my usual caveats! First of all, I have no “insider information.” I’m not trying to claim that anything discussed below can, will, or must be included in a future update or expansion for Starfield. This is a wishlist from an ex-player, and nothing more.

Secondly, all of this is my entirely subjective opinion. If you loved Starfield in its original form, think the game is utterly irredeemable, or just hate all of my suggestions, that’s totally okay! There’s plenty of room in the Starfield and Bethesda fan communities for polite discussion and disagreement – and we don’t need to get into an argument about hypothetical ideas for the game that Bethesda may never include.

With all of that out of the way, let’s get started!

Number One:
Empty Planets.

Screenshot of Starfield (2023) showing the player approaching a structure. — A man-made structure on a random planet.

Considering that one of the biggest complaints I repeatedly hear about Starfield is that “too many of the planets are empty and boring,” this might seem counter-intuitive. But bear with me, because I genuinely believe that making a portion of the game’s planets completely empty would be a significant improvement.

One of the things I wanted most of all from a game like Starfield was the sense of going “where no man has gone before,” and being the first person to set foot in an alien landscape. Like a Starfleet officer, I wanted to explore the galaxy – after all, isn’t that supposed to be the mission of Constellation, the main faction that players are forced to join in Starfield?

Screenshot of Starfield (2023) showing the player's spaceship on the surface of a moon. — Landing on a planet where people have already been – and are still actively living – isn’t really “exploration,” is it?

But instead, the way Bethesda chose to create planets has meant that there are none – literally zero – that are empty. Humans have set foot on all of Starfield’s 1,000 planets, and it’s completely impossible to pick a landing zone that doesn’t already have pre-made structures, points of interest, shipwrecks, spaceship landing sites, and more. Any chance to feel like a bona fide explorer was lost… and for me, one of the single most crucial elements of a “space game” melted away as I came to realise that.

Empty planets in Starfield could serve a variety of purposes. Building outposts and habitats is one – because honestly, who wants to build their dream home or pirate base a few metres away from a spacer hideout, a commonly-used landing site, and an abandoned research tower? Such worlds could also contain more resources – and with a potential overhaul to the way resources are collected and used in-game, becoming a miner or space-trucker could become viable in-game career options.

Screenshot of Starfield (2023) showing the starmap. — Scanning a planetary body from orbit.

I loved the idea of finding a desolate planet, far away from civilisation, and building my luxury space penthouse there. I loved the idea of hopping from world to world, collecting rare resources that could be sold or traded, and upgrading my ship so that I could carry more and more cargo. Starfield offers the illusion of this through “mission boards,” but these are so barebones and non-interactive that they hardly even count.

I’d take the core of the Settled Systems – worlds around Sol, Alpha Centauri, and Cheyenne – and leave them more or less as they are. But the further out players get from those core worlds with their bigger settlements, the greater the number of genuinely empty planets there should be. I think this change could work wonders for Starfield, especially if it were to be combined with some of the other suggestions and proposals on this list.

Number Two:
New and Modified “Points of Interest,” Including Different Variants.

Within my first few hours of playing Starfield, I’d been to the same “abandoned research tower” and the same “abandoned mine” four or five times each. I hoped that I was just unlucky – that there were many more of these copy-and-paste structures out there and I’d just run into the same couple of them a few times. But there really are only a few of these – some of which don’t have much going on. Considering how big the game is and how Bethesda expected players to want to spend hundreds of hours playing Starfield over the span of a decade, that’s pretty poor, and has been a huge weight around Starfield’s neck.

What the game desperately needs is many, many more of these so-called “points of interest.” Just to start, I’d say there ought to be four times as many as there currently are, and every free update should be adding new ones on top of that. But even if that were to happen, the fact that all of these structures – and everything within – are literally identical from one appearance to the next means that further changes are needed.

Screenshot of Starfield (2023) showing the player discovering a structure. — Discovering another copy-and-paste location.

So here’s my next proposal: each point of interest should come with multiple variants. I wouldn’t mind encountering the same structure half as much if the NPCs and loot contained within were in different configurations every time! It would make approaching one of these structures feel a bit more tense, too – you wouldn’t know whether you were about to encounter friendly NPCs, hostile enemies, alien monsters, or something else.

Taking the “abandoned research tower” as an example (because I played through several of those!) Here are some variant ideas: one variant could be the same as it is now, with hostile pirate NPCs having made the tower into their base. A second variant could contain scientists and researchers, perhaps even with a quest-giver to provide radiant quests or missions on the planet. A third could also have scientists, but be guarded by soldiers belonging to one faction or another, with players who haven’t gained enough ranks in that faction being turned away… or having to sneak in! A fourth variant could be totally empty, but with audio logs and notes suggesting something bad happened. A fifth could be filled with terrormorphs or other hostile monsters. And so on. How much more interesting would it be to approach an “abandoned research tower” if you didn’t know which variant you were going to get?

Screenshot of Starfield (2023) showing an NPC using a welder. — A non-hostile NPC at a random location.

There could also be unique once-per-playthrough points of interest that still appear at random but are never repeated. These could be variants of common structures or complete one-offs – ideally a mix of both. Some might spawn randomly on a certain planet or only in a certain biome, and others could be 100% random, with exclusive loot or quests to participate in. Clues could be left behind in the world to guide players to their locations.

In any case, one of the biggest things holding Starfield back is the incredibly repetitive dungeons/points of interest. I don’t think they can be entirely scrubbed from the game due to the way it’s made, but even just adding new and different variants of the current points of interest would be a start. Creating brand-new ones to add to the game ought to be a priority, too.

Number Three:
Changes to the Ship-Builder.
(Part One)

Screenshot of Starfield (2023) showing the ship-builder. — *Starfield’*s ship-building system.

Starfield’s ship-builder is one of the game’s best features… but it’s imperfect, finicky, and in serious need of some quality-of-life improvements. Firstly, it’s a pain in the arse to have to trek from one vendor to another to be able to design my ship exactly how I’d like it! Enabling players to access all ship parts at all vendors – or to unlock different constructors’ parts and use them from that point on – would massively improve the ship-building experience.

Being able to unlock different parts or groups of parts and then use them at all ship-building stations would be a massive improvement, one that this otherwise decent system desperately needs. The easiest way, I think, would be for each manufacturer to grant players a “license” (or other in-game jargon) for their pieces, permanently unlocking them. This would mean that players would still have to work to unlock all the different parts; they wouldn’t just be there by default. But it would also mean that there’d be no need to keep travelling between star stations and planets to add one component that’s only available in one location.

Screenshot of Starfield (2023) showing an NPC in dialogue. — It’s a pain to have to continually travel between locations to access all of the different spaceship components.

Secondly, I’d want to see Starfield combine its interior decorating – which is currently only present in the outpost builder – with ship-building. This could be optional, meaning that players who aren’t interested wouldn’t have to participate. But one area of the ship-builder that I felt really let down the whole system was the lack of interior customisation.

It’s possible for players to drop items aboard their ship and have them remain where they fall – something that was epitomised by “sandwich lady” in the Starfield Direct marketing broadcast. But this is a Bethesda game hallmark that’s been present since Morrowind… and it hasn’t been improved in any way for almost a quarter of a century. Not only that, but any modification to a ship – even if those modifications don’t change the interior or layout in any way – would lead to all items being removed and dumped in the ship’s inventory. So even that very, very basic amount of interior customisation comes with a massive downside!

Screenshot of Starfield (2023) showing the player placing an item aboard their ship. — It’s possible to drop and clumsily reposition items on your ship – like this wooden duck.

At the very least, I’d like to be able to choose colours for the walls, floors, and doors, as well as choose where doors and hatches in between modules will appear. At present, there are only pre-set colours and doors appear at random; this should be easily added with a modicum of effort!

If I dared to dream, I’d like to see furniture options for each module, posters and wall art to decorate the ship, and everything from rugs to kitchen appliances, all with different designs and colour variants to choose from. One of the disappointing things for me was that, despite making my ship look the way I wanted from the outside, it never really felt like “mine” when I was exploring the inside. There was a half-eaten sandwich on a table that my character didn’t bite. There were math equations on a whiteboard in my captain’s cabin that I didn’t write. And I would have never chosen such a ghastly colour scheme!

Number Four:
Changes to the Ship-Builder.
(Part Two)

Screenshot of Starfield (2023) showing an NPC. — The ship services technician on Akila.

Sticking with Starfield’s ship-builder, there are a few more places where I think improvements could be made. Firstly, having to manually “assign” weapons is finicky and annoying, and there has got to be a better way to do this. Ideally, weapons would be automatically assigned as soon as they’re added to a ship, with the same slot always being used for the same weapon type. Heck, there are only four types of shipboard weapons in the game – so ensuring that each one is always assigned the same button shouldn’t be that difficult!

Secondly, adding the option to rotate ship pieces would be nice. Maybe not every single piece would need to be rotatable – engines, for instance, as well as cockpits might be tricky. But some layouts might work better a different way around, and being able to have some hab modules running “sideways” could open up a lot more combinations. There are also visual and aesthetic reasons for wanting to be able to rotate certain ship pieces – and this must surely be achievable without ruining the ship-builder!

It would also be great if there was some way to preview how different ship pieces look on the inside without having to buy them. The in-game descriptions of the likes of the brig and armoury are pretty barebones, and it’s only after purchasing an expensive hab and installing it that players actually get to see what it looks like. If the look isn’t right, if it doesn’t match the rest of the ship, or if it doesn’t do what players had been expecting… it can end up being a waste of time and credits.

This could be combined with the interior decorating and doorway positioning additions that I suggested above. The preview window could show different colour variants, for instance, and also allow players to choose where to place hatches, doorways, and even ladders.

Screenshot of Starfield (2023) showing a module in the ship-builder. — Adding a new module in the ship-builder.

Finally, if players have a particular ship component on another vessel in their fleet, it should be possible – somehow – to swap parts between ships. Even if removing a part from one ship to add it to another made the first ship un-spaceworthy, if that wasn’t the player’s currently-assigned ship, then it should be okay. It seems silly to allow players to amass a fleet of ships that could have perfectly usable components, but be unable to swap them between different vessels in the fleet. Having to buy the same part more than once – especially if other ships are unused and just sitting there – feels like something that could be avoided.

The ship-builder is definitely one of the better game modes that Starfield introduced, building on the likes of Fallout 4′s settlement system. But there are ways in which it could be improved, allowing players to really make their ship into the flying home of their dreams!

Number Five:
Alternate Starting Points for Different Character Backgrounds.

Screenshot of Starfield (2023) showing an NPC in the game's prologue. — Every character starts here – regardless of how they’re set up.

It never made a lot of sense to me that a xenobiologist, a professor, or a diplomat would have ended up working in a mine. Sure, an ex-soldier or a criminal on the run might’ve taken a gig like that… but some of Starfield’s backgrounds just don’t gel with the game’s opening act. Rather than changing the entire opening (starting from a prison cell would’ve worked better, IMHO) perhaps Bethesda could add just a couple of alternate starts to account for some of these different backgrounds.

Look at what Cyberpunk 2077 did with its life paths as an example. There are three different starts in that game, each of which sees V living a different life in a different place. They all come together to kick-start the main storyline, but the journey to that point is pretty different. Even though the life paths don’t matter once the game gets going (there’s one mission apiece midway through, but they were pretty basic and uninteresting), the way the game begins offers players a different role-playing experience.

Screenshot of Cyberpunk 2077 (2020) showing the three "life paths" available to players. — *Starfield* could offer alternate starts that work similarly to *Cyberpunk 2077′*s life paths.

Each Starfield starting point could still see players grabbing an artefact on the mining planet of Vectera if that’s important to Bethesda, but how players get to that point could change depending on which start was chosen. For example, players who wanted to imagine their character as a spacefarer could begin in space, landing on the planet to transport the unearthed artefact to New Atlantis. Or players could begin working in the mine’s laboratory, studying the artefact.

I’d also like to see at least one starting point that didn’t force players down the Constellation/main quest route immediately. Players could choose not to engage with the artefact, for instance, or could choose not to accept Barrett’s offer. After the pirate attack on Vectera, players could commandeer the pirate ship instead of being given the Frontier. These are just a few ideas off the top of my head!

Screenshot of Starfield (2023) showing the character creation menu. — Many of the available backgrounds don’t line up with working in a mine at the beginning of the game.

I don’t think Bethesda would need to go overboard here. There could be two or three mining-adjacent roles that could see players on Vectera in just the right place at just the right time to pick up the artefact. But these could be different enough from one another to take into account the different player backgrounds on offer in Starfield, which is something that I think would make a lot more sense.

If nothing else, adding a couple of alternate starting points would add to the game’s replayability, as it has for Cyberpunk 2077. There are ways to implement something like this without radically changing the game’s main story or even its opening act, and when it comes to the role-playing side of things – the side that makes me want to lose myself in a character and their fictional world – it would be a huge improvement.

Number Six:
Make In-Game Careers Viable.

Screenshot of Starfield (2023) showing the player at a mission board. — I was unimpressed with *Starfield’*s mission boards.

One of the things I love to do in a big open-world game is to step away from the main story and get lost in the world. In order to do that, my character needs to be more than just a generic adventurer… so in-game career options need to exist. And no, I don’t mean getting a job with one of the factions that quickly sees the player character climb the ladder to become its leader! I mean jobs that are off to one side, not really connected to any of the main questlines.

For example, it could be possible to be an explorer: charting unexplored and unvisited planets. Players could send probes to the surface, like in Mass Effect 2, to scout landing sites, then disembark and either map the area or collect different resources. These planetary surveys – which would actually require work to complete – could then be returned to Constellation for a profit… or sold to one of the game’s other factions. As players acquire a reputation for exploration, new quests could even arise, with factions offering players bigger rewards to survey planets further and further afield.

Screenshot of Starfield (2023) showing the mission board. — The mission board in New Atlantis.

Being a long hauler – one of the actual in-game backgrounds – could also be a career option. Using the mission boards, players could collect cargo from one planet and take it to another, either under contract or just to buy and sell. Different planets or settlements could have different resources or items that they’re asking for, and this could change week-to-week.

These missions would need to be much more interactive than they are currently, with players having to manually load and unload cargo, perhaps, or travelling to meet up with different NPCs inside settlements instead of just having a mission marked as “complete” as soon as the ship touches down! But there’s potential in this system to expand it and make it into a bona fide “space trucking simulator.”

Screenshot of Starfield (2023) showing the player character mining a resource. — Mining a resource.

Finally, for a game that kicked off deep inside a mine… there’s basically no reason to do any actual mining in Starfield. Resources are so worthless and sparsely spread out that I found there was absolutely no point in mining them when exploring a planet. If I desperately wanted to complete a research project or something, it was easier and quicker to loot a spacer base, sell the items for credits, and buy whatever resource I was missing.

But all of that could change! Making resources more abundant and accessible on different planets could make mining a viable in-game career. Tweaking the value of these resources could also make it much more worthwhile, and it could be strangely relaxing to spend an hour or two mining mercury or lithium to haul back to New Atlantis and sell it. I’m not alone in enjoying those kinds of slower-paced, “cosy” experiences… and it’s actually something I was hoping to get out of Starfield. As things stand, it’s way too unbalanced and grindy, but I can see the potential for a fun time hiding just under the surface!

Number Seven:
An Alternate Ending/Reframe the Starborn.

Screenshot of Starfield (2023) showing an NPC wearing a spacesuit. — One of the Starborn early in the game.

I hesitate to call this an “alternate” ending… because one of Starfield’s big narrative problems is that many of the fundamental questions present in its main story didn’t get any kind of conclusion in the first place. But that’s beside the point! What I’d like to see, as players reach the final act of the main quest, is the option to reject the Unity and to really push back against the whole concept of becoming Starborn. Not simply choosing not to go through the Unity, but actively stating how evil it is and the Starborn are and rejecting the whole thing.

The game puts Starborn adversaries in the player’s way, but most of these are unexplained, nameless non-entities that don’t really feel like actual people. The only two Starborn characters that players can engage with, the Hunter and the Emissary, have both been “reborn” hundreds or thousands of times over in many different universes – and the game actively pushes players to do the same thing. In fact, it’s the only way to fully complete the main quest.

Screenshot of Starfield (2023) showing a mission prompt. — Completing the main quest requires players to travel to a new universe.

But there are huge implications to abandoning one’s entire universe and everyone in it, and Starfield doesn’t do much more than pay lip service to this. It’s possible, for instance, for players to have a romantic partner or even get married – but their spouse doesn’t travel to a new universe with them. It’s implied that, based on choices the player has made, their universe of origin will be permanently changed in some way by their becoming Starborn… but this raises some massive ethical questions. Again, Starfield does nothing with these ideas.

So here’s my proposal: introduce new dialogue during the final act of the main quest that makes clear that the player rejects the entire concept of the Unity and becoming Starborn – and not only that, but they want to kill the Hunter and the Emissary to make sure that no one else can ever become Starborn either. However many universes these two might’ve fucked up… it ends here.

Screenshot of Starfield (2023) showing the final mission in the game. — I’d like to see a “rejection” option added to the end of the main quest.

This is what I’d want to do if I found myself in that situation, confronted with a weird mirror image of myself telling me that “the Creators created everything,” and that becoming a Starborn is my destiny. No – fuck that. I’m from this universe, I want to stay in this universe, and I want to make damn sure that these Starborn clowns won’t be able to harm or kill anyone in the next universe, either. This universe-hopping quest ends here – not just for my character, but for all of the Starborn.

The Starborn and the Unity are the game’s real villains – at least until we get a proper explanation for the artefacts, their purpose, and where they came from. And I would want to see that reality reflected in the game’s final act, with players able to choose to reject the very idea of the Unity and the Starborn and ensuring they can’t go on harming people across countless parallel realities.

Number Eight:
Quests with Multiple Pathways to Completion.

Screenshot of Starfield (2023) showing a combat encounter. — Battling a Spacer Captain at the climax of a quest.

One very disappointing thing about Starfield is how damn linear so many of its quests are. Most quests only have one route from beginning to end, and playing the game can feel like you’re riding a bike with training wheels half of the time. It ought to be possible to complete at least some quests in different ways, utilising different combinations of combat, tech, stealth, and even piloting skills depending on how players have set up their characters and which skills they’ve chosen to invest in.

Perhaps Starfield was harmed by comparisons with Baldur’s Gate 3, which was released just a month earlier. Actually, scratch that. Starfield was undeniably harmed by those comparisons! Baldur’s Gate 3 opens up practically all of its quests and characters, giving players a huge amount of freedom to decide how they want to tackle the game – leading to some incredibly fun gameplay moments. It’s possible for practically everyone in the game to die – something Starfield doesn’t allow with its “unkillable” NPCs – and for many quests to be tackled in radically different ways.

Promo artwork of Baldur's Gate 3 (2023). — *Baldur’s Gate 3* is overflowing with player choice and different ways to complete quests.

Where I got frustrated with Starfield was when the game presented the illusion of choice. At one now-infamous mission on Neon, players are teamed up with Walter to acquire another artefact. Walter states multiple times that there will be different ways to approach this interaction – but that turns out to be a lie. The game forces players down one path, and one path only.

Just taking this one mission as an example, it should be possible to abandon Walter and acquire the artefact alone, either by stealthily stealing it, killing the person carrying it, or causing panic at the nightclub and seizing it in the chaos. Then, after the player’s ship is impounded, there should be multiple options for escaping Neon. Players could sneak to the landing pad, knock out the guards, and disable the lockdown, or even rush over to another landing bay and steal a different ship. Just within this one mission there are so many ways things could go – but Bethesda has insisted that players must be locked onto one very specific route.

Screenshot of Starfield (2023) showing dialogue options in a main story mission. — There should’ve been multiple approaches to this mission on Neon.

And there are many missions like this – both in main questlines and just out in the world. One side-story that I encountered involved a group of families on different planets and moons who found themselves in conflict with a gang of spacers. But there was only one way to complete every step of this mission – getting their communications back up and running, solving a conflict within the group, and then boarding the spacers’ station and killing them all. There should be so many different options in a mission like this – such as siding with the spacers for a reward, picking one family over the other when they argue, sneaking aboard the spacers’ station and opening all of the airlocks, or building a missile launcher on one of the moons and blowing it up from 10,000km away. Those are just a handful of ideas off the top of my head.

It’s obviously true that not every mission can have 100 different outcomes and routes to completion. But there should be some degree of choice in a role-playing game, for goodness’ sake! Even if all Bethesda can do at this point is make it so that some unkillable NPCs can now die and add one new alternate path for a handful of main story missions… that would still be a noticeable improvement.

Number Nine:
More Cosmetic Items and Apparel.

Screenshot of Starfield (2023) showing the player and an NPC wearing the same outfit. — It doesn’t take long to find NPCs wearing the same outfit as you!

I was quite disappointed with Starfield’s lack of cosmetic items – clothing in particular. For some reason, clothing only comes by way of whole outfits, with no option to mix and match different tops, trousers, or shoes – and there are almost no skirts, shorts, or different kinds of headgear beyond basic baseball caps and the occasional cowboy hat. Even Starfield’s omnipresent spacesuits are cosmetically limited, with the few available options having no colour variants.

It seems a given that Bethesda and Microsoft plan to add skins as paid-for microtransactions at a future point. You can even see in the game just where these skins will appear when they’re ready to be rolled out. But in my opinion, cosmetic microtransactions have no place in a wholly single-player game, and Bethesda should’ve added a lot more cosmetic variety to Starfield for free from day one.

Screenshot of Starfield (2023) showing apparel at a vendor. — Clothes shopping in *Starfield* isn’t much fun.

As far back as Morrowind it was possible to play dress-up by choosing different trousers, tops, shoes, and even individual pieces of armour. This would already make Starfield’s whole-body costumes feel like a backwards step even if there weren’t so few of them… but a combination of a lack of different costumes combined with the inability to select individual pieces of clothing comes together to make for an apparel system that’s underwhelming in the extreme.

For me, one part of the role-playing experience is getting my character to look exactly the way I want them to, and when Starfield offers such a limited range of costumes, that’s impossible. Most outfits in Starfield fall into one of two categories: generic “futuristic” sci-fi or western/cowboy. There’s very little diversity, no way to reflect different cultures and backgrounds… and for a game that makes a selling-point of its photo mode, there’s very little worth photographing from the available outfits.

Screenshot of Starfield (2023) showing the player character in photo mode. — Wearing a cowboy hat in Akila City.

Things like fashion sense and personal style are, of course, incredibly subjective – so you might enjoy the outfits and spacesuits that Starfield has to offer. That’s great – but even if you like some or all of the costumes available, adding new ones into the mix, as well as expanding the existing lineup with new colour variants and designs, can only be a good thing! I’d love to see Starfield add a lot more costumes and outfits, as well as skins and colour variants – all for free. There shouldn’t be paid skins in a game of this type.

And while we’re at it, let’s create some wholly unique cosmetic items that can only be found once per playthrough. One of the fun things about past Bethesda games used to be exploring dungeons and following questlines and being rewarded with something shiny and new! The only outfit in Starfield that comes close to falling into that category is the Starborn spacesuit… and I wasn’t especially wild about the way it looks.

Number Ten:
Actual Spaceflight/Piloting.

Screenshot of Starfield (2023) showing a custom spaceship. — There’s not much of an opportunity to be a pilot…

Starfield is a game set in space. It encourages players to build and customise their own spacecraft. Ship-to-ship combat takes place in real-time in space. But there’s absolutely no spaceflight in this game. Let me explain what I mean by that: players can’t get in their ship and manually fly it from one location to another. The only option is a modified form of fast-travel that generates a small bubble of space around the player’s ship. As some folks have demonstrated, there are no “real” planets or objects within that bubble; they’re just jpegs floating in the background.

Of all the points I’ve raised today, this could be the hardest to fix. Starfield is built from the ground up around fast-travelling between locations, and the way in which pockets of space are generated in orbit of planets or near starstations would need to be expanded and changed in a significant way in order to make real spaceflight work. Ships, too, would need to change – with better and faster engines being options for players who long for that space-sim experience.

So there are real logistical issues in the way of adding bona fide spaceflight to Starfield. But I think it’s worth trying, at least – because if the only option is to fast-travel between locations, much of what appeals about taking to the stars is lost. Locations don’t feel far away from one another if players can teleport there in a few seconds, meaning much of the scale of Starfield’s galaxy – something that already feels diminished in light of its tiny cities, repetitive NPCs, and copy-and-pasted points of interest – is lost.

In past Bethesda titles, the journey from place to place was a significant part of the gameplay in and of itself. Walking from Seyda Neen to Balmora in Morrowind could lead to random combat encounters, side-quests, and interactions with NPCs. In Fallout 3, travelling from Megaton to the radio tower likewise saw the player presented with new opportunities to get lost in the game’s world and have fun. Heck, the recent Fallout TV series even referenced how exploring the wasteland often leads to getting side-tracked!

Screenshot of Starfield (2023) showing a custom spaceship taking off. — Part of the fun of past Bethesda games was journeying from place to place and stumbling upon new adventures along the way.

In short, the lack of spaceflight means there are fewer opportunities for players to take their time and explore Starfield’s galaxy in their own way at their own pace. When not on the surface of a planet – or approached by a random ship in orbit – there’s basically no way for players to get side-tracked by being offered a totally different quest or mission in a way that feels natural.

Starfield having functionally no spaceflight doesn’t just harm the game from a space-sim or space game perspective, it also denies players one of the fundamental building blocks of a Bethesda open-world game, too. I don’t know how it could realistically be implemented at this stage – and flying in between star systems would probably have to remain as fast-travel only. But making an effort to get proper spaceflight up and running would be worth it as it would be a huge improvement to Starfield’s immersion and gameplay.

So that’s it!

Screenshot of Starfield (2023) showing an NPC on a medical bed. — Does *Starfield* need to be rushed to the medical bay?

We’ve considered ten ways that Starfield could be improved – in my humble opinion, of course.

Although I spent close to a decade working in the games industry, I’m not a developer. I don’t know whether some or all of these ideas might’ve once been considered for Starfield, but were ultimately cut because they proved to be unpopular, impractical, or unworkable. The game’s very existence is, in some respects, a technological achievement; that Bethesda managed to build something this complex using the zombified remains of a game engine that’s more than twenty-five years old should count for something, right?

But I’m not alone in finding Starfield to be an underwhelming experience to play, and the fact that it didn’t win any big awards and seems to have dropped out of our collective cultural conversation after just a few months is testament to that. Starfield was being regularly beaten by Skyrim and Fallout 4 in terms of active players even before the Fallout TV show brought renewed attention to that franchise… and unless Microsoft and Bethesda take bold action in the months and years ahead, Starfield may very well end up being forgotten.

Screenshot of Starfield (2023) showing a custom spaceship on a landing pad. — A custom spaceship on the landing pad at New Atlantis.

I’ve said before that I believe the only way to save Starfield is if its first major expansion is at least as big and impressive as Cyberpunk 2077′s Phantom Liberty DLC was last year. Tinkering around the edges won’t cut it, and if Bethesda can’t find a way to build a significant improvement to Starfield – not just a narrative addition or the inclusion of a new questline – then I think the game’s longer-term prospects will remain bleak.

I’ve had my say, and I’ve made my suggestions! Maybe not all of them would work, and maybe some of them are impossible due to the technical limitations of Bethesda’s game engine or the less-powerful Xbox Series S console. But Starfield would be a damn sight better if they were included… and really, some of these things should have been present at launch.

Could Starfield get its redemption arc one day? Never say never…

Starfield is out now for PC and Xbox Series S & X consoles. Starfield is the copyright of Bethesda Game Studios, Bethesda Softworks, Xbox Game Studios, and/or Microsoft. Some promo images and screenshots used above courtesy of Bethesda. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.