Jaina Hill
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Writing For
COGConnectedLatest Reviews
I play a lot of games that star people that murdered my ancestors. There are lots of fun games about medieval history, ancient Rome, Eastern Europe, and Russia. And at various times (most times really), those places were a pretty hostile place to be Jewish. In the 20th century, my...
Phoenix Point
Were you playing PC games in 1994? Truly it was a different era. The games were clunky and unpolished. They often bit off more than they could chew. But there was a gritty punk rock feeling to everything. When the creative culture is so messy, you’re more likely to arrive...
The fighting game scene is probably the hardest video game genre to break into. It’s crowded for one- Street Fighter is forever a mainstay, and Mortal Kombat (and the similar Injustice series) came out of nowhere to become the premier series. Then you’ve got Super Smash Bros, not to mention...
It is likely that you already know how you feel about Castlevania. After all, the original NES game came out in 1986, the same year as the original Super Mario Bros, and it is at least as ubiquitous. After all, Mario-like games are called platformers. Castlevania-like games are called Metroidvania,...
Dark Devotion
Dark Devotion isn’t a difficult game to describe. It’s an indie game that takes its cues from a lot of popular genres and fuses them into a somewhat unique experience. I could lob criticism at it, nitpick certain creative decisions—and I will—but it is undeniably a competently designed game, developed...
Sunless Skies
There is no doubt that Sunless Seas is a brilliant game. But there are many who could argue that it is not a good game. Those two facts are not exactly contradictions, and understanding both of them is essential to getting the most out of the experience. It’s a totally...
Ashen
Ashen is full of nonsense. I don’t mean its gameplay. The fighting, exploring, advancement and traversal mechanics are all well thought out and a ton of fun. I’m talking about the story. Every time a character in Ashen speaks, my eyes start to glaze over. Then I snap back to...
In modern gaming, there are few figures more decisive than David Cage, creator of Heavy Rain and Detroit: Become Human. The French game designer comes with a lot of baggage, but his experimental style and obsession with independent cinema make his games singularly unique. Enter Chris Darril, a young Italian...
Get excited to unfurl your banner one more time. The Banner Saga is back, and it’s pretty much the same as it’s always been. And you know what? That’s a very good thing. The last entry in this tactical RPG trilogy doesn’t re-invent the wheel, but it tightens up the...
Are you a fan of walking simulators? To some, they represent the antithesis of video games, removing all but the minimum interaction to be considered a “game.” To others, they are the essence of interactive narrative, boiling a story down to your experience with it. Stories like Gone Home or...
City of Brass
City of Brass is an odd beast. I’ve never played anything quite like it. Well, strictly speaking, that’s not true. It’s a procedurally generated dungeon crawler, with purchasable upgrades and an experience point system that persists between runs. It’s also a first-person melee game all about killing Arabian Nights themed...
Dead In Vinland is a sequel of sorts to the management/survival/RPG Dead in Bermuda. I never played the original, but now I am desperate to go back. That’s because, short of a few easily patched-in features, Dead in Vinland is close to being an indie PC masterpiece. More than that,...
