Oliver Shellding
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Writing For
WayTooManyGamesLatest Reviews
The irony of Undying exists in its very title and premise. As a whole, the zombie genre has seen its birth, death and rebirth in an almost phoenix-like cycle as media continues to stagger forward. In my lifetime, I’ve bore witness to The Walking Dead, Left 4 Dead, and the madness of One Cut of the Dead. In that same vein, I’ve also watched crafting and survival games plumb the depths of human patience as we get another and another title promising to be something unique, while still asking...
There are movies from the 80s and 90s that are delightful because of how unrepentantly dumb they are. Take, for example, Predator 2. Dissecting the plot will leave you deeply confused, as it insinuates a single Danny Glover is equal to an entire squad of highly trained military officials, but that’s not the point. It’s loud, bombastic, and it’s pure fun from start to finish in terms of sci-fi action and one liners. In the same respect, Blade Chimera, the pixel perfect Metroidvania from ...
When crafting a game, it’s important to be aware of one’s audience. You don’t want to make an easy, approachable Dark Souls game anymore than you want a gritty, realistic Paw Patrol adventure (though the latter would be a remarkable exercise). You not only need to consider the current fanbase, but your potential as well. So I understand that the creators of Mario and Luigi: Brothership needed to consider the Nintendo Switch market as a whole. Given that the last new entry was nearly ten...
Very often, it bothers me when people recommend going into a game blind. The concept is clear: you want to make sure someone experiences a grand, epic revelation without spoilers or another person’s influence. But some people need to at least have a rudimentary idea of what to expect when they set out on any sort of new engagement. If someone told my daughter to go into a Thai restaurant blind, she’d get carted out in an ambulance due to a massive nuts allergy. If I told literally anyone ...
Mario Party is my far and away favorite franchise, to the shock and dismay of my 15 year old self. As much as I adore JRPGs, I’ve had too many games that disappoinetd me. Yet even, the most banal Mario Party title has enthralled me in one way or another. Even mediocre titles like Island Tour gave me some handheld fun with my wife, and Super Mario Party looked wonderful, even if the boards were limited as hell. The last Switch entry, Mario Party Superstars, let Nintendo know that fans liked ...
JRPGs are a genre where I feel the middle ground might as well be the bottom. As much as I love them, you either find games that are exceptional and stick with you forever or ones that simply don’t. The reason that people keep circling back to Chrono Trigger, Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy are that they have elements and characters that stick with you throughout eternity. But, when a game doesn’t leave a lasting impression, positive or negative, it just fades from memory. I know, for a fa...
Tomba! is a fantastic reminder to players everywhere that metroidvania games don’t always act and look the way you may think they will. Sure, you’re going to have some titles that have adorable protagonists, puzzling mechanics or are just plain inscrutable, but still look the part once you break things down. An expansive map, some clear pathways that cannot be traversed initially, and a growing compendium of items that have clear uses for navigation one way or another.
There’s a quote by T.S. Eliot that almost no one uses: “Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal.” That’s because it’s a bit clunky and heavy-handed, and sometimes takes a bit to extrapolate the meaning. Steve Jobs, meanwhile, then took that quote, changed it, and misattributed it to Pablo Picasso: “Good artists borrow, great artists steal.” It’s a solid approach: you see someone else’s idea and, instead of trying to copy it, take the whole damn thing and tweak it to make ...
Nintendo has really been doing a lot to try to tap into the nostalgia market. More and more, we’re seeing advertising and positioning for new titles that try to capture the elements of the classic 80s vibe. You’ve got extreme commercials, merchandise that I would have actually bought as a kid, and, now, the return of the Nintendo World Championship. A fierce competition of skill, accuracy, and dedication, the event has gone by the wayside in recent years with less and less fanfare than th...