Fantastic Universes

Article by Adam Ray I, like most people who've ever played a game and also has a brainstem, love Hollow Knight . The most charming game about decay and beating your head against the difficulty wall against certain kinds of monsters. The latest successor in that genre may obviously be the hotly anticipated sequel, Silksong . However, I had the pleasure of trying a possible contender at the stunning WASD event. Ultros fills every bill of the Roguelike Metroidvania style of game I've sadly played little, but could see myself truly enjoying. Roguelike of course being the style of game which builds the difficulty wall against its players and Metroidvania being a style of game like Metroid and Castlevania where the entire game is in one grand sandbox game where the map is like a maze that involves a 2d movement across, as well as up and down. This game, much like Hollow Knight  oozes with lore just waiting to be uncovered. This style of play rewards its players for uncovering things ...

Article by Adam Ray Games can encapsulate all kinds of entertainment. It brings in the people who love a rich and detailed story. Some want to wantonly destroy things. However some want to bring people together in wanton destruction. I had the pleasure of playing the most unique game at WASD. Make way for Make Way! Developed by the same delightful people who made A Little to the Left , Make Way is the unlikely love child of Mario Kart  and Ultimate Chicken Horse. The cars are all functionally the same but look great. I chose the one that looked like Adam West's Batmobile. There's definitely an upside to customising your car for certain stats to race better, but this game is so chaotic that it may not matter. As you race, your cars drive through checkpoints that jump you to another screen, giving you options for either traps or hazards. This makes the game effectively procedurally generated and ups the replay factor to many many new heights. There doesn't need to be a grand...

Article by Adam Ray Japanese role playing games, or JRPGs for short, have certain stylistic choices that make them distinct. They have rich lore, anime style in their character design, lots of item management. Little Goody Two Shoes  may not be made by a Japanese company, but they have many familiar takes on the genre, with very new style choices. I got the chance to play the opening beats of the story at WASD, and here's how it went. Little Goody Two Shoes  follows Elise, a girl from a provincial town in middle ages Europe. All she want sis to be prosperous and famous, until one fateful night. She wakes up in a strange palace, and finds herself pestered by the strange monsters that live there. She's thrust into a world of magic and mystery, taking us all on a grand adventure. The artwork is a welcome clash of styles that blend together into the game. The pixelated style of the game makes it feel incredibly retro. There's elements of practical effects in some of the cutscen...

Article by Adam Ray The puzzle game market is vast and diverse. Independent creators are making quirky and innovative games all over the place, with unique ideas rubbing shoulders with the done to death match three style of game. A Little to the Left is one such bold new puzzle game with a welcome set of twists. I got a chance to play it at this year's WASD, and was truly enchanted. Each level is a little bit different, with a new way to organise the things on screen. Each item has a rough spun, homely touch to it because of the direct inspiration the developers had from stuff around their house. Everything about the colour palette and the soundtrack just makes one feel at ease, even in the presence of tricky puzzles. Honestly, the neutral tones, rough hand drawn edges, and distinctly British sensibilities reminds me of indie point-and-click adventure When the Past Was Around . A Little to the Left innovates in many ways on the puzzle genre for peaceful and thoughtful gameplay. I...

Article by Adam Ray As a long suffering fan of the world where one Dungeons their Dragons, I'm definitely partial to a good space where scrappy good guys can be stuck in a tiny and dark map, fighting endless hordes of shambling bad guys of increasing strength and difficulty. The title of Endless Dungeon drew me in right away. I had first heard the name all the way back in the mists of 2020, and after a great deal of iteration, polish, and patience, the game is finally coming to all consoles in 2023. I had the privilege of attending WASD IGN, a room packed to the rafters with the most exclusive first looks at games not set to come out for months. Endless Dungeon has truly embodied all of the elements we know and love from the roguelike genre. The grim lighting and level design and the isometric movements on the map really add to the feeling that you're truly stuck in this far away space station; living, dying, and repeating. The character designs are stylistic and overall look o...

Article by Adam Ray Batman Unmasked is the UK's first event of its kind, an unprecedented collection of Batman memorabilia from the character's long and storied history. Iconic items from across the comics and films were all on display like a museum of the Bat. This is the perfect way to celebrate Batman Day and the 15th Anniversary of the release of Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight . Furthermore, there's plenty for Bat-fans of all ages to interact with. I had a good long rummage through all the treasure, and this is what I saw. The entire space from the outside was decorated like a beacon to Batman. It's one part museum and one part interactive immersion space. The area downstairs is an atmospheric recreation of the Batcave where a mighty, eight-screen Batcomputer shows newsreels from when the Tumbler was in Trafalgar Square, and a glowing podium around rocky cave walls where one could imagine Batman standing, ready to go forth and dispense justice on Gotham Ci...

Superman vs. Meshi Vol. One Writer:  Satoshi Miyagawa Artist:  Kai Kitago Published by Kodansha/DC Comics Released September 5th, 2023 ISBN:  9781779523129 Review by Adam Ray It's a rare but unique treat to get one of the most ambitious forms of comic book storytelling centered around one of the first and one of most prolifically written about characters in the history of comics. Superman has been a god, a savior of our world, and countless planets in the DC multiverse.  Superman vs. Meshi  features Superman in his strangest adventure yet... gorging himself on Japanese food. The title loosely means Superman Versus Food. All seven chapters are structured around Superman flying to Japan and having an enlightened experience by trying discount Japanese food. That's it. That's the plot. The artwork by Kai Kitago is highly stylized, taking heavy heavy inspiration from the wider DC media. The visions of Steppenwolf and the Parademons are straight from Zack Snyder's Jus...