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Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town Review: Tourist Trap

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Review based on patch 1.01. My first foray into the original Harvest Moon series (now called Story of Seasons) was a title called Friends of Mineral Town - a remake of a 20+ year old game. It stayed faithful to the original, to the point that it was basically the same game with a new coat of paint. That is all well and good for nostalgia seekers, but for me it was too dated and bare-bones compared to what you expect from the genre today. After being let down by Mineral Town I never thought I would touch another Story of Seasons game, but then Pioneers of Olive Town went on sale. Unlike Mineral Town, Pioneers of Olive Town is a completely new entry in the series, so it includes many of the quality of life improvements pioneered by other games in the genre, most notably Stardew Valley. The player's farm is now highly customizable, and there is better automation and ways to grow plants out of season. You no longer need shears or a bucket taking up precious inventory space to m...
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Music to Level Up Your Day: Monster Hunter Wilds

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I don't know much about musical theory, nor am I a musically inclined person. However, I do love to listen to video game soundtracks. They can be a powerful listening experiences in their own right, or be as evocative as the scores composed for film. Each of these posts will feature a sampling of music tracks from a single game title, or series/franchise in some rare cases. A complete list of these can be found on the Video Game Music page. Composer: Miwako Chinone North American Release Date: February 2025 A guild of Hunters is surveying an area thought to be uninhabited when they discover a boy lost in the wastelands. The boy was separated from his people when a monster known only as the "White Wraith" attacked the village. This event prompts the Hunter's Guild to launch an investigation into the region. The Nature Of A Beautiful World | (Main Theme) The Lord of Ice | (Jin Dahaad Theme) Earth-Piercing Bolt | (Rey Dau Theme) Ebon Hellfire | (...
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Harvestella Review: A Stellar Hodgepodge

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Harvestella is a visual novel-RPG hybrid with strong thematic influences from Nier: Automata and a tiny bit of the farming sim genre mixed in. The storyline isn't terribly complex, but is an odd mix of fantasy, science, and religion whose logic can be hard to follow, particularly near the end when several plot threads come together. Adding to the confusion is inconsistent wording, such as referring to the planets archaically as stars and at other times just as planets. For those interested in how strange the lore can get and don't mind spoilers, here is a summary of the plot, or at least the best I could make of it: AI (called Seth or Omens) were entrusted with the salvation of the dying human race (because humans couldn't figure out how to save themselves or something). All the humans were put into hibernation aboard a space-station while the AI abandoned Earth (called Lost Gaia in-game) to focus on terraforming the moon (called ReGaia) using four Seaslight (giant ...
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Ghost of Tsushima Review: Is Beauty All That Matters?

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Review based on patch 2.18 In 1274 a Mongol fleet led by Khotun Khan invades the Japanese island of Tsushima. Lord Shimura and his nephew Jin Sakai, lead five noble clans against the invaders, but all fall to the Mongols superior weaponry. Shimura is taken captive, and Jin is rescued by the thief Yuna, who teaches him her ways. To save Tsushima, Jin must choose between following the samurai code to fight honorably, leading to countless deaths, or by using practical but dishonorable methods that will minimize the casualties. The narrative is a straightforward tale that is fairly compelling, but not terribly deep. I'd be hard pressed to recall the names of any of the main cast. Too often it falls into the trap of having someone die in almost every mission - whether it makes sense or not, so you just start expecting it and emotionally distancing yourself from the characters. This made 'shock events' like the deaths of Taka and the horse fall flat. The story does a fairl...
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Paleo Pines Review: Bare Bones

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Review based on patch 1.4. The focus of this 'cozy' ranching game is more about dinosaur collecting than farming, which is done primarily to earn money. To tame a dinosaur the player needs to lure it near by playing its 'Friend Song' - a series of colored bubbles. Not only does the order of the colors need to be right but the 'loudness' of each note as well. The player then needs to move the needle on a 'Friend meter' into the green zone by feeding and soothing. Too far in either direction and the tame will fail. Once in the green, the player then needs to feed the preferred Poppin (cake) type or the tame will fail. Even feeding the correct Poppin will not always result in an immediate tame, so the process may need to be repeated several times. I imagine children may struggle with this system. Every animal has two skills: wild (Sprinter, Slasher, Discoverer, Smasher, Stomper) and farm (Waterer, Tiller, Clearer, Harvester, Tender) - that will assi...
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Starsand Review: Dunes Of An Arcane Desert

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Story: There is a story to this game but it is murky. From what I could gather: Space people wielding cannabis-powered guns, travel to a desert planet where they are worshiped as gods by the native people for introducing cannabis to the planet. At some point everyone has to evacuate to Earth because sand worms have become too much of a problem. The protagonist may be a native that rediscovered the portal, or they may be a time traveling space-person. It's unclear. Gameplay: The player starts out as a marathon runner caught in a sandstorm (likley inspired by Mauro Prosperi ). They take shelter in an old building and emerge to an alien desert with Earth animals. It's an odd mix of survival game and walking simulator that tries to imitate the feeling of being stranded in the desert by having nothing but sand all the way to the horizon. Landmarks are rare. There is no compass. The only save points are the ones the player crafts themselves, and the map is a blank sheet o...
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Borderlands 3 Review: Give It A Chance

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Review based on patch 1.29. I went back to Borderlands 2 after finishing 3 just to compare the two and couldn't believe how much better Borderlands 3 looked and felt. Gun-play is smoother and punchier. I loved the design direction, new customization options, and being able to switch between elements on the same weapon. Each brand has its own gimmick and enemies have more of a reaction to getting hit. The environments are gorgeous and more varied compared to its predecessors. I had put off playing Borderlands 3 for years after hearing about its abysmal characters and poor performance. Apparently Gearbox managed to salvage this one with patches, although my play-through wasn't without a few hiccups here and there, and at least one crash. After producing a legendary villain like Handsome Jack, I knew whatever came afterwards probably wouldn't be as good, and the BL3 twins are... unique. They are purposefully written to be cringe streamers that went from a life of compl...
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