I see Tetsuya Nomura’s series, “Kingdom Hearts,” as a Gordian Knot. It may have started out as a beautiful story about a child learning about the responsibility he was given seemingly by chance, but, through a deluge of convoluted storytelling over 13 years, it has become a twisted knot of storytelling fans believe to be unsolvable. This confusing story embedded in the cheerful plot driven by satisfying gameplay has been the muse and joy of many dedicated fans over the years. For this reason, some have concluded that this game is truly unreviewable and should not be attempted.  I, for one, have no issue trying anyways. What follows is a boy that grew up with the Kingdom Hearts series trying to explain why he enjoyed the eleventh game in the series...or is it the tenth?

​Five years ago, two friends sat down to talk about games using the PlayStation 4’s new Live From PlayStation feature. Little did they know that half a decade later they would have one of the most loyal and positive communities on Twitch, and that their dedicated group of viewers would help make a dream a reality.

If you’re here, there's a good chance you already know who Andrew is. Not only is he one of the co-hosts of The Level Up Show, the weekly gaming talk show that made The Level Up Network into what it is today, but Andrew is a genuinely awesome guy who recently quit his job to begin streaming full-time. While that is usually a big choice, it's made even bigger by the fact that Andrew also has a family to support. It is certainly an understatement to say that making this change to full-time streaming is a bit risky, so before it happens,  I wanted to get Andrew's thoughts on the journey so far, the excellent community that he’s brought together, and everything that’s about to happen when his journey finally kicks off on January 14th.

​After decades of being made fun of, Aquaman was reimagined in Justice League. The stern blonde King of Atlantis was nowhere to be found, with a rebellious and loud new version of Arthur Curry in his place. Love or hate the change, this new version of Arthur has been positioned as the DCEU’s Aquaman. With that in mind, we can assume some of the goals for the Aquman solo film were to further change public opinion on the character, and to prove that this different version of Arthur was a wise decision. Luckily for viewers and fans, it does both of those things, as one of the best things about the movie is the titular hero himself. Arthur is consistently funny and likable, providing a great contrast to the typical Atlantean royalty. His fight style is unique and extremely entertaining to watch as well, and the well-shot action scenes do an outstanding job of showing that off. Further, his relationship with Mera and the clear chemistry between the lead actors stops this from being like the first Thor movie, as every moment Aquaman and Mera share is a blast to watch. The movie is not without its flaws, however.

While they look great, the villains don’t come close to being as intriguing as the heroes and remain very one-dimensional antagonists from beginning to end. The film is also as formulaic as a superhero movie can be, and every twist can be seen coming ahead of time. Rather than being issues contained to part of the movie, they persist throughout the entirety of Arthur’s adventure to become King, and the problems do hold the movie back from being something special. Regardless, Aquaman is a good movie that is worth a watch in theaters. It may not be perfect, but its strengths do outweigh its flaws. Atlantis is visually gorgeous, the heroes are excellent, there are plenty of laughs and the action is awesome.

It certainly isn’t at the level of Infinity War, Black Panther or Into the Spider-Verse, but that’s okay; Aquaman is still a quality film that prioritizes fun over everything else.

For a score and a full review (with spoilers), keep reading!

It is no secret that Marvel animation has been lacking for years, falling far below the bar set by DC’s consistently great animated films. Since the success they found in the 90s with X-Men and the original Spider-Man series, the only legitimately great piece of Marvel animation has been the short-lived Spectacular Spider-Man series. Into the Spider-Verse has changed that.

The film offers a brilliant take on the origin story of Miles Morales, as well as a memorable version of Peter Parker that feels new, something that is hard to pull off after decades of storytelling. Every other spider gets time to shine, and there could not be a better place for them to do so than in this film thanks to the mind-blowing animation. Backed by a fitting soundtrack and featuring some stellar voice acting, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is a must-see. The film is clearly aimed at hardcore fans since every scene has fan service, but Into the Spider-Verse is so well-made that even those who know nothing about the web-slinger can enjoy it. This is exactly what Spider-Man movies, and superhero movies in general, should strive to be.

For a deeper review (with a few spoilers), keep reading!

​Fallout 76 is Bethesda’s most controversial launch in years. It contains many of the same flaws present in the other Fallout games, only to a greater extent. When combined with some new issues and a multiplayer focus that a large portion of the fanbase found disappointing, both critics and fans gave the game mediocre reviews. The game’s weak critical reception has impacted its sales, with Fallout 76 already being dropped to $40 for Black Friday deals. Some gamers wanted 76 to fail and are happy to see it having such a rough launch (a stance I find to be truly pathetic), whereas other players are simply disappointed in how the ambitious game turned out. Then, there are those that expected a typical messy launch from Bethesda and are enjoying the game despite its lack of polish. I didn’t truly dive into the game until this weekend, but based on everything I had read about it, I was curious to see where I’d fall on it.

After playing Fallout 76 all weekend, I have my answer...

​With the original four episodes of Castlevania being widely praised as the best video game adaptation thus far, there has been plenty of hype around the followup season. While the short but sweet original run worked as a prologue that introduced the characters and set up the story, this season fully delves into the grim world and makes great use of its eight episodes. Both the protagonists and antagonists receive an amazing amount of development, and every action scene is clever and intense. With beautiful animation and stellar voice acting, this series does just about everything right. Though the third season’s antagonist is underdeveloped compared to the rest of the characters, Castlevania’s second season is a masterpiece. From hardcore fans to newcomers, this is an easily digestible show that deserves a watch.

For a full review (with spoilers), read on.

​​When Black Ops 4 was first revealed, there was plenty of controversy around the lack of a singleplayer campaign. Many news sites and gamers feared that the content would be lacking without one, but thankfully, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Black Ops 4 is the most content-filled Call of Duty ever made, and every bit of that content is quality. There are three times as many Zombies maps on disc as there were in Black Ops 3, and all are wildly different from one another and just as deep as can be expected from Treyarch. Multiplayer offers fourteen maps and some terrific new game modes, and with smart changes to the core mechanics, COD’s trademark gunplay feels better than ever. Finally, the most popular COD developer has proved why they’ve gained so much trust through Blackout, Call of Duty’s take on battle royale. Together, these three excellent game modes make for the best multiplayer game of 2018 and the best Call of Duty in years.

For a full review, read on.

​With the devastating collapse of Telltale, the fate of The Walking Dead’s final season was unknown. Thankfully, Skybound Entertainment has stepped in to finish the season with assistance from former members of the story-focused video game studio. While this is certainly good news, the reality of the situation is that many talented developers lost their jobs, and gamers have lost the main source of modern adventure games.

It’s fitting, then, that the final episode of The Walking Dead developed by Telltale represents the greatest strengths and biggest weaknesses of their games. Suffer The Children has moments that genuinely feel like filler, and it. sets up a story that The Walking Dead fans have seen time and time again. However, it remains enjoyable due to several strong character moments.

For a full review (with spoilers), read on...

​I enjoyed the first season of Iron Fist more than most, but there was no denying that it was deeply flawed. The writing was cheesy, the villains were weak, fight scenes fell flat, and all the flaws came together to make for a boring show and a boring lead character. Danny Rand fared a bit better in The Defenders, but he still wasn’t reaching his full potential. Questions soon came up as to whether it was Finn Jones as an actor that was holding Iron Fist back, but I never saw it that way. Still, Iron Fist was running out of chances. Thankfully, things finally took a turn for the best when he made his cameo in Luke Cage. With better writing, Danny seemed confident, relaxed, funny and badass. He might not have had the costume, but he finally felt like the Iron Fist from the comics that everyone was dying to see. That episode had me excited to see more Iron Fist, and it proved that the character was worthy of another chance.

So, here we are; Iron Fist season 2. Are things better this time around or does the sophomore season prove just as lackluster as the original? Read on to find out!

With his most recent appearance in the gaming world being the second of two weak movie tie-ins, it’s been far too long since Marvel’s most iconic character has been featured in a great game. From the moment Insomniac’s take on the web-slinger was revealed, however, it was clear that their mission was to change that. Every interview and every piece of information release made it clear that the studio knows what makes Spidey special, and that that they’re fans themselves. It’s no surprise, then, that a game made by fans for fans turned out to be so phenomenal. Insomniac’s Spider-Man nails every key feature, from the combat to the traversal to the characters. It’s visually stunning, a blast to play, and nails both the serious and comedic story moments. Whether you’re a hardcore Spidey fan, or someone just looking for a great game to play, Spider-Man is something you absolutely need to pick up.
 
For a full, spoiler-free review, read on. ​

Written by Rick Warren / gfn21​

It’s been just under a year since I last wrote about PlayStation’s trophy system. Given that it’s such a huge part of gaming for me, I wanted to discuss it again, so... here we are. Last time, I talked about how Trophies were the best achievement system in gaming, and how easy it was to get addicted to earning trophies because of that. While I still stand by that outlook, it’s worth noting that even the best systems can be flawed.
 
On the off chance that someone from Sony is reading this, know that this is nothing but constructive criticism from someone who has dedicated a huge part of their life to getting trophies. I love hunting for them whenever I’m playing games, and I only want that hunt to get better. Without further ado, here are some key things I’d like to see addressed. ​

Written by ALFA_OverloRd

This game had been on my wishlist for a GOOD amount of time, and it finally went on sale for 75% off, and when I bought it, I completely forgot about it. Then I figured out around 3 months later that it was in my library, and I dove into it.
           
Dungeon Souls is a dungeon-crawling RPG rogue-lite, featuring a top-down bullet-hell combat system, equipped with appealing pixel art and a very fitting soundtrack. Seriously, some of these tunes are just great.
           
​You choose 1 of 10 classes to dive in for the run, and are dropped into baby-easy mode for the first few floors. Gold and materials for the Arcane Forge (more on that later) litter the floor as you wipe out any and all opposition. Crushing simple melee units in the palm of your hand and harvesting their XP to get stronger for the future battles, it truly is a satisfying time.

When We Happy Few was first revealed, it immediately caught my eye with its Bioshock-like tone and art style. Since that first trailer, though, I tried to keep myself in the dark on the game. I avoided every bit of info from its early access run in hopes to go into We Happy Few completely blind, and I succeeded in doing so. I was ready to see the game that came out of that awesome first teaser. What I found upon playing was and an incredibly interesting setting, and quite possibly the worst running game I’ve ever seen. I loved exploring and finding new details about the world of Wellington Wells, but after nearly every discovery, I was met with bugs, long load times and crashes. The story was intriguing and many of the quests were fun, but the clunky gameplay and weak AI held them back. For every strength We Happy Few has, there’s a weakness to match it. Perhaps the game will be worth a playthrough down the road after some patches, but sadly, right now it’s too much of a mess to recommend to anyone.

For a full review, read on.

Telltale’s The Walking Dead series has certainly had its ups and downs. While the first two seasons that focused on Clementine were excellent, recent efforts like the Michonne spinoff and A New Frontier have seen a steep fall in quality. The Final Season makes Clementine the protagonist once again, and while that’s a smart choice, I’ve struggled to get excited for the last episodes of the series. Taking the focus away from Clem for so long took my focus away from the series, and it’s hard not to feel burnt out when the past two seasons have been mediocre. Still, I’ve always loved the character of Clementine. I gave the first episode a chance because of that... and I’m happy to see that The Walking Dead is back on track. The first episode is well-written, the new cast is already more likable than the characters from A New Frontier, and some smart improvements are made to the Telltale Formula. The end of Clementine’s journey is off to a strong start, and for fans of the first two seasons of The Walking Dead, it’s a journey worth experiencing.
​
For a full, spoiler-packed review, read onward.

Written by Jose Gonzalez

It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s a….family of superheroes? That’s right, the Parr family from The Incredibles films have finally transferred into LEGO form in the newest creation from TT Games. So strap yourselves in for an adventure with a wacky family with wacky abilities who work together to stop crime.
 
What’s different about this game in contrast to other movie-tie-in LEGO games is that it starts with the second film rather than the first. For the most part, the game follows both movies faithfully tying in major characters, scenes and battles so if you’ve seen both movies, you basically know what’s going on and even if you haven’t, you’re getting the crash course on what happened in both Incredibles movies so it’s like you’re playing the movies without having to actually go see the movies.

​Taking place in between the events of Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War, Peyton Reed and the rest of the creative team behind Ant-Man and The Wasp had complete freedom when it came to how to tell this story. The result is a fun and heartfelt film that feels more family friendly than any other MCU entry and places the focus on its female lead rather than its male one. In many ways, this pays off, as Evangeline Lilly is wildly charismatic as The Wasp, and her goal in the film is personal rather than world-ending. Plenty of the humor lands, and while there aren’t many fight scenes, they’re all well-choreographed and fun to watch. The villain is surprisingly interesting, too. While it’s great that the movie focuses on The Wasp, its title implies that its other hero has a big role too. That... isn’t really the case, as with a few tweaks Ant-Man could have been left out of the story altogether. With the movie being a personal journey for The Wasp and Hank Pym, Ant-Man joins much of the cast in the sense that he never feels necessary for more than bringing laughs. Ant-Man and The Wasp is a good movie, but this is a big issue that stays from beginning to end.

For a full review (with spoilers), read on!

​It’s been well-over a decade, but the sequel to Pixar’s phenomenal film about a family of superheroes is finally here. Even with such a long wait and a tremendous amount of hype having been built up over the years, Incredibles 2 delivers in every way. The animation is some of Pixar’s very best, with the action scenes being intense and gorgeous. Every joke in the film lands, with Jack-Jack stealing the show in terms of big laughs. While all the members of the Incredibles get a chance to shine, focusing on the return of Elastigirl makes for a well-paced and well thought out movie. Incredibles 2 is a near-perfect film that works for all ages, and it’s an absolute must-see on the big screen.

For a deeper, spoiler-packed review, read on!

When Solo: A Star Wars Story was first announced, there was a general confusion as to why it was happening. It didn’t seem like a necessary story to tell, as it would be impossible for it to escape from being predictable. On release, that belief has proven true. Solo is fun and entertaining at times, but unbelievably predictable from beginning to end. While many of the actors are great in their roles, nearly every new character is killed off in ways that are anything but interesting. Due to this, Solo amounts to being nothing more than an okay film. If you aren’t a huge Star Wars fan, it’s fine to give this one a pass and catch it on Netflix down the road.

For a Spoiler-Filled Review, read on.

​While the inaugural season of Luke Cage was solid, it saw a steep drop in quality after the early exit of Mahershala Ali’s Cottonmouth. This season, the writers had to go an entire season without the excellent-but-underused villain and prove that the show could survive without the character. Thankfully, they did just that. The cast is given good material to work with, and they take it a step farther with their great performances. Supporting characters like Misty Knight and Shades get interesting subplots, and Bushmaster, the new antagonist, is particularly brilliant. Most importantly, though, Luke Cage himself is more interesting here than in his previous appearances. While it does suffer from having too many episodes and more than a few slow scenes, Luke Cage season 2 is still a must-watch for Marvel fans.

For an in-depth and spoiler-heavy review, read on.

​Developed by: DONTNOD
Release Date: 6/5/2018
MSRP: $59.99 USD
Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, PC (played on PS4)

​Written by Rick Warren / gfn21

Set in post-war London during the year 1918, Vampyr puts players in the shoes of Dr. Jonathan Reid, a brilliant doctor-turned-Vampire. His journey consists of two major tasks: finding the Vampire who gave him eternal life and rescuing London from a deadly epidemic. With the story accompanied by action-oriented combat, a detailed open world, and a unique morality system, Life is Strange developer Don’t Nod has completely left their comfort zone with Vampyr. The resulting product might not be the best game of this year, but it’s certainly the most interesting one.

The future is here…the future is now. What if androids could service your every need, want, and desire? What if androids replaced humans? What if androids could develop human emotions, thought and logic and fight for their own freedoms and rights? The story of Detroit: Become Human explores all three of these simple, but philosophical questions along with a lot more and the context in the grey.
 
In Detroit: Become Human, you play as three androids: Connor, a straight-laced by-the-book android investigator; Kara, a simple housekeeper searching for a better life, and Markus, an android escaping to unite other androids against the system. While all three androids have different ambitions and goals, each story is defined with depth, meaning, sorrow, and every emotion in between and everything else dependent on player choice and how he/she wants the story to go.