merritt k Aug 17, 2022. 2 minute read
Nuts and Bolts: Bravado in Hard West 2
Turn-based tactics games necessarily abstract the chaos of battle. Sometimes, though, the you go-I go rhythm is a little too basic, and so developers introduce mechanics to disrupt the proceedings. One of the most common of such mechanics is “overwatch,” which allows units to sacrifice their turn in order to…
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merritt k Aug 17, 2022. 2 minute read
How Crank 2 Inspired Destiny 2’s Arc 3.0 Update
I never saw Crank 2: High Voltage, the sequel to one of Jason Statham’s most ludicrous action films. In the original, his character has to keep his adrenaline up by any means necessary to slow the effects of the deadly poison in his body. For the second outing in the Crank cinematic universe, he…
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NEWS
merritt k Aug 17, 2022. 1 minute read
Arc 3.0 is Adding a Hunter Blink and Titan Dash in Destiny 2
Bungie released some details on the changes coming to Arc subclasses in Destiny 2 next season today, and there are a whole lot to cover. Here, I want to specifically talk about the movement tech that Hunters and Titans are going to receive when Arc 3.0 drops next week. Since…
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NEWS
merritt k Aug 16, 2022. 2 minute read
I Watched a Two Hour Video to Understand the Story of Tekken
I’ve never been much of a Tekken fan, to be honest. As a kid, I always preferred the colorful sprites and over-the-top action of games like Street Fighter to Tekken‘s more subdued combat. I’ve only played Tekken 7, and while I enjoyed it, I just felt like there was way too much there —…
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merritt k Aug 16, 2022. 1 minute read
Get Treasure Keys for the Updated BXR-55 in Destiny 2 This Week
We’re into the last week of the Season of the Haunted in Destiny 2, and beyond a short little exchange in the H.E.L.M. there’s nothing much to do while we wait for the launch of whatever season 18 is. If you want to get prepared for the next season, though, there’s…
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NEWS
merritt k Aug 16, 2022. 2 minute read
How to Not Have Skin Like Kiryu Yakuza
Dunkey just put out a new Yakuza video, one of my favorite genres of his, and it reminded me of a piece I wanted to write way back when I first started at Fanbyte and played Yakuza Zero. I never finished that game or got that far into it, but something…
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merritt k Aug 15, 2022. 3 minute read
Month of the Week: September 1993 in Games
I was still in single-digits back in 1993, and I don’t think we even owned a game console yet. We had a Game Boy that my parents had picked up for cheap at a yard sale, and I’d played some games on a borrowed NES, but beyond that I don’t…
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merritt k Aug 15, 2022. 3 minute read
What’s Up With Those Horny RPGMaker Games on Steam?
If you’ve browsed Steam for any amount of time, you might have spotted some titles on the New and Trending lists that appear to simply be hastily-made RPGMaker games, only with anime boobs. Maybe you left it at that — or maybe, like me, you were curious about who makes…
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merritt k Aug 12, 2022. 5 minute read
A Brief History of Pinball Spin-Off Games
Pinball has been around much longer than video games, so it makes sense that developers and publishers who were looking to extend their market reach in the 90s and 2000s might build off of successful titles and characters by basing pinball games on them. Sometimes, this meant actually licensing out…
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merritt k Aug 11, 2022. 1 minute read
The Legend of Acrius Sweep is Coming to Destiny 2
The Legend of Acrius is maybe one of the least-used Exotic weapons in Destiny 2. It’s a short-ranged Power shotgun that dates back to the earliest days of the game, and while it can be fun to blast groups of enemies with it, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a single…
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NEWS
merritt k Aug 11, 2022. 1 minute read
Several Exotics Are Getting Anti-Champion Abilities in Destiny 2
There’s a new TWAB up detailing sandbox changes coming to the next season of Destiny 2, and wow are there a lot of them. Seemingly every weapon archetype is getting some form of tweak, many of which are intended to improve underperforming perks and abilities. One notable change is coming to…
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NEWS
merritt k Aug 11, 2022. 1 minute read
What Does “New Adventures Available” Mean in Destiny 2?
If you play Destiny 2, you might have occasionally seen a message pop up on the side of the screen noting “New Adventures Available.” If you started playing in the last couple of years, you might not have any idea what this message actually means. “Adventures” aren’t referenced anywhere in the…
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GUIDES
merritt k Aug 11, 2022. 2 minute read
Throwback Thursday: Designasaurus Was Part Art, Part Dino Sim
When I was in elementary school, we had a modest computer lab full of machines that ran MS-DOS and a number of “edutainment” titles, some of which I’ve already discussed in this column. One that hasn’t yet come up is Designasaurus. In part, that’s because for years I had only a…
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merritt k Aug 10, 2022. 1 minute read
Two Falls is an Upcoming Narrative Game Set in 1600s Canada
Not many games are set in Canada, and fewer still are set in Canada’s past. But the upcoming narrative title Two Falls (Nishu Takuatshina) is looking to change that. Set in 17th Century Canada, the game explores the perspectives of two characters: Jeanne, a shipwrecked girl from the French colonies, and Maikan,…
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NEWS
merritt k Aug 10, 2022. 3 minute read
How Should Destiny 2 End?
Endings aren’t something we often talk about when it comes to live games. But everything ends, and presumably Destiny 2 will wrap up at some point before the heat death of the universe. Now, that’s going to involve a lot of angst over servers shutting down and other logistical issues, but today…
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FEATURES
merritt k Aug 10, 2022. 2 minute read
The Dads Who Became Obsessed With Games Then Quit
A few months ago, I wrote about my dad’s favorite games. When I posted that piece on Twitter, I asked my followers to tell me about their dads’ favorite games. A curious phenomenon emerged — that of the father who briefly became obsessed with a certain video game and then never touched…
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FEATURES
merritt k Aug 9, 2022. 4 minute read
Games in the Rear View: The Retro Obsession
At some point over the last decade, I stopped looking forward to games and started looking backwards. I don’t know when it happened, but the shift is real — I’ve been writing a column about educational and freeware titles for the past few months, and I was doing a streaming…
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merritt k Aug 9, 2022. 3 minute read
The Most Relaxing Nintendo Switch Games
Gaming is a land of contrasts. Sometimes, you’re looking for a nail-bitingly difficult experience that demands all your attention. Other times, you just want to vibe. Here, then, are some of the most relaxing Nintendo Switch games out there, for when you’re just looking to chill out and have a…
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merritt k Aug 8, 2022. 3 minute read
The Best Games About Cats for International Cat Day
It’s International Cat Day, distinct from Caturday I suppose, so here’s a list of the best games about cats. Yes, cats appear in a lot of other games — I could have included Animal Crossing, or Skyrim, or even the recently re-released Darkstalkers, but these are games where you primarily play as or…
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merritt k Aug 8, 2022. 4 minute read
Month of the Week: November 2002 in Games
November is typically a busy month for video games, as publishers scramble to release their titles for the holiday buying season. 2002 was no exception. The Xbox and GameCube had hit stores a year earlier, with the PlayStation 2 having been around a while already, and all three consoles were…
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