February…the shortest month but the greatest month??? I don’t know. For us, it was pretty great! We had Kiss Week, a five-day celebration of smooches which was so nice we think we’ll do it again next year! We also had some amazing content from our team of extraordinarily talented writers. Oh and Apex Legends and Anthem were released within 14 days of each other and wow were y’all excited about those or what?
Kiss Week
Kiss Week was born when I offhand referred to the week of Valentine’s Day as “Kiss Week by Fanbyte.” Shockingly, it was as well-received as any spur-of-the-moment garbage that has ever come out of this mouth. I’ll take it! This was a great excuse for our staff and team of writers to pull out all the stops on everything having remotely to do with love. We even threw in an impassioned letter to Activision Blizzard following their heinous 800-person layoff. My personal favorite? Avelene’s piece on Dragon Age romance had writers at BioWare discussing their psyches on Twitter and that’s good enough for me!
- The Five Worst Dates in Dragon Age
- The Troi Who Cried Worf
- Equipped: Scorpion’s Big Valentine’s Day
- A Love Letter to Prince Sidon
- Kiss My Ass, Activision Blizzard
Reviews
February had some major releases, none more surprising (or important, imo) as Apex Legends. This scrappy battle royale underdog stole the hearts of this office and it seems like it’s still making quite a splash, turning into the #2 (or #1, depending on the day) game in the genre overnight. We’re starting to review TV shows and movies, too, starting with Netflix’s Umbrella Academy. Our reviewer liked it a bit more than I did, but I am a sucker for dancing to Tiffany in my childhood bedroom.
Lists
Wow, we really went all out on lists in February, holy smokes. I was going to keep it to five, but I couldn’t. I even wrote a few that appeal to basically .03% of our readership, which is a great way to grow a web site dot biz.There are a ton of highlights, but I have to give it up to Steven’s ranking of Apex weapons in order of how well he can remember their names. Honorable mention goes to the extremely timely piece about dispelling union myths.
- Wargroove Factions Ranked By Puppy Cuteness
- Ranking of Keyblades by Similarity to Key Versus Blade
- Preferred Coffee Orders of the Apex Legends
- Ranking All Seven Copies of Final Fantasy IX I’ve Owned
- 5 Things to Prepare in the Tiny PUBG Frying Pan
- The Worst Times for Your Parents to Walk In During A JRPG
- 5 Myths About Unions Dispelled
- 7 Ways Anthem Freelancers Are Like Real Freelancers
- The Apex Legends and Their Vanderpump Rules Counterparts
- Apex Legends Weapons Ranked By How Well I Remember Their Names
Features
February was really an embarrassment of riches if you want insightful commentary on everything from esports to horror prestige TV to the very 2019 moods of Drakengard. My personal choice from February? The first three parts of Gretchen-Felker Martin’s (welcome, by the way!) look at Channel Zero. Also, that fucking nightmare up there with the Boss Baby. Wow.
- What If Kingdom Hearts Was DreamWorks?
- The Fight For Endless Childhood In Candle Cove
- Eating Grief In No-End House
- Insanity, Class, and Cannibalism in Butcher’s Block
- Space Gone Mad: An Interview With Void Bastards’ Cara Ellison & Ben Lee
- Why Drakengard 3 Is The Perfect Game For Our Troubled Times
- Growing Up In Mob Psycho 100
- The Curious Case of Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine
- Why There Will Never Be a Good Lord of the Rings Video Game
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uEPHMwy5GY
Media
I’m adding a Media section going forward because, surprise, we’re making more video and podcasts! That’s fun! Our podcast, Fanwidth, really hit its stride in February. My pick this month is the premiere of Tinker, which focuses on the history of the video game jump. Ryan also goes into the mechanics of jumping, which is unfamiliar to me on a personal level!
- Tinker: The History of Jumps
- Disney Characters Who Will Never Appear in Kingdom Hearts
- Blocked: Celeste in LEGO Form
- Here’s the Lore: Destiny 2 & Mara Sov
- Fanwidth: A Fanbyte Podcast
Microreviews
We’ve turned microreviews into more a curated affair. I think it works better. My favorite was Fanbyte’s official review of Kingdom Hearts 3 by way of observation.
Guides
This month, it was all about Apex and Anthem. There was other stuff, too. Barely. My favorites? Our “what does X not tell you” guides for both of those guides. So helpful in a pinch!
- Smash Tier List: Updated for Feb 2019
- 10 Things Apex Legends Doesn’t Tell You
- Apex Legends Tips for Titanfall 2 Vets
- Apex Legends Havoc Guide
- 9 Things Anthem Doesn’t Tell You
- Anthem Temple of Scar Guide
- Anthem Stronghold Guide: Masterwork Gear & Loot Farming
That’s all for February 2019! Have a great March!
