Category Archives: game review

Video Game Review: Hollow Knight

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Looking for a new game to play? Try 2016’s indie Metroidvania: Hollow Knight by Team Cherry. In this game, you play as a silent protagonist known simply as the Knight. You start off with nearly nothing but slowly grow to be the strongest bug in the kingdom of Hallownest. You collect permanent upgrades like the wall jump, dash, and double; that will help you to discover new areas. There are many different areas in Hollow Knight that make the game feel fresh and interesting, like the lush, verdant landscape of Greenpath, the never-ending downpour of the City of Tears, and the gleaming gems of the Crystal Peak. 

Every area of this game feels extremely atmospheric and immersive. The music is elegant and uses lots of instruments that are considered to be reserved only for classical music. You have probably heard some Hollow Knight music before without realizing it because it’s often used as background music in lots of videos online. The art style is charming and the gameplay feels very natural. The combat and platforming is easy to pick up and quick paced. There are a lot of unique enemies and bosses for the player to discover and battle.

You can also customize the Knight to your play style with the use of charms; equipable items that give you a perk. You could make builds that focus around the use of the main weapon, the nail, or you could create a powerful mage build that specializes in casting spells. You could create a build that allows you to summon allies to fight on your side, or you could make a build that covers your defenses. The player receives a massive amount of customizability and can adapt to any situation with the right charms.

I won’t spoil it, but Hollow Knight has lots of little bits of lore for the player to find and piece to get her as they dive deeper and deeper into the kingdom of Hallow Nest. When the pieces come together an amazing story is revealed and adds even more purpose to your main goal. After the goal is complete, there’s still lots of content in the game. The average player typically gets a completion percentage of around 50-60 out of 112. That’s right, the completion percentage goes up to 112 because Team Cherry, being the best devs ever, decided to add not one, not, two, not three, but four free DLCs for the game, after it came out. They were actually going to make a fifth one but it was taking so long and growing to be so big, that they decided to make it a sequel to Hollow Knight. It’s called Hollow Knight: Silksong and you know it’s going to be good when they have been working on it for five years at the time of this. 

So, why not try Hollow Knight? It’s got an immersive atmosphere, magnificent music, dense lore, intuitive combat, insane customizability, and a planned sequel that has been five years in the making.

Hades Video Game Review

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Video games have been an admittedly large part of my life, and so has Greek mythology (I mean, my name is literally Artemis), so a game that combines both is bound to be one that I like. Hades is probably my favorite single-player game, and I want to share it with y’all!

Hades is an isometric hack n’ slash rogue-lite game available on macOS, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One and Series X/S, PlayStation 4/5, Windows, and Netflix Games. The goal is to make it out of the Greek Underworld by getting through different rooms and defeating enemies. The game has no checkpoints and you lose almost all of your resources and progress if you die, but it’s a lot less frustrating than you might expect. That’s because there’s a lot of permanent upgrades that can make the game easier over time!

There are four types of currency: Charon’s Obol, Darkness, Gemstones, and Nectar. They’re all used for different types of items, but Charon’s Obols can be used for upgrades within your run, while the other three are used outside of your run to give you permanent character upgrades, or for trades between the currencies or for other artifacts.

The gameplay is very fun and interactive. You can use one of six different weapons with four versions of each. This along with the different boons from each god can really switch up how you play in each run. I usually just use the Varatha and get a ton of boons from Zeus and Ares, and Athena’s Dash boon if possible and mash buttons, but you can play in a ton of more engaging ways. It can be very difficult at first, but it gets exponentially easier as you unlock more permanent upgrades.

So if you like action-filled single player video games, I would highly recommend Hades. It’s a great roguelike with good theming and very fun gameplay.

Hades is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library.

Video Game Review: Celeste

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Looking for a hidden gem among video games? Celeste is a platforming game created in 2018 by the indie studio Maddy Makes Games, and it’s a strong choice for gamers ages 8 and up. In this game, you play as a mountain climber named Madeline. The mountain is actually a metaphor for overcoming self-doubt and anxiety. As you climb the mountain, you face another aspect of Madeline’s personality that tries to stop you and you must learn to work with her if you want to reach the summit of Mt. Celeste. In this way, the game’s story arc is a metaphor for self-acceptance. 

One of my favorite aspects of this game is the exceptional music. As you play through the game, you listen to an amazing soundtrack composed by Lena Raine. Lena Raine’s music was so good that she got to create a few songs for one of the most popular video games in the world: Minecraft. 

Celeste also boasts quite a lot of content with a full 9 chapters to dash your way through. 8 of the chapters 3 even have harder versions called B and C sides. This game also has lots of collectables like strawberries, hearts, cassette tapes (for unlocking B sides), and golden strawberries (for beating a chapter deathless). As you play, you can work to obtain these with the game’s incredible movement techniques and physics system. 

The physics are buttery smooth throughout the game; Madeline always feels very responsive and precise when going for any jumps. She can jump, climb, and dash in 8 directions once after leaving the ground. The dash can be used once again when landing on the ground, which allows for lots of fancy ways to combine dashes and jumps to make Madeline fly across the screen. You start off with all of your abilities already unlocked but the game introduces new obstacles and mechanics each chapter to keep variation. Celeste’s visual design is very atmospheric and has lots of depth. All of the art is done in a pixelated style that fits in perfectly.

If you’re looking for a game with emotional depth, great music, and striking visuals, I definitely recommend Celeste.

Genshin Impact

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I’ve been playing Genshin Impact for a year, and I learned this. Genshin Impact is a free-to-play open-world action role-playing game developed by miHoYo. The game has gained a massive following since released in September 2020.

The game’s story revolves around Teyvat; players take on the role of a traveler who sets out to explore the vast world. Along the way, they encounter new characters and solve mysteries surrounding the seven elemental gods.

The stunning visuals in Genshin Impact are striking, and it’s one reason it attracted so many players. The world is colorful and vibrant. The developer uses cel-shaded art style, aka anime, bringing it to life, making the player feel like they are in a living anime world. The impressive details in the game’s environment and the characters’ designs make this game fun to watch. The game’s visual effects during combat scenes are entertaining to watch.

Genshin Impact is both engaging and challenging. Players must be skillful in using elemental attacks, dodges, and skill usage to defeat enemies and progress through the game’s story. Each character has unique abilities and elemental affinities that can be combined for catastrophic effects.

The game’s world with multiple regions to explore, and each comes with many challenges, puzzles, and enemies. The game’s quests and side missions are exquisite, with interesting flawless characters to interact with and uncover stories.

Every game has its downsides, and this game is no different. One of the game’s downsides is its gacha system, which randomly turn-off for some players. Players progress through Genshin by acquiring new characters and weapons, which can be obtained through the game’s gacha system and grinding for in-game currency. A player can still play the game without spending any money.

Genshin Impact is an impressive game with a lot of content for its free-to-play model. The stunning visuals, engaging gameplay, and the big world make it worth checking out for any RPG fan. Be forewarned, this game can be addicting, and you might want to set a limit when playing, so you don’t waste your whole day doing nothing but gaming.

Happy Gaming!

Bella H

Lichess

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If you ever run out of things to do, head to Lichess.org to cure your boredom. Lichess.org is an online platform where users can play chess against other players to develop a higher rating or just for fun through the Casual game mode. 

On Lichess, you can create or join a chess match and play a random opponent. You can select which mode of chess you want to play, as Lichess has many different creative chess games, which aren’t all the traditional way of chess. You can play Standard chess, along with Crazyhouse, King of the Hill, Chess960, Three-Check, Racing Kings, Antichess, Atomic, and Horde. 

In all of the different chess game modes that Lichess provides, you start with a rating of 1500 and as you win, it goes up, but when you lose, it decreases. If you beat an opponent of a higher rating, then your rating will increase by more, but if you lose to an opponent with a lower rating, it will also decrease by more. 

In the lobby, you can find chess games that others have created, and it will show the game information. For example, if it says 5+3, that means you start with 5 minutes and after every move, you get 3 extra seconds to your game clock. If one side runs out of time on the clock before the game is decided, the other player is victorious. 

You can also “follow” your friends on Lichess and invite them to matches, making you able to play chess with your friends. 

If you ever don’t know what to do, visit Lichess.org!

Subnautica: A Horror Game In Disguise?

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The amazing game of Subnautica is marketed as an underwater survival/adventure game. However, there is another aspect within the game that is not listed: Horror. Horror is an essential component of making Subnautica what it is.

Now, Subnautica does not use jumpscares, or blood and guts like you would expect in any other horror game. Instead, Subnautica uses a few aspects that i will talk and elaborate on.

The first aspect i would like to talk about is the fear of the unknown. The game just dumps you straight into a alien planet you are unfamiliar with right from the beginning. Phychological research has proven that humans have a strong tendency to repel things that they are not familiar with, and sticks with the things they are. This unknown planet aspect causes the player to have thoughts about dangerous creatures they don’t know about that wants to kill them.

The second aspect would be progression. In the game, you have to visit specific points on the map in order to progress further into the game. When you go to the locations, you will already be overwhelmed by the fear of the unknown, but to add to that fear, the developers of the game decides to put the most dangerous creatures in the entire game patrolling the places that you are forced to go to in order to progress further into the story. This will give you a feeling that there is always something big and dangerous chasing you, no matter where you go.

The third aspect is thalassophobia. If you don’t know what that is, it is the intense fear of large, and deep oceans. This aspect kind of overlaps with the fear of the unknown, but it also has some characteristics of its own. For example, if you’re swimming in an ocean on Earth, you can say that there may be a few fishes underneath you, or maybe a few sharks (no biggie right?), but you can be pretty sure there WILL NOT be a giant 100 meter long leviathan swimming in the same waters as you. But on an alien planet? Who knows what will be in the water?

The fourth and last aspect i will elaborate on is ambeince and sound design. It is common knowledge that the deeper you go in the water, the less light there will be, and in Subnautica, you are required to go deeper in order to progress. Now imagine this: You are 900 meters below the surface, your oxygen is running low and you are trapped in an seemingly endless void of dark waters, trying to find your orientation and your submarine. You hear a roar in the distance. You look around, attempting to find the source or the roar, but only to find nothing but pitch blackness. Words cannot describe the amount of fear and panic you would be in. Adding to that scenario, a creepy soundtrack of ambience voices, and faint clicks starts playing. Subnautica has tons of different soundtracks, and theyu are unique to every biome, reflecting the amount of threat the biome posseses. For example, in a safer area, the music would be light, peaceful, and happy. But when ytou start to go into a more dangeorus area, the music wil change into a creepy, and mysterious white background noise.

Obviously, these four aspects i have listed are not the only ones. There are many more that are designed to play with your mind, and to bring fear into you. A beginner player may be absolutely overwhelmed by fear, and may be tempted to delete the game, or try to forget about the game (that’s what i almost did haha), but if you keep playing, you will soon learn to overcome and look past the fear. Once you do that, you will see the true beauties this mysterious planet has to offer.

-Torres H.

Video Game Review: Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet

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Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet were developed by the video game development company called Game Freak and published by The Pokémon Company and Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch on November 18, 2022. They are reported to have sold more than 10 million copies combined in the first 3 days of sales. These games are completely different from all the previous installments in the series and considered the first role playing games in the 9th generation of Pokémon.  

The games have 3 separate story lines, each of which you can explore however you want and in any order you want. These open worlds allow you, the player, to travel wherever you want to, which is a first in a Pokémon game. It seems though that this feature may not have been fully though through, because as soon as you start the game and travel to somewhere far away from where you started, all of the Pokémon are at a higher level and can easily defeat you.

After playing through the game, I realized that there was a designated path that the player should have followed in a certain order. When you do this, in the correct order, then when you get to the higher levels, you are much more able to handle the stronger Pokémon and trainers. A major problem with this new release is the massive amount of performance issues, bugs, and frame rate issues. Many times, textures do not load properly and Pokémon models pop in and out constantly. There are also lighting problems, and crashes happen, more so than normal.

The idea of an open-world Pokémon game is very good in theory. I actually love the idea, but the execution of it did not turn out that well. I really liked everything else that was added into the game. If you look past the technical glitches of the game it is really fun and enjoyable. It’s definitely a different take on past versions of the Pokémon franchise and I do like the direction they are heading with the open world concept. I would recommend this game to anyone who already enjoys the Pokémon games have perhaps played some before and want to move further through the series. However, if you are new to Pokémon games in general, I would recommend that you play some of the other games available in the series prior to Pokémon Scarlet and Violet first, so that you can get a true feel for what the series is really all about and experience the game play that has made Pokémon a worldwide phenomenon.

Subnautica

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Subnautica is a survival game that takes place on an alien planet called 4546B. The planet is covered almost 100% with either shallow or very deep ocean. This amazing game contains many different types of fauna, flora, and locations for you to discover.

It is the late 22nd century, and humans have began to colonize space. The Aurora, the large spaceship you are on, was assigned a mission to construct a phasegate for hyperspeed space travel. While performing a slingshot maneuver around planet 4546B, the Aurora experiences a large energy pulse (basically a laser beam) coming from a mysterious source within the planet. Only half of the 50 lifepods aboard launched, as the other half were completely destroyed. 9 of the 25 lifepods launched made it to the planet, but only one was undamaged. You are the one in that lifepod.

With the backstory out of the way, now lets talk about the game content. After landing in your lifepod, you have to immediately find resources on a planet you are unfamiliar with in order to survive. You can craft many different things with one machine due to the insane technology they have in the 22nd century. In some point in the game, you will receive radio S.O.S. signals from the other 8 lifepods, but by the time you get to the pod, the survivors have already been killed by the planet’s creatures.

In the game, you can craft submarines that aid in you in going deeper into the ocean, which is one of my favorite aspects of this game. However, my absolute favorited thing about this game would be the biology/ecology within it. There are vast biomes that contain many unique creatures and plants that has specifically adapted to that biome for them to survive, from things like fins for them to swim faster, to plants removing pigments due to the lack of nutrients in an area.

Now you may be asking: How do you escape the planet and go back home? Well, you’re going to have to play the game on your own to find out 🙂

I simply cannot tell you every single little thing about the game in this one article because there are just way too many. But there are many different lores and aspects to the story I didn’t cover, so I 100% recommend you to try this game on your own, especially if survival games are your type of thing.

-Torres H.

ESPN Fantasy Sports

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Fantasy Football - Leagues, Rankings, News, Picks & More - ESPNMany of you probably enjoy watching sports, whether it’s basketball, football, baseball, or even hockey. Now, what if I told you that you could have your own virtual team including your favorite players that help you get wins every week? Well, actually, you can!

ESPN Fantasy Sports is an app that allows you to play fantasy football, basketball, or any other major professional team sport in America (except soccer). 

To get started, you just need to create an account with ESPN Fantasy. Then, you can join a random online league and/or create your own league where you invite your friends to join. After creating a fantasy league of your choice, you need to send the invite link to your friends who you would like to join the league. Then, you can arrange a draft time when you and your fellow fantasy players will be able to draft your fantasy team. You can choose any player, from any team, to draft. 

After the draft, you can drop and pick up players onto your roster. You can also do trades with other teams, exchanging players, sometimes multiple at a time. 

I definitely recommend making a fantasy football league when the next season comes around (It might be too late now for this season) as it is extremely popular and fun to play. Since I enjoy basketball, I am also in a Fantasy Basketball league, but I suggest you make/join a fantasy league based on the sports you like. If you like hockey, maybe join a fantasy hockey league. If you enjoy baseball, maybe create a fantasy baseball league. In addition, the WNBA also has a fantasy league, so if that’s something you’re interested in, go for it! 

Fantasy football (and other sports) is one of my favorite activities to share with my friends. Whether it’s negotiating trades, trying to decide which players to choose on draft day, or competing in a neck-and-neck battle between fantasy teams, fantasy is a great way to socialize with friends, while competing at the same time! 

FIFA 22

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Although many people have heard of NBA 2K and Madden NFL, you would be surprised to hear about how less popular another sports-related video game is. FIFA 22 is my favorite video game, despite the fact that I don’t play or watch soccer. So, today I will be introducing you to FIFA, the soccer video game that allows you to play with many (and almost all) professional soccer teams in the world. Whether you want to play with a powerhouse like Real Madrid or a less popular team, FIFA will allow you to use your favorite players and replicate the most thrilling matches! 

Just like MyTeam in NBA2K and Madden Ultimate Team in Madden NFL, FIFA also has a game mode for you to create your dream lineup by collecting player cards. You can purchase these cards through auctions or pull them from packs. This game mode, FIFA Ultimate Team, makes you feel like a general manager! 

In addition, you can create your own player in the FIFA Career Mode. You can choose his height, weight, kit number, team, and position. Personally, the goalkeeper and striker (primary attacker) are some interesting positions I recommend trying in this mode. If you don’t want to create your own player, you can also play as someone who already exists, such as Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi. 

There are other game modes in this video game, too. One of my favorite ways to play FIFA is through Tournament Mode where I get to choose a team and compete in their country’s league (Ligue 1 for French teams, English Premier League for English teams, La Liga for Spanish teams, and more). I like playing with Paris Saint Germain because of their super-team with Mbappe in the middle and Neymar and Messi at the wings. 

In conclusion, FIFA is an awesome game that I wish I had tried earlier than only a few months ago. If you ever need a new game to play, give FIFA a try!