Back again from a long hiatus, I hope to fire off a barrage of takes for all you bozos out there dumb enough to read anything I write about video games (thanks for the clicks and likes, I love you all!). For this edition — the first since November (yikes) — I’ll be dishing out mini-notes and thoughts on Nier: Automata, gatekeeping, and adding a game to my all-time favorite list, plus a bit on working from home (super interesting, I know).
Author: Sam Martinelli
Sam Martinelli
Sam has been playing video games since his earliest years and has been writing about them since 2016. He’s a big fan of Nintendo games and complaining about The Last of Us Part II. You either agree wholeheartedly with his opinions or despise them. There is no in between. A lifelong New Yorker, Sam views gaming as far more than a silly little pastime, and hopes though critical analysis and in-depth reviews to better understand the medium's artistic merit. Twitter: @sam_martinelli.
A Whole New World Yoshi’s Crafted World is not merely another well-crafted (get it?) Nintendo platformer with clever level design, uplifting music, and plenty of extras to collect along the way; it’s the truest imagining…
From Ni no Kuni to Bravely Default, a Discourse on JRPGs It’s no secret that I have a complicated relationship with Japanese role-playing games, but I do find their presence and importance in the video game medium…
What Happens When You Play a Game Decades After Its Height? Here’s something that everyone on this planet has experienced: Somebody is telling you a story with great enthusiasm hoping to elicit a certain response…
Starting off the New Year Right New year, new me! Well, probably not, but I do acknowledge the importance of forming New Year’s resolutions each year, even if I rarely ever make good on such…
Highlighting the Best of an Impressive Year for Games Many have said that 2017 was a particularly special year for gaming, but I actually feel like 2018 was better. Not necessarily in the sense that…
Disclaimer: This game is super long and I have so many thoughts about it, and there’s just no way one article can encompass all of those thoughts. Red Dead Redemption 2 might very well be…
It’s been a while! Life gets in the way sometimes, so I haven’t been able to fire off my blazing takes for nearly two months. For this edition of Punished Notes, I’m doing a big…
Listen up, internet lurkers! Here are some crappy game reviews that you have probably always wanted, compared with my apparently “too political” takes.
Welcome to Punished Notes, a series of articles outlining many of my random thoughts on games I’ve been playing, reading about, or even watching on YouTube or Twitch. This week, I examine the Zelda-like qualities of Okami,…