Welcome back to Punished Chat, where two friends shoot the breeze about something video game related. For this edition, we talk about the game industry’s unique cycle of hype, why we get so excited, and how we can all manage expectations better.
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.
For this Punished Notes, I’m talking all about Final Fantasy VII Remake. I’ll be delving into some SPOILERS, so you’ve been warned!
As we continue to adjust to social distancing, I took it upon myself to do something fun: catalog every single piece of media I’ve consumed since I began working from home. Strap in!
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It’s been a minute since my last collection of notes, and boy do I have a ton of random thoughts on all the games I’ve been playing! For the first PN of 2020, I’ll do…
With another year down, and 2020 just beginning, it’s time for some resolutions! See how I did against my 2019 goals — plus how confident I am in this year’s ones.
Happy (almost) New Year! To get the festivities started, here are my favorite games of 2019 (including a few standouts from years past).
For those of us who love, play, and appreciate video games, the end of the year is especially exciting because everyone gets to give us their Game of the Year lists. But why do we do these lists? Why do we care? Why should anyone? For this edition of Punished Chat, I spoke with this very site’s David Silbert about how we approach making our own lists, what we value, and why they exist at all.
From a game design perspective, God of War (2018) knocks it out of the park. Yet while the elements that make up its story are touching, the way the emotional story beats hit the player largely contradicts the actual gameplay of the experience. The end result? The whole game feels worse than the sum of its parts.
I have some strident political views; they’re always evolving, but they’re never muted. In Obsidian’s The Outer Worlds, I’ve been challenged to re-evaluate some of those views, and in interesting ways.