Koei Tecmo’s GUST Studios is back with a new spin on its Atelier franchise, in the form of Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout. As a total newcomer to the series, I decided to share my thoughts on Atelier Ryza ahead of its October 29 release.

Mortal Kombat is known for its brutal, over-the-top violence. Despite my familiarity with the series, I’ve never stopped and thought, Wow, they staggered away from that? That looked costly. That is, until today. Armed with little more than a selection of YouTube videos, a really shady-looking Google Search history, and a passable knowledge of human anatomy, I hope to uncover the medical costs, or “Kosts,” of Mortal Kombat 11’s Fatal Blow mechanic, ranked by character from least to most damage dealt.

It’s been over half a year since I visited the busy halls of PAX East 2019. Despite some extensive coverage across all four days of the trade show, there’s one game I just can’t stop thinking about, months later: the upcoming action-adventure indie Sparklite.

It’s no secret that anime game adaptations tend to be mediocre, but fear not! Here are some of the finest “traditional” video games that, with an open mind and a little ingenuity, you can find for your favorite anime.

Mango wins The Big House 9, and the Melee community rejoices. On Mango, Melee, and what it means to love a game that seems eternal and forever.

Welcome to the latest Punished Notes, a series of my always-evolving and rarely consistent thoughts on the video game world. For this latest edition, I get into how Gears 5 criticizes military superpowers, the lovely remake of Link’s Awakening, and the annual joy of pumpkin-flavored stuff (happy fall)!

I would like to introduce the uninitiated to Over the Garden Wall, a cartoon miniseries for all ages that is best watched huddled comfortably around a screen, wrapped in a cozy blanket, as the slow-roasted warm tones of the changing leaves outside are lost in the darkness of night and stolen away from their trees by the cool, crisp autumn air.

Welcome back to Punished Chat. In this edition, I spoke with The Punished Backlog founder David Silbert to discuss the difficulties trying to manage our gaming backlog, how writing about games has changed how we play and what we play, and how there are too many damn RPGs we’ll never finish.