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In video games it's the off the beaten path, random places that stick in my memory, not the boss fights or the big set pieces. I wanted to share a few of those locations with you here today. These are a handful of the hidden nooks and seemingly desolate areas I've come across that ended up making a game feel immersive and lived-in. Elwynn Forest's Hidden Gnoll Community As the starting zone for human characters, Elwynn Forest is where most Alliance players began their journeys back in 2004 and 2005 (me included). It has its share of random, mundane locations, from the odd wolf's den, to the meandering river bordering the haunted Duskwood, and the roving hordes of bears and Defias inhabiting its eastern edges. What I want to focus on here is something I truly only discovered playing the 20th Anniversary Edition of Classic WoW. Namely, the gnoll society built up around the northern end of Stone Cairn Lake. It may seem improbable for some...

John Wolfe's Thumbnail For His "Best of 2022" Video As an avid consumer of YouTube content with a vested interest in gaming, it should come as no surprise that many of the people I subscribe to are gamers like myself. However, I typically followed people who produced longform video essays, and avoided the "let's play" genre like the plague.  Around 2021 I began to come across let's play videos focusing on horror games. Now, these are not games I like to play myself (I get scared easily in games). But I enjoyed seeing others play and to take in their reactions. It was difficult though, at first, to find someone authentic to watch. Why? Because the horror game let's play genre is dominated by fake personalities and contrived spectacle. Creators build entire brands around exaggerated jump-scare reactions, face-stretching thumbnails, and a relentless volume of slop designed to play with the YouTube algorithm.  While commercially successful, this trend cr...

I had a good time with the Mists of Pandaria remix. I'm having an even better time with Legion remix. The original Legion expansion is widely considered to be one of the best in WoW's history, and this sense of nostalgia has been perfectly combined with the frenetic power fantasy gameplay remix mode is known for. The question you might be asking is whether it's worth playing. I think it is, and here's why. Why is Lemix So Addictive? Beyond all the mounts and transmogs, the success of the remix mode comes down to its core gameplay loop. Is the moment-to-moment experience actually fun? Is it compelling enough to keep you logging in day after day? In the case of Legion remix, the answer is a resounding yes. Lemix absolutely nails the core experience in several key areas that make it incredibly addictive. For many of us, playing through Legion remix allows us to return to a storyline that many of us fell in love with years ago. And if you are like me, you likely never even ...

  When Sid Meier's Civilization VII launched in early 2025, fans were decidedly lukewarm about it. Instead of universal acclaim, Firaxis faced a deeply divided community and a persistent "Mixed" review score on Steam. Complaints ranged from technical bugs to fundamental design choices that alienated long-time fans. But now, with the release of the massive November "Tides of Power" update and the holiday sales season upon us, I'd like to approach the obvious questions: Is the game finally fixed? And if so, is it worth buying? This breakdown analyzes the game's tumultuous launch, dissects the sweeping changes of the latest update, and delivers a clear verdict on whether it's time to finally add Civ 7 to your library. Part I: Why Civ 7 Divided Fans To properly evaluate Civilization VII today, we have to understand its state at launch. Upon release, the community verdict was harsh. Players critiqued the game as buggy, with a clunky user interface and a g...

There has been a lot of excitement and confusion lately surrounding the new game, Where Winds Meet. The online buzz is undeniable, typically citing the game's visuals and the promise of a sprawling Wuxia martial arts fantasy. Yet the hype belies the questions that many are asking: What kind of game is this? Is it a true Massively Multiplayer Online RPG (MMORPG) in the vein of say, World of Warcraft? Or is it a single-player epic reminiscent of Ghost of Tsushima? Or, is it something else entirely?  The ambiguity is understandable. The game presents itself as a sweeping open-world adventure, a deep sandbox RPG, a high-octane action game, and a hub for complex social and multiplayer systems. In this article we will try to deconstruct this hybrid model to determine what this game truly is, and what kind of gamer it is targeting.  Part I: An Ambitious Single-Player Epic with an MMO Endgame Where Winds Meet is a free-to-play, open-world action-adventure RPG set in 10th-cen...

Earlier this year, conservative gamers waged a "culture war" against Assassin's Creed Shadows. Ubisoft's decision to feature Yasuke, an African man who served a 16th-century Japanese lord, had prompted a debate over historical revisionism, racial representation, and corporate media agendas. Let's begin by discussing who exactly Yasuke was, as well as his significance. Historical accounts drawn from Jesuit letters and Japanese chronicles like the Shinchōkōki (The Chronicle of Lord Nobunaga) state that Yasuke arrived in Japan in 1579, accompanying the high-ranking Jesuit missionary Alessandro Valignano.  In 1581, during a visit to the capital, Yasuke's presence caused a sensation that drew the attention of Oda Nobunaga, the era's most powerful warlord. Fascinated by him, Nobunaga took Yasuke into his service, bestowing upon him a Japanese name, a residence, a stipend, and a sword. Yasuke remained in Nobunaga's retinue until 1582, when he fought for the O...

Alright, this is going to be a quick article relating to my first impressions of The Outer Worlds 2. Perhaps in the future I'll give a full review, but at around 7 hours into the game I wanted to provide you all with my snap judgment and clear up some possible misconceptions I've seen in other reviews of the game. Also, this will be free of spoilers. I won't bury the lede here. This is a much better game than the original. As the title suggests, the general feel of the game, to me, is nearly exactly like that of Fallout: New Vegas. Similar to New Vegas, I bought The Outer Worlds 2 on a whim and hoped for the best. And like New Vegas, I've been a bit blown away by what is on offer here.  This game is literally the New Vegas formula wrapped in Unreal Engine 5, replacing the post-apocalyptic western themes for those of science fiction. That alone might convince some of you to want to play, but allow me to expand on some of the other aspects I've noticed.  A common refr...

Yesterday we learned that Amazon's mass layoffs have essentially killed the MMORPG New World, despite its recent Season 10 update bringing in a wave of fresh interest from players.  Personally speaking, I was an early adopter of New World . It released in the middle of the pandemic (September 2021 to be exact), and I remember looking forward to getting to experience a new big MMORPG at a time when in-person social interaction was still mostly restrictive. I bought it on release, even though I only had a laptop with a weak graphics card at the time.  Although I had to run the game at a stutter-filled 30-40fps on low settings, I enjoyed my time with it. Did it have its flaws? Certainly. I believe I've even described them earlier on this very site. Chief among the flaws were the lack of an endgame, the generic quests, and nonsensical lore.  But it did have a number of strengths, including its skill system, fun crafting, and action combat. My favorite aspect of the game was t...

Nintendo games are notorious for never going on sale. So if you buy one, you should know going into it whether it's your cup of tea. I enjoy many of Nintendo's games, from Mario Kart and Pokémon, to Fire Emblem, Xenoblade, and Animal Crossing. I've even enjoyed the two open world Zelda games (despite disliking the prior Zelda games). The only title in Nintendo's recent lineup that I didn't enjoy much was Super Mario Odyssey. Why? I'm not a platformer person. While it's fun in small doses, I don't really like entire games built around it. I also am not fond of puzzles. If I have to play a game with platforming and puzzles, then I want it to have good combat or quality voice acting with an engaging story. Super Mario Odyssey checks none of those boxes for me personally, although I acknowledge its strengths: slick gameplay, precise movement, and creative use of imagination.  I figured I would give Donkey Kong Bananza a try, despite having been lukewarm with...

  Editor's Note: This article reflects a talk given by then-Assistant Professor Caitlin Rosenthal in 2017. Her most recent work, including the book discussed below, can be found here . For UC Berkeley professor Caitlin Rosenthal, the history of capitalism will remain impenetrable as long as we continue to provide weak definitions for capitalism. Though countless scholars have tried to define capitalism, no clear definition has been settled on. In her new book Accounting for Slavery , Rosenthal hopes to change that, and argued as such in her talk. One of the premier historians of capitalism, Rosenthal fielded questions about the arguments at the center of her forthcoming book. Put simply, she contends that nineteenth century southern plantations need to be studied as businesses, much as northern factories are, in order to better understand capitalism. For Rosenthal, capitalism is about commodification. As such, she argues that the commodification of slaves allows us to better unders...

The original 3DS XL came out in 2012, following the release of the 3DS in 2011. In the age of PS5 and Switch 2 it can be easy to forget about the 3DS. Released in 2011 to replace the aging DS, the 3DS promised a new era of gaming featuring a glasses-less 3D screen. And yet, early on there was little promise of success. I remember thinking about buying a 3DS in 2011, only to decide against it after witnessing the thin lineup of games available, the limited 3D function, and how weak the system was graphically (about on par with the much older PSP). However, as time went on, I began to appreciate the 3DS more. I eventually was gifted one for my birthday, with my first games being Pokémon Black, Chrono Trigger, and Mario Kart 7. Over the years my collection of 3DS games grew to incorporate titles like Pokémon X and Pokémon Moon. Then in 2016 I put my 3DS into semi-retirement, where it gathered dust in a drawer most of the time, the exception being when I had the urge play Pokémon. I redisc...

It's been years since Bioware produced an industry-defining roleplaying game. I am one of the few who really enjoyed Mass Effect: Andromeda and Dragon Age: The Veilguard, but even I can admit that those two games paled in comparison to the trilogies that came before. It's a shame, because Bioware defined so many of our childhoods with games like Knights of the Old Republic, Jade Empire, Dragon Age: Origins, and Mass effect.  Through the years we have seen a number of studios attempt to take up the "Bioware mantle," which I would define as being "the best studio at creating high production value choice-based western role playing games."  Among the more famous contenders for that mantle are Larian, Owlcat Games, CD Projekt, and Obsidian. There's also the lesser known Spiders though, and it's their game, GreedFall, that is the subject of this review.  The old Bioware's strengths lied in its ability to craft engaging dialogue, complex companions, mem...