Tag Opinion

Civ VI: Gathering Storm Quick Review

Carr Nyuli Leave a comment

‘Member when I said I was going to try getting my review for Civilization VI: Gathering Storm out within a week or two of launch? Yeah, that…obviously didn’t happen. Going back to the “I can play Civ VI for three or four games and then I get turned off it for a while” thing I’ve mentioned before, my latest turn off partway through my first Gathering Storm game. I haven’t played in over two months, and as such, I don’t feel super confident in doing a full-fledged review. I do want to (finally) get it out and get on to new business though, so I’m going to play a little bit and get out a quicker review than I’d normally do. Continue reading “Civ VI: Gathering Storm Quick Review” →

Losing Should be an Option

Mark Barry Leave a comment

As long as games have existed there has been the looming potential for loss. Whether it’s letting one too many pixels slip by, tripping on a wayward koopa shell, playing against a button spamming Raiden, or taking a few too many bullets to the sponge – you die, you fail, you lose, game over. Most games don’t really address losing or dying – you simply reset, respawn, and move on; this I feel is a missed opportunity and designers could find ways to embrace loss in their games. Continue reading “Losing Should be an Option” →

The Things I’m Most Excited For in Civilization VI: Gathering Storm

Carr Nyuli 3 Comments

I was…less than impressed with Rise & Fall, the first expansion for Civilization VI. I’ll probably get into it more later, but long story short, it did too much to take you down from the path you wanted to go down. I may even turn it off the next time I play Civ VI, I haven’t decided yet. Continue reading “The Things I’m Most Excited For in Civilization VI: Gathering Storm” →

The Fun of Playing Through Failure

Carr Nyuli Leave a comment

This may be my first article for Novus, but if you know me from RUL, there’s probably something you know about me: I absolutely love historical strategy games. The Civilization series is the big one, but I’m also partial to the games produced by Paradox Interactive, like Europa Universalis IV, Crusader Kings II, and Stellaris. Okay, that last one’s not really historical per se, but whatever. Thing is…I’m not super great at some of them. Continue reading “The Fun of Playing Through Failure” →

The Power of Atmosphere

Tyler Bourgaize Leave a comment

Whilst my internet was recently out for a week I did a number of things I don’t normally do: rip out & replant a whole garden, socialise outdoors with friends, and revisit countless games I thought I’d played to death. You’ll be pleased to know I’m going to be talking about the latter.

Atmosphere is the most powerful element of any story-driven game, but also the most commonly overlooked. In a world where changing game mechanics and drama over design philosophies hogs the limelight, we seem to be missing the “soul” that brings life to so many outstanding titles. Continue reading “The Power of Atmosphere” →