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Final Fantasy XIV: First Impressions in 2020

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Breaking News: Yesterday the devs revealed that FF14 is raising the free trial’s level cap from 35 to 60, as well as adding the whole base game, the Heavensward DLC, and all related races, classes, and content permanently free to play. This is the best opportunity to try this game out if you’re on the fence! Two months ago my boyfriend asked if I’d be interested in trying Final Fantasy 14. The coronavirus had completely zapped all semblances of a social life outside the confines of our apartment, and the rest of our local friend circle had already subscribed just… [Continue Reading]

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A Fortnight in Minecraft

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Many many years ago I wrote a Second Life Journal. Now I have a “First Life Journal”; my first life in Minecraft, that is. Yeah, I’d actually never played Minecraft until now. I owned it (got it for free as part of my work on the Will Wright MasterClass) but I’d never seen a reason to play the actual game until I found myself craving a super simplistic survival game with an easily-installable nude mod. ElRiatas’ Diary (I’m legit not sure where the game found that character name. Was it procedurally-generated?) Day 1: I spawned deep in the jungle and… [Continue Reading]

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Rocket Arena: Closed Beta Review

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One of the perks of attending GDC 2019 with a Media badge was that they added me to some sort of mailing list that’s been receiving press kits and closed beta offers ever since. I usually stream said closed betas on Twitch, and every so often one of them leaves a real impression and really makes me look forward to when said game comes out. Rocket Arena hit the latter category with aplomb. Rocket Arena is a mobility-based arena FPS where the players have Super Smash Bros-style health bars. If you take too much damage, you’ll get blasted into the skybox… [Continue Reading]

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The Respawnables – Mobile App Review

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Last year I vacationed in Scotland with my family, and it was an awesome trip! I got to see so many amazing sights and take a break from all the routines I’d settled into, but some habits didn’t die easily. I confess I suffered minor withdrawal from not having any Team Fortress 2 to play for three whole weeks, especially when stuck in a hotel room after an exhausting day of hiking the highland countryside. Luckily I found a free-to-play cartoony mobile shooter called The Respawnables, and it scratched that itch until I was back in the states. As that title screen… [Continue Reading]

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First Experiences playing Payday: The Heist

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One of aabicus’s favourite games is Payday: The Heist. He’s been pestering me for a while to get it and play it, and finally, one month later, in a spur of the moment thing, I find myself abruptly thrown into my first heist. While aabicus is streaming. Cue me asking lots of questions. But really, apart from asking what’s going on, Payday: The Heist is a lot, lot simpler than the sequel. All you do is choose weapons, a bag, a perk and some cosmetic stuff. Then you start the game and go on a big heist. Our first heist… [Continue Reading]

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