Alan Wake 2 is a storytelling masterpiece in gaming, blending horror tropes seamlessly into its narrative. The game offers a thick atmosphere, deep characters, and intertwined storytelling with Control. Although reliant on callbacks to previous games, it delivers exceptional combat, pacing, and an enthralling story, making it a must-play for fans of the series and new players alike.
The Five Night’s at Freddy’s (2023) (Blumhouse) movie has been released and with it a new story in the FNAF universe has been added. The movie, taking place in its own universe, follows the story of Mike Schmidt as he just tries to work as a night security guard at a local abandoned pizzeria. The movie is not canonical to the games and resides within its own canonical universe. Easter eggs, focused around the security cameras in the game, have tie-ins relating to the games, but the story doesn’t mirror the games. The story of the FNAF movie focuses on survival horror of Mike, Abby and Vanessa in the pizzeria, surviving the ghosts within the animatronics both mentally and physically. We’ve got full spoilers on the entire story along with the ending below. If you’re looking for game lore, check out our Ruin’s Ending Explained. Our summary is condensed to…
Lore and worldbuilding have the power to ignite passion in players and fuel an immersive experience. At their best, lore-driven games create a sense of mystery and discovery that motivate players to explore each part of the world. However, some recent games have exploited lore and ambiguity primarily as a marketing tactic, rather than using it to enhance gameplay or build meaning. This phenomenon highlights the need for more balanced, player-centered design. When developers commit to transparency and ethical practices, lore can be used to strengthen community trust and craft impactful stories. But that depends on valuing immersion and artistry over profits alone. We’ll dive into the history of lore focused games, what happened and where to go from here. This is all inclusive of the entire indie scene, even if there’s a heavy emphasis on mascot horror. It makes the best example and we’ll avoid referencing mascot horror to…
There’s a lot in the world of Final Fantasy. I mean a lot. There are a total of 13 mainstream non-MMO games and a ton of spinoffs like the Crystal Chronicles, Tactics, etc. I’ve recently gone on a binge of replaying some of the older titles and it’s made me go huh – how would you even get started in the series. If you started for instance at FF8, it would be so confusing. I wouldn’t think much of the series. I started with FF1 and FF3 (US) and skipped until 10, 12, and then went back to 7 and 8 which made them all make a lot more sense than if I just started with 7 or 8. So I’ve put together my thoughts on the best order to play and various issues with some of the games. These are my opinions and are not universally shared. For some,…
SIGNALIS is sort of an enigma of a game. It’s a great recapture of the feeling of the “5th generation” era of gaming and is actually a lot of fun. While its considered a survival-horror game, its more akin to an action-stealth game like Metal Gear Solid and less like Resident Evil per se. However, it has a very interesting, wild and convoluted story that needs a bit of explanation. Another thing to note is a three person team worked on this game. I touch a bit on this in my article about meetings at video game studios, but a lot of the game is clearly intentional from a development standpoint. Which is why SIGNALIS feels so buttoned up. SIGNALIS Is an Analog Horror Simulator That’s it, that’s as simple as it is. Everything in the game is built around a dream like experience of that 5th generation era of…
For those of you who have ever worked a job that had any kind of meeting this may actually resonate differently than those who haven’t. When video games are developed there are, surprisingly, a lot of meetings that occur. When we’re talking meetings we’re talking a lot of meetings. So many meetings that it’s actually kind of fascinating to think about. None of the below is really applicable to single developer games that don’t utilize outside contractors. Single developers naturally work entirely alone on their own game and purchase / generate all the assets and resources themselves. Single developers who contract out work still have meetings, interestingly enough. Meetings and Video Games So there’s a lot of cooks in the kitchen. You have the product team, that’s the developer and the game designer along with their associated analysts and support staff. You have a technical team that’s got a considerable…
FAITH is a homage to retro gaming and The Exorcist with a deep story, diverse gameplay, and rich lore. The trilogy follows John Ward’s battle against demonic possession and eldritch horrors. In the final installment, he confronts the cult’s activities and faces pivotal choices. The game combines horror tropes, offering a nostalgic and immersive experience.
Five Nights at Freddy’s Security Breach is the first 3D action survival horror game in the FNAF series. You take on the role of Gregory who wakes up inside of Glamrock Freddy in a Pizzaplex that is in a state of chaos. We’ve compiled some tips below to help you survive the night along with how to obtain the game’s various endings. The biggest tip of all is to understand that the game is linear but not completely linear. Areas are gated past passes that are only given out at certain times and in certain areas. However, how you upgrade Freddy and how you proceed can be completely up to you. You can see your available missions anytime on the watch. Scott Cawthon retired which means that the series is moving on now with him taking a less hands on approach. However, it’s very clear in Security Breach that Steel…
Dead by Daylight is a 4v1 puzzle / horror / pvp / stealth / many other things game in which a killer fights a group of four survivors in an endless loop. The survivors to win have to activate generators to open the exit or find the escape hatch to win while the killer simply needs to either end the game by killing everyone or at least scoring a single kill for a positive message on the game over screen. The best killer to play is the one you love playing the most. They all are effective in doing what they do in some way or another, depending on how skilled you are. Wraith has a boring kit and isn’t all that powerful out of the box, but a well skilled Wraith player is going to do extremely well with it due to the stealth and tracking. You can check…
GTFO claims it’s a hardcore game right in the introduction and it is very, very hard. There is a lot that can instantly take out your team. The honest best advice is to either start the game as four newbies and learn as you go or have someone teach you with zero expectations of getting anywhere in the game as you aggro an entire map worth of enemies from just trying to move around. It’s currently in early access and light on content, but what is there is beautiful and nearly cruel in how hard it is. It’s a steal, co-op, survival horror shooter so have fun with all of that. Remember, it’s way better to win with a melee hit in stealth than to try and do anything else in this game. Without further ado, here are some tips to help explain how not to die together instantly in…