A Viewpoint

    The Farcry series of games hold a unique position among the first person shooter genre--blending tactical and Stealth elements with the traditional run-n-gun playstyles which results in both accessible and addictive gameplay experiences that also warrants a huge replay value. But after nearly two decades' worth of Videogames, there's several reasons why the first game in the series, Farcry (2004), is still one of most true-to-form experiences from the franchise and is actually the most Farcry game in the series, both in terms of themes and the overall gameplay experience. And that's what this article is all about.   What makes the Farcry series of FPS' stand out from most other shooters is that these games are characterized by an underlying relationship between the player and the environment, or the world where the game is taking place. In a way, the World becomes a character of it's own, which really drives home the point that the player is stranded in a farawa...

    As many of you may already know, Hideaki Itsuno, the longtime helm and director of the Devil May Cry series has left Capcom several months ago and his departure has created a huge question mark on the future of the iconic hack-n-slash franchise. Itsuno had been with Capcom for over 30 years with several groundbreaking and genre-redifining titles in his belt such as Devil May Cry 3 (which is widely ranked as one of the greatest action games of all time) and Devil May Cry 5 which is still the pinnacle of it's genre after more than 5 years of release, sporting perhaps the most sublime combat system in the history of Videogames. So yes it goes without saying that Hideaki Itsuno is a legend by himself as well.  Of course this raises some serious concerns regarding the future of Devil May Cry cause if Capcom really wanted another game in the series it doesn't make any sense to let Itsuno depart from the franchise as he was an integral part of the franchise for the longest t...

    For a longtime fan of the legendary Pink Floyd, I've always felt that like a lot of other iconic Rock bands, many of their songs sounded even better in Live situations than in the studio especially given David Gilmour's skyscraper Guitar solos which really came to life during live improvisations. And as Gilmour's uniquely melodic and evocative playing comprises a large part of the sonic atmosphere of all Pink Floyd classics--from the poignant Shine on you crazy Diamond to the ethereal Comfortably Numb, it had always seemed to me that the band's catalogue really needed a few live albums that could capture the very best renditions of those classics.   Sure P.U.L.S.E is a great Live Album containing some of the best versions of several of the band's most beloved songs, and Gilmour's extended Guitar solos really take the already great studio versions to whole new heights of musical richness. But even with all the pristine live recordings, there were several reas...

    When I had played the first Dishonored more than a decade ago, it didn't took me long to realize that it was the single greatest Videogame I had played up to that point. I had also written a detailed review of the game describing why it was a Masterpiece in terms of all the metrics of Videogame designs, and still continues to be. Which means if you play the first one even in 2024, it'll blow you away all the same.    And while I couldn't get my hands on Dishonored 2 when it came out back in 2016, I finally got around to several weeks ago and after playing through the game in it's entirety for multiple playthroughs (with both playable characters), it was abundantly clear to me that it managed to evolve and improve on it's predecessor in every single gameplay aspect...just as a great sequel should. In fact, looking at the sheer number of ways developer Arkane has managed to expand on the gameplay of the first one, Dishonored 2 can be rightfully said as one of the...

    One of the things that I truly admire about Bioware as a developer is that they always try to evolve and re-invent their gameplay in each subsequent entries and whereas other developers are more or less content with only adding minor changes to their previously established moulds, Bioware goes all out to overhaul and improve all of the core mechanics' in the most fundamental of ways. And while it's indeed a gamble that does have a hit-or-miss effect in their games, I personally can't help but respect Bioware's evolutionary approach towards gameplay which aims to elevate not just the game itself but the entire genre as a whole.   And while their last entry in the Dragon Age series of games is one of the few titles that actually suffered from this attempt at re-invention, the upcoming Dragon Age Veilguard seems to get this right again in the most optimistic ways possible. Yes I'm mainly talking about the combat which is where Dragon Age: Inquisition had faltered t...

      Disclaimer: Mild Spoilers.   Like most things that go on for a really long time, the Marvel Cinematic Universe too, has it's share of missteps and low points that came mostly after the post-Endgame era (with notable exceptions being No Way Home and Shang Chi). But even in those films that have largely missed what they were going for and turned out to be mostly forgettable, they still had the distinct-MCU flavor and charm somewhere in them and still felt like a toned down version of the same great MCU that had sparked the joy of Superhero films Worldwide for more than a decade.  But it all changes with Deadpool and Wolverine, the latest entry in Marvel's billion dollar juggernaut franchise machine and it basically represents everything that's wrong about the kind of movie factory that prioritizes franchise expansive machinations than just making an earnest and memorable film which is true to it's source materials while still taking things to new territorie...