Author: Boris Bezdar

• [Cleaning the Backlog] Anvil of Dawn

  

  Anvil of Dawn is perhaps not the best dungeon crawler ever made, but it’s undoubtedly one of the most streamlined and accessible. As one of the evolutional peaks of the genre, the game optimizes its essential aspects while filtering out everything unnecessary, excessive, and burdensome. Additionally, Anvil of Dawn is one of the most beautiful,…

  Boris Bezdar

  30.03.2023

  C:\Games\RPG

  Rpg, gaming, pc games, videogames, dos games, retrogaming, old games, dungeon crawl, Anvil of Dawn

• [Cleaning the Backlog] The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind

  

  The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind is one of those Leviathan games that change a whole biosphere with a single breath; it’s Bethesda’s most impactful game and the inter-generational beacon of RPG design; it’s a game that came closest to being the only eternal game to end all games; it’s a monstrous behemoth of gaming software;…

  Boris Bezdar

  28.03.2023

  C:\Games\RPG

  games, gaming, morrowind, pc games, Rpg, the elder scrolls, videogames

• [Cleaning the Backlog] Abzu

  

  Of course, the audio-visual ensemble is what actually matters in this game. But one can wonder—how far can we go with amplifying the audio-visual component while weakening the gameplay and storytelling aspects and still consider an overall experience a game? Where is the line between a game and a spectacle? Well, this is it. Abzu…

  Boris Bezdar

  26.03.2023

  C:\Games\Adventure

  abzu, adventure, gaming, indie, pc games, videogames

• [Cleaning the Backlog] Blackguards

  

  Blackguards is a good game. But in order to enjoy it, you have to curb your expectations—it’s not a walk in the park that modern game design has made everybody accustomed to.

  Boris Bezdar

  23.03.2023

  C:\Games\RPG, C:\Games\Strategy

  blackguards, dark eye, gaming, pc games, Rpg, tactics, turn-based, videogames

• Ridicule these misanthropic bastards!

  

  Every initiative that potentially undermines living humans has to be stomped into the dust. Ridicule the hell out of corporations and expose the rot hidden under the veil of fancy bullshit. They are already in control of much of our lives—don’t make it easier on them!

  Boris Bezdar

  22.03.2023

  C:\Games\Txt

  ai, automation, gamedev, ghostwriter, labor, luddism, machine learning, ubisoft

• [Cleaning the Backlog] A Plague Tale: Innocence

  

  A Plague Tale: Innocence is an excellent example of the schematic simplicity of decent storytelling in a videogame. You need a central theme enforced by plot and mechanics and an overall focus on this theme. The rest is a technical matter. Of course, the devil lies in the details, and additional layers are necessary to…

  Boris Bezdar

  21.03.2023

  C:\Games\Action, C:\Games\Adventure

  A Plague Tale: Innocence, gaming, pc games, videogames

• [Cleaning the Backlog] BattleTech

  

  BattleTech is a turn-based tactical strategy game in a style known as XCOM-like¹. It has a campaign with a story, an overarching macro-strategic layer with base management and upgrading, complicated tactical mechanics, etc. I won’t talk about all that stuff—it’s all well done and gratuitously playable. The thing that makes BattleTech a god-tier game for…

  Boris Bezdar

  19.03.2023

  C:\Games\Strategy

  battletech, gaming, pc games, turn-based, videogames

• [Cleaning the Backlog] Beneath a Steel Sky

  

  Beneath a Steel Sky is Revolution Software’s Ride the Lighting—a masterpiece in the shadow of the pop icon. I haven’t played Broken Sword for quite a long time, and my memories may be blurry, but I consider Beneath a Steel Sky a much better game overall. The reason is perhaps a bit ethereal, for it…

  Boris Bezdar

  16.03.2023

  C:\Games\Adventure

  adventure, beyond a steel sky, dos games, pc games, point-and-click, retro games, scummvm

• [Cleaning the Backlog] The Banner Saga Trilogy

  

  I doubt my screenwriting teacher ever played The Banner Saga, but he would definitely like it. He always said that the best scripts don’t pity their heroes—the best drama happens when you put characters in horrible need and then make it even worse. The Banner Saga agrees with this wholeheartedly—initially grimdark setting gets darker with…

  Boris Bezdar

  14.03.2023

  C:\Games\Strategy

  gaming, pc games, strategy games, the banner saga, videogames

• [Cleaning the Backlog] Ascendancy

  

  Ascendancy is not a turn-based strategy game but a real-time one with an active pause. The genre’s usual production-science-food triangle helps build, research, and grow faster. You colonize planets, build ships, meet other races, wage colonization wars, and eventually stop playing. Nothing is pretty much out of the ordinary at first glance. But in contrast…

  Boris Bezdar

  09.03.2023

  C:\Games\Strategy

  4X, Ascendancy, dos games, pc games, retro games, retrogaming, strategy games