Since its humble beginnings on the NES, Final Fantasy has left an indelible mark in gaming, and that legacy has held strong for generations. Recently, the mantle of Final Fantasy has suffered from fan disappointment and a development strategy that can’t seem to decide between tradition and innovation. Although I was a tremendous fan of Final Fantasy XIII, the criticisms over linearity and overwrought story were absolutely justified. Final Fantasy XIII-2, only the second direct sequel in the series’ long history, is Square Enix’s apology to fans for the failures of the last game. With a far more open world, towns, and a story line that lets you hop all over at your discretion, Final Fantasy XIII-2 has a lot of changes, but still manages to feel like an incomplete game. Read the full story

You know, for the most part, I’m a modifier kind of guy. When I had my 5th Gen Honda Prelude, I upgraded the intake, the springs, the ECU, the sound system, and more. When I got my first iPhone, it was jailbroken post haste, and each iteration has been ever since (going on four years, now). When I buy a computer, it comes in individual pieces that I put together to my heart’s content. I generally don’t go for the out-of-the-box experience, and recently that’s started being the case for consoles as well. Our 250GB hard drive for the Xbox 360S in the other room is third party, and was a third of the price, and I’ve had my eye on a few other third-party peripherals and accessories for quite some time. One thing that came to my attention recently was the Subsonic Pro Controller Fluo for PS3 and PC. Read the full story

After last year’s Spidey game, Shattered Dimensions, Activision has decided to let Beenox become the official dev team for their games starring Marvel’s famed webslinger. So, does this game prove the choice as a good one?

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When your character looks like he’s jerking off with furious vigor just to recharge your primary weapon, you know you’ve got a gem of a game on your hands. Such is the case with No More Heroes: Heroes’ Paradise, the enhanced PS3 port of the original 2007 Nintendo Wii game No More Heroes. Look, the game isn’t perfect. It had flaws in the original Wii version, and it has flaws still in the HD PS3 version. Flaws aside, the No More Heroes franchise, Heroes’ Paradise included, provides an incredibly violent, immature, clever, and unique experience, which goes a long way towards making up for the technical flaws of the game. Read the full story

Sometimes, it’s hard being a fan of something. As I’ve already demonstrated, I love Tite Kubo’s Bleach franchise. So when I got the chance to play NIS America’s new release, Bleach: Soul Resurreccion, I hoped it would be the ideal gaming experience that this franchise needs. And while I got a lot of good out of it, I also got a lot of personal issues as well.

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I’ve been gaming since around the age of five, and up until last November I thought I had achieved some of the most rewarding and inspiring moments of my gaming life: catching ‘em all the first time, vanquishing Ganon for the first time, the list goes on. But something happened over the course of 48 hours from November 19 to November 21 that easily put all of those achievements to shame and replaced the pride of succeeding and accomplishment with the pride of our medium and community making a difference. Read the full story

I’m going to admit an embarrassing personality trait here, so be gentle…I always choose to play as females in games. There, now it’s out in the open. Read the full story

Guess who is bringing Suda 51′s latest insanity to the west? Why yes, it is Warner Bros. I see you can read headlines.

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Tite Kubo’s Bleach is one of the most popular anime in the world right now. And as it’s an urban fantasy/action adventure, it has a lot of terms and ideas that can be confusing for new people. Since a lot of you may not be up to date on the anime, and with the game coming out in just over a week, here’s your chance to learn about a ton of things that pertain to this universe. Read the full story

There are times when you can sum up a game in one sentence. This is one of those times. If there is one thing to be said about Limbo, it is this. This game is art. Read the full story