George Yang

Inverse • 16th November 2022

How to fully upgrade the Blades of Chaos in 'God of War Ragnarok'

sad dad is back to take on Asgard. In God of War Ragnarok, our hero Kratos can use an assortment of powerful weapons suited to any combat situation — and he can learn a variety of abilities to make them more powerful. Kratos’s Blades of Chaos are his original weapons from the older God of War games, and they were reintroduced partway through the 2018 installment. Now, Kratos starts with them at the beginning of Ragnarok.

Inverse • 16th November 2022

'God of War Ragnarok' Gale Flame locations: How to fully upgrade the Draupnir Spear

to have options. In God of War Ragnarok, protagonist Kratos wields multiple weapons that let him handle any combat situation — and he can learn a variety of abilities to make them more powerful. While both the Leviathan Axe and the Blades of Chaos from 2018’s God of War make a return, there’s also a brand new armament that Kratos wields on this adventure.

CNN • 15th November 2022

The PlayStation VR 2 is up for pre-order now, but is it worth the $550?

PlayStation has been one of the leaders in the gaming space in terms of VR. The PlayStation VR headset was relatively affordable compared to more expensive high-tech ones like the Valve Index. It was also a fun product due to PlayStation’s lineup of strong exclusive titles like Astro Bot Rescue Mission and Firewall: Zero Hour.

Inverse • 12th November 2022

How to fully upgrade the Leviathan Axe in 'God of War Ragnarok'

Fimbulwinter is upon us. God of War Ragnarok is the latest game from Sony Santa Monica and the sequel to 2018’s God of War. In this game, protagonist Kratos can wield multiple weapons that let him handle any combat situation — and he can learn a variety of abilities to make them more powerful.

Variety • 11th November 2022

How ‘God of War Ragnarök’s’ Thor Was Inspired by The Hulk

“God of War Ragnarök” is one of 2022’s most explosive video games. Focusing on Norse mythology, the game features the folklore’s most iconic figures such as Heimdall, Freya, Odin, and Thor. Thor, in particular, has received tons of attention due to his prominent role in the game and overall popularity in pop culture. Thor has many layers to him, both physically and emotionally. Variety sat down with narrative director Matt Sophos, art director Raf Grassetti, and voice actor Ryan Hurst to talk about how Sony Santa Monica approached the god of thunder.

Variety • 7th November 2022

‘Sonic Frontiers’ Is Simultaneously Bizarre and Cathartic: Video Game Review

“Sonic Frontiers” was supposed to release in 2021, but it was delayed to 2022 in order to improve its quality. After the two “Sonic the Hedgehog” movie adaptations did well at the box office and received generally positive feedback, it makes sense that SEGA would like the next big “Sonic” game to exceed commercial and critical expectations, too. “Sonic Frontiers” is a crockpot of a bunch of different game mechanics that work just fine individually, but the game itself lacks an overall identity.

Business Insider • 3rd November 2022

God of War Ragnarok review: The sequel doesn't break new ground but it's still an explosive experience on PS5 and PS4

God of War Ragnarok doesn't reinvent the series, but it's still a must-play for any gamer who likes narrative-focused, action-adventure games. Though there are some pacing issues, Ragnarok's stellar gameplay, heartfelt story, and phenomenal cast of characters will likely make it a top contender for many of 2022's Best Games of the Year lists.

GameSkinny • 1st November 2022

New Tales from the Borderlands Review: A Most Disappointing Sequel

Telltale Games released the first Tales from the Borderlands game in 2014, and it received critical acclaim for plenty of good reasons. Its fantastic narrative, charming characters, and amazing pacing made for one of the best games of that year. So when Gearbox announced there would be a follow-up, I was ecstatic. As a long-time Borderlands fan, I hoped that New Tales from the Borderlands would be as magical as its predecessor. Unfortunately, that's not the case.

IGN • 26th October 2022

Star Ocean: The Divine Force Review

Six years after Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness disappointed fans of the sci-fi JRPG series like me, Star Ocean: The Divine Force feels like a long-awaited return to form in many ways.

Los Angeles Times • 24th October 2022

Warner Bros.' 'Gotham Knights' video game blasts open doors for diversity in voice acting

The casting process for the main characters in Warner Bros. Games’ , “Gotham Knights,” started out by being as open as possible during the first round of interviews. This allowed the studio to get a wide pool of talent, but also “so we get diversity in the room,” said narrative director Ann Lemay.

Digital Trends • 24th October 2022

The Devil in Me is the most interactive Dark Pictures game yet

Each new entry in Supermassive Games’ and Bandai Namco’s The Dark Pictures Anthology is incrementally better than the last. Last year’s House of Ashes was the most enjoyable entry I’ve played thus far, as the game had noticeably improved lore and cast of characters. While it would have sufficed to tell another good story in The Devil in Me, Supermassive added one extra twist that makes the upcoming Dark Pictures entry much more engaging than the ones before.

Digital Trends • 21st October 2022

God of War Ragnarok's exploration is already a show-stealer

There’s a lot to praise in 2018’s God of War, but one of its best features came from its semi-open world design. Players could traverse Midgar via boat to discover hidden areas, complete sidequests, and fight new enemies. The more players progressed, the more areas opened up for Kratos and Atreus to explore. After playing about seven hours of God of War Ragnarök, the sequel to God of War, I can tell you that Santa Monica Studio has only doubled down on that aspect.

Paste Magazine • 17th October 2022

A Plague Tale: Requiem Is An Improved Sequel In Every Way

2019’s A Plague Tale: Innocence was a great game that blended fantastical plague lore with the realistic setting of France during the Hundred Years’ War. The direct sequel, A Plague Tale: Requiem, improves on Innocence in almost every single aspect, especially with its expanded variety of settings and ways to approach combat encounters.

Digital Trends • 17th October 2022

Persona 5 Royal is right at home on the Nintendo Switch

Persona 5 Royal is one of the greatest Japanese RPGs of all time and had been touted as a phenomenal PlayStation exclusive — until now. The original vanilla version, Persona 5, hit Japan in late 2016 for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4.

Kotaku • 7th October 2022

Valkyrie Elysium: The Kotaku Review

Square Enix’s Valkyrie Profile series of RPGs has been dormant for quite a while, with the last full-fledged entry being 2009’s DS game Covenant of the Plume. Now, however, a brand new entry has arrived in Valkyrie Elysium, which brings with it a shift from the franchise’s turn-based combat system to a real-time action one. Unfortunately, while that snazzy new combat system can be fun, Valkyrie Elysium is a bit too generic an action-RPG to be the jolt of new life this series deserves.

Kotaku • 30th September 2022

Square Enix Is Drowning 2022 With New RPGs, And We're Here For It

2022 is a great year to be an RPG fan, particularly of Japanese games. The holiday season is usually crowded with new game releases, but this year Square Enix appears to be releasing games like it’s Christmas all year round. With so many out already, and so many more to come, are SE’s profligate ways good or bad for RPG lovers?

Digital Trends • 21st September 2022

The DioField Chronicle review: convincing sequel bait

Square Enix has recently been keen to publish more middle-tier Japanese games, including the likes of Valkryie Elysium, Tactics Ogre: Reborn, and Harvestella, all of which are coming out within mere weeks of each other. The publisher seems to be all-in on new IPs, bolstering its reliable roster of surefire RPG hits. The DioField Chronicle is an important part of that strategy.

Digital Trends • 20th September 2022

The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero review: a standout PSP RPG

Despite being over a decade old, The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero‘s fantastic story still holds up thanks to phenomenal world-building fraught with the political subterfuge and likable characters that the franchise is known for.

Digital Trends • 19th September 2022

Soul Hackers 2 could have been the perfect Game Pass RPG

Atlus created quite a bit of fanfare earlier this year when it announced that the Persona series would arrive on Xbox in October. But that isn’t the only JRPG the publisher had in store for Xbox owners this year. Soul Hackers 2 was a big get for Microsoft, bringing the Shin Megami Tensei style of gameplay to its systems with a fresh release. It launched at the end of August without nearly as much excitement as Persona — Persona 5’s Xbox release date announcement seemed to overshadow Soul Hackers

Tom's Guide • 16th September 2022

Temtem review

Temtem is a strong challenger against Pokémon in the monster-catching genre. The game manages to separate itself by implementing its own twists on a familiar formula, especially in its battle system. There are still similarities between Temtem and Pokémon that veterans will recognize, which might help ease them into the new game.