Month: September 2024

The original Mass Effect trilogy remains, to this day, an unparalleled sci-fi action RPG experience. But that isn’t surprising considering that Mass Effect was the brainchild of BioWare, the legendary studio that had previously made such PC gaming hits as Baldur’s Gate, Neverwinter Nights, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.

So when the folks responsible for that landmark trilogy spent years lovingly remastering all three games and re-releasing them as the Mass Effect Legendary Edition, a package that included texture, lighting and 4K resolution upgrades, as well as control improvements, bug fixes, and gameplay enhancements, it became the definitive way to play the masterpieces.

So when I saw that the Mass Effect Legendary Edition is currently 90% off—taking its price down to $5.99 in the US and £4.99 in the UK—I thought I would bring it to the PC gaming community’s attention. I’ve played all three remasters, having bought the Legendary Edition at launch, and can confirm that this is the best way to spend a fiver I’ve seen all year. It’s literally hundreds of hours of top-class gaming for very little spend.

As Alan Dexter details in ou…

Music’s at the heart of Final Fantasy 14—the game brims with bangers, sure, but it’s also an irreplaceable part of the game’s story. 

I’ve teared up to the hopeful swells of Dynamis while playing Endwalker, been pumped up by the guitar riffs of Shadowbringers during its roaring climax. Countless leitmotifs course through the game’s soundscape like blood runs through a body’s veins. Don’t just take my word for it, though. Here’s over 200 musicians—organised by youtuber Husky by the Geek—playing the game’s greatest hits for 10 solid minutes.

This medley is a journey through each expansion, kicking off with the ripping Primal themes from A Realm Reborn before swooping into Heavensward, its mighty chanting replaced with electric guitar. “Brute Justice”—a love letter to Super Sentai opening themes—is blasted triumphantly by a guy somehow playing a trumpet through a full-body morph suit. 

The vocals kick in near the end for a victory lap of Endwalker tunes—With Hearts Aligned, Footfalls, and Scream. It’s a crash-course in Final Fantasy 14’s musical history and a love letter all in one.

The medley also has a great li…

If you grew up in the 2000s like myself, you’ll have ploughed through countless Flash games during school hours. The Impossible Quiz, Henry Stickman, Line Rider—all games that kept me and my friends entertained instead of, y’know, doing school work. It’s any wonder that those computers didn’t start blocking Flash websites sooner.

But there was one series of Flash games that I’d play even outside of school hours. The Papa Louie games have a huge place in my heart and that of my friends. The time management sim asks you to juggle various orders from ever-more demanding customers and took me across all kinds of cuisines: Papa’s Burgeria, Papa’s Pizzeria, Papa’s Taco Mia, you get the gist. They sort of died on PC when Flash met its demise, migrating over to mobile. Until now. 

Papa’s Freezeria, the ice cream-themed game in Flipline Studio’s long-running series, now has a permanent home on Steam. Turns out Flipline was teasing its arrival for a few weeks, though I had no idea until this very accurate Reddit post. It’s a more beefed-up version of the original, offering more ingredients, new customers and new features like customer outfits and daily specials.

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“Starfield saved me and my family’s life” reads the title of a Reddit post by u/tidyckilla—complete with picture of a blazing fire overcoming an apartment complex. What at first sounds hyperbolic turns out to be completely true, as one man excited for Starfield since the earliest trademark filing rumors was awake on a gaming binge when a rapidly-spreading fire threatened his home.

“On the night of august 31st I decided to stay up and play as long as possible to experience this new universe. At 2:26 in the morning, while playing the game, I heard an explosion from my downstairs neighbors apartment. I paused my game to see what was happen;when [sic] I opened the door I saw flames rising up our stairwell to our apartment,” said tidyckilla.

“I immediately got my wife and cat, rushing us to safety with only minor burns. If I hadn’t been up bingeing Starfield I would have been asleep and we would have all died to smoke inhalation. I want to thank this game from saving my family and me from a horrible fate,” the post continues.

If this still sounds hyperbolic to you, it’s a very likely scenario. Tidyckilla says the explosion was below them, and his wife di…