Sidequest

17/09/2025

"Not all games will benefit from prioritizing strangeness in their narratives or gameplay, but challenging the common conceits for what games can do doesn’t always mean a new mechanic or an intriguing protagonist. Sometimes it’s throwing convention and practicality out the window and just reveling in making us screw up our faces and demand that our friends take a look at what we’re playing." — Melissa Brinks

Read more in Don’t Rein It In: The Necessary, Unrepentant Weirdness of My Horse Prince: https://sidequest.zone/2017/01/19/dont-rein-it-in-the-necessary-unrepentant-weirdness-of-my-horse-prince/

12/09/2025

"Sewers combine the allure of secret underground tunnels with the chance to study old artifacts that have been thrown away and forgotten. These areas often have a strange beauty as well, with the slow drip and flow of water enhancing the dance of the light reflected on the mossy walls." — Kathryn Hemmann

Read more in Seven Intriguing Video Game Sewers: https://sidequest.zone/2025/03/03/video-game-sewers/

10/09/2025

"And as I watched the playthrough again, I recognized an issue that I didn’t think I would have when I played it back then. You spend the vast majority of this game playing for and even lionising the bad guys. Genesis may be a dick, but he’s right. His family did betray him; he was a tool for the evil conglomerate right from the start." — Cress

Read more in Why I Hate Crisis Core: Part II, Jenova Boogaloo: https://sidequest.zone/2023/06/12/why-i-hate-crisis-core-part-ii-jenova-boogaloo/

06/09/2025

"The forest represents a mysterious, forbidden realm or a boundary that cannot be crossed." — Kathryn Hemmann

Read more in Trees in Video Games: https://sidequest.zone/2024/12/16/trees-in-video-games/

05/09/2025

We're deep in Act II now, doing little errand's for Merri's new boyfriend, He Who Was. Join us tonight to stream more Baldur's Gate III at twitch.tv/fakegeekgirls!

05/09/2025

"It is just and beautiful for friends to part when life, as it always does, presents a fork in the road. When that moment comes, we will not call it a betrayal, nor will we beat our breasts and howl, nor will we pretend that everything will be the same. No, we will feel something precious when we say goodbye, for the joy of having known each other will be proven in the bittersweetness of our parting." — Andrei Filote

Read more in In Pyre, Every Game Is a God Game at the link in our bio!

03/09/2025

"While any victory over Grimm is impressive, it is not what we are after. A “victory” can include any number of lapses in concentration, slip-ups, mistakes. To truly understand this fight, to become one with it, we are chasing the hitless run. Radiant Difficulty. Perfection.

Nothing else will force the state of mind we need." — Rory Hoeschen

Read more in How to Beat Nightmare King Grimm and Ignore Your Grief in Ten Easy Steps: https://sidequest.zone/2024/11/04/how-to-beat-nightmare-king-grimm-and-ignore-your-grief-in-ten-easy-steps/

27/08/2025

"Playing as the leader of a band of exiles, you participate in a series of contests, divided into seasons—or cycles, as the game calls them—at the end of which a chosen exile is liberated. You want to free as many competitors as possible, because the fate of a revolution hangs on their freedom. Pyre is an unusually reactive game; there are many variations of its ending. In one of the most compelling, you are not separated from your friends at all, and that is when you fail. It is possible in Pyre to meet your enemies with gratuitous mercy, by losing on purpose." — Andrei Filote

Read more in In Pyre, Every Game Is a God Game:https://sidequest.zone/2025/08/19/in-pyre-every-game-is-a-god-game/

22/08/2025

"The most fascinating thing about Mystic Messenger is that it removes all of the layers between game and player. Whereas many games give you an avatar, this allows you to pick one of your choice or even upload your own. When you’re in the app, players can call and text you. The visual novel parts aren’t narrated with an “I” or “you”—even actions like opening a door or going somewhere have to be initiated by you. The characters speak directly to you, the individual. You are your own player character. You are the one experiencing these emotions alongside the others." — Naseem Jamnia

Read more in Mystic Messenger Trash: Intimacy in Gameplay: https://sidequest.zone/2018/05/01/mystic-messenger-trash-intimacy-in-gameplay/

20/08/2025

Andrei Filote writes about the world of Supergiant Games' Pyre, and what liberation means for those who are exiled.

Read more in In Pyre, Every Game Is a God Game: https://sidequest.zone/2025/08/19/in-pyre-every-game-is-a-god-game/

19/08/2025

Andrei Filote writes about the world of Supergiant Games' Pyre, and what liberation means for those who are exiled....

Andrei Filote writes about the world of Supergiant Games' Pyre, and what liberation means for those who are exiled.

12/08/2025

"We’re introduced to Ayta at her computer listening to a routine business meeting in which the company bosses are praising the quarter’s profits while only giving their employees a pat on the back (already relatable). Ayta wonders about her life and whether she’s truly happy where she is, and recalls a time with her Grandma in Siberia and their shared love of plants." — Cress

Read more at https://sidequest.zone/2025/05/12/review-welcome-to-the-urban-jungle/