Fresh Look: Pokemon Makes Gaming on the Go Feel Magical
After a whirlwind trip left him jet-lagged, Fresh Look’s Neal Sayatovich found comfort in portable gaming, revisiting Pokemon Legends: Arceus and Pokemon Legends: Z-A while remembering why the Legends formula works so well on the go.
Fresh Look: Palworld 1.0 Makes Monster Catching Better Than Ever
Fresh Look’s Neal Sayatovich returns to Palworld for its 1.0 release and finds new Pals, helpful quality-of-life upgrades, better base management and plenty of chaotic monster-catching fun waiting inside Pocketpair’s full release.
Fresh Look: AAA Gaming Is Following the Hollywood Blockbuster Playbook
As budgets climb and development cycles stretch, Fresh Look’s Neal Sayatovich worries that AAA gaming is adopting Hollywood’s safest habits with fewer enormous bets on new projects and less room for unusual ideas that might become tomorrow’s cult classics.
Better Than Dead Takes a Strong First Shot in Early Access
Even in Early Access, Better Than Dead is an FPS that delivers brutal gunplay, a striking bodycam presentation and a focused vengeful story that already makes it feel like one of the most promising entries in this emerging shooter subgenre.
Fresh Look: EA’s Latest Sports Ad Plan Raises Bigger Questions
Fresh Look’s Neal Sayatovich takes a look at EA’s new advertising platform and argues that even if the company says the changes are aimed at sports titles, the bigger concern is what more in-game ads could mean for players and across the industry.
Fresh Look: Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order Is Still Worth the Trip
Fresh Look columnist Neal Sayatovich this week enjoys the action-adventure title Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. A deep sale finally gave him the excuse to try Fallen Order, and he describes his amazing Star Wars experience.
Fresh Look: Finding Fun With Star Wars Outlaws in an Uneven Galaxy
Fresh Look columnist Neal Sayatovich returned to Star Wars Outlaws expecting a rough experience but found that it was more enjoyable than its reputation suggests, even if its worlds, systems and story never dig quite as deep as they should.
Crime Simulator Never Quite Pulls Off the Ultimate Heist
Crime Simulator has an interesting premise, a decent toolkit and a clear co-op focus, but on PlayStation 5 the experience feels too clunky, too buggy and too rushed to deliver the kind of fun its best ideas promise.
Fresh Look: Going Back to War With Total War: Rome Remastered
Fresh Look’s Neal Sayatovich this week enjoys Total War: Rome Remastered, the remastered version of one of his favorite strategy titles. He finds that it does exactly what a good remaster should do: preserve the feel of the original while making enough smart improvements for a modernized experience.
Fresh Look: When a Business Sim Becomes an Educational Tool
A graduate school capstone course led Fresh Look’s Neal Sayatovich to an unexpected discovery: a free-to-play business sim that not only teaches economic principles but also shows how some games can become useful tools in modern education.