February 17, 2025
Our Favorite Games
Red Dead Redemption 2 (RDR2) is your classic wild-west cowboy simulator that lets you saddle up in the year 1899, filled with gangs and outlaws. Released in 2018, the game is a mesmerising western adventure. Fan of the original Red Dead Redemption? This prequel to the original game lets you dive into the events that lead to our beloved John Marston’s fate.You step into the boots of fun-loving cowboy Arthur Morgan in a completely open-world setting that is free to roam. Now I have to admit, playing as a different character from the original game can always be a shock, but Arthur easily pulls you in with his witty personality. You can hunt, fish, rob trains, and even try your hand at poker or blackjack. RDR2’s story is rich with drama, betrayal, and of course, redemption. The game also features a built-in online mode, where you are able to completely customize your own cowboy/girl to your liking (This is my favorite feature!) and play with your friends. The graphics and soundtrack are nothing short of breathtaking, and both make the game feel like a work of art. The world truly feels alive — but the story will break your heart, so sorry for that trauma in advance.
After putting in almost 4000 hours between story mode and online, I can confidently say that RDR2’s luscious landscape is like a second home to me. It’s an experience that stays with you long after the credits roll and is a demonstration of how powerful storytelling can be in video games.
Available on PlayStation 4/5, Xbox One, and Steam.
Elden Ring
A fallen order, a populace tormented by immortality, and a god who has forsaken both their family and followers. In this damned realm you stand alone, a wretched “Tarnished.” A warrior, banished from The Lands Between long ago, has now come back to tear down the old and dying order that plagues a land once blessed and prosperous. This is the world of Elden Ring. Released in February 2022, it shook the foundations of the gaming world. In stark contrast to FromSoftware games of years past, Elden Ring is an open-world game, with most of the game being optional content.
Difficulty is a common staple of FromSoftware games, and Elden Ring is no different in this regard. It’s a challenging experience, and defeat is common. Where this game diverges from past titles such as Dark Souls is how the player can go about dealing with this difficulty. Elden Ring gives the player countless ways to advance, not merely one or two. This is where the open world comes into play. Those who are looking for a challenge similar to past titles are free to focus on the more difficult main story bosses, or simply run to a higher leveled area from the beginning! That doesn’t leave those looking for a more casual experience without options, though. Areas are immense, and even the beginning, lowest level areas have many enemies and bosses to offer. This creates a slower, easier progression for more casual players.
The final part of this masterpiece is the story. Elden Ring is packed to the brim with stories to tell, Interesting characters to encounter, and endless misery. To those who enjoy stories of tragedy, Elden Ring is an unmatched holy grail. The stories are deep, interconnected, simple to understand, and easy to become invested in. Interacting with the characters from these stories is what brings it to the next level. The player must put down legendary beasts, demigods, and warriors who’ve succumbed to madness. No matter how great or powerful your enemies, you are the end of their story.Available on Playstation 4/5, Xbox One, and Steam.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is the latest installment in The Elder Scrolls series from Bethesda. This game holds a special place in my heart, as it served as my introduction into the wild, enchanting world of The Elder Scrolls. While Skyrim is a fairly easy game to pick up and understand, the deeper lore of the series is not, and that’s precisely what makes this game so captivating to me. Skyrim is not simply an open-world RPG experience; it’s a portal into a magical world full of legendary warriors, theological endeavors, and world-ending catastrophes.
An empire flailing in its slow descent into oblivion, an Elven cultural conquest in the face of Nordic resistance, and the Psijic Order has returned to Tamriel. At the same time, an ancient deity banished from the past and into the present threatens to claim dominion over the world. Among this chaos, you’re caught by an Imperial troop when attempting to cross the border of Skyrim. Unexpectedly, you’re grouped in with a band of rebel soldiers, including their leader.They’re determined to put you to death with the rest of the rebels, despite the fact you’re uncatalogued. You watch as a rebel is executed, and you’re called up next. Just as the headsman raises his axe to take your life, a dragon attacks — the first to appear in hundreds of years. You manage to survive the attack as the Imperial troop’s focus is set on the larger threat. After escaping, you soon find that you’re the Dragonborn, a Nord folk hero of old. While the fate of the world hangs in the balance, you may still act freely. Whether you want to become a war hero, an assassin, or a loathed and disgusted cultist in service to an ancient evil, the choice is yours. This freedom of choice makes Skyrim infinitely replayable, and no matter how hard I try, I can’t stop coming back to this war-torn province of Tamriel.
Available on Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and Steam.
—Shane Ewig
It’s difficult to be even a novice gamer without hearing of ConcernedApe’s hit indie game Stardew Valley. If you’re a seasoned video game-enjoyer, you should know it isn’t the first or last of its kind. Many similar hybrid farming/dating sims predate the bestseller, such as the notable Harvest Moon and Rune Factory franchises. Even more have followed, one of which I am excited to share today: Pathea’s My Time series.
Honestly, I didn’t expect greatness when I first picked up the My Time series. Instead, I ended up discovering a hidden gem. Unlike Stardew Valley’s retro-inspired, top-down playing style, the My Time series features a 3D open-world experience. Most named characters are fully voice-acted (with the exception of day-to-day dialogue), adding far more flavor and character depth than a text-based, two-dimensional playstyle could ever hope for. While Stardew Valley is extremely impressive, given that it was created in its entirety by a single dude, there’s a lot more you can do with a team behind you, and that notion shines through within My Time.
The first game in the franchise, My Time at Portia (2019), is set in a humble town, rebuilt by survivors who emerged from underground long after ancient civilizations were destroyed in a terrible calamity. You play as the town’s new builder, tasked with creating all sorts of items using relics and gathered materials to improve the village. However, what I really want is to introduce its even better sequel, My Time at Sandrock (2023).
My Time at Sandrock, in my humble opinion, is an extreme improvement from the previous game. Though I prefer both the artistic and programming choices of its successor, I personally recommend playing Portia first. Sandrock can be played alone without any knowledge of the previous installation, so if you care more about overall enjoyability rather than understanding the depth of the lore, it wouldn’t hurt to start with the sequel. However, playing My Time at Portia beforehand equips the player with information endearingly referenced in the sequel.
Anyone who can compare the two games will likely notice the vast improvements in the gameplay, distribution of tasks, and story quests from the first to the second installation. In Sandrock, you are, again, one of the town’s novice builders; this sequel takes place after the events of My Time at Portia and similarly focuses on an environmental, eco-friendly theme. Sandrock, overtaken many years ago by corporate greed, was once a lush, flourishing place before the effects of industrialism dried the soil bare. In the present, the people of Sandrock desperately search for a sustainable water source beyond importing and a method to recover the beautiful farmland that once existed where only desert remains. As you can guess, that’s where you come in! Pathea not only provides players with unique game mechanics, but also a wonderful story that sends a powerful message about protecting the planet, with a little extra magic.
As far as characters go, My Time at Sandrock beats Stardew Valley by a landslide — it’s hard to betray one of my favorite childhood games with that, but it is my truth. While My Time at Portia offers much wider character diversity than Stardew Valley, My Time at Sandrock surprised me with an even better array of townsfolk. In both Portia and Sandrock, you’ll meet people of all different backgrounds, ethnicities, and ages — a breath of fresh air for players of color, compared to Stardew Valley’s … two Black characters. With 21 romanceable options and no restrictions on gender preferences, there’s someone for everyone in the arid community — even otherwise undesirable characters that are mostly intended to be married for stat benefits.
Anyone who enjoys these types of games should give My Time at Sandrock a try. From compelling stories to one-of-a-kind mechanics, the My Time franchise will be a great fit for anybody looking for a casual, day-to-day progress kind of game.
Available on Playstation 4/5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and Steam.
Are you a retro gaming junkie like me? If your answer is yes, then allow me a moment to gush over the game that defined a large part of my childhood. Released on the GameCube and Wii on November 19, 2006, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is one of the 3D entries in Nintendo’s infamous The Legend of Zelda franchise, but unlike many of the series’ other installments, which typically feature lighthearted narratives and colorful graphics, Twilight Princess takes a much darker approach.
Duller color schemes, a unique, yet somehow more lifelike art style for the characters, and a story where protagonist Link is forcefully transformed into a wolf are all elements that gamers can expect. Link is also accompanied by Midna, a mysterious imp who seems to have her own motivations in halting the advancement of Twilight, a darkness that consumes more of the kingdom of Hyrule by the second. It is the player’s job to guide Link toward defeating the looming darkness, saving his friends, and returning himself to human form.
Now in terms of gameplay, Twilight Princess is a bit different, depending on the version you play. The original GameCube version consisted of standard gameplay using a GameCube controller, but it was with the later release of the Wii version that differences began to appear. Due to the Wii’s emphasis on motion-control technology, the Wii version is essentially a mirror image of its GameCube counterpart. This is because in the GameCube version Link was left-handed, so in order to make it easier for right handed players to use motion controls that matched Link’s movements, the development team decided to mirror the entire map of the game.
While The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is considered by many to be fairly dated by today’s gaming standards, it is still a classic from my childhood that I will always cherish. It is a game that I will never stop recommending to gamers looking to get into The Legend of Zelda as a whole, or to those who simply enjoy retro action adventure games in general.
Available on Nintendo Wii, GameCube, and Nvidia Shield TV.
There are certain fandoms that seem to never die. Fandoms like Harry Potter, Star Wars, Pokemon, and more last for a lifetime. I just so happened to be in one of the most iconic — and cringiest — fandoms of all time.I was a Sonic kid. A huge Sonic kid.
He’s All That (2021) is the painful gender-swapped reboot of the film She’s All That (1999). The reboot follows TikTok star Addison Rae’s character Padgett Sawyer as she makes a bet with her frenemy Alden (Madison Pettis) that she can take “the loser” character Cameron Kweller (Tanner Buchanan) and turn him into the next prom king. What makes Cameron a loser and Padgett popular? Well, Cameron’s loser qualities in question include his lack of social-media presence and friends along with his interest in photography. He’s the complete opposite of Padgett, who presents to the world a false luxurious life, pretending to be rich in order to stay popular in school and online.
For decades, NFL coaches have been talking to certain players of their team in a particular language and/or code. For example, in the early days of football, coaches would use hand signals and/or less complicated verbal communication, which would be told to the quarterbacks before they’d run out to the huddle for the next play. However, in today’s game, they’re primarily delivered via radio communications and occasionally through hand signals. This has led to many questions about the language including: has the communication between players and coaches always been like this?? How long has it been being used? Why and how do they do this? And finally, what does the language mean?!
My own personal tip for self-care is simply getting up and getting moving. Whether that would mean going outside to take your dog for a walk, doing Pilates in your living room, going to the gym for an hour before/after work, etc. Getting your body moving has helped people look good as well as feel good. Some examples/hobbies to get yourself moving are as follows:
Taking care of ourselves is so important for our overall well-being. I love to weave self-care into my daily routine. Self-care doesn’t only involve your physical health but also your social and emotional health.
Artificial intelligence (AI) personalization is truly transforming platforms such as TikTok, as well as schools, creating wonderfully tailored experiences that celebrate individual interests. Whether they involve curating a user’s feed or supporting students in their learning journeys, these innovations make each interaction feel special. TikTok is really changing the game when it comes to sharing content. Its fun, short-form video format is capturing the attention of people worldwide. Thanks to TikTok’s amazing success, other platforms like Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts are jumping on the bandwagon with similar styles. As TikTok keeps growing and evolving, we can’t wait to see how AI will become an even bigger part of the app, making it easier to discover awesome content and edit videos. This will create even more exciting experiences for both creators and viewers alike. Today, technology is evolving rapidly, and we can see how much AI and popular platforms like TikTok are impacting our daily lives. AI has become a key player across various fields, from healthcare and finance to marketing and entertainment. A standout trend is the rise of AI-driven personalization. For instance, TikTok uses AI to curate personalized content feeds, analyzing our behavior to serve up videos that fit our unique tastes. This transformation is really reshaping social media and content creation, making it more engaging and tailored just for us.As technology evolves, AI is here to assist with your schoolwork. It’s becoming a fantastic resource for streamlining research, boosting productivity, and enhancing your learning experience. Influencers on social media rave about tools like ChatGPT, which are excellent for answering questions, clarifying concepts, and brainstorming ideas for your essays. AI-powered research assistants can swiftly help you find relevant sources and neatly organize your information. Apps like Grammarly improve your writing by refining grammar, punctuation, and style. Additionally, math-solving apps like Photomath guide you through problems step-by-step, making math much less intimidating. Even study apps are becoming smarter, personalizing your learning to fit your strengths and weaknesses, making studying not only effective but also enjoyable.
This week I was feeling positively historical. So, I chose a year in history, precisely 558 years ago, during the Middle Ages. The time of dragons, alchemists, and wizards, if you’re a fantasy nerd like me. If you’re a historian like these Wikipedia people, you’ll know it is a time full of cruel, ruthless monarchs such as Khan Xälil.This particular year, however, was a great year for war and peace. Interestingly, on October 21 of 1467, a man named Giovanni il Popolano was born to the noble Medici family. He grew up to be a diplomat and studied under his cousins Giuliano and Lorenzo El Magnifico. Unfortunately, he died in the year of 1498 at the young age of 30. His cause of death was unknown.
This week, I pulled up Wikipedia, and in the spirit of my love for mangoes, this is the random article I chose.
Everybody knows that cats get clicks. No matter how diverse your feed is, cats will show their cute, little faces whenever they can. But what if I told you that silly cat reactions are all the rage again?