Kenneth on Games: Jumping in “Nier: Automata”

Nier: Automata has the unenviable job of merging open-world RPG design with hack-and-slash combat. These two directions don’t have to be mutually exclusive, but sometimes the designers need to take a side. Platinum Games is practically the face of the spectacle fighter genre, so it’s no surprise that they lean towards their comfort zone when the option is available. This divide can be noticed in one of the most mundane details: how the characters jump.

WARNING: Mild spoilers for Nier: Automata, footage from a boss battle is used to illustrate a point.

Kenneth on Games: Factory Zero in “Deus Ex: A Criminal Past”

In my previous essay on Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, I talked about how the reboot series will rarely force players to go through a combat area that they had previously completed, in order to maintain the illusion of having many choices. The latest DLC, A Criminal Past, goes against this hypothesis. You start in block A of a prison complex and must make your way to block B, which is nearly identical. Why would they break their previously established pattern?