Elizabeth Henges

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Elizabeth Henges

I write about video games 99% of the time. I'm gaiages on most websites--feel free to say hello!

Spotlight

My personal favorites.

RPG Site •

The Banner Saga and the Pain of Choice

Hundreds of helpless, innocent people placed their lives in their hands, and I’ve failed them. They were killed by thieves, massacred by the dredge, drowned and starved to death. I tried to help everyone I came across, and in doing so forfeited the lives of many, due to rebellions and a lack of food. Some of the dead are dear friends and family, others nameless faces that followed me in hope of a safe future, but regardless their blood is solely on my hands.
Into The Spine •

The ArenaNet Debacle Points to a More Troublesome Trend in the Game Industry

Two employees were fired from ArenaNet that stemmed from a Twitter altercation. The long of short of it is, a group of Redditors saw a relatively mild, if slightly rude, comment from a game developer, and saw it as a great opportunity to attack the developer and ArenaNet in general. Of course, this is regardless of the feelings of the person whom the developer’s original comment was aimed at. As a result, Jessica Price and Peter Fries lost their positions at ArenaNet, the first for the comment itself and the second for defending her.
Into The Spine •

NieR: Fatherhood and Sacrifice

The new God of War title released last month, and it had many gamers talking about a subject that’s not brought up often in the gaming sphere–fatherhood. It’s for a good reason, too, as the tale of Kratos and Atreus is an amazingly told tale. But as Kratos learns to build bonds with his son and deals with the loss of his wife, I can’t help but think of a lesser-known gaming father and his tale. His wasn’t a story of redemption, though, but of sacrificing everything for your child.
RPG Site •

In Defense of Fetch Quests

When people think of sidequests, they often only think of the ones that offer an interesting narrative or character motivation. Whether it’s beating up a bunch of thugs to get a kid’s video game back in Yakuza 0, or taking down a mighty djinn in The Witcher 3, people will often point to these games as shining examples of what sidequests should be. Many RPGs’ side content gets held up to The Witcher 3’s high storytelling standards in particular, and often players come away disappointed that most games have more typical, fetch quest style sidequests in comparison.
RPG Site •

The Game-Breaking Glory of Final Fantasy V

Final Fantasy V may not be my favorite title in the series, but it's the one I find most interesting. It takes the class system from Final Fantasy III and refines it, making it easier to experiment with various classes while keeping most of them useful for the entire story. A lot of the design decisions around the game are interesting as well, allowing you to try some really unusual party set-ups and even break the difficulty in crazy ways.

Latest Reviews

My latest reviews for any site.

RPG Site •

Nepenthe Review

Nepenthe is strange. It’s a strange game to play, with a strange but successful Kickstarter campaign. The creation of one man with a bunch of watercolor pencils and a dream, it’s truly a difficult game to describe. It feels like playing through a child’s idea for an RPG, with all the whimsy and confusion that comes with it. If anything, Nepenthe is a testament to the creativity the budding indie market allows to grow within it, even if that creativity comes at a cost of playability.
PlayStation LifeStyle •

The Council Episode 2 Review - Lost and Found

Back in March, Big Bad Wolf released the first episode of The Council, the developer’s take on the narrative adventure genre. They hope to revolutionize the genre with choices and character growth that really matters, and the first episode, The Mad Ones, left me with a promising impression of what’s to come. Now, the second episode, Hide and Seek, is out, but unfortunately this episode doesn’t live up to the lofty standards The Mad Ones set.
PlayStation LifeStyle •

Omensight Review - Dawn of the Final Day

What will it take to stop the apocalypse? In most video games, all it takes is to defeat the main villain and save the day. But in some cases, it’s not always so easy. In Omensight not only do you need to stop the world from being destroyed, but you also must find out why an ancient evil has been summoned in the first place. As a result Omensight crafts an interesting narrative, but it’s unfortunately marred by some gameplay issues.
RPG Site •

Code: Realize ~Bouquet of Rainbows~ Review

In previous years, the Vita has been a bastion for visual novel and otome game fans. As Sony’s portable because home to a number of niche Japanese games, equally niche publishers started picking up Vita exclusive visual novels to localize. Nowadays, though, the Vita’s lifespan is winding down, and many of these previously exclusive titles are now making the jump to Sony’s home console. Code: Realize ~Bouquet of Rainbows~ is one of these platform jumping titles, and has one of the better representations of the otome genre, is definitely worth the attention of the wider user base of the PS4.