October 2025 media
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Pokémon Legends: Z-A: I didn’t grow up playing Pokémon games, and I’ve mostly been lukewarm on the modern ones that I’ve played. It’s just appealing enough that I keep trying, though, and Z-A is working pretty well for me! I like the Xenoblade-esque combat, the compact wild zones, the fashion, even the single city setting. I don’t think the series got its hooks into me early enough for me to every truly love it, but I’m glad I can like it. This will be the first one I finish in years.
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Ys vs. Trails in the Sky: Alternative Saga: Originally a niche PSP game, this goofy crossover fighter has gotten a surprisingly full-featured port to modern platforms. They’ve included everything from improved graphics and framerate to online play with rollback netcode (!) to a message log to match the recent mainline Ys and Trails games. The game itself is nothing to write home about, to be honest, but as a Falcom fan I was happy to see it get an official release at all—let alone one made with such care.
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The Naked Gun: The new one, that is. I guess it makes sense that this exists; no franchise with any juice left is ever off the table for another sequel or a reboot, no matter how many years (or actors) have passed. But man, what a weird thing to see in 2025! They literally don’t make them like this anymore. The combination of Nielsen-style slapstick and contemporary references gives it an anachronistic flavor, but I think it lands. Liam Neeson brings just enough self-seriousness for his Drebin to work.