Severed Review

Severed is a first person, touch-based dungeon crawler released for the PlayStation Vita on April 26, 2016. It was developed and published by @DrinkBoxStudios. For more info check out the game’s gorgeous site. Screenshots taken by myself.

First person dungeon crawlers are a rare breed of game. It’s a genre that had its heydey in the late 90s and hasn’t really been heard from since. But the opportunity for immersion that comes with this sort of game is quite high if it’s done right. It’s even rarer to see a game from a high profile studio release exclusively on the slowly dying PlayStation Vita. What’s rarest of all is for one of these types of games release on the Vita AND be an incredible experience from start to finish. This recipe for success is what makes Severed a marvellous game and a must play for Vita owners and fans of the genre.

2016: The Year of the Heroine

A recent study conducted by the Pew Research Center found that men and women are equally likely to report playing video games. With just as many women playing games as men there should be just as many male leads as women in our games. So I went to my local EBGames and scoured the shelves, finding that there are barely any games with female leads. Of those that are available there are even fewer where the character in question is a developed, meaningful representation of women. Thankfully in the past couple years women are starting to be used in games as the compelling and relatable characters they need to be. 2015 games like Rise of the Tomb Raider, Cibele, Life Is Strange and Undertale all promoted substantial, realistic women.