I suppose I can see why people consider Metroid Prime 2: Echoes to be weaker than the first game. It’s a classic sequel problem: what to improve and leave alone, what to add and remove.

I wouldn’t say that, though. I think it’s not better, but worse? Nah. All my complaints are still there, which some would argue is part of the genre. But whatever the reason, I’ll remember the annoying parts, not the difficult parts. And the annoying parts should be improved.

However, I don’t want it to seem like I’m just complaining. While no part of it is amazing, I think it’s a good game overall. And, in a genre dominated by 2D games, a rare one.

White Zombie is an influential horror film that, as one might guess, is pretty problematic. Sadly, a theme I would be comfortable discussing – zombies as unpaid, tireless laborers, – is barely in the movie. And kinda absent from the modern movies, huh.

I called it problematic, but as I, a white dude, can judge, I don’t think it’s awful. It’s simple but not boring, despite being slow like old movies tend to be, and still interesting, at least from a historic perspective.

(!)This is provisional because you cannot currently change profiles in Nintendo Switch mode.

Bottom line: I want a gamepad with four programmable back buttons. It’s a disability thing: my right thumb starts to hurt after a while. But I’ve been into gamepads for a long time, so not only do I have a pretty decent collection, but I’ve also have become pretty picky about what I like.

Why did I choose the Flydigi Apex 5? In short, it has six programmable buttons, no software is needed, dual mode triggers, and sticks that I adore.

Let’s expand on that.

The four programmable buttons on the back are finally in a vertical configuration, similar to Xbox Elite gamepads. Two additional mini bumpers are back from the Apex 2. There’s not much to explain here; they all feel very comfortable.

No software needed… is mostly true. With a screen, you can remap all six additional buttons, switch between connections, profiles, adjust triggers, and so on. However, without official software that only runs on Windows, the experience is incomplete. As mentioned in the warning above, you currently don’t have access to Nintendo Switch-specific profiles, which means that you don’t have access to full remapping, RGB lights, vibration settings, etc. However, you can set up everything on one Windows PC, and the settings for all profiles will work everywhere.

The way Apex implements dual mode triggers is a bit awkward. First of all, what does that even mean? On Nintendo Joy-Cons and Pro controllers, the four shoulder buttons are digital, they are either pressed or not. On PlayStation, Xbox and many other controllers, however, two of the buttons (triggers) are analog, meaning the further you push, the greater the output. This is primarily used in racing games to control speed, like a pedal in a car. Some gamepads now give you the option to switch between these two modes. Vader gamepads have a physical switch that limits the movement of the trigger and moves a button underneath it. Most gamepads do it that way too.

On the Apex 3 and up, force feedback does that job instead. This means you have more control over where you want that stop and can have fancier features, such as a trigger that fights you instead of stopping you. But it can feels flimsy sometimes. Again, it’s not a switch from an analog spring to a digital physical button like you have on most other gamepads. It’s a motor that waits for you to push and then applies force by turning gears to stop you or fight back. It’s sort of like a swinging door with a magnet to keep it closed instead of a bolt; you can sometimes feel it wobble. It’s not a huge deal, but I would say it’s a compromise between having more control and a solid feel.

Sticks are probably the most “me” thing of it all, the one thing I care about, but no one else does. They tend to start squeaking. They still work fine, but you can feel and often hear plastic parts rubbing against each other. And that annoys me! If you’ve ever looked at how those sticks are made, you’ve probably seen some plastic parts that are too close together, and I blame them. Whether or not it is the Hall effect is irrelevant here, by the way. The way Flydigi redesigned theirs is a bit hard to explain. You can kind of see it in their official video, and there are other in-depth reviews that explain it better, but I like to imagine two bowls (like a soup bowl, a part of a sphere), one sitting inside the other. The outer bowl is connected via one axis to the gamepad itself, and the inner bowl is connected by another axis to the outer bowl. Since the bowls don’t need to be thin, they are made of sturdier plastic. So the parts that touch are only those axes. This means less squeaking, if any!

It’s also great that you can adjust the tension of the sticks so that they require minimal force but don’t wobble on their own. This helps with my thumb problem. There are three heights of replaceable sticks to choose from, but they are sold separately. I use the middle-height sticks I already have, they are compatible.

Are there any negatives? Of course! As is often the case, the software is the weak part. To be fair, Flydigi’s is pretty decent, less buggy and more finicky. I remember needing to download WeChat (I’m not joking) to change the Apex 1 settings, so anything after that is an improvement. However, I had a bad experience with the Android version, and they keep changing the Windows version: if you have a range of devices, you might need to install three versions. Well, probably only two. I don’t have any experience with the software-only features they often brag about, so I can’t say anything about that.

I also don’t like that they changed a bunch of things for no good reason. You can still swap the d-pad and stick with the previous Apex and Vader models, but the clear faceplate is different from the Apex 4 (and the Apex 3, as far as I know). They also changed the mobile phone clip, which had been there since the Apex 1, and moved the Capture button, along with the new Turbo button, to the bottom edge of the gamepad.

I can also see how they could improve feature-wise, but I’d rather not say. I’m tired of buying new gamepads…

So, while I do believe that Apex 5 is a clear improvement over Apex 4, there are some annoyances. But as I said, I’m pretty picky. Is Apex 5 the best choice for everyone? Of course not!

I’m not going to list all the gamepads I own, just one that might be important for comparison:

• Regular:
  • Xbox One S and Xbox Series X|S;
  • DualShock 4;
  • Nintendo Switch Pro.
• Elite-ish:
  • Xbox Elite 1 and 2;
  • GuliKit KK3 Max;
  • 8BitDo Pro 2.
• Flydigi:
  • Apex 1, 2, 4 and 5;
  • Vader 2 Pro and 3 Pro.

If you’re interested in how they compare, feel free to ask!

I can vouch for the quality of all the Flydigi gamepads I’ve used, except for the squeakiness (again, that might just be “me” thing). Two of them got squeaky: one of the Apex 2’s (I have two) and the Vader 2 Pro. Percent-wise, I’ve had far more problems with Xbox Elite controllers, they’re famous for that.

If I didn’t care about any of the additional features, I would’ve probably gone with their Darewolf line or even the Dune Fox, which is as basic as you can get.

The Vader line is also great. You not just get most of the Apex features, but with some steps back. Because those steps are often not back, but sideways, so they are not “cheaper, but worse”, they are legitimate alternatives to each other. In a way, Apex is a testing ground for Flydigi, with some dead ends (poor Apex 2, you were unique), and Vader is their actual flagship controller.

I just wanted a mouse with programmable buttons that works on a PC without any software running.

Keychron M6 does exactly that. There is a web version of a customization software, so you can technically set everything up even on Linux, but I can’t say I had a great experience with it, so having a Windows machine is a must.

But I just set everything up once and forgot about it. I didn’t do anything fancy; I just created a couple of shortcuts, like opening a closed browser tab or moving a window to another monitor. You can do way more.

I also gave up on multi-PC connectivity. In order to use it, you need to connect via Bluetooth, after which you can swap between up to three machines. However, I never had a great experience with Bluetooth mice. That option is still there if I really need it, but I prefer using a dongle.

As far as I know, Logitech is the only company that makes mice and keyboards that can switch between multiple dongles. But if I ever need a multi-device setup, I would probably just go with on of those KVM switches, and get a simple one that’s only for USB devices.

I like the physical device itself. It has a slightly plastic feel, and the buttons are crunchier than I prefer. It can switch between a ratcheting and a free-spinning wheel, but not automatically. And it’s much lighter and cheaper than premium mice from Logitech, for example.

I also have Razer Orochi V2, which I got for the same reasons. It does essentially the same things, but has fewer buttons. However, I rarely use it, so I can’t fully vouch for it.

Quake 4 leaned into two aspects of its predecessor. First, since it’s a military sci-fi game, you’ll often find yourself alongside other soldiers, or at least someone will talk to you over comms. You will also occasionally pilot vehicles, which makes sense in this context, and guns have alternative modes and receive upgrades from time to time. Second, the game is essentially a horror game. The Strogg have always been technozombies, but this time it’s cranked to eleven. Including first-person body horror and actual zombies.

I find it hard to imagine that there was a discussion at the time about what Q2 depicted poorly. But if there was, it feels like they specifically addressed my concerns in Q4.

• I think the reimagination of an Iron Maiden is pretty good and makes them a more unique enemy. There are some pilots and a computer that have female voices, but you never see them. You can’t cheat your way into playing as a woman.
• There are plenty of men of color in your fellow soldiers, but they are all one-dimensional at best. The only ones you probably remember are the guy who [spoiler], the dude with the Russian accent, and the technician voiced by Peter Stormare. So, all white. The main character is also white.
• Since the game leaned so heavily into horror, at least for me, none of what is depicted reads as “bad treatment of PoWs”. What can you expect from monsters!

Did they address it? It seems like it, doesn’t it? Was that an improvement? At that time? Kinda?.. Today? Of course not!

Is Hellgate: London an evolutionary dead-end? Everyone after it went another way: instead of trying to make an action RPG look like a first-person shooter, they made first-person shooters with RPG elements. Or is it a stepping stone, when today almost every game is a genre hybrid?

Even at the time, the consensus was that it should have played more like a shooter. However, I also see merit in this approach, where your aim, your positioning, etc. – you know, shootery stuff – don’t matter that much. I believe those types of action RPGs were always aimed at a more casual crowd. They were designed to run on average hardware and were less involved, so to speak. Why not make casual looter shooters? I would have liked to see that timeline.

It’s easy to argue that mobile shooters went that direction.

Besides this unique approach, is there anything else in the game that makes it interesting even today? Not really. It’s not a bad game, but it’s not great either. There are some bugs and finicky elements, a kind of meh story, and some it’s-from-almost-20-years-ago shenanigans. Still, it’s an interesting curio worth remembering.

I like what you did with the place! By which I mean I like both remakes of Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3. And they are full-on remakes, I checked: I accidentally finished the original Resident Evil 2 (1998). You would recognize the game because it has most of the original’s story, characters, and game mechanics. However, you would never mistake the two if someone put the original into a modern engine or vice versa. They redid a lot!

At this point, you can’t trust me, I’ve lost all sense of what constitutes an improvement versus a change made just for the sake of change. So I can’t tell you which version is better because they’re so different. I liked them both. I don’t think the old one is unplayable from today’s perspective: the game doesn’t write notes for you, which is basically what remake is doing, but it still gives you all the information you need. Maybe write a note or two yourself, just to be safe.

I didn’t finish the original Resident Evil 3, only played a bit. But I can also confirm that it’s very different. Besides the comparison between the old and the new, my opinion on 3 is more or less the same as on 2.

All the praise I can give these two (three) games doesn’t mean they’re perfect. Despite having female protagonists from the beginning, the series often falls into uncomfortable stereotypes. Also, the entire series, which has nearly a dozen games in its main branch alone, with minuscule exceptions, is white as snow. How?! While I can’t say any of the games are copaganda, it’s hard not to notice how all the issues are blamed on a few bad individuals or companies. Plus all the usual issues that plague horror may be present from time to time.

Hunted: The Demon’s Forge grew on me. In the end, I decided to think of it as a fantasy version of Gears of War: it is a co-op game that you can play solo; you have both ranged and melee weapons; it has cover and giant bosses; and it looks the part (same engine helps). But it goes beyond that by incorporating all those dungeon-crawling elements from its tabletop inspirations. Expect lore, puzzles, side quests, loot, and, of course, RPG elements.

I find it funny that I accidentally found another game with ranged combat where you don’t need to aim (you can and you should, but you don’t have to, not all the time, at least), kind of like a descendant of Hellgate: London. It’s also a game that wants to bring the classic tabletop RPG feel, same as Soulframe.

It’s confidently made, but developers who had worked on different types of games before, or a lack of resources, make it rough in places. While finding a good weapon and investing in a couple of skills can improve combat, it still won’t feel great. Exploration is mired by a somewhat muddy art style and arbitrary invisible walls. It feels uneven, showing that there were not enough resources to cover everything: there is one model of a friendly NPC warrior that you encounter throughout the game; a couple of voice actors play most of the secondary characters; etc. Its portrayal of women would not earn it any progressive points either.

Maybe it’s the nature of horror, or maybe it’s just happenstance, but it seems like lately I’ve been playing and watching things that leave me feeling unsure. I’m not complaining, it’s still stimulating or, simply, fun. It’s just hard to come up with enough coherent thoughts for a post.

What can I say about Candyman, both original from 1992 and new one from 2021 (I skipped others)? Considering that they have a strong racial element, not much. The fact that the first one was primarily made by white people, one of whom was Clive Barker, doesn’t help. What I find interesting is that most horrors inevitably start to look inward. The characters in the movies ask questions about their monsters, and through them, the movies ask the same questions about themselves. Michael Myers is different from Daniel Robitaille, but some answers very similar, peculiarly enough. Candyman has an advantage since, from the beginning, it has been about stories and the people interested in them. Is that postmodern? Perhaps. But maybe it’s simply because if you hold a mirror to society – and horror does that often – you will be reflected in it, no matter what visual trickery you use to avoid it.

Whimsy. While I wouldn’t say that it is the defining characteristic of Doctor Who, it surely is one of the things that makes it stand out. Its consistent production of fantastical settings and stories, while other sci-fi shows care too much about so called realism, worth a lot. And it also can be scary, unsettling, horrifying even.

I guess I’m glad I finished The Path. Tale of Tales has always been one of those “WTF are you even doing?” studios, and now I understand that a little better. I have mixed feelings, though. Do I think it’s better when studios like that exist? Of course! Do I mourn this one specifically? Not at all. Is The Path a good game? A bad game?.. Eh…

Apsulov: End of Gods is a pretty good one of those. By that, I mean that it doesn’t really push the boundaries of the action-y horror genre – the fact that it’s also based on Norse mythology doesn’t help – but it’s just well-made. On the other hand, I’m glad that Outliver: Tribulation exists – African cultures are still very underrepresented – but it’s not that good of a game.