On Button Mash/The Ringer-Verse, @matt-james.bsky.social and @jmrivera.bsky.social joined me to talk about 3 new IPs from international studios: Pragmata, Mouse: P.I. For Hire, and Replaced.
• Capcom keeps killing it
• We miss the 1P FPS
• Is pixel art a personality?
open.spotify.com/episode/3N6a...
It’s fairly consistent throughout but becomes more tolerable as you learn about the characters and watch their relationship evolve.
It makes sense for an android to be wide-eyed and they explain why she’s a child.
Hugh is a simple man with a big heart.
There’s common ground in their naivety.
I found the story and setting to be enjoyable while not impeding the gameplay. There is a bit of a Kojima-like quality to Pragmata’s futuristic tale of ethical quandaries and corporate misdeeds.
There will be people who Pragmata deeply resonates with, and others who feel overwhelmed by it.
A still from Pragmata of Hugh and Diana attacking a robot.
13. Pragmata
Another Capcom banger.
Pragmata’s multitasking gameplay is an exhilarating brain exercise. The interplay between spatial awareness, weapon/tool management, and puzzle solving feels as though you are bending the speed limits of human stimulus response.
A still from Crimson Desert of Kliff leaning against a wall in a bustling town.
I’m 96 hours into Crimson Desert and less than halfway through the main quests. I’m obsessed.
It’s a massive, brilliant exploration game built upon a revelatory new game engine.
It is, however, peppered with little flaws.
Our in-depth impressions on Button Mash:
open.spotify.com/episode/29SQ...
All in all, pretty thrilled to not see a Bryce Harper White House visit.
These DLSS 5 faces just seethe misogny to me. It's as if some energy drink addicted incel managed to revive the Maxim magazine era by spraying enough axe bodyspray into a gaming pc.
One of the more common tropes in video games is the idea of a blight unrelentingly spreading across the land.
That's where we're at with AI.
What's even the point of creating art if people are encouraged to throw an AI filter on top of it?
Just laughed out loud at a car driving by blasting Staind
The Wizards should be ineligible to pick first overall in the draft for letting this happen.
It is pretty funny that the heyday of at-home lightgun games was not [checks notes] RIGHT NOW when people have the biggest tvs in the history of humanity.
A big Button Mash for a big week in gaming:
• @matt-james.bsky.social & @steveahlman.bsky.social on Marathon, live-service questions, and...console wars, again?
• @charlespulliam.bsky.social on Pokopia, Pokémon's past and future, and Switch 2
• Two "Rage Quit" rants
open.spotify.com/episode/1KpX...
So much of Marathon works for me but I can’t get past it being an extraction shooter, which I do not like.
All I need from an extraction shooter, to make it palatable, is to let me permanently keep any gear I extract with once.
This is legit one of my favorite games of the past few years. Basically Zelda if it was a twin stick shooter. I played it on Steam. I'm going to buy it again on Switch. Please buy it, I need at least five sequels to this game. It's only $16.
Happy Resident Evil day to all who celebrate!
We played and finished Resident Evil Requiem.
I had a tremendously fun time talking about it with @benlindbergh.bsky.social and @jmrivera.bsky.social.
It feels great when a hyped game HITS.
open.spotify.com/episode/1pix...
Leah from Love Island USA season 5 saying “and then you’re still here, in your overalls.”
A screenshot of Kratos and the Oracle at a scenic overlook in God of War: Sons of Sparta
12. God of War: Sons of Sparta
I really loved this game, it’s been frustrating to see so many people dump on it. Sons of Sparta gets better and better as it goes along.
I think perhaps the game suffered from being presented as the last big thing at the recent State of Play.
A great Metroidvania.
Both! I enjoyed the default of first person with Grace and third with Leon. Leon feels natural in third person after RE4 and 6. Grace’s sections felt more like 7 and 8 so a good fit for first person. The different cameras help to contrast the playstyles imo.
I also played on switch 2. I felt like there were less than a handful of sections in which the frame rate dipped and I could feel the hardware straining. There were far more moments when I was shocked how well it ran.
There’s definitely a lot of tech under the hood working mostly well.
As someone who has played the vast majority of RE games, I deeply appreciated the multitude of deep-cut fan service moments while still managing to feel that Requiem was blazing its own new trail in the series.
This game is a needle successfully threaded.
The old meets the new, perfectly balanced.
Leon Kennedy in Resident Evil Requiem
11. Resident Evil Requiem
This was everything I hoped it would be. Requiem is arguably the best game in the series since RE 4.
Requiem has spectacular set pieces, tremendous tension, and blockbuster action.
Every time I switched between Grace and Leon I was excited to resume their journey.
Surprised at all the somber takes because I wrote about why,requiem and all resident evil, is hilarious, actually
www.theringer.com/2026/02/25/v...
Tonight, at the State of the Union, Trump will lie about the cruelty of his presidency. But the people Trump is attacking have faces, voices, and stories. They are the stories of this country.
I was honored to have my story included alongside brave folks standing up to Trump.
What percentage of Resident Evil players in 2026 do you think have ever touched a typewriter in real life?
10. Dragon Quest VII Reimagined
I loved my 66 hours with this one. A perfect first jrpg for a kid or just a great relaxing ride for anyone craving a jrpg.
I know they trimmed this one down a lot in the reimagining, it felt just right in terms of length.
I’m eager to keep exploring the DQ series.
This is the game that needs a heavy-handed remake. Call it Resident Evil 5 Reimagined and fix EVERYTHING. Basically strip the thing down to its foundation and drop a co-op resident evil 4 in there.
Consoles being at their highest prices ever just as the first iPad generation hits their teens is truly awful timing for the future of the games industry.
It is really hard to get them off the iPads though, they’ve grown up with them their entire lives.
I agree but all it really takes is one kid’s older brother having a ps5 with gta 6 to impact an entire group of friends and make them curious.
Hey! Listen! Enlisted fellow Legend of Zelda lovers @midimyers.com, @mackeza.bsky.social, and Zachary Small to p̶l̶a̶y̶ ̶F̶o̶u̶r̶ ̶S̶w̶o̶r̶d̶s̶ ̶A̶d̶v̶e̶n̶t̶u̶r̶e̶s̶ draft our favorite Links, bosses, dungeons, items, and more for the franchise's 40th birthday. Reminisce with us on Button Mash: open.spotify.com/episode/7h1Z...