Joshua Wolens
One of Josh's first memories is of playing Quake 2 on the family computer when he was much too young to be doing that, and he's been irreparably game-brained ever since. His writing has been featured in Vice, Fanbyte, and the Financial Times. He'll play pretty much anything, and has written far too much on everything from visual novels to Assassin's Creed. His most profound loves are for CRPGs, immersive sims, and any game whose ambition outstrips its budget. He thinks you're all far too mean about Deus Ex: Invisible War.
Latest articles by Joshua Wolens
Arrowhead implores Helldivers 2 players to temporarily stop using its most destructive weapon yet: Snowballs
By Joshua Wolens published
News Chucking snowballs keeps crashing people's games, which is both inconvenient and undemocratic.
Baldur's Gate 3's latest hotfix declares 'No more free lunches' as it stops you bamboozling merchants with boxes, confusingly also makes it easier to literally give people free lunches
By Joshua Wolens published
News Much to think about.
Baldur's Gate 3 has at least 24 ways Shadowheart can hurl the main MacGuffin at you as part of Larian's New Vegas-Style 'n+1' system for players who ignore the plot: 'It might be even more'
By Joshua Wolens published
News Ever done a "kill everything" run of a sprawling RPG? This one's for you.
As BioShock successor Judas preps for release, I finally understand what its 'narrative Legos' are
By Joshua Wolens published
News But, like Thomas, I have my doubts.
RuneScape creators' new MMO has an unorthodox solution for the inevitable waves of bots: Giving you a 'legitimate way' to bot the game yourself
By Joshua Wolens published
News Brighter Shores is cutting down on the grind by letting you set your character to work overnight.
Once upon a time Baldur's Gate 3 let you recruit JK Simmons to your side, before Larian snipped it along with a visit to the series' origins
By Joshua Wolens published
News In a parallel universe Ketheric Thorm and I are buying snow cones in Candlekeep.
Dead Space 2 players uncover easy money trick hidden right in front of them 13 years after release
By Joshua Wolens published
News Isaac Clarke's real strength is his unlimited overdraft.
Power-mad modder puts Sonic the Hedgehog at the heart of the most tedious game ever made, so you can speed boost to the end in 3 straight hours instead of 8
By Joshua Wolens published
News Gotta go fast (while remaining within the legal speed limit for the Arizona highway system).
Larian CEO has been 'reading the Reddit threads' and wants us to remove our tinfoil hats, says Wizards of the Coast isn't the reason Baldur's Gate 3 is finished
By Joshua Wolens published
News Swen Vincke says Larian just wanted to move on.
Cyberpunk 2077 quest lead says early access wouldn't work for CDPR the way it did for Larian, and the studio prefers 'to have a banging release where everything is as close to perfection as can be' like Phantom Liberty's
By Joshua Wolens published
News Paweł Sasko says CDPR's ambition's don't include a Baldur's Gate 3-style early access period.
Swen Vincke says your Baldur's Gate 3 crushes 'now belong to Wizards of the Coast' as the studio leaves D&D behind, prompting a collective nervous gulp
By Joshua Wolens published
News Things will be alright… won't they?
Larian CEO Swen Vincke accepts Baldur's Gate 3's latest award by blasting corporate 'greed' devastating devs: 'I've been fighting with publishers my whole life, and I keep on seeing the same mistakes'
By Joshua Wolens published
News Vincke joins a chorus of devs lamenting the state of the industry at this year's GDC.
Russian nun simulator Indika, my most anticipated game this year, breaks out the dancing PVC fetish men to announce its May release date
By Joshua Wolens published
News Praise be.
Broken Roads will now mix Mad Max, Disco Elysium, and Baldur's Gate in April release date after last year's out-of-the-blue 5-month delay
By Joshua Wolens published
News Broken Roads is now less broken.
CDPR wanted to split players 'in a way that's almost 50/50' with Phantom Liberty's hardest choice, and drew on the toughest decision in Witcher 2 to do it
By Joshua Wolens published
News Did you struggle to choose towards Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty's end? Then CDPR did its job.
'Big Wait's dead': Dwarf Fortress creators are going to stop disappearing for months to get updates done in a post-Kitfox world
By Joshua Wolens published
News Tarn waits for no man. Or uh, dwarf.
Crusader Kings 2 modding peaks with 'Leper Roulette,' which gives members of your dynasty a chance of winning red, black and green all at once
By Joshua Wolens published
News All hail the leper king.
5 years after it was yanked off stores, GOG's bringing underrated spy RPG Alpha Protocol in from the cold with fewer crashes and new achievements
By Joshua Wolens published
News GOG says it's part of its quest to go "back to the roots" of Good Old Games.
Larian CEO Swen Vincke extols the 'incredible achievement' of Baldur's Gate 3 influence Ultima 7, but confesses he hasn't played since the '90s 'because I don't want to spoil the memory'
By Joshua Wolens published
News You know what, Swen? I get it.
After a historically bad launch, Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection's first patch has fans cautiously optimistic: 'Faith is being restored'
By Joshua Wolens published
News Can the Battlefront Classic Collection come back to the light?
Here's how to watch the Future Games Show Spring Showcase 2024
By Joshua Wolens published
News 50 games, six world premieres, Karlach, and Italian soulslikes. What's not to love?
Dwarf Fortress creator blasts execs behind brutal industry layoffs: 'I think they're horrible… greedy, greedy people'
By Joshua Wolens published
News Tarn Adams doesn't mince words when it comes to the dire state of the games industry.
Amazon's Fallout TV director says he's not trying to please fans, legions get mad at him before realising he actually lost 'a year' of his life to Fallout 3 himself
By Joshua Wolens published
News Jonathan Nolan said trying to please any fans but themselves was a "fool's errand," not that it was a bad idea to please any fans at all.
Stellaris just announced a new major expansion that will put your dad in the Matrix
By Joshua Wolens published
News Aw geez, that's the last place I want them to put my dad.
Aspyr makes Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection statement after crashing to 'Overwhelmingly Negative' reviews, says it's working on it, doesn't apologise or explain why it needs 62.87GB of your disc space
By Joshua Wolens published
News The Battlefront Classic Collection is a bit maclunky.