Paul Hunter

Square Enix, the Japanese gaming giant revered worldwide for their breathtaking role-playing game experiences, recently came to Toronto for an exclusive media preview of their phenomenal holiday line-up, headed up by Final Fantasy XV. Little did I know at the time though, Square Enix also had a secret opportunity waiting for me upon my arrival: the chance to be among the first in the world to play their highly anticipated 2017 action-RPG Nier: Automata.

To celebrate the launch of Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon, Nintendo of Canada gave me the exciting opportunity sit down for a one-on-one chat with Bennett Piercy, a Canadian-born professional Pokémon player and winner of the U.S. Pokémon Championships in 2015. Ever wondered what competitive Pokémon is all about? Want to know some of the great new features in Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon? Read on to find out!

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the newest story returning us to J. K. Rowling’s Wizarding World universe, has come to LEGO Dimensions in a big way. Available now is the Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them Story Pack, a 6-level adventure that lets you play the complete movie with LEGO signature humour, and an all-new Fun Pack featuring Tina Goldstein!

Join Mario, Toad, and more of your favourite Mushroom Kingdom pals in an all-new Mario Party game for Nintendo 3DS. In Mario Party Star Rush, play with up to three of your friends in a fast-paced new spin on the classic board game formula where there is no turn order and it’s always your move!

Have Nintendo fan(s) on your holiday shopping list? At Nintendo’s recent holiday media event in Toronto, I had the opportunity to go hands-on with the company’s fall lineup of games—come see what games Nintendo has to offer this fall, and read my impressions of each!

Less than a year after his first Yo-kai game released in North American, Nintendo and Level-5 are back with not one, but two new games: Yo-kai Watch 2: Bony Spirits and Yo-kai Watch 2: Fleshy Souls. Playing as a boy or girl, travel back in time with your Yo-kai butler Whisper, and cat friend Jibanyan, to discover the origins of the Yo-kai Watch itself.

It’s November, which can only mean one thing: the next big entry in Activision’s Call of Duty series is here! In addition to CoD: Infinite Warfare, there are tons of other highly anticipated games releasing this month including Pokémon Moon & Pokémon Sun, Final Fantasy XV, Dishonored 2, Watch Dogs 2, and more. Let’s take a look at the games!

New story, new heroes, and the dawning of a terrifying new era; this is Gears of War 4 on Xbox One. While there are a lot of fresh elements to be very excited about in this latest mainline entry of Microsoft’s flagship franchise, at its core, this is still very much the Gears of War we all know and love. I’m talking about phenomenal cover-based gameplay, brutal, visceral combat, and world-class online multiplayer modes—all powered by the latest and greatest game engine, in this case, Unreal Engine 4.

Square Enix’s timeless role-playing game classic Dragon Quest VII is back in a marvelous new remastered version, rebuilt from the ground up specifically for Nintendo 3DS. Made for fans of the original, and to introduce a whole new generation of gamers to this beloved adventure, Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past carefully preserves the original game’s charm while updating the graphics, the script, and many other notable aspects.

Following the highly successful launch of XCOM 2 earlier this year on PC, Firaxis and 2K Games have brought their critically acclaimed turn-based strategy game to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One gamers worldwide. XCOM 2 is bigger, better and more rewarding than its predecessor in many ways: the stakes are higher, the challenge is stiffer (yet still fair), and new tactical options make your gameplay decisions more crucial than ever before. If you love strategy games, this is a game at the pinnacle of its genre.