Niv M. Sultan

@nivmsultan

videogame critic at Slant Magazine, other stuff elsewhere. he/him. nivmsultan.com

108 Folgt389 Follower714 Posts

Bluesky

gamer

Ist das dein Profil?Übernimm es — dann gehört dir nivmsultan.dirty.social.Profil übernehmen

Niv M. Sultan@nivmsultan· 13d

have not watched the video, I do not play Path of Exile, but this is an amazing thumbnail for a video about a bug fix

A person pours themself a glass of champagne while smiling. Text overlaid: "IT'S FINALLY FIXED!"

Niv M. Sultan@nivmsultan· 18d

just playing Alan Wake 2

A piece of paper with some algebra on it

Niv M. Sultan@nivmsultan· 24d

thinking of him

Fulghor from Nightreign: a majestic one-armed centaur, armored, wielding a long blade, beneath golden skies

Niv M. Sultan@nivmsultan· 26d

an illustration of Adol from Ys (young man, red hair, red shirt, silver breastplate, oddly little sword)

Niv M. Sultan@nivmsultan· Jul 7

on to Ys: The Oath in Felghana, which has started off no less relevant

Screenshot from Ys: The Oath in Felghana. Dark-haired woman speaks to a red-haired young man. Dialogue text: "I'm sorry we can't meet you with bigger smiles. Not only was the harvest awful this year, but our taxes are up again."

Niv M. Sultan@nivmsultan· Jul 6

this, but videogames, will kill the industry

Niv M. Sultan@nivmsultan· Jul 6

rolled credits on Trails in the Sky FC, which turned out to be a fitting text for this moment of imperial decline

Screenshot from Trails in the Sky FC Remake: A blonde fancy man, a brunette girl, a dark-haired boy, and a tall brunette guy standing alongside each other. Dialogue text: "Hmm... That's a pretty arbitrary decision for a country that claims to have the rule of law."

Screenshot from Trails in the Sky FC Remake: A brunette girl, a dark-haired boy, and a brunette woman stand next to each other. Dialogue text: "It makes sense. Uniforms are perfect for concealing individuality."

Screenshot from Trails in the Sky FC Remake: A dark-haired, bespectacled man smiles. Dialogue text: "After all, they say it's a curse to live in interesting times."

Niv M. Sultan@nivmsultan· Jun 24

when someone looks at me

Hades 2 screenshot: Chaos (an androgynous being clad in white, holding a head, which has a floating fetus attached to it) saying: “Spawn of Hades, I ought to clarify I do not care for idle talk. Ask me no questions. Respond only when prompted, or when necessary in absolute. But above all, do as you will.”

Niv M. Sultan@nivmsultan· Jun 19

the canonical Trails stance on drag

A little videogame kid with a newsie cap saying, "D-Darn it... They're cooler than us guys..."

Niv M. Sultan@nivmsultan· Jun 17

reviewed The Adventures of Elliot, or: We Have Zelda at Home, or: a game so hell-bent on avoiding friction that it all but precludes the joys of overcoming it www.slantmagazine.com/games/the-ad...

Text: Toward the middle of The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales, swashbuckling explorer Elliot prepares to brave the frozen caverns north of a quiet village. Before hitting the road, he can choose to speak to a nondescript local, who warns him of a ferocious monster in the area and advises him to strike it in the eye. The tip sparks the thrill of stumbling upon secret knowledge. With his bow at the ready, Elliot descends into the depths of the caves, where he finds the creature, which turns out to be a giant eyeball. Who would have thought to aim at the peeper? The townsperson’s galvanizing but ultimately needless counsel, like much of the game, merely gestures at a feeling of fortuitous discovery.

Niv M. Sultan@nivmsultan· Jun 12

I bounced off Dungeon Encounters recently, but this just convinced me to give it another go. manifesto accomplished!

Bulleted list:
- Make a game where players can go into debt.
- Make a game with absolutely annoying status effects
- Let Players be the architects of their own downfall
- Let Players go through long, arduous challenges and give them nothing in return
- Make a gigantic empty space and let the player wallow in their confusion
- Take things away from them, or give them too much
- Let them break things and break them in return
- Put something in your games that is just for you, and only you to understand

Niv M. Sultan@nivmsultan· Jun 12

my wife, catching a glimpse of the Onimusha demo: "do other games look like Onimusha, because it's old, or does Onimusha look like other games?" me:

Illustration of a snake eating its own tail, forming a circle

Niv M. Sultan@nivmsultan· Jun 8

Niv M. Sultan@nivmsultan· Jun 4

MISTER POLICE YOU COULD HAVE SAVED HER I GAVE YOU ALL THE CLUES

Niv M. Sultan@nivmsultan· Jun 3

this text is the inciting incident of a horror movie

Text message saying “They’re saying Claire was there.” In a weird creepy font

Niv M. Sultan@nivmsultan· Jun 2

folks, if you like the cube, what you're actually hungry for is Dota

Wisp from Dota 2: glowing, floating cube with hearts on each face

Niv M. Sultan@nivmsultan· May 30

(he posts while repping the bokoblins)

Bearded dude, All Blacks hat, orange shirt with a bokoblin on it

Niv M. Sultan@nivmsultan· May 28

realized that Die in the Dungeon 1.0 came out this month. roguelikers, check it out -- just look at this guy

A screenshot of the frog from Die in the Dungeon. Little pixelated guy holding a big sword

Niv M. Sultan@nivmsultan· May 26

Britta from Community (caption edited): "I can excuse anti-trans but I draw the line at anti-comedy"

Niv M. Sultan@nivmsultan· May 22

man’s not beating the Dickson allegations

Monster Hunter World character: older white guy with a white mustache and a red headband

Niv M. Sultan@nivmsultan· May 22

sorry, he’s actually Dickson

Dickson from Xenoblade Chronicles: older white guy with a blonde mustache and long blonde hair, red bandana, sword slung over his shoulder

Niv M. Sultan@nivmsultan· May 21

might fuck around and get into Monster Hunter (realizing I just made Revolver Ocelot)

Monster Hunter World character creation. Older-looking guy with long grey hair and a grey mustache

Niv M. Sultan@nivmsultan· May 20

hate to spoil a kicker less than I love to celebrate a great kicker www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/ze...

Text: For all the love and care it has poured into its world, and despite mechanical flashes of genius, it can't escape the fact that it's using the tools for a different job. Without context, it might just appear sloppy, like the rules of the game Hershel was playing hadn't quite been defined when she set out on her journey. Take a step back, though, and look at the whole picture, and it becomes clear that Hershel Wilk is casting Harry du Bois' shadow on the wall.

Niv M. Sultan@nivmsultan· May 19

amazing to watch you find your answer and act accordingly in real time

Niv M. Sultan@nivmsultan· May 19

Gordon Ramsay saying (supposedly) "Finally, some good fucking imagery"

Niv M. Sultan@nivmsultan· May 19

uh I think this screenshot just sold me

Screenshot from Zero Parades. Something clad in a knight's armor kneels over a cityscape. Text box on the right side of the screen has dialogue

Niv M. Sultan@nivmsultan· May 18

I have said it before and will say it again: few people do it like Nic

text: Disco had a novel's worth of text, Zero Parades has nearly as much, but feels more like a beautiful aphorism. Witty and tight, slicker and plottier. Everything you liked about Disco's writing is here, aside from the sense that someone needed it to exist in the world with their entire body. It is often hilarious, full of fascinating and poignant worldbuilding and tragic circumstance, but it has little of Disco's messy, easy strangeness or meandering melancholia. It is sleeker, sexier, more self-consciously dangerous. It is outsider art made from the foyer, safe from the rain.

Niv M. Sultan@nivmsultan· May 18

maybe I'm being dense, but I don't think this is referring to the controversy surrounding Disco. it's just saying that "self-professed leftists" go crazy for Disco — which, think what you want, is not intrinsically commenting on all that? www.eurogamer.net/zero-parades...

Text: Zero Parades: For Dead Spies is the second game from a new incarnation of the ZA/UM creative team after the extremely normal and uncontroversial Disco Elysium, a name that turns many self-professed leftists into rabid, single-celled chihuahuas.

Niv M. Sultan@nivmsultan· May 12

put me in mind of Heraclitus

Niv M. Sultan@nivmsultan· May 12

perfect sentence, excellent piece (bring back footnotes)