The team here at Chalgyr's Game Room has a variety of experiences ranging over different generations and console types and we are passionate about our favorite hobby. In the process, we have come to form some strong opinions about specific games, developers and the industry in general. We love a good discussion and know that opinions vary wildly, just as do tastes in games. We respect this, and we want to have more conversations with you.
Our reviews generally come in two flavors: in-depth with broken down technical scores and the somewhat shorter writeup with a general impression and score at the end of the article. You will see more of the former than the latter, but there are plenty of both to be found here. We have a wide variety of articles as well, and we are always looking for more ideas - so share away!
Now - we would like to introduce ourselves:
Nick
Editor in Chief
You can find me on Xbox Live, PSN and Steam under Chalgyr. Feel free to email me at Nick@Chalgyr.com with questions about the site.
Valerie
Site Administrator, Writer and Editor
I call myself a gamer and yet to my colleagues around me I am still a newbie and loving the learning curves of so many games that they are into! Even under their tutelage I still love puzzle/maze types of games for the most part. This is where playing games like Zork on the VIC-20, Loderunner, Montezuma's Revenge and Jumpman on the Commodore-64 were my favourites in my youth. Adult life with my kids I played Super Mario Brothers and The Legend of Zelda where I definitely flopped when using the NES console controller.
As computer systems changed with Atari and IBM hitting the world I went for games like Krondor, King's Quest, Chips Challenge, Battle Chess (Hunts in box for floppy. LOL Yes, I do have a PC emulator!), Tri-Peaks, Freecell, Tetris, and Tut's Tomb! Lots of fun and definitely a way to get out of the funk of a bad day.
Nowadays you can find me in a lot of games from RTS to RPGs and MMOs, puzzle games, and a whole range of other games. My introduction into Real Time Strategy games came from Starcraft, and Warcraft I, II and III respectively. Action role-playing was enjoyed with new friends I had made during the game Diablo. Lots of fun and lots of friends to enjoy loot and besting bosses. My favourite class of character to play was a sorceress.
Lately you can find me playing Satisfactory and Space Engineers with my kids, or Guild Wars 2, Neverwinter and Star Wars: The Old Republic by myself. Let's see, that's sandbox and MMOs that occupy a couple of hours a day or less depending on life's rollercoaster!
Susan N.
News Editor
Having played on the old Atari, TI-81, Commodore 64, and then progressing into some Basic programming, I've been around the block. Some of the classic games that I loved were Loderunner, Montezuma's Revenge, and Spiderman (one on the old Atari). When we owned a Nintendo, my brother and I played classics like Super Mario Bros 1 & 3 and Teenaged Mutant Ninja Turtles (not the fighting game one... The one with the annoying underwater computers where the seaweed killed you if you blinked wrong). Eventually I became addicted to things like Stunts, Final Fantasy 7 & 8, Descent, and Gran Turismo.
Though I started out my gaming career on consoles, I rarely ever owned one. Essentially, I always grew up more of a PC gamer since we each had one in my house. I had at one point became a WoW addict and finally gave that up when life became more complicated.
Becoming a writer was the best thing for me in terms of being a gamer. Playing video games and writing about them has been the most rewarding experience. For me, it's allowed me to talk to the gaming community freely and honestly. I love gaming. Pure and simple.
I'm working on a book about gaming careers so if you want to contribute or don't mind being questioned about a particular profession, let me know in an email Jagtress@hotmail.com. Otherwise feel free to follow me on social media @Jagtress (twitter and twitch), SusanNWriter (FB), therealjagtress (instagram).
Robert
Image Gallery Guru
Unfortunately my parents didn't gift me with the name 't1ckles' so,
instead, they saddled me with one of the most plain names out there,
'Robert.' Feel free to address me by either Robert or t1ckles, I'll
answer to both.
I've been playing video games since the original Nintendo Entertainment
System came out back in '85 here in the States; starting on Duck Hunt,
Super Mario Brothers, Gyromite and Excite Bike. Come to think of it,
those few games were the only ones we had for a few years. Since that
first digital 'boop' and 'beep' I was hooked. I've pretty much owned
multiples of the mainstream systems since then and enjoyed spending many
hours of both my youth and my adult life juggling between my love of
video games, miniature painting, and anime. While I've always been an
avid fan of consoles, when Warcraft: Orcs & Humans came out I was an
instant convert to the wonderful world of PC Gaming, since then, I've
never been far from my gaming rigs.
I can be reached at t1ckles@outlook.com
Pierre-Yves
I've been playing video games for a long time now but you never quite
forget that first time(s) that you play a style. I'm pretty sure that if
I had started with Super Mario Bros. on the NES I may have ended up
gaming less. At the time the incredible platformer was lost on me.
Instead I started off with Ninja Turtles. From there on in I was hooked
on games. I grew up playing amazing titles like those and Mega Man and
then Mega Man X (I may or may not prefer Bass(Forte) / Zero to the
titular heroes) and it wasn't until I was into my early teens that I
discovered RPGs.
My first RPG was FF IV and I fell in love with that style until coming
across FF Tactics and Kartia - Word of Fate. It was then, at that
glorious moment in time that I found my game type. I hadn't even heard
of Atlus or NIS yet and oh boy have I had an amazing time since. I'm a
very heavy RPG / JRPG / SRPG player regardless of it being mainstream,
niche, or indie while still loving and enjoying platformers. Especially
the RPG element ones!
I can also be found on Facebook, Twitter, and OpenCritic under WrathOf314
Richard
I've been playing video games since I was little. The first games I ever played were on a GameBoy pocket. I still own it, and break it out every so often, even though the "light scaler" basically only has two settings: white and black. My first console experience was an n64. I was first introduced to it when I visited my Aunt and uncle's cottage. The neighbors were around my age, and they invited me over to play. I'll never forget the amount of Mario kart we played. I went from being a scrub to being "that arse who always comes in first". It wasn't long before I had an n64 of my own.
Nowadays I spend most of my free time gaming, primarily RPGs. The games I play range anywhere from: "Hey! That's that new popular game that just came out!" to "I haven't even heard of that company, much less that game".
Feel free to hit me up on the PSN as Exzerioth (with the terse chou-chou avatar)
David
Growing up, we always had gaming of some sort around, my earliest memory of them being my brother’s dinosaur-framed Game Boy and Sonic on his Sega Genesis or the GameGear my sister and I shared. I know my father played a lot of Myst and Ultima Underworld, but my real interest came with the discovery of Baldur’s Gate on my babysitters computer in ’99, and my love for storytelling exploded. Reading, writing, and gaming of all stripes bloomed from the character creation screen of this RPG, followed by an encouraging babysitter whose husband happened to DM for a group every Friday night.
When not gaming, I’ve usually got my nose in a book or I’m neck-deep in a project involved with building my art collective, either with words on a page or contributing to another’s music.
Hayden “Tharatan” T.
I’m a lifelong gamer in just about every format – from board games, tabletop miniatures and pen-and-paper RPGs to consoles, pre-internet PC and modern online offerings, I’ve dabbled in them all. With decades of gaming behind me (and hopefully decades more ahead!) I’m here to put a critical eye on strategy and simulation games with an outlook jaded enough not to be easily distracted from glaring flaws by the flash of pretty graphics! My primary platform is Windows PC, and I compete with my young daughter for time on the family’s Nintendo Switch console.
By far my most-played games in the last few years are block builders like Space Engineers and strategy titles like the Total War series and various Paradox games. I devour business and political sim games when they release, and you’ll occasionally find me in city-builders or production-builders like Cities: Skylines, Factorio and Satisfactory. As of June 2021, I’ve been clocking many hours in the somewhat-creaky Fallout 4, producing add-on content for the ‘Sim Settlements 2’ mod that looms large on Nexusmods.
Jim
Jim has been a gamer since he was around four years old, when he and his brother (for whom the gaming habit did not stick) got an NES. Jim still has his NES – and has kept his love of gaming along the way.Contibutors
Chris H.
I've been playing video games since I was real young, starting with the N64 from what I can remember. I have been hardcore on the Nintendo systems all my life, playing every console to a good length - even though I am really not all that old and most of them were before my time. I've always had a fascination with retro games, I can't even think of a specific reason, that's just the way it is for me. I still manage to play a fair amount of games to this day, although that has diminished somewhat of late due to time constraints. I usually play more action-oriented games (Shooters, fighters, etc.) but I will give almost anything a fair try.My steam is Reposer, and my PSN/X-Box are Devinoste.
Dimitris
My first experience of games was through an Amstrad cpc 6128. This was an 8-bit home computer well-known in Europe during the eighties, including my country, Greece. Its technology was not impressive and its games were hard but I really miss those days.At the beginning of the nineties I spent a small fortune on arcades Street Fighter 2, NBA Jam and Tower of Doom. I bought an SNES when it was already old but cannot forget the creepy atmosphere of Metroid, the non-stop action of Contra and the ingenius level design of Zelda. Later I acquired a PS, my first 3-D machine. In 2001 I bought a PS2, one of the greatest consoles ever. The variety and quantity of good games on this machine is awesome. Action/adventure, beat'em up, shooter, platform, role playing, action/role playing, racing, sports... I also have a PC and an X-BOX. Hiding in the shadows of Thief 3, facing monsters with an elf monk in Neverwinter Nights or exploring the deadly wastelands in Fallout are some of my favorite memories.
I enjoy old games because they are simple, have different drawing styles and trigger my imagination. I have a big collection so I don't need to buy new stuff for a long time. If you think quality doesn't exist only in modern things check my reviews.
Hamza
Though my first pixel memories were made on the original PlayStation, the most vivid from my childhood belong to those on the PC. My dad used to bring home PC Gamer PC World magazines - the ones with free games stamped on the back of it. This is how I became a dedicated PC gamer, playing Half-Life, Deus Ex, Sacrifice, Black & White and SimCity 2000 in my youth. I also remember exchanging the original Prince of Persia from my friends on a floppy disk!! Yes, you read that right, floppy disk!!Regardless of my status as a dedicated PC (and MS-DOS) gamer, I'm more than happy to break the tradition when it comes to racing games. I absolutely love racing games and it is my aim to play every racing game in existence, irrespective of the platform. To give an example of my passion for the genre, I'm perhaps one of the handful who ever owned a PS1 to have also played International Moto X. If you know of the game, then I've found a new best friend :)
Oddities and obscure titles are my forte. I excel in them, my knowledge on them just enough to make the hair on your head (if any) curl. Unearthing hidden gems is one of the few reasons I exist on the internet for, scrounging the darkest corners and deepest chasms. Some of the best discoveries I've made include Garage: Bad Dream Adventure, Roboman, Warlords and my absolute favorite in car destruction, Auxiliary Power's Destruction Derby.
Please feel free to add me on Steam - my username is Katy Roar. You can also add me on XBLA - MechaHorde is my username - but don't expect a fast reply or updates, as I rarely do them. Looking forward to discussing games and hearing your opinions.
Jedediah
It's Christmas morning. Afflicted with spiked bedhead from sleeping on my face, I tiptoe from my room to the family area, excited, eyes free from any form of adolescent drowsiness. I reach my brother's doorway. Scared that he'll l scold me for entering his personal space uninvited, I stand with my back to the wall, terrified that even a peek will be greeted with a bop on the bedhead.But I can't hold back my excitement, so, placing my palms over my head so as to create a makeshift helmet that deflects fire swords and any form of incoming head bops, I leap into the illuminated archway that separates his personal bastion from the darkness of the family room. To my childish surprise, my head remains bop-less. My brother is too entranced by his television to detect the thud of my feet.
Then I see her, relaxing proudly atop the box she had been patiently concealed in for the past several months: the Super Nintendo Entertainment System showcasing the most beautiful game I had ever seen, Final Fantasy II.
A current of fantastical colors and music forces my body into a celestial dance.
My body begins to glow with the compassion a star feels for its planets.
Then my head explodes.
This was the second I fell in love with gaming, and, a bit later, reading, and writing (largely thanks to FF II encouraging me, at five years old, to hone my literacy so that I could better understand its narrative). This was the second I had to become one with the game.
Lauren
The first console I owned was a PS2 and the first game I finished (with PY beating all the bosses for me when he wasn't literally sleeping and dodging all the lightning blasts in Final Fantasy X for me) was Kingdom Hearts. Over the years I have played a little on just about every console and can honestly say I don't have a preference. I like something about all of them.
My favourite games right now are Borderlands 2, Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare 2, Dragon Age, Animal Crossing and Yonder: Cloud Catcher Chronicle. I prefer RPGs, couch co-op and games that don't take themselves too seriously.
Mylène
Of course I did get games to play with soon after… and thus began my journey into the lovely world of videogames.
I always was a fan of the Nintendo consoles, which I still find so innovative. Super Mario World, The Legend of Zelda, Jet Force Gemini, Goldeneye, Soulcalibur and Resident Evil 4 were part of my daily life.
Fast forward to the present day, and I currently own pretty much every console I can think of, and a lovely Steam account, but my PS4 and Switch hold a special place in my heart.
I love RPGs, anything sci-fi and action packed, as well as fantasy and strategy games, which probably serves as creative fuel for the tabletop games I run. (Hurray for D&D!) I also really enjoy dark, bloody and gritty games, but tend to be more of a spectator. I just can't get enough…
I have lately been getting back into the online gaming, which has been time consuming, but oh so fun!
Piece of advice: If you see a girl called Jynx online that enjoys fire and burning things down a bit too much, it's probably best to avoid her and her pyromaniac tendencies.
You can also find me on PSN going by Nimiko1.
Natasha
I started getting into video games when I was just 4 years old. My brother had to babysit me often so I was always in his room, watching him play games. I remember watching him play The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past on the SNES. Having no ability to read at that time, I focused on him playing around as a tiny green elf. Fascinated, I snuck into his room constantly to fool around as said green elf.Eventually as I got older, and educated in the english language, I started owning systems of my own. Starting from the Play Station and Nintendo 64, jump 20 years into the future, to the Play Station 4 and the Nintendo Switch.
I play a variety of games, but mainly obsess over RPG's. My top three being Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy and Zelda (yes I know its an action\adventure, shhh)
I'm also a collector in consoles and games. Whether it be old or new I'm always on the hunt for something gamey.
I hope to continue my wondrous hobby for years to come.
S.M. Carrière
You can find her streaming weekly on Friday nights as of 7pm EST on Twitch!
