Austin Wood
Austin freelanced for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree, and he's been with 12DOVE since 2019. They've yet to realize that his position as a senior writer is just a cover up for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a focus on news and the occasional feature, all while playing as many roguelikes as possible.
Latest articles by Austin Wood
Unicorn Overlord is my GOTY, so I had to talk to its director about how the devs ran out of money, what makes strategy RPGs fun, and hopes for DLC or a PC port
By Austin Wood published
Feature Interview | How Unicorn Overlord survived and thrived "far out of the mainstream"
The top 10 manga of 2024
By Austin Wood published
feature 10 of our favorite manga from the past year
Hololive boss "Yagoo" on getting vtubers into more games, building a Fortnite-style open-world game, recent graduations, the 10-year plan, and his famous "dream"
By Austin Wood published
Interview Interview | Cover CEO Motoaki "Yagoo" Tanigo on the future of hololive in games and beyond
Elden Ring Nightreign network test coming in February, giving players an early "portion" of the unexpected "survival action" roguelike
By Austin Wood last updated
news The next Elden Ring, sort of, is maybe the last thing anyone expected
The action roguelike I want most in 2025 is coming sooner than I thought: open-world game Hyper Light Breaker launches in January with 3-player co-op
By Austin Wood published
News Hyper Light Breaker starts its early access journey in a month
"We never would have made decisions that are so blatantly not player-focused": Ex-Dauntless dev "can't be silent" after an update under the dev's new owner "gutted the core gameplay and crafting"
By Austin Wood published
News Original associate producer weighs in on Dauntless patch controversy
Analyst says 2025's GTA 6 and Nintendo Switch 2 combo is almost unprecedented: "I don't remember a year like this where so much of what's going to happen is focused on just two products"
By Austin Wood published
News "My expectation for the year is going to be determined by if and when new Nintendo hardware and Grand Theft Auto 6 show up and how successful they are"
The 25 best Metroidvania games you can explore today
By Austin Wood, Malindy Hetfeld last updated
Best List Jump, slash, and shoot through the best Metroidvanias to play right now
Zenless Zone Zero 1.4 is giving out a free S-Rank Agent and taking another swing at its divisive TV mode: "We are neither surprised by nor dismissive of any feedback"
By Austin Wood published
News It's got Miyabi, Harumasa, and PS5 Pro ray tracing support, too
I went all the way to Japan to ask the Monster Hunter Wilds devs what the heck they've done to my favorite weapon, and what do you know, they were prepared
By Austin Wood published
Feature My fellow lance mains, raise your shields in cautious celebration
The 25 best roguelike games to play right now
By James Bentley, Austin Wood last updated
Best List The best roguelikes and roguelites that will keep you coming back for one more round
For update 1.4, Zenless Zone Zero devs weigh in on the future of TV mode, the game's "young team," its growing roster of sexy characters, and roguelike fun
By Austin Wood published
Feature Interview | Zenless Zone Zero is a flashy action game that's still settling
Capcom wanted to do more with Monster Hunter: World and "didn't give up" on those ideas – now "Monster Hunter Wilds made it possible" to try again
By Austin Wood published
Feature Interview | How Capcom used Monster Hunter Wilds to step up its tech
The best Uncharted games, ranked worst to best
By Jordan Oloman last updated
Best List We rank the best Uncharted games, from the core four to a Nate-less spin-off
Monster Hunter Wilds ran great on PS5 at Capcom's Japan headquarters, and its director says "the same level of frame rate improvement will also be implemented on PC"
By Catherine Lewis published
News Yuya Tokuda admits "there were obviously some issues" with monster hair and fur in the beta, too
Monster Hunter Wilds director says 4 weapons will get "big improvements or changes" after beta feedback: lance, switch axe, insect glaive, and sword and shield
By Catherine Lewis published
News Some things, like difficulties with the controls for the lance, "really became evident" thanks to the beta
The best stealth games you can sneak through right now
By Alex Avard last updated
Best List Move like a shadow and strike down your foes in the best stealth games, from Hitman to Assassin's Creed
Monster Hunter Wilds director confirms my suspicions: a bug made monsters run away too frequently in the beta and the full game doesn't have this problem
By Austin Wood published
News It's not just you, monsters really were running away too frequently
Big Preview: Monster Hunter Wilds – Exclusive access and hands-on impressions of Capcom's most ambitious entry yet
By Austin Wood published
Big Preview We flew to Osaka, Japan to visit Capcom and spend hours with a new build of Monster Hunter Wilds, and to meet the devs pushing the series' boundaries once again
Monster Hunter Wilds hitstop feels way better in the non-beta build, and the game's director was happy to juice it back up after overseas players apparently hated it in World
By Austin Wood published
Monster Hunter Wilds weapons will land with more oomph in the full game
I spent 5 hours with a new build of Monster Hunter Wilds and it solved basically every problem I had after playing the beta – now this really feels like Monster Hunter World 2
By Austin Wood published
Hands-on Big Preview | Monster Hunter Wilds feels like the World follow-up I always wanted
Metaphor: ReFantazio is the most fun I had with a JRPG this year and its Cyber Monday price is a new record low
By Austin Wood published
Cyber Monday The JRPG Metaphor: ReFantazio is available at a record-low price with this Cyber Monday deal.
All Genshin Impact Dendroculus locations
By Austin Wood last updated
Guide Where to find all 271 Dendroculus in Genshin Impact
"It makes me sick": Skyrim modder with 475,000 downloads, fed up with "daily harassment," abandons modding after "thousands of hours" of work on what she calls "the most advanced follower to ever exist"
By Ali Jones published
News Their departure has sparked another conversation about how the modding scene looks after its own
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