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Star Wars video games demonstrate how Lucasfilm can break the nostalgia loop

Star Wars video games demonstrate how Lucasfilm can break the nostalgia loop

As Star Wars turns 50 in 2027, the galaxy-spanning franchise’s reputation feels like it’s been on a seesaw. It has scored a handful of wins,...

yesterday 0

Polygon

Aimee Hart

The greatest Peanuts comic strip about the Great Pumpkin 2 two years before the famous TV special

In 1966, CBS debuted the now-classic television special, It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. In it, all the kids in the Peanuts gang take part in...

yesterday 0

Polygon

Brian Vanhooker

D&D's new Arcana Unleashed feats are breaking the game, but there's an easy fix

D&D's new Arcana Unleashed feats are breaking the game, but there's an easy fix

Dungeons & Dragons’ latest book, Arcana Unleashed, introduced a cornucopia of new options for players who enjoy keeping track of spell slots...

yesterday 0

Polygon

Francesco Cacciatore

Dragon Ball Super: Beerus finally respects Toriyama’s vision

Dragon Ball Super: Beerus finally respects Toriyama’s vision

I’ll be the first to admit I wasn’t particularly excited about Dragon Ball Super: Beerus. When the remake of Dragon Ball Super was first...

sunday 2

Polygon

Ryan Epps

GTA: San Andreas’ Bigfoot myth made video games more mysterious

GTA: San Andreas’ Bigfoot myth made video games more mysterious

There is a Bigfoot in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas — at least, that's what I and many others believed. Some time after the game had been...

sunday 3

Polygon

Paulo Kawanishi

Lost's first huge plot twist remains one of its greatest

Lost's first huge plot twist remains one of its greatest

The best twists totally recontextualize everything that’s come before them. Mystery-box series master Damon Lindelof (Lanterns, Watchmen) once cited...

sunday 2

Polygon

Corey Plante

Grand Theft Auto 4 was Rockstar at its best: unpredictable

Grand Theft Auto 4 was Rockstar at its best: unpredictable

By the time Grand Theft Auto 4 launched in 2008, Rockstar had carved itself an unassailable niche and a reputation for innovation. And yet for all...

17.10.2026 1

Polygon

Josh Broadwell

GTA 6 recaptures what made GTA’s best DLC so great

GTA 6 recaptures what made GTA’s best DLC so great

If there’s one word that describes GTA 6, it’s sexy. Since its debut trailer, the new open-world game appears to be a drastic detour from...

17.10.2026 4

Polygon

Ryan Epps

Smallville's greatest strength was never Superman

Smallville's greatest strength was never Superman

Bringing Superman to weekly television has never been easy. Special effects rarely matched the movies, and a superhero who could fly presented some...

17.10.2026 5

Polygon

Terry Terrones

34 years later, the best-ever Far Side quote will still leave you speechless

34 years later, the best-ever Far Side quote will still leave you speechless

In recent months, I’ve been examining the best-ever quotes from various newspaper comic strips, and in that time I’ve determined that every comic...

16.10.2026 5

Polygon

Brian Vanhooker

Roadside Picnic ends with one of sci-fi’s most enduring lines

Roadside Picnic ends with one of sci-fi’s most enduring lines

The world of science fiction literature is home to countless unforgettable closing moments, from 1984’s short but devastating retrospective...

16.10.2026 3

Polygon

Ryan Epps

6 Fire Emblem Fortune's Weave characters who need to be in the next Smash Bros game

6 Fire Emblem Fortune's Weave characters who need to be in the next Smash Bros game

Now that the dust is slowly settling around Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave, my thoughts are turning elsewhere — namely, which of the dozens of...

15.10.2026 4

Polygon

Josh Broadwell

Soulslikes don't work in first-person — yet

Soulslikes don't work in first-person — yet

Ever since I sold my plasma to buy a copy of Bloodborne back in 2015 (college — wild times!), I’ve been a big Soulslike guy. The challenge, the...

15.10.2026 4

Polygon

Austin Manchester

Doctor Who's showrunner is right: Hate is ruining Star Wars

Doctor Who's showrunner is right: Hate is ruining Star Wars

Before Doctor Who’s second-season finale debuted on May 31, 2025, a leak about Billie Piper's return as Rose Tyler surfaced online. It spread...

15.10.2026 4

Polygon

Aimee Hart

Halo already delivered the perfect Master Chief origin story, 25 years ago

Halo already delivered the perfect Master Chief origin story, 25 years ago

Like many gamers in the early 2000s, I got an Xbox specifically so I could play Halo: Combat Evolved. I became so obsessed with it that I bought...

14.10.2026 4

Polygon

Corey Plante

This Matthew Mercer quote is the perfect rebuke to terrible Critical Role fans

This Matthew Mercer quote is the perfect rebuke to terrible Critical Role fans

Throughout our time enjoying the many different actual-play Dungeons & Dragons shows over the years, one has always stood out: Critical Role....

12.10.2026 6

Polygon

Aimee Hart

Magnum, P.I. was never just an escapist fantasy

Magnum, P.I. was never just an escapist fantasy

There are worse ways to spend your life than being Thomas Sullivan Magnum. You live rent-free on a sprawling Hawaiian estate owned by famous novelist...

11.10.2026 10

Polygon

Terry Terrones

Revisiting the throwaway Game of Thrones quote that predicted the fall of every major character

Revisiting the throwaway Game of Thrones quote that predicted the fall of every major character

If you’re a fan of everything George R.R. Martin wrote related to Game of Thrones, you’ll know the iconic fantasy series doesn’t pull its...

11.10.2026 5

Polygon

Aimee Hart

Avatar: Seven Havens is a brilliant take-down of Korra's biggest haters

Avatar: Seven Havens is a brilliant take-down of Korra's biggest haters

At the stroke of midnight on Dec. 19, 2014, Nickelodeon unceremoniously dumped the final two episodes of Avatar: The Legend of Korra on Nick.com. That...

11.10.2026 10

Polygon

Jake Kleinman

I have discovered the best game soundtrack of 2026 and it is Super Woden: Rally Edge

I have discovered the best game soundtrack of 2026 and it is Super Woden: Rally Edge

Video game soundtracks are pretty respectable these days. Earlier this year, I watched James Bond composer David Arnold take the stage at the BAFTA...

10.10.2026 9

Polygon

Oli Welsh

There has never been a better time to get into Star Wars

There has never been a better time to get into Star Wars

Despite growing up as both a cinephile and a sci-fi nerd, I somehow never caught the Star Wars bug. Sure, I got swept up in the cultural moment of The...

10.10.2026 10

Polygon

Giovanni Colantonio

Persona's horrifying dong monster will haunt my nightmares forever

Persona's horrifying dong monster will haunt my nightmares forever

21 years ago, Doctor Who traumatized children everywhere Atlus’s Persona series of role-playing games incorporates a huge variety of mythological...

10.10.2026 7

Polygon

Jen Glennon

Square Enix's forgotten loot-shooter was years ahead of its time

Square Enix's forgotten loot-shooter was years ahead of its time

Some of the most-discussed multiplayer shooter of 2026 share a lot in common. In both Arc Raiders and Marathon, you and up to two other players...

10.10.2026 6

Polygon

Ari Notis

Marathon is the scariest horror game of 2026

Marathon is the scariest horror game of 2026

Ed. note: This story was originally published in March. We're republishing it today in celebration of Spooky Season. Marathon is the kind of game...

10.10.2026 10

Polygon

Corey Plante

Critical Role just gave a controversial answer to D&D’s most important question

Critical Role just gave a controversial answer to D&D’s most important question

People sit around a table to play a game of Dungeons & Dragons to have fun. Heroic deeds, exciting adventures, and hilarious moments are all part...

09.10.2026 9

Polygon

Francesco Cacciatore

I really want to get back into The Witcher 3 but I have save game anxiety

I really want to get back into The Witcher 3 but I have save game anxiety

You know the feeling, I bet you do. There's a game you played and loved but never finished — or never felt you got closure on, in one way or...

09.10.2026 10

Polygon

Oli Welsh

GTA 6's nudity sure sounds hopelessly outdated

GTA 6's nudity sure sounds hopelessly outdated

More GTA 6 leaks are spilling out, despite Rockstar's best efforts, and one of the bigger ones seems to be Jason's penis. Well, I...

09.10.2026 10

Polygon

Josh Broadwell

Mike Flanagan wants to make a Carrie sequel, but an even better one already exists

Carrie is not the sacred text you might think. Sure, Stephen King's first published book is still a cornerstone of horror canon, and the Brian De...

09.10.2026 8

Polygon

Jake Kleinman

Overwatch's huge new Sombra rework is 10x better than expected

It's extremely rude of Blizzard to prove me wrong. I, like many others, was all set to scoff at Overwatch's latest Sombra rework. Moving the...

09.10.2026 9

Polygon

Josh Broadwell

Critical Role just raised the bar for Dungeons & Dragons greatness in Campaign 4

We’re certain Critters will agree that Critical Role’s latest campaign, Campaign 4, has been a lesson in heartbreak. From the very first episode,...

08.10.2026 8

Polygon

Aimee Hart

Gears of War E-Day's near-perfect intro feels designed for Xbox Game Pass

It’s tough for new games, even first-party ones, to stand out on Xbox Game Pass. Name recognition and word-of-mouth play a big role in a game’s...

07.10.2026 10

Polygon

Tomas Franzese

Modern Warfare 4 could dethrone Arc Raiders as the best extraction shooter of all time

Back in the days of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (the 2022 one, not the OG 2009 game), developer Infinity Ward released the DMZ Beta. This was an...

06.10.2026 20

Polygon

Ford James

There’s one thing It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown has over the Peanuts Christmas Special

Clint Howard's unhinged ice cream slasher might just be the greatest horror B-movie ever made Come Christmas time, if you’re looking for some...

06.10.2026 10

Polygon

Brian Vanhooker

GTA 6 could finally fix gaming's huge drug problem

People are very excited by recent reports claiming that Grand Theft Auto 6 will allow players to carry cocaine and snort it off their hands at any...

06.10.2026 20

Polygon

Jen Glennon

Multi-stage boss fights are the worst video game mechanic of all time

Boss fights have existed for almost as long as video games have. They serve various purposes: defeating them may be required for story progression, or...

06.10.2026 10

Polygon

Ford James

Buffy the Vampire Slayer should've ended with season 5

It's difficult to overstate the influence of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The TV show (1997-2003) was never a ratings giant, but it was a hit with...

05.10.2026 9

Polygon

Thomas Hindmarch

Forget Star Wars movies — it's really a video game franchise now

Word broke this week that Lucasfilm was reportedly ramping up for Star Wars - Episode X, a direct continuation of the mainline “Skywalker Saga”...

05.10.2026 10

Polygon

Matt Patches

GTA's Wanted level is one of video games’ perfect ideas

With Grand Theft Auto 6 so close that you can practically taste Leonida’s bog water, I’m starting to reflect on why the GTA series still excites...

05.10.2026 10

Polygon

Giovanni Colantonio

I would go to war for Ghost of Yōtei’s giant murder bears

Ghost of Yōtei: Echoes of Sekigahara, the new DLC for Sucker Punch’s popular 2025 samurai game, is out now, sending players to a new region, the...

04.10.2026 10

Polygon

Austin Manchester

Ace Combat 8 secretly has the best video game music of the year

Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve is one of the best video games I’ve played in 2026, and there are plenty of reasons why. It has airtight flying...

04.10.2026 30

Polygon

Giovanni Colantonio

Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave doesn't have to be a slog

I admire Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave approach to bigness. What stood out to me during the review period and since is how many ways it lets you...

04.10.2026 10

Polygon

Josh Broadwell

30 years later, Nintendo's forgotten N64 racing game deserves a Switch 2 rebirth

When the Nintendo 64 launched in North America on Sep. 29, 1996, many of us only had eyes for a portly plumber. He was all over our television...

03.10.2026 10

Polygon

Jason Venter

The best Tony Stark quote from the Marvel Cinematic Universe is obvious, but also undeniable

Avengers: Endgame is back in theaters now, which has sparked an online debate about whether or not just four minutes of added material is worth the...

03.10.2026 10

Polygon

Brian Vanhooker

Digger's first big twist ruins the movie. The second one saves it.

Digger is many things. It’s the first Tom Cruise movie in over a decade not to feature recognizable IP, fighter planes, or both. Its director...

02.10.2026 40

Polygon

Jake Kleinman

This 2006 crime thriller still has one of the best opening lines in gangster movie history

In crime cinema, a lethal line carries as much weight as a loaded gun. Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas hooks audiences with Henry Hill's...

02.10.2026 200

Polygon

Ryan Epps

Magic's KPop Demon Hunters Secret Lair is a total letdown

Well, that is not how it’s done, done, done. After Tuesday’s mysterious and spooky teaser for Magic: The Gathering’s upcoming Secret Lair Corn...

01.10.2026 30

Polygon

Corey Plante

The Witcher 3 beats most fantasy adaptations in nearly every way

For decades, scholars have been warning us about the dangers of nostalgia as a political tool. But scholars be damned, I’m having a lot of fun...

01.10.2026 10

Polygon

Francesco Cacciatore

World of Warcraft: Forever has a serious sky elf problem

World of Warcraft: Forever is a hit, and it isn't even out yet. Blizzard developers keep humblebragging about how their servers just can't...

30.09.2026 10

Polygon

Oli Welsh

Control Resonant hides its best part 15 hours into the game

There are plenty of memorable moments in Control Resonant. Seeing the twisted streets of Manhattan for the first time, a gorgeous area that’s...

30.09.2026 10

Polygon

Giovanni Colantonio

Star Wars: Episode X is exactly what terrible Star Wars fans deserve

At a Disney D23 panel in August, Dave Filoni revealed what his mission statement was for Star Wars after taking over Lucasfilm from Kathleen Kennedy....

30.09.2026 10

Polygon

Aimee Hart