George Yang

George is a freelance writer specializing in video games and other entertainment.

Selected Works

Rolling Stone •

How Hidetaka Miyazaki Made 'Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree,' His Biggest Expansion Yet

Elden Ring was undoubtedly 2022’s Game of the Year, winning numerous awards across different shows and publications. With its dark fantasy atmosphere, punishing combat, and challenging difficulty, players keep coming back for more. It was also developer FromSoftware’s first open-world game, so it needed to have more content than any game that the studio had made before.
Variety •

‘The Boys’ Star Karen Fukuhara Makes Her Video-Game Debut With ‘The Callisto Protocol’

Developed by Striking Distance Studios, “The Callisto Protocol” is a survival horror game set in the Black Iron Prison on one of Jupiter’s moons, Callisto. Players assume the role of an inmate named Jacob Lee, played by “Transformers” and “Shotgun Wedding” star Josh Duhamel. He meets Dani Nakamura, the leader of a resistance group called Outer Way, and together they must uncover the Black Iron Prison’s dark secrets and escape with their lives. Dani is portrayed by “The Boys” star Karen Fukuhara.
Digital Trends •

The Mega Man Battle Network esports scene is thriving in 2023

Imagine that your Nintendo Switch didn’t have the ability to connect online and that the competitive game you’re currently playing only supported local multiplayer. It’s a little hard to picture in 2023, right? That’s what Mega Man Battle Network fans had to deal with during the early 2000s. If you wanted to have a battle with your friend during Nintendo’s Game Boy Advance days, they’d have to be within your immediate vicinity and have a Link Cable available to connect two GBAs.
Complex •

The Live-Action ‘Halo’ Series Delivers High Impact Sci-Fi Storytelling

Taking video game plotlines and adapting them for television has had a shaky past. What kind of story should the series portray? Should it be an exact retelling of the source material? If so, why not just play the game itself? For gamers and television fanatics, it’s important that a new experience is created that’s appropriate for the medium. This challenge is what Paramount+ has taken on with the critically acclaimed Halo series (streaming now on the platform). Taking the iconic Xbox franchise
NPR •

'Shadow Warrior' tries to mend its flawed history with race by recasting its hero

Shadow Warrior 3 is the latest in a series of blood-soaked action games following assassin Lo Wang. It's got plenty of gunplay, sword fights, and fantastical monsters, but for the first time in its 25-year history, it now features an Asian actor to voice its Asian protagonist. For years, Lo Wang was played by Jason Liebrecht, a white man, but for this title, publisher Devolver Digital and developer Flying Wild Hog tapped Hollywood actor Mike Moh for a more authentic cultural portrayal.
IGN •

Why Japanese Games Are Increasingly Releasing at the Same Time Across The Globe

Since time immemorial, Japanese video games have followed a typical release schedule. Launch in Japan first, followed by a localized release for other countries a few months, or even years, later. But this trend shifted dramatically in 2021. Many high-profile Japanese games such as Tales of Arise, Shin Megami Tensei V, and both Monster Hunter Rise and Monster Hunter Stories 2 have been launched day-and-date worldwide.

So, what has changed? A simultaneous global ship date allows Japanese games t
The Verge •

‘The little handheld that could’: examining the Vita’s impact a decade later

Christian Phillips still remembers the most jaw-dropping moment he experienced on the PlayStation Vita — and it was something that was never actually released.

Phillips, a former senior director at Sony, describes a tech demo that ultimately led to the PS4 game Days Gone. Sometime after shipping Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Bend Studio showed leadership the Vita tech demo that was similar to the famous Jerusalem scene in the movie World War Z.

The demo had a scene with a horde of zombies scramblin
Wired •

Orientalism, 'Cyberpunk 2077,' and Yellow Peril in Science Fiction

2020 has been one of the most tumultuous years in recent memory, but at least, in a few days, the most anticipated game of the year will come out. That game, Cyberpunk 2077, has already drawn both praise and criticism, but one of those criticisms is of how it handles different cultures—especially Asian culture, which is inextricably tied to the cyberpunk genre.

The Origins of the Cyberpunk Genre

The origins of the cyberpunk genre involve Western anxieties about the East. Techno-orientalism is
Washington Post •

How some savvy fans are preserving the PS3’s multiplayer games

It wasn’t hard to understand why players reached this conclusion. Although “Mercenary’s” servers eventually came back online (the reason for the shutdown is still unknown) Sony has earned a reputation over the past several years for unceremoniously shutting down multiplayer service for its first party franchises. In October, Sony announced that it was updating the PlayStation Network webstore to only feature PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 titles for purchase, effectively locking away PS3, PS Vi
Polygon •

The personal experiences that Lev and Yara’s actors brought to The Last of Us Part 2

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Both Ian Alexander and Victoria Grace had never worked on a video game before, and neither had any prior experience with performance capture. However, in a recent interview with Polygon, both agreed that playing the Seraphite siblings in The Last of Us Part II was one of the most transformative experiences they ever had.

Alexander plays Lev, a former member of the in-game extremi

Latest Work

Business Insider •

PS5 Pro review: The most powerful console ever made, but its high price limits its appeal

The PS5 Pro is an upgraded version of Sony's popular PS5 gaming console. Rather than being a completely new system, the Pro is considered a "mid-generation" refresh. This means it plays all the same games as the PlayStation 5 but with enhanced graphical capabilities. So, while developers aren't creating any new games exclusively for the Pro, they are taking advantage of its beefier hardware to enable better performance on many popular PS5 titles.
Rolling Stone •

Inside Pac-Man's Gritty New Redesign

There are very few gaming gaming characters as instantly recognizable across all of popular culture as Mario or Sonic the Hedgehog, but Bandai Namco’s Pac-Man is one of them. The yellow fruit-eating circle’s iconic “waka-waka” eating soundbite is one of the most recognizable sounds in gaming. Debuting in 1980 in arcades (a full year ahead of Mario himself), Pac-Man is celebrating its 45th anniversary in 2025, although he’s sporting a very different look.
Digital Trends •

2024’s most underrated game turned me into a cheater

If there’s any video game genre that’s had as massive of an impact as the “soulslike” genre, it’s the roguelike genre. The gameplay loop of battling through procedurally generated dungeons, dying, and then starting over has such an engaging system that’s withstood the test of time. In 2024, there’s been plenty of fantastic roguelike games such as Hades 2, Balatro, and The Rogue Prince of Persia.
Digital Trends •

Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake review: An authentic return

Early on in the Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake, I encountered a boss battle so frustratingly difficult that I just wanted to throw my Nintendo Switch at the wall. I was fighting against a group of hoodlums and its head honcho, and had to sit back as they devastated my party with hard-hitting attacks. I eventually won that battle by pure endurance and using up all of my healing items. I left feeling accomplished as a reward for my perseverance, like a true hero.
Mashable •

‘Life is Strange: Double Exposure’ review: A worthy return for its original protagonist

Life is Strange: Double Exposure is the latest entry in the Life is Strange series — a direct follow-up to the original game that came out in 2015.

The game expertly showcases the original protagonist, Max, and her personal growth, while introducing a likable cast of new supporting characters. The story starts off incredibly strong, but the pacing feels rushed towards the end and the conclusion may not satisfy some players. Additionally, the gameplay mechanics feel a bit underwhelming.
Paste Magazine •

An All-Time Cast Makes Dragon Age: The Veilguard Stand Out

It’s rare that I’d stop in my tracks to hear NPC characters chat with each other. But that’s what Dragon Age: The Veilguard made me do. I loved hearing the banter between the Elven Veil Jumper Bellara Lutare and necromancer Emmrich Volkarin about their interest in magic as I just casually ran around an area trying to solve a light puzzle to unlock a door.

The Veilguard has the best cast in the series so far, and that’s what kept my attention to the very end. While its action-oriented combat feels like a step back in some aspects from previous games, it’s still fun to play. And its presentation and visuals make it an incredibly smooth ride from start to finish.
Digital Trends •

PS Vita's forgotten Silent Hill game deserves a revival

One of my favorite franchises is the Tales series, and in 2014, when Bandai Namco announced that the Vita-exclusive Tales of Hearts R was being translated into English, I went out and bought Sony’s handheld with my hard-earned college job money. Like any good gamer trying to justify their purchase, I started seeking out more Vita-exclusive games. That actually introduced me to many other franchises that I never would have otherwise tried.
Fangoria •

Breaking Down The Until Dawn Remake: Two New Endings And Upgraded Graphics

In 2015, developer Supermassive Games and publisher Sony released the interactive horror game Until Dawn for PS4. This frightening story began with a group of friends in a Blackwood Mountain lodge one year before the game's events. After a prank gone wrong, a set of twins goes missing, and the search for them is futile.

In the present, the remaining eight friends reunite in the lodge, but things take a dark turn with a psycho killer on the loose. It's the group's goal to survive *ahem* until dawn. While it seems like a typical slasher setting, Until Dawn‘s excellent pacing, great characters, and red herrings make it a night to remember.
Rolling Stone •

23 Years Later, 'Silent Hill 2' Is Still Scary As Hell

When Capcom released its reimagining of Resident Evil 2 in 2019, it was lauded as one of the best horror games ever made. Since then, it’s been the blueprint for other studios to follow for their (many) remakes. Some were successful, like EA’s Dead Space (2023), which kept just enough of its source material’s DNA intact while updating its combat. Others flopped, like THQ Nordic’s Alone in the Dark (2024), which attempted to completely overhaul an outdated 1992 game, but failed to deliver the level of terror of its modern peers.
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