Grant Gaines

Hey, my name is Grant and I'm the managing editor and main reviewer at Just Push Start. If there is one thing I've learned over the past 20+ years, it's good games come in various shapes and sizes, so I'm always excited to try something new, even if I'm not that good at it. If you like what I do, have any comments or just want to get ahold of me, send a message to Admiralvic.

Black Clover: Quartet Knights Review

Similar to anime, most games based off popular manga are about offering people a different way to experience the story. Even if you know what’s going to happen, the excitement of actually defeating a fearsome foe or terrifying enemy adds to the experience. In the case of Black Clover: Quartet...

Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk - How to Get Past the Three Towers of Umbra

Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk is a weird game because events trigger story progression, but you can do them out of order, often times causing confusion. This is what makes the Three Towers of Umbra so confusing. The game won't tell you explicitly what you need to do, since that is something...

Capcom Beat 'Em Up Bundle Review

Back in the ‘80s there was no game cooler than a beat ‘em up. Part of what made them so fun is the fact multiple people could play at once and work together for a common goal. Sure, multiplayer wasn’t uncommon at arcades, but there was something to be said for four people taking control of...

Destiny 2: Forsaken Review

Destiny 2: Forsaken is an unusual experience, since so many things went through my head while playing it. The first is the inescapable sense that almost every change was made because of fan requests. After that it was a genuine sense that this is the game I always wanted Destiny to be. And then,...

Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk Review

One thing that stands out about Nippon Ichi Software titles is they’re always more than meets the eye. Disgaea routinely took seemingly silly plots and made them, if nothing else, interesting. Similar things happen with The Witch and the Hundred Knight series. They start as fairly silly...

Ninjin: Clash of Carrots Review

The nice thing about digital downloads is there is a place for smaller or different experiences. There isn’t a place for a $60 side scrolling beat ‘em up, but there is certainly one for $15 or so. Sadly, this forces games to find ways to stand out. Ninjin: Clash of Carrots tries to do this by...

Marvel's Spider-Man - How to Fight Taskmaster

One of the biggest challenges in Marvel's Spider-Man is Taskmaster's challenges. Everyone focuses on different mechanics, typically the trick is not immediately obvious and some can feel impossible until you know what to do. Even if the challenges suck, the reward is the opportunity to fight...

Marvel's Spider-Man - Schooled Trophy Guide

For better or worse, there isn't any particularly difficult trophies in Marvel's Spider-Man. Taskmaster can be tricky to defeat, With Great Power.... and Hero for Higher takes a little work to figure out, but none of them are as bad as Schooled. On a basic level, there isn't anything difficult...

SNK Heroines Tag Team Frenzy Review

A lot of times people get caught up in what something should and should not be. This was a massive problem for The Surge. A lot of people criticized it for being too similar to Dark Souls, only to criticize it for not being similar enough. This can make it difficult to build a unique experience,...

Marvel's Spider-Man Review

One of the greatest challenges is being more than just a license. Batman’s Arkham series showed us it’s possible, but most games fall apart due to hype. This is the core issue with Marvel’s Spider-Man. With a proven developer, solid graphics and impressive gameplay, it’s hard not to be...

The Elder Scrolls Online - Wolfhunter DLC Review

One of the challenges of MMORPGs is adding the right content. While the most logical approach is to add to the end and bring all existing content down, it limits enjoyment and tends to cater to specific demographics. The Elder Scrolls Online has done a good job of giving every group something to be...

PlayStation Plus Games for September 2018 Revealed; Includes Destiny 2 and More

It has been a while since PlayStation Plus has had an exceptional month. For some it might just be a couple months, where as others are in the year(s) range, but September 2018 really stands out. Easily the biggest highlight is the addition of Destiny 2. Even though reviews and opinions of the...

Blade Strangers Review

Crossovers are a great way to introduce new players to different games. With Shovel Knight and Isaac (The Binding of Isaac) joining a number of Code of Princess, Azure Striker Gunvolt and more, Blade Strangers has enough to get people interested and ultimately sell them on different experiences....

Strange Brigade Review

Co-op shooters can be a lot of fun, even if they’re not exceptional games. The idea of working with your friends, defeating enemies and making jokes is something that entices many, even if it doesn’t always work out. Some experiences, such as Evolve, had too many restrictions to resonate, with...

Yakuza Kiwami 2 Review

When it comes to older titles, gaming’s biggest advantage becomes an equally large disadvantage. This makes it hard to revisit a lot of ambitious titles that might be well regarded, even if they didn’t age well. Yakuza is a franchise held back by this concept. When it originally released there...

Guacamelee! 2 - True End Guide

Sometimes figuring out the right path to the end can be a nightmare. Cross Edge made it a complex series of winning, losing and doing specific tasks that the average person is not going to stumble on. Other times it’s obvious but the hard part isn’t figuring out the problem, it’s getting it...

Guacamelee! 2 - Hard Mode Guide

Guacamelee! 2 might not be the hardest game, but it can still offer a decent challenge. This can make hard mode a scary proposition. Not only was it hard to do everything once, the idea of doing it again, all for a single trophy/achievement, far from palatable. Thankfully, it isn’t as bad as you...

Guacamelee 2 Review

Guacamelee! was a surprising treat. The silly title wasn’t perfect, but it brought new life to the metroidvania genre. Years later Guacamelee! 2 hopes to accomplish similar things. With a new threat, more challenges and pretty much everything you could hope for, is it enough to warrant...

Next Up Hero's Most Tedious Trophy Can Currently be Earned Rather Easily on the PSN

Community Continuer! was always destined to be a tedious and awful trophy/achievement. This task requires players to push a level past 500, a feat that involves pushing a level 80 stage 14 different times. What makes this task so daunting isn't the 500 stages, but rather, the chance someone can...

Fallout 76 B.E.T.A. Progress Should Transfer to the Full Game

While players eagerly await the release of Fallout 76, it seems the upcoming beta might be worth trying. In addition to essentially being a demo, the current plan is to transfer progress from the B.E.T.A. to the final version. What kind of progress and how helpful remains to be seen but it's nice...

Dead Cells Review

Roguelike is essentially the single player version of multiplayer. Even if the core experience is the same, every encounter depends on a variety of factors, making each experience unique. This worked well for The Binding of Isaac and Enter the Gungeon, with Dead Cells trying to apply the formula...

Dead Cells - How to Defeat Every Boss Without Taking Damage

Some of the scariest and least enjoyable trophy/achievements involve defeating bosses without taking damage. This is largely due to how easy it's to make a mistake and the amount of time it takes for everything to go just right. While I did two of the bosses the "hard way," a lot of this comes down...

Dead Cells - How to Find Every Key

For me, one of the most frustrating things in Enter the Gungeon was opening the path to the second hidden area. Even though I knew there was something special about that room and there was something I needed to do, it took a while to find the solution. This holds true for the biggest secret in Dead...

Dead Cells - Boss Stem Difficulty Made Easy

One common debate I see is whether or not Enter the Gungeon/The Binding of Issac are hard. While both games can be extremely difficult, certain builds reduce said difficulty to nothing, often times making it a matter of luck. Similar things can be said about Dead Cells, with the main difference...

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