Yousif Kassab
@yousifkassab.bsky.social
Freelance Writer: Paste Magazine, SF Weekly, Metro Silicon Valley
Pinned
Yousif Kassab
@yousifkassab.bsky.social
· Aug 25
Venba and Papers, Please Flex the Same Emotional Muscle
Venba and Papers, Please (which came out 10 years ago this month) might seem very different, but the two games share a common cause.
www.pastemagazine.com
Back at Paste this week writing about two very special games that made me think about my family. Give it a read!
Reposted by Yousif Kassab
Alright, I started out this @pastemagazine.bsky.social piece with Panzer Dragoon Saga so that no one would go scrolling past a bunch of other games they should read about to go find it. Now that that's out of the way... have some Saturn games I wish the world would give you again.
12 Sega Saturn Games That Need to Be Re-Released
A good way to honor the Sega Saturn's 30th anniversary? Re-release these games, already.
www.pastemagazine.com
May 23, 2025 at 6:35 PM
Alright, I started out this @pastemagazine.bsky.social piece with Panzer Dragoon Saga so that no one would go scrolling past a bunch of other games they should read about to go find it. Now that that's out of the way... have some Saturn games I wish the world would give you again.
Reposted by Yousif Kassab
NEW BLOG POST: Today marks five years since I started my project to play through a substantial amount of Final Fantasy games.
I wrote about how I felt taking that on:
pixpen.co.uk/2025/04/19/r...
I wrote about how I felt taking that on:
pixpen.co.uk/2025/04/19/r...
Reflections on my Almost Five Years of Final Fantasy
This article will mention story elements of various Final Fantasy games, with major spoilers for Final Fantasy X and XV. Today marks five years since I published my first article about Final Fantas…
pixpen.co.uk
April 19, 2025 at 5:06 PM
NEW BLOG POST: Today marks five years since I started my project to play through a substantial amount of Final Fantasy games.
I wrote about how I felt taking that on:
pixpen.co.uk/2025/04/19/r...
I wrote about how I felt taking that on:
pixpen.co.uk/2025/04/19/r...
Reposted by Yousif Kassab
First image from "Sunny" animated feature by @michaelarias.net ("Tekkonkinkreet").
Based on the manga by Taiyo Matsumoto (again).
Produced by GKIDS.
variety.com/2025/film/gl...
Based on the manga by Taiyo Matsumoto (again).
Produced by GKIDS.
variety.com/2025/film/gl...
April 17, 2025 at 9:54 AM
First image from "Sunny" animated feature by @michaelarias.net ("Tekkonkinkreet").
Based on the manga by Taiyo Matsumoto (again).
Produced by GKIDS.
variety.com/2025/film/gl...
Based on the manga by Taiyo Matsumoto (again).
Produced by GKIDS.
variety.com/2025/film/gl...
Reposted by Yousif Kassab
A new Cosmo Champs! We run into a full on filler arc as the anime pulls the classic blunder of running out of manga to adapt, but we do have a giant evil pope and his giant evil henchmen so we manage to have fun. Also, the most forgettable mentor ever. www.abnormalmapping.com/cosmo/2025/2...
Cosmo Champs 3: Pope Lobotomy Beam — Abnormal Mapping
The second season has us running headlong into filler as we meet some guys who truly do not matter and a backstory that certainly is going to get rewritten. Nobody even dies for their bros in these ep...
www.abnormalmapping.com
February 20, 2025 at 3:41 PM
A new Cosmo Champs! We run into a full on filler arc as the anime pulls the classic blunder of running out of manga to adapt, but we do have a giant evil pope and his giant evil henchmen so we manage to have fun. Also, the most forgettable mentor ever. www.abnormalmapping.com/cosmo/2025/2...
Reposted by Yousif Kassab
I hear you want non-corporately owned games writing that doesn’t just focus on whatever the current best-sellers are www.pastemagazine.com/games
Games Archives
Paste Magazine is your source for the best music, movies, TV, comedy, videogames, books, comics, craft beer, politics and more. Discover your favorite albums and films.
www.pastemagazine.com
December 17, 2024 at 2:58 AM
I hear you want non-corporately owned games writing that doesn’t just focus on whatever the current best-sellers are www.pastemagazine.com/games
Reposted by Yousif Kassab
A new Repertory Screenings! We watched My Dinner with Andre and found ourselves pondering the truth of all human interaction, dinner etiquette, whether we're Wallys or Andres, and more! www.abnormalmapping.com/trashpect-ra...
Repertory Screenings 112: My Dinner with Andre — Abnormal Mapping
We’re a week late but we’re rolling along with our schedule so expect the next episode next week! This week we sat down to dinner and talked about our varied reactions to My Dinner with Andre, and dec...
www.abnormalmapping.com
December 9, 2024 at 3:28 PM
A new Repertory Screenings! We watched My Dinner with Andre and found ourselves pondering the truth of all human interaction, dinner etiquette, whether we're Wallys or Andres, and more! www.abnormalmapping.com/trashpect-ra...
Reposted by Yousif Kassab
NEW VIDEO:
I review the Retrofighters BATTLERGC Pro, a modern Gamecube controller!
with Hall Effect Sticks, a tactile dpad and a dual stage trigger with mouse clicks, can it improve on that classic controller feel?
youtu.be/-iOBTHBly54
I review the Retrofighters BATTLERGC Pro, a modern Gamecube controller!
with Hall Effect Sticks, a tactile dpad and a dual stage trigger with mouse clicks, can it improve on that classic controller feel?
youtu.be/-iOBTHBly54
BattlerGC Pro Review~a hall effect Gamecube controller for the modern age
YouTube video by siegarettes
youtu.be
December 9, 2024 at 2:01 AM
NEW VIDEO:
I review the Retrofighters BATTLERGC Pro, a modern Gamecube controller!
with Hall Effect Sticks, a tactile dpad and a dual stage trigger with mouse clicks, can it improve on that classic controller feel?
youtu.be/-iOBTHBly54
I review the Retrofighters BATTLERGC Pro, a modern Gamecube controller!
with Hall Effect Sticks, a tactile dpad and a dual stage trigger with mouse clicks, can it improve on that classic controller feel?
youtu.be/-iOBTHBly54
Reposted by Yousif Kassab
This Sonic render from Sega Superstars Tennis still haunts me
November 26, 2024 at 8:32 PM
This Sonic render from Sega Superstars Tennis still haunts me
Reposted by Yousif Kassab
also been playing a lot of Lorelei and the Laser Eyes and Twin Cobra but didn’t have time to fit those into the column this week.
This week Paste's games team has been playing the post-apocalyptic visual novel Interstate 35, the lo-fi carnage machine Kill Knight, and the anti-military spree-shooter I Am Your Beast. www.pastemagazine.com/games/new-ga...
Bytes 'n' Blurts: A Post-Nuke Texas, Lo-Fi Carnage, and Deadly Job Offers
This week Paste's games team has been playing the post-apocalyptic visual novel Interstate 35, Kill Knight, and more.
www.pastemagazine.com
November 22, 2024 at 11:59 PM
also been playing a lot of Lorelei and the Laser Eyes and Twin Cobra but didn’t have time to fit those into the column this week.
Reposted by Yousif Kassab
This weekend we are recording the next Abnormal Mapping on Shenmue 2! We’ll be joined by special guest @dialacina.bsky.social as we return to Ryo’s quest for vengeance! Send us questions about this or any other games to abnormalmappingpodcast@gmail.com
November 18, 2024 at 3:41 PM
This weekend we are recording the next Abnormal Mapping on Shenmue 2! We’ll be joined by special guest @dialacina.bsky.social as we return to Ryo’s quest for vengeance! Send us questions about this or any other games to abnormalmappingpodcast@gmail.com
Reposted by Yousif Kassab
The person who came up with this idea is a genius.
November 22, 2024 at 4:22 AM
The person who came up with this idea is a genius.
Reposted by Yousif Kassab
THE LIBRARY OF ALEXANDRIA IS BURNING!
In today's entry of CANON FIRE I talk about TETRIS FOREVER!
It's a game that presents as a documentary, but revises history with massive absences to instead valorize the company that sells Tetris.
canonfire.net/post/7672235...
In today's entry of CANON FIRE I talk about TETRIS FOREVER!
It's a game that presents as a documentary, but revises history with massive absences to instead valorize the company that sells Tetris.
canonfire.net/post/7672235...
+005: Tetris Forever is marketing disguised as a documentary
CANON FIRE is made possible by the generous contributions of readers like you. Support more writing like this on Patreon. Thank you! The latest in Digital Eclipse’s game/documentary hybrids, Tetris...
canonfire.net
November 15, 2024 at 2:42 PM
THE LIBRARY OF ALEXANDRIA IS BURNING!
In today's entry of CANON FIRE I talk about TETRIS FOREVER!
It's a game that presents as a documentary, but revises history with massive absences to instead valorize the company that sells Tetris.
canonfire.net/post/7672235...
In today's entry of CANON FIRE I talk about TETRIS FOREVER!
It's a game that presents as a documentary, but revises history with massive absences to instead valorize the company that sells Tetris.
canonfire.net/post/7672235...
Reposted by Yousif Kassab
so many people posting their poems on Instagram stories right now too as if we haven’t suffered enough
November 7, 2024 at 3:19 AM
so many people posting their poems on Instagram stories right now too as if we haven’t suffered enough
Reposted by Yousif Kassab
Reposted by Yousif Kassab
For the last Beach House of the year we read a manga that just finished and has been on my to-do list for literal years. Today we talk about the truly wonderful Delicious in Dungeon!
Your Uncle's Beach House 82: Delicious in Dungeon — Abnormal Mapping
It's time for the final Beach House of 2023, and we read Delicious in
Dungeon! The whole thing! It's a great manga and we had a good time
discussing it even if our job is pretty difficult because th...
www.abnormalmapping.com
December 15, 2023 at 9:26 PM
For the last Beach House of the year we read a manga that just finished and has been on my to-do list for literal years. Today we talk about the truly wonderful Delicious in Dungeon!
Reposted by Yousif Kassab
The game I work on, The Anacrusis, is on sale for $10 this weekend. It’s a co-op game (kind of like Left 4 Dead) about fighting off an alien invasion in a retro-future 60s spaceship. It’s great with 1-8 players, has versus where you play as the aliens, and even has mod support!Check it out!
Save 50% on The Anacrusis on Steam
Battle for survival against endless alien hordes with your friends! From the lead for Left 4 Dead and L4D2, The Anacrusis is a 1-8 player first-person shooter. Experience intense 4 player co-op action...
store.steampowered.com
October 7, 2023 at 6:09 PM
The game I work on, The Anacrusis, is on sale for $10 this weekend. It’s a co-op game (kind of like Left 4 Dead) about fighting off an alien invasion in a retro-future 60s spaceship. It’s great with 1-8 players, has versus where you play as the aliens, and even has mod support!Check it out!
Reposted by Yousif Kassab
More Final Fantasy Tactics! We try some things, they don't work, and then I learn nothing when I get into the same problem again but trying the same idea works this time. This game's pretty good!
Em Muddles Through FFT 6 - Beating the Death Clock | Patreon
Official Post from Abnormal Mapping
www.patreon.com
September 10, 2023 at 4:05 PM
More Final Fantasy Tactics! We try some things, they don't work, and then I learn nothing when I get into the same problem again but trying the same idea works this time. This game's pretty good!
Reposted by Yousif Kassab
Complain about a game not being released as an import title when it's already available on the Nintendo Switch's Japanese version of their subscription classic game service, and a year or so later, you will be rewarded. Anyway you should play Kirby no Kirakira Kizzu, aka Kirby's Super Star Stacker
Past meets present: Kirby's Super Star Stacker
A Japanese exclusive for decades, the Super Famicon puzzle game is finally legally available in North America.
retroxp.substack.com
September 11, 2023 at 4:27 PM
Complain about a game not being released as an import title when it's already available on the Nintendo Switch's Japanese version of their subscription classic game service, and a year or so later, you will be rewarded. Anyway you should play Kirby no Kirakira Kizzu, aka Kirby's Super Star Stacker
Reposted by Yousif Kassab
Podcast schedule for the week. Deranged I made this and went 'oh light week' used to be a light week was just GGP lmao really starting to get in the groove of FFT tho, imo.
September 3, 2023 at 2:31 PM
Podcast schedule for the week. Deranged I made this and went 'oh light week' used to be a light week was just GGP lmao really starting to get in the groove of FFT tho, imo.
Reposted by Yousif Kassab
bonus episode of your uncle's beach house is here! me and @lucilfer.bsky.social watched Valvrave The Liberator. and been changed by the experience. like on the show
Your Uncle's Beach House 77: Valvrave The Liberator — Abnormal Mapping
I'm joined by Luc today for the return of Bad Mecha Anime Hour. I (Jackson)
will be doing some bonus extra free episodes without Em during the writers
strike, while they are doing the FFT let's play...
www.abnormalmapping.com
September 1, 2023 at 10:24 PM
bonus episode of your uncle's beach house is here! me and @lucilfer.bsky.social watched Valvrave The Liberator. and been changed by the experience. like on the show
Reposted by Yousif Kassab
New Abnormal Mapping! We played Mega Man Legends, a game neither of us had played before, and were immediately taken with its bright world and characters, and it’s surprising dungeon delving adventure loop!
Abnormal Mapping 149: Mega Man Legends — Abnormal Mapping
We’re back with one of the obvious classics of all time, a game neither of
us had played before this month but came like a lighting strike into our
lives with its charm and brevity and interesting...
www.abnormalmapping.com
August 28, 2023 at 12:44 PM
New Abnormal Mapping! We played Mega Man Legends, a game neither of us had played before, and were immediately taken with its bright world and characters, and it’s surprising dungeon delving adventure loop!
Reposted by Yousif Kassab
Venba x Papers, Please
on first glance you might not be "??"
But after playing both games, the haunting feeling, the impact, the progression, it's there, and this article just nails it on the dot.
https://www.pastemagazine.com/games/venba/venba-and-papers-please-flex-the-same-emotional-muscle
on first glance you might not be "??"
But after playing both games, the haunting feeling, the impact, the progression, it's there, and this article just nails it on the dot.
https://www.pastemagazine.com/games/venba/venba-and-papers-please-flex-the-same-emotional-muscle
Venba and Papers, Please Flex the Same Emotional Muscle
Venba and Papers, Please (which came out 10 years ago this month) might seem very different, but the two games share a common cause.
www.pastemagazine.com
August 25, 2023 at 8:29 PM
Venba x Papers, Please
on first glance you might not be "??"
But after playing both games, the haunting feeling, the impact, the progression, it's there, and this article just nails it on the dot.
https://www.pastemagazine.com/games/venba/venba-and-papers-please-flex-the-same-emotional-muscle
on first glance you might not be "??"
But after playing both games, the haunting feeling, the impact, the progression, it's there, and this article just nails it on the dot.
https://www.pastemagazine.com/games/venba/venba-and-papers-please-flex-the-same-emotional-muscle