Willa Rowe

Former Contributor

Willa is a freelance games critic based in New York City. Before contributing to Digital Trends she previously wrote for Inverse and Kotaku. Beyond her writing, Willa talks about games on the Girl Mode podcast alongside her co-host Robin Bea. Willa fell in love with video games as soon as she was born, having grown up watching her siblings play Ocarina of Time and Mario Kart on the Nintendo 64. She fell in love with criticism through her other artistic passion, theater, and managed to combine these two things into a career. Willa earned her master's degree at the Columbia Journalism School. When she isn't writing or talking about video games she is either cooking, watching anime, or thinking about the New York Mets.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s style is its substance

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 uses the visuals of the Belle Époque era to reinforce its narrative of optimism and grief.

Features         May 17

The Talos Principle: Reawakened hits very different in our new AI future

The Talos Principle: Reawakened is a great remake that suffers from the context 2025 brings to a puzzle classic about artificial intelligence

Features         April 13

Kirby Air Riders for Nintendo Switch 2 gives a GameCube classic a sequel

Masahiro Sakurai is back to direct a sequel to the cult classic GameCube racer.

News         April 2

Nintendo Switch Online adding GameCube games exclusively for Switch 2

Wind Waker finally showed up at a Switch direct, just not how everybody expected it to!

News         April 2

The new Switch 2 Pro Controller has some big improvements

The Switch 2's Pro Controller brings back buttons to Nintendo's new console.

News         April 2

Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar might fix my biggest problem with farming sims

Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar's most unique feature encourages you to take pride in your work and remember that farming sims are all about community.

Features         March 31

Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma is a jack of all trades that actually can do it all

Guardians of Azuma's brand-new setting gives Rune Factory the chance to improve the familiar formula without changing the game entirely.

Features         March 21

Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition Review: this Wii U classic is a survivor

Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition stuns thanks to a grand sense of scale that puts equal emphasis on the big and small aspects of its world.

Reviews         March 18

This free interactive museum lets you explore Wikipedia like never before

The Museum of All Thing uses scale to bring a whole new perspective to the vast wealth of information we have available to us.

Features         March 1

The best Steam Next Fest demos: try these 10 games for free today

Check out the latest Steam Next Fest for free demos on some of the most exciting games you should be adding to your wish list.

Features         February 25

Finally, a good vampire video game to sink your teeth into

Narrative RPG Cabernet let's players decide what kind of vampire to be in a town full of potential friends and victims.

Features         February 25

Sayonara Wild Hearts’ hypnotic new PS5 mode is worth the double dip

Sayonara Wild Hearts just got a surprise PS5 release, which includes an excellent new mode that's worth playing.

Features         February 24

This Ace Attorney inspired indie raises the stakes by adding a poker influence

Fans of Phoenix Wright shouldn't miss of the Devil's inventive cyberpunk twist on a familiar formula.

Features         February 22

Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition doesn’t mess with what already works

Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition acts as a great entry point for anybody who's been too intimidated to try the series before.

Features         February 19

Succession meets Return of the Obra Dinn in this thrilling mystery game

Search the internent for clues about a generational family feud in The Roottrees are Dead's deducitve puzzle box.

Features         February 16

Borderlands 4 gets a new trailer and a September release date

Gearbox's looter shooter series returns this September with more information to come in a special deep dive State of Play in Spring.

News         February 12

One of 2024’s most overlooked games just came to consoles. Don’t miss it twice

2024 hidden gem Momodora: Moonlit Farewell just came to consoles, and it's a stylish Metroidvania worth checking out.

Features         February 7

Grand Theft Hamlet review: something rotten

Grand Theft Hamlet blends online gaming and Shakespeare to mixed results.

Entertainment Reviews         February 6

This RPG turns my favorite part of Stardew Valley into an entire game

Sea Fantasy takes Stardew Valley's fishing and turns it into a great RPG all its own.

Features         February 4