Matt S. is the Editor-in-Chief and Publisher of DDNet. He's been writing about games for over 20 years, including a book, but is perhaps best-known for being the high priest of the Church of Hatsune Miku.
I have wanted to get back into Final Fantasy XIV for quite some time. I am a massive fan of everything it offers, from the art direction to the scope of the world and adventures that are held within it. I love the way that it handles narrative within the MMO format, and the massive range of locations to visit.…
Was Defender of the Crown the first “4X” strategy game to come from Western developers? I know it’s not a proper 4X, as several of the “Xes” are severely undercooked or nonexistent, and Japan’s Nobunaga’s Ambition beat it to market by several years, but when you look at it, you…
There was a time when visual novels were a rare thing in…
It’s been three years since the last Fire Emblem (Engage). In a…
We recently reviewed the most excellent The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story, which was a blend of detective fiction gameplay and FMV storytelling. It was a rare treat, as we don’t often get to enjoy FMV games from the biggest of publishers. Though the genre has enjoyed a renaissance, it…
Read MoreSquare Enix continues on its drive to remake, remaster, or re-release just about every game from its classic library. The next title to get a makeover is Romancing SaGa: Minstrel Song. A game that many fans would say is one of the best of the publisher’s best B-tier JRPG property.…
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Hello listeners! We’ve got a cracking good podcast this month, with Ryan Brown of Super Rare Games jumping on to talk about his amazing Mixtape project, where he collects together some of the best indie titles from itch.io and other places, and gives you a chance to own amazing artistry…
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It’s amazing to think about this, given how fundamentally popular the games have been over many years now, but there hasn’t been a Hatsune Miku rhythm game released onto the PC before. Not a proper one, anyway. There has been a VR thing, and it was fine for what it…
Read MoreI’m a big fan of itch.io for the freedom and open platform that it allows for developers to be creative, experimental, and directly canvas the audience for feedback for games that are not yet ready for primetime on Steam and its ilk. In addition, itch.io allows you to be transgressive,…
Read MoreNISA is on to a good thing with the Yomawari series. These might look like humble little indie anime games, but they know how to throw an emotional and horrific gut punch and a half. The publisher has a third on the way later this year and has shared an…
Read MoreIf you think of a Corsair HS55 as a general-purpose, all-day working and gaming tool, it’s hard to be disappointed by it. It’s certainly not a premium headset, but I can see so many uses for this, and indeed I find myself reaching for it more than any of the…
Read MoreWe’ve seen China grow rapidly as an international game development hub, and one of the most exciting things about that nations’ game development scene is that they seem to be every bit as enamoured with the RPG format as their neighbours in Japan. Codename: Wandering Sword is basically “what if…
Read MoreI don’t usually report on individual tweets, but one tweet from Xbox started off a storm of discourse today, and it got me thinking up some thought bubbles of my own. To get the lede out of the way: the assumption that many people have that subscription services are good…
Read MoreTouken Ranbu is a game about pretty boys. Who are swords. And travel around time, Quantum Leap-style. I’ve got to be honest with you, if you had told me that at some point in my life I’d be playing an anime boys game whose closest direct comparison is an ‘80s…
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