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 don’t often write about films these days, but I recently saw something at the Japan Film Festival in Australia that was powerful, profound, and haunting enough that it has since occupied all my thinking. Kokuho, directed by one of Japan’s most noteworthy art film directors, Lee Sang-il, is, as we enter an era where AI is undermining the very…
The SteelSeries Arctis Nova Elite is a good headset. This is by far the most uncontroversial thing I’ve ever written at DigitallyDownloaded.net, because with a price tag of AU$1350, you would hope that it’s a good headset. SteelSeries has packed as much sound quality as possible into this thing and,…
Disclaimer: I’m making this quick disclaimer so it’s clear and up-front. I…
Kirby Air Riders is fun. It’s not any more than that, and…
“Frivolity” and “humour” are not usually things that you associate with Otomate’s otome visual novels. Whether it’s classics like Hakuouki and Amnesia, or more modern games like Piofiore: Fated Memories and Olympia Soiree, with Otomate, you expect some pretty powerful romances with some very dark edges (especially if you wind…
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Project Zero is the most Japanese of horror properties. Capcom’s Resident Evil series is developed by Japanese artists and is great fun but closely intertwined with western B-grade horror traditions. Konami’s Silent Hill is (for the most part) intelligent and artful, but it was heavily inspired by western psychological horror…
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,…
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Mel Kishida wants his career to be defined by his work on the Blue Reflection series. If you remove this particular series, he’s still an enormously accomplished artist, but Blue Reflection in particular is something that he is deeply and personally involved with. Related reading: My preview of the upcoming…
Read MoreXuan-Yuan Sword VII is exactly why I am glad that Taiwanese game development is becoming as robust as it is, and the involvement of EastAsiaSoft in this global release is an incredibly positive development. I first played Xuan-Yuan Sword VII when it was released in English in Hong Kong –…
Read MoreI’ve thought long and hard about what the first sign that society is genuinely irredeemable might be. The event horizon. The point of no return. And I think this is it: The point where we cede control of the education and knowledge transfer from parents, educators, museums and the arts…
Read MoreCaravaggio (the Italian painter) has become famous to history for being a bit of a thug. He killed someone sometime around 1590 (the greatest of his crimes, but by no means his only one). A decade later he was decorating the Contarelli Chapel. Today, a few centuries later, if you…
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Note: This is a review of both Famicom Detective Club titles released together: The Missing Heir and The Girl Who Stands Behind. Though they have different narratives, they are functionally and mechanically the same, and since this will be a spoiler-free review that won’t talk about the narratives at any…
Read MoreLast week Nintendo and Fujifilm had something exciting to share; a new partnership that would allow people to directly print out their favourite digital photos (i.e. screenshots) from the upcoming New Pokemon Snap using the instax mini Link. The mini Link is a tiny, pocket-sized printer that churns out Polaroid-style…
Read MoreSaGa has never been Square Enix’s biggest property. The first couple were even renamed as “Final Fantasy Legends” for release in the west, and SaGa Frontier, the game being remastered here, never even got a release in Europe and Australia. It did get a release in the US, but this…
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