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.
Well, fellow Final Fantasy fans, here’s our chance. For years now we’ve been begging Square Enix for a new 2D, pixel-based Final Fantasy. Final Fantasy Resonance isn’t Final Fantasy XVII, but after the success of the Octopath Traveler series and Dragon Quest remakes, it’s pretty clearly an effort by the company to see just how much appetite there is for…
A persistent issue I have with video game adaptations of stories from other mediums is that the developers might latch on to the characters and setting of the base material, but almost inevitably the game lacks any understanding of the themes and depth of meaning that made the original work…
For some time, Konami has followed the trend with its Castlevania series,…
Time really does fly. If you had asked me when Earth Defence…
Before the film that Tim Burton and Johnny Depp had way too much fun with, and before even the Stephen Sondheim musical that more people should see a production of, Sweeny Todd was a Penny Dreadful. People don’t really know what these are anymore, but they were once wildly popular…
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 MoreIn case you missed the live stream, watch the catch-up here! Citizen Sleeper, which just released on Nintendo Switch this week, is something of an anticapitalism statement. It’s a cyberpunk RPG thingy that is apparently heavy on the narrative and pen-and-paper RPG vibe, so let’s see how it goes. I…
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We recorded this podcast just before Square Enix announced it was selling Tomb Raider and other critical properties in order to finance (among other things) blockchain and NFT projects. This makes this podcast chat that we have about how NFTs are absolutely horrible for this industry, be that gamer or…
Read MoreWe’re just about to dig into the second NIS Classics volume, but NISA has announced the release date for the third volume in the series. Prinny Presents NIS Classics Volume 3: La Pucelle: Ragnarok and Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure is a mouthful of a title, but it launches on August…
Read MoreTrek To Yomi is the latest game from Devolver Digital, the developer behind the Shadow Warrior series, and the indie auteur behind The Eternal Castle. It is a darkly majestic game and one of the most distinctive artistic visions we’ve seen this year. In this video, I chat about why…
Read MoreLeonard Menchiari (RIOT: Civil Unrest, The Eternal Castle), is quickly becoming one of my favourite independent game auteurs. His work – regardless of who he is working with – has a kind of intensity and focus that is almost overwhelming and that makes it hard to tear your attention away…
Read MoreIn this podcast topic, we take a deep dive into the stories that only games can tell. Whether it’s 13 Sentinels, Elden Ring, or any number of other games (particularly in recent years), game developers and writers are starting to explore the unique narrative structures that are only possible through…
Read MoreAsmodee Digital is best known for its board game adaptations (including the rather good Gloomhaven, and classics like Ticket to Ride, Terraforming Mars, and Carcassonne). The publisher is looking to push into related-but-different spaces, however, which makes the RPG a natural stepping stone for it. Enter Dark Envoy, a guns…
Read MoreIt took me an embarrassingly long time to realise that “Waifu Impact” was a play on Genshin Impact. That’s the most interesting thing about this game, though I must admit that in the hand of competent developers this concept could have been spun into something good. The basic concept is…
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