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.
There are several grand ideas that Silicon Valley has championed as the holy grail of technology innovation. Self-aware AI and the ability to colonise space are two of the most well-known examples that tend to occupy the headlines. But another one is the idea of immortality, granted by being able to upload the intellect and soul – whatever you believe…
The release of Virtue and a Sledgehammer, the latest from Selkie Harbour, Deconstructeam, and Devolver Digital, is right around the corner. We’re going to have a review of what is a pretty provocative and powerful entry into the “games as art” genre, and we certainly had some questions for the…
Here’s the thing: I find that a lot of gaming-focused mice don’t…
Well, fellow Final Fantasy fans, here’s our chance. For years now we’ve…
Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve offers 30-odd missions of explosive aerial acrobatics that you won’t soon forget about. Bandai Namco has, over so many years and titles now, achieved something really rare for this particular genre: action that doesn’t feel like it’s condescending towards the players with overly simplistic…
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Monster Couch developed the digital adaptation of Wingspan, a game that I’ve spent more than 1000 hours playing at this point. So I was naturally interested in seeing what the team could do with Flamecraft, another digital board game adaptation and remarkably similar to Wingspan in that it’s a relatively…
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I don’t think Akiba Lost is the best name the development team could have come up with here. It’s accurate, in that it’s a game about people who got lost in Akihabara (pet name “Akiba”), but given the presence of Akiba’s Trip, this game is just asking for players to…
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I’ve given open world survival games a red-hot go in the past. I’ve played Funcom’s own previous effort in the genre, Conan Exiles, and gave it every chance to impress me. I’ve yet to find one that has left me with an impression other than that this is just a…
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True story: It was just the other day that I saw the entire Where’s Wally (I know it’s called “Where’s Waldo” elsewhere, but it’s Wally here) collection on sale. They must have done a reprint. I bought the lot of them. I have fond memories of spending hour upon hour…
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Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave is nothing if not ambitious, with multiple stories that converge and diverge in support of an almost breathtakingly epic-in-scope narrative. Meanwhile, the game works hard to connect you to a huge range of characters while throwing system after system at you. You’ve got Atelier-like map exploration…
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When you think about the most influential games of all time, your brain will reach for Goldeneye, Doom, Final Fantasy, Super Mario Bros., Smash Bros and Super International Cricket (no? Just me?). You’re probably not going to cite Torneko’s Mystery Dungeon, though. Probably because the game was never actually released…
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You know how the saying goes: When it rains, it pours. Somehow, after decades of Culdcept barely being acknowledged outside of Japan, we’ve now had two releases in as many months. Culdcept Begins has become an instant favourite among my online board game group, displacing even the mighty Wingspan some…
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Brigandine is one of those cult franchises that you don’t really expect to be on any development radar, but every so often someone dusts it off because there is a tiny core out there and there’s not much else really scratching the itch. The original Brigandine was a PlayStation 1…
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“Cry to save the world,” “’Classmate’ (i.e. breed) to save the world,” “Defeat a person’s deviances (sorry ‘distorted desires’) to save the world,” “Sing to save the world.” The JRPG genre is positively filled with these abstract ideas of turning a certain emotion or action into a mechanic to build…
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