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…
Most 4X and empire-building strategy games are focused on building an empire up. Starting from humble roots and then carefully managing the economy, military, diplomacy and so on to become the most powerful nation of all. It’s a well-established formula, to the point that no one really questions it. Enter…
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I’m not usually one to get invested in Early Access games. I’d much rather just experience the finished product, when I can experience the full extent of the vision of the developers. However, Spiders’ GreedFall had a particularly powerful effect on me (I actually ended up buying it three times…
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Reynatis’ single biggest flaw is that it tries too many things, and while each of its themes would in itself be worth exploring, piled into a heap together they create a narrative that often seems confused about what it is. Take for example the theme of fascism and resistance that…
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I was tempted to resist writing anything about the announcement of Ghost of Yōtei. It’s increasingly difficult to have a mature conversation about anything to do with video games without one pile-on or another happening, and I had more than enough of a pile-on from my review of Ghost of…
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There are very few things that trigger my sense of nostalgia quite as powerfully as Worms: Armageddon. When this was released on the Nintendo 64 back in 1999, it instantly became one of THE rotation of multiplayer hits that dominated Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights at home with family and…
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They really should have called this “The Legend of Link”, to keep up with the series syntax. That aside, Nintendo’s first significant effort to make their good princess (sorry, I never cared for Peach) a protagonist is an absolutely delightful experience, and shows that while Nintendo enjoyed massive success with…
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Manufacturing third-party controllers must be a tough gig. It’s one of those things that the major console manufacturers – Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo – are hyper-competitive about because controllers impact heavily on how enjoyable their consoles are to use. Consequently, all three make excellent controllers, put them at reasonable prices…
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So much of Neva, as well as its predecessor, Gris, comes down to Conrad Roset, the Creative Director of Nomada Studio, and the creative force behind both games. As a visual artist by trade, and one who has been exhibited in major galleries around the world, Roset’s games were always…
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A few years ago, Devolver Digital and Nomada Studio hit it big with Gris, which shifted several million units – rare for an indie game – and gathered up any number of awards and accolades. The success was for good reason, too. Gris is a hauntingly beautiful, powerful and evocative…
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It’s clear from playing the demo that Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven is a significant effort by Square Enix. It’s not just that the game has a full 3D makeover. Right from the first cut-scene, there are additional lines of dialogue and narrative added to give it context…
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