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.
Gollum offends me. It’s not the bugs, and thankfully the launch version of the game is less buggy than the review build that vexed other critics (though it still has bugs). It’s also not because of the less-than-AAA presentation that some have been complaining about. It looks good for a B-tier game, and I don’t expect B-tier games to have…
At first glance, it’s difficult to understand Ghostpia’s appeal. You place static screenshots, out of context, next to the breathtaking art of Otomate’s visual novels, the vivid energy of something like Danganronpa, or even independent efforts like Sweetest Monster or Corpse Factory, and it’s really hard to see why PQube…
It’s going to take some work to top Steelrising, which was one…
Fun trivia fact about me: After Hatsune Miku figures, the most collectible…
Welcome to the month’s podcast, everyone! As always we’ve got a great show to share with you this month. We kick things off by discussing all the big releases happening in November (there’s a lot). Then we chat about sequels, and specifically, what is the best approach to take. Should…
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Japanese horror tradition is more about tragedy than violence. Whether it’s the yurei (ghost) stories of old, the modern horror of The Ring or Ju-On, or games like Yomawari here, the focus isn’t on giving you big monsters to slay bloodily. Nor is it torture porn, and focused on inflicting…
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Taiwanese publisher/developer, Softstar, is best known for being a rising global force with its RPGs. Sword & Fairy and Xuan-Yuan Sword are rapidly gaining prestige worldwide (and with good reason, too). There’s more to the “Square Enix of Taiwan”, though. Softstar is also the company behind the Richman series of…
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Star Ocean is such a wonderful series, bringing together very classical fantasy JRPG action with science fiction space drama. After a SIX year wait, we finally have a new one, and Star Ocean: The Divine Force is a real return to form for the series. In addition to the full,…
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Star Ocean acts as something akin to the “b-tier” for Square Enix. Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest are, of course, the big guns, but this series is not insignificant. It’s been around for 25 years now, and The Divine Force is the sixth of the main series entries. I’ll tell…
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I did not realise that the Elgato Wave DX was so inexpensive until I did some research in writing this review. I actually thought the price tag would be much higher. This is incredible. For a shave over $Aus150 you get a XLR microphone that is of incredibly high quality…
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It feels almost ironic that Bayonetta, one of the most grandiose action properties in gaming (if not the series that takes the crown), would somehow end up being exclusive to the Nintendo Switch. This is a series where the action, creatures, humour, narratives and setpieces are so fundamentally big on…
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It’s tough for horror games to stand out at this particular time of year… however, it’s also the right time of year to launch them. Thankfully for Arrogation: Unlight of Day, it does stand out as something to pay attention to. You might not be able to play the full…
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Given that it’s Star Ocean week (yes, a new Star Ocean!) I figured we’d dip into the history of the series for this week’s stream. I love the Star Ocean series, but I’ve never actually played the second one (the only one in the series that I have yet to…
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I’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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