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.
Spiderweb Software is one of the all-time great names in independent development. It has had a 30-year history, focused entirely on making classical isometric RPGs for a fanbase that has been ravenous and supportive of its work. Now it’s looking to remake one of its all-time great titles, and is using Kickstarter to finance it. The game is Geneforge 2,…
Snacks are a major part of any gaming experience. But not all snacks are good for gaming – especially the snacks that ruin controllers and cause a mess everywhere. In this very critical, very important, super insightful podcast, we chat about the right snacks to dig into while settling in…
I feel so naughty. Risen is banned here in Australia. It was…
Some have affectionally dubbed it “Loli Souls” (thankfully that has nothing to…
In most cases, I play JRPGs for the narrative. I want to be lost in the characters, setting, plot and world. I like when it’s supported by quality gameplay mechanics, of course, but the frameworks and structures that support that narrative are less of a focus for me than that…
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Pascal’s wager, the philosophical concept, is an excellent thought exercise that considers that humans play a simple game, not unlike the Prisoner’s Dilemma, on whether we should believe God exists. It breaks down like this: If God does not exist, then whether you believe in him or not is irrelevant…
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One of the challenges I have with Koei Tecmo’s Warriors franchise is determining the pecking order of the various games within the series. If you asked me to rank the Final Fantasy series, for example, there’s a clear upper echelon (Final Fantasy XII, Final Fantasy IV, Final Fantasy VIII), but…
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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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Sony’s PlayStation Plus Deluxe subscription service has a big lineup of blockbusters. It also has some amazing games that won’t catch nearly as much attention that are well worth your time. This will be an ongoing regular series where we look at some of the gems that sit outside of…
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Rune Factory 5 is a game that nearly didn’t happen, on account of the Rune Factory developer going bankrupt, and then nothing but crickets on the property being saved for nearly a decade. For that reason, when this against-the-odds new entry in the series launched as a temporary exclusive Switch…
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In recent years, Bandai Namco has been very busy creating special edition Tamagotchis covering just about every fandom you can imagine. I still use keep the batteries in my Pac-Man one fresh. But I might need to retire ol’ friend Pac soon, because there’s a Hatsune Miku Tamagotchi on the…
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Following on from the release of Otoko Cross: Pretty Boys Mahjong Solitaire in May, I’m not going to have too much additional to say about this Klondike Solitaire take on basically the same concept. It’s a game about enormously pretty boys that dress up in girly clothing and then, as…
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There are a few genres that simply don’t age well. A good JRPG is timeless, as are platformers, brawlers, fighting games and SHMUPs or side-scrolling shooters. Sports games and FPSers, however, don’t. With FPSers, if you strip the nostalgia out of even the mighty Doom or Duke Nukem, I would…
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Take Game Of Thrones. Take Princess Maker. Mash them together (after taking the sex out of both), turn the result into a spreadsheet simulation, and you’ve got Long Live The Queen. This ultra indie game is not without its delights and offers players a decent challenge on their way to…
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