Sand Land became an unfortunate curiosity on account of Akira Toriyama being attached to it, and it being one of the first releases featuring his work following his recent passing. As far as Toriyama’s work is concerned, Sand Land delivers all the whimsical energy that you expect from his distinctive style. It’s just a pity that in many ways it’s…
Now that Fire Emblem Engage has settled down a bit, I wanted to talk about the series as a whole, because Nintendo’s inability to see the value of making these games accessible on modern platforms is starting to get frustrating. Related reading: All Fire Emblem titles released in English, ranked!…
Read MoreOver in the world of literature, there has been quite the kerfuffle over the last week or so. News broke that the estate of Roald Dahl, and the publisher of his books, Puffin, would be taking the author’s body of work and, on the advice of sensitivity readers, making several…
Read MoreOdencat isn’t exactly a household name, but this Japanese studio, behind the likes of Fishing Paradiso and Bear’s Restaurant, has been steadily building up a reputation for interesting ideas, executed well. The team’s next game is called Meg’s Monster, and it’s got a lot of promise. The game’s concept is…
Read MoreI am really quite confused by the release of Spy Bros.: Pipi & Bibi’s DX. This is an obscure arcade game that almost no one would remember, from a “series” that never got a sequel. It was one single arcade release, and then it was relegated to MAME history. Sure,…
Read MoreNetflix has done something that no other company had really managed to do before; tap into the Japanese film and television market and get a lot of it localised and easily accessible in western markets. While Japanese films remain as rare as hen’s teeth on any of the other subscription…
Read More“It’s more of the same!” You just know that this is going to be the main comment (and complaint) about Octopath Traveler II. “It’s too much like the first.” Except it’s not. Of course it’s not. Octopath Traveler was a narrative-driven game that focused on the stories of eight distinct…
Read MoreLike a Dragon: Ishin is a spinoff of the Yakuza series, but it is also so much more than that, as we explore in this video. Yakuza films and samurai films have a long history in Japanese cinema, and they’re actually more closely related than many might think (thematically, at…
Read MoreThere are three things I look forward to in a Yakuza game: Exceptional writing and storytelling, a vibrant and interesting open world (rare, given how dull and bloated most open worlds are), and an authentic setting that makes me homesick for Japan. Like A Dragon: Ishin! might not have “Yakuza”…
Read MoreWith the release of Theatrhythm this week, I’ve found myself going through all my Final Fantasy CDs and setting up playlists on my iPhone. One of the reasons I love this series as much as I do is because of the music, so, while it’s fresh in my mind, I…
Read MoreThe High&Low film series (available via Netflix in the west) is many things. First and foremost, the film series offers some of the most wildly entertaining action to come out of Japan’s cinema industry in recent years. The action in these films is big. So big that you’d be forgiven…
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