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.
Octopath Traveler 0 isn’t really Octopath Traveler. It’s good. It’s even excellent, frequently and for long stretches of time. But it’s not Octopath Traveler for this very simple reason: Both the original Octopath Traveler and its sequel told the stories of eight (“Octo”) different people, who would eventually come together (“All roads that you travel on, if you will, lead…
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…
The SteelSeries Arctis Nova Elite is a good headset. This is by…
Disclaimer: I’m making this quick disclaimer so it’s clear and up-front. I…
I’ve had the opportunity to get some hands-on time with Koei Tecmo’s upcoming historical epic, Rise of the Ronin. Supposedly this has been in development from as far back as the original Nioh, and I was a little shocked when I went in expecting something like Nioh, Wo Long, or…
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We live in a world where we’re all working harder and longer than ever, and what little free time we have really needs to count. I’ve addressed this in opinion pieces in the past that developers aren’t really competing for people’s money any more. Cost of living crisis or not,…
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Some intensely sad news to end the week on. The legendary artist who was instrumental in the development of no fewer than three art forms (manga, anime, video games), Akira Toriyama, has passed away suddenly. He was 68 years old. He was still actively working, and was “in the middle…
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SteelSeries has nailed home entertainment speakers with the SteelSeries Arena 7. Not only are these excellent speakers to set up with your PC, laptop, or game console to enjoy as the “gaming speakers” that they’re being sold as, but they’re also brilliant for the home entertainment system, listening to your…
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“Dune: Awakening, the survival MMO from Conan: Exiles developer Funcom, will “sidestep” religion as a main theme in its “alternate history” world set just before the events of the books.” This headline on Eurogamer, coming one day after I slammed King Arthur: Knights Tale for being developed by a team…
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King Arthur: Knight’s Tale is simultaneously a very fun game to play, and also one of the most irritating things I have ever had to review. Game developers really need to learn that source texts – be that history, literature, or legend, should not be seen as content to use…
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Kashido is one of the more interesting, downright fascinating board games I’ve played in recent years. It comes to us from Japan, and is an abstraction of a significant and cultural part of Japanese food culture. It is a physical board game in Japan, but as far as I can…
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The “roguelike” has become a term applied to so many different games that it’s functionally lost all meaning. Indies, in particular, have embraced it with the same vigour that big AAA developers have embraced unsustainably expensive open worlds. In that context, it’s actually refreshing to play a traditional, classical roguelike…
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After what has felt like delay after delay, the remake of Alone in the Dark is now imminent, and it’s really shaping up to be something special. Featuring major Hollywood talent and top quality presentation, the last remaining question is whether the game does justice to one of the most…
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Tiebreak Tennis is Big Ant Studios’ latest title (the same studio behind the two AO Tennis titles as well as Tennis World Tour 2). About a month ago, it was released on Steam as an Early Access title. There’s still a lot to come (and we all know Big Ant…
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