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.
With The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, we got a truly exceptional sequel (and game). But it hasn’t been completely without criticism. There have been people that felt that as a “sequel” the re-use of the world map was a “lazy” decision by the developers. So in this podcast we discuss what we look for from sequels: is…
One of the many things that we’re looking forward to seeing in Final Fantasy XVI is how it handles storytelling, because it seems like the developers are bringing some interesting ideas to the table there that will help to make game narratives more accessible to more people. Or, to put…
There’s one absolutely massive game releasing this month that we’re all very…
The original Etrian Odyssey, released in 2007, was something of a lifeline…
The Dee Dee Zine is a magazine for people who love games, music, film and art from Asia and independent artists. Every month we produce a magazine filled with essays and culture. In the August 2022 magazine (which you can purchase as a high-definition, printable pdf from our Payhip store),…
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The big news in gaming this week is that Embracer Group has gone on yet another one of its spending sprees. This time around it has picked up everything from Tolkien’s Middle-Earth (from film to games), to Snow Bros. (Toaplan, in the company’s first-ever Japanese acquisition), and Limited Run Games…
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Defiant Development was a favourite Aussie studio. Responsible for the excellent Hand of Fate, and the even better Hand of Fate 2, this team of game development veterans were doing amazing work to build the local industry and create a franchise that had real potential. Unfortunately, Defiant couldn’t survive a…
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Soul Hackers 2 is a throwback to the glory days of Shin Megami Tensei. There was a point where Atlus’ premier property focused on ideas rather than sheer style, and some real classics came out of that approach. SMT 3: Nocturne and the Digital Devil Saga duo were my favourites…
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Little Goody Two Shoes is a blend of horror, 90s anime aesthetics, and classic fairytales. It’s also an RPG being published by the Square Enix Collective, and it might just be my most anticipated game of 2023 now. The game is being developed by AstralShift, a Portuguese studio that was…
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ANNO: Mutationem is a really decent action RPG blended with an adventure game, set in a cyberpunk world. This is good cyberpunk, too, not like that big corporate Cyberpunk game that felt like a big corporate take on cyberpunk. And now, ANNO is coming to the Nintendo Switch. The game…
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If you haven’t got your entry in yet, do it ASAP – the competition closes on FRIDAY, Australian time! It’s fuzzy, it’s cute, and it’s the perfect match for the most adorable cult simulator you’re ever going to play. Thanks to We Are Robots and Devolver Digital, we have a…
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Maono might just be my favourite “entry-level” sound equipment manufacturer. The previous Maono product that I tested, the Maonocaster E2 A sound production studio, is an excellent piece of kit that looked and felt premium. It has an excellent range of features, and does its job with minimal fuss. I…
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Releasing a “Soulslike” in the same year as Elden Ring is, I would argue, unwise. You’re never going to come off well in that comparison and it’s only going to result in your game being judged more harshly than it deserves to be. In that context, Thymesia really should have…
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“This is likely a huge turning point for the industry,” a guy on Twitter breathlessly enthuses, after it was revealed that MultiVersus has done quite well for itself at this early stage. Of course, it’s not uncommon for people to have breathlessly excited responses to games they kind of like…
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