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.
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…
Stellar Blade very much wants to be a merger of NieR: Automata and the Soulslike formula. It’s a flashy science fiction romp through a decrepit, decaying world, and the ambience is certainly going to be familiar to NieR fans. It’s also undeniably well-made. However, for all the comparisons people have…
The dungeon crawl has been one of the most enduring genres of…
One of my favourite things about Broken Roads is that every second…
This feature is one of the articles that was first published in our monthly Dee Dee Zine. It’s only a tiny few pages of the 56-page magazine, so if you enjoyed this, please consider picking up a copy of the magazine to read more! In 1998, director Gus Van Sant…
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With Pokémon Violet and Scarlet, it feels like Game Freak has come full circle. What the company set out to achieve with the original Red and Blue, way back on the Game Boy, is effectively exactly the same as what the team has looked to do with this game. It’s…
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For years now Zeboyd has been the indie JRPG developer for delivering true love letters to the genre in a way that fans of the genre love. Cthulhu Saves The World and Cosmic Star Heroine are both magnificent, highly entertaining “retro” JRPGs that respect the player’s time and provide a…
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I find the concept of the succubus to be fascinating. As a symbol of the sheer terror with which Christianity views sexuality, the succubus is surprisingly important in terms of understanding the religion. Meanwhile, the contrast between desirability and danger inherent within the creature makes it evergreen content for both…
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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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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 November 2022 magazine: – A tribute to Rieko Kodama – Japan’s most influential woman in RPGs…
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On the one hand, The Devil In Me is a good, fun, pulpy horror game. On the other hand, The Dark Pictures Anthology, which The Devil In Me belongs to, had a good concept that the developers, Supermassive Games, has never managed to deliver on. This is the final title…
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Netflix’s flirtation with games has, so far, been hit-and-miss (but mostly miss). The company’s rolled out a subscription game platform on mobile that has been so undercooked that many people don’t even realise they have access to it. Furthermore, the less said about many of the games that Netflix has…
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It has been getting progressively more difficult to talk about the Football Manager Touch releases on the Switch. I love the series a great deal and will inevitably spend dozens of hours with each year’s iteration trying to carefully manage the weakest team that I can find in the 6th…
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There has been a deluge of Harvest Moon and Rune Factory-likes in recent years. Square Enix, bringing the resources of a large publisher to bear, has made the best of them. Harvestella is the new benchmark for the genre, combining breathtaking aesthetics, superb characterisation, and – the first time I’ve…
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