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.
Nintendo’s decision to revive the Famicom Detective Club series seems to have kick-started a mild rush of new games that are, effectively, mystery visual novels, but have point-and-click elements and light puzzles to keep players interested and intrigued. That’s a good thing. This genre is excellent. And Aksys’ decision to localise Path of Mystery: A Brush with Death is a…
I am a firm believer that as many video games, be they popular, good, bad, and loathed, should be preserved as possible. All these retro collections that have been released by publishers to cash in on their classic properties (and undermine the value of emulation and the second-hand market) have…
Nintendo’s timing with its no-pressure comfort food games has been fortuitous. Animal…
For people who enjoyed the vibes of Monster Hunter, but found the…
With 16 titles across 40 years, there are very few properties that have had the kind of longevity that Koei Tecmo’s Nobunaga’s Ambition has enjoyed. While it might not be the world’s most popular and accessible strategy series – that goes to either Civilization or Total War – the commitment…
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Final Fantasy XVI is a spectacular blockbuster that is also so much more than a simple “AAA-game”. Where most blockbusters aim to manipulate the player’s emotions but have little ambition beyond that, Final Fantasy XVI dares to challenge players with a narrative of depth and poignancy. It is the rarest…
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Once, many years ago, I read an argument that the enduring popularity of Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons in its homeland in Japan has to do with a very real desire for a “sea change” or “tree change” among Japanese urban populations. If this is true (and I believe there is…
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Bleak Sword DX is the latest Apple Arcade game to make its way over to consoles. This Devolver Digital-published title was always an admirable and interesting effort to take the core tension and taut action of the Souls “genre” and make it work on mobile devices. It did work and…
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Hello Kitty faces serious competition nowadays. Once the darling of Japan’s deep and beloved mascot culture, Kitty is under serious threat of being replaced by her direct rival, Rilakkuma. It’s almost poetic. Hello Kitty is the creation of the mascot company, Sanrio, Rilakkuma is the creation of the mascot company,…
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As anyone in PR or communications will tell you, the best time to make a catastrophic announcement is when everyone is busy looking elsewhere. You don’t want to hide it, but you want to push it through the news cycle at a time when you’ll only generate half as many…
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It’s really incredible to think about, but Sonic has been such a major part of the games industry for so long now. The blue hedgehog celebrates his 32nd birthday next week, and to celebrate that, as well as the launch of Sonic Origins Plus, the Australian distributor of SEGA games…
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Just yesterday I reviewed Demon Sword Incubus. This is a truly terrible “erotic” game that needed to remove the one “quality” it had going for it so it could have a console release. The Nintendo Switch port of Sakura Dungeon has also been released this past week, and while it…
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If the developers of Demon Sword: Incubus put half as much effort into the actual gameplay as they did with their array of costumes designed to show off more than cover, it might almost have been worth playing. Mind you, with a scintillating narrative that includes lines like this, I…
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I love Hatsune Miku. I’m pretty sure I’ve said that on this site before. However, I’ll keep saying it as long as the character and the games she appears in are as adorable as Hatsune Miku: The Planet of Wonder and Fragments of Wishes get published. Crypton – the IP…
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