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…
I just want to start this review by saying that I love Tiara, the blue-haired secondary protagonist from the Fairy Fencer series (it’s a series now that there are two games). Like, I really, really, love Tiara. As far as anime female design goes, she’s my third favourite character ever,…
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“New US$69.99 price may negatively impact PS5 game unit sales, data suggests. Reports indicate that PlayStation users are buying less (sic) games, and Sony’s data suggests that higher costs are a reason why unit sales have dropped.” This lede, published by TweakTown, seems ludicrous. It’s one of those real stating-the-obvious…
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Mugen Souls is a game that is all about larger-than-life excess. The action is over the top. The narrative and characters are ridiculous and, despite being chibi in visual design, larger-than-life in personality. This is not a game interested in subtlety or nuance. It’s brash and in your face from…
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China is a nation and culture that we would all do well to learn more about. It is a nation on the rise, and will almost certainly overtake America in terms of its economic weight in the near future. For now, the softer side of diplomacy and cultural influence remains…
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Deconstructeam is a developer I admire on principle alone. This is a team of people that are committed to building narrative experiences, and using gameplay mechanics as part of the fabric of storytelling. This is, I believe, how games should be, and Essays on Empathy and The Red Strings Club…
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KarmaZoo is a wholesome little thing with some real potential to become a multiplayer favourite. I recently had the opportunity to sit down with a couple of other critics, and a member of the Pasta Games dev team to play through some of the co-op experience. Though I’m not someone…
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Around this time next year, there will be a special event near Fuefuki in the heart of Yamanashi Prefecture (the one you travel through to get to Nagano from Tokyo). For decades there has been an annual recreation of the Battle of Kawanakajima, one of the most compelling and dramatic…
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Now that we’ve got devices like the Steam Deck and the Ayaneo line, the cheap portable emulation consoles from Anbernic, Retroid and the like face some challenges. Yes, those other devices are more expensive, but they’re also vastly more powerful. Are people still inclined to want devices that cap out…
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Trinity Trigger set out to capture nostalgia for 90s JRPGs. That is precisely what the game delivers. Were it not for the fact that the game looks modern, I myself would have thought I was playing a long-lost classic from the era. It is an action JRPG, where you control…
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Have you ever felt like a game was made for you? Something that so perfectly matches your favourite aesthetics, gameplay style, narrative and theme that it’s like the developers pulled it directly from your inner core? Labyrinth of Zengetsu is that game for me. Related reading: For another example of…
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