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.
To start this review with something very personal: My father passed away last week. It’s been difficult, to put it mildly. The reason I bring it up is that Dad absolutely loved Ten-Pin Bowling. Had his own ball, ball bag (I had no idea they made bowling ball bags), shoes, the works. He competed in social leagues all over the…
Having not played the original Code Vein, I have no idea whether Code Vein II is effective in building on it, or whether the two games are related at all. What I do know is that Code Vein II is an excellent soulslike. One that starts quite slowly, but has…
It’s incredible that Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergarde plays so well on…
Lached Up Games serves a very specific niche with its quirky and…
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…
Read MoreI’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,…
Read MoreSuper Bullet Break is a new roguelike that has been published by PQube, and it has so much going for it – great turn-based combat, gorgeous characters, excellent, pristine fan service. Unfortunately it misfired in one critical area, and got the difficulty mixed up a bit. That wasn’t enough to…
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Super Bullet Break is a happy, colourful thing. I know it’s going to rankle some to suggest that as overtly fanservicey as it could be “wholesome” or “innocent,” but that’s what Super Bullet Break is; a happy, high-energy, bubbly and wholesome thing. The game is a combination of two things.…
Read MoreI know this is a nice problem to have, but there are just so many games that 2022 has thrown up that deserve awards at the end of the year. It has been a monstrously good year for video games, especially if you like Japanese games, and The DioField Chronicle…
Read MoreWhile Game Freak continues to try and innovate within the Pokémon property, and find its next hit evolution (sorry for the pun, I couldn’t resist), there is still a loud demand for the “classical” monster-collecting formula. I feel that myself – I often find myself booting up my 3DS for…
Read MoreDigimon Survive was a bit of a surprise as it wasn’t quite the “tactics RPG” that we were told we would be getting. Instead, this game leans very heavily into visual novel territory, and for some reason this has put people right off it. (Check out our review here) But,…
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Admittedly I wasn’t following Digimon Survive too closely in the leadup to release, however, I did know it was going to be a tactics JRPG featuring collectible monsters. That in itself was exciting given that I have fond memories of Pokémon Conquest back on the DS. What I was not…
Read MoreI’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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