Review by Matt S. The development story behind Shenmue is a long and convoluted one, and well known enough that I’m not going to repeat it here. What is pertinent is that, many years after SEGA pulled the plug on the series, leaving it on a narrative cliffhanger with Shenmue…
Read MoreVideo by Matt S. Shenmue 3 released last week, and unsurprisingly, it has proven to be polarising. It’s perfectly fine if it’s not the kind of game for you, of course – it is indeed a very striking artistic vision, and much like Death Stranding just a couple of weeks…
Read MoreOpinion by Matt S. A fair few years ago now, I had the privilege of watching a production of Samuel Beckett’s seminal play, Waiting for Godot. It’s not the easiest play in the world to watch… in fact, very little actually happens in it, and while it can be both…
Read MoreVideo by Matt S. Death Stranding is Sony’s big game for this critical end-of-year season. It’s also the biggest risk that Sony has taken in quite some time; a real creative vision and work of art from Hideo Kojima, formerly of Konami and Metal Gear Solid fame. Just how polarising…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. I’m going to start this review with a personal comment: I don’t think there has ever been a game that is more difficult to review than Hideo Kojima’s ego sandbox… I mean Death Stranding. It’s a game where almost its entire worth is wrapped up within…
Read MoreReview by Harvard L. Having recently announced that its company would be focusing less on the indie space to double down on its support of triple-A development, it’s easy to imagine that Concrete Genie as one of the last creative games to receive Sony’s support. Sony’s various subsidiaries had originally…
Read MoreReview by Harvard L. Simogo’s Sayonara Wild Hearts is a game which I can’t stop thinking about. On the surface it’s simple enough to enjoy – a music-based arcade game with pared-back mechanics suited well to short bursts, a dazzling graphic style of pinks and purples and a swathe of…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. Papers, Please is a masterpiece that will endure on for its ability to put you in a position of moral hopelessness. Playing as an immigration official, you need to make sure the right people enter your country, and that those people have the right paperwork. Your…
Read MoreVideo by Matt S. Observation is the newest title from Devolver Digital, and as you might expect from that eclectic publisher, it’s a bit of an indie masterpiece. This one is clearly inspired by 2001: A Space Odyssey, that classic film, and offers a deep and nuanced take on the…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. I would never have expected a game that looks like a love letter to River City Ransom, and is about school gangs beating up on one another, would offer up such meaningful insights about the existential dread that many face going through their teenage years. But…
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