Video by Matt S. Ghost of Tsushima is Sucker Punch’s latest, and it is a really good open world action game, in just about every way. Combat is fun and fluid, the world is a technical marvel to explore, and the black & white mode is a lot of fun…
Read MoreBook review by Matt S. “The hurt ones were quiet; no one wept, much less screamed in pain; no one complained; none of the many who died did so noisily; not even the children cried; very few people even spoke. And when Father Kleinsorge gave water to some whose faces…
Read MoreArticle by Matt S. NHK World isn’t anything new, but I don’t think I’ve ever actually written about it on DDNet in the past. As it’s something I watch religiously – more than I even watch Netflix, let alone free-to-air TV – I figured that I should remedy that. So…
Read MoreBook review by Matt S. “Without military power”, Japan’s education minister announced in a radio address back in September 1945, “we go forward with culture.” His comment envisioned the country’s peaceful reinvention via education and the arts. Finding quality accounts of the development of Japan through its modern history is…
Read MoreBook review by Matt S. Almost every single samurai throughout history was Japanese. That’s perhaps the most obvious thing a person could say of course, but by the time that Japan was genuinely opening its boarders to international trade and cultural exchange, the samurai had already come and gone as…
Read MoreTravel by Matt S. As a very big fan of games based in Japanese history – Samurai Warriors, Nobunaga’s Ambition, Hakuouki and the like – I’ve always used my trips to Japan for Tokyo Game Show and the like to indulge in some history tourism. Over the years, I’ve visited…
Read MoreTravel by Matt S. As a big (big) fan of Koei Tecmo’s Nioh, over the past year or so, I’ve become quite fascinated with the central character in that game – William Adams, or “Samurai Bill”, as I like to refer to him. Nioh is only very loosely based on…
Read MoreVideo by Matt S. Mitsuhide Akechi is well known as being the one that pulled off the biggest blindside (i.e. betrayal) through the Sengoku period, ultimately leading to the death of his lord, Nobunaga Oda. This video looks at who Akechi is, and why he was willing to do such…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. Just to get this out of the way first; if you haven’t played the first Hakuoki (Kyoto Winds – my review here) first, don’t think about jumping in with Edo Blossoms. This sequel does give you the briefest of introductions and background as a refresher, so…
Read MoreVideo by Matt S. Okehazama was the first major battle in the Sengoku period (and the first “level” in most Samurai Warriors games). It was a battle that asserted Nobunaga Oda’s tactical mastery and the battle that put the events of the Sengoku period in motion. Here we look at…
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