Review by Matt S. Dragon Star Varnir is one of Idea Factory’s deeper and more intelligent titles. Belonging to the same experimental series (unrelated to one another, but conceptually similar) as Fairy Fencer F and Death end re:Quest, Varnir is certainly dark and brooding, and subversively feminist in a way…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. Like most people, I wasn’t sure how a sequel to The World Ends With You would work. Like most, I wanted one, but the original game was so noteworthy because of the integral way that it used two screens on the Nintendo DS. That is something…
Read MoreNews by Matt S. Idea Factory International held a little virtual event to highlight what it has coming and it looks like there’s some really nice stuff on the way. One really nice surprise, too! Trailers and details below: Neptunia x Senran Kagura: Ninja Wars announced for the west We…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. To save Akihabara – nay, the whole world! – from a growing vampire threat, you’ve got to suit up, hit the streets, and rip the skirts off school girls. Okay, you’ve got to rip the pants off businessmen and the shirts off tourists too, but we…
Read MoreVideo by Matt S. Cris Tales is the first Columbian JRPG I’ve ever played… perhaps the first one ever? Anyhow, the good news is that it is exceptional. It’s aesthetically beautiful, has some innovative gameplay mechanics, and it weaves a wonderful story. In this video, I discuss what makes the…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. It’s rare that we get a JRPG that can be considered to be genuinely innovative. Cris Tales might have been inspired by the genre’s classics, but it’s a far more modern and bold game than I think even the developers realised they were making. It all…
Read MoreNews by Matt S. We’re three months into the Dee Dee Zine now, and it is going from strength to strength. I honestly think that this is the best issue yet, and if you’re into games, art, and culture from Japan, you’re going to get a real kick from this…
Read MoreNews by Matt S. Utawarerumono Zan 2 is coming out in Japan on PlayStation 4 and 5 soon – July 22. We don’t have an announcement of a western release as yet, but NISA did bring us the first one and, as we wrote in our review, it was actually…
Read MoreVideo by Matt S. The second Monster Hunter title to land on the Nintendo Switch in a matter of months, Monster Hunter Stories 2 is a very different experience. This game is a pure, true JRPG, with turn-based combat and the full narrative experience. And I absolutely love it. As…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. I have no idea how I missed the original Monster Hunter Stories on the 3DS, because the idea of Monster Hunter, but in turn-based JRPG format, is very much my jam. See, as much as I enjoy the aesthetics, design, and concept of Monster Hunter, I’m…
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