Review by Matt S. Song of Memories is certainly an eye-opening little visual novel. In fact, it’s greatest strength is its ability to constantly knock you off guard by doing the least expected thing possible. It tries hard (though ultimately fails) to hide some glaring weaknesses behind that penchant for…
Read MoreNews by Matt S. Koei Tecmo has finally given us a release date for Atelier Lulua, the fourth game in the ongoing Arland sub-series within the franchise. It launches on May 21 in North America, and May 24 in Europe and Australia. Atelier Lulua will actually be the second Atelier…
Read MoreVideo by Matt S.Death End re;Quest is Idea Factory’s latest JRPG, and it surprised me in terms of how good it actually is. I’ve always enjoyed the work of the developer/publisher, but this one is the most mature and intelligent one to date – this is a genuinely cracking game.…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. The Etrian Odyssey series of dungeon crawlers, which has been kicking around on Nintendo handhelds since back with the original on the Nintendo DS, faces something of a problem for its future. These are rare games that absolutely have to be played across two screens and could…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. Idea Factory games are always smarter than people give them credit for. People see the fan service (which is always copious), but then can’t look past that. It becomes the defining characteristic of the game to them, and that’s disappointing, because there’s always much more to…
Read MoreReview by Ginny W. Fairy Fencer F became an indelible part of the Compile Heart stable upon its original release back on the PlayStation 3. Riffing off the familiar system from Hyperdimension Neptunia and adding its own stylised spin to it, the title has since been remastered for the Switch…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. I’ll start this review with a confession: Final Fantasy VIII is one of my favourite games ever. Not Final Fantasy VII. Not Final Fantasy IX. Those are both perfectly fine, but it’s the story of Squall, Rinoa, and the gang (especially Selphie, the original waifu <3)…
Read MoreFeature by Harvard L. The Tales series is by many regards Bandai Namco’s answer to Square Enix’s Final Fantasy. It’s a JRPG series with epic scope and a long line of mainstream titles connected more by common elements than plot or character, which is beloved by its hardcore Japanese fans,…
Read MoreNews by Matt S. Finally! Trails of Cold Steel 1 & 2, on the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita were two of the finest JRPGs that have been produced in recent memory. It might not be a series with the mainstream awareness of some others, but both games are genuinely…
Read MoreList by Matt S. Whether it be because of licensing, a developer going out of business, or the industry simply moving on, every generation there are a lot of games that end up “lost” – the original games might be available in some form or another, but the changes of…
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