Retro reflections by Matt S. The last couple of months has brought us a pretty substantial influx of tactics RPGs. On the Nintendo Switch there was the excellent port of the excellent Disgaea 5, the 3DS got a remake of one of the early Fire Emblems in Fire Emblem Echoes,…
Read MoreReview by Clark A. The word “oasis” carries such passionate connotations that its definition extends beyond the literal term for a fertile water source within a desert. This secondary meaning pertains to the abstract idea of a haven; a place of refuge from an oppressive force. Native English speakers often…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. For quite some time Final Fantasy XII has been the only game in Square Enix’s most venerated franchise that hasn’t been available on a console being sold on the current market. That has now been remedied, and I couldn’t be happier. I know I’m an outlier…
Read MoreFeature by Matt S. Koei Tecmo’s JRPG subsidiary, Gust, has been my favourite developer for a number of years now. Final Fantasy, Persona, Yakuza and Fire Emblem might be all higher profile and higher budgeted JRPG franchises, and their respective developers have legions of fans around the world for good…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. Most people who have even a passing interest in JRPGs should, by now, know what RPG Maker is. For years the series of easy to use, highly specialised software applications have allowed people with no game development skill whatsoever to build their own JRPGs, and then…
Read MorePreview by Matt S. Final Fantasy XII, remastered into glorious HD with Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age, isn’t long away now, and for many people it’ll be the first opportunity to play a game that had been previously restricted to a console that has been long retired. I’ve had…
Read MoreReview by Harvard L. Tokyo Xanadu is being released in the West at a somewhat unfortunate time. It trails Persona 5 and The Caligula Effect, when its 2015 Japanese release date puts it more in the ballpark of Conception 2 or Mind:Zero. It’s developed by Falcom, arguably the inventor of…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. One of the quickest tells for what a developer intended with a game, even if it doesn’t quite succeed at that intention, is if the game pays homage to Shakespeare on a meaningful level. If you’re dropping names from his plays, repeating famous quotes verbatim, and…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. We talk a lot about Japanese games on DDNet. You might have noticed that. But there are Japanese games, developed by Japanese game developers, and then there are Japanese games that are Japanese, in the sense that they designed specifically around the Japanese cultural experience, tapping…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. Dark Rose Valkyrie was meant to be a relatively serious take on Compile Heart’s usual modus operandi. The house that built Hyperdimension Neptunia, Omega Quintet and Fairy Fencer has always been polarising, and that’s for a simple reason; this studio loves showing off the panties of…
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