Review by Matt S. The Phantom of the Opera is one of my favourite books. Before it became most famous for an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, it was a masterfully written bit of gothic literature, right up there with the likes of Dracula, Wuthering Heights, Frankenstein, and The Monk. Unfortunately,…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. I know it’s a kitschy joke these days, but developers do continue to be inspired to create “the Dark Souls of XXXX.” So influential is that masterpiece that it has become a reference point across the entire industry. Black Legend is an effort to be the…
Read MoreNews by Matt S. Blue Reflection is one of the most beautiful games that has ever been made. But it was also one the flew right under the radar (people saw bath scenes and the school setting, and really got the wrong idea about what the game is about), so…
Read MoreNews by Matt S. Among the hardcore fighting game community, there aren’t many names with greater prestige than Melty Blood. The series stretches right back to 2002 and now, in 2021, we’re getting the rarest of rare treats – a worldwide release of the new one, to be called Melty…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. Producing a homage to a great work of art, no matter the field, is noble. Doing so allows you to explore the qualities that made that artwork great, and draw attention to the ideas within it that you, as your own artist, found so inspiring. Homages…
Read MoreNews by Matt S. Don’t worry if you don’t remember Zodiac: Orcanon Odyssey from 2015. It was a mobile JRPG with some incredible production values, and was quite the decent game to boot. Indeed, we loved it at launch. But it didn’t make much of a splash at all, and…
Read MoreReview by Harvard L. Sometimes the most unexpected gifts are the most welcome. I hadn’t heard anything about a Neo Geo Pocket Color compilation coming to Switch, but I’m happy to get it all the same. I love that the Switch is rapidly becoming a hub for retro compilations, with…
Read MoreNews by Matt S. If you’re going to be doing something inspired by the horror of the 80’s, you do need to go into it with a balance of humour and the grotesque. Those films are simply not there to be taken seriously as horror artefacts now (I would argue…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. It’s not often you’ll find a game (or series) that you’re absolutely terrible at, but can still appreciate and enjoy. I do have one such series. Monster Hunter. I’ve always struggled to wrap my head around Capcom’s epic boss battle simulation, but I’ve also always appreciated…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. Among all entertainment art forms, video games rely heavily on violence and bloodletting. I realise that as a game critic I spend more time with these things than most people (and what is healthy for a “hobby”), but it really does become exhausting when the default…
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