Review by Matt S. Making a game that is critical of what we take for granted in capitalism seems like a Sisyphean effort, given that, more than any other art form, the entire industry is slavishly and unquestioningly devoted to capitalism. This same week people are out there buying a…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. Nexomon’s console releases have come in an odd order. Last year, at around this time, PQube released Nexomon: Extinction on various platforms. I think it was a surprising success for the publisher (and it did rightfully deserve to be a success since it is excellent), and…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. On its surface, you would never suspect that Rune Factory world work. Taking the tranquility of Harvest Moon and mashing it together with the inherent violence of RPGs seems counter-intuitive, and yet the developers of Rune Factory and various associated homages and pastiches have somehow refined…
Read MoreVideo by Matt S. Kitaria Fables is such a delightful little game. Utterly charming and inoffensive, this Rune Factory-like RPG has plenty of sword-swinging questing… but you also get plenty of time to kick back and just enjoy the gardening, as you slowly farm up a huge arrangement of delightful…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. Developers; if you’re going to give players a map, but not tell them where they are on the map, that in itself is fine. I actually appreciate the commitment to the “old school” there, and the lack of hand-holding. However. If making sense of the map then…
Read MoreNews by Matt S. Nexomon: Extinction was a really nice surprise when it launched on consoles last year. A Pokemon “clone” that did some interesting things with the Pokemon formula, this was one of the better mobile-to-console ports that we’ve seen. Apparently, it was a success because the publisher, PQube,…
Read MoreNews by Matt S. PQube is publishing Tormented Souls – a classic-style horror game, and it’s doing so soon! The game launches on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC (via Steam) later this month, on August 27. It’s coming to last generation consoles and Nintendo Switch too, but we’ll need…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. Bustafellows is right up there with the best crime fiction works I’ve ever read. Not just in terms of visual novels, or broader video games. I’m talking across all media. Bustafellows is every bit the page-turner of a Conan Doyle or Christie novel. It’s as interesting…
Read MoreNews by Matt S.When it rains, it pours. We just got a duo of excellent detective noir visual novels from Nintendo in Famicom Detective Club, and now maverick publisher, PQube, has a big announcement to follow up on that; its detective otome VN, Bustafellows, will release on PC and Nintendo…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. The original Valthirian Arc was a pretty decent little game. It wasn’t something completely memorable, but as we noted in our review: “Valthirian Arc: Hero School offers a quaint, if not overly original concept… It’s easy to pick up and play for short bursts, and as…
Read More