The first otome visual novel that I played – in fact, the first visual novel at all – was Hakuouki, back on the PlayStation 3, when visual novels on console were a rare treat indeed. These days, we’re inundated with the genre, but Idea Factory, the publisher behind Hakuouki, have…
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Unfortunately, a trip into the Nintendo Switch’s online store is a chore to wade through endless piles of trash to try and find the occasional good game. The store is so flooded with utter crap at $10 or less that most of us would surely be at the point where…
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After playing (and largely enjoying) the second Greedfall game in early access back when it launched, I left the game alone, waiting for its full release. Now it’s here, and Greedfall 2: The Dying World is a confident step ahead from the original. Given that the original was my favourite…
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This is the first time I have played Super Mario Bros. Wonder, and I feel fortunate for that, as this has been an unmitigated delight to experience for the first time, especially now that it has the multiplayer stuff added into it. The result is a big package of Nintendo…
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Satire is a difficult challenge for a game developer. On the one hand, the satire needs to criticise the subject. On the other hand, if the game feels too good to play, it is very easy to feel like a celebration of the subject instead. If you were to undermine…
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If you were to ask me what genres I think developers should take a very long break from, most days I would respond “Metroidvania” or “Roguelike.” It’s not that I have an inherent distaste for either, but did you know that overexposure to something can result in you acquiring an…
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Tales of Berseria was the moment that Bandai Namco’s long-running Tales series finally started to grow on me. It was the narrative. Berseria’s dark story of tragedy and revenge was a real page turner. Related reading: An interview we did with the developer of Tales of Berseria at the time…
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Nintendo’s decision to revive the Famicom Detective Club series seems to have kick-started a mild rush of new games that are, effectively, mystery visual novels, but have point-and-click elements and light puzzles to keep players interested and intrigued. That’s a good thing. This genre is excellent. And Aksys’ decision to…
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I am a firm believer that as many video games, be they popular, good, bad, and loathed, should be preserved as possible. All these retro collections that have been released by publishers to cash in on their classic properties (and undermine the value of emulation and the second-hand market) have…
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Nintendo’s timing with its no-pressure comfort food games has been fortuitous. Animal Crossing landed at almost the exact moment that people around the world were desperate for some no-stress escapism from COVID-19. Now, Pokémon Pokopia launches right at the time that America massively escalates global tensions by committing war crimes…
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