Ys isn’t the oldest JRPG property out there, but it’s one of them, and it’s also one of the most prolific. If you ignore all the re-releases and just concentrate on the main series, there is just one period where there was a substantial hiatus (1996-2002). Otherwise, the longest fans…
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At some point, someone sat down and decided to make an RPG which would be narrative-heavy, but it would be almost entirely emergent narrative. Where every plot direction and key moment was a consequence of the player’s actions. Where characters and their personalities would be entirely defined by player decisions,…
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On the one hand, the people behind I*CHU: Chibi Edition have done the world a big favour. The developers and publishers (PQube in the West) have taken a mobile gacha game that was effectively killed a half-decade ago and given players the opportunity to enjoy it in its full glory…
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Dance is a difficult subject to tackle, for many reasons. These challenges are, fundamentally, why it’s not a topic that video game developers typically touch (or filmmakers, or novelists, or painters, or most other art forms). The Ukrainian developer behind Light de Deux has given a ballet-themed visual novel a…
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Remaking strategy games comes across as an odd decision, because strategy games are principally defined and remembered through their mechanics, and that is something that typically improves over time. Take Civilization 2 as an example. It’s my single favourite strategy game of all time, but it would be downright strange…
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There has already been a remake of Romancing SaGa 2. We have a review of it on DigitallyDownloaded.net and everything. But that was a relatively simple effort, in that the developers modernised the sprites and art so the SNES original was then in “HD,” and otherwise left it at that.…
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Otomate can always be trusted to find some way to repurpose the established otome formula for a visual novel that at least feels a little different, even if functionally it’s not. 9 R.I.P. lands at the perfect time for Halloween, and even though it’s Otomate playing it safe with the…
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Neva’s biggest problem is that it’s an incredibly unsubtle work of art. In fact, it is downright emotionally manipulative. On the other hand, its strength is that somehow that doesn’t matter and you can’t help but be thoroughly lost within it anyway. Related reading: Our interview with the artist and…
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Mario Party is a tentpole series that goes through its ups and downs, and those tend to coincide with how much the developers mess with the basic format of giving people a board to move around and then minigames to compete over. For some reason, there are times when they…
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RPG Maker doesn’t need any introduction at this point. It’s been around since 1992! People have been making their own little video games in their favourite genre for more than 30 years! Over time the tools have become easier to use, and it’s become easier to share and play each…
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