Uchikoshi Kotaro has a well-deserved reputation for being one of the thinky game artists going around. The Zero Escape series established that reputation, while the original AI: The Somnium Files reinforced it. The sequel, nirvanA Initiative (‘A’ and ‘I’ capitalised, geddit?) doesn’t break new ground, but then again it also…
Read MoreFire Emblem and Koei Tecmo’s Musou (Warriors) formula are a good fit. So much of what people love about the Musou series (a large roster with a big variety in the characters that are available), is also something that the Fire Emblem series is popular for, and while the Warriors…
Read MoreTMNT is a seriously well-established brand in 2022. However, if you weren’t there in the late 1980s and early 1990s, it’s easy to underestimate just how ubiquitous the adventures of Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael were… if you were a certain age. The Turtles of that era were relentlessly marketed…
Read MoreThere are a couple of different ways that you can approach an apocalypse in art. In most cases, artists depict desperately grim stuff, and that approach makes sense given that in these stories humanity is close to (or experiencing) extinction and mere survival in a harsh, traumatic world is a…
Read MoreSpellforce III is one of those games that, even a generation ago, would have been inconceivable as a console release. The game’s blend of RTS and RPG mechanics would have been deemed too complex for a controller to bother with, and the developers and publishers alike would have assumed that…
Read MoreMr. Prepper is so disappointing. It could have been something spectacular, given that it weaves a story that is so steadfastly critical of America, but instead it collapses in a whimper that never realises its mechanical ambitions nor delivers on its thematic premise. Combined, those two failings make it frustrating…
Read MoreMario Strikers: Battle League is the perfect example of how a modern arcade sports title should behave. It is fast, furious, and heavily reliant on twitch reflexes and speedy precision. Just like you’d want from an arcade game. It’s also instantly accessible and, at a basic level, a pure joy…
Read MoreThe developers of Pinku Kult Hex Mortis are on to a good thing. The creative vision is exceptionally strong, and the blend of Halloween-aesthetic horror, mystery and RPG is an intriguing one. If only the execution wasn’t so maddingly pedestrian. Pinku Kult is set in a dark and foreboding metropolis…
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The Future You’ve Been Dreaming Of is a voyeurism simulation, and coming from developer qureate, we all knew what that would involve upfront. As the developer has so brazenly shown with Duel Princess and Livestream Escape From Hotel Izanami, qureate’s teams likes the fan service to be heavy and unabashed.…
Read MoreNot once have I ever thought to myself “hmm, I really need a fishing RPG in my life.” That is, not until now. Fishing Paradiso is, in fact, a fishing RPG, and I honestly say my life is better with this game in it. It first launched for iOS/Android in…
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