“Frivolity” and “humour” are not usually things that you associate with Otomate’s otome visual novels. Whether it’s classics like Hakuouki and Amnesia, or more modern games like Piofiore: Fated Memories and Olympia Soiree, with Otomate, you expect some pretty powerful romances with some very dark edges (especially if you wind…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. Mario Party Superstars is exactly what I want my Mario Party experience to be. It offers simple, well-designed game boards, dozens of fun mini-games, and all that Nintendo sheen that we love. Could this have been something more than it is? Yes. It really should have…
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Project Zero is the most Japanese of horror properties. Capcom’s Resident Evil series is developed by Japanese artists and is great fun but closely intertwined with western B-grade horror traditions. Konami’s Silent Hill is (for the most part) intelligent and artful, but it was heavily inspired by western psychological horror…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. Dungeon Encounters is quirky and different enough that it’s easy to overlook or put to the side. Square Enix almost forgot it was even making it, announcing it at TGS about a month from release. I joke (I’m sure the timing of the announcement was deliberate),…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. A good card game, whether that be a trading card game like Magic the Gathering, a deck-builder like Dominion, or a classic game like Poker or Bridge, needs to get just one thing right to be worthwhile: it needs to take the randomness inherent with card…
Read MoreReview by Harvard L. I wanted to like Starlight Alliance, I really did. It’s a hybrid RPG and Third-Person Platform Shooter, kind of like if Ratchet and Clank had an EXP system, or if NieR was all gameplay and no existential navel-gazing. It’s the combination of two things I like,…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. Of all the fan service-heavy properties in the world, the cross-over between Hyperdimension Neptunia and Senran Kagura seems like the match made in heaven. Both are comedic properties, with large groups of characters and both love hot springs, boob jokes and… well, sex-themed jokes that are…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. Experience Inc. is a developer with mastery over two genres in particular: the dungeon crawler (Stranger of Sword City), and horror (Death Mark). Combine the two and you get Undernauts: Labyrinth of Yomi. This is a grim and sublime dungeon crawler, which really sells the idea…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. The Dark Pictures Anthology’s latest entry, House of Ashes, has plenty going for it. It has cinematic flair, Hollywood talent (led by Ashley Tisdale), and an intriguing premise, given that it’s leveraging off the Akkadian Empire, which is one of the oldest empires we know of…
Read MoreReview by Trent P. In the infancy of the Internet, many were fixated on quotes and philosophies from lead developers. One great example of this is the legendary Shigeru Miyamoto himself. Miyamoto has always been the face of Nintendo and responsible for so many of its characters, has been perhaps…
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