Review by Matt S. Almost every visual novel aims to present players with a fantasy – it may well be located in a real world location (Stein’s;Gate’s Akihabara, Root Letter’s Shimane prefecture), but the stories that they share are complete flights of fancy. Wanderlust: Travel Stories is a little different;…
Read MoreTravel by Matt S. I’m back in Australia now, so writing this piece on Japan is my way of dealing with the post-travel blues. That being said, I wanted to write about Gifu city anyway, because I visited it for the first time this year, and it made a powerful…
Read MoreTravel by Matt S. As a very big fan of games based in Japanese history – Samurai Warriors, Nobunaga’s Ambition, Hakuouki and the like – I’ve always used my trips to Japan for Tokyo Game Show and the like to indulge in some history tourism. Over the years, I’ve visited…
Read MoreArticle by Matt S. One of my new favourite destinations while in Japan is the VR theme park that Bandai Namco has constructed right in the heart of Kabukicho. Yes, the one that lets you play Mario Kart in VR. I had the good fortune of going along to it…
Read MoreTravel by Matt S. People think that Japanese cuisine is all about the sushi and wagyu, and while those are very fine things in themselves, I do often find that people play it very “safe” when they visit Japan. Perhaps its because the Japanese language means that you’re not always…
Read MoreTravel by Matt S. As a big (big) fan of Koei Tecmo’s Nioh, over the past year or so, I’ve become quite fascinated with the central character in that game – William Adams, or “Samurai Bill”, as I like to refer to him. Nioh is only very loosely based on…
Read MoreTravel by Matt S. So, I’m back in Japan for a short holiday, and figured I’d do what I usually do and share a couple of pieces about my time here. Because, after all, Japan is an interesting place to visit. One of the first things I did on landing…
Read MoreTravel by Matt S. Osaka isn’t my favourite place in Japan. That’s not to say it’s a terrible place, of course – it’s a city filled with delights. It’s just that I generally prefer Tokyo as far as Japan’s big cities go, and if I’m going to get out of…
Read MoreTourism by Matt S. When I look at how the media is reporting on virtual reality, one of the things that I keep seeing is that, because VR technology missed those early predicated sales figures set down by PR outfits looking to build hype, then the technology itself must therefore…
Read MoreTourism by Matt S. The first major thing I did on my trip in Japan this year was attend the annual Hatsune Miku Expo and concert that is held at this time of year. It’s a special year, as it’s the tenth anniversary since Miku herself was unleashed on the…
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