Review by Matt S. The idea of being trapped in a time loop, in which you can use the experience from previous loops to alter the events of the new one, is not a new one. Groundhog Day is a famous example, and so too is All You Need Is…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. Given the number of games that I play, I have a really simple filter for figuring out which are truly special to me: They’re the ones that I remember in one, ten, or more years. It’s not a useful guide when sitting down to review something…
Read MoreArticle by Matt S. While I’ve been traveling in Japan for Tokyo Game Show, plus some holiday time, I’ve still found plenty of time to make progress on the first “full” My Time With Dee Dee visual novel. We’re getting very close to release now! At this stage, we’re aiming…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. Yu-No: A Girl With A Very Long And Silly Subtitle is much better experience than its nonsense name. This is seminal visual novel that went a long way to establish the genre as we know it today, and inspire so many of the other big names…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. As far as coding is concerned, visual novels are the easiest things to make. This is particularly true if you’re making ones that either don’t include gameplay elements, or only throw the occasional choice and branching path at the player. I should know; even I’ve been…
Read MoreInterview by Matt S. Japan’s Ainu people have become one of the most diminished native peoples in the world. They’re native to northern Japan, predominantly Hokkaido, and if you weren’t aware of that, don’t worry, you’re by no means alone. Many, many people in the west don’t even realise there…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. Given that AI: The Somnium Files comes from the same mind that brought us the Zero Escape series (Uchikoshi Kotaro), you should go in expecting two things: firstly, an incredible narrative. Secondly, a laboured effort at throwing “gameplay” into the storytelling. Uchikoshi has never appeared to…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. Visual novels that are deeply rooted in some kind of bittersweet nostalgia are dime a dozen. Japanese culture itself is a deeply nostalgic one (to this day the country struggles to resolve its respect for tradition with its love of progress), and there’s an abiding fixation…
Read MoreVisual novel by Matt S. Hello everyone! So, development of My Time With Dee Dee, Volume #1 continues on strongly, and we’re still on track to deliver it over the next month or so. As promised, it’s a much larger project, in terms of everything – with four endings and…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. Root Letter: Last Answer leaves me in a very difficult position. On the one hand, and purely on a sentimental level, Root Letter is my favourite visual novel. I’d argue that there are smarter and deeper VNs out there – Steins;Gate, for example, and there are…
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