At first glance, it’s difficult to understand Ghostpia’s appeal. You place static screenshots, out of context, next to the breathtaking art of Otomate’s visual novels, the vivid energy of something like Danganronpa, or even independent efforts like Sweetest Monster or Corpse Factory, and it’s really hard to see why PQube…
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Harvest Moon was once the epitome of farm/life sims, until Stardew Valley took over that mantle. It was an easy one to steal, though, thanks to some messy stuff that has the original Harvest Moon developer working under the Story of Seasons banner while Natsume kept the Harvest Moon name.…
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When you read the title for this feature, which song do you think about? What memories are evoked by that song? How would you feel if you were asked to listen to it again? And, to hazard a guess, was that song from the late 90s or the early 00s?…
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Yes, Final Fantasy XIV is still running strong! It has a total of 27 million registered players, and expanded Free Trial makes it super easy to start the game despite the fact it first launched over a decade ago. What keeps players returning is these patches that involve lots of…
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Playdate is that quirky yellow handheld console with the crank. Back in March, players were finally able to purchase games on the device itself (instead of on a site like itch.io) thanks to Catalog, the curated in-device/web-based game store specifically for Playdate. This month, nine games have been added to…
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It’s going to take some work to top Steelrising, which was one of the big surprises of 2022 with the way it handled an alternative universe French Revolution-with-automatons, but Polish developer, Superstatic is going to give it a red-hot go with Liberté, which is leaving Early Access for full release…
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Fun trivia fact about me: After Hatsune Miku figures, the most collectible plastic I have in my home is a collection of rubber ducks. I’ve always liked them as a kid (and have always liked ducks in general), and they come in such a wide variety these days that they’re…
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Did you know that you can’t produce your own alcohol in Japan? It’s illegal to brew your own beers and wines in Japan without a licence, even for personal consumption, so those little hobby breweries and home beer kits that are so popular in many parts of the world are…
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Puzzle Bobble is an amazing puzzle game. I use that tense specifically because it’s one of those concepts where the developers got it absolutely plumb right from the get-go, all the way back in 1996. Yes, that was a long time ago. But I’m right. Fire up a copy of…
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Monster Menu: The Scavenger’s Cookbook could have been something special. The premise is really quite clever, but unfortunately, it ends up relying too heavily on the roguelike foundations for that premise to really take flight. Survival is meant to be the core of the thing, and in theory, it reaches…
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