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Review: Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury (Nintendo Switch)

February 10, 2021

3D platformer/Nintendo/Nintendo Switch/platformer/Reviews/Super Mario 3D World/Switch Review

Review by Matt S. Super Mario 3D World will be remembered as one of the better moments of Nintendo creativity, even in the context the long, storied and ridiculously prestigious history of its most visible mascot. Thankfully, what was once a Wii U exclusive has moved to a console that…

Nintendo announces the next SNES and NES titles for Switch

February 10, 2021

News/Nintendo/Nintendo Switch/Retro/trailer/Trailers

News by Matt S.“Fans” are never going to be happy with Nintendo’s approach to retro games and the Nintendo Switch. It’s still locked at the NES and SNES, and we’re only getting a couple of new titles every other month or so. With that being said, the four games in…

And the next Idea Factory game to get a Switch port will be…

February 9, 2021

Dragon Star Varnir/Idea Factory/JRPG/News/Nintendo Switch

News by Matt S. Dragon Star Varnir! Thanks to the good folk at Famitsu, we now know that Idea Factory will be porting its Grimm-like fairy tale game about cute witches to the Switch in the Japanese spring. There’s no news about a western release of this, but given that…

Review: Persona 5 Strikers (Nintendo Switch)

February 9, 2021

Atlus/JRPG/Koei Tecmo/Nintendo Switch/Persona 5/Persona 5 Strikers/Reviews/Switch Review

Review by Matt S. The defining quality of any of the titles in the Persona series is the characters. The turn-based combat is engaging enough, as is the dungeon crawling, but it’s the cast, their relationships, and the dramas – both hilarious and tragic – that really draws the player…

Bravely Default 2: Why I love this retro-themed JRPG

February 9, 2021

Bravely Default/Bravely Default 2/JRPG/Nintendo/Preview/Previews/Square Enix/Video/Video review

Video by Matt S. I never thought we’d get a new Bravely Default game. I had just assumed that Square Enix was done with the mini-series after the 3DS titles, when those games were very much built as 3DS titles. And yet, here we are, playing a new Bravely Default…

On Final Fantasy X and its relationship to classical Gothic literature

February 9, 2021

Final Fantasy/Final Fantasy X/Game Theory/Opinion

Game Theory by Matt S. Final Fantasy X turns 20 years old this year (yes, I do feel old now). Over that time it has been frequently re-released – originally exclusive to the PlayStation 2, you can now play it on your PlayStation 3, 4, Vita, Nintendo Switch, PC, and…

Introducing the start of what will be Dee Dee 2.0

February 9, 2021

Dee Dee/My Time With Dee Dee/News/visual novel

News by Matt S. We’re four full games in now, and the vision around the Dee Dee visual novels is starting to crystalise further. With each VN tackling a different theme and narrative angle, like performances of a play, we’ve been able to explore all kinds of interesting and different…

Review: The Nioh Collection (Sony PlayStation 5)

February 8, 2021

JRPG/Koei Tecmo/Nioh/Nioh 2/PlayStation 5/PS5 Review/Reviews/Sony

Review by Matt S. One of the defining themes of the PlayStation 4 era was the remaster, with developers taking a PlayStation 3 (or even 2) title, massively overhauling the visual engine, and giving players a reason to play a favourite all over again. If the Nioh Collection is anything…

Nioh: On Yokai and Hyakki Yagyo and why Japanese games are better

February 8, 2021

Koei Tecmo/Nioh/Nioh 2/Opinion/Video/Video review

With Nioh and its sequel getting new-gen re-releases on PlayStation 5 this past week, I have been once again musing on the differences between Japanese and western games and, specifically, the way that yokai and the concept of Huakki Yagyo applies to the way that JRPGs are designed. In short,…

Interesting games on itch.io: February 8

February 8, 2021

Art Game/Indie/itch/itch.io/list/Top 10/top 5

List by Matt S. I’m a big fan of itch.io for the freedom and open platform that it allows for developers to be creative, experimental, and directly canvas the audience for feedback for games that are not yet ready for primetime on Steam and its ilk. In addition, itch.io allows…

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