Digitally Downloaded – Page 704 – Your specialist source of news and reviews for games, anime, manga, film and literature

The DDNet Debate: On JRPGs, narrative, and that Ian Bogost article

April 28, 2017

DDNet debate/DDNet Premium/JRPG/narrative

It’s time for this week’s DDNet debate! This week we thought we’d discuss our favourite genre of all – the JRPG, and what we look for from games in the genre. Naturally such a discussion was always going to lead us to start talking about narratives, and then this week…

Review: Chaos Code -New Sign of Catastrophe- (Sony PlayStation 4)

April 28, 2017

Arc System Works/Chaos Code -New Sign of Catastrophe-/Fighting game/fighting games/PlayStation 4/PS4 Review/Reviews

Review by Matt S. Here’s the thing: I like fighting games a great deal. I like the aesthetics of fighting games. I like the narratives that they throw up. I like speed, action, and excitement of them. I’ve spent hundreds of hours playing my favourite examples of the genres; Dead…

the-new-call-of-duty-is-certain-to-be

April 28, 2017

Activision/Call of Duty/Call of Duty: World War 2/nationalism/Opinion

Opinion by Matt S. Activision has lifted the wrapper off its latest flag waving opus to western (mostly American) ‘patriotism,’ military heroism and “values”; Call of Duty: WWII. And of course that announcement has dominated the media discussion in gaming since. Call of Duty is the big franchise out there,…

Review: MechRunner (Sony PlayStation 4)

April 27, 2017

endless runner/indie games/PS4 Review/Reviews/Shooter/Sony PlayStation 4/Spark Plug Games

Review by Matt C. MechRunner is an endless runner with guns and and a Transformer-like robot that can shift between tank and bipedal forms. That isn’t necessarily a recipe for a great game, but it should at least be a recipe for a bit of mindless fun. Unfortunately, MechRunner only…

Japanese history: On Hideyoshi Toyotomi, the artist formerly known as Monkey

April 27, 2017

DDNet Premium/Hideyoshi Toyotomi/history/Japan/Japanese History

Article by Matt S. Over recent months I’ve had a number of people ask me to write more about Japanese history and its personalities. Games from Japan, unsurprisingly, often feature references or depictions of Japan’s past, and it’s an unfortunate reality that, at least in the West, learning about Japanese…

Review: Outlast 2 (Sony PlayStation 4)

April 27, 2017

Horror/Outlast/Outlast 2/PlayStation 4/PS4 Review/Reviews/stalker horror/Survival Horror

Review by Matt S. Games academic, Ian Bogost, recently wrote a piece that proved to be controversial. In it, he laid out some of the issues in the way that game creators often try to tell stories using similar narrative structures to what those in literature and film have traditionally…

The catch-up coffee: Thursday, April 27, 2017

April 26, 2017

catch-up coffee/Daedalic Entertainment/FMV/Introversion Software/Ken Follett's The Pillars of Earth/News/Night Trap/Scanner Sombre/Sega/Sekai Project/The Falconers: Moonlight

News by Britta S. and Trent P. Welcome to Digitally Downloaded’s regular catch-up news feature. With each issue we will bring you the best news that you may have missed. Grab the biggest mug you’ve got, fill it with your favourite brew, and catch up with us (and our favourite…

Japanese history: On Nobunaga Oda – Japan’s Napoleon

April 26, 2017

DDNet Premium/history/Japan/Japanese History/Nobunaga Oda

Review: Hakuoki: Kyoto Winds (Sony PlayStation Vita)

April 26, 2017

Hakuoki/Hakuoki: Kyoto Winds/Idea Factory/Idea Factory International/Otomate/otome/PlayStation Vita/Reviews/visual novel/Vita Review

Review by Matt S. I have played – and loved – a lot of visual novels over the years. There are the VNs that mix with other genres, such as Danganronpa, 999, Eiyuu Senki and Tears to Tiara, and I love them all. Then there are the “true” VNs, where…

review-vignettes-apple-ipad

April 25, 2017

Apple iPad/Art Game/iPad Review/Puzzle Game/Reviews/Vignettes

Review by Moshe R. The magical mystery tour is here, finally, and it took me away. At least that’s The Beatles inspired feeling I experienced as I started playing Vignettes on my iPad, with its very Warhol choice of colour palettes, atmospheric music and minimalistic presentation. As well as it…

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