I remain very impressed with any developer that takes a swing at a Soulslike. In fact, post-Elden Ring, I’m possibly even more impressed by the gonads it takes to try and develop one. This is a genre that is so overwhelmingly dominated by one company’s creative vision, and any other effort is going to be immediately compared to it. I…
It’s Pokémon Day 2025, an annual event where The Pokémon Company overloads fans with new information. Last year’s event announced Pokémon Legends: Z-A, proving Pokémon Legends: Arceus to be the first in a new sub-series in the infamous franchise. The Pokémon Company dropped far more information regarding the upcoming title…
Described as a bold reimagining of the iconic Rune Factory franchise, Rune…
If you’re interested in Rise of the Ronin but don’t have a…
Third-person action-RPG (read: soulslike) Asterigos: Curse of the Stars is inspired by Greek and Roman mythology. Players take on the role of Hilda, a brave warrior on a quest. Her goal is to uncover the secrets of Aphes, a cursed city that is eternally haunted by former citizens turned horrifying…
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Trinity Trigger is being published by FuRyu in Japan in two weeks, but until now there’s been no confirmation that the action RPG would be coming west. XSEED Games has announced that it will be bringing Trinity Trigger west in “early” 2023.…
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ARGH! Argh, argh, argh, arghhhhhhhhhh! Dusk Diver 2 is so frustrating. So utterly, cruelly frustrating. Somehow this sequel is even more frustrating than its predecessor. I can see what the developer wanted to achieve with it, and I appreciate it on so many levels. It just doesn’t come together in…
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Releasing a “Soulslike” in the same year as Elden Ring is, I would argue, unwise. You’re never going to come off well in that comparison and it’s only going to result in your game being judged more harshly than it deserves to be. In that context, Thymesia really should have…
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Forget the absolutely dismal Dark Alliance dungeon crawler that was released last year. There was a time where “Dungeons & Dragons” and “Dark Alliance” put together was something worth getting excited about. Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance was a series of just two games, but they remain two of the better…
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Pascal’s wager, the philosophical concept, is an excellent thought exercise that considers that humans play a simple game, not unlike the Prisoner’s Dilemma, on whether we should believe God exists. It breaks down like this: If God does not exist, then whether you believe in him or not is irrelevant…
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The launch date for Sword and Fairy: Together Forever is imminent; we’ll have our hands on the western console version within a month! The game is the seventh in a 26-year-old RPG franchise from China. Think Final Fantasy but with a blend of ancient mythology and traditional Chinese aethestics. Sword…
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In this video (the second part of this month’s podcast, see below), Harvard, Trent and I talk about Stranger of Paradise – the new Final Fantasy game that we just can’t stop thinking about – and why it is so smart and represents such a good thing for the games…
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Final Fantasy is important to Square Enix. I know that’s stating the obvious, but sometimes Square Enix is almost shockingly willing to experiment with it. If Final Fantasy VII Remake wasn’t enough to convince you that the company is willing to greenlight some risky, near transgressive projects, Stranger of Paradise…
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It’s worth remembering that we very nearly lost Rune Factory. The developer of the series, Neverland, went bankrupt, and 2012’s Rune Factory 4 on the 3DS seemed to be the end of it. Thankfully Marvelous stepped in, hired many of the original team to keep them together, and formed an…
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