If you were to ask me what genres I think developers should take a very long break from, most days I would respond “Metroidvania” or “Roguelike.” It’s not that I have an inherent distaste for either, but did you know that overexposure to something can result in you acquiring an allergy to it? Right. Ariana and the Elder Codex is……
Resident Evil has always been a tale of placing corporate profit over human rights. From Resident Evil 1’s human experimentation, to Resident Evil 2’s company town, all the way to Resident Evil Village’s superpowered feudal lords, Resident Evil has always worn its ideology on its sleeve. Greedy, corrupt politicians wielding…
Goichi Suda and his team at Grasshopper Manufacture have carved out a…
Having not played the original Code Vein, I have no idea whether…
Neva’s biggest problem is that it’s an incredibly unsubtle work of art. In fact, it is downright emotionally manipulative. On the other hand, its strength is that somehow that doesn’t matter and you can’t help but be thoroughly lost within it anyway. Related reading: Our interview with the artist and…
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Remaking Silent Hill 2 is not like remaking a Resident Evil game. Resident Evil titles are big, fun, stupid rollercoasters of jump scares, ugly monsters, and a delight in the B-grade joy of zombie films. Silent Hill 2 meanwhile is thoughtful, introspective, and downright literary. The game is famous for…
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Metaphor: ReFantazio might not take place in a school in modern Japan. You might not be playing as a group of school kids somehow saving the day while the adults seem oblivious to it all. It may technically be the first new game from a new studio. But, to be…
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As most people know, I’m generally opposed to streaming streaming services. I find the idea of ceding any control whatsoever over what you can see, hear and play to corporations to be a very bad idea, and the fact that stuff moves into and out of these platforms (meaning your…
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Let’s all remember for a moment here that Sony basically gutted its Japanese game development operation, and the developer behind Astro Bot, Team Asobi, was the only one that survived. Even then it was diminished. Then consider that it created this game, with its abundant creativity and warmth. Where all…
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At the risk of irritating a certain group of fans to the point that I need to lock down the comments box for my own sanity: I have an issue with how a lot of games handle the Warhammer 40K license. Not that I want to get into this debate…
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Visions of Mana is Secret of Mana, 20 years later. I said as much in my preview, and the deeper I played the more the game seems exclusively interested in tapping into my nostalgia for that SNES classic. Given that the Mana series has been otherwise highly experimental in recent…
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Tennis is a difficult sport to bring into video game form. It’s not because the sport itself is mechanically challenging. Compared to the likes of football it is limited both in terms of the number of players competing and the expansive flow of the game. And compared to something like…
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Schools are excellent locations for horror. They’re a shared experience for most of us, so developers benefit from the familiarity and can play on that to set up unease. Attending school is also a highly emotional experience that covers the full gamut thanks to a combination of societal pressure and…
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I am absolutely terrible at SHMUPs, bullet hells, and other such action game experiences. For this reason, I don’t generally play them. It’s not that I don’t enjoy them, it’s just that my progress through them is so slow – on account of my own lack of skills – that…
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