I do not understand Sker Ritual. At all. It seems that at every opportunity the developers took what was great about Maid of Sker and do the exact opposite to it, and so now, across just two games in the “Sker” property, we’ve got a confused mess across the “franchise” that seems to have no creative idea behind it beyond…
World War 2 continues to be one of the most in-demand theatres of war for strategy and/or tactical games. That makes sense for many reasons: The battles themselves and the tactics that were on display lend themselves to video game mechanics in ways that other wars at around the same…
In hindsight, I probably shouldn’t have played ArcRunner. While it looks the…
Once upon a time Kemco was a developer and publisher of a…
Like most people, I grew up with Disney being a real part of my childhood. So, while I find the content of modern Disney to be little more than a corporation demanding money, the classic hijinks of Mickey and Donald and co will always tap into deep nostalgia. Case-in-point: Next…
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Given that Koei Tecmo won’t do anything with its Uncharted property (no, not the Sony one), Sailing Era was something worth paying attention to leading up to its release. With some truly beautiful character art, this promised to be a swashbuckling adventure on the high seas, combining JRPG mechanics with…
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Ed-0: Zombie Uprising is simultaneously excellent B-grade action fun, and an utter waste of an enormously talented developer’s finest qualities. Lancarse, the developer behind El Shaddai, Lost Dimension, Monark and The DioField Chronicle, knows how to tell a story. Ed-0 has an excellent concept. Related reading: For another roguelike with…
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Nobunaga’s Ambition has finally landed on the Nintendo Switch. To celebrate the series’ 40th anniversary, Koei Tecmo has gone all out to make this latest entry in the venerable series assessable, story-driven, and interesting, and the team there has comprehensively succeeded. Related reading: Our interview with the producer and director…
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My review of The Legend of Heroes: Trails Into Reverie is going to be quite different, because it’s largely pointless to actually review it. If you’ve never experienced a Legend of Heroes title before, then do not bother starting with this one. It’s only going to confuse the daylights out…
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In recent years (thanks largely to the success of the Ryza trilogy), Gust and Koei Tecmo’s Atelier series has grown from being a very niche and micro-budget JRPG property to become something that, while not exactly mainstream, holds itself well in the market and can find an audience beyond genre…
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It has been 13 years since the last The Settlers title. The Settlers: New Allies is also the first time the series has ever made its way to a home console. Until now, this venerable, hugely respected and beloved simulation/strategy series had been exclusive to PC (with a couple of…
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I’ve run out of patience with the Richman series. I want to love them, but the feeling is clearly not reciprocal. This is the third game that developer/publisher, Softstar, has released on the Nintendo Switch, and not only does it demonstrate that there is little interest in improving the series,…
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Of all the major sporting events, the Tour de France must be one of the most challenging concepts to adapt to a video game. After all, you’re looking at courses that are hundreds of kilometres long, and take hours to cycle across, with the scenery changing up and down mountains,…
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I’m not exactly a farming sim aficionado but I’ve definitely played my fair share of them, ranging from terrible to phenomenal. More recently, there’s been several titles that include a magical component; Wylde Flowers is a great example of this. So when Everdream Valley popped up, I was pretty excited…
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