Tales of Berseria was the moment that Bandai Namco’s long-running Tales series finally started to grow on me. It was the narrative. Berseria’s dark story of tragedy and revenge was a real page turner. Related reading: An interview we did with the developer of Tales of Berseria at the time that the game was released. Tales of Berseria Remastered is…
Nintendo’s decision to revive the Famicom Detective Club series seems to have kick-started a mild rush of new games that are, effectively, mystery visual novels, but have point-and-click elements and light puzzles to keep players interested and intrigued. That’s a good thing. This genre is excellent. And Aksys’ decision to…
I am a firm believer that as many video games, be they…
Nintendo’s timing with its no-pressure comfort food games has been fortuitous. Animal…
Hello Kitty Island Adventure is such a clever game in so many ways. Superficially, it looks like Animal Crossing, and will no doubt attract a similar audience for that reason. But it’s also a game that has an identity all of its own once you dig beyond the superficial, and…
Read More
We see a lot of efforts to take history and build a video game out of it. This year alone we’ve already seen the newest chapter in the Dynasty Warriors series. Civilization VII is just around the corner. Ubisoft seems to be in all kinds of development hell with its…
Read More
I never thought I’d be playing a Neptunia take on Mario Kart’s Battle Mode mixed with Katamari Damacy, but here we are. The latest oddball spinoff for the most oddball video game properties is Neptunia Riders Vs. Dogoos. It’s nuts. It’s also wonderful, and really good fun. The story, such…
Read More
The recent passion for retro remakes has seen a whole host of titles updated and refreshed, though with mixed results – I’m still stinging from the disappointment of Bubble Bobble 4 Friends and maintain that Snow Bros Wonderland isn’t much of an upgrade over the original, really, even though clearly…
Read More
Love Too Easily ties hard, and I’ll give it props for tackling an enormously difficult genre for the video game medium: rom-coms are difficult in literature and cinema, and both of those mediums are far more nuanced for storytelling that extends beyond physical conflict. Unfortunately, Love Too Easily also highlights…
Read More
All the best titles on PlayStation Vita were experimental little efforts with a lot of heart and very nearly no brand pull. The people who loved the console the most weren’t there for Call of Duty, God of War, GTA or whatever other big properties were turning Sony into a…
Read More
I feel bad that this is going to be copy-paste review, but there really isn’t much to say about Donkey Kong Country Returns HD that I didn’t say in my review of the port of the game to the 3DS several years ago. I don’t think that this is a…
Read More
It’s kind of amazing to consider that the last several years have been the longest period between Dynasty Warriors releases since the series began back in 1997. Dynasty Warriors 9 was a full seven years ago. And, on top of that, there has only been one of the Dynasty Warriors…
Read More
If I were to create a laundry list of what I look for in a JRPG, the simple reality is that the Ys series doesn’t tend to check many of those boxes. They’re not known for in-depth narratives, iconic characters (aside from the series protagonist, Adol, who has a very…
Read More
To get this out of the way up-front: We need to be wary about art (games, films, books, whatever else) that depict apocalyptic scenarios where some form of invader from without swarms the world and you’re in control of the last nation standing, holding back the horde. It’s an incredibly…
Read More