True story: It was just the other day that I saw the entire Where’s Wally (I know it’s called “Where’s Waldo” elsewhere, but it’s Wally here) collection on sale. They must have done a reprint. I bought the lot of them. I have fond memories of spending hour upon hour scouring through those books. Not just to play the “can…
Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave is nothing if not ambitious, with multiple stories that converge and diverge in support of an almost breathtakingly epic-in-scope narrative. Meanwhile, the game works hard to connect you to a huge range of characters while throwing system after system at you. You’ve got Atelier-like map exploration…
When you think about the most influential games of all time, your…
You know how the saying goes: When it rains, it pours. Somehow,…
Given the almost fearsome reputation that Dragon’s Dogma has as a cult favourite (that actually sold better than most people realise), it’s easy to forget that the game wasn’t all that well received at first, and that its Metacritic rating is “only” 78/100. It was a fair analysis however, for…
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1992’s Alone in the Dark is one of those genuine masterpieces of our little medium. Four full years before Capcom, deeply inspired by Frédérick Raynal’s work, hit it big with Resident Evil, Alone in the Dark brought us a non-linear haunted mansion to explore, filled with monsters and puzzles. As…
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Contra: Operation Galuga was a mistake. It’s not that everyone involved didn’t try, mind you. As much as a certain kind of gamer loves to swipe at Konami, Konami did the right thing here to give this project every chance of success. The publisher recruited WayForward – veterans and legends…
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It feels like I’ve been asking for a new Ogre Battle title for decades (probably because I have been). No, not Tactics Ogre, though those are also very fine. I do mean Ogre Battle, the JRPG/Real Time Strategy series of just two titles that I was obsessed with back on…
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Ever since I read my first Moomin book as a child – I dimly think it might have been Comet in Moominland – I’ve been besotted with Tove Jansson’s endlessly fascinating Finnish trolls and their motley crew of quite literally fantastic friends and family. The books have always been the…
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We live in a world where we’re all working harder and longer than ever, and what little free time we have really needs to count. I’ve addressed this in opinion pieces in the past that developers aren’t really competing for people’s money any more. Cost of living crisis or not,…
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King Arthur: Knight’s Tale is simultaneously a very fun game to play, and also one of the most irritating things I have ever had to review. Game developers really need to learn that source texts – be that history, literature, or legend, should not be seen as content to use…
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Kashido is one of the more interesting, downright fascinating board games I’ve played in recent years. It comes to us from Japan, and is an abstraction of a significant and cultural part of Japanese food culture. It is a physical board game in Japan, but as far as I can…
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The “roguelike” has become a term applied to so many different games that it’s functionally lost all meaning. Indies, in particular, have embraced it with the same vigour that big AAA developers have embraced unsustainably expensive open worlds. In that context, it’s actually refreshing to play a traditional, classical roguelike…
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It has always surprised me that there have been relatively few spinoffs from the Story of Seasons (formerly Harvest Moon) property. This is a beloved series that stretches right back to the SNES, and it has a lot going for it – charming characters, cute animals, and a wholesome joy…
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