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…
Mario Kart didn’t need to go open world. It was a much-vaunted feature of Mario Kart World leading up to its launch, and the moments where you’re dropped into the open world and left to just cruise around and complete little missions are, frankly, boring. Thankfully, everything else about the…
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I’m a huge fan of Boyfriend Dungeon, a dungeon-crawling action adventure simulation game where you don’t just use your weapons in battle — you also form deep, meaningful relationships with them. When Date Everything! was announced, my brain immediately jumped to the idea of it being similar to Boyfriend Dungeon,…
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It’s incredible to think that Bravely Default: Flying Fairy is 13 years old at this point. It feels like it was just yesterday that it was turning heads as a new spin on the JRPG genre and a brilliant homage to Final Fantasy in particular (Flying Fairy as the subtitle…
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It’s been a difficult few years for Level-5, from the highs of the likes of Professor Layton, Ni No Kuni and Yo-Kai Watch a decade ago to the lows of… well, everything that it’s done with those properties in recent years. Level-5 just hasn’t been the same company since the…
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Once upon a time, Rune Factory was a simple matter of asking “What if Harvest Moon had some combat bits?” That was perfectly adequate in its own right, because it did add a fun way to take a break from farming and small-town socialising and to flex some muscle, but…
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It’s easy to understand why Elden Ring Nightreign exists. The multiplayer side of Dark Souls and, later, Elden Ring has been enormously popular over the years. So too are games designed around an endless gameplay loop, whether that be Fortnite, roguelikes, or anything in between. Nightreign will be loved a…
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I’m an artistic person, it’s in my genes. I’m also a very Type-A kind of person, and I prefer chill games that help me relax to games with violence. So, as a cozy game about using colourful spray paint to make a town vibrant again, Spray Paint Simulator is right…
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Look, I don’t know who decided that King Arthur worked well with grimdark, but I’m going to convene the Round Table of artists and put a stop to this nonsense. The actual fantasy of King Arthur and his knights should be flowery bastions of virtue doing good things for the…
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Scar-Lead Salvation is very close to being a very good game. The creative energy is good, the aesthetics are appealing, and the action is tight. Unfortunately, while it was clearly inspired by Returnal, it misses the mark in several critical areas. You play as Willow, who is either a woman…
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Onimusha 2 is the finest in the series. Yes, Onimusha 3 had Jean Reno, and that remains objectively hilarious, but if you’re looking for the heart of what the Onimusha team has tried to achieve with the series, it’s here. Now, with the remake in hand, we’re able to revisit…
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