Matt
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Latest Reviews
Then again, Bravely Default didn’t need fixing, and simply rescuing it from the 3DS is more than enough. This is a beautiful, heartfelt, and wonderfully classical JRPG, and as much as I love Mario Kart, over the past week, I’ve wanted to play this one so much more.
As one Steam review pithily, yet totally accurately put it: “It’s like if Runescape was fun.” Fantasy Live i has that big MMO feel to it, yet throughout the adventure never becomes exhausting. Whether the post-game stuff is for you or not, the journey there is such pure, wholesome, moreish...
Thanks to its laid-back, low-pressure vibe, aesthetic warmth and overall wholesomeness, Guardians of Azuma captures the comfort food quality of the entire Rune Factory series. Meanwhile, thanks to a vastly improved visual engine, accessible interesting combat, and an exceptional setting, it also takes a strong step forward from its predecessors....
Elden Ring Nightreign is a very clever game. FromSoftware has produced a multiplayer-focused “Souls” experience that borrows some of the best ideas from the multiplayer giants while retaining the Soulslike formula and style. It’s not really for me. I’m a mega Souls fan, but I’m there for the dark fantasy...
The thing is, Eurojank RPGs are always better than their big blockbuster counterparts, because they’re what the developers really want to make. I don’t think an Elder Scrolls could be made with the grimdark purity of Tainted Grail. Look at what happened when EA put the blockbuster sheen over Dragon...
For all my criticisms here, I do want to see another take at this. There’s absolutely room for an anime Returnal, and the base mechanics are there. Scar-Lead Salvation does play well. It is so achingly close to a good game. It’s just crushed by trying to spread that quality...
Who knows? Perhaps something like that is down the track, and the developers are building to it. It’s hard to shake the feeling that they’re just getting started with what they can achieve with this little series. All in all, the original Duck Detective was a wholesome, entertaining, totally charming...
Death end re;Quest: Code Z ends up being something of an archetypical JRPG for Idea Factory in one way, while the opposite of what we expect in the other. It’s far sharper and smarter than the over-the-top fan service suggests it will be. That’s the archetypical half. Meanwhile, the JRPG...
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a precious thing. It has the big blockbuster production values, but in sharp contrast to most other “narrative-driven” games in this space, it also respects the intelligence of its audience and is willing to engage with a rich tapestry of themes rather than leaving the...
I have not minded the opportunity to step back into Oblivion at all. It’s a big, beautiful adventure with some truly exceptional, memorable moments. The world of Oblivion alone is a perfect recreation of the Dungeons & Dragons descents into hell from my tabletop days, and I had such a...
We live in an era where games that have puzzles need to lead players by the nose to their solution, for fear of the player getting stuck and giving up. Anything that truly challenges the player is anathema to modern design best practice. That’s why Amerzone is such a rare...
I’m not sure why Square Enix has decided to become so prolific with the SaGa property. Three games in a single 12-month timespan is the most ambitious release schedule we’ve ever seen for it. But I’m also not complaining. SaGa has always been something of the forgotten child of Square...
