Kai Tatsumoto

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Latest Reviews

Killing Floor 2
6/10

Not every game, but some games, like Tripwire Interactive's Killing Floor 3, deliver exactly what you'd expect by looking at the cover. You shoot Zeds (read: zombies), and when you're done shooting Zeds in one level, there are more Zeds for you to shoot on another. In between the shooting, you'll level up your weapons, refill on ammo and gear, and then go back to shooting Zeds. Oh, and there are also a few narrative-driven tasks to complete, but the main course is shooting Zeds.

Where we’re going, we don’t need roads. Oh, how I wish that notable quotable from Doc Emmett Brown held true in Death Stranding 2: On the Beach. Truth be told, in my sixty-some hours of playing, I perhaps spent most of those hours lugging massive quantities of metal and ceramics halfway across Australia, just to build out another mile-long section of tarmac to make my trip on Pickup Off-Roader. Sure, it’s a vehicle that should be used off roads, given the name, but the reward for fabricating a new stretch of highway is a smooth cruise past any pesky BTs or MULEs.

Think of one of your favorite games of all time. Chances are, there’s some passionate team of developers out there trying to make their own experience molded after that same shared love for the game. Trouble is, unless you’re a development studio with the same staffing level as Bethesda or Rockstar, you probably won’t be making the next Elder Scrolls or Grand Theft Auto. Polish studio Questline has tried the impossible with their take on spinning an Arthurian tale with the first-person finesse of Bethesda’s signature RPG series. Does Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon deserve a seat at The Round Table, or is this one folktale best left in history?

Despite the deluge of other shopkeep simulators and crafting games, the Atelier series has something like a comforting warm blanket. It’s a long-running RPG series that tends to focus more on the day-to-day life of being an alchemist and creating goods for the common folk. While the series has shied away from the mundane as the series has gone on, the spirit of creativity and crafting remains at its core. After a three-game run with Ryza Stout, Gust has finally introduced the latest entry in the series with Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land.

If there’s one thing series veterans of the Like a Dragon and Yakuza series have been begging for, it’s more Majima. This Chaotic Good ex-Tojo Lieutenant has been constantly at Kiryu’s heels and only really got his time in the limelight as the deuteragonist in Yakuza 0 and one of the four playable heroes in Yakuza: Dead Souls. For more than twenty years, the Mad Dog of Shimano has yet to take center stage in his own game and all of that is about to change in Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii.

Dynasty Warriors Origins provides a compact narrative from the Yellow Turban Rebellion up through the Battle of Chibi and the formation of the Three Kingdoms. While the amnesiac protagonist is about as interesting as a brick, his prowess to change the tide of battle is a true force to be reckoned with.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
8.8/10

Another year, another Call of Duty, and that’s still not a bad thing. Activision has been generous enough to provide a sort of shared experience between games, permitting select DLC and weapons to carry over between titles, typically into the Warzone mode. As the first Black Ops title in four years, Activision and Treyarch have gone to show whether that wait has been worth it in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.

Few Japanese role-playing games have been as influential to the genre as a whole as the first four Dragon Quest titles originally released for the Famicom/NES. While it may seem strange to start a new trilogy with the third entry, Square-Enix has a very good reason for beginning the Erdrick Trilogy with what used to bear the Seeds of Salvation moniker. Whether this is your first time playing Dragon Quest III or your thirtieth, there’s enough here to make it feel like a fresh experience.

Slitterhead

Slitterhead

November 3, 2024
6.3/10

Once a pioneer of unique Sony IP from Forbidden Siren to Gravity Rush, Keiichiro Toyama is a bit of a notable figurehead when it comes to unique gaming experiences. The established genres he has dabbled in are given new life as he finds creative ways to subvert the player's expectations and turn a genre into something completely new. As one of Bokeh Game Studio's first titles, Slitterhead aims to bring the hidden-in-plain-sight horrors of the Forbidden Siren series while empowering players to take up arms and defend themselves while solving an elaborate mystery of aliens and those who aim to use humans as an unwilling food source.

Metaphor: ReFantazio
9/10

For most casual players of recent years, invoking the name Atlus has typically been synonymous with the Persona series. One of Director Katsura Hashino’s breakout series, this offshoot of the Shin Megami Tensei franchise has grown to be one of the most stylish and compelling Japanese RPGs of recent years. Has the team at Atlus finally broken out of their mold, or is Metaphor: ReFantazio just the same game with a new mask?