Latest Reviews
As an existing fan of Disgaea, this new one is, despite the incredible focus on big numbers, more of the same, and that is fine by me. The extended level cap is hugely indulgent and entirely unnecessary to the tactics JRPG format, but at the same time it’s part of...
Scarlet Nexus is one of the most interesting new JRPGs that we’ve seen in a while from a big publisher. Combining a beautifully elegant, but also visceral combat system with a rich and evocative theme, and hugely entertaining characters, this game is available on the previous generation, I know, but...
I could certainly see plenty of others finding it less compelling, however, because beyond the visuals, so very little has changed in 35 years. Yikes. 35 years. Presumably, Prince Alex is now King Alex of Radaxian by now. I’d better get back to my throne.
The action is gorgeous, too. Once you’ve seen a Guilty Gear battle opener, where you get a beautifully cinematic short cut-scene of the character striking a pose as the camera swirls around in dramatic 3D pace, then you’ll wish every fighting game did better in setting the scene or each...
My concerns with DC Super Hero Girls: Teen Power sit with it as a property. I know this is a wildly controversial thing to say, but I don’t really believe that Marvel and DC are appropriate for children. If the hundreds of implied and explicit deaths per movie or show...
The thing that often stops people short with game development is that the programming side of things can be intimidating. To this day the logic and process of software development throws me into a spin every time I look at it… and I do create games. They might be visual...
With two artifacts that belong in the video game hall of fame, and one curiosity that highlights Itagaki’s genius by showing what happened when he wasn’t involved in Ninja Gaiden, this collection stands the test of time. So many modern action video games are either self-serious or desperately eager to...
For all of that, I found Rift Apart frustrating, and it’s mostly because I wanted to take more away from it. Why go to all the effort and put all those development resources into making such bold, beautiful settings if it’s only ever going to be window-dressing to the action?...
Neptunia ReVerse is clearly a “first-run effort” by Idea Factory to take the tools of the PlayStation 5 and see what they can do with them. It’s perhaps a less ambitious effort than what Idea Factory made as its launch on PlayStation 4 (Omega Quintet), but putting that aside, this...
With all of that said I do still have a strong attraction to Aluna. I love the character herself, who natters away pleasantly as you wander around the various settings. It’s clear that everyone involved in this project absolutely loved this character, and have been careful to eke as much...
I was concerned that D3 Publisher and the development teams behind EDF were losing sight of the purity of vision behind what they were doing. Iron Rain painted a bleak vision of the future of the series. Thankfully, the developers themselves seem to have realised what a misstep Iron Rain...
I haven’t been so deeply affected by a game as I have Sumire in a very, very long time. This is an artful experience with a valuable core message; don’t take anything for granted. Sumire has a literal day to achieve what she needs to. Metaphorically we all only have...
