Next up from the DDNet team in looking back at the year that was, and looking forward to games in 2023 is Harvard! Vampire Survivors This is a 2022 release that went massively viral, but I didn’t get the chance to try it until its Switch port in 2023. In the space of two hours, I went from “I wonder…
When you read the title for this feature, which song do you think about? What memories are evoked by that song? How would you feel if you were asked to listen to it again? And, to hazard a guess, was that song from the late 90s or the early 00s?…
Bad endings are an interesting example of convergent evolution in the history…
Once on the DDNet podcast, we got to talking about “canon” games…
Next up from the DDNet team in looking back at the year that was, and looking forward to games in 2023 is Harvard! Vampire Survivors This is a 2022 release that went massively viral, but I didn’t get the chance to try it until its Switch port in 2023. In…
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When you read the title for this feature, which song do you think about? What memories are evoked by that song? How would you feel if you were asked to listen to it again? And, to hazard a guess, was that song from the late 90s or the early 00s?…
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Bad endings are an interesting example of convergent evolution in the history of the game narrative. It appears across various genres as an early example of player choice. In games such as Double Dragon or Dragon Quest for the NES, the player is provided with the end-game choice to join…
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Once on the DDNet podcast, we got to talking about “canon” games – ones that many people would consider to have historical or aesthetic significance. These are games that are worth going back to, even after technological increments have iterated and refined their design. For the JRPG genre, we immediately…
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We’re at that point in the development of our medium where there’s a game for every imaginable task and occupation; or at least, that’s what you’d think on a cursory google of any job followed by the word “simulator”. And yet, it’s rare to find many games which seek to…
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I once found it quite hard to get into racing. I have friends who are big fans, and who can talk endlessly about the microscopic detail that goes into every car, but as an outsider, I admit it’s easy to miss the complexity for the simple – cars go fast.…
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The people at Bandai Namco have a good problem with their Taiko no Tatsujin series of rhythm games. They’ve created something that is mechanically perfect. Their cute drum mascot is immediately recognisable and endlessly versatile, and whilst other rhythm games require abstraction and concentration, Taiko is easily understandable and a…
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We rarely see indie developers tackle the rhythm genre, and for understandable reasons. It’s not a genre with mass market appeal, but it’s also one filled with established franchises backed by more budget and polish than an indie studio could muster. And with simple mechanics that aren’t easily innovated upon,…
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13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim did to me what all good science fiction does – it made me, just for a little bit, question my perception of reality. Vanillaware’s latest title deviates from its gorgeous 2D fantasy brawlers to deliver a visual-novel-RTS hybrid that’s heavily focused on character interaction. The strategy…
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I’m going to be honest, Essays on Empathy is precisely the kind of game that I would purchase, and then inevitably let languish in my Steam library because I’m never “in the mood”. Such has been my tendency of late when it comes to art games; there are dozens that…
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