Matt S. is the Editor-in-Chief and Publisher of DDNet. He's been writing about games for over 20 years, including a book, but is perhaps best-known for being the high priest of the Church of Hatsune Miku.
If I were to create a laundry list of what I look for in a JRPG, the simple reality is that the Ys series doesn’t tend to check many of those boxes. They’re not known for in-depth narratives, iconic characters (aside from the series protagonist, Adol, who has a very “blank template” look to him), or particularly thoughtful, nuanced combat.…
To get this out of the way up-front: We need to be wary about art (games, films, books, whatever else) that depict apocalyptic scenarios where some form of invader from without swarms the world and you’re in control of the last nation standing, holding back the horde. It’s an incredibly…
Hello everyone, and Happy Holidays! What a year it has been, too.…
It’s that time of year again! We’re counting down the days to…
Some free advice for headset manufacturers: If it’s going to cost an extra $20 to add Bluetooth to a device (I’m just guessing at a price there… for all I know it’s cheaper), and it’ll cost an extra $10 to have a 3.5mm headphone jack… then add those costs. It…
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Late last week, Sony PlayStation head, Jim Ryan, announced his resignation. Good. Ryan joined the company in 1994, just before the launch of the PlayStation. That’s a 30-year tenure, and there’s no doubt that he was instrumental in the company becoming the entertainment behemoth that it is today. During that…
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DigitallyDownloaded.net has signed on to be a major sponsor of one of Australia’s most important dancesport championships. And because of that, we have something amazing to give to our incredible readers! Related reading: Where are the Dancesport video games? Because I have always wanted to use this platform to champion…
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Type-Moon’s Fate series was right up there with the franchises I wanted to see Koei Tecmo apply its Musou formula to. In fact, I raised it with the developer several times when I’ve had interview opportunities, so I’m claiming the existence of Fate/Samurai Remnand as my victory (which also bodes…
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It must be tough being an indie developer and trying to make something of a trip to Japan. Not only are you pushed into an entirely different building than the one where Square Enix, SEGA and so on set up (though it is the same building where the merchandise is,…
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This was the first TGS that I’ve attended since 2019 – thanks a lot for that, COVID-19. On the one hand, it actually meant that this year was quiet for me. Where in the years leading up to COVID my schedule had become wall-to-wall with meetings and interviews, I’m now…
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It’s hard to shake the feeling that with Super Bomberman R 2, Konami has finally got its groove back with its iconic mascot. This series is going to have a major audience again. And I’m not just saying that because just today I bought a pile of merchandise from a…
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This Japan trip has been a whirlwind that I just wasn’t expecting. I guess that makes sense when I haven’t been back in so many years. Nonetheless, I do have plenty of material for quite a few articles. I just need to find the time to write them. I do…
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I’m not going to lie. My nose will grow. Lies Of P infuriates me to play. Of all the ways to approach the Soulslike “hard game”, this is the least suited to my preferences. I understand that there will be an audience for it, but that’s not me, it won’t…
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Nakano Broadway is not a place you want to go if you have residual concerns about large numbers of people in enclosed spaces. As amusing as it is that there are signs up all over the place recommending “social distancing,” and while the Japanese tend to be better sports about…
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