Video by Matt S. I love Hatsune Miku. After discovering her courtesy of her PlayStation Vita games, I have since gone all out – I’ve gone to her concerts in Japan. I have shelves after shelves filled with Miku figures. Dozens of CDs, books, tapestries, the works. And now there’s…
Read MoreVideo by Matt S. Every time Resonance of Fate has had a release, it has been against a giant; first it was released at the same time as Final Fantasy XIII. Now, with this new HD remaster, it has released at the same time as the mighty Red Dead Redemption…
Read MoreBy Matt C. I’ve spent literal hours agonising how to approach this review, because Chuusotsu! 1st Graduation: Time After Time is a game that defies description. On one level, it’s a surreal comedy reminiscent of light novels and anime like FLCL, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, and Eromanga Sensei (indeed,…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. The idea – and philosophy – behind ‘reality’ is a subject that Japanese developers are clearly finding very interesting at the moment. Persona 5, Akiba’s Beat, and Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth from last year, all made the blurring between whatever objective reality there might be, and…
Read MoreReview by Matt C. You’d probably think me crazy if I told you that you are, in the most literal sense possible, the chair you’re sitting on and the house in which you reside. If I told you that you are Donald Trump, you’d probably punch me (and be justified…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. It’s been a good couple of weeks for super-smart visual novels. On the one hand, you’ve got Danganronpa 1+2 Reload. It’s bright, it’s colourful. It has sexy anime girls and awesome anime guys, and even a cute mascot character. Sure that mascot is also a psychopathic…
Read MoreGame Theory by Matt S. NieR: Automata is a very dense game, and it covers off a great many themes, ranging from gender and identity politics, to the impact of religion, the meaning of existence, and the structure of video games themselves. One of its absolute key themes, however, and…
Read MoreList by Matt S. The Final Fantasy series has regularly offered some of the deepest thematic explorations of any videogames out there. Everything from morality to mortality, fate to culture has been dissected and discussed through the games, and yet, come release date, so often we only end up with…
Read MoreReview by Clark A. Famed writer of anime and visual novels, Gen Urobuchi, has a penchant for dark, perverse themes. Those familiar with the man’s portfolio may label that a gross understatement as his works range from deconstructions of the innocent magical girl subgenre to relentlessly grotesque Lovecraftian horror. Though…
Read MoreOpinion by Matt S. Game Theory is a regular column in which I take the opportunity to take a truly great game, and discuss some of its more philosophical underpinnings which are, to my mind, what truly separates these games from their peers.Please note that the Game Theory columns do…
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