I want to get this out of the way upfront – it is genuinely silly that Farming Simulator has become an annualised franchise. It makes sense to have annual sports games because teams change from one year to the next, and having an authentic roster matters when you’re playing while…
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Metaphor: ReFantazio might not take place in a school in modern Japan. You might not be playing as a group of school kids somehow saving the day while the adults seem oblivious to it all. It may technically be the first new game from a new studio. But, to be…
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Tennis is a difficult sport to bring into video game form. It’s not because the sport itself is mechanically challenging. Compared to the likes of football it is limited both in terms of the number of players competing and the expansive flow of the game. And compared to something like…
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I haven’t decided what to call Not-E3 yet. It needs a catchy name and Summer Game Fest ain’t it. Regardless of whether or not I’m prepared, though, that annual crazy week of game showcases at the beginning of June seems to be starting early this year with today’s PlayStation State…
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Spike Chunsoft knows its way to my heart. Put pretty anime girls in swimwear and, well, I can’t help but buy the thing now, can I? It’s actually a requirement that I do so. So that’s what the Spike Chunsoft team is doing to me in collaboration with MAGES with…
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Sand Land became an unfortunate curiosity on account of Akira Toriyama being attached to it, and it being one of the first releases featuring his work following his recent passing. As far as Toriyama’s work is concerned, Sand Land delivers all the whimsical energy that you expect from his distinctive…
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I do not understand Sker Ritual. At all. It seems that at every opportunity the developers took what was great about Maid of Sker and do the exact opposite to it, and so now, across just two games in the “Sker” property, we’ve got a confused mess across the “franchise”…
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1992’s Alone in the Dark is one of those genuine masterpieces of our little medium. Four full years before Capcom, deeply inspired by Frédérick Raynal’s work, hit it big with Resident Evil, Alone in the Dark brought us a non-linear haunted mansion to explore, filled with monsters and puzzles. As…
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I’ve had the opportunity to get some hands-on time with Koei Tecmo’s upcoming historical epic, Rise of the Ronin. Supposedly this has been in development from as far back as the original Nioh, and I was a little shocked when I went in expecting something like Nioh, Wo Long, or…
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There is a moment in the original Final Fantasy VII where, after hours of scrapping around an ugly, horrible city, the party breaks out into the wider world, and it’s one of the defining moments of the game. Suddenly, an adventure that seemed narrow in scope became huge and expansive:…
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