Review by Matt S. It’s no secret I love Danganronpa. These visual novels are not just entertaining, darkly humourous whodunnint murder mysteries. They’re also intelligent and insightful games that look at a host of interesting philosophies and themes, from game theory to moral relativism. Wrap that up in some light…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. Mary Skelter is the oddest game that Compile Heart has produced. It’s the least sexualised game from the studio that has made it its M.O to get girls down to their underwear at every opportunity, and yet it’s also often the most erotic in tone. It’s…
Read MoreReview by Harvard L. Tokyo Xanadu is being released in the West at a somewhat unfortunate time. It trails Persona 5 and The Caligula Effect, when its 2015 Japanese release date puts it more in the ballpark of Conception 2 or Mind:Zero. It’s developed by Falcom, arguably the inventor of…
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 MoreWhoo! The podcast recording technology worked this week, the technical demons have been squashed, and we’re back after a week’s forced hiatus! Because the DDNet awards cycle runs from December to November, we’re actually six months in to the “year” this month, so we thought we’d look back at the…
Read MoreReview by Britta S. Period: Cube is a visual novel for people who don’t have quite enough time or patience for a mammoth title with all the trimmings. It certainly feels a little shorter in total, and individual story arc, length than other Otomate titles, such as Amnesia: Memories or…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. Operation Babel: New Tokyo Legacy faces the unfortunate reality that it has been released onto a console that has, over the years, absolutely nailed the dungeon crawler genre. Whether it’s Demon Gaze or Stranger of Sword City, the creative (and different) Ray Gigant, through to the…
Read MoreList by Matt S. The PlayStation Vita is an utterly essential console if you’re a fan of JRPGs. There’s just no other way to say it; the console might not have been a mainstream success, but to this day there is an endless stream of incredible JRPGs that are being…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. I have played – and loved – a lot of visual novels over the years. There are the VNs that mix with other genres, such as Danganronpa, 999, Eiyuu Senki and Tears to Tiara, and I love them all. Then there are the “true” VNs, where…
Read MoreReview by Harvard L. Sometimes the indie scene catches you by surprise. Whether by novel gameplay mechanic, unexpected plot twist or affecting graphical style, the best indie games manage to make the player stop and say “well, I’ve never seen that before”. In Polish indie duo Lichthund’s Lichtspeer, that moment…
Read More