Neva’s biggest problem is that it’s an incredibly unsubtle work of art. In fact, it is downright emotionally manipulative. On the other hand, its strength is that somehow that doesn’t matter and you can’t help but be thoroughly lost within it anyway. Related reading: Our interview with the artist and…
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Mario Party is a tentpole series that goes through its ups and downs, and those tend to coincide with how much the developers mess with the basic format of giving people a board to move around and then minigames to compete over. For some reason, there are times when they…
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RPG Maker doesn’t need any introduction at this point. It’s been around since 1992! People have been making their own little video games in their favourite genre for more than 30 years! Over time the tools have become easier to use, and it’s become easier to share and play each…
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Of all the games produced for the Simple 2000 series of budget Japanese PS2 titles, none has had quite the same resonance or longevity as D3’s Earth Defense Force series. I’m unashamedly a fan of most of the EDF games – as long as we can all agree that Insect…
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Remaking Silent Hill 2 is not like remaking a Resident Evil game. Resident Evil titles are big, fun, stupid rollercoasters of jump scares, ugly monsters, and a delight in the B-grade joy of zombie films. Silent Hill 2 meanwhile is thoughtful, introspective, and downright literary. The game is famous for…
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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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Reynatis’ single biggest flaw is that it tries too many things, and while each of its themes would in itself be worth exploring, piled into a heap together they create a narrative that often seems confused about what it is. Take for example the theme of fascism and resistance that…
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There are very few things that trigger my sense of nostalgia quite as powerfully as Worms: Armageddon. When this was released on the Nintendo 64 back in 1999, it instantly became one of THE rotation of multiplayer hits that dominated Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights at home with family and…
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The Western release of The Hokkaido Serial Murder Case: The Okhotsk Disappearance will probably be ignored by the majority of the occidental gaming world, and with no marketing at all aside from word-of-mouth advertising from video game diehards, I feel that’s a real shame. So I’ve come out of my…
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They really should have called this “The Legend of Link”, to keep up with the series syntax. That aside, Nintendo’s first significant effort to make their good princess (sorry, I never cared for Peach) a protagonist is an absolutely delightful experience, and shows that while Nintendo enjoyed massive success with…
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