Review by Matt S. I know that space is a cold place and all, but that doesn’t mean that games set in space should leave me feeling cold. Unfortunately, Spacebase Startopia, which does try to be a satirical simulator in the vein of Two Point Hospital et al, has left…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. Among all entertainment art forms, video games rely heavily on violence and bloodletting. I realise that as a game critic I spend more time with these things than most people (and what is healthy for a “hobby”), but it really does become exhausting when the default…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. The first thing that you’ll see when turning on A-Train: All! Aboard! Tourism is a super cute anime girl batting her eyes at you as she welcomes you to the tutorial. It’s a bright, fun start to what looks like a charming, colourful little city builder…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. Harvest Moon: One World is going to be trounced by Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town when the latter releases at the end of the month. It’s a pity it will be, because while it’s not of the same standard One World is, in its own…
Read MoreVideo by Matt S. What joy, for those of us who enjoy cute farming games; a new Harvest Moon AND and a new Story of Seasons released in the same month. The question is, which of the two should you go with first? In this video, I talk about the…
Read MoreNews by Matt S. Ahhh, the ’50s. The boomers were just being born, and at that age, they were cuter than the odious wealth hoarders they would become. Ronald Reagan wouldn’t drive feral libertarianism as the world economic standard for another 30 years. In fact, back then, the world was…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. The question of “what happens after the world has been saved from the end boss” is one that a few RPGs have explored over the years. It’s a difficult topic to tackle as a video game, though, because it naturally assumes that the world has returned…
Read MoreVideo by Matt S. Story of Seasons (previously Harvest Moon) has been going on for many iterations and generations now, and maintains a healthy community of fans. Why? Because they speak to a very core part of the Japanese spirit. In this video I give you an early first look…
Read MorePreview by Matt S. Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin is a 2D platformer… but it’s also so much more than that. It’s a surprisingly complex rice-growing simulator, and that side of it is something of deep cultural value and meaning to the Japanese. With the preview embargo for the game…
Read MoreReview by Harvard L. Chinese Parents looked like a harmless enough life sim. What harm could it do, with its colourful, cutesy art-style and the premise of tracing a young Chinese child from birth to their eventual undertaking of the Gaokao (the university entrance exam)? As I now know, it…
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