Review by Matt S. People like to tease the sport of curling, and it’s such an abstract little game that the response to it is understandable. It’s like lawn bowls, on ice, where two of the athletes use brooms to “sweep” the ice for reasons that aren’t immediately apparent. Of…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. Rhythm Fighter suffers from excess. In trying to be so many mechanical and structural elments, and then backing it up with so much happening on screen at once, it loses any sense of balance that it might otherwise have had. While it’s a noble and even…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. There must be some kind of audience there for visual novel smut specialist, querate, on the Nintendo Switch. On the back of NinNinDays, TroubleDays and KukkoroDays, comes not one, but two Fantasy Tavern Sextet titles (with a third apparently on the way). I never did review…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. Having never owned a Neo Geo Pocket Color, I have really appreciated SNK’s efforts to emulate a range of the classics and bring them to the Nintendo Switch. Fatal Fury: First Contact is the fifth in the series, following SNK Gals’ Fighters, Samurai Shodown! 2, King…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. Rideon Japan, the developer behind the quality mobile riff on Final Fantasy Tactics, the Mercenaries series, has a second focus; it also creates mobile riffs on the Atelier-style “item-creation” JRPG. Marenian Tavern Story, which came to us on Nintendo Switch two years ago courtesy of Kemco,…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Heart of the Forest treats players like they’re idiots. Other than that little issue, though, it’s a visually attesting, interesting, engaging and well-structured visual novel. Related reading: Different developer, same World of Darkness. The Switch has a Vampire the Masquerade game that…
Read MoreReview by Matt S.Cyberpunk is not an aesthetic. Cyberpunk is not an aesthetic. Cyberpunk is not an aesthetic. I feel like I have been saying this non-stop for the last year because game developers seem to have watched Blade Runner, read some Gibson, and come out the other end with…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. Abyss of the Sacrifice is a terrible name… but the game isn’t so bad. It’s one of those escape room things – i.e. through most of it you’ll find your protagonist trapped in once scenario or another, and they’ll need to figure out a sequence of…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. Oh, this game is good. This game is really, really good. The previous Choices That Matter title, released on the Nintendo Switch last year, was an excellent example of how pure text adventures can still be both relevant and compelling. This one, And Their Souls Were…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. There are two things that are important to visual novels: One is the art. The other is the narrative. If either of those are broken, then the game itself is rendered pointless. Lily of the Hollow – Resurrection is broken thanks to a localisation that is…
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