Review by Matt S. Where video games are complex structures of data, rule sets and mechanics, a good board game should strive to be the opposite; simple elegance. You look at the greatest board games of all time – the likes of Chess and Go, and the thing that stands…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. I have wanted a genuinely deep game development business simulator since Kairosoft’s brilliant Game Dev Story. That breakout hit was, as with all Kairosoft titles, a hyper-casual little time waster where it was impossible to fail, but the sheer charm, brilliant visuals, and catchy loops also…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. The SaGa series has always been like Square Enix’s forgotten child. Between Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Mana and even the likes of Star Ocean, there hasn’t been the room for the more esoteric imagery and storytelling of SaGa to gain much traction, even though there are…
Read MoreReview by Harvard L. Playful Studios is a Microsoft-associated development team that in 2017 created Super Lucky’s Tale, a game which the Xbox One lineup sorely needed. It was a game which brought some refreshing diversity to an otherwise single-minded E3 presentation about guns and cars. Here was a colourful…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. Modern Disney is the dominant source of American entertainment, but its various pivots and acquisitions on the path to being the king of film and television content has left it a very pale shadow of the creative outfit it once was, when it was synonymous with…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. My experience with Layton’s Mystery Journey was soured very early on, thanks to a “puzzle” that demonstrated that finally, after over a decade of offering a delectable blend of point-and-click adventure and puzzle book-style gameplay, the series was running out of steam. It picks up from…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. I do love my rhythm games. I also love my digital people – Hatsune Miku and IA and all the rest. Bringing together one of the best rhythm games in recent history (Groove Coaster) with my favourite digital people should have been a knock out of…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. Cherrymochi is a Japanese development company with a unique distinction – most of the team are westerners, drawn from the UK, Europe and America, but all of them have extensive experience living and working in Japan. It’s rare that a game can be truly Japanese –…
Read MoreReview by Harvard L. The premise of Incredible Mandy is simple enough – it’s a 3D puzzle platformer with particular emphasis on the puzzle side of things. It comes published by Circle Entertainment and developed by developed by Chinese studio Dotoyou Games, which also made the very charming Koi. Incredible…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. I know I took a playful swipe at The Lord of the Rings as a property in my first Dee Dee visual novel, but I actually really like Tolkien’s vision, and the Peter Jackson cinematic adaptation of it. What has been patchy has been the video…
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