List by Matt S. It has been a really good week for visual novels, with both Chaos;Child and Bad Apple Wars launching in the one week. Indeed, it’s been a really good couple of years for the genre, as localisation outfits have come to realise that there is a market…
Read MoreReview by Matt C. Rinka’s first day of high school started like any other, with a combination of excitement and apprehension. On her way to there, though, something happened and she blacked out. When she woke up, she found herself being welcomed to school by a strange, rabbit mask-wearing teacher…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. Chaos;Child is loosely related to one of the (if not the) greatest visual novels ever made, Steins;Gate. Developed by MAGES and 5pb, Chaos;Child also belongs to the Science Adventure Series from the development duo – a series of science fiction games that seek to greatly normalise…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. Back when I was at university, I had a professor that was somehow every university academic cliche you could imagine; he was softly spoken, as far from a fashionable dresser as you could imagine (tweed jacket and all), and had hair that didn’t look like it…
Read MoreInterview by Matt S. There’s a gulf in difference between some of Goichi Suda’s catalogue, such as Let It Die and Lollipop Chainsaw, and his first project upon forming Grasshopper Manufacture: The Silver Case. That game is a nightmarish, noirish, complex visual novel, largely free of the absurdity that is…
Read MoreReview by Clark A. Last year, fans of bullet hell shooters were treated to Touhou Genso Rondo: Bullet Ballet. Fusing bullet hell madness with the psychology of fighting games, it proved the genre is more adaptable than casual observers give it credit for. It’s easy to forget, though, that this…
Read MoreReview 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 Ginny W. Hakuoki: Kyoto Winds occupies a unique space between a game and a neat education in the history of feudal Japan, and it deserves praise for meticulously carving out this space despite traditional notions of what otome games are meant to be like. Visual novels are often…
Read MoreReview by Matt C. From Romeo and Juliet to West Side Story to Pocahontas, forbidden love amid warring factions is one of those timeless stories. Maybe it’s because the ideas they explore – of love being, somehow, both a transcendental force and an effort in futility – are evergreen, maybe…
Read MoreReview by Harvard L. When you think of 18th Century Scotland, the mind naturally conjures up images of blue faced warriors clamouring for freedom charging across rugged highlands. Inverness Nights, developed by New Zealand indie outfit Kitsubasa, aims for a more subdued view of the era. It’s a gripping visual…
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