We’re being spoiled for Musou right now! A month after Koei Tecmo released the exceptional Dynasty Warriors Origins, the company went and stealth-dropped Warriors: Abyss as part of a Sony State of Play show. This is an action roguelike heavily inspired by Vampire Survivors and similar “horde” games, and while it’s clearly a smaller-scale production than Origins, it’s a lot…
Almost a decade ago, Sony published The Last Of Us on PlayStation 3. The sheer hyperbole that the game got was, in retrospect, silly. Empire even went as far as to say that the very cinematic game was comparable to Citizen Kane. Of course, since then, Sony alone has published…
Read MoreOne of the challenges I have with Koei Tecmo’s Warriors franchise is determining the pecking order of the various games within the series. If you asked me to rank the Final Fantasy series, for example, there’s a clear upper echelon (Final Fantasy XII, Final Fantasy IV, Final Fantasy VIII), but…
Read MoreLollipop Chainsaw is one of the best games ever made. A collaboration between Goichi Suda, James Gunn (yes, the Suicide Squad and Guardians of the Galaxy director), and producer, Yoshimi Yasuda, the game is a subversive grindhouse brawler about a cheerleader taking on an army of zombies, and it is…
Read MoreWe all know wuxia, right? The beautifully elegant form of Chinese martial art cinema (and other forms) that have dance-like, gravity-defying choreographed fights? Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and all the rest of them? That’s what Code: To Jin Yong is looking to capture and… well I hate to nosedive into…
Read MorePreview: Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes has had me singing “Hilda, Hilda” until my throat is sore
There aren’t many combinations that are more specifically “me” than Fire Emblem and Koei Tecmo’s Warriors (Musou) formula. One is my favourite tactical JRPG series of all time. The other is my favourite action brawler formula. Both series’ love their fan service and beautiful people, and both have persisted on…
Read MoreTouken Ranbu is a game about pretty boys. Who are swords. And travel around time, Quantum Leap-style. I’ve got to be honest with you, if you had told me that at some point in my life I’d be playing an anime boys game whose closest direct comparison is an ‘80s…
Read MoreTrek To Yomi is the latest game from Devolver Digital, the developer behind the Shadow Warrior series, and the indie auteur behind The Eternal Castle. It is a darkly majestic game and one of the most distinctive artistic visions we’ve seen this year. In this video, I chat about why…
Read MoreLeonard Menchiari (RIOT: Civil Unrest, The Eternal Castle), is quickly becoming one of my favourite independent game auteurs. His work – regardless of who he is working with – has a kind of intensity and focus that is almost overwhelming and that makes it hard to tear your attention away…
Read MoreSamurai Bringer is Samurai Warriors: The Roguelike. If that doesn’t have you rushing to the eShop to buy it right now, then you’re probably not a regular reader of DigitallyDownloaded.net. This game is an excellent, clever, interesting and entertaining take on the roguelike, and while I’m getting increasingly burned out…
Read MoreRiver City Saga is one of the more enduring “Double Dragon”-like brawler properties, and while that genre has had its peaks and troughs, it is enjoying a renaissance right now. River City Saga is back for some more with a Three Kingdoms edition that looks amazing. Yes, we are talking…
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