I remain very impressed with any developer that takes a swing at a Soulslike. In fact, post-Elden Ring, I’m possibly even more impressed by the gonads it takes to try and develop one. This is a genre that is so overwhelmingly dominated by one company’s creative vision, and any other effort is going to be immediately compared to it. I…
It’s Pokémon Day 2025, an annual event where The Pokémon Company overloads fans with new information. Last year’s event announced Pokémon Legends: Z-A, proving Pokémon Legends: Arceus to be the first in a new sub-series in the infamous franchise. The Pokémon Company dropped far more information regarding the upcoming title…
Described as a bold reimagining of the iconic Rune Factory franchise, Rune…
If you’re interested in Rise of the Ronin but don’t have a…
Visions of Mana was this close to being on my list of most anticipated games of 2024, but because it’s been 15 years since a mainline series entry I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. We got a glimpse of the game when it was announced The Game Awards, but…
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Last September (2022), eastasiasoft posted a video showcase that was a Softstar special; in it, the publisher and developer announced four titles coming to consoles. Xuan Yuan Sword 7 (which has already been released for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One as Xuan-Yuan Sword VII) specifically was set to be…
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Xbox has been pushing action RPG (with social sim elements) Dungeons of Hinterberg pretty hard in the second half of 2023. First, it was featured in June’s Xbox Games Showcase. In October, the game’s social elements were shown off in an Xbox Partner Preview. Today, the developer streamed a video…
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I am downright chuffed to be writing that Square Enix has revealed a new entry in the Mana series! Visions of Mana is the first mainline instalment in over 15 years. It promises to return to the series’ action-RPG roots while taking players on an adventure with a soul guard…
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Astlibra Revision is a JRPG with an interesting concept: take a familiar story that gradually evolves into something unexpected, subverting traditional plot elements and characters. It first launched for PC in October 2022, and since then fans have been requesting a Nintendo Switch version – and it’s about to happen!…
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Unfortunately for Crymachina, NieR: Automata exists, and so as a concept “post-apocalyptic world where robots ask existential questions about what it’s like to be human,” is probably a theme that should be scratched from all other developers’ brainstorming sessions. Despite that very prudent advice, the team that took on Crymachina…
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Hellboy has almost always been a property that has deserved better than it has been given. Ron Perlman starred in a spectacular film, but outside of that the property has had all the potential going for it, but only ever middling execution. It’s almost as though the people who work…
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There are times when it genuinely feels like the artists who work in game development teams only know Zdzisaw Beksiski and H.R Giger. These two artists are magnificent, don’t get me wrong, but they are so often the inspiration behind a game’s aesthetics that it’s become a visual cliché. And…
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It wasn’t so long ago that THQ Nordic dipped deep into its back catalogue of vintage PC games to release Risen on the Nintendo Switch. That Western RPG “classic” remained a fun time for its Caribbean-fantasy-with-pirates theme, despite being almost unplayable in places. Now it’s Gothic’s turn, and you’ve got…
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Of the list of licenses that I have always thought would excel with Koei Tecmo’s Musou formula applied to it, Fate is right up there with Sailor Moon, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and Game of Thrones. It has everything that a great Musou needs – an excellent range…
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