For the first time the now-iconic Yakuza series is on a Nintendo platform. To an extent you could question just who this port of Yakuza Kiwami is for, as it is obviously a drop down in fidelity over what is available elsewhere. On the other hand, this has been an excuse to drop back into one of my favourite series…
Have you ever wondered what a version of 1980s America (Showa 66) would look like if overtaken by Japanese culture and influences? Okay, probably not. But it’s a great setting for a game! In Showa American Story, the Japanese economic bubble in the USA never popped; immigration surged and Japanese…
First and foremost, Dragon Age: The Veilguard isn’t a Dragon Age game.…
Xenoblade Chronicles X, first published for Wii U in 2015, is an…
Pascal’s wager, the philosophical concept, is an excellent thought exercise that considers that humans play a simple game, not unlike the Prisoner’s Dilemma, on whether we should believe God exists. It breaks down like this: If God does not exist, then whether you believe in him or not is irrelevant…
Read More
The launch date for Sword and Fairy: Together Forever is imminent; we’ll have our hands on the western console version within a month! The game is the seventh in a 26-year-old RPG franchise from China. Think Final Fantasy but with a blend of ancient mythology and traditional Chinese aethestics. Sword…
Read More
In this video (the second part of this month’s podcast, see below), Harvard, Trent and I talk about Stranger of Paradise – the new Final Fantasy game that we just can’t stop thinking about – and why it is so smart and represents such a good thing for the games…
Read More
Final Fantasy is important to Square Enix. I know that’s stating the obvious, but sometimes Square Enix is almost shockingly willing to experiment with it. If Final Fantasy VII Remake wasn’t enough to convince you that the company is willing to greenlight some risky, near transgressive projects, Stranger of Paradise…
Read More
It’s worth remembering that we very nearly lost Rune Factory. The developer of the series, Neverland, went bankrupt, and 2012’s Rune Factory 4 on the 3DS seemed to be the end of it. Thankfully Marvelous stepped in, hired many of the original team to keep them together, and formed an…
Read More