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Robert’s Take: Over the last few years, development teams have embraced the potpourri method of game design, combining an assortment of familiar genres together in an effort to create a distinctive new experience. But much ...

While progressive representations of female characters remains a stumbling block for the game industry, few emphasize the handful of exemplary efforts. In the genre of the Japanese role-playing game, Gust’s Atelier franchise has long been ...

The idea of fusing Angry Bird’s mechanics with a light role-playing structure might seem a bit underwhelming. After all, dozens of developers have tried to augment Rovio Entertainment’s gameplay with limited success. Knowing that, it’s ...

Not long ago, the shooter was one of the most visceral and engaging genres around, consistently delivering frantic firefights that outmatched the best summer blockbusters. But over time, those once-invigorating action sequences began to lose ...

Not long ago, it was nearly impossible for Westerners to play a localized visual novel. As former Nippon Ichi Software president (and now CEO of Idea Factory International) Haru Akenaga once explained, SCEA wasn’t interested ...

The on-rail shooter genre is a particularly contentious genre. While some take pleasure in the adrenaline rush derived by using potent weaponry to plow through processions of angry foes, others have little patience for linear ...

Although Nippon Ichi’s internally developed titles span a wide swath of genres, they habitually abide by one near-universal principal. While seemingly simple on the surface, each game conceals an enormous amount of intricacy. The latest ...

While online gaming forums might be fueled by contention, there’s one premise that almost all players maintain: our games have become dramatically easier over the years. Whereas failure could once be measured by the rapid ...

Not long ago, the shooter genre teemed with technological innovation. Although Halo 2 didn’t invent the concept of regenerating health (credit can be given to the 1984 JRPG Hydlide or inaugural deathmatch title MIDI Maze/Faceball ...

Undoubtedly, 2012’s Mugen Souls had its share of problems, burdened by longwinded dialog sequences, an abysmal framerate, and a battle system laden with convoluted mechanics which rarely enhanced the role-playing experience. But look past these ...