Tech-Gaming Technology, Gaming, and Culture

Don’t let the lack of big-budget blockbusters from this week’s new releases dishearten you. There’s plenty of noteworthy indies arriving across the next seven days. Freedom Planet 2 continues to veer farther from Sonic’s breakneck ...

The joys of scuttling an entire enemy squadron with a single button press. Undoubtedly, Junichi Terayama has an affinity for classic shoot ‘em ups. Publishing as Terarin Games, he has single-handedly crafted a succession of ...

Goodbye Trauma-san, Good Morning to You! Much like the Phoenixx-published NeverAwake, Parry Nightmare’s action also takes places in a world of surrealistic dreams. When Honno, the game’s protagonist falls asleep, her nighttime hours are teeming ...

This week, junior detective Mackenzie and her faithful sidekick Funghi make their English-language debut in Touch Detective 3 + The Complete Case Files (pictured). Meanwhile, OTXO offers some overhead ultraviolence with some roguelike qualities. If ...

All the joys of a classic Game Boy Shooter, just without the eye strain. This month, Retsuzan’s “Game Buddy” franchise arrived on Steam. As the name implies, each entry in the seven-game series evokes the ...

Not quite legendary, but nine years on, FuRyu’s role-playing legacy endures. In 2020, FuRyu’s The Alliance Alive made a reappearance, bringing a graphically improved port to most contemporary platforms. Now, the Shibuya-based publisher is reaching ...

This week, Rise of the Ronin lets players loose in a Bakumatsu period recreation of Edo, Kyoto, and Yokohama, while Dragon’s Dogma 2 purportedly offers a game map that’s four times larger than its predecessor. ...

Fusing grid-based movement with card battling, Dungeon Drafters demonstrates a lot of ambition. Although the Switch port improves upon the original PC release, the nonsensical writing and balancing issues haven’t been remedied. 2005’s Metal Gear Acid was one of ...

Retro fans, you’re going to like this wild child. With its succession of elemental-themed abilities gained every time you defeat a boss, Berserk Boy is likely to be compared with the Mega Man franchise. But ...

Vanillaware retains its long-running reign, with the studio delivering another enchanting experience. Osaka-based Vanillaware confidently pushes genres in innovative directions. 2007’s GrimGrimoire adapted the mechanics of real-time strategy games – placing them on side-scrolling, two-dimensional ...