Steadily, Nihon Falcom’s body of work has been transported stateside, cultivating a legion of fans with expertly crafted franchises like Ys and Legend of Heroes. In turn, critical and commercial success has prompted publishers to ...
Read More »Switch Owners, Prepare to Be Insulted
The old adage of tongue being mightier than swords is rarely true for video games. With interactive entertainment, blades, bullets, and bare hands routinely get the emphasis, while words are habitually reserved for expositional purposes. ...
Read More »Gunhouse review
Occasionally, game designer can mimic bartenders, blending a few fundamental ingredients, and creating something quite exhilarating and exotic in the process. That’s certainly the case with Gunhouse, a quirky title that began as a PS ...
Read More »The Escapists 2 review
The methodical, multistep jailbreak might seem like an unlikely subject for a video game. After all, electronic amusements habitually indulge audiences with doses of carefree escapism rather than depict the myriad of meticulous steps leading ...
Read More »INVERSUS Deluxe review
With its indie pedigree and minimalist visuals, it would be easy to overlook Inversus Deluxe. Watch a gameplay video and you’ll find that the title makes a standoffish first impression. It can be difficult to ...
Read More »Tiny Metal review
Game formulas can occasionally be challenging to duplicate. For instance, take Intelligent Systems’ Advance Wars, a critically and commercially successful series that spurred four iterations in the first decade of the new millennium. But following ...
Read More »DragonFangZ – The Rose & Dungeon of Time review
Screenshots of DragonFangZ – The Rose & Dungeon of Time are destined to evoke comparison with Spike Chunsoft’s Mystery Dungeon property. The latter has become a blueprint for handheld and console Rogue-likes, with popular properties ...
Read More »Preview: Legrand Legacy – Tale of the Fatebounds
Spend a brief amount talking with different indie studios and you’ll undoubtedly hear a common rumination: development with a small team isn’t easy. With limited money and a restrained pool of talent, crafting even a ...
Read More »Hammerwatch (Switch) review
1985’s Gauntlet is often remembered for its in-game narration, where a Texas Instruments speech synthesizer would state the condition of each player. Notoriously, the announcer would also divulge which character inadvertently shot the health-replenishing food, ...
Read More »Omega Quintet (PC) review
Typically, armageddon is handled by muscular soldiers packing obscene amounts of firepower. But when developer Compile Heart envisions doomsday, it’s energetic J-pop idols who are responsible for saving our hides. Previously, the Ikebukuro-based studio imagined ...
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