With the reduction of cinematic censorship and the erosion of societal taboos, the exploitation film rose to popularity in the late 1960s, trailing the rise of drive-ins and grindhouse theatres. And while the genre’s popularity ...
Read More »RIVE: Ultimate Edition review
Typically, a developer’s final project is an imprudent mess, if not an outright disaster. From Ion Storm’s Daikatana, Maxis’ SimCity 2013, Realtime Worlds’ APB, Flagship Studios’ Hellgate: London, to Free Radical’s Haze, there’s been a ...
Read More »Hyakki Castle review
The first-person dungeon crawl is an remarkably fertile genre, typically extending engrossing interpretations of Dungeons & Dragons-inspired, party-based prowls. But occasionally, skulking through homogeneous hallways and battling the same fantasy-themed enemies culled from Monster Manuals ...
Read More »Demon Gaze II review
When Demon Gaze was released in 2014, the PS Vita had a scant number of dungeon crawls. But in the ensuing years, labyrinth-based skulking proliferated on the portable, with titles like Stranger of Sword City, ...
Read More »Tokyo Tattoo Girls review
Tokyo Tattoo Girls is the type of game that probably wouldn’t have been localized a decade ago. The reason has nothing to do with the appearance of some slightly risqué images; the game’s exhibition of ...
Read More »Bubsy: The Woolies Strike Back review
The ‘90s had a number of platform-game based luminaries like Mario, Sonic, and Crash Bandicoot. Unsurprisingly, their popularity inspired a surplus of second-rate copycats, with characters like Alfred Chicken, Zool, and Plok seemingly abandoned by ...
Read More »Zwei: The Ilvard Insurrection review
Gamers didn’t always have it so good. For years, only a fraction of Japanese titles made the journey West, leaving first-rate efforts like Secret of Mana 2, Mother 3, and Valkyria Chronicles III accessible only ...
Read More »Summon Night 6: Lost Borders review
Like Criminal Girls, the Summon Night series has outlived the studio who originally created the franchise. The inaugural entry, its three subsequent follow-ups, and several spin-offs were all crafted by Gifu-based Flight-Plan, which departed from ...
Read More »The Mummy Demastered review
Not long ago, games based on film properties were routinely awful. Defunct publishers like THQ, LJN, Acclaim, and Ocean Software become known for their slapdash adaptations, each company attempting to make a quick buck by ...
Read More »Nights of Azure 2: Bride of the New Moon review
Having developed the acclaimed Atelier, Ar Tonelico, and Ciel Nosurge series, Nagano-based Gust seemed to find contentment in the creation of turn-based role-playing games. As such, the release of Nights of Azure (Yoru no Nai ...
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