Sony

Several generations ago, nearly every gaming platform had multiple two-dimensional, character-driven platformers. Showcasing vibrant, eye-catching colors, and as many sprites as yesteryear’s CPUs could handle, they became a dominant genre. But when polygons became the ...

When a major publisher is squatting on a beloved property, occasionally it’s indie developers who come to the rescue. From A Hat in Time and Yooka-Laylee’s reinvigoration of the three-dimensional, character-driven platformer to Petroglyph Games’ ...

Sporadically, Hyperdimension Neptunia co-developers Compile Heart and Idea Factory endorse the use of character by other development studios. The results of these spin-offs often approach the quality of the main franchise. With titles such as ...

Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio’s Yakuza series is undoubtedly one of gaming’s most unique franchises, with a duality nearly unrivaled in any medium. Across seven main iterations, an expansive cast of colorful characters have chaperoned players ...

2015’s Citizens of Earth was a decidedly mixed experience. Although developer Eden Industries’ procession of pop-culture references, Earthbound-inspired quirk, and ever-growing entourage of recruitable everyday types was occasionally clever, it also suffered from serious executional ...

The term ‘Galápagos Syndrome’ was coined to describe an intriguing situation that emerged with Japanese mobile phones. These wondrously evolved devices were undoubtedly some of the best phones on the market. But they weren’t compatible ...

Media sequels can fall victim to their own version of middle-child syndrome. Whereas inaugural efforts revel in world-building as well as character backstory, and concluding episodes are elevated by contributing a sense of closure, middle ...

Inevitably, there will probably be a few prudish critics who will dismiss Kotodama: The 7 Mysteries of Fujisawa as little more than lecherous fan-service. Regularly, the game offers up a match-three puzzler where combos remove ...

The industry’s dominant puzzle franchises have been around for a while. Tetris is thirty-five years old, while Taito’s Puzzle Bobble (aka Bust-A-Move in North America) has been around for twenty-five years. Even Puyo Puyo is ...

Button mashing is term to describe the act of hitting controller buttons in a wild act of desperation. It’s often used to describe a rookie trying to fortuitously trigger a combo or special move. Occasionally, ...