Sony

Across the last two decades, the Japanese role-playing genre has undergone a number of significant shifts. Many of these changes of obvious- the capability of contemporary hardware now offers the ability to render richly detailed ...

Not long ago, localization of the lascivious Senran Kagura franchise would be nearly inconceivable. But gradually, stateside sensibilities have changed, spurring a trickle of Japan’s more salacious titles. Beyond the moe-istic merriment in games such ...

While the desire for innovation is a virtuous ambition, some developers would rather pursue perfection- offering a succession of sequels aimed at the realization of a specific genre. Such is the path plotted by Phoenix-based ...

While Metal Gear Solid 4 once asserted that “war has changed”, Fallout 3 proclaimed that “war never changes”. The Call of Duty franchise has contently existed somewhere in the middle of those two contradictory tenets. ...

What is the concept? Before online matches became the traditional method of conducting multiplayer competitions, franchises like Bomberman, NBA Jam, and Super Smash Bros. and Power Stone permitted a roomful of players to host heated ...

Toyko-based Omega Force has always been a remarkably industrious studio, persistently juggling a multiplicity of musuo-minded franchises. In the last eight months alone, Hyrule Warriors, One Piece: Unlimited World Red, Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate, Dynasty ...

Traditionally, the launch of a new generation of console has been marked with a succinct transitional period, with companies swiftly shifting their efforts from legacy hardware to shiny, new hardware. But the launch of the ...

The potential to become blindsided by Tears to Tiara II: Heir of the Overlord is remarkably high. Outside of otaku circles, the title isn’t likely to trigger recognition, with six characters in Aquapazza: Aquaplus Dream ...

Last August, Acquire’s Akiba’s Trip: Undead & Undressed took players to an imaginative interpretation of Toyko’s Akihabara district, where they were tasked with ripping the clothes off of vampiric foes. Although titillation was undoubtedly a ...

Many franchises feel the pangs of stagnancy by their fourth iteration. After a trio of titles that define, then gradually refine a series, the fourth game often exhibits a divisive tension between prudent evolution and ...