In the home video market, the Director’s Cut is commonplace, with the film’s creator able to get a second chance at realizing their artistic ambitions. It’s typically an artistically-driven endeavor, removed from the imperative deadlines ...
Read More »The Witch and the Hundred Knight Revival Edition review
Metallia is back. If this statement elicited a befuddled response, than it’s likely you missed the 2014 release of The Witch and the Hundred Knight. Metallia was the game’s eponymous sorceress, a thoroughly vile character ...
Read More »Return to PoPoLoCrois: A Story of Seasons Fairytale
Browse Metacritic and you’ll probably uncover of couple of Return to PoPoLoCrois reviews where the critic sheepishly admits not having played any of the Harvest Moon games. This is not going to be one of ...
Read More »Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth review
Not long after the turn of the millennium, a prominent site referred to Digimon as the “poor man’s Pokémon”. As a follower of the anime and game franchise, I found this remark to be painfully ...
Read More »Project X Zone 2 review
For many, “fan service” is shorthand for titillating elements- whether it’s the inclusion of revealing attire or an instance of racy dialog. But it the broadest sense, the term refers to the presence of any ...
Read More »Alphadia review
What is the concept? Role-playing video games started as simple affairs, with titles attempting to emulate table-top experiences. But naturally, the genre evolved, and electronic interpretations steadily integrated a bevy of now-conventional mechanics. From elaborate ...
Read More »Megadimension Neptunia VII review
Not long ago, message boards were proclaiming that the death of the Japanese role-playing game was imminent. Stagnancy seemed to be the genre’s unassailable final boss, and developers had run out of creativity-restoring potions. But ...
Read More »Q&A With Neptunia’s Naoko Mizuno
Sporadically, role-playing games make fleeting, fourth-wall breaking references to the game industry. But 2010’s Hyperdimension Neptunia was the first franchise to construct an elaborate allegory for our precious pastime, imagining a realm where four goddess ...
Read More »Atelier Escha & Logy Plus: Alchemists of the Dusk Sky
As successful game series spawn sequels, the push toward conceptual innovation becomes stronger. But one of the tragedies born of this ambition happens when imprudent mechanics are shoe-horned in to offset stagnation. Too often, these ...
Read More »The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel review
Only a few years ago, the console role-playing game seemed to be in peril, its existence whittled down to a few decisive hit points. Pundits predicted that a combination of escalating production prices, dwindling audiences, ...
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