I wish I’d been as into shmups in 1997 as I am today, because playing G-Darius when it was brand new must have been absolutely mind-blowing. Even as I play it for the first time in 2021, in the form of a fairly rudimentary HD remaster on a little handheld …
You could be forgiven for never having heard of Xuan Yuan Sword, given that, until now, it’s had almost no international presence—a couple of poorly-translated multilingual Steam releases and Asia-region versions with English language support being the full extent. But this is a series with a long and storied history …
Mary Skelter Finale brings Compile Heart’s provocative trilogy to a close as it adds a unique, multi-party twist on the classic dungeon crawl. At a time when pop culture is particularly interested in reinterpretations of classic fairy tale characters, few works stand out like Mary Skelter. Its decidedly fetishistic tone …
Blue Reflection was, easily, one of the most mesmerising games of the last generation. Intimate, heartfelt introspection on depression and trauma, seen through the empowering lens of the magical girl genre and the utter, absolute beauty of Mel Kishida’s character designs is a recipe for something truly special. It’s also …
At first glance, Patron is something very familiar: a strategy-focused city builder in a medieval setting, calling to mind The Settlers, Anno, Banished, Stronghold, and countless others. It certainly wears its inspirations on its sleeve, but it also makes an ambitious effort to carve its own path, hinging those bets …
There are few developers who are as consistent as Otomate when it comes to thoughtfully pushing the boundaries of the stories videogames can tell. The framework of an otome game is perfect for exploring the depths of the human soul at its best and worst, and Otomate has long made …
There’s nothing quite like El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron. Sure, a stylish action game that goes heavy on the religious imagery makes the likes of Devil May Cry and Bayonetta an obvious point of reference—indeed, director Sawaki Takeyasu worked on the original Devil May Cry as a character designer—but …
The premise behind Staxel is simple, but compelling: what if you mixed the farm life sim of Story of Seasons or Stardew Valley with Minecraft’s block-building creativity? It seems like a natural fit: disparate as the genres are in a lot of ways, they have similar rhythms to their relaxing …
For just shy of 20 years, WarioWare has been down the delightfully absurd corner of Nintendo’s repertoire with frantic medleys of bizarre “microgames”: bite-sized minigames, each lasting only a couple of seconds, played in rapid succession to hilarious outcomes. WarioWare: Get It Together continues that legacy, but with a big …
Deathloop is the latest in an increasingly rare breed of games that value focus above everything else. Arkane’s latest immersive sim adapts the freeform design philosophies of its longer and larger triple-A contemporaries into a laser-focused experience more concerned with minutiae than grand vistas. The game’s shorter length (compared to …
