“What if witches gave up magic in favour of big effin guns?” I’m not sure if that’s exactly the elevator pitch Rainbite used to sell publisher eastasiasoft on Trigger Witch, but it can’t be too far off. And you know what? It works: a twin-stick shooter with a light action-adventure …
A decade since the last new game in a series with a dedicated fanbase—and with the bankruptcy of one studio and formation of another in the meantime—there’s some weight on the shoulders of Rune Factory 5. With expectations riding high, it’d be easy to get overly ambitious, to try to …
Shibuya is a place that a lot of videogames have taken us to over the years—in fact, I think we might be close to running out of three-digit numbers for fictional versions of the Shibuya 109 building. Of all the interpretations of it, few leave the mark that Ghostwire: Tokyo …
I always get a little… suspicious when non-Japanese (and Western, especially) developers claim to be trying to capture the spirit of Akira Kurosawa in their work. Too often, what that means is a generically Japanese-looking thing with a grainy black-and-white filter slapped over the top, maybe with some shakuhachi in …
I am loving this new subversive streak from Tetsuya Nomura and Kazushige Nojima. They’ve worked together plenty as a creative director/scenario writer duo and often push the bounds of creativity (whatever jokes you want to make about what Kingdom Hearts has become, it remains a fascinating concept). But more recent …
Content warning: Central to Martha is Dead are themes of child abuse, mutilation of dead bodies, self-harm, torture, and mental distress. By extension, this review touches on those same topics. Martha is Dead is a tricky game to review, at least on Xbox One, because there are two very different …
Want to try your hand at making a shoot-’em-up, but not sure where to start? You may want to check out the new SHMUP Creator software that just landed on Steam today. As the name suggests, it is to shmups what RPG Maker is to RPGs and Visual Novel Maker …
It’s been a busy week in game news (is it ever not?), with a surprise PlayStation State of Play, a whole lot of interesting-looking indie game reveals, and the lead in to a very crowded second half of March, release-wise. There’s far too much to cover everything, but here are …
The original Submerged was a remarkable game, if a divisive one. It set out with the singular goal of crafting a relaxed yet thought-provoking experience, as you explored the submerged ruins of a climate change-affected city and played witness to a bittersweet story of survival and togetherness. Some found it …
Pure adrenaline and meditative calm might seem like polar opposites, but—as anyone who’s ever tried their hand at an extreme sport will know well—they can be different sides of the same coin. It’s not a balance that videogames are great at finding, generally speaking. Not Grand Mountain Adventure: Wonderlands, though—this …
