I know I’m not alone in my preference for vertical shmups, especially of the bullet hell variety. It’s hard to articulate well, but tracking bullets, reading patterns, and positioning your ship just feels so much more intuitive in a vert. But every now and then, a game will come along …

The typical MMO mouse is a big, hefty thing. It’s not a genre that tends to demand such sites and precision that a few extra grams of mouse weight can make a difference, and when the design goal is “as many buttons we can possibly fit”, things get large. But …

At first blush, Cotton Fantasy feels a lot like last year’s Cotton Reboot. It’s got a new story, new levels, new enemies and boss fights, but the same cute, playful vibe, same general approach, and similar (if slightly simplified) scoring mechanics to Reboot’s wonderfully exuberant revamp. It’s a sequel, after …

One of the best things about the wide net Koei Tecmo casts with licensed Warriors games is seeing the clever ways the Musou formula can be twisted. From Zelda-style items and puzzle bosses in Hyrule Warriors, to Dragon Quest Heroes and Persona 5 Strikers being a full-fledged JRPGs, the influence …

The mix of empire-building strategy and tactical RPG in Brigandine: The Legend of Runersia makes for a compelling hook. Like many a strategy game, the ultimate goal is to conquer the entire land—in this case, a fantasy continent called Runersia that’s home to six different kingdoms—one stronghold at a time, …

At chapter 5 of Shadow Warrior 3, I was met with my toughest challenge up until that point, the ‘Ancient Cock’. It was a boss so big, I couldn’t believe my eyes. Yeah, the fight offered its fair share of humour with its enemy’s design and the ridiculous second stage, …

You’ll finish the story mode of Gibbon: Beyond the Trees in an hour, give or take, but what a potent hour it is. It begins with a gibbon family frolicking in the forests of Southeast Asia, swinging playfully through the treetops, but that soon gives way to a more grim …

Is there any more crowded field in videogames at the moment than “roguelike deck-builder”? Just seeing that descriptor is enough to make me lose interest—I do rather enjoy the genre, but they’re so far past the point of oversaturation that the mention alone makes me feel tired. But there’s one …