It’s funny, how things come around full circle. The earliest JRPGs were inspired by early computer RPGs, which were in turn inspired by tabletop RPGs, each taking the essence of what came before and adapting it to a different format. With Voice of Cards – first The Isle Dragon Roars …
Every time I review an Atelier game, I always seem to wind up talking about their laid-back charm and how wonderfully uplifting they are. That may be partially due to a lack of creativity on my part, but it’s most just because… well, it’s consistently true. Gust has spent decades …
From Dingodile to Roadhog, from Saxton Hale to the inhabitants of Pandora’s moon in Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, Australian characters in videogames often lean heavily into caricature. And fair enough, too—for a culture where sarcasm is the standard way of talking, where the most severe swears are used as everyday greetings, …
“Dynasty Warriors mashed up with Romance of the Three Kingdoms.” That’s the elevator pitch for the Dynasty Warriors Empires spinoffs—the turn-based strategy of Koei Tecmo’s Romance of the Three Kingdoms series, but with battles playing out in Dynasty Warriors action-strategy fashion, instead of simply icons on screen to show you …
Journey to the (Forbidden) West Full disclosure: Horizon Zero Dawn is my favourite game of all time. The first chapter in Aloy’s epic tale, set in a post-post-apocalyptic world, is a beautiful marriage of science fiction plotline and tribal-esque combat using unique, primitive weaponry. After finishing the Frozen Wilds DLC, …
The Tecmo Bowl comparisons are inevitable, and while its inspirations from Tecmo’s groundbreaking game are clear, you’d be mistaken for thinking Retro Bowl is a simple throwback to a bygone era. Beneath its nostalgic homage is a game that combines deep on-field strategy and team management with the pick-up-and-play ease …
“This is so friggin’ cute!” may not be the most common reaction to computer hardware, but it’s probably one that we could do with hearing more often. We have more than enough slick blacks and cool metallic finishes; what we need is more colour and fun. Thankfully, Logitech knows what’s …
As the debut effort from a relatively small indie studio, The Letter is more than a little impressive: a lengthy visual novel that unfolds through the perspectives of seven different characters, their stories all interwoven through a branching structure that gets increasingly more complex the deeper you go. Even if …
Monster Hunter games have always been for a very particular audience. While the marketing behind the franchise’s more contemporary releases would have you believe that accessibility has been a key focus for developer Capcom, the reality of the final products often couldn’t be further from those claims. 2021’s Monster Hunter …
Few games establish a sense of flow quite like OlliOlli. The combination gnarly skate tricks, wild combos, high-speed traversal, and platformer level design—Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater by way of Rayman Origins, if you want to get reductive—is a rush that only ramps up as you master its intricacies. This is …
