You’ve got to love a good yokai story. From folk tales passed down by word of mouth to picture scrolls that are both stunning and gruesome, these tales of ghosts, supernatural creatures, and other strange phenomena have captivated people for millennia. Pop culture is no exception—the influence of (and fascination …
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’ve long been fascinated by the “soulslike” genre. Dark Souls, and the many games that followed in its footsteps, are built entirely around triumphing over seemingly insurmountable odds through perseverance, practice, and mastery, and the feeling of accomplishment that comes with that. But when I actually play them, they tend …
Despite its prominent place in Japanese art history, there haven’t been too many games that channel ukiyo-e; Oreshika: Tainted Bloodlines, it’s Japan-only predecessor Ore no Shikabane wo Koete Yuke, and Tokyo Tattoo Girls are the only ones that come to mind. Asakusa Studios, based in Tokyo’s historic Asakusa district, is …
A little while ago, an animation popped up in my Twitter feed that captivated me. It was a simple loop, showing a group of fireflies flitting around a shrine in the forest, but it was mesmerising. I soon learned about the game it came from: Miyamori, an action-adventure platformer that aims to …
