We've had manga based on video games for about as long as we've had video games full stop (and now I'm wondering if Space Invaders ever had its own adaptation...), but for all the differences in their source material and artistic handling they tend to fall into one of four categories: They can be a safely straightforward … Continue reading A manga Quest
It's clear from the moment you begin that Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together is a far more extensive remake of the original Super Famicom game than PSP stablemate Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions is of its equivalent PlayStation progenitor. Even those fateful opening questions on faith, family, and friendship have been reformed into something new, … Continue reading The Wheel begins to turn…
You know when I started my latest playthrough of Vagrant Story the original plan was to use this refresher to discuss its masterful (and arguably unbeaten to this day) use of light, shadow, and colour to convey mood, time, and temperature, to wax lyrical about how it wields texture and sound to create a "real" abandoned place … Continue reading Love for the broken
Everyone expects modern MMOs to have a reliable stream of tie-in events, with Square-Enix's rich, interconnected, and naturally RPG-friendly stable arguably under more pressure than most to mingle its three flagship online games (Final Fantasy XIV, Final Fantasy XI, and Dragon Quest X) with each other, with the wider range of games available under the publisher's extensive … Continue reading All the world’s a stage
What happens after you save the world? Well if you happen to be the caped hero of a charming fantasy RPG you round up a few of your old friends, make some new ones, and then go off to save the world all over again a few short years later. In a smart move for … Continue reading So good they saved the world twice
The WonderSwan exclusive "Novel Theatre" game Terrors 2 offers users three unrelated but hopefully spooky stories to choose from once the standard-issue creepy laughter's died down on the title screen, with a shorter fourth, final, and equally disconnected tale unlocked after you've cleared them (and made sure you've saved too). This bonus piece isn't a … Continue reading Pocket-sized panics
The warm earthy tones of this online-enabled GameCube RPG released in 2005 by Chunsoft may look like they're a world away from Phantasy Star Online's laser swords and bright colours but underneath the artistic design the two are, at least in spirit, closer than they may appear: Both were created primarily to be a console … Continue reading A home[land] away from home
I've always loved MMOs of all kinds - and I've always struggled to find the time to justify playing them. Whether they're paid, free, so Englishly-English there's a chance an NPC might shout "Bollocks!" at the top of their lungs at any moment or so imported I had to use a VPN just to avoid … Continue reading My fantasy gym membership
[CONTENT WARNING: This article contains numerous references to cancer, cancer symptoms, and cancer treatment] I had a bad dream last night. It wasn't anything awful in an objective sense; there were no visits from dead relatives dredging up old memories, no fear or pain or scary monsters... but it did well up from the pit … Continue reading The big C
For an adventure game with such impressive development talent behind it - that'll be Red Entertainment (Sakura Wars, Galaxy Fraulein Yuna) and Creatures Inc. (Mother 3, manymanymanymany very good Pokémon spin-offs) - Japanese DS exclusive Project Hacker: Kakusei failed to do much more on release than exist in as unremarkably and inoffensively a manner as possible, quietly coming and going … Continue reading Gotta hack ’em all!
