Look, I'll admit it - when Ys Seven was in its teasing pre-release advertising phase I didn't like what I saw at all. Why has the artwork been changed? What's this about a party system? And there's no PC version at all? Seriously?! Whatever this made-for-PSP Ys was going to be, it sure as heck wasn't going to … Continue reading The same in a different way
I am a lowly level one archer standing in the green fields just outside Prontera, whacking Porings and Rockers as I go while catching brief fragments of other people's conversations - so far, so Ragnarok Online. Only I'm not doing this within the scraggly remains of the official English service, nor a private server, but somewhere … Continue reading An MMO unplugged
A half-demon man, a demon prince, a young woman kept alive by magic, and the direct descendant of a goddess meet mostly by chance before going on to finish once and for all a world-shaking set of events that were set in motion almost two decades earlier, completely destroying an ancient Daoist training ground and … Continue reading Points of view
This supposed fifth episode in the "Nameless Brave Saga" is, like so many other games with decorative subtitles, actually the first entry in a PC exclusive SRPG trilogy by Chrome Six (as far as I can tell they made these games and nothing else). At a glance Angelic Vale looks like yet another game straight out of the … Continue reading Episode V: Roots of “Diabolic Embryo”
Sorcerian Original is the Windows 98/95 compatible remake of the... well, the original Sorcerian, a game first released on the PC-88 back in 1987. As remakes go Original's a fascinating case of the very old meeting what was at one point in time the very new. The graphics for example have been completely overhauled, many environments now boasting … Continue reading There’s only one Original
Underdog Detective is a brand new live action FMV game charting the adventures of Du Xun, an amateur detective and antique dealer of charmingly questionable repute. He's spent his whole life in Underdog Dwelling, Shendu's (now Luoyang's) 7th Century human rubbish dump, a place where the unlucky or unfavoured wash up against their will and … Continue reading Review: Underdog Detective
[Just so you know: everything said below is based on the launch 2009 v1.00 PC disc patched up to v1.04a, which I believe is the final version of the original doujin release. If you're reading this after the game's welcome Switch/Steam debut: 1) Hi! 2) Some minor details have definitely changed] A Touhou/Castlevania crossover sounds … Continue reading Symphony of the [Gensokyo] night
Shmups occupy a strange space in gaming: They "should" be cheap because they're short and because they're shmups - ancient games where you shoot whatever scrolls into view until you die or there's nothing left to shoot - and yet in spite of this mindset following the genre around like a bad smell since forever … Continue reading Review: Sol Cresta
Both Denmaku Clubs were created as PC exclusives and initially sold as separately packaged (and purchased) programs before later being included on the same DVDs as the XP compatible releases of Sakura Wars 1 and 2 shown in the photo above, each one bundling together a bevy of nifty themed extras to do with the … Continue reading Sakura Wars Corner: Denmaku Club 1 and 2
Originally a Japan-only PSP game released in 2012, the game now formally known in English as The Legend of Nayuta: Boundless Trails was Falcom's final release for Sony's underappreciated handheld - and it shows. Shockingly gorgeous to look at and crafted with the sort of confidence that only comes with hands-on experience and a specific, single, … Continue reading Review: The Legend of Nayuta: Boundless Trails
Kimimi The Game-Eating She-Monster 