In Baroque Syndrome's world unsettling visions and rumours of distorted monsters with a taste for human flesh are on the rise, while in the shadows a mysterious sect—apparently led by an angelic being—busy themselves with dangerous experiments in strange places the government is well aware of, but dare not enter. This is the world before the … Continue reading Distorted pearls and the before that came after
Category: /Playstation
Aberystwyth, 1898
Koudelka refuses to be bound by neat descriptions. On the one hand it's definitely a dark horror game set in a Welsh monastery and as such contains all the pre-rendered backgrounds, torture chambers, murders, ghosts, suicides, and gruesome half-resurrected bodies the genre required at the time. On the other it's also definitely a '90s console … Continue reading Aberystwyth, 1898
One bad apple…
Startling Adventures is a 2001 PlayStation disc by Capcom containing three entirely independent adventures, all of which can be played in any order or even flitted between at will. In this regard it feels very much like Level 5's "Guild" series for the DS; a varied compilation of games released under a single unifying label, a digital … Continue reading One bad apple…
Battery powered dungeons
Pocket Dungeon is as much a succinct description of the contents within as it is a game's title. You see, even though this game was sold as a PlayStation disc, the portable part of Pocket Dungeon is not a cute minigame to be put aside after five minutes or a clever extension of a traditional title, … Continue reading Battery powered dungeons
Rewriting the romantic rulebook
There are just a few weeks of school left before the main cast of this Tokimeki Memorial spinoff graduate, and no doubt more than a few of them hope the classmate they've spent the past few years awkwardly blushing at will be waiting for them under the school's very special tree - the one that promises … Continue reading Rewriting the romantic rulebook
Wow, what a start!
1995 was an exciting time for video game fans. Optical storage media felt like it was the first step into a laser-based future, every 2D game was made by people with years of experience in the craft, and every 3D game seemed to be bursting with enthusiasm for this underexplored frontier. The future really was … Continue reading Wow, what a start!
Pop’n RPG!
TwinBee RPG is the straightforward name of a straightforward game; one where you, the player, are sucked through your TV during the intro sequence to help out the cast of your favourite show (spoilers: It's TwinBee) after things suddenly take a turn for the worse for Light, Pastel, and Mint. As with any other playable self-insert experience your … Continue reading Pop’n RPG!
Konami’s second go at first love
Tokimeki Memorial 2 is a lavish PlayStation exclusive experience, one where every event and cutscene has been crafted to the highest standards using vast quantities of spoken dialogue and premium quality artwork - no wonder it spans a frankly absurd five CDs. That's more than any of Squaresoft's chart-topping RPGs released around the same time, and … Continue reading Konami’s second go at first love
Fire Emblem Saga
There's some minor confusion over the English title of this 2001 PlayStation strategy game: Is it "TearRing Saga", as shown so clearly on the save screen? Perhaps it's "TearRingSaga", as written on the title screen, the disc, and the box's spine? Or could it be "Tear Ring Saga", as printed on the back of the … Continue reading Fire Emblem Saga
Students, statistics, and bloodthirsty beasts
In 1945 a mysterious black moon appeared in the sky and waves of mythical beasts - goblins, gorgons, naga, and worse - began to roam the land, their only goal to kill, without malice or anger, every human they could before they expired. It's now 1999. Humans have been erased from entire continents and the situation is … Continue reading Students, statistics, and bloodthirsty beasts