It hasn’t taken that long for visual novels to go from one of the most niche genres of all to being something that has a genuine and growing audience behind it. Where once we might get one or two efforts to localise one in a year, now dozens of these…
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Wow did Lover Pretend have the potential to go places. Thankfully it doesn’t, ultimately, but there were more than a few moments on this game’s journey where I felt particularly uncomfortable about some of the flags that it was throwing up despite it being a narrative that is, by developer…
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Well, here we go. I guess this was always inevitable, but “VTubers” – Virtual YouTubers – are getting their own VNs now. I can’t say I can complain. After all, Dee Dee might not be a VTuber, but she’s our site’s mascot, and she’s got a VN on the way…
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Paradigm Paradox has a smart idea behind it: This is a magical girl story where most of the girls are, in fact, boys! The boys (and love interests) in this otome story magically turn into women when they are out there saving the world, before shifting back to male form…
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Fragment’s Note+ has some decent art, and a surprisingly good localisation for a project of relatively modest scale. I’m used to having to deal with translations that are barely better than a Google machine translation and this game is not that. Unfortunately, I’ve run out of good things to say…
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One of the joys of streaming things that you’re playing for the first time is that the audience can see, in real time, you come to the realisation that what you are playing is just terrible. Fragment’s Note Plus is just terrible. In the hour or so of this stream…
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As a leading art form, video games can be – and should be – used to convey more than entertainment. Just as film and television have documentaries and writing has non-fiction, video games offer an opportunity to share real and important stories. Indeed, the interactive nature of games, and the…
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If you enjoyed the very famous Steins;Gate, or the much loved Robotics;Notes, then chances are you’ll like Chaos;Head Noah. It’s certainly a more extreme experience than those two, but this was the very first entry in the “Science Adventure” series, and it offers excellent, intense storytelling similar to its later…
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It’s difficult to review fandiscs, because they’re a step beyond a sequel in terms of their reliance on the base material. Generally it’s fine to review sequels. You can go in-depth with like the Trails of Cold Steel series, or the Final Fantasy XIII trilogy, because players can still play…
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I’m a big fan of itch.io for the freedom and open platform that it allows for developers to be creative, experimental, and directly canvas the audience for feedback for games that are not yet ready for primetime on Steam and its ilk. In addition, itch.io allows you to be transgressive,…
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