Gacha, short for gachapon, is often viewed as an exploitative skinner box made specifically to spear whales and keep them in tow until they can no longer afford to play or break the line. That’s because it is. However lucrative it can be, general gaming news ignores it until a whale drops 5 figures and … Read more
The Witcher 3: Hearts of Stone is the first of two expansion packs for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. The developer, CD Projekt Red, has already released a lot of free DLC for the game and the main game is one of the longest and most satisfying RPGs of 2015. So with all the free DLC and … Read more
If there’s any silver lining to the dense, dark cloud that is this endless viral pandemic, it’s that I’ve finally found time to read through some of the visual novels on my backlog. Who needs healthy human contact, extended family time or a social life? Not me! I’ve found a new 2D family of mythical … Read more
Vanillaware is one of those niche developers that the average Call of Duty/FIFA/Need for Speed gamer has never heard of, nor would likely care about. This small Japanese company releases games infrequently, but when they do they are always worth experiencing. Their signature 2D hand-painted style looks like almost nothing else, and they apply it to a … Read more
So for the past year or more, I’ve been gradually trudging my way through the entire Monogatari anime series — all 100 episodes and 3 movies, and writing my thoughts about them on AniTAY. Although I’ve recently finished watching the final season, I can’t quite bring myself to write about it. Yet. Don’t worry, I’ll get round … Read more
Visual novels are a uniquely Japanese fusion of video games and prose, that although gradually gaining popularity as a genre in the west, are still very much a niche interest. Vast and confusing franchises like Fate found their humble beginnings in these often lengthy tales, before finding international success via adaptations into other media. Steins;Gate, one of my … Read more
Kotaku has only mentioned the Just Dance series a few times. The last time there was anything of substance about the game series was 2012, and it was honestly pretty dismissive. That’s a shame, because Just Dance, at least the modern version, is really, really fun. I never had a Wii, or an Xbox 360, or any of the other … Read more
I have recently returned to gaming and am loving it. This post is the first of a maybe-series in which I review games from that perspective. I have never beaten a 2-d platformer. I played a lot of them as a kid – Super Mario Bros 1-3, Megaman 2 and 3, the amazing Aladdin and Lion King games on Sega Genesis – but I never … Read more
Did you notice? There’s another new anime-themed mobile game on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. Surely there are thousands of those things now? I haven’t seen much hype online for this one. Magia Record is a Gacha-flavoured spin-off of the renowned anime TV and movie series Madoka Magica. Initially launched in Japan 2 years ago, … Read more