Category Archives: Articles

All the non-Cover Game articles and features in one place.

Around the Network

A late one today, as I’ve been busy recording videos for most of the weekend!

I like to try and get stuff done “ahead of time” with regard to video, as it takes time to edit, render and upload, so with a free weekend I thought I’d try and “pre-record” as many Atari A to Z and MoeGamerTV videos as I possibly could. I didn’t quite achieve everything I wanted to, but I did pretty well.

Anyway. That aside, you might have missed all sorts of goodness this week. Let’s check out what that included!

Continue reading Around the Network

Shmup Essentials: Devil Engine

“Modern retro” games have been fashionable for a while now, but anyone who’s been around the block knows that making an authentically retro-feeling experience is more than just adopting a pixel art/chiptune aesthetic and calling it a day.

No; a truly authentic-feeling “modern retro” game needs to not only capture the look and sound of titles from classic platforms, it also needs to recapture the feel — and while doing so, take into account some more modern conventions to create a satisfying experience for the 21st century gamer.

I can think of no game that has nailed this better than Devil Engine, the new release from Dangen Entertainment. And if you’re a shoot ’em up fan, you are going to want to be all over this masterpiece.

Continue reading Shmup Essentials: Devil Engine

Waifu Wednesday: Neptune

Assuming it arrives on time, I’m hoping to cover Idea Factory’s new game Death End Re;Quest as the next Cover Game feature here on MoeGamer.

In the meantime, it occurs to me that in previous Waifu Wednesday installments we have covered many of the characters from throughout Iffy’s Neptunia series (including Vert, Blanc, Uni, Noire, Nepgear, IF and Compa) but never the head honcho, the big cheese, the one and only Neptune herself… although in my defense I did talk quite a lot about her during our discussion of Megadimension Neptunia V-II’s narrative, themes and characterisation. But I digress.

Anyway, with all that in mind… well, you know what’s coming.

Continue reading Waifu Wednesday: Neptune

Delving into Dynasty Warriors 8 Xtreme Legends Definitive Edition – #4

All right. Let’s talk about mechanics — some of them, at least.

So far, as previously noted in the last three parts of this series, I’ve been primarily exploring the Story mode in Dynasty Warriors 8 Xtreme Legends Definitive Edition for Nintendo Switch, and that is still the case — though I have now at least dipped my toes into Ambition Mode. More on that another day though.

During the Story mode, you have the opportunity to get a feel for a variety of characters and get started on progression. So let’s take a look at how all that works.

Continue reading Delving into Dynasty Warriors 8 Xtreme Legends Definitive Edition – #4

Daemon x Machina: Exploring the Prototype Missions

I’m no expert on mech games — or indeed the mecha “genre” in general — but Daemon x Machina had me intrigued from the moment Nintendo announced it.

And it’s certainly a game that is worthy of your attention, regardless of whether or not you have an interest in giant robots blowing things up; the sheer amount of pedigree attached to the project makes it immensely intriguing.

With that in mind, then, I decided to give the Prototype Missions demo that launched on Valentine’s Day a go. Read on for some impressions!

Continue reading Daemon x Machina: Exploring the Prototype Missions

Around the Network

Good weekend, friends! It’s time once again for that weekly review of what’s been going on here on MoeGamer and elsewhere around my little network.

You almost didn’t get anything out of me today because I’ve had a string of computer disasters today — the USB ports in the front of my PC’s case have broken, my old hard drive (which apparently held the Windows Boot Manager) died completely, preventing Windows from booting even from another drive, and even the god-damn power button on the case snapped its clips and became unusable. All these issues have since been resolved through varying degrees of creativity, meaning I have a working (if somewhat jury-rigged) computer once again — and hopefully there will be a Sunday Driving video for you to enjoy later in the evening.

But enough of my woes. Let’s see what you might have missed this week…

Continue reading Around the Network

Waifu Wednesday: Aya Kamiki

We’ve had celebrities putting in appearances in video games for a good while now, mostly as voice actors, but it’s quite rare to see a performer appear in a game as themselves.

Japanese singer, actress and model Aya Kamiki evidently saw a good opportunity back in 2008, though, and played a part in Spike Chunsoft’s sound novel 428: Shibuya ScrambleQuite a substantial one, too, despite not being one of the main actors; her face is plastered all over billboards and electronic displays in the in-game rendition of Shibuya (which is represented entirely through photographs and full-motion video), her song Sekai wa Sore Demo Kawari wa Shinai is heard numerous times throughout the narrative and she even puts in an in-person appearance for one brief moment during the main story.

It’s an inventive way to promote yourself, for sure, and adds to the overall believable atmosphere of Spike Chunsoft’s game. But who, exactly, is Aya Kamiki?

Continue reading Waifu Wednesday: Aya Kamiki

Dedicated to the Backlog

On Monday, LightningEllen from Livid Lightning and Kim from Later Levels revealed the first #LoveYourBacklog Week: seven days devoted to showing your backlog some love, rather than the fear and guilt it usually engenders.

I’ve never seen the backlog as a particularly negative thing. As Kim argues in her post on the subject, having a backlog means that you always have something to play — something new to experience, something new to explore. And since starting MoeGamer I’ve really relished having this huge library of titles just waiting for me to delve into in detail and write, make videos and otherwise enthuse about them.

So what is going on with this whole #LoveYourBacklog thing? Well, for starters, people are proudly displaying the size of their backlog via badges on their blogs — if you’re reading this on desktop or tablet, you should see that over on the left. And from there? Well, read on.

Continue reading Dedicated to the Backlog

Tina Guo – Game On!

Over the course of the last few decades, the definition of what constitutes “classical music” has gradually been changing.

When I was a child, “classical music” was pretty strictly defined as art music for its own sake — or perhaps as a companion piece to another medium that was also defined as fine art, such as ballet or opera. Soundtracks, of course, existed, but despite sharing a lot in common with “classical music” as defined by popular culture at the time, they were regarded as something… if not lesser as such, certainly different.

Whizz forward to today, however, and we have established classical musicians putting out albums that consist entirely of video game music. Who’d have thought it?

Continue reading Tina Guo – Game On!