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

Features, MoeGamer Awards 2018

The MoeGamer Awards 2018: Best Romantic Comedy

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The MoeGamer Awards are a series of “alternative” awards that I’ve devised in collaboration with the community as an excuse to celebrate the games, experiences and fanbases that have left a particular impression on me in 2018. Find out more and leave a suggestion here!

This award was suggested by Toon Vandendries.

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This is a topic Chris and I very much want to discuss on the podcast at some point in the near future, but I’ve also written about it in the past, too.

I’m talking about the idea of genre. And not genre as it is typically used when talking about games — to describe purely mechanical elements — but rather genre as it relates to the core subject matter in a game; its central themes, style and overall feel. In the early days of gaming, this was not really something we could discuss with much confidence, but as games have become more ambitious in terms of their storytelling and overall sense of worldbuilding, we most certainly can now.

So with that in mind, what was the best romantic comedy game I enjoyed over the course of the last year?

And the winner is…

Continue reading The MoeGamer Awards 2018: Best Romantic Comedy →

Features, MoeGamer Awards 2018

The MoeGamer Awards 2018: The Traffic Magnet

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The MoeGamer Awards are a series of “alternative” awards that I’ve devised in collaboration with the community as an excuse to celebrate the games, experiences and fanbases that have left a particular impression on me in 2018. Find out more and leave a suggestion here!

Last year, there was one game more than any other that consistently brought people to MoeGamer; I was seemingly one of the few people on the Internet who had actually written anything about it. I chose to celebrate this game with The Traffic Magnet award.

This year I encountered a similar situation with a different game — last year’s winner still regularly appears in my top search results, but the posts about this year’s winner still appear in my top posts pretty much every day.

And the winner is… somewhat NSFW, so consider this before continuing!

Ahem. As I was saying, the winner is…

Continue reading The MoeGamer Awards 2018: The Traffic Magnet →

Features, MoeGamer Awards 2018

The MoeGamer Awards 2018: Best Lightning and Storm Effects

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The MoeGamer Awards are a series of “alternative” awards that I’ve devised in collaboration with the community as an excuse to celebrate the games, experiences and fanbases that have left a particular impression on me in 2018. Find out more and leave a suggestion here!

This award was suggested by LightningEllen.

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I’m old enough to remember when weather effects in games were new and exciting.

I have vivid memories of desperately wanting to play Toyota Celica GT Rally on the Atari ST, for example, purely because it had rain, snow and sandstorm effects — and working windscreen wipers!

Nowadays, weather effects are something we just take for granted for the most part… but sometimes, a game comes along and impresses you with its representation of a particular environmental condition. Today’s award celebrates my favourite virtual thunderstorm from the year just passed.

And the winner is…

Continue reading The MoeGamer Awards 2018: Best Lightning and Storm Effects →

Features, MoeGamer Awards 2018

The MoeGamer Awards 2018: Character I Learned to Love

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The MoeGamer Awards are a series of “alternative” awards that I’ve devised in collaboration with the community as an excuse to celebrate the games, experiences and fanbases that have left a particular impression on me in 2018. Find out more and leave a suggestion here!

This award was suggested by AK.

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A really interesting aspect of characterisation is when creators are able to put together a character who might initially seem obnoxious or odious in some way, then gradually bring the player to sympathise with them — or at least vaguely understand them –over the course of the complete narrative.

It’s a difficult thing to pull off, for sure; the most common approach taken to create this effect is to have an “anti-hero” main character, but in those instances it’s very easy to go overboard on the edginess and just create someone who is an unrelatable sociopath or psychopath.

But when it’s done right, it can make for some really interesting storytelling. So who fell into that category for me this year…?

And the winner is…

Continue reading The MoeGamer Awards 2018: Character I Learned to Love →

Announcements, Community

Around the Network

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Ten days until Christmas! Are you ready? I am, after a flurry of Amazon shopping earlier.

I’m likely going to be taking a few days off from MoeGamer during the holiday season, so from the week after next onwards (i.e. the week that begins with Christmas) updates may be a little intermittent, but I’ll be back on a normal schedule by the new year at the very latest. And with any luck, if my Christmas plans come to fruition, there may be a very special “Episode X” of The MoeGamer Podcast to enjoy — though no promises in that regard just yet.

Anyway, that’s all in the future. What’s been happening in the immediate past? Hit the jump to see what you might have missed this week.

Continue reading Around the Network →

Features, MoeGamer Awards 2018

The MoeGamer Awards 2018: Best Girl 2018

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The MoeGamer Awards are a series of “alternative” awards that I’ve devised in collaboration with the community as an excuse to celebrate the games, experiences and fanbases that have left a particular impression on me in 2018. Find out more and leave a suggestion here!

Well, if you’re gonna do “best boy” you’ve got to do “best girl”, haven’t you? And there sure are a lot of wonderful girls to choose from across the games we’ve explored together over the course of the last year.

Those of you who know me well, however, will know that, biases be damned, there’s only one lovely lady who was ever going to win this, given the year’s Cover Game lineup. But just to be fair, I’m going to say that her winning Best Girl this year will preclude her from winning this or any similar award in subsequent years, regardless of whether or not I cover another of her games. Gotta give the others a chance, after all.

And the winner is…

Continue reading The MoeGamer Awards 2018: Best Girl 2018 →

Features

The MoeGamer Awards 2018: Best Boy 2018

2 Comments

The MoeGamer Awards are a series of “alternative” awards that I’ve devised in collaboration with the community as an excuse to celebrate the games, experiences and fanbases that have left a particular impression on me in 2018. Find out more and leave a suggestion here!

This award was suggested by megaapple18.

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“Best Girl” is something I think about quite often. I mean, obviously Nepgear will always be my one true waifu, but that’s not to say I can’t have a personal favourite girl from among an individual game’s cast.

“Best Boy”, however; that’s something I tend to need to think a bit more about. As a heterosexual male, the red-blooded “attraction” factor is much less than it is with female characters — though there have been exceptions to this rule; I’d happily jump into bed with Urabe from Sweet Fuse, for example. We’re all a little bit gay. R-right?

Ahem. Anyway. While physical attractiveness is by no means the only aspect that draws me to particular female characters — the regular Waifu Wednesday column should be evidence enough of that — it can be an effective means of grabbing my initial attention, while the boys will have to work a bit harder to win me over in the first place.

So with that in mind, then, who was my Best Boy of 2018?

And the winner is…

Continue reading The MoeGamer Awards 2018: Best Boy 2018 →

Features, MoeGamer Awards 2018

The MoeGamer Awards 2018: Most Satisfying Sequel

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The MoeGamer Awards are a series of “alternative” awards that I’ve devised in collaboration with the community as an excuse to celebrate the games, experiences and fanbases that have left a particular impression on me in 2018. Find out more and leave a suggestion here!

This award was suggested by Riobravo79.

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While it’s nice to get brand-new, all-original games when we can, sometimes it’s a pleasure to see an old friend again… perhaps in a slightly different form.

The sequel has been part of video game culture pretty much since the beginning, and the fine art of recycling, refining and/or reimagining is way more prevalent in gaming than in pretty much any other creative medium. Developers have experimented with a lot of different ways of putting together follow-ups for well-received titles over the years… but what makes for the most satisfying successors?

Do you provide more of the same with minor refinements? Do you provide some sort of obvious “upgrade” while remaining true to the original game’s format? Or do you completely reinvent the formula, potentially bringing new players on board but also possibly alienating your original fanbase?

And the winner is…

Continue reading The MoeGamer Awards 2018: Most Satisfying Sequel →

Features, MoeGamer Awards 2018

The MoeGamer Awards 2018: Coolest Transportation Method

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The MoeGamer Awards are a series of “alternative” awards that I’ve devised in collaboration with the community as an excuse to celebrate the games, experiences and fanbases that have left a particular impression on me in 2018. Find out more and leave a suggestion here!

This award was suggested by Krystallina.

What good is a massive game world if you can’t get around it in style?

No good at all, that’s what! So today’s award celebrates my favourite means of getting around a particular virtual locale without getting wet, dirty, injured or terrified.

Well, maybe not that last one.

And the winner is…

Continue reading The MoeGamer Awards 2018: Coolest Transportation Method →

Features, MoeGamer Awards 2018

The MoeGamer Awards 2018: The Least “Retro” Retro Game

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The MoeGamer Awards are a series of “alternative” awards that I’ve devised in collaboration with the community as an excuse to celebrate the games, experiences and fanbases that have left a particular impression on me in 2018. Find out more and leave a suggestion here!

This award was suggested by The Night Owl from The Late Night Session.

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Retro gaming can be a bit of a minefield at times.

Sometimes you’ll return to a game you absolutely adored in your youth only to discover that it’s an unplayable garbage fire by modern standards, for all manner of reasons.

And sometimes you’ll pick up a game that you really enjoyed in years gone by, only to discover that age has been extremely kind to it — and it’s actually even better from a modern perspective than it was originally. I’ve come across a few games like that recently, but if I had to pick one, ooh, ooooooh….

And the winner is…

Continue reading The MoeGamer Awards 2018: The Least “Retro” Retro Game →