Category Archives: Articles

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

Dragalia Lost, Mobage

Dragalia Lost: Making a Solid Start

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So, you decided to give Dragalia Lost a go. A free-to-play mobile game from Nintendo can’t be that scary, can it?

Well, if you’ve never given a game like this a shot before, there’s a surprising amount of depth to the overall affair that might not be immediately apparent. Dragalia Lost does a better job than most at introducing new progression mechanics gradually, but it can still be a little daunting if you’re a newcomer!

With that in mind, I present a selection of advice for those new to the game — particularly if you’re new to free-to-play mobile gacha RPGs in general.

Continue reading Dragalia Lost: Making a Solid Start →

Dragalia Lost, Mobage

Dragalia Lost: First Impressions

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I’d never heard the name “DAOKO” prior to today. After a few hours exploring Nintendo and Cygames’ new mobile offering, I can’t get her damn music out of my head.

Dragalia Lost, a much-awaited new RPG from two of the biggest names in both Japanese and mobile gaming — and featuring an extensive soundtrack mostly comprised of DAOKO tracks — launched its live service this week. While I haven’t really stuck with any mobile games for longer than a few weeks, I’ve had fun with several over the last couple of years — most notably Granblue Fantasy, Fate/Grand Order and Girls’ Frontline — so I thought it would be interesting to check this new one out.

While Dragalia Lost doesn’t do anything especially new and exciting for the genre, the whole thing is executed with such beautiful panache that it’s hard not to like it. So I’ll check it out for the next few weeks at the very least. Read on for some more detailed first impressions.

Continue reading Dragalia Lost: First Impressions →

Capcom, Essentials

Capcom Essentials: Final Fight

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First released in 1989, Capcom’s Final Fight was originally conceived as a sequel to Street Fighter.

The success of Technos and Taito’s Double Dragon in 1987 (and again with its sequel in 1988) convinced Capcom to reimagine the game as a belt-scrolling beat ’em up rather than a one-on-one fighter, however, and that proved to be a solid decision. Street Fighter, meanwhile, would go on to get its true sequel in 1991… and create its own phenomenon in the process.

Final Fight, while perhaps not as well known or fondly regarded as its one-on-one stablemates today, remains a highly enjoyable game — with more depth than you might expect at first glance.

Continue reading Capcom Essentials: Final Fight →

Waifu Wednesday

Waifu Wednesday: Bowsette

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Every so often, you’re fortunate enough to witness a cultural phenomenon occur in real time. And it can be a surreal experience.

Such was the case with the meteoric rise to popularity of the character who has become known by several names over the last few days, be it “Bowsette”, “Koopa-hime”, “Princess Bowser” or any variation thereof.

This is a phenomenon that demands some exploration! If only for a tailor-made excuse to look at some sexy fanart.

Header art by Pomu (Pixiv). Please support the many wonderful artists who have brought this meme to life, and check out Kenji’s awesome Twitter thread for many more pieces of artwork, complete with original sources!

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One-Shots

Senran Kagura Reflexions: Shinobi Intimacy

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Here in the West, we’re all thoroughly familiar with the idea of furthering your enjoyment of a game by purchasing additional merchandise to celebrate your love of it.

Depending on the game, we might get action figures, posters, comics, books, soundtrack CDs… but rarely something “extra” in the original medium, unless a sequel comes along, or perhaps some DLC.

One thing that Japanese developers and publishers like to do — and which we’re seeing increasing numbers of localised for English-speaking audiences — is produce a “fandisc” for a popular work. And while the idea may seem self-explanatory, I’ve seen plenty of examples of people who don’t quite “get” it.

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One-Shots

Reflections on PlayStation Vita

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At the time of writing, Sony has just announced that production of the PlayStation Vita will be ending in 2019, with no plans for a successor.

This follows news from earlier this year that we’re counting down the days until the last Western physical Vita release, with many of the last releases coming in limited form from boutique publishers such as Limited Run Games and Special Reserve.

With all that in mind, I think it’s about time we looked back over this remarkable and vastly underappreciated system’s life… and celebrated the things it did really, really well.

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Waifu Wednesday

Waifu Wednesday: Ramius Dreissen

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With Evenicle literally being an RPG about marrying several people, I should probably devote some time to at least one of said spouses, shouldn’t I?

Today we look at Ramius Dreissen, better known to many around the world of Evenicle as the “Loner Knight”. She’s one of the first characters you encounter in the game, and the first wife protagonist Aster marries as part of the story.

She also looks a tiny bit like Miyabi from Senran Kagura thanks to Nan Yaegashi’s distinctive art style,but rest assured — she’s very much her own character in her own right.

Continue reading Waifu Wednesday: Ramius Dreissen →

Capcom, Essentials

Capcom Beat ‘Em Up Bundle: It’s The Belt For You, Lad

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Those of you who read my coverage on Senran Kagura: Estival Versus will know how much I enjoy the beat ’em up genre… and how much I appreciate its history.

With that in mind, Capcom’s announcement that it would be releasing a new product simply called Capcom Beat ‘Em Up Bundle made me kiss £15.99 goodbye even before the package was released. Doubly so because it was also coming to Switch… and who doesn’t want to bust some heads on the go?

Today we’ll take a high-level look at the package as a whole, then over the course of a series of Capcom Essentials articles in the coming weeks, we’ll explore the individual games in the collection in more detail. Suffice to say for now that £15.99 is a very fair price for this bundle, and I highly recommend it to all fans of the genre.

Continue reading Capcom Beat ‘Em Up Bundle: It’s The Belt For You, Lad →

One-Shots

Lily’s Night Off: The Visual Novel, Condensed, Polished to a Fine Sheen

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It’s always a genuine pleasure to see a developer refine and improve their craft — particularly when it’s obvious how much time, effort and passion they put into their work.

Anyone who follows Lily series developer Kyuppin on Twitter — or indeed, anyone who read my previous coverage of Lily’s Day Off — will know he is a great example of a creator who is absolutely brimming with enthusiasm for his craft. The road to release for Lily’s Night Off was paved with earnest solicitations for feedback, assurances that fans interested in the strictly limited physical merchandise would get their hands on some quality products… and what came across an honest to goodness love for the art of writing, game development and design.

So… how did Lily’s Night Off end up, then? Was all that passion and enthusiasm worth it?

Continue reading Lily’s Night Off: The Visual Novel, Condensed, Polished to a Fine Sheen →

Waifu Wednesday

Waifu Wednesday: Mai Shiranui

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Sometimes it can be a challenge to find detailed information and fanart for Waifu Wednesday articles. I have not had that problem today.

Yes, after discovering the fun that is SNK Heroines, I thought I’d devote today to probably SNK’s most widely recognised heroine, Mai Shiranui.

It turned out that despite her being a very familiar figure to me in terms of visual design, I didn’t know a whole lot about her. So let’s take a little journey together!

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