Category Archives: One-Shots

One-off articles about games, cultural phenomena, anime and anything else that isn’t getting the Cover Game treatment.

One-Shots, Puzzlers, Switch

Madoris R: The House That Switch Built

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There’s an assumption among certain quarters of the gaming community these days that for a game to be “good” it needs to be technically impressive, it needs to be challenging and it needs to have complex, deep mechanics.

Madoris R doesn’t really fulfil any of those requirements, but 1) that doesn’t stop it being enjoyable and compelling, and 2) it costs £4.50.

If you’ve been looking for a Switch game that is ideal to chill out with when you’ve got a few minutes to spare, be sure to take a look at this one. Let’s explore!

Continue reading Madoris R: The House That Switch Built →

Community, One-Shots

Happy Birthday, PlayStation 2

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Sony’s PlayStation 2 was a landmark console for both the games industry at large — and for many individuals of a certain age, too.

The console turned 20 years old on March 4, 2020 — assuming we’re going by its original Japanese release date, anyway — and thus that provides as good a reason as any to look back on this wonderful console, share some fond memories and explore how this remarkable machine is still relevant in my daily gaming life even today.

Grab a slice of cake and get ready to party, then; it’s time to celebrate.

Continue reading Happy Birthday, PlayStation 2 →

One-Shots

Hilzartov Fairy: Size Doesn’t Matter

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Here on MoeGamer, I don’t cover a lot of outright nukige — adult games where the sexual aspect is the primary focus — but when sexy gaming portal Nutaku approached me and offered to give me an exclusive look at what appears to be an artist’s passion project… well, how could I refuse?

Hilzartov Fairy, which you can check out for yourself here, is the work of a creator known as Mformental, whose extremely not-safe-for-work portfolio can be found over on Pixiv. They have a particular taste — and talent — for fantasy-themed artwork and animations, especially if it involves any combination of monsters, tentacles, futanari girls and significant size differences.

On the grand scheme of things, Hilzartov Fairy is one of their tamer works… though you still better be ready for some… unconventional sexual situations. Let’s take a closer look!

Strong sexual content ahead; you have been warned!

Continue reading Hilzartov Fairy: Size Doesn’t Matter →

Essentials, One-Shots, Switch

198X: Retro Games as Art

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“Art games” have a somewhat polarising reputation among the broader gaming community. Some love how far creators are willing to stretch the definition of “game” in order to tell a story or explore a theme; others feel like these titles are a boring waste of time.

I’ve gone back and forth a bit on this over the years, but one thing most art games have in common is that they tend to de-emphasise mechanical depth and complexity in favour of telling their story. In some of the most well-regarded cases, you don’t even really “do” anything; you just walk forwards while a story passively washes over you.

198X is a bit different. It’s definitely an art game — or perhaps it’s more accurate to call it a short, animated, pixel-art film — but unlike many of its peers, it’s designed to be satisfying and enjoyable to play as well as to emotionally engage with. Let’s take a closer look.

Continue reading 198X: Retro Games as Art →

One-Shots

Coffee Talk: It’s A Brewtiful Day

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One of the great things about modern gaming is the sheer diversity of experiences you can have from one moment to the next.

If you’re in the mood for hacking and slashing through hordes of enemies as the cute girl personification of a video games console, gaming has you covered. If you fancy taking photos of spooky scary ghosts in a creepy old mansion, well, there’s a game for that, too — several, in fact.

But what about if you just fancy chilling out in a nice quiet coffee shop, enjoying the company of a few good friends and leaving all the troubles of the world outside for an hour or two? Sure, you could pop down your local Costa if you can face leaving the house… or you could settle in for an evening with Coffee Talk, a thoroughly pleasant story-centric game from Indonesian developer Toge Productions.

Continue reading Coffee Talk: It’s A Brewtiful Day →

Essentials, One-Shots, Switch

Doom on Switch Doesn’t Suck Any More

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Hey, so remember back in July of 2019 when Bethesda suddenly and unexpectedly released Doom, Doom II: Hell on Earth and Doom III on PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch?

Remember how it took barely a few minutes for this exciting announcement to be considerably dampened by the terrible discovery that these new ports had some sort of God-awful implementation of an “always-online” system in place for no apparent reason? Remember how this made the Switch version completely unplayable on the go if you weren’t connected to the Internet?

Yeah. Well. Not only has that been fixed, these ports have been given a considerable upgrade… plus a bunch of awesome bonus content, too. So it’s probably time to take another look, no?

Continue reading Doom on Switch Doesn’t Suck Any More →

Essentials, One-Shots, Racers

Horizon Chase Turbo: Top Gear Returns

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Many people assumed that the advent of the true 3D polygonal racer spelled the death of the traditional, “vanishing point” racer.

After all, why would you ever want to play a technologically limited game where you simply slide from side to side on a track without actually turning when you can spin your car around, go the wrong way and attempt to cause as many head-on collisions as possible? Or race in “true 3D” too, I suppose.

Well… you know… because it’s fun. And thankfully a number of developers in recent years have remembered that. And so we’ve ended up with loving homages to the past such as the Kickstarter-funded Slipstream, and the subject of today’s article: Horizon Chase Turbo. Let’s take a look.

Continue reading Horizon Chase Turbo: Top Gear Returns →

Essentials, One-Shots, Switch

Saboteur II: Avenging Angel – Dropping the “J”

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1985’s Saboteur! is a well-regarded title in the ZX Spectrum’s considerable library of games — and, as we’ve seen, it still holds up surprisingly well today.

Two years later, creator Clive Townsend brought us a full-on sequel that was an extremely noteworthy title for a number of reasons — and, just like the original Saboteur!, this can now be played in enhanced form on modern systems.

So grab your shuriken and hop on your hang-glider — we’re going in.

Continue reading Saboteur II: Avenging Angel – Dropping the “J” →

Essentials, One-Shots, Switch

Saboteur!: Full Spectrum Ninja

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The 8-bit home console era is, at this point, pretty well documented; how many times over the years have we seen an article or video purporting to tell “the story of Super Mario Bros. 3” for the umpteenth time?

But what about the 8-bit microcomputer era? For one reason or another, this has always remained much more niche-interest, with far less in the way of online historical explorations and even less in the way of reimaginings, remakes and rereleases.

Here’s Saboteur!, a Nintendo Switch and Windows PC rework of a ZX Spectrum game from 1985 — put together by the original author, no less — and a title I’ve found myself surprisingly wrapped up in since downloading it from the eShop for 89p a couple of weeks ago!

Continue reading Saboteur!: Full Spectrum Ninja →

One-Shots

Summer Daze at Hero-U: Corey Cole Talks Kickstarter, Characters as Puzzles and More

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While the idea of the “gaming auteur” is a relatively recent concept thanks to modern creators such as Hideo Kojima, Taro Yoko and Goichi Suda, those of you who have been gaming for as long as I have will doubtless be able to name some “big names” from much earlier in the evolution of the medium.

Many of these names were associated with Sierra, a company established at the very dawn of computer gaming history in 1979 that became primarily known for its adventure games — though this was far from the only type of software they put out.

One of Sierra’s most beloved franchises from “back in the day”, was Quest for Glory, a series of five games that offered an engaging blend of point-and-click adventuring, role-playing game mechanics and a pun-tastic sense of humour. These were the creation of Lori Ann and Corey Cole, a married couple who, between them, displayed considerable flair for both game design and entertaining writing.

In 2018, the Coles brought us Hero-U: Rogue to Redemption, a long-awaited spiritual successor to Quest for Glory that featured the pair’s iconic blend of good humour and solid design. Now, in the year of Quest for Glory’s 30th anniversary, development has begun on a new Hero-U title, so I took some time to chat with Corey about its influences, what the pair learned from the previous game, and how we can expect to be enjoying our Summer Daze at Hero-U.

Continue reading Summer Daze at Hero-U: Corey Cole Talks Kickstarter, Characters as Puzzles and More →