What is MoeGamer?

It’s a site about the love of gaming, simple as that. It’s not a news site, nor is it a traditional reviews site with ratings and bullet points. It’s about nothing more than my passion for gaming, and my desire to share that enthusiasm with you, dear reader!

Why is it called MoeGamer?

The site began after I was laid off from USgamer in 2014, and the name and URL were originally intended to be an unsubtle dig at my former employer, plus they’re distinct and easy to remember. The “Moe” part of the title stemmed from the fact that, more than pretty much anyone else working in the games press at the time, I was someone who gave games with a strong moe aesthetic a fair chance rather than writing them off as “fanservice” or “pandering” as many critics do today.

What do you cover?

I give particular priority to games of Japanese origin that have either been treated unfairly by the press in the past (such as the Senran Kagura series) or which look set to otherwise pass most people by unnoticed (such as MeiQ: Labyrinth of Death). That said, this isn’t a hard and fast rule; I also cover a variety of retro games from over the years, as well as games and visual novels clearly inspired by the Japanese way of doing things, and broader aspects of popular culture such as anime and manga.

How do you cover games?

In keeping with my own desire to have a nice, breezy place to write about games as I feel like, I simply write about things that have struck me in my gaming time recently. There is no set structure or schedule, so be sure to subscribe or follow the site to get the latest updates.

Prior to 2023, the site played host to one Cover Game at a time, which is an individual game or series that got a multi-article deep-dive across the course of several articles, typically four or more. These followed a rough monthly schedule, but this wasn’t strict by any means — if a game or series needed a bit longer, it took a bit longer. 2020 saw the launch of the MegaFeature format, which consisted of a series of Cover Game features on a common theme, explored over the very long term.

Outside of that, my Essentials series explores games on a particular theme, on a specific platform or from a particular developer or publisher, Delving Into… provides ongoing “in the moment” explorations of longer games and series that I’ve been meaning to investigate for a long time, and the weekly Waifu Wednesday feature, now on hiatus, celebrated the amazing female characters of gaming.

Can I find out if you’ve covered a specific game?

Sure! The easiest way to do that is with the All Games page, which is sorted alphabetically. Each link there leads to a Hub page for that game, which provides some basic information, links to all the articles and videos on the site about it and a gallery of screenshots. You can also access a game’s page from the link at the end of most articles that reads “More about [game name]”.

Or you can just use the search bar, of course.

What’s your reviewing philosophy?

I strongly believe in attempting to “find the good” in even those games that are popularly or critically regarded as “bad”. This primarily stems from the fact that I once took a chance on some PS3 JRPGs with atrocious Metacritic scores, but which a friend had suggested I might enjoy… and found myself absolutely adoring them. Consequently, I tend to only write about things when I’m confident that I’ve spent enough time with them to understand them fully… preferably beating them in their entirety!

I’m personally very tired of the cynicism and negativity of today’s world. While I’ll point out flaws in games where they’re relevant to the experience as a whole, the main focus of the articles here will always be on the most positive or interesting aspects. If you want “Top 5 Worst Games” lists, you’ll need to look elsewhere!

Do you cover adult games?

Yes, by preference if both all-ages and 18+ versions exist, usually in the case of visual novels. Titles like Grisaia, Rance and Re;Lord show that adults-only material is much more than just the sum of its erotic content, and often has a lot more freedom to explore challenging themes besides explicit sex.

This means that discussion of these games will get a bit saucy and may well include explicit imagery, though this may have edits or crops to keep advertisers happy. Where explicit media is present, there will be a prominent warning and no explicit content before the jump. It is your responsibility to ensure that you are not exposed to content you do not wish to see or that is inappropriate for where you are reading.

What is your stance on censorship?

I’d rather have a game with edits that made it compliant with platform holders’ guidelines and local laws than not have that game at all. Sometimes localisations can even throw up interesting new twists on the original game script that feed back into later installments of their source material — Final Fantasy XIV and Dragon Quest are great examples. Obviously I’d rather have completely intact experiences that are true to their creators’ original intentions, but that isn’t always possible for a variety of reasons, regrettably.

Where a localisation edit represents a significant cut or change to a game’s content in some way, I’ll mention it where relevant. If it’s something minor like slightly changed artwork or the inability to do upskirt shots in a model viewer, however, I’m not especially interested if the main “point” of the game is otherwise intact. There is almost always something much more exciting to discuss.

Do you stream?

No. As I’m based in the UK and most of my readership is overseas, schedules rarely line up, making livestreaming impractical. I do, however, have a YouTube channel where you can find video versions of some articles alongside video podcasts and Let’s Play series of various games, with a particular focus on the retro side of things. Please do subscribe over there if you want to see some gameplay or mock my less-than-mad skillz. And let me know if you would like me to reconsider streaming!

What’s your commenting policy?

If you act like a dickhead, your comment will be removed. That’s the only real policy in place. I’m happy to discuss anything I write about here on the site, but note I prefer to keep a positive tone wherever possible.

That means if you respond to a lengthy article that indicates very clearly I had a good time with something, and your only contribution is “this game sucks” or something along those lines, your comment will go right in the “dickhead” bin.

More seriously, I simply find positive discussions more interesting and appropriate for what I’m doing here. I’m not here to talk about how much things suck or even pick fault with flawed titles. I’m here to talk about things that I’ve personally found interesting, inspiring, enjoyable and uplifting. The entire rest of the Internet is negative enough; this place is for smiles.

Who are the girls in your sidebar?

The redhead is Midori and the brunette is Yumi. The less-frequently seen catgirl is Penelope.

PC Master Race or filthy console peasant?

To be honest… mostly filthy console peasant these days! I’m a collector, and consoles are still the best (and in some cases, only) way to acquire physical copies of modern games. I keep my PC around for video capture, podcasting and visual novels, though.

How can I donate or otherwise support the site?

You can chip in a one-off “tip” via Ko-Fi, or donate via PayPal. If you have games, hardware or any other goodies you’d like to donate, get in touch directly and we can sort something out in private.

What happened to your Patreon?

I closed it down. It was causing more stress than joy, as I ended up feeling guilt over self-imposed “obligations”, and that was never what this site was supposed to be about.

Will you write about my game?

I am but one man with a day job and a regrettably limited amount of time on my hands, but if you have an interesting project you’d like me to take a look at that falls under MoeGamer’s remit as described above, let me know and we can discuss it. I will generally not consider mobile-only games unless they are genuine “cultural phenomena” like Granblue Fantasy or Fate/Grand Order.

How can I get in touch?

Use the page just for that!

I have another question you haven’t answered!

Again… use the page just for that, or leave a comment on the article you want to discuss further!