Waifu Wednesday

Waifu Wednesday: Katrielle Layton

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It’s interesting to see the trajectory that Level-5’s Layton series has taken over the years.

While remaining true to its roots as an interactive puzzle book with a narrative tying things together, each individual installment has experimented with the formula somewhat, even going so far as to replace the iconic protagonist Professor Hershel Layton with other leads in more recent installments.

Which, of course, leads us to Katrielle Layton, Hershel’s daughter and a wonderfully appealing character in her own right. Let’s take a closer look!

Continue reading Waifu Wednesday: Katrielle Layton →

Videos, Warriors All-Stars, Warriors Wednesday

Warriors Wednesday: The Ultimate Evil – Warriors All-Stars #13

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In today’s episode of Warriors All-Stars, several incarnations of “evil” struggle over the definition of that very concept.

Specifically, Darius, Laegrinna, Nobunyaga Oda and Arnice decide to investigate an offer of “the ultimate evil”… but it turns out that each of them are expecting something rather different from this supposed prize, and of course there’s a surprise waiting for them at the conclusion of their journey!

This Dramatic Battle mission shows some of the interesting things that Warriors All-Stars does by mixing up characters from different franchises with different but subtly related thematic content, and allowing them to interact with one another. It’s a lot of fun!

Videos

Atari A to Z: Viro-Mania

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One fun thing about type-in listings from back in the 8-bit home computer era is that they often provided free versions of classic games for you to enjoy on your system of choice.

Okay, they “cost” time and effort to actually type the damn things in… but when you were done you had a freely redistributable program that you could share with your friends and enjoy whenever you saw fit.

This week’s Atari 8-bit game is an example of a Turbo BASIC XL type-in game from ZONG Magazine — and it’s a pretty shameless clone of a Nintendo classic puzzler.

Find a full archive of all the Atari A to Z videos on the official site.

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 →

Skipmore

Kamiko: Fighting for the Transient World

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Yuumi “Skipmore” Kimura is a modern Japanese independent developer who deserves a lot more attention.

His Fairune series provides a fascinating twist on the item-based action RPG formula, emphasising puzzles of traversal rather than all-action combat.

And, as it turns out, his game Kamiko does precisely the opposite… while still maintaining that distinctive Skipmore magic. Let’s take a closer look.

Continue reading Kamiko: Fighting for the Transient World →

Announcements, Community

Around the Network

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Good afternoon. I am ill. I am not happy about this, particularly as I’m just at the start of a week off from the day job… but such is life, I guess.

Hopefully I’ll shake it off before too long — I’m getting plenty of rest this weekend rather than trying to cram my time full of recording videos and whatnot. I have all of the coming week to do that, after all!

Anyway, enough moaning about my physical wellbeing; you’re hopefully here to find out what you might have missed this week. So let’s check it out!

Continue reading Around the Network →

Atari A to Z, Videos

Atari A to Z Flashback: Centipede

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Centipede is one of Atari’s all-time classics, so naturally it appears in Atari Flashback Classics no less than three times: once in its original arcade incarnation, once on the 2600 (today) and once on the 5200 (next time).

Each version has its own subtle differences, though, and the 2600 version here is particularly impressive for keeping the gameplay’s core addictive quality intact despite not looking super-impressive from a technical perspective.

When you consider quite how much is going on on screen at once, though, you have to give the humble little machine some respect; it’s clearly working its socks off to provide some satisfying arcade action!

Find a full archive of all the Atari A to Z videos on the official site.

Cover Games, LAMUNATION!

LAMUNATION!: Introduction

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cropped-lamunation-header-7839609This article is one chapter of a multi-part Cover Game feature!
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One of the things I love about Japanese popular media is its willingness to create manga, anime and visual novels about all manner of subject matter — not just “safe”, predictable options that we see all the time.

As such, when the prospect of taking a look at LAMUNATION!, a visual novel that appeared to mostly be about fizzy pop, reared its head, I was more than happy to take a closer look — particularly given the track record of the localiser-publisher Love Lab, who we’ve previously seen here on MoeGamer with the beautifully presented, Ishikei-illustrated, polyamory-themed visual novel  Love³ -Love Cube- and Shade’s highly enjoyable (and exceedingly sexy) Bullet Girls Phantasia.

And with that in mind, I was particularly delighted to have the opportunity to chat with Meru and Blick from Love Lab and find out a bit more about the game, Love Lab’s approach to localisation and some of the challenges they encountered with this peculiar project! Grab a bottle, chug it down (don’t forget to go “Pwaaaahhh!!” afterwards, this is non-negotiable) and let’s get started.

Continue reading LAMUNATION!: Introduction →

Final Fantasy II, Final Fantasy Marathon, Videos

Final Fantasy Marathon: Slot 4 is Cursed – Final Fantasy II #2

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One thing you’ll quickly come to learn about Final Fantasy II is that the fourth slot in the party list is cursed.

Yes, up until the late game, anyone finding themselves in that bottom slot should probably be fearing for their wellbeing. Minwu has, so far, escaped anything too perilous, but his time will come. Josef, however… well, just wait and see.

This aspect of Final Fantasy II actually made it stand out quite considerably from its contemporaries; people weren’t used to main characters dying as part of the narrative! But, well, let’s just say you’d better get accustomed to it… although the PSP version we’re currently playing does at least give anyone affected by the curse a second chance a little later…

Skipmore

Fairune Origin and Blast: Beginning and End

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Fairune and Fairune 2 were originally available as separate games for mobile devices and Nintendo 3DS, but in more recent releases for Switch and Windows PC, you’ll find them packaged as part of the Fairune Collection alongside two pleasant little extras: Fairune Origin and Fairune Blast.

The two titles are fairly self-explanatory — Fairune Origin is essentially the prototype for what would become the first Fairune, while Fairune Blast is a shoot ’em up themed after the series — but they’re both well worth playing in their own right.

Plus they’re pretty interesting in that they essentially represent both the genesis of and the conclusion to the series as a whole — well, that is unless creator Yuumi “Skipmore” Kimura decides to give us any more, of course — so let’s take a closer look at both.

Continue reading Fairune Origin and Blast: Beginning and End →

The best of overlooked and underappreciated computer and video games, from yesterday and today.