Cover Games, Pokémon Sword and Shield

Pokémon Sword and Shield: A Grand Tour of Galar

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header-6-2861792This article is one chapter of a multi-part Cover Game feature!
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As we’ve already seen, the first few Pokémon games were set in regions modelled after particular regions of Japan, but from the New York-inspired Black and White onwards, the series has looked more globally. And Sword and Shield is no exception.

Specifically, the Galar region that forms the setting for Pokémon Sword and Shield is modelled on the United Kingdom, particularly mainland England, Wales and Scotland.

As most regular readers will probably know, I am a British person, so who better to explore the locales of Sword and Shield and try to figure out if they have real-life counterparts on our grotty little island? Well, I’m sure you can name several, but you’re stuck with me for now, so read on…

Continue reading Pokémon Sword and Shield: A Grand Tour of Galar →

Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy Marathon, Videos

Final Fantasy Marathon: Onward to Whisperwind Cove – Final Fantasy I #23

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The Warriors of Light are about to take on their longest, most significant challenge yet: the 40-floor Whisperwind Cove!

Thankfully, the boss fights in here aren’t quite as brutal as the devastating foes who lurked at the base of Lifespring Grotto, but 40 floors is certainly a lot to get through. Thankfully, there are plenty of places to rest and regroup along the way… including a village full of absolutely fabulous-looking mages.

I have no idea how long this is going to take, so if I manage to get enough episodes recorded in advance, there may be two episodes a week just while we clear out this monstrosity. And then we have the Labyrinth of Time to clear after this, too… why did I start this again…?

MoeGamer Awards 2019

The MoeGamer 2019 Awards: The Least “Retro” Retro Game

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The MoeGamer Awards are a series of “alternative” awards I’ve devised in collaboration with the community to celebrate the sorts of things that never get celebrated in end-of-year roundups! Find out more here — and feel free to leave a suggestion on that post if you have any good ideas!

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Last year, the Least “Retro” Retro Game award specifically celebrated an older game that still plays well today for one reason or another.

Perhaps it’s a timeless classic that has remained constantly excellent as the years have passed. Perhaps it’s something you didn’t appreciate much in your younger days. Or perhaps it’s even something that went overlooked or underappreciated in its original time, only to seem even more innovative and distinctive when looked at from a modern perspective.

I’ve got a great one in mind from among the games I’ve played and written about this year, so this was an easy decision to make.

And the winner is…

Continue reading The MoeGamer 2019 Awards: The Least “Retro” Retro Game →

Atari A to Z, Videos

Atari ST A to Z: Jinxter

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Telecomsoft’s “Rainbird” label was known for putting out a variety of high-quality releases aimed at more “mature” gamers: things like adventure games, strategy games and simulations.

A popular set of games released under this label were the illustrated text adventures composed by Magnetic Scrolls — a range of games with a distinctly British sense of humour about them, along with some excellent writing, some well-crafted “feelies” in the packaging and, as usual for the genre, plenty of crazy puzzles to figure out.

One such example is Jinxter, a game which challenges you to deal with the fact the world is suffering a bit of a spate of… wossname… bad luck.

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

MoeGamer Awards 2019

The MoeGamer 2019 Awards: The #25YearsOfPlay Award

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The MoeGamer Awards are a series of “alternative” awards I’ve devised in collaboration with the community to celebrate the sorts of things that never get celebrated in end-of-year roundups! Find out more here — and feel free to leave a suggestion on that post if you have any good ideas!

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Today’s award comes from the fact that the PlayStation turned 25… err, yesterday, actually, but near enough.

It’s pretty fair to say that the original PlayStation was a defining influence on many gaming enthusiasts’ passion for the hobby, and for a wide variety of reasons. For those who had grown up with earlier systems, the PlayStation marked the moment gaming acquired real mainstream acceptance; for those new to the hobby, it was a platform that played host to a more diverse array of experiences than ever before.

With that in mind, today’s award celebrates a game from the original PlayStation era that I have incredibly fond memories of, not just of the game itself, but of everything going on surrounding it at the time I first experienced it.

And the winner is…

Continue reading The MoeGamer 2019 Awards: The #25YearsOfPlay Award →

Videos, Warriors All-Stars, Warriors Wednesday

Warriors Wednesday: Princess of Traps – Warriors All-Stars #7

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I’m clearly going to have to investigate the Deception series at some point. I mean, I was planning on doing so anyway, but this game is just reminding me of quite how behind I am!

In today’s missions, Rio and company spend a bit of time clearing out some smaller skirmishes before taking aim for their next potential ally: a rather dour young woman named Millennia, who seems a little too keen to get started on the whole “killing” thing. No-one told her we don’t kill people in Warriors games; we K.O. them!

Millennia hails from Kagero: Deception II, which is where the series really got rolling and established itself after the first-person first installment in the series. She has… a certain amount of stress to get out of her system, it seems — but as we all know, there’s no better place to do that than in a Warriors game!

MoeGamer Awards 2019

The MoeGamer 2019 Awards: The “Are You Lost?” Award

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The MoeGamer Awards are a series of “alternative” awards I’ve devised in collaboration with the community to celebrate the sorts of things that never get celebrated in end-of-year roundups! Find out more here — and feel free to leave a suggestion on that post if you have any good ideas!

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The next award comes courtesy of frequent commenter ASD. They want to know the five characters (from games I played this year) that I’d take on my desert island survival team.

I didn’t write about it this year, but I rather enjoyed the short-form anime Are You Lost? (aka ソウナンですか？ Sōnan desu ka?) from the summer anime season. It was one of a number of recent pieces of Japanese popular media that had a distinctly “educational” component, and I can’t help but think of it when contemplating this award.

Of course, it wasn’t a video game and thus is largely irrelevant to the discussion we’re about to have, but it was an entertaining anime that is worth checking out. Anyway. I digress.

And the winner is…

Continue reading The MoeGamer 2019 Awards: The “Are You Lost?” Award →

Atari A to Z, Videos

Atari A to Z: Pac-Man

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We’re all pretty accustomed to arcade-perfect conversions these days, but what about back in the ’80s where programmers had to make home versions of arcade games from scratch without any handy emulation?

The results varied enormously — at least partly because in some cases the programmers in question didn’t have any original source material to work with — but there were a few very solid examples over the years.

One pretty great arcade conversion for Atari 8-bit was the Atari-published version of Namco’s Pac-Man. It’s certainly better than the notorious 2600 version!

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

MoeGamer Awards 2019

The MoeGamer 2019 Awards: The Atari Anime Award

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The MoeGamer Awards are a series of “alternative” awards I’ve devised in collaboration with the community to celebrate the sorts of things that never get celebrated in end-of-year roundups! Find out more here — and feel free to leave a suggestion on that post if you have any good ideas!

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This year’s first award is exactly the sort of peculiar thing I was after, courtesy of regular and longstanding reader Viscera/@Zwifu.

Viscera wants to know the Atari game I want to be remade with cute anime girls the most. Preferably something that has been covered in one of my Atari A to Z videos.

That’s a hell of a category to start with! I’m going to have to think hard about this one…

And the winner is…

Continue reading The MoeGamer 2019 Awards: The Atari Anime Award →

Announcements, Community

Around the Network

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Hello everyone, hope you’ve been having a good weekend. Mine has been fairly uneventful so far, which I guess is a good thing.

It’s officially December now, so you’re all allowed to put your Christmas decorations up. The MoeGamer Awards will be starting shortly alongside the Pokémon Sword and Shield feature, so please be sure to stop by this post and leave some ideas for award categories if you haven’t already. The more the merrier!

Anyway, let’s check out what you might have missed this week.

Continue reading Around the Network →

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