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One-Shots

VA-11 Hall-A: Mixing Drinks and Changing Lives

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VA-11 Hall-A is a remarkable work in so many ways. Not only is it the work of just two mysterious chaps from Venezuela, it’s one of the most authentically “Japanese-feeling” Western works for quite some time.

On top of all that, it’s simply an extremely well put together package, featuring beautiful pixel art by Christopher Ortiz strongly reminiscent of vintage Japanese computers such as the PC-88 and PC-98; some snappy, witty writing by Fernando Damas; and a cast of characters so memorable they’ll haunt your dreams long after you serve your last Piano Woman.

The cherry on top of all this is, as we previously discussed when we looked at the game’s early Prologue version, the fact that VA-11 Hall-A’s focus and setting are interesting, compelling and, if not completely unique, then certainly very distinctive.

Continue reading VA-11 Hall-A: Mixing Drinks and Changing Lives →

Cover Games, Megadimension Neptunia V-II

Megadimension Neptunia V-II: Introduction

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cropped-nep-header-2922355This article is one chapter of a multi-part Cover Game feature!
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Since its original appearance in 2010, the Neptunia series has grown from a niche-interest RPG into one of developer Compile Heart’s biggest success stories.

This is a particularly remarkable achievement, given that the first installment in the series didn’t have a strong critical reception at all — while review score aggregation isn’t an exact science by any means, the fact that the first Hyperdimension Neptunia game sits at a not-so-proud score of 45 on Metacritic should make it fairly clear that this is not a game that the mainstream press liked. At all.

And yet here we are, six years later at the time of writing, celebrating the release of the seventh (or fourth, depending on how you want to look at it) installment in the mainline, canonical Neptunia series, and the tenth overall release to carry the Neptunia name in the West.

How did this happen? How did a series that started with a game almost universally panned by professional critics become one of the most recognisable Japanese franchises on the worldwide market?

Continue reading Megadimension Neptunia V-II: Introduction →

From the Archives, MoeGamer 1.0

MoeGamerTV: Treasures of Steam’s Summer Comiket Sale

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Steam’s running another Summer Comiket sale full of Japanese doujin games goodness — they’ve actually remembered to promote it this time, though! Here’s a selection of games that are worth exploring.

Check out the articles from last year for more on some of the other games available in the sale:

Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV

From the Archives, MoeGamer 1.0

Eorzea Diaries: Fixing the Hunt

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It’s been a little while since our last report from Eorzea, the setting of Square Enix’s spectacular rebooted MMO Final Fantasy XIV, and so it’s about time we checked in.

Last time we spoke, you may recall that there was some controversy over a new game system added in the 2.3 Defenders of Eorzea patch, known as The Hunt.

Loosely inspired by the similar mechanic in Final Fantasy XII, The Hunt challenges denizens of Eorzea to track down and defeat numerous powerful monsters in exchange for a new type of currency: Allied Seals. This currency is in high demand because not only does it allow access to some attractive vanity gear and exclusive minions, it also indirectly allows players to acquire Sands and Oils of Time, which in turn allow them to upgrade item level 100 “Weathered” weapons, armour and accessories into their item level 110 counterparts.

There was a problem, though: the attractiveness of these rewards meant that there were suddenly swathes of people zerg-rushing the monsters for The Hunt, which caused all manner of other problems.

Now that patch 2.35 has been released, incorporating a few fixes to The Hunt, is the experience at least playable now?

Continue reading Eorzea Diaries: Fixing the Hunt →

From the Archives, MoeGamer 1.0

Where Everybody Knows Your Name is “Bartender”

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One of the most powerful — and underexplored — aspects of video games at large is that they allow us to put ourselves in the shoes of other people: to explore lives that are not our own.

In the case of most games, the “lives that are not our own” tend to be power fantasies: we take on the roles of heroic archetypes as they battle their way through epic conflicts via various means: punching things in the face, slicing them up with sharp implements or using a variety of heavy weaponry with which to inflict death and destruction.

That’s all very well and good — power fantasies are fun, which is why we’ve experienced so many of them over the years — but sometimes it’s interesting to explore something a little more… mundane. Like, say, being a bartender.

Enter VA-11 HALL-A, then, an upcoming game from Venezuelan (but heavily Japan-inspired) developer Sukeban Games and publisher Ysbryd Games…

Continue reading Where Everybody Knows Your Name is “Bartender” →

From the Archives, MoeGamer 1.0

Treasures of Steam’s Secret Comiket Sale, Part IV

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And so we come to the final part of our exploration of Steam’s Comiket sale — a well-hidden set of discounts on a wide selection of Japanese doujin titles in celebration of the biannual Comiket doujinshi fair.

The games available in the sale run the gamut from danmaku (“bullet hell”) shooters to visual novels and represent a fine selection of what the growing Japanese indie scene has to offer. Thanks to partnerships with publishers such as Nyu Media and Playism, Japanese games are a growing market on Valve’s platform — it’s a shame that this sale was not given wider visibility through a front-page promo slot, however, meaning that it may well have passed more than a few people by, and missed a great opportunity to introduce more Western-centric gamers to the cultural output of our friends in the Far East.

Never fear, though, as you’ve got until August 18 to discover some new favourites from among the available titles. Today’s selection presents the last few titles we haven’t covered as yet. You can check out the previous three posts here on MoeGamer to find out more about the titles we haven’t covered today.

Let’s get started!

Continue reading Treasures of Steam’s Secret Comiket Sale, Part IV →

From the Archives, MoeGamer 1.0

Treasures of Steam’s Secret Comiket Sale, Part III

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By now, if you’ve been following MoeGamer this week, you’re hopefully aware of Steam’s Comiket sale, in which a selection of Japanese doujin titles are available for significantly reduced prices in celebration of Japan’s famous biannual doujinshi fair.

It’s a sale that, despite there being a dedicated page for it, Valve has seen fit to all but ignore so far as promotion is concerned — there’s not a whiff of it on the store’s front page. We’re not going to let that stand, though! The doujin titles on Steam represent some great examples of the burgeoning Japanese indie development scene, and supporting them sends a great message both to the doujin circles responsible for developing the games in the first place, and the localisation companies who have brought these titles to the West.

Today, we’re going to take a look at another selection of games available in the sale. Hold on to your wallets!

Continue reading Treasures of Steam’s Secret Comiket Sale, Part III →

From the Archives, MoeGamer 1.0

Treasures of Steam’s Secret Comiket Sale, Part II

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If you’ve just joined us, it seems that Steam is holding a sale in celebration of Japan’s biannual Comiket event, during which the prices of various Japanese doujin (indie) titles are considerably reduced — yet, bizarrely, there is absolutely no mention of this sale anywhere on the platform’s front page.

Never fear, though, because even if Valve isn’t going to shout about this extremely generous sale on a selection of great games, that doesn’t stop us celebrating it.

Yesterday, we took a look at a selection of some of the games available in the sale. Today, we continue our exploration with another group of fine titles, all of which are well worth your time and money — particularly at these ridiculous prices.

Check out the full sale selection at this link, and hit the jump for further thoughts.

Continue reading Treasures of Steam’s Secret Comiket Sale, Part II →

From the Archives, MoeGamer 1.0

Treasures of Steam’s Secret Comiket Sale, Part I

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There’s a Steam sale full of Japanese doujin (indie) games going on right now in celebration of Japan’s biannual Comiket event, but you’d be forgiven for not knowing about it; it hasn’t been publicised anywhere on the platform’s front page.

Instead, it’s seemingly relying on word-of-mouth to spread — a little disappointing for a platform that has, historically, allowed both big-name and small-scale projects to shine through front-page promotion. The reason for the sale’s lack of promotion isn’t entirely clear; perhaps it’s due to the perception of the titles involved in it as “niche interest” rather than games that will appeal to a broad slice of Steam’s audience. And that might be fair enough in some cases — but it’s also a squandered opportunity to expose these games to a much wider audience.

So let’s take the time to explore what’s in this sale now and do at least a little to address the issue. You can find the sale’s page at this link, and after the break, what you can expect from a selection of the games involved, with more to follow throughout the week.

Continue reading Treasures of Steam’s Secret Comiket Sale, Part I →

From the Archives, MoeGamer 1.0

Sexual Healing

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Visual novels have been around for a lot longer than some people realise — and, like any art form, they’ve changed noticeably over time.

An excellent example of the way they’ve changed — aesthetically, thematically and in terms of gameplay — comes in the form of Nocturnal Illusion, a title first brought to Western shores by localisation specialists JAST USA all the way back in 1997. It’s noteworthy in that, unlike many more recent visual novels, it’s not a “slice of life” affair focusing exclusively on romantic entanglements between the protagonist and the members of the cast who are love interests; while the game does explore the nature of love and sexuality in places, it’s actually much more of a surreal, fantastic, symbolic and at times horrific affair — and it’s hugely compelling as a result.

Regrettably, Nocturnal Illusion is extremely difficult to get running on modern machines owing to its age, though it is possible to get it going through a bit of fiddling around with ViLE — a “virtual machine” project for older visual novels that appears to have been dormant since 2011.

Alternatively, you could just read on and find out more about this unusual and remarkable game.

Continue reading Sexual Healing →