Author: Mark B.
-
Review: Shiren The Wanderer: The Tower of Fortune and the Dice of Fate (Sony PlayStation Vita)
Shiren The Wanderer: The Tower of Fortune and the Dice of Fate Genre: Roguelike Developer: Spike Chunsoft Publisher: Aksys Release Date: 07/26/16 If you’re a fan of roguelikes, you’re almost certainly acquainted with Shiren the Wanderer in some fashion, but if you’re not, or you’re the sort of person who’s most acquainted with the simpler…
-
Review: The King of Fighters XIV (Sony PlayStation IV)
The King of Fighters XIV Genre: Fighting Developer: SNK Playmore Publisher: Atlus Release Date: 08/23/16 It’s kind of surprising that it’s been almost five years since we’ve seen a new King of Fighters title released into the market; when the game was originally released back in 1994, under the clever moniker of The King of…
-
Neo Kobe Pizza – On Pokemon Ghostbusters w/ML Kennedy
Welcome back for another episode of Neo Kobe Pizza, Diehard GameFAN’s weekly topical podcast! This week, we talk about the idea of taking the framework of Pokemon GO and applying the Ghostbusters franchise to the game. This includes discussions on the franchises and our exposure to them, the core and expanded ideas of how to…
-
Neo Kobe Pizza – On Ludonarrative Dissonance w/Matt Yaeger
Welcome back for another episode of Neo Kobe Pizza, Diehard GameFAN’s weekly topical podcast! This week, we talk about Ludonarrative Dissonance, and whether it’s something that developers are largely failing at or making great strides to improve. We also touch on discussions surrounding known “offenders” in the genre, including Bioshock and most Ubisoft and Naughty…
-
Bandai Namco Press Event Recap: Tekken 7, God Eater 2, Tales of Berseria and more!
There aren’t a whole lot of game companies who go out of their way to hold events geared toward getting a bunch of journalists together to try out games on the east coast these days, so I honestly enjoy that Bandai Namco is one of those companies. I’m not afraid to admit that it’s fun…
-
Review: Neverwinter (Sony Playstation 4)
Neverwinter Genre: MMORPG Developer: Cryptic Studios Publisher: Perfect World Entertainment Release Date: 07/19/16 If you’re not the sort of person who follows along with this sort of thing, I feel I should mention right off the bat that there are a lot of free-to-play MMORPGs available on the market today. There are entire companies devoted…
-
Neo Kobe Pizza Episode Four: On DLC and Microtransactions
Welcome back for another episode of Neo Kobe Pizza, Diehard GameFAN’s weekly topical podcast! This week, we talk about DLC and Microtransactions, specifically their perception in the marketplace, cases where they’re successful and fail, and games that base their business model on releasing a limited client with offers of consistent support via long-term free (or…
-
Neo Kobe Pizza Episode Three: On being a Francophone Gamer w/Guy Desmarais
Welcome back for another episode of Neo Kobe Pizza, Diehard GameFAN’s weekly topical podcast! This week, we talk about what it’s like to grow up as a Francophone (French Speaking) gamer in a country (Canada) where games were, until recently, mostly released in English. We also discuss Canadian and US cultures, experience differences, and whose…
-
Neo Kobe Pizza Episode Two: On the Souls series w/J. Rose
Welcome back for another episode of Neo Kobe Pizza, Diehard GameFAN’s weekly topical podcast! This week, we talk about the Souls Series, discussing the entries in the franchise, our impressions of the best and worst entries, and what makes the games unique, for better or worse. Hosted by Mark B Writing, featuring J. Rose. NOTE:…
-
Neo Kobe Pizza Episode One: On Persona 5 w/Aaron Sirois
Welcome to the first episode of Neo Kobe Pizza, Diehard GameFAN’s new weekly topical podcast! Unlike the Diehard GameCAST, which is a three (or more) person casual podcast featuring multiple discussions on current events, Neo Kobe Pizza is a single-topic, two person podcast, featuring Mark B. and a rotating guest based on the topic of…
-
Review: Fairy Fencer F: Advent Dark Force (Sony Playstation 4)
Fairy Fencer F: Advent Dark Force Genre: RPG Developer: Compile Heart Publisher: Idea Factory Release Date: 07/26/16 Normally, when a remake of an existing game comes out, if I’ve reviewed the original, I tend to copy over the original information, italicized, and spell out the new information in normal text, or use the original as…
-
Review: Pac-Man 256 (Sony Playstation 4)
Pac-Man 256 Genre: Puzzle/Runner Developer: Hipster Whale Publisher: Bandai Namco Games Release Date: 06/21/16 Way back when Pac-Man first turned into a phenomenon in the arcade scene, there was a glitch in the game (due to the technological limits of the time) that eventually became something of an infamous game glitch: Level 256. Since the…
-
10 Thoughts on… the 7th Dragon III: Code VFO Demo (Nintendo 3DS)
What a time to be alive as a gamer, am I right? Fifteen years ago you never had any idea what might make its way out of Japan and into the US marketplace, and niche RPGs, while they did make their way into the market, were hardly commonplace, especially from larger publishers. Today, we’re getting…
-
Review: Melty Blood: Actress Again Current Code (PC)
Melty Blood: Actress Again Current Code Genre: Fighting Developer: Ecole/French Bread Publisher: Arc System Works Release Date: 04/19/16 Seven years ago, Melty Blood: Actress Again came out on the Playstation 2, and on a whim, I decided to import it, because I was on a huge fighting game kick at the time. Knowing that the…
-
Diehard GameFAN Presents: Unboxing the Tokyo Mirage Sessions Special Edition
Man, Atlus has been all-in with the Megaten Special Editions in the past few years, haven’t they? Between the Special Editions for Persona Q and Persona 4 Dancing All Night (both the US release and the crazy Japanese release), they’ve been on a roll, and the announced Persona 5 Special Edition looks like it’s trying…
-
Review: Karakara (PC)
Karakara Genre: Visual Novel Developer: Calme Publisher: Sekai Project Release Date: 06/27/16 While Nekopara, as a series, isn’t really my favorite VN series on the market, there’s an inherently interesting idea buried under the surface of the wacky sex comedy as presented. There are some legitimately interesting ideas in the narrative, like how the world…
-
Review: Baseball Riot (Microsoft Xbox One)
Baseball Riot Genre: Puzzle Developer: 10tons Ltd Publisher: 10tons Ltd Release Date: 12/09/15 If you missed out on Tennis in the Face, I don’t blame you; despite featuring a title that’s very “does what it says on the can,” it’s definitely a game that’s meant for a very specific audience. As a physics puzzle sort…
-
Why Your Waifu Sucks: In Defense of Marie
Why Your Waifu Sucks: Investigations Into Why Anime/Game Characters Would Be the WORST Romantic Partners. Well, it’s been a while, so let’s get down to business. A couple of things before we begin proper: – I played Persona 4: Dancing All Night between the prior article and this one, and to address the possibility of…
-
Review: Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR- (Sony Playstation 4)
Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR- Genre: Fighting Developer: Arc System Works Publisher: Aksys Release Date: 06/07/16 I’ve fallen out of the loop a bit with Guilty Gear; while I’ve kept up with some of the other fighting games developed by Arc System Works over the years, including BlazBlue and Persona 4 Arena, the last Guilty Gear…
-
Playing the Lame Presents: Dark Souls III, Tokyo Mirage Sessions, and the Greater Scope of Player Interests
PRESENTS Dark Souls III, Tokyo Mirage Sessions, and the Greater Scope of Player Interests. In the interest of full disclosure, this isn’t really an article I’m entirely enthusiastic about writing, even though it’s… going to be kind of on the long side, because I do have a lot to unpack here, regardless of my want…