June2019
Review Super Neptunia RPG - Only You Can Save the Gamindustri
2D console wars
Things have definitely changed since the last time we visited the land of Gamindustri (yes, that’s really what the world is called). For one thing, everything is now in 2D which, according to the locals, is the height of modern gaming technology. Super Neptunia RPG is a spin-off from the Hyperdimension Neptunia games, a super cute...
March2018
Review Hakuoki: Edo Blossoms (PS Vita)
Choose your husbando
Hakuoki: Edo Blossoms is a visual novel otome game and a direct sequel to last year’s Hakuoki: Kyoto Winds. The main character Chizuru Yukimura is still trying to find her missing father and is still hanging out with the Shinsengumi, a military police unit made up of hunky ronin. The game tells of a time between the waning...
September2017
Review Mary Skelter: Nightmares (PS Vita)
Once upon a time
Based on some of Compile Heart’s previous games we weren’t expecting a lot from Mary Skelter: Nightmares - just a simple dungeon crawler with a bit of fanservice thrown in. What we actually got, however, was something far more interesting. The opening to Mary Skelter is surprisingly dark. The game’s protagonist Jack and his...
May2017
Review Hakuoki: Kyoto Winds (PS Vita)
Samurai lovin', had me a blast
Hakuoki: Kyoto Winds is the latest game in the Hakuoki series, and is billed by developer Idea Factory as a “remastered telling of the beloved 2008 series”. Set in historic Japan, the game follows the protagonist as she's taken in by a group of samurai while looking for her father who has gone missing. Being an...
November2016
Review Superdimension Neptune VS SEGA Hard Girls (PS Vita)
To be this good takes AGES
Just when you thought that the PlayStation Vita had no new games, here comes a rather lovely RPG adventure which packs a ton of fun combat and exploration into a perfect on the go package. Superdimension Neptune VS SEGA Hard Girls is a spin off from the long running Hyperdimension Neptunia RPG series which sees various...
February2016
Review Megadimension Neptunia VII (PS4)
The same old Neptune
Playing through the main storyline of Megadimension Neptunia VII, you'd perhaps be forgiven for thinking of the series' first PlayStation 4 instalment as three different games entirely. Packaged as a trio of story arcs tied together by an overarching plot, you fight across alternate dimensions to save the fate of Gamindustri...
September2015
Review Amnesia: Memories (PS Vita)
A memorable encounter
Amnesia: Memories is an otome visual novel where you play the nameless heroine who has lost her memories. The reason given in the opening scenes of the game is that a sprite named Orion has collided with you and takes up the space in the brain where your memories used to be. A cute notion, but as the storylines unfold, you...
February2015
Review Hyperdevotion Noire: Goddess Black Heart (PlayStation Vita)
PlayStation Noire
In an RPG franchise far, far away, there lived a CPU called Noire. As representative of Lastation, she didn't want to exist in the shadows of her allies anymore, and wanted to stand true as the game's main character. With hope in her heart, pure determination, and an army of generals at her command, her wish finally comes true in...
January2015
Review Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth2: Sisters Generation (PlayStation Vita)
A real mouthful
We all know the dreaded curse of video game sequels. Studios will often find themselves with a hit on their hands, and in a feeble attempt to recreate gold, will instead serve up a horrible mess of lost potential. Japanese role-playing game Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth2: Sisters Generation steers clear of this trap, instead...
August2014
Review Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth1 (PlayStation Vita)
Queen of Lastation
Irrespective of allegiance, we’ve all witnessed the console wars. From the days when Nintendo and SEGA contested store shelves, all the way to the triple pronged struggle of the current generation, it’s something that, as gamers, we’re all familiar with. This eternal war is at the heart of Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth1...
June2014
Review Monster Monpiece (PlayStation Vita)
Cover-up girl
It’s fair to say that Western support for the PlayStation Vita has dwindled in the past year or so, setting the stage for several Japanese ports to step up and plug the hole. None, however, are more questionably sexualised than Monster Monpiece; a card game where leveling up monster girls by rubbing the handheld’s touchscreen in a...
May2014
Review Hakuoki: Stories of the Shinsengumi (PlayStation 3)
A novel idea
Hakuoki: Stories of the Shinsengumi is one of those rare video games that aren’t really video games at all. Actually, it’s a novel, cunningly disguised as something that you need a controller for. Occasionally the story will be interrupted with a choice for you to make, but largely the main goal is to keep on reading. It may be...
April2013
Review Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory (PlayStation 3)
"Is that your 'please punish me' face?"
Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory is a hard-sell. It’s what reviewers like to call ‘a niche title’, meaning a game that the majority of PlayStation 3 owners will pick up and then swiftly put back down. Set in a land governed by gaming tech, it's the third instalment in the Neptunia JRPG series, a franchise...
