As a general rule, I’m not one for combining gaming and shared socialization. I tend to be pretty solitary when it comes to games; chalk it up to a childhood of single-player titles. Clearly I enjoy writing about my experiences and spreading that around, but in truth it’s often done as an exercise in catharsis. … Continue reading Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective
Tag: adventure
A Short Hike
One thing I love about indie games is the sheer eagerness with which they address topics and scenarios AAA games would never touch. Take today’s topic, for example. A Short Hike is a game about a young bird-lady vacationing to a sleepy, idyllic national park. There’s no grand twist to that narrative, no threat or … Continue reading A Short Hike
Frog Detective 2: The Case of the Invisible Wizard
Unlike the first time I sat down to review a Frog Detective game, I think now I know what I expect and what I feel about this series. It might be some bizarre mix of bafflement, bemusement, and an odd sense of elation, but it is at least a concrete sense of how I regard … Continue reading Frog Detective 2: The Case of the Invisible Wizard
The Haunted Island, a Frog Detective Game
I’ll be honest, I have no idea how to introduce what I feel or think about Frog Detective. Based purely on the name alone, I admit I absolutely would not have even given a second glance to it if it had scrolled into my view on Steam. It reminds me too much of that miserable … Continue reading The Haunted Island, a Frog Detective Game
Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth
One thing which I’ve maintained throughout this lovely little sojourn through the Ace Attorney games has been that the series has never needed to indulge in any huge amount of innovation. Indeed, the franchise really hasn’t been that interested in it either, with each game retaining the same excellent core gameplay loop with, at best, … Continue reading Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth
Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney
The word iconic is thrown about a lot when it comes to video games. Indeed, every game or franchise has something iconic about it, whether it really is or isn’t, but I think it would be fair to label Phoenix Wright in the camp of genuinely iconic video game characters. He might not have the … Continue reading Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Trials and Tribulations
If the second Ace Attorney taught me anything, it was as a stark reminder of the perils of over-excitement. It was certainly a good reminder that visual novels live or die on their writing, and Justice for All definitely floundered. Still, there was of course a lingering hope that, on going into this third entry … Continue reading Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Trials and Tribulations
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Justice for All
It’s safe to say I went into the second Ace Attorney with high expectations from the first game. However, I’m not entirely sure what I wanted from it though. The strengths of the first game were I suppose partly in the surprise of it being a visual novel I genuinely enjoyed, and partly because the … Continue reading Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Justice for All
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
I feel like you can’t play the Professor Layton games and not also stop to take a look in at Ace Attorney. The two franchises feel so intrinsically linked now to me as the premier puzzle-solving visual novel-style games. I appreciate that’s quite a niche subgenre, but Ace Attorney and Professor Layton definitely made it … Continue reading Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
Professor Layton and the Lost Future
It’s probably a rule of mystery and fantasy writing codified somewhere that at some point you are honour-bound to try and involve time travel in your plot. Then again, when your protagonist is a well-spoken and seemingly infinitely educated British gentleman, perhaps you simply have to throw in some time shenanigans because, well, the comparisons … Continue reading Professor Layton and the Lost Future