Fuel Overdose, developed by i-Friqiya, is one of those games that exists, but awareness of said existence only happens to those either finely tuned into the industry or prone to chance encounters with the bizarre. If you’re the kind of person that enjoyed browsing the “Special Interest” shelves at Hollywood Videos, Fuel Overdose is a game that will probably catch your eye, for better or worse. It’s a game that strives to defy categorization, but ultimately stumbles in its ambitions. A chaotic amalgamation of styles, mechanics and weird storytelling, what you discover in this game may not be “good,” but it is undoubtedly fascinating. READ MORE
The PlayStation Vita is a powerful piece of portable hardware! Because of that, we’ve been able to enjoy a handful of ports and updates of games that were previously only on consoles, such as Street Fighter X Tekken and Persona 4 Golden. Tecmo Koei contributed to the trend in the form of Ninja Gaiden Sigma Plus, which was an update of an update of an update, bringing the mid-aughties classic to a portable system for the first time and somehow managing to conjure up even more new features. READ MORE
The coolest thing about Koei’s Dynasty Warriors (or Musou) series in the past few years has been the occasional branching away from the same old Three Kingdoms song and dance and exploration of really great, classic anime franchises. It started with Mobile Suit Gundam, followed that up with Fist of the North Star and most recently tackled Eiichiro Oda’s insurmountable cash cow One Piece. The first game based upon Buronson and Tetsuo Hara’s classic post-apocalyptic martial arts saga, Fist of the North Star: Ken’s Rage was a bit of a divisive game; some found it sluggish and limited in scope, but others (including myself) enjoyed it as a hard-hitting, accurate tribute to the classic manga (and anime) that made a few interesting changes to the typical Musou formula. READ MORE
Last year, Aksys took a risk and published Hakuoki: Demon of the Fleeting Blossom. Not only was it unique in that it was a visual novel, a genre that is still trying to get a foothold in our market, but it was also an “otome” game; a story specifically created for a female audience. Fleeting Blossom was a romance story revolving around Chizuru, a girl that finds herself involved with the Shinsengumi as they fought to assist the Shogunate at the tail end of a political era. It was very well-written, with a large cast of equally dynamic characters, and did well enough for Aksys to bring over another game in Idea Factory’s multi-game franchise.
This year we have Hakuoki: Warriors of the Shinsengumi, which prides itself as being a Dynasty Warriors-style action game that explores the plot of the original (though it actually appears to be based on the anime adaptation), and also brings a new, alternate-universe story that introduces some new characters and battle scenarios. READ MORE
Before I get started here, I need a moment. Just a moment. I am sitting here, in a fairly comfortable reclining chair, preparing to write a critique piece on a game that I honestly did not expect to be able to play. My Vita, resting on a table for the time being, contains not only a digital copy of Team GrisGris’ anime-inspired splatterfest Corpse Party, but also one of its follow-up: Corpse Party: Book of Shadows. READ MORE
