japan

Another day, another roguelite. This time it’s Yasha: Legends of the Demon Blade from 7Quark. Mixing Japanese history with demonic folklore is not a new thing but the repeatable structure and short runs do make for something potentially interesting. Unfortunately, it’s a game that devolves into repetition a little too […]

Yasha: Legends of the Demon Blade – PS5 Review

June 2, 2025 in PS5 / Reviews tagged 7quark / edo / japan / melee combat / nine-tailed fox / oniguri / parries / ranged combat / repetition / ripostes / roguelite / run-based / yasha legends of the demon blade by Mike

Ed-O: Zombie Uprising invokes memories of a better time. No, not the Edo-era of Feudal Japan from which the game gets its stylised name but rather the seventh generation of home video game consoles which included the Wii, the PS3 and most notably for us, the Xbox 360. The 360-era […]

Ed-0: Zombie Uprising – PS5 Review

July 24, 2023 in PS5 / Reviews tagged ed-0 zombie uprising / hack and slash / japan / loot / rogue-lite / souls-like by Richie

Raiden IV x Mikado Remix is a vertically-scrolling shoot-’em-up from famed Japanese arcade developer MOSS. As with most series from Japan, there’s a degree of… non-linearity to their releases and that’s definitely the case here as Raiden V already exists (we reviewed it five years ago). But a lot of people […]

Raiden IV x Mikado Remix – PS5 Review

January 27, 2023 in PS5 / Reviews tagged arcade / japan / raiden / shooter / vertically-scrolling shoot em up by Richie

It’s the season for spooky tales and what better way to close out October than with a visual novel with some heavy supernatural leanings? Hermitage: Strange Case Files is a detective story that puts a heavy emphasis on the bizarre goings on. I feel the genre needs no excuses to […]

Hermitage: Strange Case Files – PS4 Review

October 30, 2021 in PS4 / Reviews tagged arrowiz / hermitage strange case files / japan / lovecraft / monsters / mystery / narratively-driven / supernatural / visual novel by Mike

Ginga Force is a vertically-scrolling shoot ’em up that has quite an interesting pedigree. It comes from genre-specialists Qute Corporation and they’re responsible for some fairly unique releases. They initially started out making shoot ’em ups for the WonderSwan handheld before porting them to the Xbox 360 and continuing to make […]

Ginga Force – PS4 Review

February 9, 2021 in PS4 / Reviews tagged anime / arcade / ginga force / japan / qute corporation / verically-scrolling shoot 'em up by Richie

From Honey ∞ Parade Games, Shade Game Development and publisher Marvelous! comes the extremely Japanese Kandagawa Jet Girls. This is a licenced game of the anime of the same name in which the jetter is the pilot of the jetski and the shooter is, well, you work it out. The […]

Kandagawa Jet Girls – PS4 Review

September 4, 2020 in PS4 / Reviews tagged japan / kandagawa / schoolgirls / sketchy / weeb by Ian

Sony are ending the generation with a flourish. Whatever you think of their style, the major first party games released by Sony this generation have all been of a high quality. Now they’ve seen fit to release two games this summer, mere months before the start of the next generation. […]

Ghost of Tsushima – PS4 Review

July 25, 2020 in PS4 tagged combat / ghost of tsushima / japan / mongols / open world / samurai / stealth by Gareth

From Software are back with another game in the Souls mould. Much like Bloodborne before it Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice makes some major changes to how the game plays whilst keeping the the atmosphere and exploration that makes the likes of Dark Souls 3 so popular. What are those changes […]

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice – PS4 Review

April 8, 2019 in PS4 tagged bloodborne / dark souls / difficult / japan / ninja / sekiro / shadows die twice / shinobi by Gareth

It’s been a while since PSVR owners had a reason to get excited but Tetris Effect, the latest project from Rez and Lumines creator Tetsuya Mizuguchi, is creating quite a stir in the media and the recent demo of the game has got gamers falling over themselves to give it […]

Tetris Effect – PSVR/PS4 Review

November 9, 2018 in PS4 / PSVR tagged japan / music / puzzle / rez / tetris by Richie

Sega’s Yakuza series has been going strong for over a decade now with players in the West now receiving the games at a steady rate. After a small delay, Yakuza 6: The Song of Life finally takes to store shelves with a new engine under the hood. Long-time series protagonist […]

Yakuza 6: The Song of Life – PS4 Review

April 25, 2018 in PS4 / Reviews tagged action / adventure / crime drama / japan / open world / sega / yakuza 6 the song of life by Mike

Okay, transparency time. I never played Hakuoki: Kyoto Winds. If you feel that makes my opinion invalid then feel free to stop reading. For those who aren’t aware Hakuoki: Edo Blossoms is a direct continuation of the story from Kyoto Winds. Both are visual novels set in Japan in the […]

Hakuoki: Edo Blossoms – Vita Review

March 16, 2018 in Vita tagged edo blossoms / hakuoki / japan / kyoto winds / otome / samurai / sequel / visual novel by Gareth

Released on PC last year to critical acclaim, Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun has made its way to PS4. Being a slower paced, strategy-stealth game you might think it an odd choice for a console port but that just makes it all the more impressive that it totally works. […]

Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun – PS4 Review

July 30, 2017 in PS4 tagged blades of the shogun / japan / ninja / real time / samurai / shadow tactics / stealth / strategy by Gareth