“You can rescue homeless cats for a cat café. 10/10” … Written By: Jeb Wrench I have been informed by my editor that I need to provide more information than just that for this review. Editors Note: Cats will always be welcome here on Broken Joysticks. That is a fairly reasonable request, so what’s all this about Yakuza 6 then? Yakuza 6 is, naturally, the seventh numbered edition of Sega’s Yakuza series (if you’re confused as to...
Continue reading...Broken Joysticks
Shelter Generations arrives on the Nintendo Switch tomorrow
Shelter Generations arrives on the Nintendo Switch eShop on April 12th. Being released by Circle Entertainment, this console-exclusive collection includes Shelter 2 + Mountains DLC, Paws: A Shelter 2 Game, soundtracks for both games, and two ‘living books’. Shelter Generations will arrive in the Nintendo eShop for $17.99 USD in week one and then $19.99 USD after that.
Continue reading...GDC 18: Hands On With Little Dragon Cafe
Written By: Victoria Rose Last month at the Game Developers’ Conference, we at Broken Joysticks got the opportunity to play an in-development demo of Little Dragon Café, the new game headed up by Harvest Moon creator Yasuhiro Wada and his new studio, Toybox. The game borrows the relaxing Life Simulation gameplay of its creator’s previous works, but adds several modern twists to the formula to keep things fresh. One of the things that sets Life Simulator games apart...
Continue reading...Best Games We Played Runner-Up: Persona 5
Article By: Victoria Rose This past year saw a lot of major releases in quick succession. From the scary corridors of Resident Evil 7 this past February, or the whirlwind of the Nintendo Switch launch in March or the constant hype rush of new trailers and news that is E3 – there was a lot to be excited about. Wedged in-between all of this was Atlus’ long awaited JRPG sequel, Persona 5, debuting nearly 3 years after...
Continue reading...The Best Games We Played 2017: A Hat In Time
Contributor Victoria Rose shares her thoughts on the best game she played this year – A Hat In Time. Over the next week, into early 2017, our editors will be sharing their picks for the best game they played this year. They’ll also be sharing some of their choices for runner-up. “The Best Games We Played 2017” is a reflection of the year that was in interactive entertainment for our editors and contributors. To be eligible for mention...
Continue reading...Yakuza Kiwami | Review
Game Reviewed By: John Bridgman “Kiwami means extreme!” the tutorial explains, and that’s a good way, to sum up Yakuza Kiwami, the remake of Sega’s first entry in its open-world Yakuza series. It keeps the series’ proud tradition of bombastic martial arts combat, gritty organized crime drama, and ridiculous diversions. An immediate warning to prospective players is in order – Yakuza Kiwami has depictions of violence and aggressive harassment of women, both implied and on-screen, so keep that...
Continue reading...Astervoid 2000 | Review
Guest Review By: Azzuen O’Connor Astervoid 2000 is a totally awesome and difficult throwback to the old days of arcade cabinet multiplayer space shoot em ups. It wouldn’t be unfair if your mind went straight to Bizarre Creations (RIP) 2005 smash hit, Geometry Wars or the 1980s Asteroid games that inspired it after seeing Astervoid 2000 in action. Right off the bat, I want to say this game has a really awesome soundtrack that sticks to the genre’s...
Continue reading...“Gamers Are Revolting” – Hover: Revolt of Gamers | Review
So Hover: Revolt of Gamers is a game Kickstarted in 2014 (remember this) inspired by Jet Set Radio and Mirror’s Edge. While I have zero experience playing the evergreen classic of JSR, I have a lot of respect for the original Mirror’s Edge and a bit of it for its… requel. Hover starts us off by waking us up in our customizable avatar from a Cloning Vat, and takes us through a short tutorial that gives us...
Continue reading...Opinion: Bethesda Dropped The Ball When It Comes To Fallout 4
Guest Editorial By: Azzuen O’Connor Back in the winter of 2015 Bethesda released their sprawling open world RPG, Fallout 4 to critical and commercial success. Azzuen O’Connor discovered the series in the past couple of years and after playing through the likes of Obsidian’s Fallout: New Vegas and catching up on Bethesda’s latest has quite a few critiques about the game. Read on to find out about her journey through the world of Fallout and how the removal...
Continue reading...GDC17: GameMaker Studios 2.0 Takes On Industry Titans
Article By: Tori Dominowski Long since a staple of the ready-made game engine marketplace, YoYo Games’ GameMaker has reinvented itself in recent years after coming under its new ownership. Their recent GameMaker Studio suite got attention by overhauling nearly every piece of the software, turning it from a designer’s prototype plaything into a game engine that could stand on its own. Now, after building up its community and figuring out its development strategy going forward, YoYo Games...
Continue reading...GDC17: Indies Rule the House at Microsoft’s ID@Xbox Event
Article Written By: Tori Dominowski The Game Developers’ Conference lets independent game makers to show off their projects in a professional setting, while giving platform holders and publishers the chance to show off their lineup to budding talent. Amongst the sea of VR and game service companies, indies got their chance to shine at a few events at the show – in particular, Microsoft’s ID@Xbox showcase. Held at a private loft in downtown San Francisco, the event...
Continue reading...Yakuza 0 Review
Game Reviewed By: John Bridgman Evaluating an installment of an established franchise offers particular challenges. Do you look at it in a vacuum, or as a part of the bigger picture? Should a title stand on its own, or work necessarily with the rest of the series? There is no simple answer to these questions. Yakuza 0, releasing Tuesday, January 24th, is the prequel to Sega’s long-running Yakuza series, and overall a great game in its own right....
Continue reading...Yakuza 0 Hands-On Preview
Previewed By: John Bridgman The Yakuza games have always been a peculiar mix of gritty crime drama, bombastic martial arts, goofy side stories, and lots of minigames. Yakuza 0 is no exception, blending its cinematic storytelling with an almost overwhelming amount of side content to distract you from the game’s harsher elements. As the title suggests, the game is a prequel to the long-running franchise, set back in the 80s and showing off the early days of series...
Continue reading...Retro-View: Okami HD (PS3)
Review By Maria Maximoff Okami is without a doubt the best example of how a video game can be a work of art. From the moment you start your first playthrough you are introduced to a vibrant world inspired by Japanese culture. For anyone with a love for action adventure platformers this is the Capcom published classic is your dream come true, and it’s available in HD on PSN. I should start out by explaining my history...
Continue reading...The Elder Scrolls Legends Open Beta Impressions
Impressions By: John Edward Bridgman Follow Him On Twitter @JEBWrench The Following Impressions Were Based Upon The Open Beta of The Elder Scrolls Legends. You can sign up for the Open Beta on their official website if you’ve enjoyed these impressions. Ideally, I would prefer to discuss The Elder Scrolls Legends without having to compare directly to other, more frequently played digital card games. However, it would be much more useful to get the most obvious comparison out of the way. So,...
Continue reading...