P.N.03 | Mastery through Memorization
June 11, 2020
You tap your feet on the floor at a tight rhythm. Shots fire and bounce off the walls. An engine roars and you lift your leg up to the beat and snap your fingers. Nothing…
忍Shinobi: Is Less Truly More?
April 22, 2019
When an attack hits the enemy, he dies – it should be as simple as that… yet it rarely is. Architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, when describing the look and feel of his designs, noted the motto “less is more”. He used only the absolute necessities, with each part of his constructs having more than a single use. It is a working method that lives in all crafts, so what about Action Games?
With each game we’ve been looking for the depth, the variation, the combination of attacks and how it all works in complex ways to motivate us: but what if a game strove to do the opposite, how would that work? Maybe 忍Shinobi for the Playstation 2 is one such game.
As a series 忍Shinobi has been a long running SEGA franchise. While not as big as Sonic The Hedgehog, it has had nine titles released before Overworks took the series in a new direction hoping to leave a mark on the newly released Sega Dreamcast. Focusing on a new character and world this title was to usher in a new era of action games. Sadly due to the downfall of the Dreamcast, production was shifted to the Playstation 2 resulting in a delayed release. In the meantime Devil May Cry would instead make its mark on the genre, leaving 忍Shinobi to finally release one year later in November of 2002, greeted by silence.
God of War 2018: Shadows of Succession
June 19, 2018
Legacy is a tricky thing to live up to. Shadows of the past build certain expectations and make change difficult. No matter the quality of new entries, they will always be thoroughly scrutinized and compared…
Remember Me: Command, or a Desire?
March 16, 2018
It is 2008 and ex-staff members of companies like Ubisoft, Cryterion and Electronic Arts band together to form their own studio. A first! Excited, they name their studio: Dontnod Entertainment. A name that perhaps refers…
God of War 1 | The Perfect Video Game?
November 22, 2017
Browsing through Youtube, one might stumble upon a playthrough of the original God of War, released in 2005 on the Playstation 2. Despite being an old game, the comment section is still packed with a…
Viewtiful Joe | Revealing underlying talent - or exposing lack thereof?
June 7, 2017
Creative minds rarely start as they are now, only having gotten this far through hard work and an environment that allowed growth and experimentation. Itagaki from Ninja Gaiden fame had years to grow as a…
Mirror's Edge: Catalyst | When combat is not the focus, how do you design it?
May 3, 2017
It is June 10th, 2013. As the ink-pen edges over her skin viewers are wondering what kind of trailer they are watching. Does the upcoming tattoo signify anything? Are we looking at a sequel or…
Rising Zan: The Samurai Gunman | the inspiration of Devil May Cry?
April 3, 2017
♪ Once upon a time a blue eyed boy from the west Learned one of life’s cruelest lessons That evil was bigger than his gun So he followed the footsteps of a mysterious master to…