It’s not just anime fans. Every fandom has this subsection of people who don’t understand that all works of art were influenced by something that came before it. Halo fans were mad at James Cameron because he “ripped off” the military and vehicle designs for Avatar, when in fact, it was the other way around. And…

LOL. Something similar happened when Mad Max: Fury Road was released. The younger generation of First of the North Star fans were in up arms that a movie so blatantly “copied” their beloved manga/anime. Older fans had to tell them to STFU and explain how the original Mad Max movies were the inspiration for not just…

Shadow Tactics was a great surprise to close out the year. Thanks for covering it, Luke. If you hadn’t, I would’ve completely missed it.

I’m glad the Sony didn’t just highlight triple-A games.

I often wonder if Mafia III would’ve been better if it didn’t have an open world format.

Stop delaying games Jason.

Naw man, Platinum is predominantly in charge of the combat systems. The rest is clearly Yoko Taro. Take a look at this live stream (you’re gonna have to rewind it to the beginning, it’s currently queud to the skill section). A town and free roaming. That’s not the typical Platinum game. Yes, they made Okami, but that…

My thoughts exactly.

Oh shit, I couldn’t stop laughing. Totally forgot about that one.

That’s probably why Squeenix paired them with Yoko Taro. Nier and Drakengard have interesting worlds and characters, but the action mechanics have always left much to be desired.

I was left unsatisfied and just kept feeling that Metal Gear Revengence was still a better game in terms of combat and general craziness.

Unsure. Squeenix is using Platinum’s name to garner attention for Automata, but everything ranging from the aesthetic, music, ambiance and character design screams Yoko Taro. My guess is the game will be more his creation than Platinum’s. As such, I think the length will err on the side of Nier and Drakengard.

She may not be the “lead”, but I think it’s safe to say Tracer is definitely Overwatch’s mascot.

LTG vs Wolfkrone

Yeah, too bad people won’t go to another game. It would probably light a fire under Capcom’s ass. Frankly, GG Revelator is criminally under appreciated. Hell, it had more content in its “early-access” version than SFV did at launch.

TLDR:

Really? Holy shit, no wonder Tabata has the reputation of being a “fixer”. The man makes some hard decisions, even if it means ruffling feathers. That can’t be easy, especially in Japan’s corporate culture.

I would really love a “tell all” book about wtf was going on at Squeenix during this period. In that short span of time, 14 was pulled, given a new producer and redone, Nomura was taken off Versus XIII, and Tabata was elevated to get XV out the door by no later than winter 2016. Those are some seismic changes in any…

You’re not alone. VIII is the FF I revisit most due to the Draw system. It’s so wonderfully breakable.

Looks great. Can’t wait to read your full review.