From Anarres to Zemuria

Utawarerumono: Past and Present Rediscovered succesfully bridges the gap between its predecessor Monochrome Mobius and the celebrated Mask of Deception, but not through the storytelling the series is known for. The game expands Yamato and Arva Shulan’s history by investigating seemingly unrelated incidents that gradually reveal how Monochrome Mobius leads into the original trilogy. Along the way, the game fleshes out beloved characters and answers questions long-time fans never expected the series to revisit. ...

Reading Keza MacDonald’s love letter to Nintendo feels like a trip down memory lane, it triggered so many memories for me. Super Nintendo dives into the company’s history, business practices and design philosophy by dedicating each chapter to one of their most prominent franchises, from Donkey Kong to Splatoon. MacDonald’s vivid recollections of growing up with Nintendo’s games frequently mirrored my own experiences, reminding me how significant the company was to my childhood. ...

Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance feels like a relic from an earlier era of Fire Emblem, one that prioritised carefully designed maps and measured progression over player freedom. After Daein invades Crimea, protagonist Ike and his mercenary band are forced to cross the continent of Tellius, exposing them to the racial tensions between the human beorc and shapeshifting laguz. The game patiently builds its world through Ike’s eyes as he unexpectedly inherits leadership from his father. It takes a simple coming-of-age story and executes it exceptionally well by showing how Ike stumbles and grows into his role as a leader. ...

The Lotus Empire concludes The Burning Kingdoms trilogy by shifting its focus away from political or military victory and toward the personal costs of power. The novel picks up where its predecessor left the, let’s say, strained relationship between Priya and Malini, and between their respective nations, Ahiranya and Parijatdvipa. One might expect the final The Oleander Sword conflict to culminate in a straightforward war between the two nations, but Suri keeps the outcome uncertain while focusing on the relationships that drive the conflict. Through beautiful prose, she intertwines politics, religion, and desire as forces that continually shape one another. ...

Ys V: Lost Kefin, Kingdom of Sand attempts to steer the series in a new direction, but shipwrecks somewhere along the way. Unlike protagonist Adol himself, who successfully makes it to the Afrocan city of Xandria and teams up with wealthy merchant Dorman to seek the riches of the eponymous phantom city. The adventure that follows trades in the series’ signature bump system for more conventional gameplay involving direct control over jumping, sword attacks and blocking with a shield. What stands out most is the attempt to evolve the series’ formula, even if the attempt doesn’t come together in a satisfying way. ...

Mario Kart World is the Mario Kart game I dreamt of as a kid. My brother and I spent hours leaping off-track with the feather in Super Mario Kart or messing around Peach’s Castle in Mario Kart 64’s Royal Raceway. As its name implies, Mario Kart World offers a freely explorable world filled with interconnected tracks and cups consisting of races on and between said tracks. It doubles the number of racers and adds new mechanics like wall riding, making races feel even more hectic than the series is known for. Instead of simply building on its predecessor’s solid foundation, the game takes inspiration from rally racing to push the series in a new direction. ...

Monochrome Mobius: Rights and Wrongs Forgotten expands the world of Utawarerumono in a way that feels unnecessary on paper, but welcome in practice. It’s a prequel to the existing trilogy, exploring Oshtor’s past before his rise to Imperial General of the Right of Yamato, a powerful empire inspired by regions surrounding the Sea of Okhotsk. Whereas previous titles blended lengthy visual novel segments with accessible strategy, this entry shifts fully into a turn-based RPG with sprawling fields and ample quests. It not only revisits a world fans have become intimately familiar with, it also expands the characters’ backgrounds and lore. ...

Pokémon Legends: Arceus is an ambitious new spin on the series, taking inspiration from Breath of the Wild but replacing breakable weapons with expendable Pokémon instead. The game transports a modern-day Pokémon trainer to the region of Sinnoh in an era when the region was still called Hisui, different tribes worshipped the fourth-generation legendaries as ’the almighty Sinnoh’ and PokéBalls were made of fruit and stone, and tasks the player with researching Pokémon and recording them in a paper Pokédex. You work your way through the different regions to collect materials, craft PokéBalls, sneak up on wild Pokémon to catch them and complete specific research tasks to climb the ranks of the Survey Corps of the Galaxy Expedition Team. It’s a refreshing new take on the Pokémon formula while offering a first-hand look at what the world of Pokémon was like in earlier days. ...

Returning to the Flower Division of the Imperial Combat Revue in Sakura Wars 2: Thou Shalt Not Die felt like a reunion with friends I hadn’t seen in too long. Set one year after the original game, the Flower Division once again defends its alternate 1920s steampunk Tokyo from a new enemy: the Black Demon Society. Much of the game revolves around keeping up the morale of the all-female theater troupe, now expanded with two new members, through conversations and time-limited answers. Although many of these conversations revolve around protagonist Ogami, the interaction between the troupe members feels natural and simply wandering the theater to see what everyone is up to is always a pleasure. ...

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