Hiya folks-

So, for our second ever Newsletter, I, the writer for this week (which you can see me namedrop myself later below) has decided to go for the feature column choice and figuratively talk your ear off (lovingly).

Along with highlighting the weekly stuff, reviews and all that jazz…

BUT FIRST!

Who remembers Ichiban? No, not the Ramen place at most Aeon outlets. Nor the number ONE in Japanese. But Ichiban Kasuga, our lovable protagonist of the recent Like A Dragon games, who gets cast aside onto the Yokohama district and becomes a hero, just like his favorite game that’s about questing and dragons and developed by some cube company I’ve never heard off.

Now I won’t really go into the details of the newest one, Infinite Wealth, but what I wanted to talk about briefly is the prologue of the game that takes place in the brief time we’re in Japan (before getting whisked away to Hawaii). And how calming it is to be traversing around Yokohama for the last time as the tutorial city, where there’s not much to do but some stuff is there. 

This prologue feels like a proper farewell to the setting that we have spent hours in as Kasuga, and while it’s no Kamurocho, it’s still a fondly remembered place we, as the players, got to know by walking, cycling or even go-karting past. It brings up feelings like visiting Spira again in Final Fantasy X-2, or playing as John Marston in Red Dead Redemption 2, you see the place that you spent countless hours in, perhaps now changed by the actions you have done.

Really, my opinion for this week is that games with some form of continuity should do a proper farewell to the last place, even if it takes like two games for it. Like how the original Persona 5 release and P5 Strikers gave us quite a nice set up to say farewell to their version of Shibuya (ditto to P5 Royal and Tactica as well).

So, with that, let's move onto our highlights of the week.

The NEWS From Last Week

Some interesting highlights that came out of last week, including some from our friends at other sites too.

• Red Dead Redemption finally gets it’s time on the PC later this month.

• The Halo series is switching sides towards the Unreal (Engine)

• And from the folks at NMIA Gaming, they recently had a chat with a small studio called Larian.

Game Reviews

Just one big one for this week, which is one of the latest highlights in an incredible year for Sega, and they haven’t even released the new Sonic game yet. Plus, some highlights from our personal vault.

• Meck reign in the incredible Metaphor: ReFantazio. “With such royal lineage from Atlus and Studio Zero behind it, it makes a strong claim that this is the monarch of turn-based RPGs.”

• Danial reminisces about the perfect bookend for Persona 3 Reload in their Answer DLC."If you ever need the perfect icing on top of the remake for a game that’s beloved by many, I guess this is your Answer, so to speak."

• Since it’s also Spooky season, let us revisit the Ishimura with Anan in the Dead Space Remake that came out last year. "The magic of strategic dismemberment is back folks. Pick up your Plasma Cutter and let’s chop these pesky Necromorphs."

That’s it for this issue. Stay tuned to Gamer Matters as we figure things out coming into award season in two months’ time. Check the site for new stuff coming in hot this week as well!

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Play games and have fun,

—Danial and the Gamer Matters Team