About Kirk Hiner

Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End & the Secret Key is scheduled to hit Nintendo Switch on February 24th, 2023, and KOEI TECMO continues to build anticipation with details of the enhanced battle system and some returning characters.
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I don’t need to tell you of the countless retro-inspired games available for Nintendo Switch, but most of those are patterned after NES-era games. Donut Dodo aims squarely to provide a new coin-op arcade game experience, and it mostly succeeds.
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A Bayonetta 3 review at this point is largely meaningless. Those who have been looking forward to this third entry in the series surely already have it. But if it’s still lingering in your wish list, allow me to suggest it’s OK to remove it.
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JRPG fans have had their eye on Chained Echoes for quite some time now, and the pixel-perfect game has finally come into view. The game will be released digitally on December 8th, followed by a goody-packed physical release in summer 2023.
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Halloween may be over, but do you think the residents of Yuzu’s hometown have their Christmas decorations out already? They do not. Rather, the town is plagued by ghosts and monsters…and that may include Yuzu herself.
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My dad often tells people, “The important thing is to remain calm.” He’ll say this even if we’re already pretty calm, a clear indication it’s wisdom he’d prefer we carry throughout our lives. I think the developers of A Winding Path are imparting the same advice.
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I think it’s time to drop the word “retro” from the gaming industry. There are so many “retro” games available now that they’re actually just…games. You need look no further than KEMCO for evidence of this, as with their latest JRPG for Nintendo Switch: Fairy Elements.
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I absolutely love the concept behind Atari Mania. I’m a bit cooler on the execution, perhaps because I experienced many of these games first-hand, and can therefore see what they could have done with this concept. I’ll let you decide if I’m being fair.
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Looking for something to do when you don’t feel like playing games? Reading about games is a good idea, and Limited Run Games has announced a new book publishing imprint for that very purpose: Press Run.
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Earlier this month, Ubisoft invited Pure Nintendo to San Francisco for a hands-on presentation of the forthcoming Mario+Rabbids Sparks of Hope. At the media event, I was able to spend around three hours playing the game. Want to know how it went?
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After a three-year hiatus due to COVID-19, E3 will be returning to the Los Angeles Convention Center for four days in mid-June 2023. And for the first time since the event opened doors to consumers, it’ll be industry only…for a few days, anyway.
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In the short time Davide and I had together, we were able to talk about his development approach, what about working with Nintendo makes him happy, what we can look forward to in Sparks of Hope…including a couple surprises.
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If you played Trails of Cold Steel III and IV, The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero does a great job of filling in some of those story gaps. If you’ve never played a Legend of Heroes game, it’s a great place for JRPG fans to start.
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Yesterday’s Nintendo Direct featured the first glimpse of Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End & the Secret Key. Switch players will have to wait until February 24, 2023, to play this final chapter in Ryza’s story arc, but KOEI TECMO America and GUST studios have now provided additional details to hold us over.
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Square Enix featured so heavily in today’s Nintendo Direct that they may as well have had one all to themselves. Through new game reveals, updates on some previous announced projects, demo releases and surprises, they highlighted something for company fans young and old.
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Today’s Nintendo Direct gave Switch owners a lot to look forward to, and amongst the more exciting announcements is that KOEI TECMO is finally bringing Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse to western audiences in remastered form.
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Little Orpheus—an Apple Arcade game now remastered for Nintendo Switch—is the latest sci-fi/fantasy adventure to take us deep into the center of the Earth. Or did it? That’s what hapless cosmonaut Ivan Ivanovich Privalov would have us believe, but General Yurkovoi is not so sure.
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If Avenging Spirit has taught me anything, it’s that I’ve been taking the wrong approach to my throwback arcade game collection. I’ve generally gone for nostalgia, and have now realized I should be seeking game I’ve never played before.
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