Letter from the Editor – Passing on the Torch
Hello readers, As I’m sure you might noticed things have been slowing down at Lv42, although it might be for different reasons than you think. Since launching the site back in November of 2009, all of us have been working hard to be delivering content 5 days a week. It should come as no shock that through all of this hard work many of our writers have gotten noticed and now find themselves...
Fractured Persona – killer7 #5
With Cloudman behind us, we’re pushing on through to another double-length chapter! This chapter, entitled Encounter, is split into two very distinct parts so, much like Sunset, I’ll be writing a separate article for each half. How fun! How many answers will this chapter hold? And how many new questions will come from the explanations? The only way to find out is to read along! I hope to...
Fractured Persona – killer7 #4
We skipped a week, but now it's back in all its glory! Our killer7 analysis continues with the next chapter, Cloudman. This chapter is much shorter than Sunset, and also takes a step off the main plotline to explore another very important character in the killer7 universe. But shorter isn't always a bad thing! The animation style for the cutscenes changes dramatically in this chapter, making...
The Global Appeal of Dragon Quest IX
Dragon Quest is a big deal in Japan. Maybe that is an understatement; maybe the right word would be phenomenon. But it is more than that. After all, this is a franchise that has a habit of consistently selling over 3 million units with each new game released in the series. Yeah, in Japan Dragon Questis a big deal. But for the past 21 years Square-Enix has been trying to figure out how to...
What did the Rastafarian cat say to the Glowing toucan?
"Your bird cage has locks, what a coincidence so do I!" That was a bad one. Even by my incredibly low standards. A little while ago, I had the chance to interview Brendon Chung, a videogame developer and the founder of Blendo Games. We sat down across continent to have a talk about his future endeavours, his games Flotilla and Gravity Bone, the nature of videogame development, Day...
Fractured Persona – killer7 #3
Thanks for coming back! This is the continuation of my killer7 analysis, as well as the second part of the chapter entitled Sunset. The first part ended with the assassination of Toru Fukushima, a prominent politician and bureaucrat behind the scenes in the Japanese government. The Yakumo, an important document that could shift political power on a global scale, is still nowhere to be found....
Fractured Persona – killer7 #2
Here it is, the continuation of my killer7 analysis. While the first chapter (Angel) was pretty short in length and story, this second chapter is much longer. Luckily, it has a two very distinct parts that comprise the whole, so I’ll be dividing this chapter into two separate articles. Be sure to look out for the second part of this chapter next week! I hope to make these articles interesting...
Interview with the Creator of Blaster Master
For anyone willing to openly award themselves the status of “gamer” during the NES era, Blaster Master is a game that requires no introduction. Boasting some of the most progressive game design for its time, together with a brilliant audio score and visuals that tested the limits of the 8-bit hardware, it has become a “must play” title for later generations of gamers as well in order to...
Fractured Persona – killer7 #1
Conflict. Peace. What are they? How do they relate to one another? Is it possible to achieve peace in the world we live in today, or is conflict also an important part of our overall legacy? killer7 takes these questions and flips them on their heads, presenting a gripping narrative that changed the way I looked at story in video games. I went over a bit of the game's development history...
Lv42′s E3 Favorites
E3 has come and gone, and of course that mean's that there is plenty of time to talk about what we liked, or in some cases, didn't. Each of our writers has outlined (roughly) two things that they were most excited about at this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo. Michael Brown – Editorial Director Professor Layton and the Unwound Future It's no secret that I am absolutely...
