Paulo Kawanishi
@alucarti.bsky.social
✒️ Writer @ Polygon (bylines: Eurogamer/Game Informer/Into the Spine/Nintendo Life +) 🇧🇷 📚PhD in Applied Linguistics 📧[email protected]
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Paulo Kawanishi
@alucarti.bsky.social
· Nov 18
📌Hi, I'm Paulo Kawanishi, a freelance writer from Brazil. I write guides, features, and reviews of games, and you can find my work in places such as Eurogamer, Polygon, Epic Games, Nintendo Life, and Into the Spine.
My portfolio muckrack.com/paulo-kawani...
My Substack paulokawanishi.substack.com
My portfolio muckrack.com/paulo-kawani...
My Substack paulokawanishi.substack.com
Finally met Leia in Tales of Xillia and the game hides the best character for way too long
December 7, 2025 at 6:50 PM
Finally met Leia in Tales of Xillia and the game hides the best character for way too long
These albums saved my weekend
Square Enix has finally released the Eorzean Symphony Final Fantasy XIV Orchestral Albums and the concert versions on streaming services: www.rpgsite.net/news/19110-f...
December 7, 2025 at 12:03 PM
These albums saved my weekend
Reposted by Paulo Kawanishi
'tis the season to think about games you didn't play/finish from earlier in the year, and I really think Last Defense Academy should be one of them. I swear it gets good (after 30 hours)
www.polygon.com/hundred-line...
www.polygon.com/hundred-line...
Why I played 100 hours of 2025's best RPG you've (probably) never heard of
The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy takes a long time to get going, but a major twist makes for a narrative experience like no other.
www.polygon.com
December 6, 2025 at 5:52 PM
'tis the season to think about games you didn't play/finish from earlier in the year, and I really think Last Defense Academy should be one of them. I swear it gets good (after 30 hours)
www.polygon.com/hundred-line...
www.polygon.com/hundred-line...
Reposted by Paulo Kawanishi
Today is the 17th anniversary of 428: Shibuya Scramble, a highly acclaimed entry in Chunsoft's sound novel series and one of my all-time favorite novel games.
I love it so much I made a whole dang documentary about Chunsoft and their sound novels: www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9BT...
I love it so much I made a whole dang documentary about Chunsoft and their sound novels: www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9BT...
December 4, 2025 at 1:22 PM
Today is the 17th anniversary of 428: Shibuya Scramble, a highly acclaimed entry in Chunsoft's sound novel series and one of my all-time favorite novel games.
I love it so much I made a whole dang documentary about Chunsoft and their sound novels: www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9BT...
I love it so much I made a whole dang documentary about Chunsoft and their sound novels: www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9BT...
Getting back to Plastic Tree and Sugar kinda saved the year for me
December 3, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Getting back to Plastic Tree and Sugar kinda saved the year for me
Reposted by Paulo Kawanishi
I covered every version of Octopath Traveler 0 for @rpgsite.net going over visuals, performance, load times, and more. I even tested the Switch version on Switch 2 and PS4 version on PS5: www.rpgsite.net/feature/1905...
December 3, 2025 at 11:04 AM
I covered every version of Octopath Traveler 0 for @rpgsite.net going over visuals, performance, load times, and more. I even tested the Switch version on Switch 2 and PS4 version on PS5: www.rpgsite.net/feature/1905...
If you like RPGs and/or the other Octopath Traveler games, you should play Octopath Traveler 0. It has great things in it. It's a massive game and with beautiful moments to enjoy. At the same time, it has cracks hard to ignore.
Octopath Traveler 0 adapts the narrative and combat from series mobile game and, while a good RPG experience, it misses the point more than once.
Octopath Traveler 0 review - Square Enix's RPG forgets what makes the series special
Octopath Traveler 0 adapts the narrative and combat from series mobile game and, while a good RPG experience, it misses the point more than once.
www.polygon.com
December 3, 2025 at 11:21 AM
If you like RPGs and/or the other Octopath Traveler games, you should play Octopath Traveler 0. It has great things in it. It's a massive game and with beautiful moments to enjoy. At the same time, it has cracks hard to ignore.
Reposted by Paulo Kawanishi
Metroid Prime 4: Beyond plays like a post-mortem of its own dev cycle. The story of a doomed race throwing one last Hail Mary to salvage its legacy after a series of failed experiments. Disjointed, full of abandoned ideas, but Retro finds a way through the debris. www.polygon.com/metroid-prim...
Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is uneven, with bright spots
The disjointed Switch 2 adventure is revelatory and aggravating in the same breath.
www.polygon.com
December 2, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Metroid Prime 4: Beyond plays like a post-mortem of its own dev cycle. The story of a doomed race throwing one last Hail Mary to salvage its legacy after a series of failed experiments. Disjointed, full of abandoned ideas, but Retro finds a way through the debris. www.polygon.com/metroid-prim...
Reposted by Paulo Kawanishi
As if I'd let a new Falcom Western release go by without doing an interview. I chatted with @refint.games about the Ys vs. Trails in the Sky: Alternative Saga remaster, working with @falcom.co.jp, how the team added Switch 2 enhancements without a devkit, and more: www.rpgsite.net/interview/19...
December 2, 2025 at 4:07 PM
As if I'd let a new Falcom Western release go by without doing an interview. I chatted with @refint.games about the Ys vs. Trails in the Sky: Alternative Saga remaster, working with @falcom.co.jp, how the team added Switch 2 enhancements without a devkit, and more: www.rpgsite.net/interview/19...
Reposted by Paulo Kawanishi
Growing up i'd say 80%-90% of purchaseable media was pirated.
Even today just short of half of people here don't even have bank accounts but there are kiosks where you can insert cash to pay bills and also top off a steam wallet.
piracy is a service issue and access creates markets
Even today just short of half of people here don't even have bank accounts but there are kiosks where you can insert cash to pay bills and also top off a steam wallet.
piracy is a service issue and access creates markets
You look at a lot of the Eastern European and SEA territories where piracy was rampant for decades, and they now have vibrant dev scenes and plenty of legitimate marketplaces. I can’t think of Roblox helping create any dev environment besides an acceptance of low-pay crunch
December 2, 2025 at 1:00 AM
Growing up i'd say 80%-90% of purchaseable media was pirated.
Even today just short of half of people here don't even have bank accounts but there are kiosks where you can insert cash to pay bills and also top off a steam wallet.
piracy is a service issue and access creates markets
Even today just short of half of people here don't even have bank accounts but there are kiosks where you can insert cash to pay bills and also top off a steam wallet.
piracy is a service issue and access creates markets
Reposted by Paulo Kawanishi
For the Fangsgiving special, I wrote a bit about Tsukihime a piece of blue glass moon and why more people should at least learn about it
Saber owes a lot to Arcueid Brunestud
Before Fate, Type-Moon's sexy vampire visual novel set a new standard
Saber owes a lot to Arcueid Brunestud
www.polygon.com
November 30, 2025 at 11:25 AM
For the Fangsgiving special, I wrote a bit about Tsukihime a piece of blue glass moon and why more people should at least learn about it
It’s so damn hard to get excited about a new week of work when it is starting like this
November 30, 2025 at 10:44 PM
It’s so damn hard to get excited about a new week of work when it is starting like this
Reposted by Paulo Kawanishi
Shuten Order went from being bad handheld on Switch 1/2 because of low resolution portraits to being fantastic with this upgrade on Switch 2. I hope we see something like this for The Hundred Line also.
We've updated our Shuten Order comparison feature to cover the new Shuten Order - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition, how it is a big upgrade over the Switch version for handheld play, Joy-Con 2 mouse controls, and more: www.rpgsite.net/feature/1829...
November 30, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Shuten Order went from being bad handheld on Switch 1/2 because of low resolution portraits to being fantastic with this upgrade on Switch 2. I hope we see something like this for The Hundred Line also.
For the Fangsgiving special, I wrote a bit about Tsukihime a piece of blue glass moon and why more people should at least learn about it
Saber owes a lot to Arcueid Brunestud
Before Fate, Type-Moon's sexy vampire visual novel set a new standard
Saber owes a lot to Arcueid Brunestud
www.polygon.com
November 30, 2025 at 11:25 AM
For the Fangsgiving special, I wrote a bit about Tsukihime a piece of blue glass moon and why more people should at least learn about it
After the announcement and the poster recently shared by Toei, I was expecting Sharivan to be the first project red show but no, we are getting Gavan Infinity
youtu.be/G-uXVPccMn8?...
youtu.be/G-uXVPccMn8?...
SUPER SPACE SHERIFF GAVAN INFINITY│SUPER Teaser Trailer
YouTube video by TOEI TOKUSATSU WORLD OFFICIAL
youtu.be
November 30, 2025 at 2:38 AM
After the announcement and the poster recently shared by Toei, I was expecting Sharivan to be the first project red show but no, we are getting Gavan Infinity
youtu.be/G-uXVPccMn8?...
youtu.be/G-uXVPccMn8?...
Reposted by Paulo Kawanishi
I reviewed @kinmoku.bsky.social's VIDEOVERSE on Switch for @nintendoinsider.bsky.social. It was awesome revisiting it after I first played it on Steam Deck two years ago: www.nintendo-insider.com/videoverse-s...
November 27, 2025 at 7:02 PM
I reviewed @kinmoku.bsky.social's VIDEOVERSE on Switch for @nintendoinsider.bsky.social. It was awesome revisiting it after I first played it on Steam Deck two years ago: www.nintendo-insider.com/videoverse-s...
Reposted by Paulo Kawanishi
For my last piece from my big interview with AdHoc, I dug into the story behind the mysterious Mr. Whiskey, which is basically the story of how Dispatch grew up during development
www.polygon.com/dispatch-mr-...
www.polygon.com/dispatch-mr-...
The good reason Mr. Whiskey only shows up in Dispatch's finale
And it's the story of Dispatch
www.polygon.com
November 26, 2025 at 5:02 PM
For my last piece from my big interview with AdHoc, I dug into the story behind the mysterious Mr. Whiskey, which is basically the story of how Dispatch grew up during development
www.polygon.com/dispatch-mr-...
www.polygon.com/dispatch-mr-...
Let's hope they will also bring the best one back
November 23, 2025 at 10:05 PM
Let's hope they will also bring the best one back
Reposted by Paulo Kawanishi
I reviewed both Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero (fine for handheld, meh for TV play) and One Piece Pirate Warriors 4 Nintendo Switch 2 Edition (good upgrade, but should've been better) for @nintendoinsider.bsky.social: www.nintendo-insider.com/dragon-ball-...
www.nintendo-insider.com/one-piece-pi...
www.nintendo-insider.com/one-piece-pi...
November 23, 2025 at 4:26 PM
I reviewed both Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero (fine for handheld, meh for TV play) and One Piece Pirate Warriors 4 Nintendo Switch 2 Edition (good upgrade, but should've been better) for @nintendoinsider.bsky.social: www.nintendo-insider.com/dragon-ball-...
www.nintendo-insider.com/one-piece-pi...
www.nintendo-insider.com/one-piece-pi...
Reposted by Paulo Kawanishi
Oh hey, this is me! Constance is a fast and fluid upcoming metroidvania that unfortunately chose to push its barely-there ~mental health journey~ angle to the fore, instead of the ~we made a very pretty and really quite well designed metroidvania~ parts instead:
www.pcgamer.com/games/action...
www.pcgamer.com/games/action...
Constance is a metroidvania that wants its monsters to mean something
I want them to mean something, too.
www.pcgamer.com
November 23, 2025 at 6:15 AM
Oh hey, this is me! Constance is a fast and fluid upcoming metroidvania that unfortunately chose to push its barely-there ~mental health journey~ angle to the fore, instead of the ~we made a very pretty and really quite well designed metroidvania~ parts instead:
www.pcgamer.com/games/action...
www.pcgamer.com/games/action...
After years of teaching and studying for my master's and phd, I found myself tired of that life and began searching for other options. Then I learned about international publications that accept pitches from freelancers (even from Brazil!) so I decided to give it a shot
November 23, 2025 at 11:09 AM
After years of teaching and studying for my master's and phd, I found myself tired of that life and began searching for other options. Then I learned about international publications that accept pitches from freelancers (even from Brazil!) so I decided to give it a shot
What a great day
Brazil's Supreme Court ordered the arrest of Jair Bolsonaro, with a judge claiming the former president was intent on escaping as he was set to begin his prison sentence for leading a coup attempt. n.pr/48l5ldE
Brazil's Bolsonaro arrested for allegedly plotting escape ahead of prison term
Brazil's Supreme Court ordered the arrest of Jair Bolsonaro, with a judge claiming the former president was intent on escaping as he was set to begin his prison sentence for leading a coup attempt.
n.pr
November 22, 2025 at 10:13 PM
What a great day
Reposted by Paulo Kawanishi
A poem that cannot be translated
Blue Prince's final puzzle is impossible to solve
A poem that cannot be translated
www.polygon.com
November 22, 2025 at 12:30 PM
A poem that cannot be translated
Replaying Steins;Gate was not part of plans for next year... but maybe...
November 22, 2025 at 11:54 AM
Replaying Steins;Gate was not part of plans for next year... but maybe...
Reposted by Paulo Kawanishi
