Dungeon Diaries
Room-by-room breakdowns of classic CRPGs — from Wizardry clones to forgotten PS1 crawlers. Free to read, 3,000+ words each.
Collingwood · VIC · Est. 1998 vibes
Emerald Dungeon Warriors
Reviews, dungeon-crawl deep dives and speedrun teardowns — recorded straight to tape from a back room in Collingwood. No hype cycles, just the games that mattered.
Tape hotline: +61 3 9428 5957
About the blog
Analog hearts, digital dungeons
Emerald Dungeon Warriors started as a shared folder of VHS captures and a spreadsheet of dungeon maps. Today we're a small crew publishing three long-form pieces a week from our loft above Langridge Street.
We cover CRT-era RPGs, cult imports, modern retro-likes and the speedrun scene — always with frame counts, save-state screenshots and zero affiliate noise. If it earns a spot on our shelf, it earns a review.
How a review is made
From cartridge to article
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01
Source & capture
We track down an original copy, then capture raw footage off the real hardware onto tape and a modern digitiser.
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02
Full playthrough
Every title is finished to credits — no skimming. Dungeons mapped, secrets logged, difficulty spikes timed.
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03
Write & verify
Two writers draft, one editor fact-checks frame data and release history against the original manuals.
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04
Publish weekly
New pieces drop Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 7pm AEST, wrapped in scanline artwork.
What we publish
Columns on rotation
Splits & Strats
Annotated speedrun routes with frame-accurate strats, interviews with runners, and world-record history.
The Import Vault
Deep dives on Japan-only cult titles, region quirks and fan translations — with buying guides for AU collectors.
Reader signals
Straight from the mailbag
★★★★★
"Their Dungeon Diaries entry on Shining in the Darkness cleared a wall I'd been stuck on for 20 years. The map screenshots are gold."
★★★★★
"Finally a blog that finishes the games before reviewing them. The import buying guide saved me from a $180 mistake on eBay."
★★★★☆
"The speedrun splits breakdowns are absurdly detailed. Read them on the tram every Tuesday. Wish the podcast came back though."
The tape drop
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One email a week — three new articles, a retro deal of the week, and the odd scanned map. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
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Say hello
Pitch a game, join the crew
Got a cult classic we've missed, a run to submit, or want to write for us? Drop a line — we read everything, usually within two business days.
- Phone+61 3 9428 5957
- Email[email protected]
- Studio134 Langridge Street, Collingwood VIC 3066
- HoursMon–Fri, 10am–6pm AEST