BOUND BY FLAME: Spiders’ New RPG Seems Quite Witcher-iffic. This Is A Good Thing.

 
A-ha. I was wondering just what developer Spiders was up to, as they last teamed up with Cyanide Studios for Of Orcs and Men and Cyanide is now busy with the follow-up, STYX: Master of Shadows. Spiders is working on BOUND BY FLAME, an upcoming fantasy action/RPG set to hit PC, PS4 and “last” gen consoles later this year (although there seems to be no Xbox One version? Hmmmm…). Casting such a wide SKU net usually means a drop in quality somewhere unless you have a developer who knows their stuff, and I think Spiders can pull this off if they’ve learned from proper criticism of previous games. I like the visual style here (although the faces on the characters look a bit… “off”) and the gameplay and mature time seems similar enough to CD Projekt RED’s The Witcher games that the game may find an audience among those who like European-style RPGs as much as they like the games made here and elsewhere. That crafting system looks pretty fun as well and I hope it’s as flexible as noted in the trailer above.

 
Like Focus Home Interactive other RPGs, I’ll be keeping an eyeball on this one. I still get use out of my PS3, so I may go that route for the final just because I don’t need to connect it online in order to play stuff. We shall see, as usual…

Nintendo Direct: 2/13/14: Some Things Old, Some Things New, Still A Work In Progress…

 
So, Nintendo is definitely trying hard to find its place in this crazier era of free to play games, pay to win and cheap, cheap indies and major releases bundled up and ready to sell as a song for charity at the drop of a hat. I’m a happy Wii U owner disappointed that first party titles that use that otherwise innovative gameplay seem to be slow to get made, a misstep the company that usually pioneers things that get copied hasn’t quite made up for thanks to other issues they’re dealing with. Granted, this set of new games on the way goes a long way in making me cheer up a little, but for my tastes, things don’t get interesting until about 24:11 when the indies roll in. Renagade Kid has always been one of the best developers on the DS, so it’s remake of MOON for the 3DS, MOON Chronicles should be quite a showpiece that makes waves as the first “FPS” for the handheld. It’s also a sci-fi/mystery game between the aliens coming at you, so hopefully those elements get played up as much.

As for first party games? I’m not a HUGE fan of those uber-cute franchises these days, but I see the need for them. I hope more publishers jump on board the Game Boy Advance reissue bandwagon, as there are some true classics for that old handheld worth seeing and playing once more (or more). Finally, Monolith Soft’s upcoming RPG looks great, although I get a sense that some of the gameplay quirks from Xenoblade (Chronicles) will be in full effect. Bayonetta? I wrote about you yesterday, my dear and I know you HATE being spoiled (well, too much). So far, so good… but I’m still wanting to see more and more unique games on the way.

Strange Love: JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle

JoJo's All-Star Battle Key ArtNamco Bandai seems to be conducting a little experiment and I’m gathering they need your assistance. For a little while the company has been releasing digital versions of popular Japanese anime-based fighters available overseas as retail and digital purchases, and now they’re trying out a limited edition physical release to go with the (to some) more convenient downloads.

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle is coming sometime this Spring via PSN (digital) and as a limited edition physical disc (ClubNamco.com and Amazon.com). No price has been announced just yet, but I think it’s a good idea as even niche games have fans who want them who can’t buy digital only product. Ever busy developer CyberConnect2 shows once more they’re the master of making anime fighters look as close to their source material as possible, as you can see above and in the screenshots below.

As for what’s on that disc or download, below the jump is some cut ‘n paste press release work plus those eleven screens… enjoy!

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Thirteen Minutes of South Park: The Stick of Truth: Obsidian Nails It Quite Well Indeed…

 
While I’m not what I’d call a regular viewer of South Park, I’ve seen enough episodes of the show that I have to give veteran developer Obsidian huge credit for getting it right. I love how the game pokes at some traditional RPG/JRPG tropes (gotta love that main character with amnesia and no speaking voice!) while also nailing the rhythm of the show in the editing and other bits. It’s a good thing Ubisoft picked this up after original publisher THQ went under, as it’s got hit written all over it (provided you’re a fan of the show, of course). How this will do outside the show’s base is tough to say, as I know some folks despise the art style and limited animation the show uses. I’m not one of those, by the way. Anyway, March 4 is the big day for this one, so keep an eyeball peeled if you haven’t placed a pre-order yet. I have the feeling this may sell out in a few spots and be one of those overpriced eBay titles if it scores highly with the critics and people make it a surprise sleeper hit. Yeah, it’s NOT supposed to be for the kids, but you know how THAT always goes with South Park games, right?

CD Projekt RED Wants You To Spend The Weekend With Geralt of Riva…

TW_Free_WeekendGot a Steam account? Good. A decent to killer gaming PC? Even better. Now, all you need is time and a lot of coffee or something else to keep you away through Sunday, as CD Projekt RED is letting you play both The Witcher Enhanced Edition Director’s Cut and The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Enhanced Edition for FREE until then. Yikes.

That’s a LOT of ground to cover, even if you’ve already played both games and know what to do, where to go and which dialog choices to make (as the game changes based on your decisions. If that’s not enough time for you, BOTH titles are on sale for 80% off ($1.99 and $3.99 respectively) until February 18, 2014, meaning you can keep playing as much as you want after that freebie ends and not pay much money for two great adventures.

Of course, it IS Valentine’s Day, so if you have that special someone who’s not a gamer in your life, and you want to tackle these games this weekend, you’d better spill the beans now or else it’ll ONLY be Geralt getting some action. Of course, this is one of those well written mature fantasy experiences that may draw in someone who thinks games are still for kids, so who knows. Just be gentle with whatever you do. We wouldn’t want to see you all cranky and weird come Monday morning…

GOG.com Shows EA How Free-To-Play SHOULD Work With Dungeon Keeper…

DK_valentineOkay, so it’s probably being done with EA’s approval partly to appease fans of the original and new players ticked off at the recently released mobile/tablet remake that’s been seen by some as a wallet draining arrow to the heart, but hey, gog.com is doing it up right.

You can boogie on over to gog.com NOW and get the original Dungeon Keeper Gold (which contains the Deeper Dungeons expansion pack) for FREE this weekend. In addition, you can grab Dungeon Keeper 2 for a paltry 1.49 (!), making this quite a sweet deal on Valentine’s Day. Amusingly enough, I snapped up this as soon as I saw it earlier this morning and got the following message:

BIG SUCCESS MY MINION! You’ll get your game soon! Minion, due to high demand, we will tell you when your free copy of Dungeon Keeper is ready via email in a little bit.

So, yeah… like the remake that has you wait HOURS if you choose not to pay your way into the game, it seems that it’ll take a bit of time before I can see the fruits of my clicky labors. Still, at least I’m getting an entire game and expansion for nothing here and not a grumpy face because some pay wall popped up and wants my credit card number. I guess this also shows that the classics never die (which is always a great thing) Thanks, gog.com!

Oh, there’s also a VERY nice sale happening, but you’ll see when you hit that front page…

Comcast/Time Warner Round Two: Let’s Get Stupid…

 
So far, no one but business news folks and analysts like this Comcast.TWC “deal” and I’m still ticked off by it to post something that’s not going to be laced with profanity. So, I’ll letting the famous and fast Taiwanese Animators (formerly or perhaps still known as NWA World Edition) have at it with a hilarious take on this stupid and historical kick in the behind a few too many millions are going to be negatively affected by. Yeah, this is going to be nothing but bad news for anyone but investors looking to make some bucks and some executives who will be rolling in more loot from irate consumers who currently use either service and get stuck with whatever fee increases come from this merger. Mark my words, folks…

Larian Studios Makes Marriages Merry With A Bit Of Divinity: Original Sin

 
Well, this is a pretty neat Valentine’s Day post for you warm-hearted Kleenex-carrying freaks out there who get all weepy at the drop of a hat. I’ve heard of like-minded gamers proposing in all sorts of online only games and I think I even recall proposals given by game developers for fans of certain titles. However, I believe this is one of the first proposals I’ve seen made by one person for another using a game editor. I still haven’t gotten around to buying or playing Divinity: Original Sin yet (hey, my backlog is killing me!) Okay, I’ll admit it… I’m a kind of (shh!) hopeless romantic at heart (shhhh!), so this stuff makes me grin inside (I can’t let the world see me smile much – it hurts my curmudgeonly image a bit).

Okay, I’m not THAT cranky and this is pretty sweet. LESSON: video games aren’t all about running around and killing each other dead and some are even wonderful at allowing players the freedom to pull off super cool stuff like this. Well, congratulations and best of luck to the happy couple and everyone else who’s going to be hitched because of their love for Larian Studios and their excellent game!