Double Earth Defense Forces News: EDF 2 Coming to Vita ! EDF 4.1 Coming to PS4! (In Japan at Least)

Posted on September 27, 2014 by geelw

Okay, I had a weird tickle in the back of my head today and as I had my Vita with me, I fired up Earth Defense Forces 3 Portable (EDF 2017) just to see if there were any recent updates and when I clicked on D3Publisher’s Japanese game page for the EDF series and looked in the news section, my head spun around like Linda Blair’s in the Exorcist before I let out a little squeal of delight. Woo and hoo – the best EDF game is finally getting the portable remake it deserves AND that “new” EDF game for the PS4 is packing EDF 4 and some excellent new content onto next-gen hardware.

Earth Defense Forces Portable 2 V2 packs in the full PS2 game on the Vita, but it’s NOT a straight up port at all by developer and series creator Sandlot. A new 4-player mode, the Air Diver class from EDF 4 and some nice visual tweaks that don’t spoil the intentionally “retro” look of that PS2 classic are making me want to grab this one as soon as it’s available in Japan (or from Play-Asia where I’ll most likely get this from). Go ogle the two LOVELY screenshot galleries over at Gematsu (thanks, Gematsu!) while I compose myself for a minute… Continue reading →

FUND THIS! Graal Seeker: The Battle of Britain For A Shiny Cup o’ Miracles, Indie Style!

Posted on September 27, 2014 by geelw

And who doesn’t want a retro-inspired turn-based strategy RPG with procedurally generated maps set in medieval Britain and thereabouts or as it’s noted by the developer, “a 2D narrative RPG with roguelike elements & tactical battles”? Welcome to Graal Seeker, a work in progress and Indiegogo campaign from Lugludum Game Studio. 26 days to go, about 1200 of 10,000 Euros raised and it’s also on Steam Greenlight for those who want to vote it in.

I’m liking the mix of stylized 2D art and 3D animated characters in those battles, the modding possible (you can create and share your own adventures!) and the fact that the dev team is showing this off in quite well in an early but polished enough state to get noticed by little guys like me who love promoting games they see and like (like being the imperative word here – I don’t write much if at all about stuff that doesn’t float my boat). That permadeath means the game should also appeal to fans of Nintendo’s Fire Emblem series or other games were dead characters don’t pop back up after they expire on the battlefield.

Of course, whether or not this one makes its target is all up to YOU, so I guess now that you’re feeling guilty, you HAVE to go check this out and maybe make a pledge. Hey, the rewards are sure worth it. Spend as little as five euros to get your name in the credit or go all out and spend 1000 Euro and become a Knight of the Round Table (round table not included, but you’ll be a quite the hero to Lugludum Game Studios!). Now, I wonder who’s the first modder to do a Monty Python and the Holy Grail expansion or total conversion. You just KNOW one is coming and yep, that killer rabbit better be pretty much unbeatable.

Back in a bit with an update once the campaign is a few more weeks in…

AUTOMATA: Will This Rise of the Robots Flick Be Any Good (or is My Post Title the Tell*)?

Posted on September 27, 2014 by geelw

Sure, it’s got that distressed Neil Blomkamp look going for it, a shaved head on Antonio Banderas (along with what looks like an inflatable trenchcoat, ha and ha) and that trailer above looks interesting yet derivative in a few ways. But I’m guessing that October 10 limited US release of AUTOMATA will be the true fortune teller. My own sensors detect a bit of Blade Runner (good), I Robot (bad) and a bunch of other films (which could get ugly if critics and sci-fi fans get picky). Eh, always trust the director, I say. Granted, I’d not heard of Gabe Ibáñez until today when someone asked if I’d seen the trailer, so I don’t know much about him a few seconds on a good search engine would cure. The again, I didn’t know who Alejandro Jodorowsky, Alfonso Cuarón, or Guillermo Del Toro were until I saw films they’d directed.

Still, as usual, I’ll more than save that ticket money and very likely wait around a bit and perhaps see this on cable in oh, about seven or eight months if it disappears from theaters in a hurry. Sometimes you get a hidden and under-appreciated gem in these types of films and sometimes it’s just an expensive clunker. But once in a while it’s a middle ground film that should have gotten more love but rolled over at the box office because of a film or films that were better and more widely advertised. Then again, after being burned by other sci-fi flicks too big for their britches, I prefer to roll the dice at home these days than be stuck in a theater wishing I could change the channel…

*(feel free to Google or whatever Rise of the Robots if you haven’t a clue as to what I meant. Oh wait, I did that for you – you’re welcome)…

Silent Hills: No Scare-City of Screams In This Soon to Be Horror Hit…

Posted on September 27, 2014 by geelw

Now that a possible few million people have been scared half to death or so from that P.T. demo which has since been revealed as a teaser for the latest Silent Hill game, I’d say Konami, Hideo Kojima and Guillermo Del Toro have got the attention of horror fans as well as curious folks who just so happened to be handed a controller just to see what happens.

Naturally, the reaction videos here are priceless, but Konami proves it’s not sexist at all because below you get to see a bunch of guys and gals at this year’s Gamescom nearly peeing themselves while trying to play that demo. Yeah, I wasn’t there, but I did play it at a friend’s place and yup, it gets pretty effective at times. Of course, part of the scare factor is the looping around the same map that changes so randomly I’ve yet to hear of two people having the exact same experience.

With all that looping around, crazy changes to the area and yes, those incredibly realistic visuals that play with your fears (if you hate cockroaches, darkness, messed up ghostly faces filling your screen and a few other things, break out the adult diapers), it’s clear that Sony and Konami have got a pile of money coming their way once this game is released… Continue reading →

Final Fantasy XV TGS 2014 Trailer: Doing That Double Take For Reasons Right & Otherwise…

Posted on September 27, 2014 by geelw

Okay, we’re finally seeing a FF on console that looks exactly like those spectacular CG opening and story movies the series in known for, but man, what a cast of heroes this time out. What the what? Seriously. As great as this in-progress game looks, I really have no interest in playing as a too-long car (it looks like a Mercedes hearse convertible) full of big-haired bar band rejects. It’s not Social Distortion, it’s Antisocial Ripple in the Pond! Okay, it was a lot funnier when it popped into my head as I was typing. On paper, it’s a bust. *Le Sigh*…

(Thanks, GamesHQ Media!)

Hey, I love Tetsuya Nomura’s art and character designs (most of the time), but I dunno about this cast. Of course, it’s probably Square/Enix’ response to those FF X-2 games with its all female cast of heroines (and nope, I didn’t like those games much). Maybe I’ve finally outgrown this franchise after all, as I missed the XIII entirely, had no interest in any of the online only games and just grew weary of poking around message boards only to find people still whining about no official FFVII remake, FF games that only got a Japanese release not coming out here and other rolling over the keyboard nonsense that’s kept me away from most game boards for quite some time.

Eh, we’ll see, as usual. I remember when a new FF game was a system seller to some people. I’m not sure this newest one will be as big a mover in this more jaded age of gamers spending too much time gabbing about what they hate and less time actually playing stuff. But I may be wrong…