Review: Persona 4: Dancing All Night

Posted on October 4, 2015 by geelw

Platform: PlayStation Vita

Developer: Atlus

Publisher: Atlus USA

# of Players: 1

ESRB Rating: T (Teen)

Official Site

MSRP: $39.99 (Standard Edition), $79.99 (Disco Fever Edition)

Score: B(80%)

Sure, the premise is supremely goofy and practically guaranteed to make some of the more obstinate old-school fans of the long running Shin Megami Tensei and Persona franchises get a bit cringe-y. But Persona 4: Dancing All Night manages to shake off most any negative vibes thanks to it not only being a pretty decent rhythm game, but a really well-made spin-off to the Persona 4: Golden (that’s also gotten a pretty darn good 2D fighter with an even better follow up). Keeping the surviving characters and situations from P4 intact and working them into the game’s plot was an inspired touch that’s hopefully going to sell those gamers who are only buying this for music and gameplay into picking up P4:G at some point if they’ve yet to.

On the other hand, if you go into P4: DAN with skeptical intent, don’t expect to be knocked off your feet by the game’s premise, how some characters act and the overall gameplay that may not be your cup of tea. Fully enjoying this one means throwing caution to the wind, diving in feet or face first and letting the music and atmosphere wash over you like a sudden summer rain shower. Continue reading →

Albino Lullaby: Horror Minus Most Of The Expected Is Still Somewhat Frightening

Posted on October 3, 2015 by geelw

Ape Law’s oddball psychological horror game Albino Lullaby has no blood and gore splattering anything and not a single jump scare to rattle your cage as you explore its bizarre, stylized maps. What it does deliver is a downright creepy vibe, some room-twisting shenanigans and those weird creatures called “Grandchildren” that may or may not freak you out whenever you encounter them. Okay, they will freak you out if the sight of what looks like a man-sized finger with the face of what looks like a zombie version of one of Team 17’s Worms games is something you find scary. And yep, you can even buy stuff with those faces on it that include throw pillows and a travel coffee mug.

Currently available on Steam, this episodic first person adventure released back in September is timed perfectly for the season, what with the weather getting chillier and Halloween haunting just around the corner. Playing as an accident victim who wakes up in a very weird town, part of the game is discovering where you are and how the hell you’re going to get out. The game’s bold use of Unreal 4 in such a stylized manner has the surreal, gaudy Victorian meets scratchy modernist environment look like a bad dream come to life. Continue reading →

“Forbidden” Comics Make This Humble Bundle Worth Breaking Some Rules

Posted on September 30, 2015 by geelw

Because its Banned Books Week (eek!) and you need to expand your horizons a bit more, the folks over at Humble Bundle have put together a nice selection of challenged and banned comics to purchase with the proceeds benefiting The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF). It’s a great selection of digital books more that worth the minimum asking price and your money is going to a great cause.

While I’d prefer a ban on stupid people banning stuff they won’t even read, I guess this is the best revenge you can have on some of those know-little to nothings and their fear of the printed and drawn word. I’d suggest getting your bundle and reading as much as you can in or near a place that’s challenged or outright banned some of the titles just to see if anyone actually notices. I’d bet a dime that no one will care a whit unless they’re curious enough to ask. And even then, they just might find out that there’s nothing to run screaming from the room about at all.

In other words, wouldn’t it be cooler to live in a world where we’re NOT celebrating books being banned and instead celebrate the smartening up of those who ban stuff automatically because they’ve finally gotten those sticks out of their behinds? Yeah, I thought so.

Blu-Ray Review: Pit Stop (The Winner)

Posted on September 28, 2015 by geelw

That’s a hell of a commute if ever there was one…

Busted-up junker cars slamming into each other on a crazy figure eight racetrack may seem like a one-note film idea with limited appeal. But Jack Hill’s 1969 “B” movie Pit Stop makes for quite a spectacular ride for more than the crash-crazed car fiends out there. For a low-budget black and white quickie shot in the late 60’s, Hill gets some major mileage from from his cast that includes Richard (Dick) Davalos, Sid Haig, Brian Donlevy, Beverly Washburn and Ellen Burstyn.

Once again, Arrow Video brings an excellent director supervised and approved HD remaster to the table packed with bonus features that make this one a fantastic addition to any film collection. For all the high-speed action and off-track thrills, there’s a nifty little tale of a man who manages to win it all yet lose everything important by the end.

Continue reading →

Tales of Zestiria Hands-On: Old Reliable And The New(ish) Platform

Posted on September 25, 2015 by geelw

In the case of and for Namco’s long-running Tales franchise, familiarity certainly doesn’t breed any contempt at all. Some hands on time recently with the PlayStation 4 version of Tales of Zestiria reveals producer Hideo Baba and the development team at tri-Crescendo in fine form with a game that’s a throwback to Tales of Phantasia and its more epic medieval fantasy approach in terms of character design and settings. There are also some changes to the combat system and even better, battles now play out on maps without those brief transitions from previous games in the series. Continue reading →

Have A Horror-ble Week Thanks To This IndieGala Monday Bundle

Posted on September 21, 2015 by geelw

More Monday bundle madness for you, this time from the fine folks at IndieGala. This Eerie Monday Bundle provides 100% of a day’s frights for less than a bowl of sugar-bomb laden cereal. Well, okay. Too many bowls of that sugary crap will kill you dead, while the best a decent horror game will ever do is make you pee yourself a little. Hey, I’m NOT speaking from experience at all. I have heard of it happening, though. Anyway, here’s a test for you in the form of a video of one of the games in the bundle.

Are you the tiniest bit freaked out now? Maybe? Not at all? Hey, I tried. Space is pretty scary in general if you think about it, and being stuck on the moon with something unsettling and no easy way off isn’t exactly a situation made for happy times. Okay, get going with the clicking and buying stuff. This eight Steam codes for $1.89 is only good for the next 24 hours.

Retro Pop Box Turns Your Mailbox Into A Time Machine

Posted on September 20, 2015 by geelw

If you’re a child of the 1960’s, 70’s or 80’s, or know someone of a certain age craving some random nostalgia, Retro Pop Box is going to be right up your/their alley. The just-launched subscription-only service delivers the goods in the form of monthly boxes of themed swag, all of it fun and guaranteed to get the memory banks kicking in as you’re transported back to your childhood.

A sampler box containing a few items from all three eras popped up in my mailbox a few days back (thanks, Chris!) and it made a rather bland Wednesday end on a rainbow-colored rocket with a paisley disco ball painted on it. Or something close to that.

Continue reading →

The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing Final Cut: A Triple Threat All In One Package For ARPG Fans

Posted on September 17, 2015 by geelw

Warts and all, The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing has been quite a fun trilogy to play through. Taking the addictive chase and chop-fest of the Diablo series, adding humorous touches like a sassy AI ally and a fun “tower defense” mini-game that’s nicely implemented into the main story, NeoCore Games has crafted a great time chomper of a game. Coming September 23, The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing Final Cut will give new players the entire trilogy with loads of fixes and new content. Over 50 hours of gameplay, six classes to choose from, new cut-scenes, and an all-new new ENDLESS endgame that can be played in a number of possible ways.

Yes, you can still get an actual ending to the big Borgovian bang trilogy. But NeoCore knows its fans love what they’re doing and the endless endgame is a way to keep them glued to their screens with saucer-sized eyeballs. The game is coming to Steam and gog.com on September 23, 2015 for $44.99, but gamers who own all three games in the trilogy (on Steam at least) will get Final Cut for free when the game launches. I’d say that’s going to surprise some who don’t know this and own all three games when they log into Steam next week and see something huge creeping onto their hard drives.

That said, this game NEEDS to come to consoles at some point down the road. There aren’t enough of this style of ARPG on the PS4, Xbox One or Wii U and that’s a sad thing indeed. We’ll have to see if NeoCore has those plans in the works, but if not, the PC game is one that doesn’t require a super-killer rig to run.

Some Fallout 4 Stuff To Fall Out Over

Posted on September 17, 2015 by geelw

Bethesda Softworks ~~thinks~~ knows it’s clever, getting all these amazing Fallout 4 goodies out there in the wild for all us collector types to collect as if we’re in one of their games collecting stuff. Well, without the being attacked by mutants and other irradiated deviants in the Wasteland. Here’s a quick peek at some of the nifty (and somewhat safe) stuff to be found in your travels. If you happen to be a lazy Vault-dweller too frightened to leave and explore the outside world, guess what? The internet is your friend (mostly). You can get your F4 goodies delivered just about anywhere in the U. S. of A. with a few clicks of a mouse. Well, provided that mouse isn’t alive, about a foot or so long (d’aww! it’s just a baby!) and and trying to bite off one or more of your toes as you roll around on the floor with it fighting for your life.

Continue reading →

READS: Game Art Shows Off Some Great Reasons To Play Even Games You Won’t Like

Posted on September 16, 2015 by geelw

Matt Sainsbury’s Game Art ($39.95) presents an excellent way for anyone whether they’re a gamer or not, to appreciate the assorted art styles used in different videogames. One of the big (but somewhat meaningless) debates that has been ongoing for ages is what constitutes “good” art when in actuality, learning to love the different looks games have from “retro” to realistic is the more appropriate manner of seeing things.

Game Art tackles this subject with a wide range of art styles and some great interviews with the people who’ve created the wondrous art in this 250 page tome.

While the art is uniformly lovely throughout, the more interesting things here are the interviews with assorted creators. A passion for the medium seems to be the uniting factor, but you’ll also see some games are made in response to world events, as a means of teaching history or even personal issues some artists have had in the past. Of course, there are a few tales of games made at the wishes of a corporation, but it’s also in these cases where the overall art style was left to the artists, which is always a good thing.

While the book has a number of recognizable mainstream titles from major publishers, Sainsbury is smart enough to add a bunch of PC/console indie games well worth checking out as well as a few niche games that generally only do well with a certain crowd (the Atelier series of games by Gust). It’s also of note that there’s a great interview about Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn that directly addresses the game’s revival from its initial failure to it’s rebirth as a far (FAR) better and more enjoyable game experience (with some truly lovely art).

One of the more amusing things personally learned from this collection is there are a handful of games here I didn’t care much at all for when I played them (Monster Monpiece, Hyperdimension Neptunia) that I now appreciate a bit more after reading the interviews. Sainsbury clearly has a deep respect for the works of Goichi Suda (Suda51) and Hidetaka Suehiro (SWERY65), as they get some nice coverage. Tale of Tales’ Auriea Harvey and Michaël Samyn have a nice set of images and a fine interview that’s a bit sad because since the book has come out, the company has stopped making commercial games thanks to the failure of SUNSET, their excellent and innovative adventure game that failed to capture a wide enough audience.

Overall, Game Art should make a more than excellent gift for anyone looking to gain insight into the pre-production and even the development process behind the scenes. Hell, you can even buy this one if you just want to look at the pictures and that’ll be all right because it’s part of enjoying a good or not so good game at the end of the day. Hopefully this one will get a follow up with even more creators as Sainsbury’s interviewing style of smarter than the average questions and allowing his subjects to have enough room to reply has made for quite the compelling read.