Hudson’s innovative adventure/platform/puzzle/action game (it does everything!) is in stores NOW. Go buy a copy if you have a Wii (you can thank me later). While I’m waiting for my reviewable to show up, you can keep yourselves busy reading some of my previous coverage on this gem.
Yikes, last year went by FAST. Well, given that I was out of action for a good part of early to mid 2010, the second half of the year was pretty busy and mostly productive on a few fronts. I’m still planning to catch up on/complete and post some old reviews just to have them in the database here (which will be updated with its own search function at some point) along with some other cool stuff.
Amusingly enough, all I did most of yesterday was finally finish up two games I’d started a while ago and happened to find saves for while clearing some stuff off my hard drive. That’s a screen from The Chosen: Well of Souls to the left, a single-player action RPG that’s not quite the Diablo rip-off you’d think. Awful voice acting aside (except for the guy doing the final boss), it’s a pretty long and tricky bit of hack ‘n slash with some nicely varied stylized environments and some interesting tweaks to the usual formula. Not “Game of the Year” material, mind you, but developer Rebelmind sure knows how to make a decent chase & chop. Anyway, here’s to a wildly amazing 2011 packed FULL of great games, new tech to play with and yup, more stuff to give away when I can swing it. Hang on and keep us bookmarked, folks – it’s going to be a really interesting year…
Tecmo Koei is getting an early start on 2011 by announcing three upcoming console games for the first quarter of next year as well as two 3DS exclusives with release dates and more info on the portable games to be announced shortly – (at or around CES, I’m guessing). Here’s what’s on the way:
Trinity: Souls of Zill ‘Oll (PS3 Exclusive) – February 8, 2011
Warriors: Legends of Troy (PS3/Xbox 360) – March 8, 2011
Dynasty Warriors 7 (PS3 and Xbox 360) – March 22, 2011
Dead or Alive Dimensions (3DS)
Samurai Warriors Chronicles (3DS)
I’ll run updated galleries for each game as new media comes in.
SCEA and Sucker Punch’s Holiday Cheer, part deux – check out this chunk of “making of” footage from inFAMOUS 2 and go kiss your PS3 for getting yet another great game in 2011. I’d say someone needs to build a time-stopping machine so we can all set aside enough of it to actually play ALL the great games coming next year for every system…
Yikes. Not one, not two, but three videos went up for inFAMOUS 2 a few hours ago, showing off gameplay, a behind the scenes peek and parts of the 2D comic cut scenes from Sucker Punch's 2011 action game. Here are the gameplay footage and 2D comic movies – the behind the scenes video gets a separate post just so i can ramble about it a bit more (if I want to). Yup, with all these first party exclusives coming left and right, it's going to be a REALLY good year for the PS3 (and you don't need a crystal ball to see that fact)…
Ys I & II Chronicles is coming on February 15, 2011, but Xseed Games wants you to start the party NOW. Dig the rockin’ trailer above and pre-order the limited edition “Hair Metal Pack” and get your head-bangin’ on while those classic game tunes (you may or may not remember depending on your age) are wailing away. Awe-some! Yup, Xseed is adding a CD soundtrack packed full of classic Ys tunes to the RETAIL version of the game ONLY. Oh, SNAP. Take that, digital downloads! Go Xseed!! (and nope, I’m not being sarcastic… some things are just better in a big ol’ box and CD case).
Actually, I got to see a tiny bit of the game an some excellent concept art at this year’s New York Comic-Con, but no pictures of the tiny sliver of game footage could be photographed or filmed. Yeah, yeah, you can make all the God of War jokes you care to, but hey, at least Thor isn’t going the Superman game route. The God of Thunder has his powers intact and it looks like players won’t be forced through hoops or rescuing kitties in what’s looking to be a mighty fun experience. The game is definitely coming along nicely in my book (with a May 2011 launch planned) and between this and Captain America: Super Soldier, shows Sega is back on the right track as far as their Marvel Comics games go. Speaking of Cap, I actually DID write up a preview of THAT game, but it was one of the ones that vanished along with that USB drive I’m on the hunt for. Must have been the Red Skull at work, grrrr…
I still have ringing in my ears and a mild headache from all that Hyperdimension Neptunia(aaa*cough!*) stuff yesterday, so I missed running this nice cover art and screens from NISA’s upcoming PSP strategy RPG. According to Amazon’s listing, the game will feature “new story chapters, characters, items, better graphics, and a revamped user interface”. In addition, the game is now “more user-friendly and packs more content for over 100 hours of game play”. March 18, 2011 is the release date (unless something changes). With UMD games looking as if they’re on the way out after next year, folks like me will be grabbing what great games we can, that’s for sure.
While the official website for the game is still in the works, the cover art and four screens are here for your approval. There are a bunch more shots from the game over at Amazon (in case you didn’t click that link above already), so go peek at those if this one’s up your alley… Back in a bit – the post office is calling me…
Say it with me, folks (big voice, now): HYPERDIMENSION NEPTUNIA(AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!)
Yes, that name absolutely demands the echo chamber effect at the end. Grrrrrr… Why does Nippon Ichi continue to tempt me so? Yet another too cute for words RPG, this time on the PS3 from a whopping what, five studios? Lots of flashy battle effects, that snazzy Gust 2D artwork (I expect my usual ten layers of parallax scrolling backgrounds, thank you) mixed with 3D characters, randomly generated dungeon maps, eyeball-rolling town names (Gameindustri? ha bloody ha), ESRB T (Teen)-rated “partial nudity” and “sexual themes” should make this one a nicely niche hit. That is of course, provided the gameplay is solid and the story has the highs and lows genre fans expect plus whatever bells and whistles those random dungeons offer. Oh, and ALEX KIDD??? Holy cats, that’s an instant buy just for the Janken mini-game flashback I had while typing this. The other Sega characters in the game will keep me playing just to see who else is hidden on the disc.
I’ll take a dozen to go, please… with a copy of Prinny 2 on the side.
Unique Console Patron Units… Engage! sometime in Spring 2011, by the way.
Nice trailer… but, Holy Belfry, Batman! You'd think that EA drove over a an entire block full of little kids carrying baskets of newborn puppies while on the way to a church bake sale after visiting Grandma. Twice. Some of the responses I've seen to the SSX: Deadly Descents game trailer and new direction the formerly goofy and always exuberant fan fave are probably arrest-worthy and yes, completely unnecessary. Game History 105: Radical Entertainment (Prototype 2, among other cool games) and THQ tried out a mix of action movie and snowboarding on consumers “way” back in 2001 with a little game called Dark Summit. While it didn't exactly blow any sales doors off (or gain a huge enough following to warrant a sequel, for that matter), it received mixed (but mainly positive) reviews, was fun to play and manged to get in a bit of humor during the story. Hell, the whole game idea was pretty funny in a “Hey you kids, get off my secret government test area snow-covered lawn!” kinda way.
"DESTROY ALL FANBOYS!" 