Yes, Bundle Stars Has TOO Many Deals This Week

Posted on January 21, 2016 by geelw

Quake Bundle

It’s probably common knowledge already that game bundles and bundle sites are the best means of getting recent to older titles without waiting around for seasonal deals or hanging around all day on a site hoping for a flash sale to pop up. Bundle Stars continues to give gamers looking for deals aching backlogs and Steam-ed up wallets thanks to a nice selection of deals. This week has seen a wealth of AAA bundle deals like the one above and more great hits in the limited Bundle Fest series that concludes tomorrow. All the week’s Bundle Fest deals end in six days, so you’ll need to act quickly.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go cry in the corner because I’m probably going to add more games to my backlog. Hey, everyone needs a hobby, right? Mine seems to be adding games to my already bursting at the seams library.

Super Fighter Team Kicks Off 2016 With New & Old Releases

Posted on January 2, 2016 by geelw

Fans of Super Fighter Team are more than likely pretty pleased and having a Happy New Year plying some nostalgic fun as the two Mega Drive/Genesis titles Magic Girl and Cascade announced early in 2015 have finally shipped out to buyers and the return of Beggar Prince, Legend of Wukong and Star Odyssey means those most asked for titles will finally be re(or re-re)-released at some point this year.

As usual, HUGE Props to Super Fighter Team head honcho Brandon Cobb for fighting the good fight and getting these games out his way in this day and age of plenty of beauty pack reissues of the not so legal sort getting snapped up by collectors in record time. SFT’s small but solid library of console titles make for perfect entry level collector purchases as well as great gifts for your favorite classic gamer.

If your budget is lower but you still want to surprise someone (or give yourself a gift), you can drop $20 on the cool RPG Trifecta Pack and get three of those games digitally for your PC and save a chunk of cash. Isn’t freedom a wonderful thing? Yeah, I thought so.

Capsule Reviews 2: A Few More Games? Okay, Let’s Go

Posted on December 31, 2015 by geelw

More bite-sized review bits? Sure, why not?

Onechanbara ZII Chaos (PS4, $49.99) – Budget game developer Tamsoft gets its sexy ladies onto the PS4 in a game that’s going to be loved and hated by gamers for a few reasons. While it has a super smooth 60fps frame rate, the cheesy music rocks somewhat firecely and the action is nearly non-stop (and supremely gory), it’s easy to see the easily ticked off whiny westerners losing their minds over the skimpy costumes and all-out fan service on display. Bikini, schoolgirl outfit and other fantasy femme tropes get trotted out (and that optional Banana Split pack bonus costume is too racy to show here), but the ladies are far from the helpless princess stereotype at all. Aya, Saki and the rest of the crew have been zombie killing for about a decade since their introduction on the PlayStation 2 and later Xbox 360 and Wii Onechanbara titles, so this one’s just their best looking adventure to date. While the game seems a tad on the short side, the reply value comes from unlocking outfits and having at stages again so you can better your score jut like arcade games of old. Then again, every Onechanbara game is pretty much the same: kill plenty of zombies before they kill your gal of choice and have a BIG grin on your face while doing so. Score: B (80%)

Continue reading →

Capsule Reviews 1: Some Games You May Have Missed (Me Yak About)

Posted on December 30, 2015 by geelw

Well, 2015 zipped by too quickly (he typed, knowing that the year isn’t quite over but hey, everyone else seems to be doing year-end articles) and I while didn’t get to write as many reviews as I’d have liked to, I took a ton of notes on things so I could sit down and catch up a some point. The best laid plans of mice and men (and Bemis!) often go wildly astray, so instead of long form full reviews, I’m going to do a bunch of capsule commentary on games, films and books over the next few days just so you have a little something to read when you pop by. Anyway, some quickie game impressions to get started:

Tales of Zestiria (PS4/PS3/PC, $59.99/$49.99 respectively) – Namco’s Tales Studio pulls out all the stops in this latest installment in the long running JRPG franchise (15 Tales to date!) with a game that’s part throwback and homage to the first Tales (of Phantasia) back on the Super Famicom while bringing in an all-new cast, storyline and for the first time, an open world map to explore. Although PS4 owners get the better visual end of the deal on console, the PC version should more than please those fans who pick it up looking for something to play and show off to friends. The game is consistently entertaining from the fast-paced combat to the usual humor found in character interaction and dialog choices. Yes, the use of classic literary references, myth and other tropes is piled on thicker than your mom ever spread mayonnaise, but it works well enough to keep the game fun. I’m actually still playing this one because there’s an extraordinary amount of things to do, stuff to collect and some 93 hours in, I’m close to the endgame but will probably dive in again at some point to revisit a few save files. There are enough divergent paths and interesting encounters (make friends with the Normin you meet!) to keep this one in the play stack for a while. Score: A- (90%)

Continue reading →

A Friendly Reminder Or Two From Xseed Games…

Posted on December 11, 2015 by geelw

Earth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair ($49.99) is out NOW on the PlayStation 4.

Earth Defense Force 2: Invaders From Planet Space ($29.99) is out NOW on the Playstation Vita. Both are available at retail in physical packages at a game emporium near you or digitally via PSN if the outside world freaks you out.

That is all. You may now resume your otherwise mundane Friday, but remember – those gigantic bugs and massive alien invasion force aren’t going to stop themselves. The EDF needs YOU to fight the good fight. Er, unless you like living in a hole somewhere (that’s probably going to have a massive spider nest on top of it at some point sooner than later…

Humble NEOGEO Bundle: Instant Arcade For Your PC? Yeah, That’s a Buy

Posted on December 10, 2015 by geelw

If you just got a nice and nostalgic heart flutter when you ogled that logo above, go pop an aspirin (drink a nice big glass of water with that!) and have a seat. Humble Bundle and SNK/Playmore are teaming up to bring you (at least) 21 NEOGEO arcade games for less than what you’d drop in an arcade during the 90’s on a gaming binge. Seriously. Ten bucks (and you should pay MORE, frankly) gets you those 21 DRM-free games pictured on the page, some excellent game soundtracks you can listen to as you bop down the street or drive around in your vehicle of choice, and the promise of MORE games dropping into your Steam account in a week. $167 worth of games for a tenner is pretty fantastic, but it gets better if you happen to use Firefox or Chrome as your browser. Why? Well, you can sample all but one of the games in the bundle for FREE, that’s why!

Once you’ve had your fill, whip out that wallet and get to the buying and supporting charity part. Humble appreciates the business and you need a ton of fun classics for that backlog you’re growing, right? Yeah, I thought so. If you’re REALLY feeling generous, you can pay $40 or more for all of those games (and games to come) and get an NEOGEO 25th Anniversary Limited Edition METAL SLUG SV-001 T-Shirt sent to you in the mail. Pick your poison and then pick some time out to play with your new games library. Whatever you do, pick quickly as this sale is only running for the next dozen days.

Earth Defense Force 2 and EDF 4.1 Get Dated: Prepare The Time-Sink Ray!

Posted on November 19, 2015 by geelw

Excellent. Between the new trailers above and below, the brand spankin’ new official site and the fact that both games come out on the same day as retail (YES!) and digital product, it’s a fine and dandy day for fans of Earth Defense Force 2: Invaders From Planet Space (PS Vita, $29.99) and Earth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair (PS4, $49.99). That lovely release date of December 8, 2015 means that plenty of fans of both titles are getting exactly what they’ve wanted from Santa, Krampus or whomever else buys their gifts. Buy someone a copy of this game and you won’t see them for weeks because all they’ll be doing in their spare time is blasting big space bugs and bigger spaceships, robots and other space beasties all day and night. Yes, your inner eight-year old kaiju fan will be wholly pleased, but don’t expect this to be an easy ride at all.

Getting these as physical copies (thanks Xseed!) is going to make a lot of EDF fans happier because it’s something they’ve desired with every game in the series and Xseed kept its ear to the ground and made it happen. As for the EDF 4.1 blooper reel below… er, well… I’ll give Xseed a pass on that one because the game is so much fun that a little comic relief won’t hurt it one bit.

Anyway, go get some finger exercises in and ask the boss for some time off in December. Once these games land in stores and on PSN, you’re not going anywhere for a while.

The Last Crown: Midnight Horror – Iceberg’s Happier Halloween Adventure Looks Like A Winner

Posted on October 30, 2015 by geelw

You should SEE my backlog, ladies and germs. It’s huge and scary like a mountain and just as hard to move. That said, Darkling Room‘s new game The Last Crown: Midnight Horror looks really fun. I’d never even heard of the developer until I got an email about this one and how it’s a lighter fright game that’s also an in-between chapter of The Lost Crown and the still in development The Last Crown: Blackenrock, two adventure games I now need to also play at some point. No experience with the first game is needed here as the game’s Halloween theme makes it a standalone “between cases” experience.

Take a gander at the trailer and screens below the jump and if you like what you see, you can grab the game on Steam for a mere $4.49, 50 cents of the normal price of $4.99 (a total BARGAIN for such a cool-looking throwback). Continue reading →

Humble Mobile Bundle Brings Kemco RPG’s Galore For Dirt Cheap

Posted on October 19, 2015 by geelw

If you’re into a bit of 90’s JRPG nostalgia, own an Android compatible device and have yet to try some of Kemco’s modern but retro games yet, this new Humble Mobile Bundle is going to be right up your alley. Pay a buck to get three games, but beat the average price of $5.56 and get six titles with a seventh to unlock soon and up to three more games if the total sales reach goals of $100k, $150k, and $200k.

Here’s a quick look at one of the games in this deal, The Legend of Ixtona, which is a turn-based strategy RPG:

Remember, the more you pay (or get friends in on the cheap deal), the more games come your way down the road. This sale lasts forabout two weeks, so jump on it and spread the good word while you’re at it.

IndieGala Every Monday Bundle: Sentimental, Strategic, Puzzling, Violent

Posted on October 5, 2015 by geelw

Six indie games for $1.89 and this time all of them look worth diving into. No backlog hoarding in this week’s set thanks to the brevity of the paradoxically languidly paced Home is Where One Starts clocking in at under an hour. It’s a sweetly sentimental short game about making memories, something some see as just posting pictures of food, babies and whatever animal of the day video hits their inbox. This short interactive tale might make a few of those folks dwell longer in their own memory well if they give it a go.

The other interesting game here on a more cerebral level would be The Logomancer, a game made in RPG Maker with a “combat” system that’s a lot more interesting than your garden variety JRPG-inspired (yet completely original) indie. Conflict negotiation and talking one’s way out of trouble is the order of the day for your party members, and those stylized visuals only add to the game’s uniqueness. A nicely done original soundtrack rounds out the fun here.

The other games are a formerly mobile gone PC puzzle game called One More Line, the two Braveland turn-based strategy RPGs, and finally, the hyper-violent but ridiculously funny Mayhem Triple (which may have you seeing angry alien cartoon rabbits falling from the sky when you’re in dreamland later tonight). Ah, variety… I guess. Anyway, under two bucks gets you some cool indies you’ll enjoy. All you need after that is time to play them.