Odin Sphere Leifthrasir: Plain Vanillaware Is Awesome, Omake Makes It Even Tastier

Posted on February 1, 2016 by geelw

OSL_logo_top

I don’t believe in magic at all, but whatever George Kamitani and Vanillaware are using for creative energy, it needs to be packaged and sold at cost just so more game developers can reap the rewards. Odin Sphere Leifthrasir, the upcoming HD reworking of the PlayStation 2 classic looks as if it will introduce a new and larger legion of fans to the game when it ships out for PS4, PS3 and Vita on June 7, 2016. While North Amrican PS4 owners looking to collect the most omake luck out big time with the limited Storybook Edition at $79.99, PS4, PS3, and Vita-only owners in NA who pre-order can score a softcover version of that hardcover 64-page art book in the Storybook Edition. Continue reading →

PC Review: MOVE OR DIE

Posted on January 31, 2016 by geelw

MOD_Thumb3 Platform: PC (also on Mac/Linux)

Developer: Those Awesome Guys

Publisher: Those Awesome Guys

# of Players: 1 – 4

MSRP: $ 14.99

ESRB Rating: N/A

Official Site

Score: A- (90%)

Can’t type… playing…

Okay, I had to drag my tired self away from my ongoing battle with MOVE OR DIE just to drag myself back to the computer and bang out a quick review. This game is a total blast and pretty much everything it’s cracked up to be in one package. Simple enough for the kids to pick up, but only the best and most clever and cheap players will survive… that is until they get bested by someone or some random element that’s smarter or faster. The name of the game says it all. If you don’t MOVE, your little avatar will DIE, period. If that wasn’t impetus enough, you’re tasked with a number of randomly rotating mini-games, all of which last a mere twenty seconds each and consist of trying to stay alive longer than the other players whether AI or live.

Between the chainsaws, falling block walls, time bombs and other hazards, this is a game where everyone dies at some point and the key to survival is dying less than anyone else you’re playing against. This simplicity plus the intense speed of each round keeps the game fresh even if the currently limited number of game modes randomly loops back on itself multiple times. The greatest thing about the game is it allows anyone who can hold a controller and keep moving to play and win (and lose).

This one’s a game where the cute factor of those avatars only vaguely mask the title’s dedication to keeping players in a constant state of tension and/or hilarity. You can win a match with a split second remaining and lose the next one in the same manner. That “friendship destroying” element the trailer promises isn’t really a good selling point because the players you’ve beaten are going to not want to quit playing until they get some payback. Continue reading →

Agatha Christie: The ABC Murders Hands-On: “Little Grey Cells” Get A Nice Workout

Posted on January 29, 2016 by geelw

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Microids‘ upcoming Agatha Christie: The ABC Murders hits European retail and digital outlets next week for PC (via gog.com or Steam) and US online and retail a few weeks later. Some hands-on time last week with the demo reveals mystery fans will have a fine time indeed playing dapper detective Hercule Poirot as he takes on that clever killer with the alphabet fetish and a talent for leaving clues galore. The demo features Poirot investigating the first murder (a shopkeeper found dead in her tobacco store) using his “little grey cells” in some simple to learn gameplay that should please casual to expert gene fans. Continue reading →

Dungelot: Shattered Lands – A Cuter, Stabbier Minesweeper

Posted on January 25, 2016 by geelw

Dungelot_Screenshot-2015-06-23-19.47.08

Dungelot 0 Another of tinyBuild Games‘ upcoming titles is Dungelot: Shattered Lands from Red Winter, a two man studio based in Russia. Shattered Lands is their third game, but unlike the much maligned Dungelot 2 (which got lots of guff for its micro-transaction heavy gameplay), it’s available on iOS now and coming to Steam later this year as a single player game worth keeping an eye peeled for.

While I’m not a big Minesweeper fan in general, it’s the super cute art style and familiar rogue-like RPG aspects that have my interest piqued. Hey, who doesn’t like loot drops and increasing difficulty? Well, that and it’s got a rather large and unholy cow as a beefy boss that needs to be taken down:

dungelot-shattered-lands-gif Moo! Of course, that means that Cow from Hell above is udderly a female fiend (last time I checked, bulls are udderless), but hey – equality goes as good for evil as it does for good when all is said and done. If that sentence made no sense it’s because I’m still zonked out from the snowstorm we had two days ago. I could use some hot milk right about now, so that bovine behemoth-ess (MOO!) is looking mighty attractive about now.

But I digress. Go pick up the game if you have an iOs whatever to play it on or slap it on your Steam watchlist and go hide in a corner until it appears in that store at some point down the road. Here are some screens to ogle below while I nap through the rest of this post:

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Attractio: Great Gravity Game’s a Gas

Posted on January 22, 2016 by geelw

Sure, it’s got a serious case of Portal envy, but Attractio is also quite a lot of fun to play because it adds a bit of freshness to the gravity puzzle game formula made user-friendly fun by Valve a bunch of years back. Actually, back when I tried the PS4 demo out at a Bandai Namco event last year the game reminded me of a cross between Portal, The Running Man and a teeny-tiny bit of the old Amiga game The Killing Game Show (aka Fatal Rewind, for you Sega Genesis owners who recall that truncated version of the Amiga game). IF none of those ring a bell, let’s just say that the game is all about trying to think your way out of a series of increasingly deadly puzzles and traps for “fun” and some sort of profit (survival and prizes do go together, right?)

Anyway, the game is out NOW digitally on PC via Steam or PS4/Vita via PSN for $19.99, so if puzzles, gravity and trying not to have your avatar die horribly from embarrassment when he or she gets stuck (or get bumped off by a high fall into some hot lava-like liquid) are your cup of tea, this one’s a recommendation of the most absolute order.

PC Review: The Deadly Tower of Monsters

Posted on January 19, 2016 by geelw

SCARLET_MODEL_1 Platform: PC (also on PS4)

Developer: ACE Team

Publisher: Atlus

# of Players: 1

MSRP: $14.99

ESRB Rating: T (Teen)

Official Site

Score: B+ (85%)

DTOM (38)

Yep, they’ve gone and done it again. Chilean developer ACE Team’s latest game, The Deadly Tower of Monsters is a solid and fun ride that’s going to tickle the fancy of those gamers young to old with a knowledgeable love for “B” movies, primarily of the sci-fi variety. The Unreal engine-powered stylized visuals look great, and the offbeat humor comes from a few angles expected and surprising. While the game may not seem all that lengthy, finding some of its secrets will take some effort. A few flaws (that can be patched) keep it from perfection, but overall this is one of those great little sleepers you’ll want to take for a spin and add to your game library.

Continue reading →

Lovely Planet Arcade: The Unknown Known Gets A Fast Followup

Posted on January 16, 2016 by geelw

I’ve heard about, but actually NEVER played Lovely Planet (*gasp!*), so I guess I now need to, thanks to developer QUICKTEQUILA and publisher tinyBuild Games announcing this maybe it’s a sequel? return to the colorful pastel world of the first game. If the zippy and amusing videos of the first game are any indication as to what’s in the second, players can expect a load of challenge and even more good times when the game jumps out of the developer’s talented hands and lands on Steam later this year. Hey, don’t trust me on that last sentence at all – just go read about the game using on of the links above.

I think by the time LPA is released I’ll have played the first game. I hope. My backlog is a mountain of code that needs to be scaled and the clock is always ticking…

Road to Ballhalla: Brains of Steel Required in This Humorous Hybrid

Posted on January 15, 2016 by geelw

tinyBuild is at it again with another upcoming game bound to entertain and get you out of the casual funk into something far funkier. Road to Ballhalla is coming around the middle of 2016 and if that trailer bove is any indication, it will make a mockery of your gaming skills while teaching you a few things about proper reading comprehension. This will lead to you ignoring real world stuff like speed limit signs or proper parking procedures, which in turn will lead to you having to fight tickets of all sorts by explaining how this game taught you not to trust everything you read. Aha. tinyBuild wants you to disobey rules and orders just so you’re super cautious but still make ridiculous mistakes because you’re silly enough to take what a game it teaching you about IT and try to use those rules in the real world.

tinyBuild, you are EVIL. I still want to play all your games, though (so you’re not so evil after all).

Agatha Christie: The ABC Murders: Get Yours Before Someone Else Gets Theirs

Posted on January 15, 2016 by geelw

Mystery fans on the trail of the whereabouts of Microids’ upcoming Agatha Christie: The ABC Murders now have a fresh clue as to the location of the game. This latest trailer shows off more nicely stylized visuals and Hercule Poirot doing what he does best.

The game will hit retail and digital outlets for PC/Mac, PS4 and Xbox One February 4, 2016 in Europe and February 23, 2016 in North America. Pre-orders for the PC version are being taken on gog.com and Steam, both at a temporary 20% discount off the $29.99 retail price.

The King of Oddball Asides wants me to note that Monsieur Poirot wears his gloves all the time in that trailer and that makes him a suspect as well. But The King of Oddball Asides is indeed an oddball himself. Anyway, Microids would very much like it if you crept up on them one of these days and got all nosy like a certain Belgian detective. In English, follow them using the links below:

Website: http://www.Microids.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/microids

Twitter http://www.twitter.com/Microids_off

Pinterest http://www.pinterest.com/microids

The Final Station: A Hell of a Commute Coming Your Way

Posted on January 14, 2016 by geelw

What the heck is going on over at tinyBuild Games these days? All they seem to do is make games, and damn good ones at that. That’s not supposed to happen at all, folks. Where are the crowdfunded failures, the whiny employees griping about long hours as they spend too much time hanging out on message boards responding to the slightest complaint about an Early Access game that didn’t work or ate someone’s save files? Nope, I don’t see that here. Just more games that want me to play them when they’re out. Stupid indie developer!

All kidding aside, tinyBuild’s upcoming The Final Station looks really fantastic. Take one part survival horror, one part train simulator and you get innovation wrapped up in yummy, excellently animated pixel visuals that end up more lifelike than some big buck AAA release that has every map bumped and requires you to upgrade your 3D card. Anyway, go add this one to your Steam wishlist (it’s set for a summer 2016 launch) and be prepared for more, as this week the developer has been introducing a new upcoming title for the last three days with a fourth and final one to get an announcement tomorrow. I’ll do a post on each as soon as I un-bury myself from a little backlog I’m staring at.