It takes a hell of a gimmick to make me sit through a horror film these days and Film Movement/RAM Releasing’s latest indie shocker MOEBIUS certainly has a really sharp one working quite well in its favor. Director Kim Ki-Duk’s unsettling, darkly comic chiller packs in just under 125 minutes of edge of your seat nastiness thanks to a rather disturbed family unit with a few nastier (and literal) twists of the knife along the way to a nicely weird (and a bit ambiguous, perhaps?) finale.
You want somewhat inappropriate sex, bits of nudity, violence, blood (but not too much of it), leg-closing moments galore and a good reason to curl up into a ball under the covers? Well, you’ve got that here and then some. Oh, by the way… that gimmick I mentioned? The entire film has not a single line of dialog…
Not just ANY Transformers, though – This week, you’ve the chance to win one of two different Grey Skull variants (no relation to Castle Greyskull, I bet!) through the usual means of hitting up one of Funko’s social networks, entering and then dropping to your knees and hoping you’re the lucky one of two picked to WIN one of these cool Hikari Sofubi Vinyl figures. Here’s Grey Skull Optimus Prime:
and here’s Grey Skull Bumblebee:
Boogie on over to one of the spots below and enter away for your chance to win:
As always, each of the two lucky winners get the first off the line of one of these figures (#1 of 1000 this time out). Remember, If you’re an unlucky loser, you can still grab one or both of these at your favorite Funko retailer in September. Good Luck and remember: “Knowing is half the battle!” I have NO idea what the other half is, by the way…
Wow. Lots of dead adventurers in this rather amusing and slightly gamer grim trailer for the PS3/PS4/PS Vita game NAtURAL DOCtRINE, set for a September release. Kadokawa Games’ upcoming tactical RPG looks to test the skills of the best of the best and leave the bones of the rest to feed the vultures. Hey, maybe I should write copy for the backs of game packages or something? I sometimes have a way with words, I think. Or so people tell me from time to time. Hmmmm… wait. Lots of games aren’t coming in packages these days, so I guess I should stick to writing about games and keep my amusing talent to myself. Anyway, this one looks like a keeper AND a sleeper, so keep an eyeball peeled for it soon…
Okay, so the sound mix is way off balance and sure, it’s not looking as stunning as other games coming out this late for last-gen systems, but I’m still going to play TopWare Interactive’sRaven’s Cry when it’s released. Veteran developer Reality Pump Studios has been working on this game for a while, so I’m curious to see the final result for a few reasons. It’s probably one of the last open world games on the PS3 and Xbox 360, it’s not another fantasy RPG, and while the pirate theme has been done to death and some consider that last Assassin’s Creed game the be-all, end-all game in this sub-genre, it’s just nice to root for the “little” guy every now and then, I say. Besides, rough edges aside, there’s something about a European-made RPG that commands attention and respect. Well, at least I think so…
Raven’s Cry lands on PC, Mac, PS3/PS4 and Xbox 360 on October 14, 2014.
While I still despise facebook with a passion (yeah, yeah, I have an account there, but it’s more for work purposes that anything else), sometimes something unsolicited pops up on my page that’s actually worth a second look. Benoît Prézeau and the game he’s working on, Realms, Swords & Magic both got my attention because the man is either really talented or a mad genius or both. He’s making a text-driven role-playing game that plays out like a choose your own adventure book, but with what’s looking like a great deal more depth. All of this is still VERY early, but the opening text from the game’s web site got my brain percolating:
Realms, Swords & Magic is a text and illustrations based CRPG for Windows with a story spanning an entire lifetime and gameplay more focused on character interactions, than combat.
Yeah, that sounds pretty cool, folks. Go poke around Prézeau’s site and see what he’s up to, won’t you? He’s planning to do some sort of crowdfunding, and I say he SHOULD be supported, as a good story is better than some damn potato salad any day of the week, grrrr!
You actually don’t need to have played Tales of Xillia to fully enjoy Tales of Xillia 2, but in case you didn’t and are wondering what you missed, this under six-minute recap of key cinematic moments from the first game should get you psyched for the new adventure ahead. I’ve been playing since yesterday evening and will have a review up on Tuesday or Wednesday, depending on how far I get in the game. I should take my time with this and try to get as close to 100% completion as possible, but there’s SO much to tackle in this game that if I tried to blaze through too quickly, I’d definitely miss out on a lot of content. On the other hand, if I get caught up in all those side-quests and cat-catching (I’ve caught 23 out of 100 so far), this review isn’t going to get done until November (of next year, ha and ha!)…
Well, this almost 16 minutes of gameplay footage is sure going to be helping sell The Witcher 3 to PC, PS4 and Xbox One owners (or make one buy a new console or upgrade a PC to run this gorgeous open world RPG… but, wait… what’s this? The Xbox One collector’s edition is getting (noooo!) extra stuff NOT in the other editions? Ruh-roh. Hmmmm… well, it’s just physical versions of the “Gwent” card decks so you can play that game (which is in ALL versions of the game) outside of the game space with like-minded friends and a cloth map of the game world.
Hmmm… I should be upset at this, but I know the internet fanboys will take care of that for me. It doesn’t affect the main game at all, so it’s not that big a deal. However, I can see some of the people cheering CDPR for stating that every version of the game would get the same content taking that a wee bit too literally and asking for Gwent decks for every version of the game. Of course, the company can just sell those decks separately at some point (and should if Gwent becomes popular enough to warrant making a lot more real decks).
Edit: I see that the whiners are in full rage on YouTube and a few message boards already! The developer did promise that TWC’s content on the game disc or via download would be the same, but it seems that didn’t extend to physical goodies at all, which as noted above, I really don’t have an issue with at all. I’m gathering they’ll stick to their guns despite the cranky types online saying they’ll cancel their pre-orders and I hope they do, but also reiterate that the ACTUAL game EVERY person is buying will be 100% the same across all platforms. Those cards and that map seem to be a bonus wrangled out by Microsoft, which seems to be looking to buy gamer love these days by getting them things they pay a lot for…
So, this week, Funko is giving away TWO very cool limited edition Hikari Sofubi Vinyl figures, one in the standard Hikari line and one in the Hikari Premium line. Going in reverse (because it’s Friday and I didn’t sleep last night thanks to that review copy of Tales of Xillia 2 that kept me up allllll night), enter and you can get a chance to win this HUGE Premium Blaze Spider-Man Hikari Sofubi Figure (#1 of only 1500 made!):
If you don’t win that big Spidey, it’s going on sale this October at your favorite Funko retail or online emporium! Or, you can try and be the lucky winner of win this lovely (well, for a Masters of the Universe figure, it’s kind of handsome in that devilish manner, I guess) Mythos Skeletor (# 1 of 1000 AND an Entertainment Earth exclusive!):
As usual, pop on over to one of Funko’s social media channels:
I’m pretty much going to stop following all these Hyrule Warriors videos because I don’t want to spoil the game any more than it’s been spoiled already (although I know I don’t know anything more about the story than I need to at this point, and that’s a good thing). But what the heck, here’s the opening (above), a whopping 85 minutes of gameplay from the great German site Nintendomination (thanks!) and what the heck, another Nintendo of America character trailer below:
After this, I’m sticking my head in the sand and waiting for the US release. I think Nintendo has a huge hit on their hands that may not be a system seller out of the gate, but WILL get into the hands of a great deal of the current user base still high on Mario Kart 8 fumes or looking for the next surefire hit from the company. This one’s got pure franchise potential stamped all over it in big gold letters and I’m so glad I’ve been supporting the system since day one…
Well, there goes my fall and probably winter, I’m gathering. At this point, BioWare has a lot of people following every bit of ink (digital or otherwise) scribbled about Dragon Age: Inquisition, but these days, I only write too much about a game if I’m worried it’s not going to find an audience. DA:I has a built-in fan base that’s going to dive into it no matter what anyone says about it, and I have nothing bad to say at all. Other than I wish every bit of content was on a disc and there wasn’t DLC to worry about at all. I’ve been saying that a lot about all games, so fear not EA or BioWare – I’m not picking on you folks for that. It’s just a poke I take at every company that hasn’t yet realized that not everyone likes this practice or can get to that content they’ve paid for that’s on the disc or locked away as a download unless one buys into it. Options are always better to have than mandates and this game world needs to be one that anyone who can play the game should be able to fully explore.
Dragon Age: Inquisition will be available November 18, 2014 for PC, PS3/PS4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One. I’d say you should most probably buy this one…
It takes a hell of a gimmick to make me sit through a horror film these days and Film Movement/RAM Releasing’s latest indie shocker MOEBIUS certainly has a really sharp one working quite well in its favor. Director Kim Ki-Duk’s unsettling, darkly comic chiller packs in just under 125 minutes of edge of your seat nastiness thanks to a rather disturbed family unit with a few nastier (and literal) twists of the knife along the way to a nicely weird (and a bit ambiguous, perhaps?) finale.
"DESTROY ALL FANBOYS!" 