Deadly Premonition: The Director’s Cut – Classified Edition: FK Yeah, You Need This!

Posted on August 26, 2015 by geelw

(thanks, zbencz2!)

Not to put too fine a point on it, but for my money, Deadly Premonition: the Director’s Cut was and is one of the most beautifully bizarre and unique horror game experiences to date. Its bat-crap crazy elements and deadly serious story bits combined with the intentionally dated visual style and many hours of open-world gameplay to provide a highly replayable game experience once you got over and used to its many quirks. Given that I’ve probably written more kooky articles about the game than anyone else (well, that’s what I’ve heard), I’m telling you PlayStation 3 owners who happen to also be horror game fans who’ve yet to give this game a try that now you NEED a copy even more than before.

Yes, you absolutely NEED this, Zach!

Thankfully for you, the NISA Online Store is taking pre-orders for this ultimate edition of the PS3 version of the game. In case you still haven’t clicked and whipped out your wallet, here’s what’s in the box:

Deadly Premonition: The Director’s Cut physical copy for the PlayStation® 3
Classified Edition DLC Voucher containing all DLC for the game (It’s all in the details)
Hardcover Art Book 6.75 in x 5.25 in (A book with some unique images inside)
Official Soundtrack 25 tracks with jewel case (Not available before on compact disc)
Deck of 54 Custom Playing Cards (York’s favorite)
Collector’s Box (A good way to keep everything safely tucked away, out of the light)

Given that I’ve played through the game at least five times already (not counting the Xbox 360 version), finding time to do so again won’t be tough. But I can’t let myself become too obsessed, Zach. Actually, I’m much more interested in all that bonus content, particularly the art book and soundtrack. It’s too bad the box doesn’t have a somewhat hard to locate these days Deadly Premonition coffee mug as an extra special bonus. But I’d gather that would add to the cost and there’s the issue of careless delivery persons tripping on that ONE spot on your walkway when walking up to your front door. Well, you can always make your own coffee and find out what the FK is going on when you pour a bit of milk into it.

Anyway, Deadly Premonition: The Director’s Cut – Classified Edition is available for pre-order NOW (you’ve already clicked one of those links above, Zach? I know you did!) for $49.99 and will be headed your way on November 24, 2015.

Stella Glow: You Can Tune A Piano, But Can You Tune A Witch?

Posted on August 19, 2015 by geelw

Oh, the mighty (and lousy) puns I came up with for this new 3DS game! Atlus is bringing over Imageepoch’s Stella Glow, a JRPG where you’ll need to “tune” witches in order to use their song magic powers against assorted creatures. It seems as if the tuning process and deep heart elements lift some of play mechanics from the Ar Tonelico series, but if you loved those games on the PS2 and PS3 and happen to own a 3DS, you’ll be in absolute heaven. Witch means you’ll be waiting for this around the holidays when it ships out in North America.

I see there’s a Fire Witch in the game and the game description I got notes that there are five witches total to tune. Which makes me pun-der if there’s a Sand Witch to tune at some point. I’m not sure if the tuning leads to any romance angles, but if so, would that mean if your character decide to settle down with one of them, they can say “I Married A Witch” at some point? If there’s a kid from that union and it’s a boy you can call him Son of a Witch? Which witch wishes willingly for waterproof watches? Do witches even wear watches? I have not a clue. But I guess I’ll find out soon enough.

Review: Lost Dimension (PS3/PS Vita)

Posted on July 28, 2015 by geelw

Platform: PlayStation 3/PS Vita
Developer: FuRyu
Publisher: Atlus
# of Players: 1
ESRB Rating: T (Teen)
MSRP: $39.99
Official Site
Score: B (80%)

He may be smiling outside, but he’s really going to kill you inside. The End.

Oh, how I do wish there were a Lost Dimension OVA or short-run anime series. Just so I could see the scene at the close of one episode when villain The End materializes outside that strange massive pillar he’s dropped in the middle of Tokyo to address some reporters who’ve popped up outside with their news vans and a moderately sized crowd of terrified (but terminally nosy) gawkers. In my somewhat addled brain, the English dub would go something like this:

REPORTER: Mr. The End! You’ve dropped this massive Pillar onto the city, killed over two billion people around the world and are threatening the human race with total extinction! What will you do now?!

THE END (dryly): Hmmm… I guess I’ll go to Disney World… and kill everyone there as well.

Whereupon The End would smirk, drift high up into the air and vanish as the crowd below gasps and chatters away. As that reporter is making some dopey closing commentary, the camera would pull way back as he or she is talking right before a huge chunk of rubble drops on top of everyone outside. Cut to The End looking down and grinning as we get a freeze frame shot of his face and THE END in big letters fading in before the closing credit theme kicks in.

Hey, I did say he means business, didn’t I? THE END.

Yeah, I’d pay real money to see that. But I’m a bit crazy.

Anyway, my poorly plotted final fan fiction fantasy dream aside, let’s talk about the game in question. Lost Dimension comes to you from developers FuRyu (with an Lancarse assist) and publisher Atlus as a solid, intriguing hybrid of visual novel and tactical RPG. It’s a game that takes a number of genre cliches (and the fact that JRPG fans love them) and flips them onto their heads as it asks you to kill off your team one by one in order to advance the plot. While that’s going on you also need to bond with as many of your remaining teammates as possible before the final showdown. And you need to do this twice in order to get that best ending.

I usually don’t do this, but I’m going to go and gently spoil some of the obvious stuff the game slaps you with hard just to make sure it’s understood how important it is to NOT automatically like the cast from the get-go.

Oh really? Well you’re still getting voted off the island, missy!

The game doesn’t care a whit how cute you think Himeno is or that Marco wears bangin’ headphones and has a snowman or whatever the hell that is on his outfit. In fact, going into the game with notions of “saving” characters you like is a really terrible idea. Not only will you be disappointed that someone you’re attached to is going to get theirs at your hands, you’ll end up in a frustrating loop of trying to reload saves that won’t matter at all as you try to salvage someone who needs to die anyway… Continue reading →

Lost Dimension Update: When The End Is Only The Beginning

Posted on July 15, 2015 by geelw

With Lost Dimension coming on July 28 to PS3 and Vita and yours truly almost done with his second play through for review purposes, it’s tough to keep from doing some bean spilling on what to expect from the game. Of course, you’ll have to chase me down and force a lot of real American dollars into my pockets just to get me to cough up the juicy details. I don’t carry change with me (the rustling of bills in a pocket hurts my follicles), so you’ll have to start with one hundred bucks at a minimum before I cough up some answers. But as I’ve already put a decent chunk of time into what’s here, let’s just safely say that the game has taught me how to lie very effectively. You may not get the truth out of me but you’ll at least get a convincing tale that will keep you entertained enough to believe every single word.

Of course, you just may bribe me and get nothing but dead air. Ever since I got my review code there’s been a black van outside my building with tinted windows and an ATLUS logo on the door. Methinks I’ll end up IN said black van if I talk too much.

Lost Dimension Hands-On: Brain Trust And The Tall Tower of Doom

Posted on July 4, 2015 by geelw

Don’t plan on getting too attached to your party members in Lost Dimension, developer FurYu’s new RPG headed to the PlayStation 3 and Vita on July 28 from Atlus. Among the cast of powerful teen agents of SEALED are a number of traitors aligned with spiky-haired villain The End and the game rather effectively randomizes who those traitors are on each floor of the enemy packed tower you’re ascending.

While it’s yet another game in which Japan gets partially destroyed and it’s up to a cast of youths with special skills to save the day (and the planet), there’s an added layer of tension here that builds as your party gets whittled down based on your decisions. Even worse, choosing your allies based on how you as the person playing the game feels about them can have some pretty drastic in-game consequences.

Continue reading →

Lost Dimension: Deep Vision Trailer – Getting Rid Of Traitors Is(n’t) A Cinch

Posted on June 30, 2015 by geelw

Yeah, that’s right. In Lost Dimension you need to figure out who the traitors are in your party and eliminate them as you climb a deadly tower full of enemies. Why? Well, you’re saving the earth (maybe) and you don’t want to be stabbed in the back by someone you thought you trusted, that’s why. I’ll have a hands-on preview in a couple of days but let’s just say that “Trust No One… or Else” works well enough as a potential tagline here.

Here’s a little more about the game in the form of its E3 2015 trailer:

Now that your curiosity is piqued, you should probably know that Lost Dimension is headed to the PS3 and PS Vita on July 28, 2015 along with some nice free DLC for the first two weeks of its launch window. Atlus loves you, yes they do.

Deception IV: The Nightmare Princess : “It’s A Trap!” You’ll Fall For Over And Over

Posted on May 17, 2015 by geelw

Okay, I’ll admit to being a bit behind in my beating quota. In other words, I still have yet to play Deception IV: Blood Ties on anything it’s been released on. As time, tide and games wait for no man, Tecmo Koei has made it known that there’s a follow-up coming in July for the PS3, PS4 and Vita called Deception IV: The Nightmare Princess. Fans of this long-running series which began on the original Playstation should be dancing around for joy while trying to avoid assorted traps and hazards in their own environments. For the uninitiated, here’s a live-action trailer with a tiny bit of the sinister yet intentionally silly gameplay at the end:

Now if only actual burglar alarms worked this efficiently. Although I’d bet the setup and resetting costs would be a wee bit costly.

Continue reading →

ALIEN 35th Anniversary Blu-Ray/DVD: If You’re NEW to This Flick, It’s A Must-Buy…

Posted on October 5, 2014 by geelw

Hmmmm. I’m not sure I need another version of ALIEN for my library, but this 35th anniversary limited edition features a a reprint of the excellent Alien: The Illustrated Story comic and all-new, collectible art cards along with the 1979 original cut and 2001 director’s cut of the film. As this is one of my favorite films of any genre, I’ll probably cave in and pick this up at some point once there’s a price drop just to add it to the other sets I have here.

Yeah, Fox is pretty much jabbing us in the wallet with this one, but the price isn’t bad if you shop around and at least the new extras are different and worth checking out if you have to have EVERY bit of memorabilia. Between this and Alien Isolation arriving on the same day, I have the feeling that a whole new set of fans will be made for this absolute classic sci-fi/horror hybrid. The cranky older fans who think this one’s a double dip with a few bonuses surely won’t be buying this re-re-re-re-release, if my poking around on a few film boards is any indication. Those geezers are just too smug to see that somewhere in the world, someone STILL hasn’t seen ALIEN and yeah, they might be wanting to get this because it’ll be their first time experiencing this still near-perfect film…

Persona 4 Arena Ultimax Unboxing: Poor Teddie’s Gonna Get Bopped Quite A Lot. It’s in the Cards!

Posted on September 26, 2014 by geelw

Hmmm. It seems that Atlus USA has a lot of headless people working for it. Okay, that’s just PR guy John Hardin showing off the game and bonus items in that video and not the Headless Non-Horseman doing some part-time work. Anyway, half a set of tarot cards and a inflatable Teddie Bop Bag may not seem like a big deal to some of you, but both will get some usage by fans of the Megaten games who need a break from this rather awesome fighting game. As noted in that title above, poor Teddie’s gonna get beat up pretty badly, but just follow the instructional portion of this video and don’t go all NFL player on the poor vinyl bear-thing. Besides, he’ll probably haunt your dreams and beat up on YOU in them if you play too rough…

Persona 4 Arena Ultimax is out on September 30 for PS3 and Xbox 360.

Persona 4 Arena Ultimax: Your Incoming Funky Fist & Foot to Face Fighter Of The Month (Or Year)…

Posted on September 15, 2014 by geelw

Okay, the very idea of a fighting game set in the Shin Megami Tensei: Persona universe made me choke on some water about two years back, but the first game was actually really good and fun stuff, adding a new layer of lore to the storied JRPG franchise. This latest installment looks to better that original game something fierce and comes highly recommended even if you hate fighting games. This one’s set for a September 30, 2014 launch on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 (digital and physical, so you now have no excuse not to buy this), so feel free to haunt your nearest game emporium if your boat has been floated. Heck, at the very lest, check out the videos in this post just to get a gander at the story above and that excellent character animation in the gameplay clips below:

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I think I need to stock up on spare controllers. I’m not the best at fighting games and analog sticks tend to get bruised up when I play games like this. NO, not from controller tossing madness on my part, folks. I just have ham-hands!