Four years in the making, Ossian Studios‘ first mobile RPG, The Shadow Sun, brings the look and feel of classic PC fantasy role playing games to iOS and Android devices along with a few quirks common to mobile games. It’s a solid enough adventure of a decent length (about 15-20 hours or so if you seek out everything) and for a mere $4.99, it’s a fantastic deal.
While the game is indeed engaging and quite challenging in terms of its combat, it’s also a patch away from being even better than it currently is. You’re certainly getting a heck of a lot more than five dollars worth of gaming here and while in-app purchases are available, none are needed to beat the game.
Well, if you call your latest deal the FPS Bulletproof Bundle and it’s all about shooting stuff up, that’s kind of misleading, isn’t it, Bundle Stars? Well, yes and no. Sure, you’ll get eight different FPS games from companies small to large as well as two downloads that let you create your own shooters (or other types of games) all for a measly $3.49. As you’re shutting up and buying this deal of the day, you’ll probably realize that that “bulletproof” in the title isn’t a lie at all. In fact, as games can’t kill you no matter how many digital bullets, lasers, bombs and other ordinance fly your way, you can rest easy knowing you’re safe in your own home while playing any of these titles.
As you can see from these trailers (and the rest on the game page), the selection ranges from quirky to scary and you’ll even get a dose of action movie “realism” in some games. As for Axis Game Factory’s AGFPRO v2, it’s probably a decent way for would be game makers to get some hands-on time with what looks like a simple to use set of tools. You probably won’t make the next Half-Life or anything close to it with, but you’ll certainly see that making games isn’t as “easy” as you may think even with a program this flexible.
But hey, perhaps you’ll prove me wrong and make a game that blows anyone who plays it out of the water. Stranger things have happened, for sure. Anyway, go make this the best $3.49 you’ve ever spent on anything playable, I say.
Coming to PC, PS4, PS3, Xbox One and Xbox 360 on April 7, 2015, Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin will bring FromSoftware’s hard as hell-made nails game to those new consoles with a number of changes and improvements over the original release. For those rolling their eyes about the prospect of repurchasing the game just for spiffier visuals and every bit of DLC content included for free, fear not. Enemy placement throughout the game is vastly different and their AI has been dialed up even further.
Additionally, the number of enemy mobs has been increased, making the already challenging game much more so. All that and it seems that both offline and online players will have to now worry about a super-tough new foe that can invade their games with intent to do them in. Online fans looking for a fight will love the now 6-player PvP, although “love” is kind of a subjective term here. There’s nothing quite like being invaded mid-game by a bunch of people who you don’t know who may or may not be wanting to help you adventure.
Finally, that subtitle refers to an all-new NPC who’s chock full of information and meeting up with him will no doubt lead to new areas and content in the game. As you can see here, the official Dark Souls II website has announced a new patch for current owners of the original game that adds a ton of new features and content that will prepare players for the April release of Scholar of the First Sin. The great thing about all this is this reworked version of Dark Souls II is not only geared for veteran players who’ve mastered the game, but new players who want to see what all the fuss is about.
Yes, From has also added new NPC’s who can assist new players with the ins and outs of survival in such an unforgiving world. But don’t expect casual hand-holding or an assist if you bite off more that you can chew. The latter is what the assorted not so wee beasties are supposed to to and I’m betting plenty of players old and new will become meals off wheels when Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin arrives in about two months.
Nope, not at all. In fact, there’s a very good chance you’re jumping on this link and slapping down the twelve dollars to unlock all nine titles as well as the surprise bonus games coming next week. The two Knights of the Old Republic games are worth that price and Republic Commando was and is very underrated gem that’s a solid FPS as well as fairly amusing in spots thanks to a snappy scripting job. The rest of the lot (so far) is an interesting selection of genres from straight up action to real-time strategy without the resource gathering and makes for an excellent deal for the money.
As for what those upcoming additions to the bundle are, it’s tough to say. It would be nice to see more Jedi Knight games make it into the bundle, as both Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II with the Mysteries of the Sith expansion and Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast were pretty impressive for their respective times. Jedi Academy is okay and fun to play, but those two other game were sweet spot central, bumping up the visual quality and gameplay to nice heights.
Given that it looks as if whatever games Disney comes up with in the future will be meant to replace these mostly classic Star Wars experiences, this bundle comes not only recommended, but also comes with the recommendation that you give it as a gift to anyone tho know who’s a fan of the films (and has a decent gaming PC). That, and a portion of those Republic Credits you spend on this deal will go to two charities: Star Wars: Force for Change and Unicef’s US Fund. Already, over 191,000 of this bundle have flown out of the Humble Bundle site, meaning a lot of people out there know a fantastic deal when they see it. Anyway, you know what to do, Padawans, so I’ll let you get to it.
Packing an encyclopedic knowledge of the land of Hyrule and a passion for sharing it freely with others can be a bad thing if you’re wearing a baggy Tingle costume in public while ranting on a street corner to passersby giving you a wide berth. If that’s you, well… here comes the banana truck right… about… now. On the other hand, if you’re a more creative person like Jessica “Allaweh” Brown, you get cracking on a fan-made game that adds to the Legend of Zelda lore and feels quite like a professionally made product for classic game console. Zelda: Sword of Moria is set two years after the events in Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, but plays much closer to the original game than its sequel. Brown has been releasing updated demo builds as she tinkers away on her project and once completed, the game will be free to anyone to play.
The game will require the Zelda Classic Launcher to run and should work fine on pretty much any PC. Once you’re all set to play, that recently created intro sequence kicks in and it’s off to the races. Sword of Moria actually begins with Link not having a sword (or any weapon at all) and a slight bit of hoofing it around to a new town to get his hands on one. This lets you see Brown’s nice level layouts as well as the tried and true Zelda gameplay where you’re unarmed for a short bit as you learn some navigation basics and see a few enemies you’ll want to avoid. Once that sword is acquired, get set to chop bushes and cut grass for Rupees and hearts as well as some enemies that previously had you scampering away before they drew a bead on poor Link.
The demo features an open world like the classic first game, but Brown’s braininess about Hyrule has allowed her to fill in some geographic gaps in the world map, making for a sensible and surprising journey while it lasts. In this latest demo build (2.0), you’ll be able to explore, fight off monsters, solve puzzles and find treasure in the Town of Saria, Northern Death Mountain, Calta Canyon and Eastern Calatia. Two smaller dungeons and one Major dungeon plus a few villages are also open for exploration. As this is an unfinished game, there are a small handful of areas that shouldn’t be ventured into lest you accidentally get Link bumped off. But the bulk of the demo looks and feels as if it’s a professionally made first-party game circa 1987 or so.
There’s still a good deal of work to go, but from the time spent with Zelda: Sword of Moira, it’s clear that this is going to be one of those great fan-made games that’s not just another remake or not quite “right” pseudo-sequel that goes off a few rails at different points. Her sticking to lore and dedication to making a game as close to feeling like the original and sequel make Ms. Brown someone to watch. And with work on a few sites, a regular podcast, YouTube and Twitch channel, she won’t mind you watching her, by the way.
Holy Cats. Fourteen, no wait… FIFTEEN Steam games for $1.99 over at IndieGala for the next 24 hours ONLY? Insane, but it’s got BUY ME written all over it, folks. You’ll get a nice mix of genres from roguelike RPG to fast-paced action, a slice or three of horror and even the unique photo album game Retention about a guy who has a bike accident and is flipping through the pages of his memory as he lies on the ground awaiting help. Well, I guess that’s better than slipping in the shower as far as accidents go. Ouch. This one’s worth a play because the developers say it only takes about eleven minutes to play. Eight endings give it replay value, so I guess that’s about 90 minutes total if you go for all four good and bad endings, correct?
Anyway, go get your deal and shut yourself in for the weekend. It’s going to be terrifyingly cold in some spots from what I’m seeing…
Fans of classic 90’s console RPGs should drop everything (as in, NOW) and grab Eden Industries’ Citizens of Earth for anything they can play it on. The game perfectly captures the spirit of the classic Super Nintendo game Earthbound while adding elements such as a more open world to explore 30+ party members to recruit and too many puns to keep track of. Not everything is flawless, however. A few typos, accumulated loading times and one pesky navigation glitch sometimes kick the good bits in the good bits. Nevertheless, this is one of those fun and funny games that can suck you in for hours at a time. Atlus wisely rescuing this failed crowd-funded game project and saw fit to publish it for a few platforms.
In the game, You’re the Vice President of the World (!) and things are somewhat screwy in the post-election phase. Angry protesters are outside your home, there’s trouble at the local coffee shop and lots more wildness that requires your VP skills. You’ll need to round up and recruit citizens from all walks of life to aid you in your quest, so expect to meet up with a wide cast of odd and amusing party members as the game progresses. This isn’t any sort of emotional powerhouse storyline at all, so going in expecting weep-inducing cut scenes or “powerful” moments is a fool’s errand. On the other hand, if you like pun-heavy puns, goofy-looking enemies and creative uses of coffee, pastry and pharmaceuticals, you’ll love what’s here and then some… Continue reading →
Yikes. TWO bundles a day for a five days over at Bundle Stars? That’s just wacky under “normal” circumstances… but if you’re looking for deals on a ton of titles all at once you may as well dive in both feet first and get your backlogs aching with some fine indie PC games in pretty much every genre. I’m in the middle of writing a review at the moment, so I’ll just play the lazy card and let you click on each pic below to get on over the deals yourselves. Note that these are only available for a LIMITED time (about 72 hours each), so act FAST and grab a bundle (or bundles) and walk away happy that you now have way too many games to get to.
Okay, let’s go!
One!
Two!
Three!
Four!
Okay, my work here seems to be done… but isn’t. I’m poring through my inbox and see other bundles in there from a few sites. Yaaaaaah. Okay, I’ll get those up tomorrow, as I’m still banging away on a game review and some other stuff…
I’ll have a full review up something this coming week, but Eden Industries’ indie RPG Citizens of Earth is so far, pretty awesome. They’ve captured the wackiness of certain 90’s Japanese RPGs (some familiar, some not so familiar) perfectly with a fun and amusing game that’s easy to hop into but challenging if you’re willing to crank up the difficulty. Anyway, that’s all for now,as I don’t want to spoil anything. The game may not have made its crowdfunding target, but Atlus picking it up and getting it out on a bunch of platforms (PC, PS4, PS Vita, Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo Wii U) via digital distribution was a pretty smart move on their part.
Granted, if you despise digital games, you’ll be missing out on some grand fun. Hopefully, some of the die-hard physical-only/mostly collectors will break that ban and give this game some love. Back in a few with that review…
I forgot to add these two awesome deals from Indie Royale yesterday, so here you go: MORE games to buy for not a lot of money, you cheapskates smart and wise savers of money. First up, the Coffee Bean Bundle, which is a misleading title on the surface as you’re buying games, not coffee (or coffee beans for that matter). That said, you’ll probably need to put on a pot of the strongest java you can handle. Blinking while playing any of the high-octane games in this set of five is pretty much guaranteed to make you lose. Hey, sleep is overrated on some days, right?
Do you love mysteries? Good. Have you got a digital dollar? Great! The Mystery 3 Bundle is calling out to you and you know you can’t resist. Three of the games are revealed (a retro JRPG and two intriguing deep water diving/hidden object hybrids) and the other seven are hidden until later. Take a chance, folks. No, you probably won’t get some system-taxing AAA game at all. But surprises are underrated on some days, right? Okay, get to it then. Your backlog isn’t a backlog unless it’s got some games in it!
Platform: iOS/Android
Four years in the making, Ossian Studios‘ first mobile RPG, The Shadow Sun, brings the look and feel of classic PC fantasy role playing games to iOS and Android devices along with a few quirks common to mobile games. It’s a solid enough adventure of a decent length (about 15-20 hours or so if you seek out everything) and for a mere $4.99, it’s a fantastic deal.
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