Bundle Stars Wants You To Load Up On RPG Deals. I Say Oblige Them!

So, Bundle Stars is having yet another sale. Well, ALL they have are sales, but this time, you can buy some fine RPGs for a dollar or two or spend a tiny bit more for a bundle with assorted games and get one of these titles below in that deal. Anyway, pick one or pick all – it’s your move!

 
While here in America, the two Two Worlds games get a lot of negativity thrown their way, if you like European-developed open world role playing games or want to experiment with a couple, there’s a lot to love in both. Two Worlds: Epic Edition for a dollar and Two Worlds II for two bucks? DEAL of the week, I say. In either game You’ll get some pretty visuals, very large worlds to explore packed with plenty of challenge, and while not exactly strong on story, both games share a slightly goofy sense of humor that for me, at least was a refreshing change from the darker doom and gloom games in the genre.

 
The second game is the better looking of the two, but turn off the motion blur effect and down any other visual effects that can make playing the game a queasy thrill ride at times. The story is a bit better in the sequel, but as noted, that oddball humor is still there. I find it amusing that some people who disliked the funny stuff here probably never played one of the later Might and Magic games 3DO made. At times, those were practically comedies wrapped into a dungeon crawling experience. Anyway, more suggestions below the jump…

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Gravity Ghost: Your Soothingly Joyous Game Of The Month Is Almost Here…

Gravity Ghost iconIf it weren’t for a search mistake a few days back, I’d most likely have never stumbled across Gravity Ghost, the upcoming game from Ivy Games (also known as Erin Robinson). I’d also not have seen the other games on the site, all of which look like they’d be pretty fun to take for a spin. Anyway, GG is touted as a non-violent alternative where, according to the official site description:

“Gravity Ghost is a game to soothe your senses. There’s no killing. No dying. No way to fail. Just hours of blissing out to buttery-smooth gravity goodness…”

…which made me smile because all are things more games need in this era of run & shoot titles galore and plenty of players who no nothing but those. Games like GG are important because they open up the hobby to different types of gamers who may not desire to be head-shot kings and killer queens… Continue reading

E3 2014: Paradox on the PS4! A Game Changer If It’s Done With Care…

 
I’d missed out on the big news that Paradox Interactive would be making and publishing future games for the PlayStation 4 as well as PC, but I’m glad I saw this Magicka 2 trailer because it’s hilarious and made me smile even more because PS4 owners will get to see how much fun this adventure/action RPG is soon enough. I was kind of hoping the game would also appear on the Vita, but we’ll see what Paradox comes up with down the road, I suppose. I know it’ll be interesting to see if some of their more complex strategy titles make the transition to the PS4 and as far as the other issue of Paradox’s PC games often being a bit buggy upon release, I’m gathering they’re going to be working very hard to keep that from being a big issue on the console front. Fingers are crossed here on the latter…

Kingdom Under Fire II Trailer, Slight Return Version. Still Looking Good And Worth Keeping An Eye On…

 
Here’s a slightly reedited version of the Kingdom Under Fire II trailer from E3 that Blueside put together using all in-game engine footage. As someone who’s played the two previous tactical/action based Xbox games, I’m quite pleased that the developer is following the same style of troop movement and direct character control play from previous entries while adding new elements. Some people STILL don’t “get” how the game will flow thanks to those cut scenes that break into the gameplay and the lack of menus and such, but all will be explained soon enough, I’d bet. If the new game is like the old ones, there will be a map to navigate, waypoints to set and other things to manage before and during battles to keep you occupied. What’s here is just to tease you into keeping an eyeball peeled for anything else coming down the road…

Gallery: Lumino City – State of Play’s Handmade Game Is Really Pretty Stuff…

 
Okay, I’d not heard of indie developer State of Play Games or their games until someone sent me a link to their site a while back and I was charmed by the look of Lume, a puzzle/adventure game (currently on sale on the Steam store) with sets made out of paper and cardboard with hand animated characters filmed against and around those lovely locations. While the game was short and some reviewers knocked it for this, the outstanding visual style and fact that everything was handmade made this one quite special. That and the game’s ending seemed to point to a potential follow up at some point.

Well, that follow up is coming and it’s called Lumino City. As you can see above and below, it’s a work in progress and looks gorgeous. The developers promise “a wondrous sprawling puzzle adventure game” and it looks as if they’re going to exceed expectations on a few fronts. Hopefully, those critics and players that beat up on Lume for its brevity will see the craft here and really appreciate all the work that is going into this new adventure. I know I’m eager to give it a go when it’s ready for some play time. It would also be cool to see this on consoles at some point, but I guess that’s up to the developer’s time and if someone gets them a few dev kits…

Lumino City – Teaser from State of Play on Vimeo.

 

LuminoCityMakingOf_1920x1080_12 LuminoCityMakingOf_1920x1080_1 Screenshot_CraneCity_workInProgress-1024x581 Screenshot_Kitchen_WorkInProgress Screenshot_Photogrpaher_WorkInProgress-1024x555 ScreenshotGatehouseWarmerTest ScreenshotLadderSceneInProgress-1024x552 ScreenshotWindmillPuzzleInProgress

E3 2014: Pavilion Extended Gameplay Trailer: Beautiful Iso-lation Incoming For PS4 and Vita

 
I can’t explain why I happen to love isometric viewpoint games other than to blame BioWare and their Infinity Engine role-playing games (plus others made with the engine by assorted developers), Troika’s flawed by deep Temple of Elemental Evil, Blizzard’s Diablo, a bunch of really well made adventure games like DreamForge’s Sanitarium and RA Images Daemonica among others. Anyway, Pavilion is right up my alley and developer Visiontrick Media has cooked up a pretty sharp looking potential time eater I need to take for a spin. There’s still no release date for this one, but I’m keeping an eye peeled. I’d have an ear to the ground, but whenever I do that, someone trips over my head (ouch)…

Gallery: End of Serenity

End  of Serenity_LogoJust when I was lamenting Natsume not updating its YouTube page, I get a load of screenshots and art from its E3 lineup to run here, so I’ll do just that over the next couple of days. first up is Edge of Serenity, the PSP exclusive (I’ll gather it’s Vita compatible but won’t confirm that until I hear it from someone out west) coming on June 24, 2014. As you can see this is all old-school JRPG goodness packed with classic 2D sprite art, turn-based battles and probably a very MIDI-esque music score to keep things nice and nostalgic.

End  of Serenity_MainArt

Character profiles have also been revealed for the principals, so let’s meet the cast, shall we?

Yute is a tough young merchant with a strong sense of wrong and right; the dangers of the road have sharpened his sword skills despite his tender age. He can’t bear to turn away when he sees injustice.

Eril, also known as the Azure Sorceress, is set on exposing the Underworld’s nefarious plans. Using an Atomigem-powered weapon known as an Accelerator, her cold demeanor hides a heart bruised by her upraising in a small orphanage that she strives desperately now to save.

Kat, with her jingling bells and cat-like ears, may look like a teen, but she insists she is in fact over 100 years old! Only when she opens up her heart and reveals her secret will she ever truly be understood.

Earon is an undisputed master of martial arts. With his snow white hair, it’s no surprise this trainer was thinking about retirement…that is, before he discovered that one of his former pupils might be involved in the Underworld, and has set off to discover the truth.

Kaede is a pupil trained by Earon, accompanying him on his critical mission. Rumors swirl that she is actually the last of a village of ninjas; only Kaede knows the truth, but she’s not exactly talking…

20 new screens are below the jump – make sure to grab End of Serenity next week when it arrives on PSN!

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Review: SPINTIRES

Spintires_manualDeveloper: Oovee Game Studios

Publisher: IMGN.PRO

# of Players: 1-4 (co-op)

ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)

Official Site

Score: A- (90%)

 

Not that this will happen any time soon, but if someone ever decides to make a video game based on Henri-Georges Clouzot’s 1953 masterpiece The Wages of Fear, they’d better ring up UK-based developer Oovee and beg them to do the driving portions. I’m saying that while SPINTIRES is paused below this tab and I’m writing up this review of the PC game. While I generally love to complete a game before sitting down to type up impressions, After a few days of playing this indie gem, I can very safely say it’s one of the nicer surprises of the year and well worth the $29.99 price point. I’ll defend that price point in detail below, but in short, why pay the same (or more) for a game that’s going to be JUST like the games you’ve played to death when here you’ll get something you’ll very likely enjoy MORE because it’s fresh and actually more challenging than you’re used to?

Yeah, I thought so. Read on for more reasons you at least need to take this for a spin… Continue reading

E3 2014: Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley – Not The Only Thing Natsume Showed This Year, But…

Alphadia Genesis Wii UYou wouldn’t know this by looking at their North American YouTube page. Now, I’m not singling Natsume out for anything mean here at all, folks. They’re a solid but much smaller publisher than some of the bigger and busier ones who show stuff at E3 and to me, that’s precisely why they NEED more updates on their main video page. Granted, they DO have a nice social presence on facebook with a page that’s updated fairly frequently. however, not everyone has or wants a facebook account and YouTube works quite well as far as letting potential customers see what’s coming (despite the pain in the butt that is Google+ hampering some basic functionality there).

Anyway, as I’ve been trumpeting, Alphadia Genesis is also coming (a port of an iOS and Android JRPG) and I posted about the rest of their lineup before the big show. Hey, I just want to see the little guys succeed, so if I can generate some thrills and hits for Natsume and their cool lineup of upcoming and already available games, I’m doing my job here.

E3 2014: Risen 3: Titan Lords Trailer: One For The Fans Who Appreciate The ERPG…

 
Here in the west, I’s bet most gamers only know developer Piranha Bytes’ Risen series from the two console ports, which weren’t great because on the visual front, they distilled a game made for a decent 3D card down into a somewhat mushy-looking mess with some interesting gameplay elements and quests of decent length and challenge. As with other European-made RPG series such as Two Worlds and to some extent the Gothic games, Risen seems to sell well enough overseas on PC to garner more installments and I believe the console versions of these games do well in Europe as well. Here in North America where some are a LOT more picky about visuals and take some elements of their games too seriously, the combination of so-so looks, comedy bits that may seem out of place and perhaps simplified for game pad control schemes seem to turn some gamers off, leaving these titles to find a more niche audience.

Now, I’m a fan of the Risen games on console, warts and all, but I can see why some aren’t exactly jumping off their seats at this announcement trailer. On the good side, at least Deep Silver isn’t calling this CGI trailer a “gameplay” trailer at all. Now, I want to see how this looks in action on whatever it’s coming to so I can pick it up and play it whenever it’s released. Which, by the way will be August 12, 2014 on PS3, Xbox 360 and PC. The pirate theme from Risen 2 is gone and the more familiar “medieval” fantasy look is back, so that’s a fine start. Not that I don’t like the whole pirate themed RPG thing, mind you…