Earth Defense Force 4 Gameplay: More Pest Control With Wing Diver

(thanks again, GameEmpireHD!) 

The fine folks over at Game Empire HD are really going crazy with the EDF 4 gameplay videos. My own copy of the game is still on the way, so I’ve been keeping an eyeball on their YouTube page and taking notes galore on some of the tougher stages. Everyone has their own play style and in fact, EDF games encourage you to experiment with those random weapon drops until you get comfortable blasting bugs to bits with different gear you’ve collected. Of the four classes, the Wing Diver (or Pale Wing, or Pale Wing Diver if you really want to get formal) is the most agile thanks to her ability to fly and some of her really powerful close and ranged weapons. The tradeoffs are a very low starting armor and many weapons relying on the same energy source as her flight pack, so managing your energy is key in making sure you live to the end of a mission.

While this is my favorite class, I may not play the game through the first time with the lady. In the previous EDF games she’s appeared in (EDF 2/EDF 2 Portable and EDF 3 Portable), once you get some of her better to best weapons, she’s pretty untouchable save for confined spaces such as caves and tunnels where she can be damaged more easily by some of her own ordinance. I have the feeling I’ll go for the old reliable EDF Trooper for a bit until I get one of the Bound Shot weapons (which fire “bouncing” rounds – great for clearing out tunnels packed with giant spiders and ants and does double duty outdoors against large robots) than perhaps poke around with the new Fencer class before going with the winged one. That Air Raider I’ll save for last, as he seems to be the most challenging to use (although there are already a few exploits for the character). OK, back to playing vulture near my mailbox. I may be scaring the postman away, but he knows I get a lot of stuff sent this way so he can take the glaring and third degree when I don’t get a package I’m expecting…

Earth Defense Force 4 Gameplay Videos: Bigger, Better, Faster, MORE.

(thanks, GameEmpireHD!) 

My own copy of the game is in transit from Play-Asia, but there are some folks who picked up the game in Japan and are posting videos galore to show off some of the new features and the updated visuals. Here are a few from Game Empire HD that range from short to medium lengths and show a few of the classes in action. I’m a bit more methodical in how I play an EDF game, so seeing all those pickups left lying around at the end of those stages is a bit distressing. Then again, I’m gathering the person playing is trying to blast through the game as quickly as possible just to get as many videos up as possible.

That said, I did notice all of the videos posted so far are played on Normal mode. Personally, I always blaze through Easy first when playing an EDF game just to get it out of the way, earn a bunch of armor and new weapons plus whatever bonus is gained for completing the game on that difficulty level. That and it’s the best way to see what’s coming on the harder difficulties without struggling with too much dropped on my head at once. OK, I think I have about a week or so to wait, so let the countdown commence…

Earth Defense Force 4 Launch TV Spots: July 4 is Business As Usual in Japan…

 
Today’s the big day for some gamers in Japan as Earth Defense Force 4 is out and getting furiously played by many. Those of us who’ve imported copies will be waiting patiently around their mailboxes like vultures for our copies to show up and it’ll be hiding away from the sun for a bit as we plow through the game and see what developer Sandlot has done with the series in the five or so years since they last worked on a home console EDF game.

From some poking around on GameFaqs, a few users who live in Japan and have the game are loving the changes so far (a good sign) and combined with the positive Famitsu scores (a 34/40 average), this one looks like a keeper.

Of course, when the game hits US shores next year, you WON’T be seeing these wacky Japanese ads for it at all, so I’m doing my civic duty as an EDF patriot and running them here.

I don’t know what D3Publisher of America’s ad plans are, as they generally don’t run a ton of ads for their games anyway, but it would be nice to see some sort of equally oddball campaign here that’s inexpensive yet equally amusing and effective.

Impressions of the import to come in a bit – I’m going to go get my vulture outfit out of storage and go hang out downstairs…

New Earth Defense Force 4 Trailer: Volunteer Bug-Blasting Army Seeks New Recruits!

 
And here’s another Earth Defense Force 4 video straight from D3Publisher in Japan with yet another laughable yet free verse-like *biiiiiing!* translation job below the jump. This seems to be a recruitment advertisement of sorts and yes, I’ve signed up already (well, I have a copy of the import coming soon). The game has gotten some pretty solid Famitsu scores (9/8/8/9 for 34 out of a possible 40 points, the best scores of any EDF game in the series), meaning it should hopefully do well once it’s localized for the US and Europe. Of course, those who don’t import have to wait until next February (yikes!), but I guess that gives you all time to get through that stack of holiday titles you’re planning to buy or ave gifted…

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Metal Gear Solid: The Legacy Collection – I Did My “Snake’s on a Plane” Joke Already…

Konami and Hideo Kojima can squeeze money from fans of the Metal Gear Solid franchise any time they want to and given the huge amount of interest in this upcoming collection, it looks as if fans worldwide aren’t minding one bit. The great thing is, the PS3 is region free, so anyone anywhere can pick this set of classics up and get it shipped to them. Granted, that airmail shipping isn’t cheap to many locations, but as I said, the harder core fans of the series probably don’t give a hoot. I have most of these titles here in the library but yes, I still want this pricey box set. Well, it’s not THAT expensive considering what’s inside… but I’m not made of money like that guy in those Geico ads who I wish would zip around the block here on that motorbike of his…

In Japan, There’s A Gatchaman Live Action Movie Being Made. Dance.

If you’re of a certain age and did not know this yet (meaning ME), you’re probably a bit too grinny after that minute thirty plus and perhaps either one of these two teaser trailers. Well, we’ll see what it does in Japan and more of what will happen in the near future with a home video release down the road, as it sure won’t be dubbed and show up here anytime soon I bet. How do I know? Well, if I run up to some kid or adult on the street all thrilled at this news and yell GATCHAMAAAAAN! at him or her, there’s a 99.4% chance I spend the weekend in the local lockup until this is all straightened out. Yeah, I went there… even though I have no idea where I went or why I went in the first place. That stuff happens when you lose your thinking cap… Am I out of coffee again? I forget…

NEW Earth Defense Force 4 Japanese TV Spot: Bugs, ‘Bots and Beatniks…

If figures. As I’m about to drag my weary bones into bed, D3Publisher in Japan drops this crazy TV ad for Earth Defense Force 4 and of course, it’s my duty to drop it in your lap as well before I drop into dreamland. Sorry about it landing in your cereal, though. Next time, keep that bowl on a table, you. Anyway, I’m too pooped to go poke around to see if another site has translated the description text, so you get some free jazz Bing Translation mess to decipher at your peril below the jump. All you need now is a set of bongo drums, a beret, a microphone and perhaps a hot cup of java and you’re all set to read some “beat” lingo that’s baffling, baby!

Er, “Scoodly Oodly, wah, wah, wah?” (+5 XP for getting that slice of near obscurity)…

Enjoy and good night, er morning!

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E3 2013: Oh, Valhalla Knights 3… What Are We Going to Do With You?


 

Hoo boy. Sometimes, I’ll see an article that criticizes certain types of genres of Japanese games for being too sexist or exploitative or out of touch with or whatever and I usually chuckle because often the game or games in question have zero chance of arriving here because of that content. Of course, of the games that do make it over with saucy scenes or imagery that may offend, some of the content is altered or snipped out completely so as to appeal to more puritanical American tastes. Granted, this sort of censorship offends fans of imports arriving unsullied and over time, some game companies has slowly allowed much of the silliness to slip in in various states. Well, Yakuza 4 and its in-context Geisha club antics and the Ar tonelico series’ eyebrow-raising “Dive Station” mind dating elements (trust me, it’s weirder than it sounds) have nothing (and I mean no-thing) on what’s going on in Xseed Games’ upcoming Vita exclusive, Valhalla Knights 3.

That trailer above doesn’t show anything outrageous – it’s below the jump, you pervs (and a link at that!)…
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E3 2013: KILLER IS DEAD 4th Trailer: Everyone Dies (But Not as Stylishly as Here)…


 

Welcome to Trailer #4 for KILLER IS DEAD – please be sure to keep your hands inside the ride, ladies and gentlemen. I like how this starts out all sad and moody before going into the crazed gameplay and finishing with a it of humor and a little step into crazy at the close. That’s a Suda 51 game in a nutshell for you, so his fans are certainly pleased. I’m one of them, so I guess that means I’m grinning a wee bit too broadly right about now. One day you’ll all understand, trust me. It’s hard to go into detail about what makes a grasshopper manufacture game so wildly fun, but that’s where a trip down that certain road reveals all (or some of all)…

E3 2013: Earth Defense 4 Update: On Shooting A Really Big Fly With A Few Hundred Shotguns…

EDF 4 P78Well, 700 or so, to be a bit more precise. Japanese gaming site Gamer has a nice long look at the weapons types for each class in Sandlot’s upcoming giant insect run & gun game set for a July 4, 2013 release there (and a February release in the US and Europe). Fans of the older EDF games will see plenty of ordinance from the older games all redone as different weapon types (a great and welcome touch), and Sandlot has gone above and beyond the call, thankfully not delivering a simple EDF 2 reskin with more levels and gear. The weapons look and behave more “realistically” (well as realistically as you can get in a game packing nine-foot high and 15-foot long ants, bigger, hairier tarantulas, wasps with wingspans like a small plane and building-tall pissed off robots), ejecting shells and rockets that drop a bit when fired and yes, the destruction elements are also improved.

Of course, if you’re deathly afraid of bugs or giant robots the size of skyscrapers, well… I can’t help you much there. But hey, the game DOES have local co-op and online play, so you can hide behind someone skilled and maybe take up a support class role, as they do have those nice healing tanks and lovely turrets you can drop and run away from as they do their dirty work…