Dynasty Warriors 8 Trailer: Those New Rims Look Mighty Fine (And Smell Like Pie)…

 

Hoo-kay, at this point, you’re either all in with Omega Force’s long (long) running franchise or you’re one of those people who constantly pokes fun at it for its intentionally cornball issues. A few years back I once heard the series described as “the same old wheels with new rims”, and that’s only superficially true to some extent. Granted, fans will be fans and defend to the death (sort of) anything they love, but at least the level of quality has gone up since the PlayStation 2 days.  That said, it’s hard to sell the modern internet skeptics with too much time on their hands on the series, but I have ask why are they wasting time bashing a game they don’t play when they could be having ACTUAL productive fun playing a game they like?

Anyway, there’s something strangely addictive about the series’ dozens of playable characters, light tactical elements that have crept in over the years and potential for too many hours of gameplay to properly count. As for me, I’m kind of a drop-in, drop out fan of the series who appreciates DW and all the different Musou spin-offs (DW: Tactics, Samurai Warrriors, DW: Gundam, Warriors: Legends of Troy, Fist of the North Star: Ken’s Rage, Bladestorm, and so forth and so on). Which means even though DW 8 isn’t yet set for a US release, there’s that nice warm scent of freshly baked apple pie lingering in the air and it’s a familiar aroma that’s full of promise.

Hmmm… now I want a cold slice with a scoop of ice cream and a cup of hot coffee…

Earth Defense Force 2025 Gameplay Trailer: Big Bugs Go Boom, Big Time…

EDF 2025 is shaping up to be quite a surprise, with developer Sandlot doing their best work in this upcoming PS3 and Xbox 360 game. D3Publisher says this is the largest game to date in the series, so as a longtime fan who’s sunk way too many hours into EDF games, I’m all too happy to hear this. For some idiotic reason, a few folks out there think the game looks “bad”, but I have to disagree (while swinging a billy club around the internet). Given that Sandlot is packing in more destruction in this game than in any AAA title that limits interactivity to stiff objects that rarely move and canned destruction sequences, you HAVE to give this team a hell of a lot more credit than kicking them around because the game isn’t as visually polished as certain other titles. Anyway, I like what I see quite a lot. Now, about that release date (and HOPEFULLY, a physical as well as digital release so more people can buy this one on day one)…

Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen Trailer: Once More (But in Japanese)…

Hey, I can do this all day, Capcom. You run a trailer for a Dragon’s Dogma game and yep, it’ll get watched and maybe posted here or elsewhere. That what you get for making a game so much fun to play, scary as hell in spots and quite challenging for almost anyone (save for some hard-case blowhards who consider it “too easy” because they’re going at it and chewing through content like a hungry pet being fed a nice big chicken dinner. Anyway, I’ve got my new PS3 controller coming and I’m doing a few extra sit-ups (like that will help against that Ur-Dragon), so yeah, bring it…

VGA 101: Twinkle Knights – Not Inexpensive, But Reeks of Cheapness

(Whee, another fun reprint from the old blog because I’m busy working on something goofy here – back with a new post later today.)

Twinkle Knights 3DOWhile it’s rare and probably still fairly expensive once found, Intarus’ Twinkle Knights has far too many problems keeping it from being anything other than a cool prize for hardcore 3DO fanatics, collectors of Japanese strip games (of which there are plenty, according to one friend who seems to have dozens for all sorts of systems) or those folks heavily into Kusoge (“shit” games).

As an actual game experience, it’s far too short and quite easy to beat, yet can be infuriating at times when the CPU decides to put a stop to your progress. As “adult” entertainment, it’s pretty poor (OK, it’s beyond terrible) and of course, if you’re still one of those people that thinks imports like these are packed with all sorts of hidden salacious content, you’ll be very sorely disappointed in a WYSIWYG manner. Besides, there are far better ways to get that sort of er, “sexy interactive excitement” on a shiny disc you can pop in a player of some sort.

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I’m Doing A Bit of Doomsday Prepping of My Own… EDF Style!

EDF_PlusSo, Earth Defense Force 2017 Portable is coming out in a few days (1/8/2013) and I’ve been doing a bit of preparing over the last few weeks by playing a few import and US games either developed by Sandlot or similar to games they’ve worked on. Yeah, yeah, I already reviewed the import version of the game, but I think the US build fixes a few minor things and I really don’t mind playing a game that fun again (in English this time).  Especially if it’s an EDF game. Do you think I have a problem here or something? I don’t think I do. Hell, thanks to too much time playing these games, I’m long cured of any fear of insects, that’s for damn sure.

Anyway, onto the library items below the jump!

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Earth Defense Force 2025 2nd Trailer: Five Minutes of Everything You Wanted to See (and Then Some)…

More vehicles (at least two types of tanks and a heli that allows three players to blast bugs AND motorbikes now? Nice!) and what’s looking like a larger scope to things means Sandlot isn’t screwing around, ladies and gents. EDF 2025 is going to be their best game to date and features a ton of changes and improvements that look to make it as great a multiplayer game is it already is for solo and co-op play. The new classes get some nice introductions and there’s even some humor here as the video ends on a pretty hilarious bad-ass note borrowed straight from too many action flicks. Anyway, yep, I’m importing this once news of a Japanese release date come out and hopefully, D3Publisher will get the word that fans want to see this game as a DISC release in addition to a download on the PS Store.

VGA 101: Dennou Taisen DroneZ – Another Grail For the Library (Hopefully Holy, Not Hellish)…

Dronez_XboxLike the almost amazing Dinosaur Hunting, another Metro 3D published Xbox game that was supposed to get a US launch (simply titled DroneZ here), Zetha GameZ’ Dennou Taisen DroneZ is a game I’ve been in search of for a while now. There’s a PC version that pops up on eBay every so often, but I’ve never been able to find a complete one – just disc only in a sleeve or generic case. The good thing about finally having this import is I don’t need to worry about PC installation hassles or patches. My old debug Xbox is a little wonky these days, but still plays everything I toss at it just fine. I’ll get to trying this one out in the next week or so and maybe post some impressions.

I know the PC and Xbox versions didn’t get great reviews, but that’s part of the fun of exploring these not so ancient “gems”. Sometimes there are surprises under the ashes and sometimes you end up saying (to quote Jeff Goldblum from Jurassic Park) “that is one big pile of $#!t…”. Then again, if this another Muzzle Flash, Conspiracy: Weapons of Mass Destruction or one of the other Penny Dreadful imports I’ve picked up and been majorly disappointed with, well… that’s life, I suppose. Well, I do like my crappy games like the special children they are, on the other hand. So this just may be a cool little classic in that particular corner of the collection.

Video Game Appreciation 101: Zombies vs. Pirates! Zombies Win.

Amusingly enough, I recdead_minesently requested a review copy of the retail version The Walking Dead from Telltale, but was told they were out of them for the moment and instead I got PSN codes for all five episodes. Which is fine, except for the fact that I can’t use PSN on my PS3 here. So, I simply decided to support the company a few days back by buying a copy of the game from Best Buy.  Telltale gets my thirty bucks and I get to play the game everyone is raving about.  Done and done. A few hours later I get an email from Best Buy telling me the game has shipped out and I can expect it between the 27th and January 2nd. Whee.  But guess what? The mailman pops up today with a bunch of packages and supriiiiiiise! I get a package from Telltale with the retail copy of game you see in the photo. Which means with the PSN codes and the Best Buy Limited Edition I have on the way, I’ll end up with THREE copies of the Walking Dead. Damn zombies are multiplyin’ like rabbits around here, I tells ya…

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Earth Defense Force 4 (EDF 2025) Gameplay: Now, That’s What I Call A Bug Bomb!

 

Finally, we get to see Sandlot’s super efforts on EDF 4 (which will be known as EDF 2025 here) in action and I’m quite happy with the more polished look to the game as well as the new character class system (which seems inspired by Vicious Cycle’s work on Earth Defense Force Insect Armageddon) that shows off the new Air Raider, Wing Diver and others in action. Between this and yesterday’s announcement of Earth Defense Force 2017 Portable getting released over a month earlier than initially announced as a digital-only PSN title (I think that’s some sort of first), things are looking up for fans of the series. That said, the game NEEDS both a physical as well as digital release in North America so more people can play it.

Memo to Sony and D3Publisher:  Think about it – while anyone can take a Vita to any wi-fi hotspot to get games for that handheld, those people who can’t get broadband at home or use a friend’s connection CANT BUY PS3 GAMES OR CONTENT ON PSN AT ALL. Stop NOT taking the money we want to spend on games and listen for a change. That said, how about a low print run disc version which will indeed sell out if you simply let the fans know it’s coming (or even better, Ask us HOW we like to buy our games in the future). That is all.

Metal Gear Rising Revengeance Trailers: Platinum Games Leaves Me Speechless (Almost)…

 

Konami in Japan has been posting a bunch of spectacular trailers and game footage from this upcoming Kojima/Platinum collaboration and I’ve just been looking at them and shaking my head at the rather insane amount of talent these guys have. Despite their rather vocal fan base, i don’t think Platinum Games gets true recognition for their work from some pro gaming journalists and that’s too bad. Granted, if you’re a supremely jaded internet know-it-all and just look at their action games as similar to other titles based on first impressions, you’re cheating yourself immensely.  Bayonetta and Vanquish have some interesting depth and details you’ll discover only upon multiple replays and it looks like Revengeance will be their most impressive game to date.  Of course, getting some hands-on time will be the true barometer of whether or not the final product is a winner, but I’m gathering that given the combined experience of all involved, that won’t really be something to worry much about.