Skybound Games Has Me Talking to Myself (Again)

Posted on July 2, 2019 by geelw

“And it goes like this.”

Me: Uh, hey, man.
Me: What?
Me: I need $200. Plus shipping, I think.
Me: For what?
Me: This (look down):

Me: HOLY $#!+!
Me: Well, SOLD, huh?
Me: Um, hold on a sec.
Me: Awwwww, come onnnn…
Me: Look, we made a deal, remember? We’ve no more room for those big collector’s editions. That, and we DO have a big backlog of other games…
Me: (pouts, gives me the sad puppy dog eyes)..
Me: Oh, that’s SO not going to work, pal. We’re also on a budget, remember?
Me: Well. you COULD sell off some of those older games you aren’t playing like you did that one time…
Me: Yeah, right. That was kind of an emergency and this, well… it’s really damn cool and all, but it’s not super-urgent.
Me: Booooooo!
Me: Okay, knock it off. I need to get a post up and get back to those other reviews in progress.
Me:
Me: Oh, don’t get cranky with me, buddy…

Me: Grrrrrrrr! (thinks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQnToZYGAoY)

Me: Um, I know what you’re thinking, you know.
Me: Hmph. Well IF you did, then you’d also know that big ol’ box ends up costing not too much more than the regular editions IF you think about it…
Me: Be that as it may, the chances of me buying that set are like the chances Skybound will send me one to review.
Me: Well. it COULD happen!
Me: Yeah, sure. Well, I’ll let you go handle that and see what the results are. Good luck, pal.
Me: Well, first, let me go make some wall space for that bo setx…
Me: What?
Me: (pulls out big ACME rubber sledgehammer):Hey, you DID say we needed more wall space once, so I’m gonna go make some…
Me: Wait a minute!
Me: Too late! (swings hammer at wall, whereupon is bounces off and knocks me out cold.
Me: Well, that’ll learn ya. Again. Good thing that store only sells rubber hammers.

And so it goes…

-GW

Remothered: Tormented Fathers Makes the Switch (A More Frightening Place)

Posted on July 2, 2019 by geelw

No weapons here, just lots of staying alive by your wits… or else. Oh, and the story’s killer, too.

The story unwinds around Rosemary Reed, a determined 35 year-old woman who arrives at the dilapidated Felton house to investigate on the disappearance of a little girl some years before. When the hosts realize the woman’s true intentions, a terrifying ordeal begins.

Thanks to a ridiculously large backlog, I finally got around to buying and playing a chunk of Darril Arts and Stormind Games’ quite intense Remothered: Tormented Fathers on the PS4 and yes indeed, it’s quite the scary slice of horror game genre fans need to play. Fortunately, Nintendo Switch owners will be finally getting the chance to dive into this modern classic thanks to collaboration with the Japanese publisher DICO Co. Ltd. Comparisons to the now defunct Human Entertainment’s brilliantly executed (heh) albeit dated-looking Clock Tower are interesting and inevitable, although, I’d say creator Chris Darril’s influences also include Italian horror flicks of the 70’s, a weapon-less Alone in the Dark and a few other things.

As with other Unreal Engine Switch ports, it’ll be really interesting to see how it turns out in terms of performance and visual fidelity when stacked up to the other console and PC versions. It’ll definitely be scary as hell as a game experience, so it’s got that going for it right out of the gate.

Remothered-home-desktop-switch-launch-date

That’s the release date, folks. Have your time carved out and play this in the dark with some decent headphones for maximum results.

Additionally, fans of the first game will want to keep an eye on the prequel/sequel, Remothered: Going Porcelain, which is currently set for a 2020 release on PC and consoles. So much fear… so little time, right?

-GW

Professor Lupo and his Horrible Pets Trailer: Ticks, and Flees

Posted on July 2, 2019 by geelw

Well, this sure looks like a ton of fuzzy/scaly/puzzle-y fun. Indie developer BeautiFun Games’ upcoming Professor Lupo and his Terrible Pets is set to land on Nintendo Switch and Steam July 11. There’s a free demo on both the eShop and Steam to try out and even better for Switch owners. pre-orders for that version are currently 15% off until the game’s release date. Here’s a trailer to ogle and maybe pet (be gentle!):

As the Professor’s personal Intern, players are set to deal with the ferocity of his collection of so-called horrible pets: deceiving alien creatures with a double nature, looking adorable while unbothered, but turning into hungry monsters when they sense their prey. When a series of catastrophes cause them to run amok across the Aurora Space Station, it’s every Intern for themselves.

Professor Lupo and his Horrible Pets is an adventure game with 100 levels that delivers clever puzzle gameplay mechanics, a heavy dose of humor in a suspenseful plot, and original art with traditional 2D animations. Embracing the Nintendo Switch philosophy, the game supports every configuration the console provides, including portable, tabletop and TV modes. Players can use the Joy-Cons, gamepads, and touch screen to play through the story however and wherever they want. On Steam, players can choose between point and click mode, keyboard controls or the Steam controller, which the game is fully compatible with.

Sounds like a plan for puzzle fans, I’d say. Since I happen to be one, I’ll take that review code I got for a spin and report back if my character survives the experience. That space rabies is no joke, I hear.

Back in a bit.

Blow Up Your Monday With A Rolling Gunner Switch Code (US eShop)

Posted on July 1, 2019 by geelw

How’s your Monday going? It might get better by Tuesday, if you’re lucky.

Thanks to the fine folks at mebius. and Mastiff Games, I have *ONE* (1) code here for their spectacular arcade shooter Rolling Gunner for the US Switch. It’s a great game, by the way.

Now, while a few of you out there are very likely to want to do something kooky to get it, you actually don’t have to. Put down that fish bowl, duct tape, and roll of heavy duty aluminum foil you were going to use to craft that makeshift space pilot uniform and just reply to this post in the comments below. One entry per person, of course. No need for lengthy or creative responses and nope, don’t go posting your email address (I’ll know how to find you, fear not.)

I’m picking the winner RANDOMLY from the entries received by 1pm on Tuesday, so don’t dally. Yeah, it’s an old school giveaway just to let non-twitter users have a shot, but this post will auto-load to my twitter account anyway, so yep, readers there can try for a win if they read this post.

Anyway, good luck!

Oh, here’s some fine print below if you need to read how this works:

Open to residents of North America with an active Nintendo eShop account. Void where prohibited. Contest ends 7/2/2019 at 12:59 pm EST. There is no entry fee, subscription requirement or purchase necessary to enter. Winner will be chosen at random. Winner will receive ONE code via email. Requests for multiple codes via multiple accounts are grounds for disqualification. By submitting a comment below, you are granting Destroy All Fanboys! permission to contact you via email. The winner will be notified by email within 3 days (or less, most likely). If the winner cannot be contacted/does not claim the prize within seven (7) days of notification, we reserve the right to withdraw the prize and choose a replacement winner.

-GW

Super Neptunia RPG: Cool Canadians Bakin’ Up A Hot JRPG? Yep, Nep!

Posted on June 24, 2019 by geelw

Out on PC via Steam last week and coming to PS2 and Switch June 25 in North America (the 28th in EU territories), Super Neptunia RPG is coming from an interesting combination of forces. Japan’s Idea Factory and Compile Heart worked with Canada’s Artisan Studios to bring Nep fans an all-new game in the long-running series and the very first side-scrolling entry, to boot. As a fan of the series since the PS3 days, I’m quite intrigued by this one and the opening movie has sealed the deal that this *must* be played:

Continue reading →

Review: Rolling Gunner (Switch)

Posted on June 24, 2019 by geelw

Holy hell, mebius.’ Rolling Gunner ($19.99, buy it!) is completely NUTS, but in the best possible manner. Its very high level of accessibility and four difficulty modes mean you don’t even need to love or be somewhat decent at arcade shooters in order to get the most enjoyment from it.

In fact, the game is programmed to teach you how to play and as a friend who popped by to borrow some movies who also ended watching me play noted, “It’s really hypnotic to watch all that craziness!”, which had me cracking up as I completed the game (on Novice mode with a somewhat low 17,419,459 points) and restarted it as I handed him a controller and let him have a crack at the Training mode. Let’s just say he rather liked the chaos even that short stages offered, but he doesn’t yet own a Switch. Which is okay for now (his kid wants one for his birthday coming up in July, though, so I’m compiling a list of games for his dad).

Anyway, there’s a story here about a big corporation discovering a new element at the bottom of the sea, that element used to create a few initially helpful items and as usual, those items being used for some not so helpful things. Yadda, yadda, yadda, it’s now March 18, 2061 and you’re tasked with rolling out in one of three trusty STORK class warships to destroy the enemy fortress and a few thousand enemy ships, tanks and other robotic doom-throwers along the way. The game of course, notes the following in its helpful digital manual: “This story is fictional. The people, groups, and names that appear are fictional, and have no basis in reality.”

Continue reading →

Funded, Plus: R-Type Final 2 Hits Its Target

Posted on June 6, 2019 by geelw

There’s certainly a boom in things going BOOM, as the arcade shooter market has made quite a comeback over the years. In reality, it really never went away as plenty of smaller indie developed and fan-made games can be found as digital and physical retail titles with a little bit of online legwork. That said, R-Type holds its legendary status to this day simply because it’s pure brilliance from start to finish. Granzella’s strategy for a super-short Kickstarter for R-Type 2 Final has paid off big time with as of this writing, some 543K has been pledged to bring this final Final to life and with under four days ti go, you could say the sky’s the limit if that funding hits some of the stretch goals noted on the Kickstarter page.

Personally, I’m hoping the game gets up to that goal where Granzella can recreate levels from previous R-Type games just so this stage from R-Type Final gets redone in glorious HD. Hell, drop a bag of money on my head (ow) and I’ll throw it at Granzella just for this stage alone.

-GW

Review: Golem Gates (PS4)

Posted on June 5, 2019 by geelw

Riffing with Glyph-ing: choose your cards wisely, or else suffer the fate of the unprepared.

Laser Guided games mostly excellent Golem Gates ($24.99) made me wish attract screens were still a thing in modern games. While it’s a solid and enjoyable take on the Real-Time Strategy (RTS), card collection and MOBA genres and translates well enough from its keyboard and mouse-centric PC origins to a game controller, it’s also the sort of game where a rolling demonstration mode would just be a cool thing to have happen when the game is booted up if only to get a few more people on the fence about it wanting to give it a shot. If you’re super-old school and need a sort of reference point, imagine Herzog Zwei, StarCraft and DoTA having a baby and getting it onto PC and now, consoles and you’ve got an idea od what to expect.

Granted, if you’re buying this game for yourself, you know exactly what you’re getting into and likely don’t need any persuasion. Conversely, if a friend drops over and is itching to know what the big deal is, you’ll just have to have them plop down on the couch or wherever and play as they watch, or pick up a controller and join the fun if they’re more than a little curious. Thankfully, other than the rather dry main screen that greets you along with Dalvan King’s stellar music, the gameplay hooks you right in if you’re a fan of this sort of play. Kicking off with a tutorial that explains the basics, your Harbinger uses cards (called Glyphs here) to summon up a small variety of troops and useful goodies to assist in dealing with assorted enemies as you attempt to take out the enemy Harbinger. In Campaign mode, that list of Glyphs gets larger as do the enemy types that need crushing, and yes, decks can be created and customized to your liking as new Glyphs appear.

Continue reading →

R-Type Final 2 Kickstarter: Welcome to the Buy-Do Empire!

Posted on June 3, 2019 by geelw

Well, It looks as if Granzella’s gambit is paying off so far. Only a day in and the R-Type Final 2 Kickstarter is over halfway to its initial target funding goal. That’s quite good news, folks. I’ll admit to being a tad skeptical about that seven-day time frame to put in a pledge, but I see that Granzella thought this through a bit and is relying on the most die-hard fans of the genre to pony up their pledges and get fellow shmup fanatics to hop on in and play in the same intergalactic pool.

Excellent. Yes, I’m going to pledge a few bucks myself before the campaign concludes. I just need to figure out what I can afford and what sort of extra I get for my pledge.

-GW

R-Type Final 2 Kickstarter: Live Worldwide Soon

Posted on June 1, 2019 by geelw

Urgent subspace communication received, despite the efforts of the Bydo Empire:

May 31, 2019 Granzella Inc.

Help Us Spread the Word:

“R-TYPE FINAL 2” Crowdfunding Campaign Launch

With the permission of IREM SOFTWARE ENGINEERING INC., Granzella is now developing the latest title of the side-scrolling shooter “R-Type” series to bring it out to the world. However, we are just a small, powerless studio so we decided to launch a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign to accomplish the project.

In order to make our crowdfunding campaign a success, we need your cooperation. Please lend us a helping hand to spread the word about the R-Type Final 2 as well as the Kickstarter campaign on your website and through social media.

Hmmm. It looks as if IREM and developer Granzella really need your help in stopping the Bydo Empire but good. Kicking off worldwide on June 3, the campaign is for PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and Steam versions of the game. There will be a number of digital and physical options and backer rewards to choose from depending on the amount pledged.

The Kickstarter campaign starts at the same time around the world. The estimated launch times for each world time zones are as follows:

Japan Standard Time (JST) At Midnight on Tuesday, June 4 (at 24:00 on
Monday, June 3), 2019
Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) At 3 P. M. on Monday, June 3, 2019 Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) At 11 A. M. on Monday, June 3, 2019 Pacific Daylight Time（PDT） At 8 A. M. on Monday, June 3, 2019
* The campaign will last for about a week.
* The end date will be announced on the first day of the Kickstarter campaign.

UPDATE: We’ve just received images from the ongoing conflict along with a brief video that reveals only a hint of the struggle at hand.

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It looks like it’s time to suit up and prepare for takeoff, folks. Rewards await the brave souls who step up and strap in for the hard fight ahead. Expect an update once the campaign goes live, of course.

-GW