PS Vita Review: Trillion: God of Destruction

Posted on April 4, 2016 by geelw

Platform: PlayStation Vita/PS TV

Developer: Compile Heart

Publisher: Idea Factory

# of Players: 1

MSRP: $39.99 (retail/PSN)

ESRB Rating: T (Teen)

Official Site

Score: B+ (85%)

While it’s not perfect, fans of Compile Heart’s offbeat and often gal-filled JRPGs should find Trillion: God of Destruction right up their respective alleys. Actually, you’ll probably need to travel through at least one of those alleys and hope there’s a game shop located somewhere at the end of that trip so you can pick up a retail copy if digital isn’t your thing. The game feels like a hybrid that mixes Princess Maker-style mini-games, nice art that looks quite like a Disgaea spinoff (former team members from that series worked on the game), and core gameplay that’s akin to a Mystery Dungeon game meets Vandal Hearts 2 but with a more awkward camera that will mildly to moderately mess with your mojo.

After the titular titan Trillion bumps off Zeabolos, the Supreme Overlord of the Underworld, his brother and about a million minions, it’s up to his female Overlords to get revenge on that massive one plus a dozen zeroes HP creeping terror before it lays waste to their home. Poor Zeab is revived and reconstructed to the best of her ability by a lady with an appropriately Faustian name (Faust) who makes him an offer he can’t refuse. She creates a single ring that the Overlords can wear that will boost their powers considerably provided they also train while Trillion sleeps parked near the gates to the Underworld. Of course, Faust’s deal comes at the cost of Zeab’s soul once the big baddie goes beddie-bye for good. But whomever defeats Trillion instantly becomes his successor and new Overlord of the Underworld with all the riches, sweets and other treats that entails. Continue reading →

The Only April Fool’s Day Joke That Made Me Laugh Today

Posted on April 1, 2016 by geelw

Thank you, CD Projekt RED for *magically* getting water to shoot out my nose earlier today. It’s a definite April Fool’s gag, but I’d more than gladly pay that five bucks for talking horse DLC just for the chance to have an option to have Roach talk in a Mr. Ed voice. Okay, back to work here – I’m up to my wet nostril hairs in stuff to do.

Trillion: God of Destruction Trailer: You’ve That Many Reasons to Grab This Vita Game

Posted on March 24, 2016 by geelw

Idea Factory and veteran developer Compile Heart have a nifty new game for Vita owning JRPG/SRPG fans looking for something hellishly cool and fun to play. Trillion 1,000,000,000,000: God of Destruction, coming to the PlayStation Vita on March 29 for a MSRP of $39.99.

The game is a cornucopia of doom and cuteness that features a single titanic enemy with that titular trillion hit points that needs to be stopped before it stomps all over the six layers of the Underworld after its ruler is severely incapacitated. Players can expect a hybrid of the classic Princess Maker with a shake of Disgaea-like humor and a initially daunting battle system where you pit sassy female Overlords against Trillion after training them in assorted skills pre-battle. There’s a lot more, but this isn’t a review as you’ll see when you read the next sentence under that screenshot below.

Guess what? Yours truly is currently in the process of reviewing the game, so I’ll have to keep you all in suspense for a wee bit other than to note quite an entertaining time is being had here. Back with more on Trillon shortly.

Daydreamer: Awakened Edition – Atlus Gets The Truly Trippy Platformer to PS4, Xbox One

Posted on March 22, 2016 by geelw

Thanks to so darn many indie games dropping from the sky these days (it’s a digital monsoon at times!), I’d never even heard of the one man show called Roland Studios or its wild PC game Daydreamer until I got word that Atlus was handling the PS4 (May 31, 2016) and Xbox One (June 3, 2016) publishing in North America. Updated with enhanced features and now called Daydreamer: Awakened Edition, all you need to do is ogle that mind-bending weirdness above and you know you’re in for a trip and a half.

If you like reading a bit more and that laser-eyed bunny above hasn’t freaked you out too much, here’s what to expect in the updated console version:

Daydreamer: Awakened Edition features:

• Twitchy Retro Gameplay – Those who live for intense side-scrolling, platforming, and shooting action will feel right at home, because players will shoot, whip, shield, jump, and warp their way to the Earth’s core. The design choices in the game harken back to gaming’s arcade classics!

• A Varied Combat System – With a dearth of different weapons and abilities at the daydreamer’s disposal, she will eradicate aliens with energy, homing, ray, helix, and flamethrower blasters, and melee mutants with her whips. She also has the abilities to shield against damage, warp to hard-to-reach areas, slow down time, and more. But they don’t come cheap—players must hunt for Psymatter in order to buy the weapons and items that will aid her along her hazardous journey.

• Powerful Pets – Psymatter also can be used to purchase/sustain a loyal pet companion to stay by your side to the death (or until you run out of Psymatter). From fuzzy turtles to vicious weasels, pets will offer invaluable support in varied forms to the daydreamer.

• Frightening Bosses – If normal aliens, mutants, robots, and bugs aren’t bad enough, the bosses of Daydreamer: Awakened Edition are truly terrifying to behold. The disturbing Mr. Smiles, the repulsive Grimeboy, and ferocious, but still kind of cute, Rabies Rabbit are just some of the creepy boss monsters brought to life in the game.

• Numerous Improvements – Since this is the Awakened Edition, that means there are a multitude of improvements and additions to the original release. Besides gameplay tweaks and balancing, there are now more difficulties, enhanced controls, improved combat, a ranked mode/leaderboard for the competitive, world map function, a brand new ending, and much more.

That sounds like a plan to me, folks. The strangeness will commence on those two newer platforms on the dates noted above. Hopefully the PC version will get the same updates as I know some gamers who only do their thing on PC will want what everyone else is having.

Huge PSN Flash Sale: Your Wallet Gets “Magically” Lighter Thanks To TOO Many Deals

Posted on March 18, 2016 by geelw

Ay Carumba! If you have a PSN account, a PS3, PS4, Vita and/or PSP and some money to burn or you just like some excellent deals on a handful of titles, get ready for so many deals that you’d think you were dreaming. This newest PSN Flash Sale has games for all the aforementioned consoles plus movies if you have the time to watch those once you blow your paycheck on a ton of discount game downloads. Anyway, check out the list on the PSN site or go ogle the post on the PlayStation Blog if you just want to read that long list and see what you’re missing out on.

PlayStation VR: Sony’s October “Surprise” Is A Must Have For PS4 Owners

Posted on March 15, 2016 by geelw

Well, it looks as if the console world (or at least the PlayStation 4) is getting its big VR headset at a surprisingly small price point of 399.00. Granted, many industry insiders (and thoughtful dopes like me) figured Sony wasn’t going to break gamer wallets too much. Let’s see now, A PS4 is about $280 or so depending on the model you buy, a PS Camera is $59.99 and with that PS VR headset, you still come in way under the price point of a gaming PC upgrade and one of the pricier VR solutions. Granted, PC gamers are scoffing at PS VR because they have scalable rigs thy can tweak to no end and most likely higher frame rates with overclocked systems burning holes into wherever they’re placed. Still, Sony promises a plug and play experience with frame rates up to 120fps, so we’ll see what’s what soon enough as the games roll out.

As for games, some 230 are in the works for PS4 from first and third party developers. My current favorite just so happens to be the return of a classic arcade and home game, this time coming from the folks at Rebellion:

Yes indeed, this one will be awesome even if it’s not running in VR (and yep, it’s playable without the headset, folks). Hokay, off to start saving those pennies.

RIVE: Two Tribes’ Final Title Looks Like a True Treasure

Posted on March 10, 2016 by geelw

15 years in the game development business is a long enough time to do a lot of different things and Two Tribes has indeed done just that and then some. The indie developer has decided to pack it (at least as far as making new games) in after a decade and a half of console and PC titles with what looks like a dangerously fun arcade-style romp called RIVE. The game has the look and feel of a classic Treasure game but with that even more notorious European difficulty scale that makes for a supremely challenging and highly replayable slice of nostalgia. If there’s a ‘Metal Wrecking, Robot Hacking Shooter’ sub-genre, my money is on RIVE being among the best of the best.

These guys at TT are going to be missed, but at least RIVE is coming out on multiple platforms so console and computer gamers who need their big meal bang-boom-boom fix can get in on the fun at a glorious 60fps soon-ish. PC/Mac/Linux (via Steam), PlayStation 4, Wii U and Xbox One are all supported here, but I’m betting Vita owners are hoping for some Cross Play action because this looks as if would be perfect on the road. Then again, the game also looks as if one would need to have at least one extra controller handy just in case one “accidentally” busted their main gamepad. Hard walls and game controllers are a poor mix. Padded walls on the other hand – those get the DAF seal of approval every single time.

Dark Souls III “True Colors” Trailer: Ghouls Just Want to Have Fun

Posted on February 24, 2016 by geelw

So, yep. Using the Cyndi Lauper version would have made this bleak gameplay video a wee less gloomy, but this new-ish version works beautifully. It’s great to see Bandai Namco and veteran developer FromSoftware not only making sure Dark Souls III is the best entry in the series to date, but making sure veteran players know that the new game isn’t going to make it any easier on those stepping into its deadly world for the first time. All that dying badly does come with the reward of finally figuring out how to clear areas without taking much damage as you lay low foes that previously gave you problems.

Of course, clearing one area out just means those new enemies with completely different challenges await. But hey – one set of problems at a time, right? Once you dive into Dark Souls III, you’re not coming up for air any time soon. Unless you try and escape in order to go try and do something else. The game won’t like that one bit, by the way.

Sword Coast Legends: Drop A d20 On This DM-Ready D&D Adventure Headed to Consoles Soon

Posted on February 20, 2016 by geelw

Okay, I had no idea Sword Coast Legends had come out on PC last fall (oops!). Thankfully, the new Dungeons & Dragons game is also headed to PS4 and Xbox One this spring as a digital download at the must-have price point of $19.99. This includes all the content from the PC version and additions such as the Drow as a new playable sub-race, additional character skill trees, hundreds of new placeable objects for DMs, new areas, new visual effects, hardcore gameplay options, and much more. While it can be played solo, SCL seems tailor made for co-op play and Dungeon Master (DM) created custom adventures that extend the game’s life cycle even more.

Speaking of more… Continue reading →

PC Review: Agatha Christie: The ABC Murders

Posted on February 20, 2016 by geelw

Platform: PC (also on PS4, Xbox One)
Developer: Artefacts Studios
Publisher: Microids
#of Players: 1
MSRP: $29.99
ESRB Rating: T (Teen)
Official Site
Score: B+ 85%

In Agatha Christie: The ABC Murders, you play Hercule Poirot, the dapper detective with the well-trimmed mustache whose “little grey cells” got him through plenty of crime solving tales made famous by the author and represented in books, on stage, screen and yes, videogames. Developer Artefacts’ decision to make their Poirot so close to the source leaves exactly no room for intentional player error or many non-Poirot like affectations to mess with the formula. While this results in a game that’s impossible to “lose” because you’ve made a serious error in judgment or otherwise, it does deliver the proper feeling of the man at work as a series of not so random alphabet-related murders unfold.

Part of what makes the story and game so intriguing is the killer’s choice of Poirot as the person to mail clues to each crime to before he commits them. The killer’s confidence in taunting and tasking Poirot to track him (or her) down means there’s a certain sort of methodical insanity at work that’s somewhat fascinating. In this modern information age where under some circumstances, electronically sending death threats like that would (or should) lead to a suspect most likely being caught before they got too far into the alphabet, the 1935 setting means those mailed letters give the killer time to plot and Poirot time to think. The unfortunate side effect is a new crime scene and recently killed body to pore over for evidence, but as they say, nothing is indeed perfect, mes amis… Continue reading →