Tales of Zestiria Trailer: Your October Surprise (Plus Tales Tax)

Posted on July 3, 2015 by geelw

Bandai Namco Games is rolling out not one, but two Tales games between this year and next, one new and one old but new for PC gamers who may be interested in one of the earlier entries in the long-running franchise. Tales of Zestiria is coming to PS3, PS4 and PC on October 20, 2015. PC Gamers who hop on board the Steam pre-order train will have the opportunity to nab the upcoming HD port of Tales of Symphonia for FREE as a bonus tier item. This great deal may not convince some who only collect physical media to grab the game, but for those of you PS4 owners looking for a ton of swag, there’s as nice Collector’s Edition packed with the following:

TALES OF ZESTIRIA game for the PlayStation 4 system

Serialized premium box packaging

Exclusive SteelBook case

Chibi Kyun Chara figure set

DLC pack

TALES OF ZESTIRIA hardcover art book

Three TALES OF ZESTIRIA pixel-styled character key chains

TALES OF ZESTIRIA 40 minute “Dawn of the Shepherd” OVA anime Blu-ray disc

That’s a nice chunk of shelf space, I bet. I’ll post some pics of the set once I’m at a place with a better connection speed. Or you can just check out all the info on the official Tales Blog.

Some Bundles For Those Freakish About Fireworks And Flag Waving

Posted on July 2, 2015 by geelw

Let’s say you’re not doing anything this long holiday weekend (hey, we don’t all have friends who know how to use a grill or perhaps we’re just allergic to explosives and a little antisocial on holidays like this) and you want to try out some cool indie games. Well, Humble Bundle and IndieGala have got you covered quite well this week. Introduced yesterday, the Hump Day Bundle packs in a dozen games for under three dollars in a nice mix of genres. Horror game fans may find a few titles to groove on such as Трейлер (RED LAKE), which looks pretty darn freaky on a few levels:

Yeah, that’s some nightmare fuel right there. If that game isn’t up you particular dark alley, you have a few more to choose from. You can even TRADE games now on IndieGala if you want to try out something else, so that’s cool as well. As for the Humble Bundle, read on, dear readers… read on.
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Divide By Sheep: It’s The New Math, Kids!

Posted on July 2, 2015 by geelw

(thanks, tinyBuildGAMES!)

If they taught math this way back when I was in grade school I’d bet a heck of a lot of kids would probably be a lot smarter. And probably vegetarian or vegan not to mention not afraid of death at all. Anyway, great and prolific indie developer tinyBuildGAMES does it again with another hilarious slice of pure fun with a twist. Divide By Sheep is a math puzzle game that combines Death, loneliness, sacrifice and too cute to chop up sheep in a game where every move counts. Okay, it’s nowhere as grim as that last sentence sounds at all although a sense of humor is going to be needed in order to get full enjoyment from this one.

If you feel like counting sheep now and getting Death some new wooly pals to play chess with, the game is available on Steam and iOS NOW. Even better (well, if you’re an iOS user), you can get tinyBuild’s Spoiler Alert for FREE and Fearless Fantasy for a mere 99 cents. Those are both hard to pass up deals, I’d say.

A Small Flurry Of Monday Bundles To Keep You Busy

Posted on June 29, 2015 by geelw

IndieGala’s Every Monday Bundle is a fun one if you like doujin games and a really excellent hard as nails open world arcade shooter. Grab all those games for two bucks and be busier than you need to on a Monday. Or pay more if your wallet can support that sort of spending.

Meanwhile, over at Bundle Stars, there’s a flurry of activity. Can’t you hear it? It’s all those people snapping up the Flurry Bundle for all its cuteness in some of the eight selections and deep challenge in the more thoughtful games in the collection. $2.49 gets you this deal but it’s all up to you to find the time to play all those games.

Guild of Dungeoneering: Make Your Doom, One Room At A Time

Posted on June 26, 2015 by geelw

Okay. I know I’ve been busy and all stressed out over a bunch of stuff lately but just how did I miss out on Guild of Dungeoneering, indie developer Gambrinous’ upcoming digital-only RPG creation kit/card battle game/pure genius “Shut up and BUY me!” game. Well, it’s not out YET, mind you. But just look at that trailer above and tell me you’re not suffering from shock and “D’aaaw!” at those visuals and yep, that music also gets me grinning way too much. Even in the earlier trailer below the game exudes cuteness and while being simple visually, rocks its looks better than some bigger buck in cost retro games do.

As a former graph paper gamer (of questionable talent) myself, I’m all over this one like a cheap meal because it’s so nicely done, has LOW system requirements (yes!) and looks like an instant genre classic. What looks like endless replay value should keep core RPG fans hooked in while those new to this old school should also have a total blast. Who needs Unreal 4 when you can have unreal FUN with something so damn charming to look at and pleasant to listen to? Anyway, the game is available for pre-order on gog.com, Steam, The Humble Store and a few other places you might be buying your digital games from already.

“Shall we ~~play~~ make a game?”

Sure, why not. July 14, 2015 is when this one drops. So make sure you’re all aboard with the program. You wouldn’t want to get “accidentally” shanked by a pissed off penciled Goblin, Skelton or Fire Demon now, would you?

No, I thought not. Get ye to the pre-order page of your choice, then.

Bethesda @E3 2015: Lots Of DOOM-Saying Dishonored Fallout Scrolls

Posted on June 15, 2015 by geelw

Nothing much to say here other than Bethesda Softworks’ E3 lineup is small but spectacular even though I’m not completely sold on the mobile and free to play titles (because I’m old school stubborn like that but still respect them in the morning). Pull up a seat and something to eat as this is a nice lonng look at what’s coming this year and a bit beyond. I’ll run individual game trailers later this week. Okay, back to grinding my teeth and making pissed off faces at no one in particular. There’s still some work being done on the roof (which was supposed to end on the 5th of this month) and an inspector is coming to look at a wall that’s become a bit of a mess in the home office, grrrrr.

Preview: The Deadly Tower of Monsters Looks Like A Nice Place to Visit

Posted on June 11, 2015 by geelw

Atlus and developer ACE team are going to make some of us well-aged “B” movie fans really happy soon. The Deadly Tower of Monsters is coming to PC and PlayStation 4 soon and it looks like a total camp classic that captures the weird spirit of plenty of well-aged flicks that made for some fun weekends in front of the tube way back when. I’m gathering the humor will be lost on the more jaded gamers of today or those expecting new games to all look the same with super-shiny realism all over the place.

Nope, you’re not getting that here at all. TDToM seems to be presented from a mostly isometric perspective so comparisons to something like Diablo III or Gauntlet will no doubt be made by some. I’m liking the wires on that rocket above, the intentionally choppy stop-motion dinosaur and the super-colorful graphics while hoping there’s an optional black and white mode in the mix somewhere.

As I won’t be at E3 this year, I’m not going to be getting any hands-on time with the game (boo!). But I’ll keep an ear to the ground and keep an eye peeled for videos of gameplay because this one sure looks like something I’d play to death and beyond. Now, if only it was coming to more consoles. But I guess we’ll see what happens if it does well enough to expand onto more systems. As usual… we shall see.

Review: High Strangeness (Wii U)

Posted on June 10, 2015 by geelw

Platform: Wii U (also on PC)
Developer: Barnyard Intelligence Games/Crystal Labs
Publisher: Midnight City/Majesco
# of Players: 1
ESRB Rating: T (Teen)
Official Site
Score: B+ (85%)

While “short” by whatever “today’s standards” for game length is, High Strangeness is actually about as long as many of the 8 and 16-bit games it’s inspired by. A few too many gamers today are a wee bit spoiled by the still baffling comparison of game length somehow equaling overall quality so it’s great to play a new “retro” game that doesn’t wear you down with too many gimmicks before the ride is over. What’s here is a pretty cool throwback that bridges the game between the two eras with a “12-bit” approach that allows players to travel back and forth between two distinct visual styles. There’s also a mix of sci-fi and light horror vibes going on here with creepy-looking enemies, a big mystery and even a sentient cat to keep you dialed in from start to finish.

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Fallout 4: It’s Going To Be The Bomb (As The Kids Say)

Posted on June 4, 2015 by geelw

Well, I knew Bethesda was working on it for a while so I may be one of the few people who didn’t lose his or her mind when that Fallout 4 trailer dropped. More will be revealed at E3 and that most likely means there will be live gameplay to see and screens to pore over. I like that our hero (or heroine if you choose to play as a female) may have an actual voice this time out and I hope there are a few voice options in that character creation screen. While the trailer is made up of in-game footage trying to even guess anything about the story through the trailer is a fool’s errand. Naturally, the internet is going ga-ga over over-speculation about everything in that video. I prefer to keep what remains of my sanity and stay quiet until my paws are wrapped around a controller.

I’m gathering the release date will be a shocker, as there are placeholder pre-order and retailer tabs on the official site already that will probably go live during or after E3. I’m betting Bethsoft wants to get as many people who want this as possible to grab their wallets and get with the early spending spree. Given that their press conference is quite long and has the return of former G4TV stars Adam Sessler and Morgan Webb as hosts, I’d say a lot of gamer wallet (and other bits) draining will be happening once all is said and done. That said, I don’t think an new single player entry in The Elder Scrolls series will be announced this year. Why? Because that’s too much to take for some folks (myself included) and time travel hasn’t been invented just yet so we can play all these games and go back to normal without missing a beat.

Besides, Bethesda REALLY wants you to be playing The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited. Zenimax did work a hell of a long time on it and I hear it’s not bad at all for an always online game experience.

You’ll Be A Bundle of Nerves With This New Bundle Stars Deal

Posted on June 2, 2015 by geelw

More scary and mystery-themed indies games incoming from Bundle Stars? Awesome. Particularly with titles such as Tale of Tales wonderful re-imagining of Red Riding Hood, The Path, the chilling first person horror game Betrayer and more, all at the ridiculously low price of $2.49 with this deal expiring on June 16, 2015. Here’s what else in in this Nightmare Bundle:

1HEART – RRP $9.99
Betrayer – RRP $9.99
Guns n Zombies – RRP $7.99
Kraven Manor – RRP $5.99
Montague’s Mount – RRP $9.99
The Moon Sliver – RRP $2.99
The Path – RRP $9.99
The Samaritan Paradox – RRP $9.99

96% off is indeed a scary great price. You know you’re tempted to slip into something uncomfortable and cheap and this deal is the safest way to do that without any harm coming to your person. Unless it’s a bout of wrist and finger cramping from all that mouse clicking you’ll soon be doing. Get to it, then. This deal isn’t going to last forever, but those nightmares you may have after some of these games? Well, that’s all up to you.