Some (Trouble-Free) Adventurezator Impressions…

 

So, I haven’t gotten into much trouble at all with the beta version of Pigasus Game’s awesome Adventurezator, but I’m certainly having a blast playing around with this game creation kit in progress. While it needs a bit more work before it’s ready for prime time, as an easy to use adventure game creation tool, it’s coming along quite nicely. In the current build, it’s best to play the included scenario-based game just to see how the inventory and object interaction work before diving into the editing function and getting all “I’ve got a story!” on this software. Creating characters (or “actors”, but you don’t have to call them that because you’re not paying them and they’re not making ends meet as wait staff somewhere) is super simple (although the game needs more variety in hairstyle and clothing options) and you can even whip up masks using your own image files if you’re feeling really creative… Continue reading

BUY IT: Another (Mon)day, Another $1.79 IndieGala Bundle…

IndieGala Monday 8_3_2014 

This one’s a no-brainer just because it has a Giana Sisters game on it, but there are a few other indies that make this a fine way to spend that buck seventy-nine. Guise of the Wolf looks like a fine first-person adventure game, I recall Helldorado being a nifty western game with a fun combat system, and everything else I’ve yet to play… but how can you NOT want to try them at this price? Of course, this deal only lasts for the first 24 hours before the bundle price jumps up and scares you out of your wits (a little). So grab these games if your boat has been floated…

New Shadowgate Trailer: What’s New Is Old (And Great)…

 

Shadowgate logoI really should be dreading this upcoming Shadowgate reboot a lot more, but I’m just too pleased to see this ancient fantasy adventure game make a comeback. My dread SHOULD come from the knowledge that developer Zojoi Games is making this one like the original: intentionally hard and with intent to punish players who don’t pay careful attention to the decisions they make. The again, you can be the smartest stick in the shed and have your character still die a horrific death because Shadowgate is no pic-a-nic zone at all. Nearly every beautifully illustrated screen has something to interact with in nine different ways, but you might expire quite horribly if for example you HIT someone you shouldn’t have, EAT an item that’s not that edible under any circumstances or even TALK to something that wants to put the bite on your soon to be deceased hero. But hey, life (even in a game like this) is all about taking chances, so if you’re a PC/Mac/iOS or Android gamer looking for adventure, you should hop onto this train and perhaps even pre-order the game. It’s officially out on August 21, 2014 – I’ve been avoiding buying in early and playing the beta because I prefer to go in cold and see if I can remember all the tricks and traps from the NES version and see if I can survive more than three or four screens worth of them.

IndieGala Monday Time: RPGs, With A Side of Adventure and Old School Platforming

IndieGala Monday 7_28 

This week’s IndieGala Every Monday Bundle is quite a doozy. Rogue-like role-playing, point & click adventures, an odd-arty game where you can yell at what you’re playing it on and even some old school run to the left (mostly) and try not to die too much excitement. A buck sixty-nine for the first day, price goes up after that. Six complete games for that price is of course, a STEAL. So don’t sleep on this and wonder too later if you missed out on some cool stuff. Your Monday will get better if you get this bundle, guaranteed…

Humble Humongous Monday Bundle Deal For The Kids In All of Us!

HUMONGOUS_pack 

Anyone remember Humongous Entertainment and their classic kid’s point & click adventure games? I sure do, and I was way too ancient to be playing most of these when they came out (but that didn’t stop me!). Anyway, this week’s Humble Bundle deal is a cool 24-hour ONLY Flash sale that’s family-friendly and FUN times guaranteed for all. Pay what you want for Putt-Putt Joins the Parade and Freddi Fish and The Case of the Missing Kelp Seeds, or beat the average price of $12.72 for four more games (Putt Putt Goes to the Moon, Pajama Sam: No Need to Hide When It’s Dark Outside, Freddi Fish 2: The Case of the Haunted Schoolhouse and Spy Fox in “Dry Cereal”). However, for the BEST deal, drop and give Humble twenty (bucks) and get 28 FULL Humongous games! That’s EVERY Putt-Putt, Pajama Sam, Freddi Fish and Spy Fox game from the company, people! How can you pass THAT up? Nope, you don’t have to have kids at all, but I bet these fun and funny adventures will make you feel young at heart! Anyway, the clock is ticking… so grab this deal if you’re grinning away!

Shadow of Mordor Story Trailer: The Bright Lord’s Kind Of An OK Guy, Huh?

“And there will be no joy in Mordor… Mighty Crazy has struck out!” Well, okay, my feeble attempt at humor is based on me having a loooooong and boring day here fiddling with my PCs and clearing out stuff from some hard drives. But it had to be done and done it has been. Except for one computer here I’m wanting to beat with a baseball bat because it finally needs replacing after many years of service. But that’s neither here nor there, folks. This Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor update is brought to you from Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, home of fine video games in the LEGO, Batman and Lord of the Rings franchises (among others). Hey, I’m not getting a dime for this post from them at all, folks – I’m just writing what’s rolling off the top of my head because my eyes are half closed right about now. Oh, I’ll be alright after a decent night’s rest. See you all tomorrow!

SDCC 2014: Little Orbit’s Got A Pair Of Nice Surprises For Gamers Soon…

As a fan of last year’s Adventure Time game (released by D3Publisher of America), I’m happy to see that this year’s installment, Adventure Time: The Secret of the Nameless Kingdom is going to be closer in spirit to a Legend of Zelda game as opposed to a Gauntlet and Diablo-inspired chase & chop. Sure, I’ll miss playing as Marilese and some of the other characters, but as long as this new game delivers the goods, I’m not complaining at all. This one’s coming sometime in the fall for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC (via Steam) and Nintendo 3DS.

As for Falling Skies: The Game? Color me surprised and impressed. Sure, it’s basically a reworked version of the XCOM reboot from a few years back, but this is actually a good thing because I’d imagine the only other options were a boring run & gun game or some type of MMO that only a tiny percentage of people would actually play. While this one’s only coming to the PS3 and Xbox 360, I’m betting that it gets bought and played by gamers who like turn-based strategy who don’t mind maybe discovering a show they haven’t seen yet as well. This one’s out PS3, Xbox 360 and PC (via Steam) on September 24, 2014.

Incoming RPGs! Nihon Falcom Fans Get To Shake It And Smile Soon. Twice!

It seems we’re in for a Nihon Falcom “revival” of sorts. Granted, PC versions of their games aren’t uncommon at all in Japan, but it seems they take a backwards route here in the west, coming over as console ports and a few years later, making it to PC gamers who also happen to be JRPG fans and want to see more of these titles and faster. Anyway, we’re getting The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky via Steam next week thanks to Xseed Games and it’s been recently announced that Mastiff Games is trying to get Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure up on Steam as a Greenlight game.

In the case of the latter, publisher Mastiff came up with the idea to give away the game to those who voted to Greenlight it AND leave a comment on the game’s discussion boards, but some feel this is a wee bit too much. I think it’s a fine idea, although it could backfire if EVERY person who wanted to see the game pop up as a product they should BUY ends up being a game they all get for nothing at all. I’d have made it a better giveaway by only giving codes to people who still OWN a physical or legal digital copy of the PSP game or happen to have the Japanese PC game somewhere in their possession. Granted, that number might be smaller than the votes needed to get the game on Steam, but it would have at lease quelled the light to medium annoyance some people are feeling who think the publisher is trying too hard to “game the system” as it were. Even though I voted and posted a note, I still own my copy of Gurumin and will gladly post a photo here to score a free code if asked.

Of course, at the end of the day it’s all about the NEW fans who pay for, dive into and have a blast with this modern classic. So here’s to seeing some big sales once the freebie frenzy dies down. I’d love to see some wise publisher get as many Falcom games onto PC’s here at some point (perhaps in a big ol’ box set or series of sets), but that’s me pipe-dreaming up a small storm again…

Bundle Stars Says You Need A Little Magika In Your Life!

Bundle Stars does it again! A measly five dollars for the base game and 21 downloadable content packs? Amazing! If you’re into isometric action/RPG experiences and have yet to play Magicka? What are you waiting for? The game is a more humorous and yes, magically focused take on the fantasy genre and it’s a great deal of fun whether you’re new to the genre or a more jaded veteran player. Yeah, yeah.. I just KNOW some of you are all “Whaaaaaat? I can’t play a TANK class like I usually do? Hell Nope!”, but trust me, this game is fun because it makes you think a bit about how you tackle enemies, not just wade in swinging a hefty axe or whatever and coming up for air only after a pile of corpses litter the landscape.

Anyway, this deal was up on the site for a bit, but slow and busy ol’ me finally got around to noticing it and now there are only less than 48 hours to snap this huge content pack up. Don’t even bother flipping a coin on this – just BUY IT and get busy with the magical comedy gold and massive entertainment value you’ll be getting.

Alien Isolation: “Crew Expendable”? Not In This Video, Folks!

Alien_Isolation_Crew_ExpendableWhile the internet still rages on about whether or not the adding the cast of the original ALIEN to this new game as paid DLC currently only available as a pre-order bonus, it’s good to see the old(er) cast here reminiscing for a bit about things old and new. I like how Harry Dean Stanton didn’t realize that 35 years had passed since the film was released (hey, sometimes an actor who’s appeared in so many films tends to not recall every single role he’s done and when he did them) and it’s clearly sounding like the dev team didn’t go the lazy route and just take voice samples from the first movie and drop them in where needed. The again, as Tom Skerritt notes: “It’s what you don’t see…”, meaning these missions add to the original film’s story, filling in a few gaps. Hopefully, fans of the film will more likely be a lot more pleased whether or not they like the idea of pre-paying for that DLC and Sega will decide to release both missions as a single download not too long after the game ships out so we all can enjoy them.