A Friendly Reminder From Black Pants Game Studios…

Posted on December 21, 2012 by geelw

No, not that the world is ending in a few hours (well, for some people out there)… there’s a NEW demo for Tiny & Big: Grandpa’s Leftovers available on Steam! Go get it, play it and laugh yourself silly while things go to heck in a handbasket or something. Look at it this way, if you love the demo enough and the earth doesn’t blow up, you can actually go BUY the game and play the whole thing. Even better, the game is 50% off until doomsday (I’d gather that’s later today), so get while it’s hot. Or before you burn up when Melancholia hits. Or something like that. The talented gentlemen at Black Pants will thank you kindly, and I’ll have done my good deed for the day because I’ve turned you on to a really cool (and really funny) game experience. OK, I’m off to watch some cartoons now… Good Night!

Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch Demo Arrives on PSN Tomorrow

Posted on December 3, 2012 by geelw

Nice. Namco Bandai is giving PS3 owners and JRPG fans an early holiday gift with the release of a two level demo from the upcoming (and eagerly anticipated) Level-5/Studio Ghibli game. In the demo, players can expect two tough boss battles against the Guardian of the Woods and Moltaan along with a load of absolutely gorgeous visuals and animation guaranteed to bring a smile to just about any face. Seriously – the game looks quite spectacular in screenshots and movies online, but when you see it in motion on an actual TV, it’s quite incredible. The full game arrives next month for the PS3 in North America on January 22nd 2013 and in Europe on January 25th 2013.

Max Team’s Monster World RPG: Taking A Sega Classic To The Next Level

Posted on October 12, 2012 by geelw

While I do play a LOT of fan-made games paying homage to classics of the 8 and 16-bit eras, Max Team’s Monster World RPG project is one of the better works in progress I’ve seen to date. Initially released as a simple RPG Maker 2003 passion project back in 2005, the game has since been reworked into a much more polished game worthy of being put onto a Sega Genesis cartridge. Even though it’s far from the flashiest game made with the ancient game creation software, the dedication to replicating the specific look of the MW games while turning it into a turn-based RPG with an active time battle system out of the Final Fantasy games is on point and the nostalgic vibe works perfectly. The two hard working guys behind this free RPG, Massimo and Fernando, met up about a year after Massimo completed the first version of the game and needed help in expanding the game further. Continue reading →

Silent Hill: Book of Memories Hands-On: The Reliable Chase & Chop Formula Always Rocks

Posted on October 6, 2012 by geelw

I was instantly intrigued by Silent Hill: Book of Memories when I first heard about coming exclusively to the Vita. The fact that veteran developer WayForward Technologies got the gig was cool enough, but as soon as I saw early screenshots showing the game was a top-down action RPG hybrid, it went on my radar as something to watch. Of course, me being so stupidly busy trying to get DAF more noticed and generate some income (hey, I like being a taxpayer!) meant I’d forgotten to check in on things until recently when a demo dropped on PSN. Not too surprisingly, the team has whipped up an extremely addictive action-heavy blast that’s sure to draw in those who crave tightly focused dungeon crawlers in all their knocking off of monsters and gathering of much loot glory.

While the BoM demo isn’t as initially creepy or instantly unsettling as previous games in the franchise, it has enough going for it that promises plenty. In terms of gameplay, it rocks in the manner of the Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance, Champions of Norrath and Hunter the Reckoning series. Naturally, some Silent Hill fanatics are raging over this intensely all over the internet, but let me put some sanity into place here by saying the game not only looks and plays well, it works as a Silent Hill game once you get over the fact that it’s the most combat-focused entry in the series history. The game deviates from the SH formula in a few key ways, but it also taps into what makes the series compelling. If you’re familiar with the above mentioned titles and love this type of game, I’ll bet you’re grinning already…

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Random Indie Game of the Week: Knights of the Chalice

Posted on September 30, 2012 by geelw

OK, another case of me being late to the party, but even so, here’s another RPG you’ll probably fall head over heels for. Knights of the Chalice comes highly recommended if you’re a fan of old-school top-down RPG bliss, anything Dungeons & Dragons related and well crafted, severely challenging games in general. While it’s not a free game, you can download the wickedly cool (and hard) demo and decide if it’s worth the £14.95 (approximately $24.15 US) – I’d say it is and then some, but I’m still playing the demo! Actually, I’ll probably pick this up once I whittle down the pile of games I have to review. I don’t want to buy it now and be tempted to start up another game that’s going to eat up what’s left of my free time…

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Random Game of the Week: Starless Umbra – A Work In Progress Indie RPG Worth Paying For

Posted on August 16, 2012 by geelw

I’ve been playing and enjoying many RPG Maker games since about 2001 (and far too many JRPGs to count in general since the 1980’s), but Starless Umbra is turning into one of my new favorites and it’s not even completed yet. RPGmaker.net user Andrew Keturi (aka dragonheartman) has been slowly working on this game since 2002 (!) and it’s shaping up into quite an epic that’s going beyond simply working with the basic RTP assets or being yet another shameless Final Fantasy meets Dragon Quest clone. Not that there’s anything wrong at all with a great FF or DQ clone at all (I’ll name two awesome ones next week from the site you should grab). Based on the dramatic prologue and few hours of gameplay I’ve squeezed in alone, there’s a sharpness to the project that’s welcome in everything from the battle system to choice of music and sound effects. In the build I played, the mix of challenging combat and interesting use of stamina (where choosing whether to walk and run actually makes a difference) kept me glued to my monitor for longer than I expected..

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Capcom Keeps Dragon’s Dogma Going With New PS3 Demo, Content and Contest

Posted on August 9, 2012 by geelw

Now this is how you make a great game even greater. In addition to the recent announcements that a sequel is in the works and the company is looking at turning the series into a franchise (I want a Vita side story!) Capcom is turning its sleeper smash action/RPG Dragon’s Dogma into even more of an “evergreen” title thanks to more cool content coming soon. Fans can expect a new PS3 demo, an Easy Mode update for both PS3 and Xbox 360 owners and a fun contest using the game’s photo sharing feature over at the hugely popular fan community site, The Gran Soren Times.

The new PS3 demo, which features the Prologue, full character creation and a bit of play time (up to the Hydra boss battle) will also allow save data to be transferred to the full retail version. PSN users can expect to see the demo soon on the PlayStation Store starting from from August 15th in Europe and in North America on August 21st. I’ve already sunk a few hundred hours into the Xbox 360 version of the game, but now I want to dive into the PS3 version at some point, as DD is one of my favorite game experiences of 2012. I’d say it’s going to be one of yours as well once you give the game a play.

Driftmoon Update: New Alpha, So You Beta Go Play It!

Posted on July 3, 2012 by geelw

Ville and Anne Mönkkönen’s absolutely excellent adventure/RPG/comedy hybrid has finally gotten a really awesome new alpha build you can try out NOW. Go on, now… it won’t bite! In addition to being a well-made and fun to play game experience, it’s also one of those indie games that’s actually not flailing about and trying to be too hip or intentionally “retro” for its own good. Anyway, big new areas adding a few hours to the playtime, a nicely creepy new mist effect, some lovely character portraits by Johanna Sundström and yep, you can still make your own mods using the wonderful game editor. Even better, you can request a discount code for %20 off the price of the final version and use it when the game is complete and ready to “ship” via download from the Instant Kingdom website (I had to keep the nautical theme from the game going, sorry). What, you’re still reading this? Go download the demo already!

Sniper Elite V2 Demo Goes Live. Give It A Shot.

Posted on April 10, 2012 by geelw

Even if you’re still somehow on the fence about this one (why? It’s NO CoD clone or anything even close to what you’re probably thinking if you ONLY play FPS after FPS), you can now PLAY the PSN or Xbox Live demo and see for yourself what I’m psyched for. Rebellion’s done its best work to date with this one, so take it for a spin and then go pre-order the game, already. As for you PC owners and your tricked out rigs… well, you have to sit it out for a bit longer until that demo is ready, so keep your shirts on, OK? Maybe you can go hang out at a friend’s place even though playing games on a console is “beneath” your graphical and keyboard-mouse control expectations (*yawn*… whatever!), you’ll see what you’re in for shortly.

Hell, All those German V2 scientists aren’t going to shoot themselves, you know…

Driftmoon Hands-On: The Top Is Down And The Weather’s Just Fine For Traveling…

Posted on March 20, 2012 by geelw

Yes, it’s taken a bit of time for me to get around to playing that new Driftmoon demo I mentioned last month, but I’m absolutely more than pleased that I spent a few hours yesterday exploring the early part of the game which was awesome enough to leave me begging to see how the final build will turn out. Instant Kingdom (that’s Ville and Anne Mönkkönen, last time I checked) have created a lovely top down Adventure/RPG that can be tailored for anyone from novices who prefer a lighter combat option to hardcore players who want enemies that bite back hard. It also doesn’t hurt that the writing here is well done and often amusing in tone, offering a RPG experience that allows for different outcomes to certain quests. Toss in an excellent map system, some very well thought out combat, a great soundtrack and the ability to send feedback to the developers as you play and what’s here is shaping up to be a superb little indie game.

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