Diablo IV: Back To The Past For The Future’s Sake

Posted on November 1, 2019 by geelw

While Blizzard is in a wee spot of trouble for a few things these days, if you can divorce yourself from those elements, Diablo IV is looking mighty incredible. The return to the bleak color palette of the first two entries in the series is a great decision as is the company deciding to release both the opening movie and a gameplay trailer that looks pretty spectacular. I’m concerned about a few things, though.

Only three classes (so far) is a throwback to the original game (an excellent touch), but I’m hoping more are added and not at a premium price point. Some fans are already too testy about microtransactions in games and game companies overcharging for content that should be part of the package, so I’m mot sure how Blizzard will respond to this. At least the game is wisely confirmed for PC and save for the Switch, consoles, so it’s a definite day one purchase for me. EDIT: Ah, I see from the official site that these are “the first three” classes, which probably means more will be made available at some point, likely by some form of unlocking (payment?) or a completion reward for completing the game with one of the three starting characters.

With that out of the way, I can breathe easy that the game is in good hands as development continues. Multiplayer I can take or leave, but we’ll see how it turns out as things progress. The brief bits I saw certainly looked good, but I’m more of a solo player in games like this because I tend to take my time and not rush through dungeons.

-GW

Death Stranding Launch Trailer: Turn, And Face The Strange

Posted on November 1, 2019 by geelw

I’ve been wisely avoiding any news and potential spoilers on Kojima Productions new game because I want to go in as cold as possible. So right now, I’m about frozen solid in terms of what I know about the plot and characters. I’ve seen a few trailers over the years while it was in development, but true to form, they were intentionally vague or showed off some impressive tech and packed in the weirdness that was hard to decipher if one decided to go down that rabbit hole. I chose not to, as speculation is the worst thing one could do with what was looking like a strange enough title that was innovating on a few fronts.

For me, Hideo Kojima’s games since the Metal Gear Solid era have been essential because even with trailers, you’re not getting the full story because there’s going to be a ton of context not seen until the full game is experienced. That and the sole time I broke with this tradition of mine was with P.T./Silent Hills, a game that was killed by its publisher and fantastically frightening demo unceremoniously removed from PSN after a nasty breakup that saw Kojima form a standalone studio. That was one game that very likely could have turned that series around, but we’ll never find out. I’d let myself be seduced by the idea of new Silent Hill game with a talented team at the reins (Guillermo del Toro amd Norman Reedus were part of the project), and it was a shock to find out later that the game was canned and its creation halted.

Anyway, Death Stranding arrives a week from now on the PS4, and next summer on PC. I’ll be getting the PS4 version because hell, it arrives first and I hate spending money on any potential PC upgrades that might be needed to run this on my aging laptop.

-GW

Friday the 13th: Killer Puzzle Gets Some Fun, Free Updates

Posted on October 31, 2019 by geelw

Get this… OR ELSE.

Well, eight episodes of the game have been FREE for a while now on STEAM, but having a subscription to developer Blue Wizard Games’ email newsletter was pretty rewarding today, as there’s some nice content they’ve added to the game as well as a couple of fun freebies for email subscribers.

In addition to getting Episode 9 and the Baghead Jason DLC skin for free, the email also included a package of neat HD Blue Wizard Digital desktop wallpapers, Slayaway Camp toy paper-craft templates, and the official theme songs (MP3) for both Slayaway Camp and Friday the 13th: Killer Puzzle (woo-hoo!). Very cool, Blue Wizard, very cool, indeed.

Here’s a little teaser for the game. It’s kind of cute, really hilarious and yes, you can choose to play without the blood (but why would you?):

Even better, if you have a STEAM account, there’s a sale on the developer’s other titles, so yes, you can try a few of their games for a lot mess money. Sounds like a deal to me.

-GW

November’s PS Plus Duo is Scary Good Stuff

Posted on October 31, 2019 by geelw

Nice. I actually haven’t played either of these other than a demo of one a while back, so this will be a good pair of bonuses to have added to thee library. Now, all I need to do is find the time and clear out my external HDD, as it’s about filled with a ton of old games and videos. Eh, I’ll probably get a larger drive at some point, but I’ve always thought the the PS4 could have used more USB ports.

-GW

FAITH: The Unholy Trinity – A Reflex Test For The Senses

Posted on October 31, 2019 by geelw

Creepy is coming a third time (and to consoles at some point, too).

I was jumping under the furniture a while back when I first played indie developer Airdorf Games’ Faith, a very frightening game that blended old-school visuals and the sheer shock of horror and jump scares plus some clever use of synthesized voices, all in the service of terrifying the player. Let’s just say it worked, as I’ve had the second game here for a while on my laptop, but haven’t touched it since I downloaded it. My excuse of having too many games to play in my backlog keeps me hiding from that sequel, but it’s now the case where there’s a third game in the series coming soon that’s probably goijg to get me to play all three in one shot.

Or, say hell-o to FAITH: The Unholy Trinity, coming to PC and eventually, consoles:

As you can see, it’s pretty unsettling stuff when you get hit with the blending of old and new here. There’s a nice layer of crazy here when the game comes at you and you don’t know what to expect next, but this is good in a game that’s a mix of horror, adventure and a few abstract elements that will have you hooked in and trying to run away simultaneously. Go wishlist this this one if you’re into the horror stuff – it should run on most Windows 7 and up (64-bit) PC’s with zero issues. I’m going to hold my breath until I turn blue that this is coming to consoles sooner than later (starts holding breath).

Appropriately Halloween color scheme? CHECK.

-GW

Lost Ember Gets a November Release Date

Posted on October 29, 2019 by geelw

“All the animals come out at night…” Well, to be fair, in this game they’re out anytime they want to be.

Hamburg-based Mooneye Studios absolutely gorgeous looking game, Lost Ember, now has an official release date (November 22, 2019 for PC, PS4, and Xbox One), a nice new trailer and more lovely art to look at. I’ll just shot up here and let those images and trailer do all the talking:

Some images for you? Okay, then:

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There’s a load of other images to run, but I stopped with these because I was taking too much time poring over the rest. I’ll get the rest up closer to the games release. Oh, a Switch version is in the works, so we’ll see how that turns out at some point.

-GW

Review: Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD (Switch)

Posted on October 29, 2019 by geelw

You better have those banana grabbing skills down, folks.

Sega, on a roll (Part I): Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD ($39.99) is a pretty fun time on the Switch, but you better have steady hands and steadier nerves if you want any chance of completing this game. Yes, the multiplayer is a ton of crazy fun here (that could have used a few more games) and that’s a reason some will jump all over this with a few friends. But this is a game where the solo play can be as hair-raising as it gets because it’s too easy to fail (and multiple times at that) some courses if you’re susceptible to anything from an itchy body part or any sort of issues with your controller.

If you’re new to this, it’s a game that will have you cracking up and pulling out hairs in equal measures. There’s a goofy plot here, but all you need to know is you’re a monkey in a big plastic ball and you need to roll, jump and quickly grab bananas as a clock is ticking down, fighting bosses a few times along the way. You probably won’t be good at this initially, but practice makes perfect, as they say. Paradoxically, both Zen-like calm and lightning reflexes are absolutely necessary in this game where courses are tightly timed, bosses require super-quick pattern recognition and you need to play and replay stages to nab those bananas without falling off some deviously designed courses.

“This is bananas, and bananas is good!”

Well, you do have to fall off some courses, but onto a lower part of a level, or to shave seconds off a course time, missing a few bunches of bananas in the process (until you figure out how to get them later in a different run). Developer Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio (yes, the folks behind the excellent Yakuza games as well as a few others) took the 2006 Wii-only game and have tweaked it into a multi-console game that’s quite good and yes, maddening when it needs to be. In addition to reworking the interface and adding online functionality, 40 of the Wii-specific mini-games are gone (well, 50 was overkill way back then and the Wii remote was a pain to use for some of them), cut down to a mere 10 that keep multiplayer games a faster-paced chunk of mayhem for up to four players.

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Games I Need to Play 3: The Beast Inside

Posted on October 23, 2019 by geelw

I’ll admit at first I thought it was a game about the wonderfully awful movie The Beast Within until I saw screenshots.

Well, what have we here? A photo-realistic horror themed mystery/adventure game that’s got a strange, sort of time travel thing going for it along with some amazing visuals and a lot of falling off stuff, for good measure. Oh, and it’s coming to PS4 and Xbox One at some point, which is good, as I hate upgrading my PC so frequently to play these games. Here’s a gallery and one of many trailers. You can see more on the Steam page where yes, you can buy the game and/or try the demo out.

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Developer Illusion Ray Studio and publisher Movie Games have quite the pair of fitting names, no? I’ve downloaded the demo, but haven’t gotten to try it yet thanks to a review backlog I’m sifting through, but this one will get some playtime soon, as it certainly had my attention as soon as I heard of it and looked it up. Here’s a look at a trailer (it’s all gameplay footage, too):

Alright, then. I guess I’ll get to that demo sooner or later (well, before the game hits consoles, at least).

-GW

Werewolves and Vampires on Most Everything Incoming from Bigben Games

Posted on October 22, 2019 by geelw

Well, this is a fine thing indeed. It’s soon to be raining werewolves, vampires and other creatures of the night thanks to Bigben Games and a few developers hard at work on a few titles. On the werewolf (there, wolf!) front, you’re getting this:

“You better stay away from him – he’ll rip your lungs out, Jim!”

Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood is in development with Cyanide Studio at the helm, and while only this art below and the animated image on the official website have been shown, both it and that teaser trailer give off a nice vibe of what to expect. The developer has been pretty good at delivering solid gameplay that’s gotten better with each game they make, so I’ll definitely be keeping an eye peeled for screenshots and actual gamepay as this moves closer to completion, This one’s coming in Summer 2020 for PC, PS4 and Xbox One.

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As for those other creatures of the night…

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Games I Need to Play 2: Beamdog’s Classics Come to Consoles

Posted on October 21, 2019 by geelw

Good gravy, Skybound and Beamdog, you’re going to kill me thanks to my withering away indoors with your ports of the two Baldur’s Gate games, Neverwinter Nights, Icewind Dale and Planescape: Torment games. One definitely can’t gripe about the cost, as each game and their expansions (plus new content that was missing in the PC versions) cram in more that enough play and replay value to justify the price ($49.99 each). Pretty much, each one ~~may~~ will take a few weeks or months to play and hell, you can’t say that about many games outside the genre that don’t require an online connection or double-dip you (or more) with fees and micro-transactions.

As I noted in my preview a few months ago, there goes my free time forever. Amusingly, I’ve not requested a review code yet because from experience, games like these games are professional time eaters (I’ve played them all before on PC years back), and well, as I sand, my free time (and hell, all of my work time) would necessitate a format change to an all-Beamdog, all the time blog. That, and yeah, I’ll likely support both companies with a purchase because I have the feeling some wags out there will feel these enhanced ports won’t be worth full price because of the dated looks and other biases against things like the length and maybe the mobile ports (which cost less, but the console versions have a number of changes that make then worth playing and then some).

(Thanks, Warner Bros.!)

Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to figure out when I’ll play these and work on my time machine so I can play them. At least Neverwinter Nights isn’t out until December on consoles, so that gives me time to play the other games.

-GW