Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen – The 4th Time’s The Charm (Hopefully!)

Posted on October 3, 2017 by geelw

With the PS4 and Xbox One versions of Capcom’s Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen now available (go buy it, I say), I’m trying to figure out how to get the most out of this version of the game before something else weird happens in terms of stuff going haywire on the tech front here. It seems my luck is pretty damned rotten when it comes to seeing everything the land of Gransys has to offer despite my spending something around 200+ hours with the game across every platform it’s previously been released on.

I initially started the game on the Xbox 360 and got about 3/4 through, but both the systems here died (Red Ring of Death!). Then I snapped up the PS3 version of the original and later, the Dark Arisen expansion and got through most of the game on the PS3 (acquiring one of the not so good endings) until that system expired (Yellow Light of Death!) and was stolen by the guy I sent it to for repair. After it launched, I ended up buying the enhanced Steam version only to have my laptop die before I got much time into that one and now I have a copy of the PS4 version on the way, so “what the heck is going to happen now?” has been a mantra of sorts whenever I’ve watched a trailer or other video content Capcom has posted about it.

If I didn’t have a few medical appointments coming up this month, I’d stay at home quietly holed up with the game until I completed it. But yeah, that stuff needs to be tackled so I can indeed get to work enjoying my purchase without worrying so much. Not that I’m prone to paranoia or anything, but it does make me walk a lot more carefully when I’m out and about.

Back in a bit.

-GW

PS Plus October Surprises Incoming

Posted on September 28, 2017 by geelw

Well, this is nice. Given that I’ve never played Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain or the second game in the horror focused Amnesia Collection, next month’s two big PS4 freebies are making me grin in anticipation (or want to hide under the bed as the first Amnesia game on PC scared the hell out of me) The only problems are deciding what to delete from my current library as I only have a 500GB Slim model and I’m working on completing a few RPGs I don’t want to put on that digital shelf.

The other issue is it takes so long to download larger game files that we’re at the point where some titles allow you to play after they’ve downloaded a certain percentage (which is good). But seeing that “Download complete” notice something like two days later (yaaah!) makes me want nothing but discs. Except that these days, even disc games have updates that automatically queue up and download

Anyway, other FREE PlayStation Plus games this month include:

Monster Jam Battlegrounds, PS3
Hustle Kings, PS3
Hue, PS Vita (Cross Buy with PS4)
Sky Force Anniversary, PS Vita (Cross Buy with PS4 & PS3)

Of course, finding time to play the first two games will be tricky, especially with a bunch of other titles vying for attention (Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen is my go-to game of the month already, but we’ll get to that in a different post).

-GW

Red Dead Redemption II Trailer II: Old West’s Newest Best Bet Yet

Posted on September 28, 2017 by geelw

Ooh, look what I found! I’ll just leave this here:

RDRII_ps4 There’s not too much to say other than Rockstar Games has got it all covered, no worries. I get a big hearty chuckle out of those sites that over-analyze every second of these reveals when all you really need to know is the all excuses you’ll be using to get off work so you can spend a week or more playing through as much of Red Dead Redemption II as humanly possible.

If you’re in school and begging for this as a gift, suck it up, kids – your pops will see this in the store and want it all for himself, so expect your system to be “temporarily confiscated” so you can “concentrate on your schoolwork” which really means Daddy-O will be playing cowboy on his own TV when he should be at work. Yee-haw!

That’s pretty much all I have to say, as a mere minute and twenty eight seconds is very hard to judge a game trailer by. Well, other than how fantastic it looks running on the PS4 hardware. Anyway, as I said earlier, Rockstar has got this. I’m not worried in the slightest. Nope, not at all.

RDRII_6-1080p

Spring 2018, huh? Well, I’ll just need to clear out a whole month or two of backlogged games in anticipation, then.

ECHO: Death Becomes Her (Multiple Times)

Posted on September 26, 2017 by geelw

ECHO logo

ECHO_Tall

While ECHO is out now on PC, I’m really more interested in developer Ultra Ultra‘s upcoming PlayStation 4 version set to be released in October. Partially because I hate the constant upgrading of PC hardware and mostly because I’m really curious to see how the Unreal 4-powered game looks on Sony’s hardware.

Granted, looks aren’t everything in my book. Great gameplay is always going to be far more important than pretty visuals at the end of the day. But it seems the dev team here is striving for both and if that trailers above and screenshot gallery below are any indication, succeeding in their mission.

The game’s story also makes me want to dive in feet first, so I’m avoiding reading anything else about the game until I get to take it for a spin myself. That said, if everything falls into place with this one, En’s big, deadly adventure could be one of the better original IP this year

-GW

Review: The Coma: Recut (PS4)

Posted on September 25, 2017 by geelw

Ah, high school days. The loads of homework, Salisbury “steak” and canned veggies for lunch, getting shoved into lockers by bullies, and that curvy teacher you’ve got a secret crush on transforming into a hideous axe-wielding demon-thing who will try really hard to chop you to pieces after hours…

Wait, what?

Okay, that last bit is why you’ll be way up too late on a school (or work) night and all bleary-eyed and freaked out in the morning if you’re playing The Coma: Recut. This remastered version of the Korean survival-horror cult classic, The Coma: Cutting Class manages to be pretty scary stuff from developer Devespresso Games and publisher Digerati. If you’re a fan of games such as Clock Tower (both the Super Famicom original and its first sequel on the original PlayStation), this one’s well worth snapping up.

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Review: The Solus Project (PS4)

Posted on September 23, 2017 by geelw

Survival/Crafting games are a dime a dozen these days (or cheaper if you poke around at PC game bundle sites, heh), but a game like Teotl Studios and Grip Games’ The Solus Project manages to rise above the digital ton of games that are less “survival” oriented and more about scampering around shooting at assorted organic life with food and water meters acting like gas and oil tanks in an arcade racing game.

What’s here is a also a fine sci-fi adventure game where the environment on planet Gliese-6143-C is possibly your worst enemy, but other things can also do you in if you’re careless in your roaming. Interestingly enough, the game later dips a toe (okay, its entire being) into horror elements and the unsettling sense of dread the early exploration brings turns into moments where you might be too freaked out to take another step. That the game slides through a few genres along the way ends up being a nice touch because it’s completely unexpected.

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Review: Mary Skelter: Nightmares

Posted on September 22, 2017 by geelw

Idea Factory/Compile Heart games can be hit or miss affairs, but their latest, Mary Skelter: Nightmares is (for my money) one of their best games (and best dungeon crawlers) to date thanks to taking chances with a few tried and true formulas and smacking most them right in their sweet spots. It’s got the turn-based dungeon crawl aspects of the Wizardry series mixed in with real-time chase/combat scenarios, excellent production values and yep, a bit of M-rated fan service lightly sprinkled on top for good measure.

While parts of the plot can be somewhat pedestrian in their usage of familiar anime/manga tropes, things take a few interesting turns as the game goes on. The use of well-known mostly female characters from popular fairy tales works quite well provided your brain properly detaches them from any imagery you might recall (or: you need to re-imagine everyone as anime gals). Of course, the gameplay is where it’s at and what’s here will keep you hooked in to the very end (and then some). If you’re a fan of the aforementioned Wizardry, Etrian Odyssey, Demon Gaze, and Dungeon Travelers 2 among other dungeon crawlers, this one’s a drop everything and go kiss your Vita if you own one event.

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Project CARS 2 Launch Trailer: Beep Beep Yeah

Posted on September 20, 2017 by geelw

PC2_key-art Wait, Project CARS 2 is out already? I still haven’t completed the first game! I guess I really need to pay more attention to this stuff, huh? Actually, I was very likely storing up a stack of free time for .hack//G.U. Last Recode and a few other games coming from Namco Bandai, so this great-looking sequel temporarily slipped my mind. Okay, the ongoing medical stuff had something to to with my slower than usual posting, but it’s getting a lot better, folks.

Loads of improvements (those weather effects now include snow!), 180 cars (and more to come, I’ll bet), and yes, those lovely visuals all add up to what’s looking like a must-have sequel. I guess retiring that first version for this followup is the sensible thing to do at this point. Me doing something sensible? Well, that’s a welcome change of pace, right?

-GW

Review: Pankapu (PS4)

Posted on September 20, 2017 by geelw

Last year, the first chapter of Too Kind Games’ gorgeous, excellent and challenging platformer Pankapu made for a pretty captivating experience on PC and now it’s on PS4 as a complete game that’s equally beautiful and a must-play for genre fans. Bold, colorful visuals, blend with with solid, satisfying gameplay and an initially simple story that changes into more than the bedtime tale it starts out as.

Don’t let that stunning color palette and super-cute art here fool you one bit. This is a seriously tough game at times thanks to the dead-on jumping and combat skills you’ll need to succeed. Initially, you’ll play as a sword and shield-bearing warrior type, but Archer and Mage Aegis outfits eventually appear and add more combat variety as well as pros and cons. Swapping between all three Aegis types, often on the fly makes for some pretty fluid navigation when things go right. On the other hand, enemies and assorted traps can ruin a good run if you make too many mistakes. You will, trust me – Pankapu can be quite hard at times. I’m looking at you, Tokatanka (grrr!)

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A Triple Shot of EDF Coming To PS4

Posted on September 19, 2017 by geelw

Well, this one’s a total surprise to wake up to. Sure, I knew we were getting a sixth* Earth Defense Force game from D3Publisher and developer Sandlot sometime this year (and yep, those busy guys really need to update their main website!), but there’s a also an all-new digital-only EDF game spinoff starring Wing Diver (aka Pale Wing here in the US) on the way to PlayStation Network (it’s a vertical arcade shooter!) as well as another EDF game in the works coming in 2018 from veteran Japanese developer Yuke’s that looks to be a more dramatic take on a series known for its campy voice acting but tough as nails gameplay.

(*not counting the portable versions)

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