Attack on Titan & Arslan: The Warriors of Legend: Omega Force Still Has Some Chops

Posted on September 26, 2015 by geelw

I’ve been a fan of Omega Force’s work since Dynasty Warriors and Destrega on the original PlayStation shook up the fighting game genre. Of course, like many fans, Dynasty Warriors 2 was the game that made me really fall for the developer. While that series has seen quite a few entries and spin-offs into other series, it’s been their work on licensed and original games using that familiar engine that have really been the ones to watch. Between the Dynasty Warriors Gundam games, Fist of the North Star, Hyrule Warriors and now the one-two punch coming to consoles soon in the form of Attack on Titan and Arslan: The Warriors of Legend, it’s been fun to see Omega Force take on popular anime and game characters as they bring their Musou engine into new territory.

It’s too bad a great little sleeper like Trinity: Souls of Zill O’ll on the PS3 never got the attention it deserved. That game is worth tracking down thanks to it being more of an action/RPG than a straight up Dynasty Warriors clone. A bit tougher to track down but worth it Warriors: Legends of Troy. While it’s not an Omega Force game (Koei Canada did the programming job), it takes elements of the Musou games, adds some M-rated gore (in a nod to Zach Snyder’s version of 300) and makes for a nice and lengthy diversion once you’re hooked in. Another sleeper (but one that hasn’t been forgotten) is Bladestorm: The Hundred Years’ War, which earlier this year got a PS4 and Xbox One update/sequel called Bladestorm: Nightmare.

Both Attack on Titan and Arslan: The Warriors of Legend are coming to PS4, PS3,and PlayStation Vita with North American release dates for AoT to be announced as they get closer to completion. Arslan lands in Japan October 1st for PS3 and PS4, and it seems that Europe and North America will get these two plus an Xbox One version at some point.

Tales of Zestiria Hands-On: Old Reliable And The New(ish) Platform

Posted on September 25, 2015 by geelw

In the case of and for Namco’s long-running Tales franchise, familiarity certainly doesn’t breed any contempt at all. Some hands on time recently with the PlayStation 4 version of Tales of Zestiria reveals producer Hideo Baba and the development team at tri-Crescendo in fine form with a game that’s a throwback to Tales of Phantasia and its more epic medieval fantasy approach in terms of character design and settings. There are also some changes to the combat system and even better, battles now play out on maps without those brief transitions from previous games in the series. Continue reading →

System Shock (Finally) Now On GOG.com: That Showdown With SHODAN, Now Enhanced

Posted on September 24, 2015 by geelw

File this one under “it’s about time!” and then go buy it, NOW. Thanks to Night Dive Studios, the classic System Shock has finally made it to gog.com as System Shock Enhanced Edition, which features not only a version of the game for higher resolution monitors, but also adds mouselook functionality, remappable keys and a few other tweaks. You’ll also get the original game as a bonus if you want to play it as originally intended. Those new bits do make the game a lot more fun if you’re a newer player looking for a more modern control scheme.

Even better, the game is on sale for a limited time for $5.99, 40% off the $9.99 price point. For those new to the experience, System Shock is a hybrid of first-person shooting, role-playing, sci-fi and horror elements as well as (still) one of the best games ever made (well, at least I think so). Yeah, yeah. Some of you out here think six bucks for a game is way too much. But given the reputation of this classic plus the fact that it’s quite replayable (don’t use a walk-through and it has even more replay value), I’d bet some of the more skeptical out there will find this gem right up there with their own favorites.

Heroes of Loot: Budget Bitty Dungeon Crawling Hits The Vita

Posted on September 23, 2015 by geelw

It’s a darn good thing I pay ZERO attention to what internet comment sections on game and video sites say. Absolution Games’ budget twin-stick dungeon crawler Heroes of Loot is actually pretty fun to play and dirt cheap at $2.99 on the Vita. The bite-sized dungeons, fast-paced gameplay and simple retro looks aren’t getting a lot of love from the usual suspects, but the game is great fun so far. You’re basically getting a Gauntlet homage with a bit more humor and difficulty that ramps up as you clear special optional side quests.

yeah, yeah, it was/is a tablet game, but so what? If you like your dungeon crawlers and teeny sprite characters zipping about laying waste to hordes of monsters, collecting loot and trying to stay alive, this one’s right up your alley. Or right down your dark dungeon hallway. Now, if you’ll excuse me… I have a LOT more monsters to kill. In the cutest possible manner, of course.

Go Get Too Many Indie RPGs Thanks To Bundle Stars

Posted on September 21, 2015 by geelw

The bundle-fest continues over at Bundle Stars, who seems to want you to spend an inordinate amount of time stuck in front of your PC or laptop with a goofy grin or grimace on your face as you play a new batch of RPGs they have up for grabs. The RPG Champions 2 Bundle gets you eight Steam games for the ridiculously low price of $2.49 – all you need to do is find the time to play them all.

I can’t help you there with the timey-wimey stuff, but you’ve got two weeks to snap up this deal before it vanishes. Or at least bug one of your buddies who has oodles of free time to go do something with that time and stop popping over randomly to bend your ear with his or her crazy ideas. A decent game or eight is enough distraction to keep them out of your hair. Unless they get stuck in some dungeon and keep calling you for help.

Time For A Few Classics, Cheaply: Bundles And Sales Galore This Weekend

Posted on September 19, 2015 by geelw

Yeah, yeah. I’ve been a bit busy with some oddball real world occurrences recently, so I’ve been a bit behind in these bundle posts. Of course, that means there are a LOT of new-ish bundles and sales out there begging for your attention. Here are a few must-buys that have popped into my inbox over the last week:

Retro Legends Bundle ($2.49): Bundle Stars does it again with this excellent mix of a whopping 17 titles for under three bucks. There’s SO much classic gaming in this instant backlog that you’ll need to invent a time machine so you can play everything and then rewind the date back to before you got into everything here. There’s a megaton of Duke Nukem content, two classic Wizardry titles, the FPS/RPG hybrid Strife and many more games that should get fans of the old school grinning. You may also want to peek at the other bundles on the site as this past week there have been some incredible daily bundle and single game deals listed.

Continue reading →

The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing Final Cut: A Triple Threat All In One Package For ARPG Fans

Posted on September 17, 2015 by geelw

Warts and all, The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing has been quite a fun trilogy to play through. Taking the addictive chase and chop-fest of the Diablo series, adding humorous touches like a sassy AI ally and a fun “tower defense” mini-game that’s nicely implemented into the main story, NeoCore Games has crafted a great time chomper of a game. Coming September 23, The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing Final Cut will give new players the entire trilogy with loads of fixes and new content. Over 50 hours of gameplay, six classes to choose from, new cut-scenes, and an all-new new ENDLESS endgame that can be played in a number of possible ways.

Yes, you can still get an actual ending to the big Borgovian bang trilogy. But NeoCore knows its fans love what they’re doing and the endless endgame is a way to keep them glued to their screens with saucer-sized eyeballs. The game is coming to Steam and gog.com on September 23, 2015 for $44.99, but gamers who own all three games in the trilogy (on Steam at least) will get Final Cut for free when the game launches. I’d say that’s going to surprise some who don’t know this and own all three games when they log into Steam next week and see something huge creeping onto their hard drives.

That said, this game NEEDS to come to consoles at some point down the road. There aren’t enough of this style of ARPG on the PS4, Xbox One or Wii U and that’s a sad thing indeed. We’ll have to see if NeoCore has those plans in the works, but if not, the PC game is one that doesn’t require a super-killer rig to run.

Persona 4: Dancing All Night Hands-On: Should You Be Dancing? Yeah!

Posted on September 15, 2015 by geelw

As a longtime fan of the Shin Megami Tensei series since the mid-1990’s, I’ll admit to getting a glorious case of the heebie-jeebies about Persona 4: Dancing All Night as soon as I heard it was in the works. However, as Persona 4 Arena and Persona 4 Arena Ultimax showed after I dragged myself kicking and screaming into both games and loving them, a little funky is a LOT of fun.

When the opportunity arose to check out a review code for P4: DAN, on went my finest disco wear with the hope that I didn’t look too foolish on that digital dance floor. Thankfully, the game doesn’t disappoint where it counts and even the most jaded non-music game fan of the franchise will want to slide somewhat electrically into their favorite game emporium on September 29, Vita in hand to snap this one up.

Continue reading →

OMNIS – The Erias Line: Elyn Studios Needs You To Back Their Dark 2D RPG

Posted on September 9, 2015 by geelw

Some crowd-funded game projects tend to be hit or miss affairs when it comes to getting backers. Get enough (or too much) buzz for a silly little meme game that’s got an much depth as a broken pencil point and you can rake in money like as if the wind is blowing it fiercely through your front door.

On the other hand, work hard at a bigger but not hugely promoted game in a familiar but quite packed genre and you get a slight breeze of contributors that drift in at not a quick enough pace to make that funding target.

Newcastle upon Tyne-based Elyn Studios is hard at work on a pretty cool game called OMNIS – The Erias Line, and you should probably go check out the demo over on Indie DB because while still a work in progress (there’s a fair amount of placeholder art), the game is coming along really nicely.

Continue reading →

Dungeon Travelers 2: The Royal Library & The Monster Seal Review

Posted on September 4, 2015 by geelw

Platform: PlayStation Vita

Developer: Aquaplus

Publisher: Atlus

# of Players: 1

ESRB Rating: M (Mature)

Official Site

MSRP: $39.99 (Retail/Digital)

Score: A- (90%)

Fans of Mature-rated fan service galore will absolutely be in deep grin mode with Dungeon Travelers 2: The Royal Library & the Monster Seal, which also happens to be an excellently designed and lengthy dungeon crawler. for the record, developer Aquaplus doesn’t reinvent the wheel at all here. But the gameplay is solid and challenging enough that fans of old-school Wizardry games and more recent riffs on it (Etrian Odyssey, Elminage Original) will find the game an excellent time eater.

In addition to some pleasing visuals, smooth dungeon movement and plenty of quick turn-based random battles against enemies that aren’t pure pushovers keep things rolling merrily along. The rather heavy fan service (in the form of plenty of under-dressed character art ranging from mild to somewhat creepy) will indeed be a sticking point for prudes and anyone else determined to dislike the game for the one thing it’ll sell for to some players who like this sort of content. Interestingly enough, the game somehow balances that out thematically by adding a religious subplot and characters to the mix. It doesn’t make up for everything, but it’s amusing, surprisingly well written (for a game such as this) and intelligently implemented. Continue reading →