Get ready for a return to the fantastic worlds of Dungeons & Dragons, as publisher SNEG has unlocked a veritable treasure trove of Gold Box classic RPGs on Steam today.
Beloved adventuring titles including Eye of the Beholder, Pool of Radiance, Curse of the Azure Bonds, Champions of Krynn, Shattered Lands, Strahd’s Possession, and more are now available! And to make things more awesome, SNEG is ensuring the games include free add-ons such as digital versions of the original manuals, hint books, adventurer journals, and more!
On the technical side, they’ve also updated the games to make use of a new game launcher, party transfer tools, and improved DOSBox performance. SNEG is also partnering with the original creator of the All-Seeing Eye and Gold Box Companion apps to improve the Gold Box gaming experience for players. These apps automate dungeon mapping, give better access to journals, make it easier to access spellbooks, and much more!
To celebrate the launch of the Gold Box Classics, SNEG is discounting them by 15% for one week, ending April 5, 2022, so grab them ASAP and get exploring!
Launched in 1988, the Gold Box series of computer role-playing games (CRPGs) are beloved by millions of players worldwide. Veteran Dungeons & Dragons players and CRPG newcomers alike enjoyed these games and their variety of unique settings and challenges. Whether it’s exploring the high-fantasy worlds of the Forgotten Realms and Dragonlance, surviving the brutal hellscape of Dark Sun, or battling a supreme vampire in the Ravenloft games, there was a Gold Box game for everyone! Grab your sword, spellbook, or Bag of Holding, and get ready for a return to nostalgia-laden adventures!
“Today is a great day for fans of these iconic Dungeons & Dragons digital experiences and CRPGS in general, and of course, for modern gamers,” said Oleg Klapovskiy, Director at SNEG. “These games have created so many wonderful memories of fantastic adventures for players young and old, and now we’re pleased to bring them to Steam while updating them to run on modern PC hardware and include add-ons to make the experience even better than before.”
The following collections are available now:
Forgotten Realms: The Archives Collection One (Eye of the Beholder I, II, and III) – $9.99 USD
Forgotten Realms: The Archives – Collection Two (Curse of the Azure Bonds, Gateway to the Savage Frontier, Hillsfar, Pools of Darkness, Pool of Radiance, Secret of the Silver Blades, Treasures of the Savage Frontier, and Unlimited Adventures) – $9.99 USD
Forgotten Realms: The Archives – Collection Three (Dungeon Hack, Menzoberranzan) – $5.99 USD
Krynn series (Champions of Krynn, Death Knights of Krynn, The Dark Queen of Krynn) – $9.99 USD
Dark Sun series (Shattered Lands, Wake of the Ravager) – $9.99 USD
Ravenloft series (Strahd’s Possession, Stone Prophet) – $9.99 USD
D&D Stronghold: Kingdom Simulator – $5.99 USD
Al-Qadim: The Genie’s Curse – $5.99 USD
To view the full catalog of currently available collections, visit the site here:
Thank you in advance for sharing this news with your readers. If you’d like to speak to the team about the Gold Box Classics, reply to this email and we’ll set something up.
Limited Run Games believes your favorite games belong in a place of prominence on your shelf alongside your most cherished collector’s items! If you love the art and craftsmanship that comes with boxed set Collector’s Editions and super cool collectibles, you’ll find like-minded fans and great offerings at the grand opening for the company’s very first physical Limited Run Retail store on Saturday, Apr. 30, 2022 in Cary, NC.
Who:
Founded in 2015, Limited Run Games is the gold standard in bringing beloved games to physical form for casual fans and collectors alike. Limited Run Games has published over 1,000 physical games and soundtracks and are recognized as the industry leader and pioneers of curated collectible physical games. The team has received numerous critical accolades and awards for their bespoke Collector’s Editions. Limited Run Retail is the first of its kind and has been in development for over two years. You can check out this blog post to see what went into creating this store.
What:
Join the Limited Run Games crew for an all-day grand opening celebration at its first-ever retail video game store in Cary, North Carolina. Expect a fun-filled day filled with activities and events. The first 100 people in line will receive a swag bag, and each visitor will get a raffle ticket for a chance to win a Limited Run Games prize pack and an exclusive event trading card.1
The full offering of festivities includes:
– Over 800 curated games and limited-edition merch available spanning the entire Limited Run Games catalog2
– Event exclusive items, including Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World: The Game SNES Edition (with exclusive cover for Switch and PS4), Shantae and Shantae: Risky’s Revenge (both available in an oversized Game Boy styled box), a River City Girls 1 Commemorative NES Box and Soundtrack, and an exclusive Grand Opening Trading Card3
– Signings with special guests husband and wife team Matt and Erin Bozon, Co-Creators of Shantae and Shantae series
– Signings with special guests Adam Tierney and Bannon Rudis, directors of River City Girls games
– Signings and merchandise available with special guests from hit internet sensation Mega64
– An outdoor market with a vinyl section, a build-your-own merch box area, community trading card swap, exclusive item pop-up, and game trade-in area, and more
– Trade-ins: Fans who trade in their used games with a $25+ value will receive a ticket that allows them to purchase an additional exclusive item and an exclusive trading card. Fans can get a head start on trades by visiting the store on Friday, Apr. 29 (1:00 PM – 8:00 PM EDT)and/or during the grand opening in the outdoor tent area (10:00 AM – 4:00 PM EDT)
When:
The brand-new Limited Run Games physical video game retail store will be open with special hours on Saturday, April 30, 2022 from 8:00 AM until 8:00 PM EDT. In addition, outdoor activities, including the guest signings, pop-up shops, and card swaps, will be held in the parking lot from 10:00 AM until 4:00 PM EDT.
Normal store hours are Fridays 12:00 PM – 9:00PM EDT, Saturdays 11:00 AM – 9:00 PM EDT, and Sundays 11:00 AM – 6:00 PM EDT. The store will be closed Sunday April 31 and resumes regular hours the following week.
Fight For Advanced Energy Resources By Air, Land, and Sea in Massive 64-Person Open-World Battlefields
SEONGNAM, SOUTH KOREA – MARCH 29, 2022 – Publisher ThumbAge Co., Ltd. and developer Royal Crow have announced that free-to-play, team-based, multiplayer shooter CROWZ is now available via Steam Early Access. After meteorites devastate Earth and cause a global environmental disaster, mercenaries – called CROWZ – engage in all-out warfare on behalf of the most powerful nations to secure a new precious energy resource, Q-on, from the crash sites. Coordinate as a team and conquer extraction sites with a variety of weapons and vehicles, including heavy tanks, attack choppers, and high-speed combat boats. Leverage realistic physics in different environments to ambush the enemy and secure the upper hand.
Media interested in publishing preview features for the game (i.e. hands-on, first impressions), unlocked CROWZ accounts are available to give an overview of some cosmetic items, equipment, and emotes available for purchase. If interested, please reply to this email with your Steam ID.
Watch the newest CROWZ trailer here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iHRzVHqc5w
In CROWZ, players can compete in two different modes:
Squad Operation: Shoot enemies on sight as a four-person mercenary squad while collecting Q-on from extraction devices in this open-world Battle Royale-style game mode. Falling meteorites and asphyxiating gas can derail the objective at any moment. Once enough resources have been collected, call a helicopter to escape but be wary that all combatants will know its whereabouts.
Blood Zone: Two 32-person CROWZ factions wage all-out war to secure Q-on extraction sites littered across the battlefield. Seize control with coordinated flanking assaults, request weapon loadout drops, commandeer heavy tanks, and more to earn the most resources in a match and the greatest payday imaginable.
Additionally, players will be able to purchase items such as tactical equipment, combat gear, and weapon skins via the in-game store.
CROWZ is now available as a free-to-play game on Steam, with an extensive roadmap planned for 2022. For more information, please visit its Steam Page.
About ThumbAge (KOSDAQ 208640) ThumbAge is a Korea-based company that develops role-playing and action games for mobile and PC. The company’s products include Hero for Kakao, Ultimate Hero, INTERPLANET, DC Unchained, Ghostbusters World, Defense War: Destiny Child PVP Game, and Dekaron M. ThumbAge was founded in April 2013 and is headquartered in Seongnam, South Korea.
About Royal Crow Royal Crow is a Korea-based video game development studio that specializes in creating immersive military action shooters. The developer’s first title, CROWZ, will launch on March 29 via Steam.
White Plains, NY – March 29, 2022 – ROCCAT, Turtle Beach Corporation’s (Nasdaq: HEAR) award-winning PC gaming peripherals brand, today announced the retail availability of its all-new Kone XP ergonomic PC gaming mouse. Already revered for the Kone’s perfected ergonomics, ROCCAT’s new Kone XP mouse pairs the brand’s iconic shape with 15 buttons and 29 assignable functions, making it one of the most customizable PC gaming mice available and perfect for gamers who play a variety of game types. Hardcore PC gamers will appreciate the Kone XP’s top performance features like ROCCAT’s Owl-Eye 19K DPI sensor and ridiculously fast Titan Optical Switches, while heat-treated pure PFTE mouse skates and the PhantomFlex™ cable provide a near-wireless feel for smooth coasting across desktops. For PC gamers who love RGB lighting, ROCCAT’s Kone XP once again takes peripheral lighting to new heights and is sure to standout on any desktop with over 20 LEDs and the new transparent 4D Krystal Wheel.
Top PC publications including T3.com and PCMag.com recently posted reviews of ROCCAT’s new Kone XP mouse. T3 notes, “The ROCCAT Kone XP is a superb choice for your next mouse,” and has already included it in their “Best Gaming Mouse 2022” list, adding, “Kone XP has plenty of features to tempt gamers and non-gamers alike.” PCMag.com gave the Kone XP a 4.5/5 review score and Editor’s Choice designation, saying, “ROCCAT nearly perfects its AIMO line with the Kone XP, a gaming mouse with a cornucopia of top-shelf components and features.”
ROCCAT’s all-new Kone XP PC gaming mouse is available today at participating retailers worldwide for a MSRP of $89.99. “We’re delighted to see the new Kone XP receiving such positive feedback from our community since its recent reveal,” said René Korte, ROCCAT Founder and General Manager for PC Products at Turtle Beach. “The Kone XP is a testament to ROCCAT’s devotion to pushing the boundaries of comfort and customization. Its mix of refined ergonomics, groundbreaking aesthetics, and our latest technologies make Kone XP the perfect choice for any PC gamer, creator, or power user.”
The Kone XP‘s multi-button design, along with its revised ergonomics, reduced weight, and overall comfort will appeal to fans of ROCCAT’s earlier Kone AIMO Remastered, as well as PC gamers who play a range of games across different genres. The Kone XPmouse features the most buttons of any mouse in its price range. It has 15 buttons, with 29 different button functionalities thanks to ROCCAT’s Easy-Shift[+]™ technology — perfect for strategy games and MMOs like the recently released Lost Ark or Elden Ring. The Kone XP‘s ridiculously fast Titan Optical Switches sit under the left and right click buttons, giving a responsive click with incredibly rapid actuation for unparalleled speed and precision. The Titan Optical Switch is twice as fast as a mechanical switch and twice as durable, clocking in at a scorching 0.2ms actuation speed for up to 70 million clicks. Kone XP also allows for customizable debounce timing – critical for drag-clicking, making it a great companion for Minecraft.
With the Kone XP‘s amazing 22 LED lights, 8 light pipelines and translucent shell, ROCCAT is once again reinventing RGB lighting. The Kone XP’s translucent shell sets the stage to showcase ROCCAT’s AIMO lighting engine and ecosystem, synchronizing with other AIMO-enabled ROCCAT products such as the Magma membrane keyboard or the award-winning Vulcans. AIMO produces vibrant lighting displays in 16.8 million colours right out of the box, without the need for extensive configuration. Kone XP also features ROCCAT’s innovative 4D Krystal Wheel, which diffuses RGB lighting through its smoky transparent design to produce a unique lighting effect. In addition to the typical vertical click and scroll functions, the 4D Krystal Wheel also provides left and right lateral inputs, plus ROCCAT’s satisfying tactile “click” feel.
At the heart of the Kone XP PC gamers will find ROCCAT’s Owl-Eye 19K DPI optical sensor (based on PAW3370 from PixArt). The Owl-Eye sensor tracks mouse movement with high-precision for extreme in-game accuracy and is customizable via ROCCAT’s Swarm software suite. The Kone XPalso features ROCCAT’s PhantomFlex™ cable and heat-treated PTFE glides for a wireless mouse feeling. Flexible, pliable, and light, the cable resists snagging or tangling, and the extra heat-treatment on the slides means the mouse glides smoothly across desktops.
The Kone XP PC gaming mouse is also among a select list of products supporting the NVIDIA Reflex Analyzer. NVIDIA G-SYNC displays with Reflex have the world’s first and only system latency analyzer that detects clicks coming from gaming mice and measures the time for the resulting pixels (weapon muzzle flash) to change on screen. When using ROCCAT’s Kone XP mouse in conjunction with an NVIDIA G-SYNC display with Reflex, gamers can measure and improve full peripheral and end-to-end system latency.
For more information on the latest ROCCAT PC gaming products and accessories, visit ROCCAT.org and be sure to follow ROCCAT on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.
About Turtle Beach Corporation
Turtle Beach Corporation (corp.turtlebeach.com) is one of the world’s leading gaming accessory providers. The Company’s namesake Turtle Beach brand (www.turtlebeach.com) is known for designing high-quality, comfort-driven headsets for all gamers. Innovation, first-to-market features, a broad range of products for every type of gamer, and top-rated customer support have made Turtle Beach a fan-favorite brand and the market leader in console gaming audio for over a decade. In 2021, Turtle Beach expanded the best-selling brand beyond headsets and successfully launched the first of its groundbreaking game controllers and gaming simulation accessories. Turtle Beach’s ROCCAT brand (www.roccat.com) combines detail-loving German innovation with a genuine passion for designing the best PC gaming products, including award-winning keyboards, mice, headsets, mousepads, and other PC accessories. Turtle Beach’s Neat Microphones brand (www.neatmic.com) creates high-quality USB and analog microphones for gamers, streamers, professionals and students that embrace cutting-edge technology and design. Turtle Beach’s shares are traded on the Nasdaq Exchange under the symbol: HEAR.
Featuring the original Postal Dude Rick Hunter and Corey Cruise as voice options
TUCSON, Arizona — March 28, 2022 —POSTAL 4: No Regerts®, the ultimate stress-relieving first-person shooter and next entry in Running With Scissors’ classic franchise enjoyed by millions, pulls out of Early Access and explodes onto Steam, GOG, and Green Man Gaming for PC with the launch of 1.0. So come take a hit off the health pipe with The Postal Dude on Wednesday, 4/20.
POSTAL 4 packs a full-frontal assault of new content, features, and improvements over Early Access, including a Pick-Yer-Dude voice option with the return of Rick Hunter and Corey Cruise alongside Jon St. John (of Duke Nukem fame) as the default voice of The Postal Dude. Break the rules across all five in-game days implemented throughout Early Access with random encounters, a litany of side errands, improved graphics, revised mapping systems, new radio stations, and so, so much more. Achievements and collectibles like Kunny, Krotchy, and Larry the Crab dolls splattered all over Edensin join the fray on launch day as a new era begins for the legendary series.
POSTAL 4’s post-launch support will extend for years to come, just like POSTAL 2 before it. Enjoy the sounds of Edensin with the official soundtrack’s 4/20 debut on all major streaming platforms. Free new content hits the town in the weeks and months following launch, with new weapons, side errands, performance improvements, graphical updates, and Co-Op multiplayer. Huge premium additions like world expansions will keep The Postal Dude sane in 2022 and beyond.
At long last, the iconic anti-hero The Postal Dude can take an entire week by storm, outlasting his competition and disrobing the very concept of the traditional 9-to-5 lifestyle. With a bladder ready to burst and a full suite of objectives to tackle with complete freedom in a responsive, ridiculous open-world sandbox, the P Dude’s day has come.
Rage across the city of Edensin, where each calendar day from Monday through Friday builds atop the last with new missions, locations, and game systems. Fling humans fleeing America over the Mexican border with a human-sized slingshot. Spread the holy word of the bidet to an unclean populace. Visit Kunny Island, where former porn star-turned-DJ Carter Cruise is performing. Enter a virtual world to bring a D-tier developer’s game to completion. Fend off flesh-eating hillbillies, pro-toilet paper cultists, greedy literal gold-diggers, and the police.
The P Dude’s odyssey across a fictionalized Arizona town is a timeless tale empowering players to take care of business in whatever way they damn well please. Pacifism? Violent chaos? Drug-induced hallucinatory hijinks? Dealer’s choice!
Across several meaty updates in Early Access, POSTAL 4: No Regertshas introduced a load of wacky mechanics, weapons, quests, traversal tools, quality-of-life features, and more, making this 1.0 release the definitive modern POSTAL experience. POSTAL 4: No Regerts stands as an ode and testament to what has made the series beloved, scorned, hated, and appreciated for 25 years. Where else can you steer sniper bullets while high on catnip? Or use severed limbs as melee weapons? Or ride the Womb Coaster in a vagina-themed amusement park?
And yes, you can pet the dog.
“POSTAL 4 is a one-of-a-kind experience not seen anywhere else in gaming,” said Vince Desi, founder of Running With Scissors. “Where else can you take the piss out of an enemy before taking a piss on them? Welcome to Edensin. Enjoy the sights and smells of POSTAL 4.”
Taking place across five increasingly ludicrous days, POSTAL 4: No Regertslaunches on Steam, GOG, and Green Man Gaming for PC on Wednesday, 4/20 for $39.99 USD. Supported subtitles will be Simplified Chinese, Spanish, German, French, Polish, Italian and Russian. For more on Running With Scissors’ beloved series, check out the official website and follow the studio on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, and Discord.
About Running with Scissors
Founded in 1996, Running With Scissors is one of the oldest indie studios in the game industry. Publisher and Developer RWS focuses on creating socially conscious games.
RWS develops signature experiences focused more on making people laugh than making sure everyone is comfortable.
To learn more about Running With Scissors please visit our website at gopostal.com.
Hyper and Hybrid casual mobile gaming publisher is looking forward with new look and expansion planned for 2022 and beyond
Paris, France – 28 March 2022. TapNation, a leading publisher of hypercasual mobile games, today revealed a new look as it celebrates three years of consistent growth and success. With 15 hit games published and 500 million+ downloads, TapNation now looks to the future with further growth of its teams, portfolio of published games and partner studios.
“Reaching 500 million lifetime downloads was a great way to kickstart what is shaping up to be a landmark year for TapNation,” said Hervé Montoute, CEO at TapNation. “Three years ago we turned an idea into a project, now it has become a real success. We are delighted to be able to work with such very talented hyper and hybrid casual studios, a huge thank you and congrats to everyone who made it possible to reach this milestone. We are excited for what is to come!”
In the past three years TapNation has seen success across the board, including:
500m+ downloads across the TapNation gaming portfolio
15 hit games published on iOS and Google Play Stores
40m+ monthly active users on TapNation games
Skyrocketing growth revenue multiplied by 50
More than 50 employees around the world expected to be doubled this year
In 2022 TapNation will further grow its profile in the mobile industry, responsibly grow its teams and expand relationships with partner studios as well as its catalog of hypercasual games. For more information on TapNation and its hypercasual gaming portfolio check out https://www.tap-nation.io/ and https://www.tap-nation.io/games/
About TapNation Based in Paris and founded by Hervé Montoute & Igor Zabukovec, TapNation is a tech startup specialized in mobile hyper casual games in close relationship with more than 100 studios around the world. They provide high potential game concepts and high-tech data tools to test and publish their games on the market. TapNation have released many HIT games and generated more than 500 million downloads. Their ambition is to become a key player in a high-growth market.
I must admit that when Stranger of Paradise was first announced, it took me by surprise. With the next entry in the series set to be Final Fantasy XVI, I’d never expect Square-Enix to revisit the very first Final Fantasy in a manner that wasn’t just a new remaster. In fact, Stranger of Paradise’s reveal trailer left me intrigued in more ways than one; Final Fantasy I was to become a dark fantasy action game made by Team Ninja. Not to mention that it featured the protagonist, now an angry dude called Jack, finishing up enemies just like Kratos in God of War, while saying that he must kill “Chaos” every two seconds. It all left me with a mix of confusion, curiosity, and a bit of repulse all at the same time. Then, came the subsequent trailers showing how hilariously edgy Jack is. The trailer with the Frank Sinatra song sealed the deal for me: it’s all too absurd, it was chaos, if you’ll forgive the pun. And with that, Stranger of Paradise became one of my most anticipated titles this year.
Story
The world lies shrouded in darkness. The wind dies… The sea languishes… The earth decays… But the people believe in a prophecy, patiently awaiting its fulfillment, “when darkness veils the world, four Warriors of Light shall come.” Stranger of Paradise has the same basic premise of the original FFI. Here, the so-called “Warriors of Light” are a bunch of amnesiacs who only know one thing: They must kill Chaos. For that purpose, they seek the king of Cornelia, who possesses the key to the Chaos Shrine, where Chaos supposedly awaits. After paying a visit to the Chaos Shrine, the journey to restore the four crystals begins in earnest, just like how it was in the original FFI.
FFI didn’t have much of a story besides the above description and the final twist, which is understandable since it’s a 1987 game and also one of the forefathers of JRPGs. Stranger of Paradise greatly expands and changes the lore. For starters, you now have a fully fledged cast of characters with their own names and personalities. Despite this, Jack is the center of attention; if you played FFI to its conclusion and have been following Stranger of Paradise, you already have a good idea of what is to come. Since the game is a brawler/hack n’ slash, the story is presented in a way that won’t slow down the action. Besides a few cutscenes here and there, the story is told with snippets of text describing the stage you’re about to take on, or in the form of documents found during exploration.
Gameplay
After the first cutscene, where a huge knight clad in dark armor massacres an army of soldiers in what is the most brutal depiction of violence that I’d never expect to see in an FF title, the player is thrown right into the introductory battle against Tiamat, one of the original four fiends in FFI. Shortly after, the player is introduced to the basics of Stranger of Paradise’s combat.
The combat mechanics are varied, solid, and easy to pull off. Landing every hit is very satisfactory, as your character’s moves feel weighty without being slow. Right off the bat, Jack can attack with a press of the R1 button, dodge, roll, block, and use special abilities. To balance things out, there’s also a Break Bar that depletes as you block. When this bar is completely exhausted, Jack will be defenseless for a period of time. To avoid this, you can perform two types of parries; a just defend type parry where you must block at the last moment, and the Soul Shield. The Soul Shield is a fundamental mechanic in Stranger of Paradise. It allows you to parry the opponent’s attacks, but in doing so, a bit of your break bar is restored. Not only that, the Soul Shield also restores and even increases your maximum MP. In the same way that Jack has a break bar, so do enemies. By depleting their break bar with attacks that they’re vulnerable against, enemies will also be defenseless; this allows Jack to use yet another important ability: The Soul Burst, or the “God of War finisher” that could be seen in the old trailers. Soul Bursts are satisfying to perform and also provides a much-needed relief when you’re overwhelmed by enemies. The Soul Burst will also refill and increase your current MP bar. You may feel that Stranger of Paradise isn’t a game for you, since the wireframe for the combat is based on Nioh. Fortunately, there are a bunch of difficulty settings to choose from. Story difficulty is the equivalent of an easy mode -You can even dial down the difficulty even more to casual mode if all you want is to experience the story-. Action is the standard difficulty and the one that I’d recommend to anyone who wants to experience most of what the game has to offer without being frustrated. Hard mode is what would be more or less the equivalent of a souls-like game, and better experienced when you have a good grasp of the game’s mechanics. Regardless, you won’t need to worry about the game’s difficulty, as it can be changed at anytime.
The game progression is similar to what you can find in Nioh, but more simplified; most of the time you’ll be running through narrow corridors while dispatching enemies. Stranger of Paradise is a game about combat, a hack n’ slash if you will. It lacks the complexity and slow pace of a souls-like, so it’d be more apt to compare it to other action games such as Devil May Cry and whatnot.
Since this is still a Final Fantasy title, it’s not without some RPG elements. Similar to other FF titles, there’s a job system that is simple at first glance, but gets more complex the more you play due to the sheer number of jobs and the skills that you can unlock. Your characters can’t level up, but your jobs do. At first, you unlock jobs by finding weapons related to them; this is done like in a tutorial: you find a weapon, and a situation where the job is required. This makes the concept of jobs easy enough to grasp. After that, you must level up these jobs to unlock others and so on. There’s immense potential for different builds thanks to the job system. I could write a text as big as this review just explaining and detailing the possibilities. Customizing your jobs and ability load-out, and then taking it for a spin, is one of the highlights of Stranger of Paradise. The loot system is a simplified version of the one in Nioh. You can’t find any items besides important ones that allow you to progress the game and equipment. Your equipments are very important, since besides granting extra stats bonus, they can also have job affinities. These affinities will unlock more stats parameters related to that job and also grant experience for them, even if you’re not currently equipped with that job. The problem here is that enemies and chests will drop a lot of equipment. It’s a drag to sort through all of them, meaning that you can end up spending hours during your playthrough just choosing what to use, keep, or dismantle.
You can play solo, or with the help of two other characters in your party. The good news is that your party isn’t completely useless. Most of the time, these NPCs only serve to distract enemies from Jack, and they won’t get incapacitated easily, even on hard difficulty. Their real usefulness comes into play when you activate an ability called Resonance; you can send one, or both of them to unleash a barrage of attacks onto enemies. Once Resonance is over they go back to being sitting ducks, but there isn’t a limit to how many times you can use Resonance. You just need to wait until its cooldown period is over.
You can also play online; you’re able to choose which character you’ll control, while the other players are assigned what’s left randomly. At the moment, it isn’t too easy to find games on the PC version, but I was able to get a few games going once I disabled the regional restrictions in the options menu. Even playing with people from god knows where, the online performance was generally very good, and it was a lot of fun playing with two other people.
Visuals
In 2022, Final Fantasy commemorates its 35th anniversary, and Stranger of Paradise is part of an effort by Square Enix’s to bring games that showcase the series throughout its history. The missions in the game are a trip down memory lane, spanning areas inspired by dungeons from FFI through FFXV. We have, for example, the Sunleth Waterscape from FFXIII, the Tomb of Raithwall from FFXII and many other known locations. Stranger of Paradise doesn’t have the budget of Final Fantasy 7 Remake, so don’t expect the level of detail that game has, especially in regard to its character models and animations. Even so, Stranger of Paradise’s visuals are good enough, if not a bit too simple for a Final Fantasy title. The main character models are a throwback to Square Enix’s RPGs of old, so Nomura dialed down a lot on his fashion preferences. The best part of Stranger of Paradise’s graphics are the monster designs, especially bosses and mid-bosses which have a high level of detail. Unfortunately, the dungeons don’t follow this same trend, and more often than not, are too dark and lifeless.
The worst offender in this department is the game’s performance, especially on PC. The initial 1.01 version had horrible frame drops. In more populated areas, especially boss fights, or when doing a Soul Burst, the game suffered from slowdown so severe that it almost felt like it would crash. Almost a week after its launch, Stranger of Paradise received its first patch. I had the opportunity to test it, and I can say that while the game’s performance is far from perfect, it was improved significantly. Using specs that are a bit above the recommended by Square Enix, I can play the game without much frustration now.
Audio
In the same way that the dungeons are a homage to past FF iterations, the soundtrack features motifs from previous games. This is a very nice touch, but Stranger of Paradise features a lot of original themes too. Overall, the soundtrack complements the action perfectly, while providing a lot of nostalgia to old fans.
Overall
Stranger of Paradise Final Fantasy Origin is a very fun action game, especially online. It also does an incredible job in celebrating the richness of the Final Fantasy series. Team Ninja did a good job in using its Nioh formula here, even if the exploration part took a big hit. The PC port still needs adjustments, but it’s playable enough in its current state.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Introducing GTA+ for GTA Online – A New Player Membership Delivering Exclusive Benefits and More Launching March 29
GTA+ is a new membership program exclusively for GTA Online on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S — launching on March 29 and providing easy access to a range of valuable benefits for both new and long-standing players on the latest generation consoles.
Being a GTA+ Member gets you a recurring monthly GTA$500,000 direct deposit to your Maze Bank account, plus the opportunity to claim properties in and around Los Santos that unlock gameplay updates you may have missed out on, special vehicle upgrades, Member-only discounts, GTA$ and RP bonuses, and more each month.
Here’s a breakdown of the benefits GTA+ Members will receive in the first month of Membership (March 29–April 27):
GTA$500,000 delivered automatically to your Maze Bank Account.
The Principe Deveste Eight — along with a complimentary Hao’s Special Works upgrade for it before it is made available to purchase by the general public — plus the HSW Orange Trip and HSW CMYK Glitch Liveries.
The Auto Shop located in La Mesa, which introduces an assortment of gameplay updates from Los Santos Tuners. Current Auto Shop owners can relocate to La Mesa at no additional cost.
Waived LS Car Meet Membership fees. Current LS Car Meet members with GTA+ will be reimbursed GTA$50,000 during this event period.
Yacht owners can upgrade to the Aquarius Super Yacht at no additional cost.
The Gussét Frog Tee and Broker Prolaps Basketball Top and Shorts automatically added to your wardrobe.
The Conveyor Livery for the Mammoth Avenger, HVY APC, and TM-02 Khanjali.
A selection of free paints and emblems for the Auto Shop.
3X GTA$ and RP on Hao’s Special Works Race Series.
2X Car Meet Rep on the Street Race Series.
GTA+ Members can also take advantage of special GTA+ Shark Cards that provide extra bonus cash from the PlayStation Store on the PS5 or Microsoft Store.
Every month, GTA+ will deliver a new set of exclusive rewards for Members to claim. Just go to Legendary Motorsport, Hao’s Special Works, Maze Bank Foreclosures, DockTease, and other stores found in the GTA Online web browser to obtain and enjoy each period’s Member benefits before they expire — and all GTA+ benefits are provided in addition to our regular GTA Online events, which will continue as normal for all players.
Sign up for just $5.99* a month starting on March 29 via the PlayStation Store on the PS5 or Microsoft Store, and you can cancel anytime. Stay tuned to the Rockstar Newswire and the official GTA Online website for each month’s GTA+ special benefits.
*To purchase a GTA+ Membership, you must have a copy of Grand Theft Auto V or Grand Theft Auto Online, and a platform account with a valid registered method of payment for the platform on which you choose to purchase your GTA+ Membership. Internet connection required to access Grand Theft Auto Online and to claim and receive GTA+ Membership benefits in-game. Currencies not supported on a platform may be automatically converted to US dollars on checkout, following your bank’s (or payment method) exchange rates. Recurring $5.99 GTA+ subscription fee charged monthly until canceled. You can cancel anytime. See www.rockstargames.com/gtaplus beginning on Mar
Outright Games have launched the first-ever downloadable content for the acclaimed children’s video game My Friend Peppa Pig – Pirate Adventures. The DLCbrings new characters, new locations and new ways to play as Peppa and the crew set sail once again. This new content is available to purchase today on Xbox One, Xbox Series X, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PC and Nintendo Switch.
It’s a pirate’s life for Peppa in this special adventure aboard Captain Hog’s boat hunting for hidden treasure. Explore all-new locations including Captain Hog’s Hideout, Belinda Bear’s House, Treasure Island, Mollie Mole’s house, and Danny Dog’s birthday party. As if that wasn’t enough, there are over thirty new activities to try out including raising a pirate flag and talking with Polly Parrot. Get ready to batten down the hatches and set sail with Peppa and her pirate pals!
You can find the new trailer
My Friend Peppa Pig, based on Hasbro’s #1 children’s tv show, was released in October 2021 on consoles, PC and Stadia, and then on next-generation consoles in January 2022, to huge acclaim from fans, parents and critics alike. The open-world, storytelling adventure game allows players to create their own avatar, become Peppa’s newest friend and explore fan favourite locations from the show.
Outright Games is also excited to launch all new paid downloadable content for one of its most popular video games “PJ MASKS: HEROES OF THE NIGHT – Mischief on Mystery Mountain”. In this new DLC, the mischievous Munki-Gu swings in, to cause mayhem in three all new exciting missions, available to purchase today on Xbox One, Xbox Series X, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PC and Nintendo Switch.
You can find the trailer
A new night time villain has appeared to mess with the PJ Masks’ plans! Munki-gu has come to cause chaos and only Catboy, Owlette, and Gekko – with the help of the mighty An Yu, sacred protector of Mystery Mountain – can stop him. Explore lost worlds and search for mystical objects, while racing through tight caves and tunnels in speedy new Rover vehicles and most importantly, stop Munki-gu from causing mayhem! Based on the hugely popular pre-school series from Hasbro, PJ MASKS: HEROES OF THE NIGHT was initially released in October 2021, followed by the launch of next generation console versions in January 2022. Fans can play as Catboy, Owlette, and Gekko and take on their big bad foes Romeo, Luna Girl and Night Ninja, while exploring favourite locations from the smash hit TV show.
The Atelier series once had a long running formulaic release pattern that involved releasing a trilogy of games with each new entry in the trilogy featuring the previous’ protagonist as a returning ally in some form. Over the last few years things have changed as not only has Gust released a spin-off game as well as a surprise fourth game for the Arland Trilogy but recently the ever popular Ryza set of games has focused on a single protagonist. As such it came as something of a surprise when it was revealed that the next Atelier game would not only be a sequel to the six year old Atelier Sophie. While Atelier Sophie and the Mysterious Trilogy were well received, few could have seen this coming but now that it has arrived is Sophie’s journey worth continuing in Atelier Sophie 2: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Dream?
Story
Considering the original release was six years ago, longtime fans of the Atelier games may have forgotten some aspects of Sophie’s story and for those who may never have experienced the game at all but want to delve into this latest Atelier entry Gust as players covered. Not only is this release set following the events of the first game and before Atelier Firis, but the development team also included a “Story so far” option at the beginning of the game that provides a cutscene describing the broader strokes of Sophie’s journey through the first game, her encounter with Plachta, and growth between the two.
Sophie and Plachta have left their beloved hometown Kirchen Bell in an effort to not only make Sophie a full-fledged alchemist but also try and find a way to restore Plachta’s body from that of an automated doll to that of her human form. The pair begin their search with a giant tree hidden deep within a forest that Plachta saw in her dreams only for a portal to open up as soon as they arrive at the base of the tree, swallowing both friends before vanishing. Sophie is rescued by some helpful residents of a nearby town and told that she now is in an alternate dimension called Erde Wiege, the mysterious land of dreams.
This land of dreams is ruled over by the mystifying goddess of dreams Elvira who is capable of bringing people from across various times and places into her own world so that they can fulfill their greatest dreams and desires without worrying about time. Sophie quickly realizes that while she has mostly made it through okay, Plachta is nowhere to be seen and no one knows where she may have gone. As such, Sophie begins her journey to search for her missing friend and try and find the reason why they were brought to Erde Wiege in the first place.
The mysteries of this strange land quickly begin to build up as not only is another alchemist named Plachta, who doesn’t resemble Sophie’s Plachta nor have any idea who Sophie is, but another far closer person to Sophie may be within the land of Erde Wiege as well. Despite the fact that the vanishing of a dear friend seems like a dire event, Atelier Sophie 2 still maintains the same calm and steady pace that the franchise has been known for. In fact it may be even more lackadaisical than ever before thanks in part to how well the character interactions are handled and the unique situations that come from the way the world of Erde Wiege works, though this does lead to some pacing issues from time to time.
The chemistry between most of the cast is incredible outside of a few moments that likely could have been handled better, especially in regards to Sophie and a certain someone that could have been far more emotional. Along those same lines players shouldn’t expect too many major twists or depth to the story but thankfully the cast helps carry most of the story especially since every character in the six character group features something of a story arc of their own, undergoing various developments that make the ever present “journey not the destination” part of the Atelier series shine as strong as ever here in Atelier Sophie 2.
Gameplay
Once again Atelier Sophie 2: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Dream features the series’ staple three features of gathering items in the field, fighting enemies, and taking those items and taking them back to the atelier to perform item synthesizing with alchemy and not only have these features been improved upon while still keeping elements from the original Sophie release but a number of newer elements have also been introduced. Perhaps the most notable difference that players will notice, even compared to the most recent releases in the series, is that most of the maps that players will explore in Atelier Sophie 2 are incredibly large by series standards when it comes to harvesting/exploration fields and quite complex when it comes to the various dungeons that players will travel through. Each zone will feature a variety of monsters to fight, resource points to harvest, and various other treasures to obtain though now they will have yet another new system to take advantage of in most areas as well.
Not too long into the game Sophie gains the ability to change the weather of certain fields such as causing it to rain, thunderstorm, freeze, and more and changing the weather of a zone will make a number of changes occur. Not only will some enemies on maps become weaker but the items players can gather from resource points will change and paths that may have previously been inaccessible can now be reached. This element isn’t taken too far as players cannot use it on every location and often it only makes a minor difference but giving exploration some extra depth is always a nice touch, especially when it comes to Atelier.
As usual whenever players are out exploring a field they will find enemies roaming around and can choose to either run away or trigger a fight by running into the enemy or striking them with a weapon. Thankfully, loading into fights now happens near instantaneously as fights no longer enter into a separate screen but now take place in the field nearly where players were at. Atelier Sophie 2 also reverts back to the turn based combat system that was used in the original game as opposed to what recent entries in the series have used allowing for a bit slower-paced and deliberate combat that the series was known for before the Ryza games.
The main new mechanic introduced into battle is the Twin Action System that allows every member of the party to get into the action in one way or another. Atelier Sophie 2 features an eventual six characters that will join the player’s party with three fighters at the forefront and three in the backline. As players are fighting they will gain “TP” that can then be used to bring allies from the backline into the fight in some major ways. This includes being able to perform a “twin action” that allows the frontline and backline unit to attack at the same time, even choosing to use skills and items to create some powerful combinations, or jumping in front of an incoming attack to protect a frontline fighter or swap places instead. These elements may be a bit similar to those found in a few older Atelier games but help spice combat up and keep things feeling fresh for quite some time, especially since combat can occasionally become quite dicey even on Normal which is something of a welcome surprise as the title actually rewards players with playing defensively more often than not thanks to many pieces of equipment providing extra buffs whenever players choose to defend.
Similar to every game in the series, everything that Sophie picks up will have a varying level of quality, rarity, and a number of modifiers attached to it and these items come from basically everything in the game. Be it fishing, taking down monstrous enemies, or harvesting items from bushes out in the field Sophie will always have a slew of ingredients at her disposal and this is where players will return to her atelier and make use of item synthesis to craft everything from healing items, offensive items, equipment, and more to help make the player’s journey a bit easier.
Every recipe in the game features a variety of items that are required to make it and while some ask for very specific ingredients, most simply require something in the same category such as a fuel source, type of liquid, metal, etc. and once player select their recipe and what they wish to put into it, they will be taken to a mini-game of sorts that allows players to place ingredients on a 5×5 grid board. As players make use of the synthesis board they can select an item’s element (if it has more than one) and place it down on the board in various places and while it is entirely possible to simply complete recipes either automatically or without too much care, there are plenty of ways to make sure that the item comes out as strong as possible.
Placing similar elements near one another or on matching element panels will boost various traits and unlock additional ones for items if certain requirements are met such as healing more, dealing extra damage, providing a speed boost, having more uses in the field, etc. While this synthesis system initially can seem a bit much at times, actually seeing what players can create and taking things to the limit can feel quite rewarding. That being said, taking the simple route works just as well when it comes to the more repetitive and simpler items players can make.
Visuals & Audio
It is clear that Gust is growing far more comfortable with creating larger worlds and more detailed than ever character models when it comes to Atelier Sophie 2: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Dream. The stylization of the characters is as great as ever with great use of color and detail to make sure that most of the main cast feels truly unique and the vast areas that players can explore are quite a treat alongside how great combat often looks. That being said, the title does still make use of far too many repetitive enemies at times.
Now when the original Atelier Sophie was released in 2016, Koei Tecmo was still releasing English dubs for all of their Atelier games but now in 2022, that is no longer the case. As such, fans of the original who chose to play with the English dub may be disappointed with the fact that the game now features the original Japanese voice track only. That being said, the Japanese voice cast have reprised their roles and handle their characters incredibly well here so not too much has been lost outside of some unsubtitled dialogue during and after combat. The soundtrack remains as impressive as ever as Gust continues to provide a wide variety of tracks that fit both the calmer “slice of life” moments as well as combat and exploration with special mention going towards the few vocal tracks littered throughout the game.
Overall
Atelier Sophie 2: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Dream came as a surprise when it was revealed to be the latest game in the Atelier series but Sophie’s charm and the great chemistry between the cast of characters help hold together its basic story. With a number of great refinements to combat that keep things exciting, exploration that is more expansive than ever, and satisfying alchemy that can quickly become addictive despite its initial overwhelming appearance, Atelier Sophie 2 provides a delightful RPG that shows that the series’ classic entries still have plenty to give.
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