FIGHT THE SENTIENT INVASION IN WARFRAME OPERATION SCARLET SPEAR, AVAILABLE NOW ON PS4, XBOX & NINTENDO SWITCH™
Strategize in the New Operation Room and Repel Sentient Forces Using Operation Link in The New War’s Opening Salvo
LONDON, ONTARIO, CA – April 9, 2020 – Canadian developer and publisher Digital Extremes will bring new meaning to the word ‘war’ with Warframe® Operation Scarlet Spear, available today on PlayStation®4 and Xbox One and Nintendo Switch™. In the scramble to counter the Sentients’ first offensive wave of the New War, players can now form plans together in the new Operation Room before launching expanded cooperative land and space battles. Only with the newly implemented Operation Link (formerly ‘Squad Link’), will Tenno have a fighting chance to stave off Sentient incursions in this five-week event, starting today, April 9, and ending Thursday, May 14.
Console players who’ve waited for Operation Scarlet Spear to arrive on their platforms will see their patience rewarded. Numerous improvements to the PC build will be fully implemented to consoles. Those changes include:
An all-new five-week Operation (timed event) specific to console players starts today
Ground Assault and Murex Raid scoring changes (increases over original scoring) will go live at launch today
Rare and Legendary Arcanes will be available in Little Duck’s store in the Flotillas on launch
This update also brings a slew of exciting items and upgrades to please avid Warframe players: Nova’s second Deluxe Collection and a powerful new weapon class to earn are among a number of additions. Players will discover the origins of the anti matter-wielding Nova in a new Leverian exhibit and obtain her second Deluxe Collection, including variants of her Armor, Syandana and skins of signature weapons. Learn more details here: warframe.com
Repelling Sentient Attacks in the Veil Proxima Operation Scarlet Spear’s new cinematic delves into uncharted narrative territory with the Sentient threat deploying forces across the Origin System. Following the cinematic cliff-hangar from 2019’s Empyrean, the first wave of Sentient scouts have breached the Veil Proxima using Ramsled ships to disrupt Tenno momentum. Honing in on Railjack ships, the invaders send forth boarding parties, including Anu Mantalysts and Anu Interference Drones, to disrupt and disable systems, from Side Turrets to Battle Avionics to Speed Boosting, testing Tenno resilience.
It’s up to the Tenno to rally together and repel these early attacks. Players can now formulate plans in a new 50-person Relay (the new Operation Room) and then embark on four-player missions (“Operations”) utilizing cooperative ground and Railjack attacks (the new Operation Link feature) to achieve combined community goals. Each successful Operation builds progress that adds to the overall community goal, driving back enemy forces before the invasion engulfs the entire Origin System. Check Warframe.com for finer details.
Would you like to join the Warframe community? Head to our forums to start a conversation. Check our official website at www.warframe.com. To keep up with the latest updates from the development team, be sure to follow Warframe on Twitch, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
ABOUT DIGITAL EXTREMES Founded in 1993 by James Schmalz, Digital Extremes ranks as one of the world’s top independent video game development studios. Originating with the co-creation of Epic Games’ multi-million unit selling Unreal® franchise including Unreal and Unreal Tournament, Digital Extremes went on to develop Dark Sector®, BioShock® for the PlayStation®3, the BioShock 2 multiplayer campaign, and The Darkness® II. The studio has reached its greatest critical and commercial success with the free-to-play action game, Warframe®, boasting a global community of 50 million registered players on PC, PS4™, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch™. For more information about Digital Extremes, visit www.digitalextremes.com. To sign up for Warframe, visit www.warframe.com.
World of Tanks invites players to complete one simple battle mission to earn access to the full single player version of Master of Orion for free
April 9th, 2020 – World of Tanks today invites commanders to rediscover the legendary Master of Orion universe – gifting access to the iconic 4X strategy game to any player who completes one simple battle mission in World of Tanks!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XPF69SjMF4
In order to take the fight to outer-space, players need only complete a simple battle mission in World of Tanks Random Battles (including Grand Battles) between April 9 and April 23, using any tier. Once these are complete, players will be able to download Master of Orion, with all races and single player mode unlocked, downloadable via the Wargaming.net Game Centre. Commanders will also receive unique Master of Orion customizations for their World of Tanks vehicles as a reward!
Max Chuvalov, Publishing Director of World of Tanks said: ‘We are excited to give our commanders the chance to take their conquest spaceward, using their tactical skillsets in another atmosphere – for free! For both old players and new, the Master of Orion universe is a boundless and exciting strategy game that will give adventurers the chance to explore the final frontier from their front room. Make sure you jump into World of Tanks right away to download this amazing content!’
Within the downloadable single player package, players will have the chance to experiment with over 75 researchable technologies, explore giant galaxies with up to 100 solar systems, modify spaceships to achieve victory – with access to the original game, the Revenge of Antares DLC, The Terran Khanate alien race and Retro Fleets from the collector’s edition.
Diehard fans of the initial titles will be relieved to know that this revival was built under the watchful eyes of the original development team – and has retained its unique interstellar warfare and beautiful exploration. Players are invited to experience a fully orchestrated score as they confront hostile civilizations, negotiate with mysterious aliens, share knowledge with allies and uncover this artfully imagined universe.
World of Tanks is the first team-based, massively multiplayer online action game dedicated to armoured warfare. Throw yourself into the epic tank battles of World War II with gamers all over the world. Your arsenal includes over 600 armoured vehicles from 11 nations, carefully detailed with historical accuracy.
Wargaming is an award-winning online game developer and publisher headquartered in Nicosia, Cyprus. Operating since 1998, Wargaming has grown to become one of the leaders in the gaming industry with 4500+ employees and offices spread all over the world. Over 200 million players enjoy Wargaming’s titles across all major gaming platforms. Their flagship products include the massively popular free-to-play hit World of Tanks and the strategic naval action game World of Warships.
Full steam ahead for European destroyers in World of Warships
Entire branch of European destroyers available with roll-out of new event in Update 0.9.3, bringing new temporary campaign – “Strong-Willed” – which rewards the unique
historical legendary Polish commander Jerzy Świrski, as well as a host of quality of life improvements
April 9th, 2020 – World of Warships has today seen the release of Update 0.9.3 allowing players for the first time to research the entire branch of the nine European destroyers. In addition to five Swedish destroyers that were already in early access, three new ones are becoming available together with one Austro-Hungarian destroyer.
The new European Destroyers branch consists of:
Tatra (II) – Austria-Hungary
Romulus (III) – Sweden
Klas Horn (IV) – Sweden
Visby (V) – Sweden
Vasteras (VI) – Sweden
Skane (VII) – Sweden
Oland (VIII) – Sweden
Ostergotland (IX) – Sweden
Halland (X) – Sweden
The game event in 0.9.3 update kicks off a new temporary campaign, “Strong-Willed”, which, upon completion, rewards players with the unique historical Polish navy commander who served as the Chief of Polish Naval Command for several decades.
Jerzy Świrski comes with 10 skill points and the Torpedo Reload Expert and AA Gun Aiming Expert talents. The Polish commander also features an improved skill, Adrenaline Rush, which gives a +0.25% boost to the reload speed of a ship’s armament and squadron speed for each 1% of a ship’s HP lost.
The new update also kicks off 11th Season of Ranked Sprints, a new Clan Battles Season, and rolls out a host of improvements to World of Warships’ matchmaking and quality of life in general, including an updated version of the Exterior tab. Tech Tree now has useful tooltips describing features of the ship groups in each branch.
World of Warships is a free, historical, online combat game from Wargaming. Command a massive naval fleet featuring some of history’s most iconic war vessels, level up important tech modules and prepare to dominate the oceans in World of Warships. With four classes of ships, myriad upgrades, and strategically designed environments, the action never ends and every match is a unique experience. World of Warships brings players endless hours of strategy, tactical gameplay and pulse-pounding combat!
About Wargaming
Wargaming is an award-winning online game developer and publisher headquartered in Nicosia, Cyprus. Operating since 1998, Wargaming has grown to become one of the leaders in the gaming industry with 4500+ employees and offices spread all over the world. Over 200 million players enjoy Wargaming’s titles across all major gaming platforms. Their flagship products include the massively popular free-to-play hit World of Tanks and the naval combat game World of Warships. The company’s dedicated unit, Wargaming Mobile, is forging collaborations to deliver new mobile experiences alongside their in-house game development.
FURTHER AWAKEN YOUR CLASS WITH NEW ‘BATTLE MASTERY’ SYSTEM IN LINEAGE 2: REVOLUTION
New Easter Content and In-Game Events Now Await the Heroes of Eden
LOS ANGELES – APRIL 8, 2020 – Netmarble Corp’s new update for its mobile multiplayer massively online role-playing game (MMORPG) Lineage 2: Revolutionintroduces another avenue for players to grow even stronger, the Battle Mastery system, as part of a suite of updates made to the game today.
When players start their ‘Awakening Quest,’ the ‘Battle Mastery’ system will become available. By using Battle Mastery Points, players can acquire the stats they want by choosing the desired set of active and passive skills. When players achieve the highest level of Battle Mastery, they also acquire an additional active skill for more powerful combat capability.
Netmarble has also added new content to coincide with today’s Battle Mastery system update, including:
Soul Crystal Strength Level Exchange– Players can now transfer the upgrade status of an existing Soul Crystal to a new one of the same type, which is helpful for those with new Soul Crystals acquired through events.
Limited In-Game Events
Get it! Black Bear Event: A new mini-game where players can catch black bears with coins earned through missions.
Bittersweet Extraction Pit: In this limited-time holiday event, Herbs in the extraction pit are changed to candies. Players can also get more rewards than usual when defeating monsters.
Lineage 2: Revolution is a groundbreaking MMORPG bringing top-quality visuals, a massive open world and large-scale PvP to mobile devices. Powered by the Unreal Engine, the game features stunning visuals and large-scale open-world combat where up to 200 players can battle in real-time on a single screen – all in a gorgeous, fully featured, persistent world MMORPG that can be enjoyed alongside millions around the world and all within the palm of your hands.
Netmarble Corporation strives to entertain audiences of all ages around the world by providing great mobile gaming experiences. Established in Korea in 2000, Netmarble is one of the fastest-growing mobile game companies and consistently ranks as a top mobile developer and publisher worldwide. With more than 6,000 employees, Netmarble has been producing and servicing some of the most successful mobile games including Lineage 2: Revolution, Blade & Soul Revolution, MARVEL Future Fight, BTS WORLD, Everybody’s Marble, and Seven Knights. As a parent company to Kabam, a top mobile game developer in massively multiplayer free-to-play games, the largest shareholder to Jam City, a leading casual social game developer and a major shareholder of BigHit Entertainment, a music production and artist management company, Netmarble has a strategic partnership with CJ ENM Corporation, Asia’s largest entertainment company, Tencent Holdings, Asia’s largest internet company, and NCsoft, a prominent MMORPG company. More information can be found at http://company.netmarble.com
CALL OF DUTY: MODERN WARFARE SEASON THREE NOW LIVE
The Largest Battle in Call of Duty History Takes it to the Next Level asModern Warfare and Warzone Players Gear Up for All-New Season Full of Free New ContentAvailable Now in Modern Warfare, New Maps, Modes, Playlists and More;Prepare for Quad Team Action in Warzone
New Battle Pass, Unified Across Modern Warfare Including Warzone, Features Heroic Operator Alex from the Modern Warfare Campaign, New Weapons, Vehicle Skins, COD Points and Many More Surprises In Store
More Than 2.4 Billion Hours Have Been Played to Date in Modern Warfare Universe
SANTA MONICA, Calif. – April 8, 2020 – Season Three is now available across the Modern Warfare Universe, giving all Call of Duty®:Modern Warfare® and Call of Duty: Warzoneplayers access to a new season packed with free, new content and experiences. The new Season Three is packed with new maps, modes, weapons, Operators, Vehicle Skins, cosmetics and more to continuously fuel the fun for both Modern Warfare and Warzone. Millions of players already have joined the fight to date totaling more than 2.4 billion hours played together in Modern Warfare including Warzone.*
“When you play Modern Warfare and Warzone, you’re joining a massive community of players having fun, staying connected and playing together,” said David Stohl, Co-Studio Head, Infinity Ward. “Season Three is packed with free, new content coming to players across both Warzone and Modern Warfare. From the new maps and modes coming to core Multiplayer and the new ways to play in Warzone – including all-new Quad gameplay, this season is going to be awesome; we can’t wait for everyone to jump in and start playing.”
“Players are having fun and we’re having a blast seeing all of the incredible reactions across the community, which makes it even more exciting to bring all of the free content and new experiences that are in store for Season Three,” said Ryan Burnett, Senior Executive Producer, Raven Software. “There’s something for everyone whether it’s Modern Warfaremultiplayer or all-out combat in Warzone, all play-styles are welcome.”
This season features a host of free new content, available across all platforms for all Modern Warfareand Warzone players, with additional challenges and playlists released weekly. Players that own the full version of Modern Warfare will have additional access to new multiplayer maps, along with weekly playlist updates.
New Multiplayer Maps:
Talsik Backlot is a high-octane, reimagined, classic 6v6 three-lane map from Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. In this deserted urban area of Urzikstan, look for a mix of close quarters combat and long-range sniper duels.
Hovec Sawmill is an all-new 6v6 map tucked away in the mountains of Kastovia. Operators will fight atop rooftops and a rolling river in three-lane firefights featuring mid-to-long-range sightlines.
Aniyah Incursion is a 6v6 twist on the lavish, yet war-torn Aniyah Palace players have set foot in Ground War and 10v10 in Modern Warfare. Now, players can choose to take advantage of the long sightlines afforded, along with the small crawl spaces within the Palace to flank enemies.
Coming later this season is Hardhat, an additional remastered 6v6 multiplayer map from Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare along with Aisle 9, a brand new 2v2 Gunfight map.
New Multiplayer Playlists:
Throughout Season Three, players can also join the fight in new game modes including Gun Game Reloaded and Reinfected Ground War.
Free-to-play, free for everyone Warzone sees its first full season of free, new content coming in Season Three. All Warzone players regardless if they own Modern Warfare or not, will be able to jump into new experiences and enjoy new, free content across the massive 150-player Warzone.
Quads are now available in Battle Royale and Plunder, allowing friends to team up in a squad of four to put their teamwork to the test in a battle for all-out survival.
Later this season additional playlists for Battle Royale and Plunder that limit the pools to specific weapon types and feature high action modes such as Scopes and Scatter Guns.
New weapons and blueprints in Supply Boxes and Ground Loot will be introduced throughout the season, along with a robust calendar of XP events, free content, holiday celebrations and more for all players.
Call of Duty: Warzone is available for free download. The full version of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is not required to play Warzone.
The Battle Pass also gets a recharge with all-new Season Three content and is chock-full with 100 tiers of exciting new items and challenges to unlock and use across both Modern Warfare and Warzone. Continuing Call of Duty’s release of free content to the Modern Warfare Universe, all players will be able to earn free tiers, including free COD Points which can be used in the store or toward Battle Pass purchases. All players can also earn two new functional weapons, the hard-hitting and agile SKS marksman rifle with vast gunsmithing options and the well-rounded Renetti handgun with a variety of attachments for free just by playing.
Plus, those who purchase the Battle Pass will instantly unlock Alex, the courageous CIA Operator from the Modern Warfare campaign. In Season Three, Lieutenant Simon “Ghost” Riley has tapped Captain Price for additional backup, bringing CIA Operative Alex back into action to Verdansk to join the fight to play across Multiplayer and Warzone.
The Season Three Battle Pass also includes: new vehicle skins, Riley the dog’s finishing move, Tomogunchi Black and dozens of Weapon Blueprints, Operator Skins, cosmetics, XP tokens, COD points and more. Fans that want to accelerate their progress and reap the rewards faster, can buy the Battle Pass bundle which includes 20 Tier Skips. Featuring shared progression, all items earned in Modern Warfarewill also be earned in Warzone, and all items earned in Warzone will carry over to Modern Warfare should the player decide to upgrade to the full version.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Warzone are available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. The PC version, developed in partnership with Beenox, is available exclusively on Battle.net®, Blizzard Entertainment’s online gaming platform. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Warzoneare published by Activision, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI) with development led by award-winning developer Infinity Ward, and Raven Software with additional development support from Activision Shanghai, Beenox, High Moon Studios and Sledgehammer Games.
*Modern Warfare and Warzone combined total hours played based on Activision data.
About Activision
Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, Activision is a leading global producer and publisher of interactive entertainment. Activision maintains operations throughout the world and is a division of Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI), an S&P 500 company. More information about Activision and its products can be found on the company’s website, www.activision.com or by following @Activision.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements: Information in this press release that involves Activision Publishing’s expectations, plans, intentions or strategies regarding the future, including statements about the expected availability, features, functionality and content for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Season Three, are forward-looking statements that are not facts and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause Activision Publishing’s actual future results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements set forth in this release include unanticipated product delays and other factors identified in the risk factors sections of Activision Blizzard’s most recent annual report on Form 10K and any subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. The forward-looking statements in this release are based upon information available to Activision Publishing and Activision Blizzard as of the date of this release, and neither Activision Publishing nor Activision Blizzard assumes any obligation to update any such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements believed to be true when made may ultimately prove to be incorrect. These statements are not guarantees of the future performance of Activision Publishing or Activision Blizzard and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond its control and may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations.
Streets of Rage 4 Video Reveals Playable Pixel Art Fighters and Classic Soundtracks for Retro Tribute to Original Trilogy
Ass-kickin’ action happening on consoles and PC with the release date to be confirmed
PARIS (April 8, 2020) – Publisher and co-developer Dotemu (publisher of Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap, developer of Windjammers 1 and 2) with co-developers Lizardcube (Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap) and Guard Crush Games (Streets of Fury) announced today that Streets of Rage 4 will be dishing out the knockouts with unlockable classic characters and music from Streets of Rage 1 & 2 for fully nostalgic brawls. Streets of Rage 4 will be released this spring for PC, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox One for $24.99, with the release date to be confirmed. Fans on Steam can wishlist the game here: [https://store.steampowered.com/app/985890/Streets_of_Rage_4/.]
Dotemu released an action-packed gameplay trailer today which reveals some of Streets of Rage 4’s tributes to the original trilogy, including unlockable pixel art characters with movesets and abilities unique to their respective games; Streets of Rage’s fighters can call the cops for their special moves, while Streets of Rage 3’s characters can sprint and roll through environments. Catch Skate, Max, and all the throwback warriors making their glorious return by viewing the trailer here
These retro characters combine with Streets of Rage 4’s five hand-animated leading fighters to bring the total playable roster’s count to 17. For a full nostalgic trip, players can also switch to the series iconic original soundtrack, handing out beatdowns backed by tracks from Streets of Rage 1 and Streets of Rage 2. Taking down thugs with these timeless songs cranked up makes for an incredibly satisfying retro experience.
Streets of Rage 4 is the first entry to the mainline series in more than 25 years. The revival merges classic Streets of Rage elements with fresh directions for more combat possibilities, strikingly fluid hand-drawn art, and an inventive, distinct soundtrack led by Olivier Derivière which incorporates worldwide talent, including significant contributions from series composers Yūzō Koshiro and Motohiro Kawashima.
Dotemu is a French video game company specializing in modern releases of beloved retro games. Our mission is simple: give every gamer access to yesteryear’s classic video games on today’s platforms, including PC, mobile, console and more. Working alongside the world’s most cherished and recognized publishers, the Dotemu team has published a number of global top-sellers across both PC and console including Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap, with additional development and publishing work on Windjammers 1 and 2, several games in the Ys series, and more.
Founded in 2007, Dotemu leverages its considerable technological know-how to maintain the original spirit of classic games while giving them a second life as rediscovered gems for a new generation of gamers.
About Lizardcube
Lizardcube is a Parisian games studio founded by game industry veteran Omar Cornut (Pixeljunk Shooter, Tearaway, Soul Bubbles, Dear ImGui) and traditional comic/animation artist Ben Fiquet (Soul Bubbles). It is best known for the acclaimed remake of Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap, praised for its gorgeous art style and retro engineering marvel.
About Guard Crush Games
Guard Crush Games was founded in 2009 by Jordi Asensio and Cyrille Lagarigue based on their passion for classic beat-em-up and side scrolling titles. The team is best known for its XBox 360 release, Streets of Fury, and follow-up on PC Streets of Fury: Extended Edition in 2015, which revel in over-the-top action and capture the studio’s love for fun side scrolling brawlers.
Rogue-like farming sim aren’t two genres many would expect to be paired together, but Raw Fury and Bird Bath Games have made one! Their game Atomicropsis currently in early access for the PC on the Epic Game Store. Atomicrops will launch in full on the Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on May 28th. The early access version is currently available for $14.99 USD, though it is unclear if the price will rise once the game launches.
Atomicrops is a rogue-like farming sim following in the footsteps of Harvest Moon and Stardew Valley. After a nuclear blast levels the world, players take over their grandfather’s farm to help feed the local town. Unfortunately, mutants and bandits raid the farm every night, requiring the player to take up their trusty assault rifle and defend their crops.
With Final Fantasy VII Remake completing its full worldwide release at the end of the week for the PlayStation 4 Square Enix is continuing their series of developer diaries exploring various elements of the original game and how they have transitioned into the remake. The focus this time around is on the signature music that fans have come to know and love as well as the various familiar sound effects.
The video, found below with subtitles that must be activated, features interviews with the game’s producer Yoshinori Kitase, music supervisor Keiji Kawamori, sound director Makoto Ise, composer Mitsuto Suzuki, composer and Masashi Hamauzu. Final Fantasy VII Remakewill be available fully on April 10th.
SHOPKEEPING SIMULATOR GAME SHOP TITANS CELEBRATES ‘GRAND OPENING’ ON STEAM
Join Mobile Merchants with Cross Platform Play for Endless Entertaining Mercantile Gameplay
MONTREAL – APRIL 8, 2020 – Attention all shoppers! The award-winning simulation role-playing game Shop Titans is arriving on Steamfor PC starting May 5, 2020. Players on PC and mobile devices can assemble to create a bustling city through the game’s synchronous cross-platform play feature. Whether at home or on the go, Shop Titans players can craft, negotiate and sell their way to the top.
Shop Titans blends an extensive item crafting system, one-on-one negotiation gameplay with customers to secure the best sale price, and treasure-seeking adventures – all supported with hilarious character-driven humor and stunning in-game graphics. Players can create powerful equipment to stock their shop and sell to customers, assemble a team of customizable heroes and explore dungeons to gather valuable crafting materials.
Other features for Shop Titans on Steam for PC include:
Synchronous Cross-Platform Play – Players can tend to their store on PC or run the shop remotely on mobile devices for seamless, never-ending entertainment. Players can also team up across both devices, making for an even greater multiplayer experience.
Enhanced Visuals and PC Support – Shop Titans on PC supports 1080p resolution, 60 frames-per-second gameplay, refined controls for mouse and keyboard input, interface optimizations designed for long play sessions and re-scaled UI elements, giving players an all-new way to experience the game.
Personalized Hero Creation – Players can recruit and customize Heroes from 18 classes with handcrafted items to fight monsters and gather valuable resources.
Cooperative Guild Teamwork – Team up with friends from around the world by joining a guild to conquer special limited-time events and play in the worldwide player-driven marketplace to accelerate earnings and progress alike.
“It is a testament to Shop Titans’ success as we continue to see a steady growth in the community since launching the game on mobile devices over a year ago,” said Johan Eile, General Manager of Kabam Montreal. “The PC platform is a great opportunity for new players to discover this innovative title and find out why millions of people have come to enjoy it.”
“This is an exciting time to be a Shop Titans player,” said Tim Fields, CEO of Kabam. “Players new and established can benefit from these PC enhancements, especially the synchronous cross-platform play between PC and mobile. I am very proud of our team on what they have accomplished to elevate the Shop Titans experience even further.”
Shop Titans launches on Steam May 5, 2020 as a free-to-play download and is now available for wish-listing here. For more information, please visit Shop Titan’s official website, Facebook and Twitter.
ABOUT KABAM
Kabam is a world leader of developing entertaining, immersive, and highly social multiplayer games for mobile devices. They merge consumer behavior with the art of game design to create experiences that are enjoyed by millions of players across the globe. Each game has raised the benchmark in mobile gaming, bringing high-quality graphics, next-generation technology and revolutionary gameplay to the console in every player’s pocket.
Kabam has partnered with leading entertainment brands like Disney, Hasbro and Universal to create mobile games based on some of the world’s most iconic franchises.
Kabam’s games have generated hundreds of millions of downloads including Fast & Furious 6: The Game, Fast & Furious: Legacy, Marvel Contest of Champions and Transformers: Forged to Fight. These games have also received multiple awards such as Apple’s Editors’ Choice and Google Play’s Best Game of the Year.
Founded in 2006, Kabam has studios and offices in Vancouver, Montreal, Charlottetown, San Francisco and Austin, Texas. Kabam is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Netmarble.
ABOUT NETMARBLE
Netmarble Corporation strives to entertain audiences of all ages around the world by providing great mobile gaming experiences. Established in Korea in 2000, Netmarble is one of the fastest-growing mobile game companies and consistently ranks as a top mobile developer and publisher worldwide. With more than 6,000 employees, Netmarble has been producing and servicing some of the most successful mobile games including Lineage 2: Revolution, Blade & Soul Revolution, MARVEL Future Fight, BTS WORLD, Everybody’s Marble, and Seven Knights. As a parent company to Kabam, a top mobile game developer in massively multiplayer free-to-play games, the largest shareholder to Jam City, a leading casual social game developer and a major shareholder of BigHit Entertainment, a music production and artist management company, Netmarble has a strategic partnership with CJ ENM Corporation, Asia’s largest entertainment company, Tencent Holdings, Asia’s largest internet company, and NCsoft, a prominent MMORPG company. More information can be found at http://company.netmarble.com
For many in the West, the first time that Langrisser appeared on the radar was through a spin-off 3DS entry in 2016 or a mobile game released in English last year since the only game in the core franchise to ever be released in the West was given the name of Warsong back in 1991. Now after letting the core series rest for many years, it seems like Langrisser may be making something of a return through a remake featuring both the first and second game in the series coming over to the West in one package. So with a tactical RPG that once rivaled the greats making an appearance after all this time how does it hold up?
Story
In Langrisser I players find themselves taking on the role of Ledin, a young prince that finds himself on the run and exiled after an enemy invades his kingdom. In an attempt to regain what he has lost, Ledin must join with those who support him but it quickly becomes clear that something far more sinister than a simple invasion is afoot. The storyline for Langrisser I is fairly straightforward though players will be able to enjoy a few extra scenarios even if the majority of the cast is a bit flat in terms of development.
Langrisser II on the other hand is where things get a bit more interesting. The story this time follows a lone traveler by the name of Elwin who will shape the fate of the realm depending on the choices that players make and who they choose to align with. This type of player choice and the fact that the characters, and the plot itself, are far better written and detailed help Langrisser II really stand out between these two games. It is also worth noting that, since player choice does play a role here, there are multiple endings and various developments that players won’t see depending on how things play out, creating quite a bit of replayability in the second entry.
Gameplay
Although the sequel may feature the better storyline, both Langrisser I & II have the same mechanics as one another, making it fairly understandable as to why these two entries in five entry series were bundled together. Both entries are a fairly standard grid-based strategy RPG that features turn-based battles where the player’s team moves and attacks before having to weather the attacks from their opponents.
Various classes, of which characters can change into by leveling up and obtaining “Combat Points” that can then be allocated into improving their combat abilities and slew of unique skills, are strong against certain classes and have their own weaknesses. These combat points can even be used to change to another class entirely with very little loss to the player, allowing for some experimentation at times to find out the best skills and class layout to best fit their playstyle. Alongside this the points can be used to unlock additional types of mercenaries that can provide a number of additional bonuses as well, some of which can be quite unique.
What helps Langrisser I & II stand out here is the aforementioned mercenary system. Players can bring with them a band of mercenaries that can cost a bit of gold but will aid the player’s units in battle. These mercenaries can provide a number of status boosts depending on how well they are paired with the main unit allowing for them to grow quite strong. As a result a lot of the strategy can come down to making sure that the player’s team is properly equipped and assigned the proper mercenaries in battle.
It is worth noting that Langrisser I & II is far from an easy game even once players get the hang of things as the enemy AI can be extremely aggressive here, and should a commanding unit die, all of the mercenaries they have with them will also vanish. Thankfully this remake of the two games does allow players the option to replay a previously cleared mission, allowing for the player to strengthen their team should they find themselves struggling.
Visuals & Audio
Players will have quite a few options open to them when it comes to how they want Langrisser I & II to look as both the modern and retro options are available for character portraits and backgrounds. All of the character portraits have been redrawn with a smoother and more modern art style and with this art style come a number of new CG scenes that help add a little extra flair to some of the major events that occur in the series. Oddly enough however, should the player choose to use the original art that fans of the original franchise loved then all of these new scenes are removed entirely which is an extremely odd choice. Along those same lines, while the option to choose between the retro style maps and backgrounds are a nice addition, the actual character sprites remain the same. This leads to a massive clash in presentation as the character sprites are, unfortunately, quite awful looking in their new design to the point that a few look worse than the mobile game sprites.
For all of its graphical problems Langrisser I & II manages to excel when it comes to its soundtrack and voice work. While there is only the original Japanese voice track accompanying the game the English subtitles are quite fitting and the soundtrack features not only a number of newly arranged tracks that sound amazing but players can also choose to listen to the original tunes instead should they want to change things up.
Overall
There is a reason that the Langrisser series managed to hold itself together so well in Japan back when it originally debuted. While the story for the first game may not be the most endearing, the sequel is far more entertaining and with both games featuring solid strategy RPG mechanics players will find this collection offering a lot of classic gameplay. It is a bit unfortunate however that outside of bringing Langrisser I & II to a modern audience, most of this remake doesn’t really improve upon the original outside of the soundtrack. The visuals often feel out of place and while the new artstyle is pleasant with roots close to the original, the punishment the player receives if using the classic portraits is an odd one.
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