CODE VEIN NOW
AVAILABLE FOR PLAYSTATION 4, XBOX ONE AND STEAM FROM BANDAI NAMCO ENTERTAINMENT
AMERICA INC.
Lust for
Blood and Live for Death in the Latest Action-Adventure RPG from BANDAI NAMCO
Entertainment America Inc.
SANTA CLARA, Calif., (September 27, 2019) – Leading
video game publisher and developer BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment America Inc.
today released CODE VEIN™ for the PlayStation®4 computer
entertainment system, Xbox One and PC via STEAM®. Adapt and overcome
challenging enemies, brutal bosses, and uncover the secrets of Vein in this
thrilling 3rd person action-adventure RPG.
In the not-too-distant future, a mysterious disaster has brought
collapse to the world as we know it. Towering skyscrapers, once symbols of
prosperity, are now lifeless graves of humanity’s past pierced by the Thorns of
Judgment. At the center of the destruction lies a hidden society of Revenants
called Vein. This final stronghold is where the remaining few fight to survive,
blessed with Gifts of power in exchange for their memories and a thirst for
blood. Give into the bloodlust fully and risk becoming one of the Lost,
fiendish ghouls devoid of any remaining humanity.
In CODEVEIN, players travel across
the interconnected dungeons of the world as they unlock mysteries surrounding
Vein and themselves. As they delve deeper into the game and come across tougher
challenges, players can switch battle styles and loadout of abilities as well
as their weapons to better handle the obstacles in front of them.
On their journey, players will encounter various characters that
will offer their friendship and services. Some will even team up with players
and help them throughout the game as A.I. controlled partners. Each partner has
their own unique traits to help complement a player’s playstyle or well suited
for an area. For those wanting a bit more challenge, they can go it alone and
tackle the game by themselves. A cooperative multiplayer mode is also included
for friends to team up and play through the game together. Special underground
sections of the game tuned for cooperative play are also available for an added
challenge.
“CODEVEIN combines the popular
‘die-and-retry’ genre of games with a strong and engaging vampire anime story,”
said Stephen Akana, Senior Global Brand Manager for BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment
America Inc. “The CODEVEIN development team
implemented a lot of options within the game to help newcomers to the genre
ease their way into the challenging gameplay while making sure fans of its
style of game are provided with a depth of combat options and character
builds.”
CODEVEIN is available now for the PlayStation 4 system, Xbox One, and PC with a MSRP of $59.99 and ESRB rating of “M” for Mature. For more information on CODEVEIN and other products from BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment America Inc. please visit: https://www.bandainamcoent.com, follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/BandaiNamcoUS, or join the conversation at https://www.twitter.com/BandaiNamcoUS.
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About
BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment America Inc.
BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment America Inc., part of BANDAI NAMCO Holdings Inc., is a leading global publisher and developer of interactive entertainment for all major video game consoles, iOS, Android, and online platforms. The company is known for creating and publishing many of the industry’s top video game franchises including PAC-MAN®, GALAGA®, TEKKEN®, SOULCALIBUR®, and ACE COMBAT®. BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment America Inc. is the premier publisher in the Western hemisphere for anime based video games including NARUTO SHIPPUDEN™, DRAGON BALL Z®, and ONE PIECE®. More information about the company and its products can be found at http://www.bandainamcoent.com or www.facebook.com/BandaiNamcoUS
The famous Greek philosopher Socrates once said, “There’s no such thing as too many cat-themed games” (just trust me on this one, don’t look it up). And I have to agree with him. He was a man of good taste and way ahead of its time. Also, I can’t believe it’s been already 2 years since I played the first Cat Quest. I suppose the sequel has been long overdue. For what it’s worth, I liked the first game. It had some minor hiccups in the design but it was a decent time killer. Let’s see what Cat Quest II brings to the table.
Story
There was once a great weapon known as Kingsblade. It was a great source of power but it also meant that many kingdoms in the world fought over it. Ultimately, the weapon was shattered into little pieces and scattered all over the world. Now that the great evil has risen again, it is up to you to reforge the Kingsblade and defeat a new villain. Besides the new villain, Cat Quest II expanded its offering of supporting characters so the game’s narrative doesn’t feel as desolate as the previous game. The world map is also larger, with more cat puns in the names of towns and areas (as it was expected).
Gameplay
But what’s new on the gameplay front, you ask? Plenty of things. For those who want to play it cautious, we now have ranged attacks. Staff weapons can send small balls of light (sometimes with elemental properties) at enemies. Some enemies are more susceptible to those kinds of magic attacks and some to melee, so sometimes you’ll have to switch your strategies. We also have “royal arts”, skills that give passive bonuses to your abilities, such as doing damage to enemies as you evade and roll through them. Weapon and armor upgrading is still there but the tastiest piece of Cat Quest II cake is definitely semi co-op play. Why do I call it semi co-op? Well, it’s there although with some restrictions. It’s local only so the second player needs to be present in the room with you. Or not, if you have a really really really long joypad cable. When playing solo, the AI-controlled player (a cute doggo, so there is something new for all the dog lovers out there) will help you with fighting, sometimes casting support spells on you of offensive ones on the enemies. I was pleasantly surprised that the AI player is not as dumb as I expected, they don’t rush in mobs, they know how and when to evade and I revived them maybe once or twice in 2 hours of play. So, props for that. And last, but not the least: way more sidequests this time around, which means longer play and more weapons to earn.
Visuals
Not much new here in terms of facelifting but plenty of new stuff in terms of content. As I said, a bigger world map this time which means more new and exciting locations. Also a new continent with a new animal type. I won’t say what kind of animal beside that’s it’s the same kind of your AI player and it rhymes with “log”. Such a puzzle. Caves/dungeons look prettier now, almost like trying to trick you that you might not die in them as often as you imagine. The new continent has a desolate, dirty and scorched earth look, which is pretty fitting for the kind of animals that inhabit it. New magic spells have more flair to it and leave traces on the environment (for when you miss the enemies with your spell, so you can take it out on the innocent grass nearby).
Audio
While some new music themes are present, I’m disappointed that caves and towers still feel eerily quiet as in the previous game. I could definitely use an occasional creepy tune here and there. But at least I have slashing of the sword and sound of spells hitting enemies to keep me company – if I imagine it as some free form jazz piece. Other than that everything is still the same as in Cat Quest before, so don’t expect to be surprised or impressed on this front.
Overall
Cat Quest II is definitely a meowprovement (sorry, had to sneak in at least one cat pun) over the previous game with new enemies, new areas, new gameplay mechanics and expanded selection of weapons an armor. The game also comes with an affordable price, which is a great deal considering that you get way more content and replay value this time. In short, if you’re looking for a good Zeldaesque RPG of the season, look no further. Picking up Cat Quest II is a no brainer.
Capsule Computers
review guidelines can be found here.
CI Games released a brand new Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts gameplay trailer featuring the Kolchak Harbour region. Senior commmunity Asim Tanvir walks viewers through the game’s contracts system and some of the new equipment players will be able to deploy on the battlefield. The 10 minute walkthrough features the same location as the Gamescom demo.
CI Games also released three preview clips from Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts‘ soundtrack. Composer Mikolai Stoinski is returning to provide the score for the game. He is probably best known for his work on The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and The Vanishing of Ethan Carter. The three tracks offer a mix of traditional instruments and electronic music. The soundtrack looks like it will be a very moody score.
Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts is set to launch on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on 22 November 2019.
Longtime fans of the Monster Hunter series know that almost every time that Capcom brings a brand new game to the franchise, it will likely be given a massive update sometime in the future. Since originally being released back in 2018 Monster Hunter World saw numerous collaboration events and even new creatures to hunt down added through various updates but now Capcom has released their first full expansion for the game in the form of Monster Hunter World: Iceborne. Often an expansion can offer plenty of new content while also tweaking the formula a bit but Iceborne blurs the line between an expansion and offering content rivaling the original release.
Story
Monster Hunter World: Iceborne picks up immediately after where the core game’s initially ended. The Fifth Fleet has managed to accomplish their task of learning more about the New World and slaying both the massive elder dragon Zorah Magdaros but also the incredibly powerful Xeno’Jiva that was disrupting the ecosystem and potentially a threat to the entire world. While the player’s hunter and handler have kept themselves busy slaying tempered monsters and other threatening creatures, it seems that a Legiana has appeared in the Ancient Forest, and being a creature that usually doesn’t leave its habitat, this is an odd event.
After some investigating that finds the forest nearly devoid of life, the hunter witnesses a massive flock of Legiana leaving the land and traveling across the seas, with a new unknown beast flying among them. With another mystery of the New World waiting to be unveiled and perhaps a new land to explore, the expedition quickly pursues the Legiana only to find a frozen land containing both familiar and brand new beasts to be slain. After setting up camp, naming it Seliana, and deeming the surrounding area as the Hoarfrost Reach players will find that the world once again slowly opens up to them one slain creature at a time.
As you may surmise, Monster Hunter World: Iceborne requires players to beat the original game before venturing forth into new territory and this is far from an issue as players will need to be well-prepared for the new dangers that will await them. As for the story, don’t expect anything too amazing to happen here as it mostly serves as a framing device to help establish the transition to the new world but it is nice to note that some of the support staff as well as the Handler are given more time to shine here and there.
Gameplay
Initially players may find that Monster Hunter World: Iceborne throws a bit too much new content at them right off the bat as a few new mechanics have been added, brand new gear as well as enhanced versions of previously gear are now available for crafting as both Master rank gear and with a rarity rank that goes up to twelve. A number of new moves have also been added to some weapon styles so be prepared to learn a few new techniques if your style has been modified improved, though a few weapons have only been slightly touched upon, such as my personal favorite the Hammer. That being said, the biggest mechanics are introduced at a solid enough pace though players may want to try and learn the new elements with a few easier hunts first before throwing themselves at a new Iceborne creature.
The biggest change to the core combat happens to be the addition of the Clutch Claw. While players have always had the ability to use ledges, sliding jump attacks, and even launchers with other equipment to find themselves on top of a creature and able to deal extra damage, the Clutch Claw now allows players to grapple onto monsters from a distance and, while not as effective as a standard mount, strike them to soften their hides up a bit or blast them with Slinger ammo stagger them or send them charging towards a wall for bonus damage. There is even the ability to ride on smaller creatures as mounts if the player’s Palico is properly trained by the Felyne tribes of each map, though this is generally used more for quick transport around the map than anything else.
Other than that, players will notice that, at least at its core, most of the combat in Monster Hunter World: Iceborne remains as solid as it ever was in the original game with these new additions only taking a bit to learn after their initial rush of information though players will need to note a few other new features. These include the fact that the Hoarfrost Reach is incredibly cold and now can inflict players with devastating stamina loss if not properly treated. This is handled through Hot Drinks to stave off long-term cold and even natural hot springs that dot the landscape.
A large number of brand new, or at least brand new to those who have only played World, large monsters have been added into the game, though it is worth noting that a little over half of the total new monsters that players will be asked to hunt are actually brand new. The other half happen to be variants of the creatures that were already available in the base game but with new attacks, weaknesses, and a few other special features that players will need to learn about. It is also nice to note that since all of these creatures are considered Master rank and can be quite difficult to take down.
In fact even with some of the best gear and ornaments the player can take into this expansion from the core game, the first few hunts can be a bit difficult and rather long. This is primarily due to the aforementioned fact that Master gear is now available as well as incredibly strong compared to the base game’s gear. Although weapons scale a bit better, players will find even the base armor available from the first few Iceborne monsters to easily outclass any previous gear, often with even more decoration slots to allow for an easier transition of your favorite set-up into the fresh gear.
When not in the field hunting all manner of new beasts players will find that Seliana is an incredibly streamlined base of operations that works both aesthetically given the frozen land that the hunters now must survive in but also one that doesn’t feel cramped despite having all of the players’ necessities closer together. Along these same lines the Gathering Hub, where players can find other players walking around and interact with them, also features nearly every shop and tool needed outside of Tailrider Safaris, who can also explore Hoarfrost Reach after some time. It is also nice to note that fans of the aforementioned Felynes will find that there are some new little bits of side-content that apply to the mascots of the series as players can locate unique events in the wild and take photos of them with a new tool and even partake in a simple steam engine game that turns often neglected fuel items gained from mining or gathering into far more useful ones.
Visuals & Audio
Players will find that Capcom has really excelled at creating a great looking frozen tundra that is filled with a number of neat looking features and traps that players can use to their advantage in the Hoarfrost Reach. The environment is a real joy to explore and although it may take a bit to get used to wading through snow sometimes, it rarely feels like a challenge. As far as the new monsters go, they really are a sight to behold and a number of them can feel incredibly imposing the first time they are faced down, though a few still hold this level of awe even after carving them apart a few times.
Customization still remains at an all time high as new gear types are introduced and even layered gear is available to give players a different outward appearance compared to the actual gear they are wearing. The sound effects still hold as true as one can expect in the series with a number of great sounding monster roars accompanying the new beasts. It is worth noting that the voice acting can still be a bit rough sounding sometimes, especially when the Handler pops-in while traveling through the map in a story mission, but the cast has all reprised their roles well enough here.
Overall
By coming rather close to doubling the content found in the original game Monster Hunter World: Iceborne offers an extensive amount of content for players to sink their weapons into. Sure a few too many foes are sub-species of already available monsters but by taking what was already amazing combat and a great reward cycle and making it even better Capcom has proven that the Monster Hunter series is one that can continue to strive forward and anyone who is a fan of the series should be more than ready to enter the frozen wastes and see what beasts await them.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Large sprawling Western RPGs tend to be something of a rarity in recent years as only a few more notable games have managed to fit this genre well enough and even then some of these entries stumbled a bit out of the gate. As such it is something of a pleasant surprise that Spiders, whose previous efforts earlier this generation were somewhat rocky with Technomancer, has returned with an RPG called GreedFall that may just scratch that unique itch.
Story
GreedFall drops players into a world stylized around 1600s Europe where magic and strange unknown creatures roam the lands despite mankind inventing various firearms and crafting large elaborate cities. All is not well however as players find themselves taking on the role of Lord or Lady De Sardet, a noble of the Merchant Congregation, who is tasked with traveling alongside their cousin to a newly found and settled island nation by the name of Teer Frade. While venturing forth into unknown territory is already dangerous, De Sardet’s journey is far more important than simply finding new land as a horrific plague by the name of the Malichor has ravaged the continent, killing anyone afflicted by the disease with even De Sardet’s own mother nearly on her death bed before taking the months long voyage across the sea.
Although the Malichor has hit De Sardet’s home city of Serene hard, the standard order has been held in check among the various factions that hold power in the world keeping the city a fairly safe place and although players are given a brief introduction to these factions, they hold much stronger sway in Teer Fradee with the scientific Bridge Alliance at war with the inquisition like Theleme Church who hold true to their beliefs in god, as well as the Nauts who hold sway over sea travel with strict laws, the mercenary like Coin Guard, and trapped in the middle of everything, the Natives of the island.
It doesn’t take long before De Sardet and the player find themselves wrapped up in the political turmoil that the land suffers and players are often given quite a lot of leeway in how they wish to handle the various situations they are presented with. Interestingly enough, even the Native faction, while categorized under a single banner, is made up of different tribes who each have different opinions about what to do with the people who have invaded their shores. GreedFall rarely paints in broad strokes when it comes to depicting these factions as either good or bad and, as mentioned before, player choice and action can play a role in how various story elements play out.
It is worth noting that players who want to really feel like they can change various elements of the story should invest early in non-combat based feats as being charismatic or being able to read the room can unlock new dialogue options that can help sway various factions and change elements of the story a bit, though a few of these changes can be done in a more roundabout way as well. It is also worth noting that the various companions that join De Sardet in the game also have their own feelings regarding each faction, mostly because each one belongs to a specific group, and will even talk to other companions or interject in dialogue with other NPCs. This helps make the player’s party feel a bit more alive in nature than simply being allies that tag along to make combat a bit flashier. There are even side-quests for each companion though the game can often gate some of these quests’ progression behind story advancement.
Alongside companion side-quests players will find that the land of Teer Fradee is absolutely teeming with side-quests that, for the most part, have various ways they can be completed. Often these little side stories help breath some more life into the world of the game and the story of each city is an interesting one. Those who are looking for a game that handles some heavy themes with a deft touch will find that GreedFall‘s lengthy and engrossing storyline filled with side content a perfect fit.
Gameplay
Of course navigating through the storyline and properly choosing your two party members at any given time plays a large role in the game, how the player chooses to build their character will also help in various ways. As players earn XP and level up they will unlock various points that can fall into three categories. Skills are fairly standard and reward the player with everything from new weapon attacks, spells to cast, or even the ability to use fancier weapons of a certain type while the Attributes and Talents are far harder to come by, to the point they can feel a bit stifling at times. Attributes can play a role in enhancing various stats further as well as allowing De Sardet to equip stronger versions of some weapons and armor. Finally we have Talents that play the largest role in what the player can actually do.
These points come in rarely and can allow the player to learn things such as lockpicking, smithing, vigor that can be used to jump gaps or climb walls to reach new areas, science to blow down weak walls and craft potions, charisma to talk your way through things, and even intuition to find new dialogue options. Some equipment and friendly relations with your allies can provide boosts to these talents but considering how valuable these points are, players will really want to think about how they want to invest in them, though there is the ability to rarely reset your stats if you’ve found your current build not working the best.
It is interesting to note that while GreedFall may often feel like an open world game at times, it instead takes place in a series of large maps that players will be able to fast travel through to various locations once they’ve been unlocked with each area having a variety of enemies that can be faced, NPCs to interact with, and quests to undertake. Players will always have the option of having two other companions with them, allowing for the real time combat to flow fairly smoothly albeit a bit easy even on harder difficulty levels.
Players will have a number of weapons at their disposal with melee types coming in a number of standard forms, long range combat handled either with firearms that use limited ammo or through spells that are restricted through recovering mana, they can even perform kicks that can unbalance a foe or, if unlocked, throw them to the ground allowing players to deal damage with no threat of payback. Players can dodge incoming attacks as well as parry blows to gain advantage on foes, though even beasts will have some form of armor protecting them. Whittling down an enemy’s armor before striking at their health directly is a nice touch and players can temporarily pause combat to select their next action at will, though rarely will this feel necessary outside of needing to use a potion in a pinch but even then this can be assigned to a D-pad shortcut.
It is interesting to note that almost every piece of gear in GreedFall can be customized in some way. Players can either do this themselves or pay extra at a blacksmith to provide various boosts to their gear with the proper ingredients, that range from dealing extra damage to an opponent’s health or armor as well as offering additional armor or balance to the player. These customizations have a visual effect on the gear which is a nice touch as well, though depending on how the player ends up specing out De Sardet combat can feel like a breeze at times, especially when paired with companions that properly accentuate their playstyle. This means that those who really want a challenge may want to dive right into extreme mode while even newcomers to the genre should be able to handle normal mode.
Visuals & Audio
Spiders has done a fairly interesting job when it comes to handling the way GreedFall is presented as some environments are amazing looking with some cutscenes featuring some great cinematic directing while other times it feels like a bit of a mess. While traveling the wilderness the world may load in properly while some assets will only appear half-loaded or suffer from severe pop-in and although some cities may look great on the outside, prepare for most buildings to feature the same exact layout and even decorations at times. Along those same lines, character models can feature some intricate clothing only for their faces to repeat on numerous NPCs or glitch out entirely. For hours on end, despite restarting the game, NPCs would refuse to open their eyes in conversation. It is also worth noting that enemy variety can be extremely repetitive at times, with most fights simply being against random bandits that even appear within city walls leaving the odd beast fights being the stand outs, though even then most of the smaller beasts rarely vary up their patterns.
On the other side of the coin, GreedFall offers some rather astounding voice work as every conversation, even passing interactions with basic NPCs, features spoken dialogue that fits the theme of the game and helps make the world a bit more believable. In fact, the Natives of the land even have their own unique dialogue and while it would be nice if the Native companion could translate at times, players will often need to use context to figure out what is being said and the best way to respond.
Overall
Although GreedFall‘s combat may be a bit too easy to master and is filled with a few janky glitches that can arise from time to time players will definitely want to persevere through any slight issues as GreedFall tells a grand tale of exploration that features some moral complexity and consequences that aren’t often found in large scale RPGs such as this one.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
After originally debuting as a very different game back in 2002 the Utawarerumono series received tons of attention many years later as not only did the original game later end up being released across numerous consoles, including a reworked one in the future for current generations, but it finally saw two more games in the story over the course of two years. Now while the other entries have been SRPGs, Utawarerumono: ZAN is a bit of a spin on things as it works as an action entry but is it worth picking up for fans?
Story
With no memory of who he is or anything about his past awakens in a cold snow-covered wasteland, he is saved by a strange girl animal eared girl by the name of Kuon. After saving him from a strange creature she begins to take charge of caring for the man who she decides to name Haku. After explaining the situation to those at the nearest village Haku and Kuon stick together and after assisting with the disposal of a monstrous creature, the pair are invited to the capital where they meet many new allies and foes.
If it seems like that may be a brief and hurried description of events from Utawarerumono: Mask of Deception there is a reason for that and it happens to be the fact that Utawarerumono: ZAN is exactly that, an extremely cut-down retelling of the events from that game. Considering the original release was a lengthy visual novel with strategy RPG battles and Utawarerumono: ZAN is instead an arena brawler it does make sense that some of the story was cut down a bit but even those who may have played the original game a couple years ago may find themselves missing details here and there thanks to the fact that so many plot points are rushed or flat out ignored in an effort to keep things as brief as possible.
This makes Utawarerumono: ZAN a game that is not only a bit rough storywise even for fans but one that would be basically inaccessible to newcomers who want to try a different brawler. In fact even the ending to the original game finds itself shown in the opening video so newcomers are warned to stay away from this unless you just want a taste of the story before diving in for the original storyline later on as barely any new content is included in this game’s story that isn’t present in the original. It is also worth noting that there are a few odd inclusions to the game’s missions that make us wonder if it may have meant to cover not only the events of Utawarerumono: Mask of Deception but also Utawarerumono: Mask of Truth only to find itself cut short.
Gameplay
In interesting fashion, Utawarerumono: ZAN starts out a little different than your average game as it immediately places players into the campaign mode where they are introduced to the story a bit and taught a number of different gameplay mechanics before the rest of the game is opened up to them. For the most part though the campaign plays similar to how it did in the tutorial as every chapter features a story segment and generally a fight in a 3D battle arena, though some chapters do focus entirely on story.
Combat in Utawarerumono: ZAN feels a bit like normal brawlers as players can utilize the square and triangle buttons to string together attack combos utilizing light and heavy attacks respectively but it is unique in its own way due to the fact that there is a bit more depth to these combos than initially presented. Holding down an attack button, whether light or heavy, will perform a different style of attack even if performed in the middle of a combo. Players will also find that as they dish out damage their characters will fill a Zeal bar and this can be used to either use a powerful Chain attack, that can be strengthened and used at a reduced cost through timed circle presses, or to enter an Overzeal state. The larger the Zeal bar is when entering this state and the more buffs the character receives, potentially unlocking a cinematic cut-in attack called Final Strike that devastates foes. This Final Strike is limited to one use per battle for every fighter so it is possible to use it more than once if players swap between their units enough in a fight.
Generally when players enter combat they will have four characters fighting on their team and while some story missions do lock certain fighters in players can usually select their four favorite characters to fight at a time. Despite only offering twelve playable characters it is nice to say that each character plays remarkably different from one another with every fighter having a unique set of attack strings and feel to them in combat. The flipside of this however means that a couple of fighters feel far weaker than others even when leveled to a higher degree due to their style of combat. That being said, players can generally power through with their favorites even if their styles don’t mesh well together as the game’s combat is far from challenging outside of a few boss fights.
Outside of the campaign mode players will find that there are a number of side missions that they can tackle but unfortunately most of these missions tend to be fairly simplistic in nature and also happen to re-use maps that players have already fought on in the core story mode. This may work well enough for a short time but outside of the campaign these side-missions, with sub-objectives that can be completed for various rewards like extra money or in-game music, tend to be the best offering as the co-op mode that allows players to fight alongside three others is already rather empty.
This means that unfortunately outside of once again challenging the game’s campaign on hard and going for various sub-objectives in these replay missions, the game can be rather thin on side-content. In fact even the costumes that players can unlock for every fighter is generally just a color swap of their standard costume. Powering up characters relies on simply using points they earn from participating in battles to boost specific stats or equipping them with scrolls obtained using the aforementioned in-game money called Sen through an odd gacha system that rewards costumes and powers up already obtained scrolls when a duplicate is obtained leading to a game whose side content grows rather tiresome quite quickly.
Visuals & Audio
With Utawarerumono: ZAN being an arena brawler rather than a strategy RPG the character models this time around have undergone quite a bit of improvement as they now are not only more detailed to match their character portraits better but also feature plenty of flashy moves to unleash on their enemies, with the aforementioned Final Strikes being a great example of this. It is worth noting that throughout the storyline the game does use some of these character models for dialogue sequences but the game often flips back and forth between these 3D character models and simply showing off CGs from the visual novel which feels like a bit of an odd choice at times. The enemies players face are fairly straightforward in their designs though players of both of the original games will notice a few odd appearances here and there given the game only covers the events of the first game.
The soundtrack features a nice collection of music that works well during combat as well as a stellar opening theme performed once again by Suara. All of the original Japanese voice actors have reprised their roles in this release so fans will be delighted to hear their favorite characters sounding the same as before.
Overall
Utawarerumono: ZAN is a bit of an odd release for the Utawarerumono franchise as not only does it present itself as a game that is incredibly rough for any newcomer to try out without being lost about most of the story but also doesn’t offer too much content for longtime fans who have already played the original release of Utawarerumono: Mask of Truth. The combat system does control rather nicely and features plenty of variety despite the low number of playable characters but outside of the campaign mode and sinking time into side-missions, there really isn’t a lot of variety to be found here. As such Utawarerumono: Zan ends up being a game that only fans of the Utawarerumono series who want to spend more time with their favorite characters in a solidly designed, thin on content, brawler will want to try out.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
It is hard to imagine for some of us that it has been twenty years since The Blair Witch Project not only popularized the concept of the “found footage” film genre but also created a tale of psychological horror that managed to spawn a couple of lesser sequels over the years and even a video game trilogy back in the early 2000s. Although fairly popular at the time, and having another movie debut a few years ago, Blair Witch had mostly faded into the past but that changed when Bloober Team made the surprise reveal at E3 that a Blair Witch game was in the works. With a pedigree of horror with various ups and downs through the years, is Bloober Team’s take on Blair Witch one worth trying?
Story
Set two years after the events of The Blair Witch Project, a young boy named Peter has gone missing in the Black Hills Forest. The local sheriff has organized a search party in an effort to find the boy as the woods are quite vast and while many members of the community have stepped forward to help, one of these happens to be Ellis and his canine companion Bullet. While a trained dog may seem like a great help in the search, the sheriff is hesitant to let Ellis join the search but relents after Ellis informs him that he is in tough enough shape to not get in the way.
Of course it doesn’t take long before things begin to go off track as not only is Ellis suffering from PTSD due to his time in the military but thanks to his depression and anxiety caused from losing his job as a police officer his relationship with his ex-wife Jane is also in constant turmoil. The one thing keeping Ellis together is Bullet, a support dog that ends up being useful for not only Ellis’ sanity but also for the player as well. The woods are a lonely place and Blair Witch stays true to the psyhcological horror that the original film focused so heavily on as not only is the forest itself something that quickly becomes an enemy of the mind but Ellis’ issues are only magnified by the strange happenings around him.
In fact, thanks to these unusual happenings players are often left to wonder just how much of what they are seeing is actually real and what is instead a hallucination of Ellis’ mind, if not both at the same time. Wild shifts in location and situation heighten the odd feeling the player should experience in a game such as this but although Blair Witch is unsettling at times, don’t expect to be too frightened by most of what the game has to offer. In fact even the few jump scares that do work their way into the game mostly fail to be effective due to how they are implemented. This leads to a game that is incredibly unsettling thanks to taking place in an ever changing forest filled with horrors that may be real as well as those of the mind, but be prepared for a few sequences to take far too long to play out. At certain points it feels like progress can come to a crawl simply to pad out the experience a bit further and even a few story beats are drawn out far too long, making what feels like a climax end up as a chore.
That being said, while avoiding spoilers, Blair Witch does feature a number of different variants when it comes to its ending and trying to find just how these come about makes the game worth playing through more than once. As stated at the beginning, players will be judged by their actions and while a few things may seem rather obtuse, especially if the player doesn’t properly explore at times, seeing how these variables play out is rather interesting a second time around.
Gameplay
Blair Witch is an entirely first person adventure game that finds Ellis with a few different tools at his disposal all while being accompanied by his faithful dog Bullet. Players will have access to a variety of different items which can be a bit cumbersome to access as they are managed through the bumper buttons and these range from being a cell phone that can make calls, recieve texts, or play a game of Snake, a radio, flashlight, various collectibles that the player can find, and a camcorder. The camcorder and the flashlight get the most play out of the various items, though the phone and radio also come into play at certain points, as the camcorder can be used for night vision and to play various tapes that Ellis finds scattered around the woods. These tapes range from simply showing the player a location to being able to mystically bend time and space as watching these tapes and rewinding them to specific spots in time can do various things such as make an item appear out of thin air, clear debris blocking a pathway, and even open doors.
Combat in Blair Witch is handled primarily through the use of the aforementioned flashlight as most enemies that appear in the game are deathly afraid of the light. Players will need to utilize Bullet’s assistance most of the time as he will bark and growl in an enemies direction, allowing the player to aim the light and banish the creature. Of course enemies who are immune to the light, or appear during times the flashlight doesn’t work, require some stealth sections that work well enough but can also be a bit too tight at times with strange failstates appearing out of nowhere, resulting in death and reloading of a checkpoint.
Alongside the items that Ellis can use he can also provide Bullet with various commands. In fact, one of the best parts of Blair Witch is how amazing Bullet is handled as players can feed him treats, pet him when he does something good, and also work as the primary guide for the game. Despite seemingly like Bullet might be in danger enemies leave the canine alone so players can focus on fighting or avoiding creatures that he points out though outside of combat Bullet can also help track down items in the environment and either bark to point them out or simply carry them back to the player. There is also the option to tell him to stay or stay close, as well as scold him but only a cruel person would punish such a good dog.
As mentioned before, the forest itself is often as much of an enemy as the creatures that reside inside of it as the twisting paths that turn in on themselves can feel like players are simply lost in the woods with only Bullet to potentially lead them in the proper direction. In fact more than a few locations require such aimless wandering while others may simply be hiding a certain item that must be found to progress. This type of padding can be frustrating at times despite fitting into the spooky nature of the game’s world. Alongside simply trying to navigate the world players will also encounter various puzzles that they must solve but for the most part these are rather simple.
What isn’t simple however are the numerous bugs and issues that arise when playing the game. For the most part Bloober Team has managed to craft a unique feeling world but it is also one fraught with issues that range from simply being an annoyance to having to reload a checkpoint to escape. More than once either Ellis or Bullet would end up locked inside the geometry of the area, caught up on a rock or tree that couldn’t be escaped from and the entire second half of the game saw Ellis needing to crouch through every single door as trying to walk through in any other way met with an invisible wall.
Visuals & Audio
The development team has managed to craft a unique feeling and incredibly creepy forest that excels at creating a haunting atmosphere. Various twists and turns as well as the random changes in location blend flawlessly with the world, especially in the latter half of the game where the line between what is real and what is in Ellis’ mind blurs to the point of being non-existent. Character models can be a bit bland looking at times during Ellis’ visions but the designs of the monsters, when actually seen, are decent enough while Bullet is modeled quite well and remains the best aspect of the game here.
The sound design also holds up incredibly well, though the game does warn players that it is best paired with a head-set to experience the true horror and ambiance of exploring terrifying woods with only your dog as a companion. The same cannot be said for the voice work as it works well enough but can feel a bit cheesy at times, especially when certain lines are repeated over and over again.
Overall
Blair Witch crafts an interesting narrative that will keep players pushing through an ever more spooky and danger filled forest despite the fact that the pacing can be rather rough at times, especially when dealing with bugs, and actual scares are kept to a minimum. The design of the world itself that sees the line between reality and hallucination blur together works wonders in creating an atmospheric world that is truly great to enjoy, especially when traveling with perhaps the best part of the game, your faithful companion Bullet.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
It looks like the Switch version of Sid Meier’s Civilization VIsold well enough that 2K and Firaxis Games is taking a mainline Civilization game to the PlayStation and Xbox consoles for the first time. Sid Meier’s Civilization VI will launch on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on 22 November 2019.
The base game will be available for $79.95 AUD. PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions of the base game will also include “Poland Civilization and Scenario Pack,” “Vikings Scenario Pack,” “Australia Civilization and Scenario Pack,” and “Persia and Macedon Civilization and Scenario Pack.” PlayStation 4 owners will also get “Nubia Civilization and Scenario Pack” and ” Khmer and Indonesia Civilization and Scenario Pack” thrown in for free with the base game. It will be available separately on Xbox One
An optional expansion bundle containing Rise and Fall, Gathering Storm, and 18 leaders will be released along side the base game. The expansion bundle will also launch on Switch. It will cost $49.95 AUD on all three consoles.
I remember the first time I upgraded my PC. It was also the first time I got to play a game in glorious 60 frames per second. Funny enough, my first thought was “no way I could ever adjust to this”. And that’s for I felt for the next 10 minutes and no more. The transition was flawless. It was Guild Wars, by the way. Everything was crystal clear, the animations were smoother and the character motions were so much better. It was really a step up in my gaming life. So why am I going back to all of this? Well, this is how it feels like playing Spyro Reignited Trilogy with all the improvement and touch-ups, almost 20 years after the original games. 60 FPS switch all over again.
Story
Since this package comes with all three games; Spyro the Dragon, Spyro 2: Ripto’s Rage and Spyro 3: Year of the Dragon, I’ll go through the stories from all the games. Don’t worry, it won’t take long. Stories in all of the Spyro games are rather brief and only serve to drive the gameplay forward (and what items you acquire in the sequels). In the first game, a bunch of dragons decided to trash-talk some magical orc (or Gnorc, as he and his minions are called in Spyro games), he got mad and turned them all into stones. Now it’s up to you to free (unstone?) all the dragons, gather a lot of gems while at it and defeat the Gnasty Gnorc. Simple enough. In the sequel, there is a new villain in a town called Ripto. A very nasty magic-wielding dinosaur is keen to enslave all the dragons. So yeah, gather gems, kill some bosses and earn a bunch of magical orbs for the portal back home. Yep, no more rescuing dragons from Medusa’s stare, we’ve upgraded! In the third and the last game of the pack, we have also been upgraded with new enemies (we are now fighting Rhynocs instead of orcs), new collectibles (chasing for dragon eggs now instead of orbs or dragons) and sometimes we get to play as someone else than Spyro. Wait, what?!
Gameplay
As mentioned, the gameplay loop in all the three games is pretty straightforward. Gather gems (which are used as currency to learn new skills in later games), beat occasional bosses and got through the world after world rescuing your friends. Things spice up a bit in the second and third game, where new supporting characters are introduced and you even get to play as some of them in the last game. When it comes to enemies, Spyro has a bunch of attacks at his disposal. There is the expected flame breath (he is a dragon, after all), a charging attack and different kind of powerups that change his flame properties. Some enemies are weak to flame, some to charging, some to both and later in the game(s) you have to strategize a bit to reveal their Achilles heel. While every Spyro game from the bunch is good enough on its own, this trilogy is also a textbook example how t expand on a winning formula while sacrificing nothing away. The sequels bring new Spyro moves (like swimming, diving, and headbutt attacks) and we get to play as penguin version of 007 (already sounds intriguing, right?), a feisty Aussie kangaroo and even Sparx, Spyro’s trusty dragonfly sidekick. They all come with their own special attacks and gameplay mechanics – if you have enough gems to unlock them, that is. And make no mistake, by gems I do mean those that you find in-game behind every nook and cranny. It is commendable and rare that in this day and age, there are still AAA games not riddled with microtransactions that no one asked for.
Visuals
The shinning spot of the game. All the original levels from all three games received an insane visual makeover, Spyro’s animations are now smoother and some levels have the enemy layout rearranged. The lightning effects are breathtaking (really, every next frame of the game screams for a screenshot), Spyro’s idle animations are too adorable and some levels will stay in your memory long after you finish the game. This remaster is responsible for a whole week of my tiring work shift due to staying up late playing it and almost missing a deadline for publishing this review. It’s just that addicting and engaging. Not to mention all the beauty in the little details such as burning almost everything throughout the levels. Yep, not just enemies. Your fire breathing leaves gorgeous scorching effects on patches of grass, plants, enemy armor and most of the environment.
Audio
To not leave everything shinning in the visuals, the games also feature some stellar work when it comes to the audio department. Plenty of tracks have been remastered, improved in quality and remixed to catch you off guard. Spyro Reignited Trilogy is also recommended to play with a good set of headphones just so you don’t miss out on the marvelous work that went into the audio design of the levels. Enemies tend to yell, have fights with each other and act silly all around. Every level in each of the Spyro games has a distinct and sometimes memorable music theme so it’s not that much of a grind to go back and 100% each level if you feel like doing so.
Overall
Spyro Reignited Trilogy is truly an exquisitely wrapped up package. After some good impressions with Crash Bandicoot N.Sane Trilogy release a few months back, I’m digging this (what I hope to be) new trend in above-average remasters, releases and reboots. It’s like reliving my gaming childhood memories in 60 FPS. On a serious note, Spyro Reignited Trilogy is something definitely worth your money and attention. Amazing facelift of all three games, great price when you consider how much content is in this pack and insane replay value (even more if you consider going for 100% completion in all three games). Now let’s burn some enemies and patches of grass together!
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Team17 and The Game Kitchen released their hack ‘n slash game Blasphemouson Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. It’s priced at $24.99 USD/€24.99/£19.99 on consoles and $22.49 USD/$32.35 AUD on Steam.
The game offers large, non-linear worlds for players to explore. Combat is a challenging, pixel-perfect Metroidvania. Players have access to a variety of prayers, relics, rosary beads, and sword hearts to boost their skills, giving them a chance at surviving the brutal boss battles.
The world is inspired by southern Spanish folklore twisted into a horrifying nightmare. Players take on the role of The Penitent One, the lone survivor of the Silent Sorrow Massacre. They are now on a blood crusade across the lands of Cvstodia with their sword the Mea Culpa in hopes of saving themselves from The Miracle curse.
