3rd Eye Studios has revealed their latest game Downward Spiral: Horus Station. The narrative heavy thriller inspired by films like 2001: A Space Odyssey, Twin Peaks, and There Will be Blood. The game is set on an abandoned space craft mysteriously abandoned by its crew. The entire story is told without dialogue or cinematic, leaving players to piece together the story themselves based on what they find on board. Players can either explore the craft alone or bring a friend, opening up opportunities for long debate about what really happened to the crew.
Downward Spiral: Horus Station is an FPS/adventure hybrid that arms players with a variety of makeshift weapons based on equipment salvaged from the ship itself. The game features six degrees of freedom in a zero gravity setting. Much like real astronauts, players will need a solid push off a large object or some sort of propulsion equipment to move around the environment.
Downward Spiral: Horus Station is set to launch on PlayStation 4 and PC in Spring 2018 (Autumn 2018 in the Southern Hemisphere). The game will feature optional support for PlayStation VR, Oculus Touch, HTC Vive and Windows Mixed Reality. The game’s prologue is currently available for $1.99 on Steam.
Lost Sphear is a modernized take on the classic JRPGs from Square Enix’s Tokyo RPG Factory. Building on I Am Setsuna, Lost Sphear uses the ATB 2.0 combat system that adds character positioning to the game’s strategy. New to the game are the powerful Vulcosuits which unlock powerful new abilities to assist characters in battle.
Story
Lost Sphear follows the story of Kanata, a young swordsman living as an orphan in the town of Elgarthe. A mysterious plague that causes people and things to become lost in a white mist is worsening, along with the number of monsters wandering the world. Kanata soon discovers that he can use memories to restore what is lost. In usual JRPG fashion, Kanata sets off with his childhood friends to restore the world.
The weakest link in Lost Sphear is by far the story. The game uses almost every major JRPG trope out there. The writing is simple to the point of boring. Every twist and turn is easily predictable. Characters are generally dull and one dimensional. The biggest tragedy of all is how shallow the memory system is. There is so much potential for rich stories as players gather memories of what has been lost, but instead, players get a couple of sentences that home in on a key word or theme. An enjoyable story is absolutely necessary for JRPGs, given the normally long length of the game. Unfortunately, Lost Sphear falls short on this front.
Gameplay
Lost Sphear is a modernized take of the many titles Square Enix pumped out during the 8 and 16-bit golden era of JRPGs. The item mechanics are similar to Final Fantasy games. Equipment is a little less linear than the old school JRPGs, as players have the option of upgrading existing gear up to ten times each instead of purchasing new equipment all the time. The main difference is the memory system. These crystals can be found like any other piece of loot or absorbed during certain dialogues in game. Memory is used to unlock zones and items that have become lost, traded for magical abilities called spiritnite, and crafted into giant artifacts that provide global effects or buffs in battle.
The ATB 2.0 combat system is the next evolution of the classic Active Time Battle system. Every unit on the battlefield has an action bar that fills over time. Once the bar is filled, the unit can act. Depending on settings, the bars can either continue to fill in real time or the action will pause during targeting. The new 2.0 changes add an area of effect to all attacks and abilities plus the freedom to move around. As time passes or players attack and take damage, the Momentum meter fills. Once filled, a Momentum point is stored. When a character attacks, the screen flashes blue momentarily. If Momentum is triggered, players will either attack for a second time or the skill will also inflict its Momentum effect. In case of difficult fights, characters can also don their Vulcosuits. Players can either partake in combo attacks or cast a more powerful version of their spiritnite skills at the cost of Vulcosuit Points (VP).
For the most part, Lost Sphear’s ATB 2.0 combat is an enjoyable mix of the familiar with some new ideas. The strategic element that character positioning adds in enjoyable, especially for boss fights where dodging high damage abilities is necessary for victory. I also like the fact using MP consuming skills grants bonus experience and that players can level within combat, immediately topping up HP and MP. It encourages players to use skills often, since level ups occur often. However, the Vulcosuit system falls flat. The game’s difficulty curve seems to be intended for players to save their VP until the boss battle, blow all the costly abilities on the boss, and then try to finish off the boss on foot. The highly limited usage dulls what should be an awe-inspiring experience of being an utter beast in a powerful mech suit.
The game provides quite a bit of customization options for players. The spiritnite system gives players a pool of abilities for each character and each ability can trigger an extra effect using the Momentum system in combat; however, players are limited to a set number of skill slots. In addition, players have a limited number of artifacts spots they can build to grant them global or regional effects. Effects range from utility buffs like faster run speed in the overworld map to in combat benefits. I really like the artifact system as it gives players a chance to highly specialize in a certain playstyle, while forcing them to make some tough decisions along the way.
The level design is decent. The maps tend to be rather linear in nature, with only a few side paths for bonus loot. I like the simple stealth mechanics in the game, as they add a little extra spice to the game’s pace.
The PC controls for Lost Sphear as passable, but not great. The controller bindings are simply mirrored on the keyboard, and the keys that can be bound are limited. Since there is no mouse support in the game, players do not have the same level of fine control for targeting attacks compared to the controller. The controller support is excellent on the other hand, so it is highly recommended to plug in a controller instead of dealing with the keyboard only controls on PC. Just note that the only way to quit the game is to use the keyboard’s escape key as there is no controller option for quitting.
Visuals
Lost Sphear’s visual design philosophy is very much in line with I Am Setsuna. Lost Sphear is a 2.5D game that uses 3D graphics with the a traditional 2D camera angle. The artists are by no means creating their own unique style, but they do a fantastic job updating the old 16-bit look. The animations evoke the old sprite animation style by keeping things simple and the number of animations on the low side. The textures and models of high quality, though I find the character design to be a bit on the generic side. I really like the colour choices for the game, as the softer colours give the game an ethereal, fleeting look that compliments the game’s theme of memory quite well.
For PC owners, the port runs well enough, though it’s very bare bones. There are few settings to modify the game’s graphics. Lost Sphear does run at a capped 60 FPS, which is more than plenty for a JRPG.
Audio
Lost Sphear’s audio experience does a great job of replicating the classic JRPG experience but does little to set itself apart from the crowd. The sound effects are solid. The game has Japanese voice acting, but no English dub. I much prefer this set up than unnecessarily tack on an awful English dub for the sake of having one. The soundtrack is enjoyable, but it’s hard not to feel like I have heard this all before.
Overall
Lost Sphear is a love letter to the golden days of JRPGs. The excellent combat system with ATB 2.0 and Momentum does a great job dragging the dated system into modern times, although the Vulcosuits fall flat. The real problem with Lost Sphear is the game spends so much time paying tribute and emulating classic JRPGs that it never gets a chance to forge new ground to establish itself. The combat system just isn’t enough to cover up a dull, predictable story, audio that sounds like every other JRPG title, and luke-warm level design.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
CocoBear launch gay-friendly mobile social-RPG loaded with features
Hong Kong – February 6th 2018 – CocoBear, a leading mobile developer and publisher, is proud to announce that acclaimed title Gaydorado is now available to download free-of-charge for iOS and Android devices via the App Store and Google Play.
Developed with the gay community in mind, Gaydorado is an innovative social role-playing, dress-up narrative experience featuring a whole host of features to get to grips with.
Upon touching down in the picturesque city of Gaydorado, customise your look with a number of chic clothing choices before heading on out to explore a bustling man-tropolis absolutely bursting at the seams with hunks. Experience multiple storylines loaded with action, intrigue and irresistible characters, hit the gym, make friends, start dating or check out combat mode for some intense man-on-man action. Whatever you choose – the city is your playground!
Gaydorado also features its own robust social network allowing you to meet and chat to other players around the globe in a safe, welcoming and inclusive environment. While Seasonal Events give you the opportunity to take on special challenges and spice up your wardrobe with some hot new costumes.
Upcoming Seasonal Events
Gatlin Warrior – Jan 24th to Feb 7th
Valentine’s Day – Feb 14th
Australia Gay Carnival (Sydney) – Feb 16th – Mar 4th
Gaydorado is now free to download from the App Store and Google Play. To stay up to date with the latest Gaydorado developments, please like the official Facebook page.
Lunar Great Wall Studios unveiled with a focus on emotional experiences
Go behind the scenes with Italy’s newest development studio
Milan, Italy – 6 February, 2018 — Pioneering Italian games developer, Lunar Great Wall Studios (lgwstudios.com) announced today its formal unveiling to the games industry, with sights set firmly on providing the best, creatively unique gaming experiences to players worldwide.
The new studio was founded in May 2016 by Marco Ponte, a games industry veteran with over 15 years of experience within the industry, with the support of internationally renowned Jinglebell Communication, and aims to combine expertise, creative talent and technology.
Lunar Great Wall Studios also invite you to meet the team behind its creative projects, giving gaming enthusiasts a look inside its studio as it embarks on its game development journey, discussing the creative vision and exciting studio culture.
Marco Ponte, CEO of Lunar Great Wall Studios commented: “We’ve had a fantastic first-year, securing over one million euros in funding, allowing us to come to the point that we’re ready to reveal ourselves to the world.” He continued, “We’re all very passionate about what we do and always look to work on products which take a different direction from traditional design and genre. We’re very excited to be working on our own original IP to be announced in the near future, which is an innovative ‘emotion-driven’ multi-platform projects where fun, art and culture are the protagonists”
Ponte, who has more than 25 published titles to his name across a wide variety of platforms has recruited a strong team of professionals share his vision for the company and are all driven by their passion for the games industry. This has driven Ponte to invest in the future of the industry, with bespoke courses designed to usher in a new generation of talent.
Ponte continues, “Lunar Great Wall Studios is to be more than a developer; a catalyst for growth in our industry. Our investment in talent isn’t limited by our studio, but driven by it, with courses designed to be accessible. Featuring guests from other developers, we’re excited to allow a point of entry for anyone that wants to break into the games industry.”
Lunar Great Wall Studios will be developing games for all major platforms (PC/ Mac/ PS4/ XboxOne/ Nintendo Switch) as well as for the mobile market, with two titles currently in production. It is also researching and developing solutions for new virtual and augmented reality devices, including new ways of interacting, with the aim of offering original gaming experiences to both consumers and B2B clients.
About Lunar Great Wall Studios
Formed in 2016, Lunar Great Wall Studios was founded to create unique and compelling experiences; new and emotional games that inspire and engage. With a wealth of experience, Lunar Great Wall Studios is already crafting a number of projects, the first of which is due to be unveiled in early 2018.
MAXIMUM GAMES AND COOLABI GROUP ANNOUNCE MARCH RELEASE FOR BEAST QUEST ON PLAYSTATION®4, XBOX ONE AND WINDOWS PC WITH NEW FEATURES TRAILER
WALNUT CREEK, Calif. – Feb. 6, 2018 – Leading video game publisher Maximum Games and independent international media group and rights owner Coolabi Group have revealed that Beast Quest, the new action RPG based on Adam Blade’s bestselling book series, will launch at major retailers and digitally on the PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system, Xbox One and Windows PC on March 13, 2018, in North America and March 16, 2018, in Europe.
In addition, Maximum Games and developer Torus Games have released a new trailer introducing players to the high-fantasy world and gameplay features of Beast Quest. Evoking the same sense of sprawling wonder as the books, the game takes players on an epic journey to save the ancient land of Avantia from the dark magic corrupting its noble creatures. Survive action-packed battles against mighty bosses, dodging, blocking and countering attacks to turn the tide of combat in your favor. Befriend powerful allies, find secret treasures, and upgrade your hero with new gear and abilities while exploring spectacular environments filled with challenging adventures.
Beast Quest is the popular fiction book series by Adam Blade, first published in July 2007 by Orchard Books. The hit children’s book series has sold 17 million copies globally, with 8 million copies in the UK alone, and has been translated into 30+ languages, with 120 titles published to date. In 2016, Working Partners, the UK’s leading creator of series fiction for children and a Coolabi Group company, announced a new deal with Orchard Books to publish the hit book series Beast Quest until 2026. Each series focuses on the themes of friendship, fantasy and adventure, encouraging children to read by infusing the subject matter with elements they enjoy. Beast Quest is favored by parents and teachers as the structure encourages children to read a whole series (4 or 6 titles), rather than just one book. The Beast Quest gaming app, co-produced by Coolabi and Miniclip for iOS, Android and Windows Phone, has already achieved over 9 million global downloads and continues to attract several hundred thousand new downloads every month. To learn more about the Beast Quest series, visit www.beast-quest.com.
About Coolabi Group
Coolabi Group is a leading independent international media group and rights owner specializing in the creation, development and brand management of children’s and family intellectual property rights. The group, made up of Coolabi and Working Partners, has particular expertise in television, digital and books. Coolabi owns the rights in over 20 TV series and some 373 half-hours of programming; it has shows which have aired in more than 140 territories on channels including: ABC, Cartoon Network, CBeebies, CBBC, Clan / TVE, Disney, F5, ITV, Kika, Netflix, Nickelodeon and Sprout. Brands owned and/or represented by Coolabi include the multi-award-winning remake of Clangers, which airs on CBeebies, and Scream Street, shown on CBBC. Other properties include Beast Quest,Poppy Cat, Purple Ronnie and the Smallfilms properties Bagpuss and Ivor the Engine. Brand extensions include the Beast Quest gaming app, co-produced with Miniclip for iOS, Android and Windows Phone. The group also creates original series fiction for publishers and has created some 100 published series, consisting of over 1,000 books, sold in more than 40 languages. Four of these series, Warriors, Beast Quest, Animal Ark and Rainbow Magic, have sold over ten million copies each. Coolabi Group has reached an agreement with Alibaba Pictures Group Limited for the film rights for Warriors. Alibaba Pictures intends to develop Warriors into a world-class fantasy movie which has David Heyman (Harry Potter) as producer. The Warriors book series has sold more than 30 million copies worldwide. For more information on Coolabi Group, visit www.coolabi.com. Find Coolabi Group on Twitter: @Coolabi_Group.
About Maximum Games
Maximum Games ranks as a top 15 global video game publisher of interactive digital entertainment spanning all genres and supporting multi-platforms. The company’s mission is to provide a proven and strong hands-on approach to publishing, marketing and distribution. Established in 2009, the company is led by female entrepreneur Christina Seelye, a seasoned executive of digital consumer products and channel marketing. Under Seelye’s leadership, the company has been recognized with numerous awards, such as “Fastest Growing Tech Company” by American Business Awards, and has made the Inc. 5000 list of Fastest Growing Private Companies for the past three years. Maximum Games has offices in both the U.S. and UK and continues to expand its scope of global publishing and distribution via direct reach and strategic partnerships. For more information on Maximum Games, visit the company’s website at www.MaximumGames.com.
About Torus Games
Torus Games is a veteran independent developer, located in Melbourne, Australia. The studio, over the last 23 years, has created many family-friendly video games based on popular brands for practically every gaming console. With more than 120 games delivered, Torus has worked with most of the major video game publishers and brands, including Leapfrog, Warner, Disney and DreamWorks. The team is particularly excited to be bringing the amazing Beast Quest adventures to life.
Aurum Dust released a brand new story trailer for their upcoming tactical RPGAsh of Gods. The trailer gives viewers a glimpse of Terminum, the game’s setting, and the start of the Great Reaping event. Viewers will also get a great look at the game’s hand drawn art style inspired by animation studios like Disney and Soyuzmultfilm.
https://youtu.be/72BERBG6fM4
Ash of Gods is a tactical RPG that challenges players to lead a band of heroes to save Terminum. The game features a large branching story line with multiple endings, ensuring each playthrough is never the same. Heroes can even die, but the game will still continue, and the world will feel the effects of the loss. Ash of Gods is based on a novel written by Sergey Malitsky that serves as the game’s backdrop.
Paramount Pictures has released the first full trailer for Mission Impossible: Fallout. The trailer kicks off with a few heart pumping clips set to the Mission Impossibletheme music before slowing down to hint out an ominous fallout coming to haunt Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) after he chooses to sacrifice a cache of plutonium to save his team. The pace picks back up as Imagine Dragons’ “Friction” kicks in to accompany some over the top action shots the film series is known for, including one with Hunt dangling over a party on a rope – a possible nod to the series’ iconic cable drop scene.
Mission Impossible: Fallout is the sixth film in the long running TV and movie franchise. The film is directed by Christopher McQuarrie and stars Tom Cruise, Henry Cavill, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, and Vanessa Kirby.
In the film, Ethan Hunt is on the run to contain the fallout after an IMF mission goes horribly wrong because of Hunt’s decision to save the lives of people close to him. Now, the US government expects Hunt to clean up the mess he’s caused with the the help of his team and some old friends.
Dying Light Celebrates Its Third Anniversary With a Month’s Worth of Giveaways and Surprises
February 5th, 2018 – Wrocław, Poland / Techland, a leading developer and publisher of video games, is proud to communicate that it’s been three years since the global zombie infestation known as Dying Light spread across the world. As both a thank you to fans and an invitation to new players, Techland is today kicking off a series of exciting promotions with a couple of surprises hurled into the mix:
Content Drop #3 – free in-game content for all players and platforms
Discounts for the game and additional contents – up to 67% off
Expect to hear more about upcoming activities over the next few weeks and watch the anniversary video below.
“Dying Light’s longevity is a result of the studio’s hard work, combined with the efforts of our community, who have shown unparalleled love for the game and spent countless hours in Harran. We are nothing but thankful for this exceptional commitment and players’ eagerness to provide us with constructive feedback that helped us make a better game,” said Tymon Smektała, producer of Dying Light & Dying Light: The Following.
The zombie virus a.k.a. Dying Light has taken its toll on over 13 million players with more than 500 thousand unique players roaming the city of Harran every week. The game was honoured with over 50 awards, and a one-of-a-kind player community who still support the game through various channels and help spread the virus across the globe. Seeing this unflagging enthusiasm, last year at E3 Techland committed to deliver 10 free DLCs in 12 months, extending the players’ enjoyment of the game by introducing new enemies, locations, gameplay mechanics, and more.
Visit the official Dying LightFacebook or Twitter pages as well as the game’s official website to join the conversation and stay up to date.
About Techland
Founded in 1991, Techland is a renowned independent game developer, distributor, and global publisher. The Poland-based company is best known for the original Dead Island games, the Call of Juarez series, and most recently for Dying Light and its expansion Dying Light: The Following – the game has been played by over 10 million unique players to date. We are now developing two triple-A titles that are to be released within the next three years.
XSEED Games has announced that they are planning on bringing The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II to PC through Steam, GOG, and the Humble Store on February 14th. For one week after launch the game will be sold at a 10% discount but after that it will be sold at the regular price of $39.99 / €39.99 / £29.99.
Originally released in the West for the PlayStation 3 and PS Vita in November 2016, this version of the game features improved textures, higher framerates, and additional graphical improvements as well as the return of “Turbo Mode” and 50% more voice lines from the original English voice cast. The title will also allow players who’ve played the first game on PC to use their existing save files to receive special dialogue with certain characters depending on choices they made in the first game.
After the last two games in the trilogy were released in Japan and the West, Aquaplus has revealed plans to bring the original title, Utawarerumono: Chiriyuku Mono he no Komoriuta to current day fans in the form of a PlayStation 4 and PS Vita release. Currently a Western release has not been announced but the game has been set for release in Japan on April 26th.
With this upcoming release Aquaplus has released a full length trailer showing off the improvements made to the first Utawarerumono title as well as a look at a few characters in the game. It is worth noting that this release is based off of the PlayStation 2 version of the game, meaning that none of the adult content found in the original PC release will be included.
The weakest link in Lost Sphear is by far the story. The game uses almost every major JRPG trope out there. The writing is simple to the point of boring. Every twist and turn is easily predictable. Characters are generally dull and one dimensional. The biggest tragedy of all is how shallow the memory system is. There is so much potential for rich stories as players gather memories of what has been lost, but instead, players get a couple of sentences that home in on a key word or theme. An enjoyable story is absolutely necessary for JRPGs, given the normally long length of the game. Unfortunately, Lost Sphear falls short on this front.
For the most part, Lost Sphear’s ATB 2.0 combat is an enjoyable mix of the familiar with some new ideas. The strategic element that character positioning adds in enjoyable, especially for boss fights where dodging high damage abilities is necessary for victory. I also like the fact using MP consuming skills grants bonus experience and that players can level within combat, immediately topping up HP and MP. It encourages players to use skills often, since level ups occur often. However, the Vulcosuit system falls flat. The game’s difficulty curve seems to be intended for players to save their VP until the boss battle, blow all the costly abilities on the boss, and then try to finish off the boss on foot. The highly limited usage dulls what should be an awe-inspiring experience of being an utter beast in a powerful mech suit.
The level design is decent. The maps tend to be rather linear in nature, with only a few side paths for bonus loot. I like the simple stealth mechanics in the game, as they add a little extra spice to the game’s pace.
