Action RPG veterans NeoCoreGames is looking to create a fresh take on the long running action RPG genre with Warhammer 40,000 – Inquisitor: Martyr. The game currently features three classes, a persistent world, the first act in the campaign, and a variety of randomly generated missions. We had a chance to test out the new 0.7.0 update on Steam Early Access that introduced some massive changes to the game.
Warhammer 40,000 – Inquisitor: Martyr is set in the Caligiri Sector. The Inquisitors, the secret agents of the Imperium, have been sent to investigate a distress signal from an ancient fortress monastery. Currently, the early access build has the first act of the campaign, randomly generated mini-campaigns, and a bit of miscellaneous lore. So far, the writing is decent. The dialogue tends to be on the shorter side, which keeps the game moving at a quick pace. Those looking to delve a little deeper can find and read a variety of logs, notes, and messages left in game. As a person with little experience or knowledge of the Warhammer 40,000 lore, I found myself a little lost at times with the game’s setting. The Imperium’s religious-based system is unique, but it also makes it hard to understand at times. I hope NeoCoreGames adds a little more story content to the first chapter to better explain the setting before the game leaves early access.
Warhammer 40,000 – Inquisitor: Martyr has a novel levelling system that is perfect for the alt-aholics out there. Players level both their character and their account at the same time. The account level grants points for skills and attributes for each character, while the character level dictates the item level of dropped equipment. I think it’s a great balance that gives players a sense of progression when they start a new character, while getting them into high end content quickly if they have a high level main. The system will really shine if NeoCoreGames chooses to create more classes for the game.
The classes are entertaining so far. The Crusader is the warrior. He’s heavily armoured and excels at close ranged combat, though can wield ranged weapons just as well. The class is probably the friendliest to newbies as cover is less important when in melee range and being able to absorb damage after missing a telegraphed attack makes the game very forgiving. On the other hand, the Assassin class is a squishier, high DPS rogue specializing in guns, dual wielding swords, and high mobility. The most difficult of the bunch is without a doubt the new Psyker class. This mage keeps players on their toes by having them juggle multiple mechanics at once. Since the mage is neither mobile like the Assassin or tanky like the Crusader, players need to be careful with their positioning. To further complicate matters, most of the Psyker’s abilities generates warp instability. As the Psyker becomes more unstable, the greater the chance a warp anomaly will spawn to plague the Psyker with a variety of debuffs.
Combat in Warhammer 40,000 – Inquisitor: Martyr tempers the faster pacing of an action RPG with the tactical positioning of a cover shooter. Characters have two damage pools, health and suppression. Health is self-explanatory, lose all of it and die. Players have three lives to complete most missions before it is game over. The suppression system on the other hand is tied to the game’s status effects. The higher the level of suppression, the more likely the character will suffer from debuffs. The cover system is the best way of dealing with suppression and health damage. It’s implemented well for the most part, but I do wish the game gave some sort of indicator when cover will interfere with a shot.
Instead of having large levels connected together like a traditional action RPG, Warhammer 40,000 – Inquisitor: Martyr opts for a shorter mission system that rewards players with a guaranteed box of loot at the end of the mission. It gives the game a bit of a free-to-play MMO feel, but the shorter nature of mission allows the game to generate mini-campaigns called Priority Assignments that add more continuity to the missions outside of the game’s hand-made story content.
The audio/visual presentation in Warhammer 40,000 – Inquisitor: Martyr is decent so far. The sound effects and soundtrack are enjoyable. The voice acting is clearly incomplete right now, but what is there is passable. The graphics is gritty and gory, though there is still a bit of optimization work to be done between now and release.
Warhammer 40,000 – Inquisitor: Martyr is shaping up to be a solid action RPG with some unique mechanics to set it apart from the pack. The classes are feel different from one another, and the combat pays tribute to Warhammer 40,000’s table top roots. NeoCoreGames may have found their next big action RPG franchise with Warhammer 40,000 – Inquisitor: Martyr.
The Long Reach is set for digital release on PC, macOS, PlayStation4, PlayStation Vita, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch on Wednesday, March 14, 2018.
All versions priced at £12.99, €14.99, $14.99.
Boxed Signature Edition collector’s versions will also be available for PlayStation4 and PlayStation Vita, both priced at £25.
About The Long Reach.
At first look The Long Reach is an adventure game but closer inspection also reveals it’s a thrilling horror story, flavoured with sci-fi ideology, psychological context and a sceptical view on the human psyche.
The Long Reach takes place in New Hampshire, in the fictional town of Baervox. The game draws its inspiration from Lone Survivor and The Cave and all the classical adventures (except that The Long Reach is set in the present day). You don’t play in a post-apocalyptic world or explore a fairy-filled fantasy world. You’re in the thick of it, just around the corner from the place where you buy your groceries.
The Long Reach is a horror-thriller hell bent on screwing with your perception of things.
The game misuses stunning pixel art to create gruesome and unsettling images.
You’ll be playing as Calvin throughout the game – this is an example of the lies and deception that we have in store for you.
You won’t be forced to figure everything out. Escape if you wish, in fact we encourage you to run for your life!
Solve puzzles that require thinking outside the box. The box provided by our publisher was never used during the development.
You’ll be able to talk with plenty of characters. In fact, you’ll have a chance to pitch in every five lines or so.
A classic adventure game inventory filled with keys and weird stuff (note: no Elvish swords glowing faintly blue when evil is close in this game).
Original atmospheric and haunting soundtrack. The composer’s not right in the head, he brought weird stuff home to use in the soundtrack. We’re all concerned for his cat.
About Painted Black Games.
Painted Black Games is a young Ukrainian game dev studio. There are four of us and we’re making our first joint game – an adventure thriller The Long Reach. The creating process started in 2015. The creation of Painted Black Games wasn’t an accident. It was the only logical result of people passionate about creating games meeting each other.
NEW NI NO KUNI II: REVENANT KINGDOM ASSETS NOW AVAILABLE FROM BANDAI NAMCO ENTERTAINMENT AMERICA INC.
BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment America Inc. today released new Ni no Kuni II: REVENANT KINGDOM screen shots and art highlighting the various types of Higgledy partners players will encounter through their journey, as well as Kingdom Mode. Ni no Kuni II: REVENANT KINGDOM will be available for the PlayStation 4 computer entertainment system and STEAM for PC on March 23, 2018.
Throughout his journey in Ni no Kuni II: REVENANT KINGDOM, Evan will encounter spirits called Higgledies. These forces of nature will aid Evan and friends in battle by automatically attacking enemies, providing elemental or physical buffs to party members while in battle, and opening shortcuts and new pathways in dungeons and throughout the world. Players can collect 100 unique Higgledies including Higgledy heroes, each with their own unique attacks and special powers. Strategically take the best into battle to gain the upper hand.
Kingdom Mode gives Evan the opportunity to regain his throne by creating Evermore, a new kingdom where everyone can live in harmony. Create and place a variety of buildings to build out the kingdom’s infrastructure and provide jobs for the citizens of the kingdom. New storefronts mean new items, weapons, and Higgledies will become available for Evan and his team on their quest to rid the world of evil.
Take the Loot! You pirate! ONE PIECE BOUNTY RUSH Coming Soon to Mobile Devices
Pre-Register on Google Play to Be Among the First to Experience New Anime Adventure
All hands on deck for ONE PIECE BOUNTY RUSH, the upcoming mobile PvP action game from BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Inc. Based on the bestselling ONE PIECE anime series, players can take part in epic 4-versus-4 team battles in this cooperative and competitive PvP mobile action game, available in year 2018 as a free-to-play app on the Apple App Store and Google Play. Starting on January 28, fans can pre-register via Google Play for notifications once ONE PIECE BOUNTY RUSH is available to download. Fans can also visit the ONE PIECE BOUNTY RUSH Facebook page for details about a special Like campaign that determines in-game item gifts at the time of launch.
In ONE PIECE BOUNTY RUSH, characters are divided into Fighter, Warrior, Supporter, Shooter, and Swordsman, complete with their own unique skill sets to allow players to tailor each encounter to their playstyle. Gamers can team up with friends to battle it out with players from around the world in real time, vying to become top pirate on the seven seas.
“ONE PIECE BOUNTY RUSH is a brand new mobile app for the people around the world to cooperate and compete simultaneously in online battles. We created all the beloved ONE PIECE characters to have their individual skills and moves and players can enjoy their unique motions. I hope players will enjoy ONE PIECE BOUNTY RUSH with their friends and colleagues,” said Ken Kanai, Producer of ONE PIECE BOUNTY RUSH at BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Inc.
For more information, check out the official website and official Facebook page!
Saint Seiya Cosmo Fantasy Celebrates 3 Million Downloads with In-Game Events and Bonuses Worldwide
BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment, Inc., today announced that the free-to-play action role-playing-game (RPG) set in the mythological anime world created by renowned artist Masami Kurumada, Saint Seiya Cosmo Fantasy, has reached 3 million downloads worldwide. To celebrate the milestone, BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment is hosting in-game festivities around the world in regions where the app is available, enabling players to earn up to 30,000 Holy Stones during the event through special event quests, rewards, and log-in bonuses starting on January 26th. Players can download Saint Seiya Cosmo Fantasy for free on the App Store for iOS and Google Play for Android mobile devices.
The celebration runs through February 6th at 8:59 pm PT (February 7th 4:59 am UTC), and gives players extra rewards for every special quest they clear. Rewards will be based off of the number of special quests cleared worldwide, with a maximum of up to 10,000 Holy Stones, 1,000,000 Coins, and other items being given out as rewards for quest completion. Players can use these free Holy Stones at the Zodiac Fest featuring the game’s exclusive character–Sagittarius God Cloth Seiya.
A special Cosmic Event will be held between January 25th 9:00 pm PT (January 26th 5:00 am UTC) and February 6th 8:59 pm PT (February 7th 4:59 am UTC). During the Cosmic Event, players will get Cosmic Points from clearing quests and be ranked based on the total cumulative points they have earned. Players will be rewarded based on their final ranking after the event ends. The Ranking Rewards include items such as Cosmos of Sagittarius Seiya, Gemini God Cloth Saga, and other Items. Players will also be able to roll Cosmic Gasha with the Cosmic Points they have earned.
Log-in bonuses will also be taking place daily from January 26 11:00 am PT (January 26th 7:00 pm UTC) to February 15 10:59 am PT (February 15th 6:59 pm UTC), and players can earn up to 20,000 Holy Stones throughout the event.
Last but not least, a special poll will begin on the official website from January 26th to March 18th—asking players to vote for their favorite Saints. The top 10 Saints will be added to a special Gasha in which players will be guaranteed to get one character out of the 10 in the near future, so make sure to join the poll and vote for your favorite Saints!
Additional assets for Saint Seiya Cosmo Fantasy can be found at our new press room site at: http://bneapressroom.com or the following FTP location:
For more information, check out the official website and official Facebook page!
OPEN WORLD SANDBOX SURVIVAL GAME PixARK COMING TO EARLY ACCESS IN MARCH
Set in the World of Hit Game ARK: Survival Evolved, PixARK is Coming to PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch in 2018
Today Snail Games announced that open world voxel-based sandbox survival game PixARK will be entering Early Access on Steam and Xbox Games Preview in late March. Inspired by the world of the multi-million selling ARK: Survival Evolved, PixARK will be coming via retail and digital distribution to PC, Microsoft Xbox One and Xbox One X, Sony PlayStation 4 entertainment system and the Nintendo Switch later in 2018.
“With PixARK, we’ve taken the action and excitement that older players know and love in ARK to a new direction in order to introduce that world to an entirely different audience,” said Peter Kang, director of live operations and business development, Snail Games. “PixARK is a fun, colourful game that introduces players of all ages to ARK while adding creative building modes and a clever pick-up-and-play experience.”
In PixARK, a group of players wake up on a mysterious island, only to find themselves stranded. To survive, they must hunt, harvest, craft items, grow crops and build shelters to protect themselves from dinosaurs, natural hazards and potentially hostile human players. Using skills and the natural resources around them, players must tame or kill vicious creatures and learn to travel between worlds to uncover the mysteries that surround them.
PixARK is an open world voxel-based sandbox survival game bringing a new take on the world of ARK: Survival Evolved. The game will feature:
Single player and online multiplayer
The ability to collect and craft items and build bases
Over 100 dinosaurs and other creatures to tame, train and ride
Character progression and customisation
Procedurally generated worlds, with no two worlds ever being the same
Creative Mode which allows players to construct whatever they can imagine
More than eight unique biomes to explore, including deserts, jungles, caves and more
Procedurally generated quest system to keep players actively engaged in their worlds
Since its launch into Steam’s early access program in June 2015, over 12 million survivors have been stranded on the ARK island, wandering an incredible land to discover how to tame, train, ride and breed the 100+ dinosaurs and primeval creatures roaming the land.
Dragon Ball FighterZ(pronounced Fighters but with a Z sound) is a milestone fighting game for the franchise. Straying away from Bandai Namco’s recent 3D ‘Dragon Ball simulation’ efforts, Dragon Ball FighterZ is being created by fighting game royalty Arc System Works and is a ‘traditional’ fighting game more akin to Street Fighter or Guilty Gear. This is not Arc System Works first foray into 2D Dragon Ball fighters, having crafted multiple well received handheld games over the years, however the stakes are raised much higher with this home console entry. I’m happy to say Arc System Works were more than up to the challenge.
Story
While fighting games are renowned for skimping on story this isn’t the case for DBZ FighterZ. You get three separate arcs here of about 3 – 4 hours each that unlock consecutively as they are completed. Strangely, each arc is basically a different take on one common story thread and considering the plot can move a little slow at times this method of progression works against the story in my opinion. It’s definitely a baffling choice as to why this route was chosen over simply having one longer story arc and it does draw more attention to issues such as slow pacing and repetition. Luckily, each arc focuses on different lead characters and has entirely new cutscenes to keep things fresh, saving the story from becoming stale.
As far as original stories go in Dragon Ball games this is one of the better ones, thanks in part to the great villain of Android 21 (designed especially for the game by series creator Akira Toriyama). 21 holds some cool surprises for long time fans that even add to the DBZ mythos outside of this self contained story. The plot itself is rather simple despite some confusing elements with confusing explanations, however it contains just enough exciting moments to keep you hooked and wanting to experience the next major event.
Not surprisingly for a Dragon Ball product it’s the character interactions that really shine here. Dragon Ball is known for its varied and likeable cast so it’s great to see some lesser featured characters get the spotlight. Fighterz character moments are nothing short of excellent as the game is not afraid to reference even small bits of dialogue from the series or build upon character traits seldom explored in the source material. To portray this even further than in story mode cutscenes, there are over 50 unique, fully animated and voiced cutscenes discoverable in story mode that unlock based on your team composition or who your opponent is, with many providing some awesome moments or laughs such as Goku trying to work out what his fusion name with Gohan would be or Frieza finally meeting Majin Buu.
Players who appreciate authenticity (and to a lesser extent canon) will be happy that the game establishes itself to take place amongst the events of the anime, specifically before the events of the Goku Black arc in the anime. It impressively takes the time to explain why the Dragon Ball’s can’t be used to fix the situation or why Beerus won’t help, even going as far to provide a plot device for every character being equal in power. This important fact lends itself to not only the story mode, but all the unique dialogue that takes place in other modes as well.
The work put into fully realising each character in FighterZ is nothing short of astounding and a real treat, particularly to the hardcore fans. Adding even more fan service to what has already been mentioned are unique set pieces called Dramatic Finishes, which occur if certain conditions occur in a fight in any of the versus modes, such as beating Frieza on destroyed Namek with Goku in your party. Going even beyond that, in fight dialogue changes depending on your team composition when calling for assists or even using special attacks against certain characters.
Gameplay
FighterZ is best described as a 2D, 3 on 3 team based fighting game. Action is fast and furious as characters use a combination of light, medium and heavy attacks along with Specials, Supers (it took me a while to get used to the fact they aren’t called Supers and Ultimates like most Dragon Ball games recently) and assists to drain their opponent’s health bar. The speed and execution of the fighting system is not unlike former Marvel Vs. Capcom titles.
To be victorious here you will need a good knowledge of character combos, strength and weaknesses, team synergy, meter management and most importantly good timing and reflexes. While that may seem overwhelming it somehow just works and you’ll have a relatively strong understanding of how it all comes together within just a couple hours of playing. This is a fully fledged 2D fighting game that is crazy fun to play whilst being extremely smooth to handle and ridiculously polished.
Each of the 24 characters in the baser roster have many unique attack options yet also easy to switch between thanks to having similar button inputs for their available actions. The roster may seem small in comparison to recent Dragon Ball titles however I truly believe Arc System Works has put together the best roster possible for this type of game. Each character is in their most recognisable form and a huge portion of Z and Super is represented without sacrificing any diversity or balance (at least from what I have seen).
As a bit of a rookie when it comes to fighting games I was admittedly worried about jumping in to a technical fighter but my fears were unwarranted. While there are a lot of combat options to try and remember after a couple of hours I was really starting to get used to blocking, comboing and using my supers along with using assists and switching between party members. The moniker easy to learn but hard to master definitely applies here. The game does a great job easing you into the action and even makes use of the story mode to introduce and reinforce certain combat options while also advancing the story, a satisfying option for those who may not want the full step by step breakdown provided in the practice mode.
FighterZ offers a pretty standard selection of modes to keep players busy, including the aforementioned story mode, training, local vs, arcade and online.
The training mode is very detailed and will be sure to please any level of player trying to better their skills. Beyond simple training the mode also provides a practice match up that groups the games mechanics into bite sized tutorials and 10 combo challenges for each character ranging from very simple to frustratingly hard. It took me over 5 minutes to clear Goku’s last combo challenge, but watching myself perform slightly better each time and finally beating it was a rewarding experience and proof that I was getting more competent at transitioning between button presses and performing more complicated combos.
Arcade mode is your standard fare with three seperate rooms to enter matching up to different degrees of difficulty. The better your ranking in a match the more you stay on the winning path which nets you better rewards but harder opponents. It’s a fun challenge to see how long you can remain on the top path and that it’s not just game over if you perform slightly worse. Unfortunately despite the wealth of cutscenes in story mode, characters don’t have a nice intro or outro scene which is a slight letdown, I’d love to have Goku waiting at the end for me if I pick Vegeta as my lead character for instance.
Dragon Ball FighterZ features perhaps the best online mode I have had the pleasure of playing, particularly in a Dragon Ball game. Australia’s Internet doesn’t have the best reputation but due to what seems to be dedicated servers based on regions I was having flawless online matches while fighting opponents with decent connections. Even against opponents with no bars fights were slightly worse but still very playable and the delay counter at the top made it easier to adjust. Coming from Xenoverse 2 where online matches are virtually unplayable, this was mind blowing for me. The ability to search for a match while playing the practice or arcade mode is a very nice quality of life feature that I hope more games start to implement.
The main online modes consist of ranked and casual matches, however there are also arenas (a more social online mode more akin to endless) and ring matches for private fights between friends as well as a fully featured replay channel where you can watch back your own online fights, those provided by Bandai Namco or replays from the top players on the leaderboards.
To reward players for playing across any mode you will earn zeni (the main form of currency in the world of Dragon Ball) which are then spent on capsules. These give you additional avatars for the main lobby, Z-Stamps (which are pretty useless in all honesty), unique titles, backgrounds for your online card and even additional commentators for the replay channel such as Frieza or Yamcha. To be completely honest none of these items really appealed to me as they are all superficial and only apply to the games needlessly interactive menu system, however if any of the above items appealed to you or you’re a completionist you will probably see some value in this loot system.
Visuals
While graphics like this are of course subjective I think for most people this game will likely rate as one of the best looking anime games of all time (personally this is just ahead of Burst Limit for me). The 3D models use a cel shaded appearance to almost seem like high quality 2D sprites and it just works really well for the world of Dragon Ball. This is a rare case where the characters really fit in well with the backgrounds instead of awkwardly clashing.
The colours, accuracy of the models, worlds and special effects all look magnificent, really honouring the original work presented in the manga and anime, arguably surpassing it. It’s truly a sight to behold to see multiple characters launch their super moves in different directions as they fill the screen with crazy energy beams and explosions. To put it simply this is a beautiful looking game even on a base PS4 system and a normal HD TV. It also runs perfectly, with all fights happening at 60 FPS whilst never dropping a frame, no matter what crazy action is happening on screen.
Honestly my only quarrel with the visuals is some minor cases of clipping in character models depending on their positioning and that sometimes characters hands and fingers look way too big. The game also seems to have a purposefully low frame rate (seemingly in an attempt to look more like the anime) for the story mode and special attacks which can be a little jarring at first, especially when characters walk.
Audio
The audio here matches the visual in terms of quality. The quality of the sound effects, music and voice tracks is top notch. In fights, each hit feels impactful with sound effects ripped right from the show to complete the Dragon Ball experience.
There are two voice options here, one featuring the original Japanese voice actors (which is surprisingly the default choice in the international release) and the other being the Funimation English dub. After watching Super in Japanese I can tell the Japanese actors all do their best work here. Over on the English side I feel the voice actors knew this was a special game and thus really aimed to give a special effort in their performances. There are a few awkwardly delivered lines here and there to go along with a few awkwardly written lines, however 99% of the dialogue and acting is of a high level.
Lastly for sound, the music definitely deserves a special mention. FighterZ features a great number of tracks including unique themes for every character and stage, as well as specially crafted story tracks that feel like they could have come right out of Dragon Ball Super or Kai. A mix of rock, drum and bass, techno and even jazz make up the soundtrack, with most songs having memorable melodies and fitting in with that character or stage (shoutout to the West City and Gotenks themes for being two of my favourites). The option to choose any song to fight to is a welcome one, especially with this excellent playlist.
Overall
Dragon Ball FighterZ is a huge success from Arc System Works and any Dragon Ball or fighting game fan should be thrilled that Bandai Namco partnered with them for this project. FighterZ features amazingly smooth, fast and frantic gameplay with an incredibly realised cast of characters. The presentation is technically brilliant while remaining faithful to the original series and there are a wealth of modes to enjoy it in. While I can make some minor complaints over the story, trivial loot and lack of stages, these issues don’t come close to bringing down what a revolution Dragon Ball FighterZ is for the franchise. If you’ve ever hoped to see Dragon Ball successfully realised as a modern, traditional fighting game then I would say your wish has been granted.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Four characters, including a brand new one, join the SOULCALIBUR VI roster! BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Europe today confirmed Grøh, Xianghua, Kilik and Nightmare in the upcoming weapon-based fighting game. SOULCALIBUR VI will be launched in 2018 for PlayStation®4, Xbox One and PC Digital via STEAM® and other distributors.
The all new character to join SOULCALIBUR VI is an agent in black. Grøh‘s dedication to his studies and training earned him a place as one of Aval’s Twelve. However, after his failure to deal with the Azure Knight, he lost his position within the organization. The infighting in Aval has delayed his punishment for now, and if Grøh hopes to protect his right to wield Arondight, he needs to once again prove just how strong he is.
Fans will be pleased to play again with previous iconic characters such as Xianghua, Kilik and Nightmare. Xianghua learned how to wield a sword from her mother, Xiangfei, and the sword she inherited from her is a priceless treasure. When she was a child, she was enraptured by the beauty of her mother practicing the sword. Xianghua has added her own moves to the techniques. Her personal style relies less on taking her opponent down with head-on attacks and more on feints—landing a decisive blow only after her opponent has left an opening for her to exploit. The beauty and deadly grace of her movements can make it seem that she is dancing with her sword, and can captivate even her opponents!
Ever since the tragedy brought by the Evil Seed befell Ling-Sheng Su, Kilik has kept the Kali-Yuga firmly by his side. As the final successor to Ling-Sheng Su’s techniques, he has devoted himself to his training, and is currently studying esoteric techniques under the legendary warrior, Edge Master.
When facing Nightmare, one must never forget that he is able to at least partially unleash the power of the sword. If he does, payers have to be prepared for a blow designed to kill in one fell cut. The souls of those struck down and devoured by the sword are like books that get added to the blade’s seemingly never-ending library of fighting styles. Is there anyone who can stop the river of blood this sword leaves in its wake?
About BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Europe S.A.S. BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Europe S.A.S., 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™, ACE COMBAT™ and DARK SOULS™. BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Europe is the premier publisher for anime based video games including NARUTO SHIPPUDEN™, DRAGON BALL™, and ONE PIECE™. More information about the company and its products can be found at http://www.bandainamcoent.eu or www.facebook.com/BandaiNamcoEU
DISCOVER THE MAGIC BEHIND NI NO KUNI II: REVENANT KINGDOM
BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Europe revealed today through a documentary presenting how Akihiro Hino,Yoshiyuki Momose, and Takafumi Koukami gave life to the incredible characters of Ni no Kuni II: REVENANT KINGDOM!
BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Europe S.A.S. part of BANDAI NAMCO Holdings Inc. is a leading global publisher and developer of interactive content for platforms including all major video game consoles, PC and mobile. The company is known for creating and publishing many of the industry’s top video game franchises, including PAC-MAN™, TEKKEN™, SOULCALIBUR™, DARK SOULS™, NARUTO™, NARUTO SHIPPUDEN™, Dragon Ball, GALAGA™, RIDGE RACER™ and ACE COMBAT™. For more information please visit www.bandainamcoent.eu
I finally purchased a HTC Vive over the holidays. Starting it for the first time and standing on the edge of a crevasse is something that needs to be experienced. It is astounding that we have reached this point when only 5 years ago, Grand Theft Auto V came out and was seen as the pinnacle of gaming.
VR has opened up an entirely new world for developers to explore. From Valves The Lab, a Portal themed romp through virtual reality showing its capacity for beautiful vistas and mini-games, to VRchat, an experience I can only equate to the hay day of second life.
I was convinced by a friend to download the free PC VR chat room program. When first booting it up I was introduced to a tutorial. It calibrated my height, let me discover the mechanics of the game, from shooting to drawing, and then I was asked to choose an avatar. With it being a Unity application, I was able to upload my own avatar, a high-res model of Captain Picard from Star Trek. I selected a server, one called “Ronald McDonald heaven” and off I went.
I was not prepared for the hell I was about to be dropped into.
When the game loaded up I saw a giant red ramp in front of me, with signs beckoning me to the top to see “The holy one”. Using my Vive controllers’ touch pad, I was able to walk around and go up the ramp. Halfway up I began to see some sort of ritual being conducted around a Ronald McDonald. Multiple anime girl and crude knuckles avatars interspersed with the occasional Reaper from Overwatch and Sasuke from Naruto, and a cross between a man and an ice cream.
I was invited to stand in front of a very well rendered statue of Ronald McDonald, covered in cheese burgers, and pray to “find de way”. I stood there in awe, which they took as disobeying their “holy one” and was then berated by these odd avatars. They pretended to spit on me and used some terms that should not be repeated. I very quickly quit VRchat and put my Vive down, just taking a moment to absorb what I had just witnessed.
This shows both the good and the bad with giving players too much freedom. In a world where any player can create and share their worlds and avatars, it creates these situations. Situations where everyone is in on the joke and having fun, but if someone doesn’t understand or appreciate the joke, people are quick to ridicule them. The inherent problem with this freedom, is that trolls flock to these programs.
Internet trolls love to ruin peoples experiences for their own and others amusement, and create situations that make others uncomfortable. VRchat has started gaining a reputation as a program where people go to do racist impressions or creepily hang around anyone with an anime avatar.
My opinion on VRchat is that it is an interesting experiment. It is giving people a view into the mindset of trolls, and how they will put a lot of effort into something if it means ruining it for someone else.
But in this ruining of other people’s fun, a community has grown. Players meeting other players, bonding over shared memes, and talking to each other outside of the game.
Internet trolls will always be around, trying to ruin the fun of others, but they can also be seen as innovators and community creators. Without the trolls, VRchat would not be talked about as much, nor would Second Life. They also wouldn’t give players with stranger senses of humour a feeling of belonging.
Trolls don’t need to be seen as a plague on gaming, but a necessary evil for people to bond with or against. Even though I was ridiculed online by this community, I can see the joke for what it is, just something goofy that people are having fun with.
