Worlds collide and chaos ensues as BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Europe releases ACCEL WORLD VS. SWORD ART ONLINE
Build A Dream Team with Your Favorite Characters from ACCEL WORLD and Sword Art Online to Bring Peace to Worlds in Turmoil
BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Europe the premier publisher of anime video games today announced that it has launched ACCEL WORLD VS. SWORD ART ONLINE in Europe, digitally for the PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system and PlayStation® Vita handheld entertainment system.
The virtual and accelerated worlds have collided! Sword Art Online’s Svart Alfheim and the Accelerated World have begun to merge, and in the midst of the chaos, Yui has gone missing. Join Kirito and over 30 playable characters, as they challenge the Seven Kings of Pure Color from the Accelerated World to gain access to Yui’s location. Players from both groups come together in a war of the worlds where the strongest Burst Linkers and ALO Players are on a mission to save Yui from the hands of Persona Vabel, a mysterious figure who lives a thousand years in the future.
ACCEL WORLD VS. SWORD ART ONLINE is a dream anime crossover bringing together characters from two of Reki Kawahara’s celebrated franchises — ACCEL WORLD and SWORD ART ONLINE. The game features a large roster of characters from the anime and award winning series enabling fans to build out a three-person dream team with their favorite characters and utilize their special abilities in battle from both ACCEL WORLD and SWORD ART ONLINE. By mixing and matching characters from both worlds, players will be able to create an unstoppable team as they embark on an epic action role-playing game adventure. Players will also be able to team-up with three other friends to battle rivals in fierce online multiplayer modes. Additionally, through the use of a new Switch System built in to ACCEL WORLD VS. SWORD ART ONLINE, players can enjoy fast-paced battles while switching to different characters, enabling them to chain together long combos with no stop to the action on screen.
The Day1 of the title as more to share with the fans of the saga. It will arrive with two exclusive contents for those who are part of the Bandai Namco Entertainment Loyalty Program:
Discover the beginning of the story with the exclusive Digital manga, and found out on what comes next with the official videogame
SAO ORDINAL SCALE PACK that features Kirito and AsunaOrdinal Scale Costumes and a second Playable Character: Yuna available from today to the 7th August in limited quantities for free
To get both these packs, the player has to connect to www.bandainamcoent.eu, subscribe to the loyalty program if it is not already the case and request the code that he will receive by mail.
ARMS is Nintendo’s most recent attempt at a brand new IP, featuring 10 unique fighters who all excel in stretching out their arms (or hair) to land a blow on their opponent. When the boxing-based 3D arena fighter was first revealed people were initially pretty quiet on the idea, but the hype surrounding ARMS tended to rise as hands-on impressions of the game started to come out. When I first played ARMS at a hands-on event earlier this year I noted that I had fun with the game but it lacked staying power, so does the full retail game manage to sway my initial opinion?
Story
While ARMS has a 10 round ‘arcade mode’ acting as it’s main single player draw there is little story here. At the beginning of each character’s campaign, you get a couple of lines of text mentioning some facts about them and a stats bio. In addition to that, between matches, a robot commentator will comment on your next opponent and sometimes the relationship between the two.
This has about as much narrative as you used to find in most 90’s fighters but with such a fascinating world that seems obsessed with the ARMS circuit, it’s a shame there wasn’t a proper story mode to give these fascinating characters more depth. On the bright side it gives the world and fighters a nice air of mystery I guess.
Gameplay
At its core, ARMS is typically a 1 on 1 boxing game focusing on movement in a 3D arena while punching, dodging and countering. The big twist here, of course, is your characters have ridiculous punching range thanks to their spring like arms or hair. Each of the 10 fighters has their own movement speed, punching speed, starting arm selections, special ability (e.g. Ninjara disappears when he dashes in the air, Twintelle can float for a bit and Helix… well he’s very unique let’s just say that) and power. For the most part, the characters are well balanced and as each fighter has access to each arm type there are no issues there.
On top of that, each of your two arms can be equipped with one of 30 arm types which range from standard boxing gloves to mallets to dragons that shoot laser beams. This means there are countless combinations of play styles to mess around with and finding one that suits you shouldn’t be too difficult. Each glove category is vastly different from the last and while you may find you easily beat an opponent with one combination, them simply changing their gloves can throw you for a loop giving valuable meaning to the in-between round glove changes both players can make.
Perhaps surprisingly so, there is a high layer of strategy in ARMS. While the game employs a rather common paper-scissors-rock premise in that punches beat grabs, grabs beat blocks and blocks beat punches (and each of those cancels each other out). Your success in ARMS will come from mastering that system as well as being better in common fighting game tropes such as reaction times, spacing and game knowledge.
Controls are well handled here with every Switch control scheme supported. The motion controls are incredibly solid and responsive. While I found movement perhaps the hardest thing to do with the controls I think that was down to me being uncoordinated as opposed to poor motion controls. I’ve heard many complaints about people grabbing by mistake but I didn’t suffer that issue.
If you’re learning the game I definitely recommend playing in handheld mode with the Joycons attached. This allows you to pay close attention to the action while learning the controls which are a little unconventional (guard, for example, is activated by pushing the left stick in). For some reason, Nintendo didn’t see it necessary to let us customise button inputs at all which would have been greatly appreciated.
In terms of game modes, you’ve got the aforementioned Grand Prix, versus modes which contains some fairly inconsequential mini games (which can be played locally and online) and a training mode. The training mode throws a variety of situations against you to get better at certain aspects of the game which I found great. Meanwhile, the mini games Volleyball, Hoops and Skillshot (break the target) are nothing but small distractions that are better suited to being scattered in between Grand Prix and online matches as they are.
Nintendo deserves a shout out for this online mode. The no lag, minimum connection errors, quick matchmaking mode makes for what could be the smoothest Nintendo online mode we have seen yet perhaps and one of the best lobby based online modes I’ve ever had the pleasure of playing.
So you’ve got an awesome cast of characters, layers of strategy and one of the best online modes Nintendo has ever crafted, so then why does ARMS lose it’s magic so quickly. I think I can nail it on a few specific things, the crushing offline difficulty souring my initial impressions of the game while I was trying to learn the basics, a lack of engaging content and simply the core punching gameplay becomes repetitive too quickly.
While the concept of the game is easy to grasp earning success is unnecessarily difficult. Even on the 2nd lowest Grand Prix difficulty, I was constantly getting KO’d, taking multiple attempts at each fighter. A game with a fairly fresh concept should have let me ease into the game and then push me in later difficulties, not keep breaking me down until I was just forced to get better. I found player matches against other newbies was actually the fairest way to practice.
While there is a lot of strategy and various weapons, there aren’t really combos in ARMS so your only attack options come down to left punch, right punch and grab and that basically applies to the entire game. There’s almost nothing to unlock outside of new arms for each fighter, but if you’re not already becoming tired of the gameplay than that does little to alleviate the monotony.
The one game mode I didn’t mention above is the 1-on-100 which is perhaps my favourite of the additional modes because it mixes up the gameplay the most, forcing you to constantly be on your toes moving and allowing you to OHKO 100 Helix clones before taking on a challenging hidden boss. Again this relies heavily on the core mechanics but the multiple opponents that go down in a single hit and challenging boss provided enough of a fresh breath of air. Even this mode doesn’t have much meat to it, however.
For what if offers, ARMS being $80 AUD is simply too much. If ARMS had released at maybe $30 AUD with just Grand Prix (without the mini games), 1 on 1 local, 1 on 1 online ranked and player match and a training mode, the game would have been better off for it. Even with more free content planned, I can easily see ARMS getting pushed aside for other fighting games and the upcoming Splatoon 2.
Visual
ARMS is a very solid looking game full of the signature Nintendo style of bright colours, impressive character models, and flashy effects. The 10 fighters with all their small attention to details, their animations and the 10+ stages are all lovingly crafted and ooze character (literally if you’re talking about Helix). This is one of the most memorable and diverse rosters in years, from the punchy Springman to the diva Twintelle and kung-fu fighting Min Min. I’ll struggle to forget any of these characters anytime soon.
My only problem with the graphics is that there seems to be some sort of white filter over the top of all gameplay that stops this game being as vibrant as it wants to be but it’s a very small issue. The menus and the fighting user interface are all well designed and communicated, even if the training menu was buried in the versus menu for some reason. Performance wise this game maintains an impressive 60 FPS outside of 4 player local battles and almost always runs at 1080p to boot, dropping to 900p whenever split screen is introduced.
Audio
While I probably won’t find myself seeking out any of the music in ARMS on YouTube, no one could deny the soundtrack fits this game perfectly. From the chanting theme song that gets your pumped to fight to the character specific themes that all take cues from that characters design inspiration or suit the stage (e.g. Min Min’s ramen bowl stage that has a taste of those classic Asian instrumentals and is perhaps my favourite track in the game), all the music here serves a purpose. Likewise, each character voice matches their design and are performed well, even if the characters don’t have much to say. Lastly, all the in game sound effects perfectly match up to the action and make each punch or block even more satisfying to land in addition to the visual cues used.
Overall
ARMS is a real tough one to score. The game has excellent presentation, an awesome roster of unique fighters, a great amount of strategy and all the gameplay elements to capitalise on those strategic systems in place. The problem is I became bored too quickly with fighting that makes up 95% of the gameplay. Toss in a strangely high difficulty that doesn’t let you ease into learning how ARMS plays in the beginning few hours and a lack of any engaging single-player content and it becomes hard to justify the full game price tag.
I encourage everyone to give ARMS a shot if you can as it no doubt earns at least that much, but I can only truly recommend it if you fall in love with the core fighting mechanics and have aims to play heavily online.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Digital Continue revealed it’s first game, Next Hero Up. The company is headed by Joe Tringali, the co-founder of 5TH Cell (Lock’s Quest), and it is working with Aspyr Media to bring Next Hero Up to early access in Fall 2017 (Spring 2017 for the Southern Hemisphere). A closed beta is now live through RTX Austin, and the game will be launched in full for Linux, Mac, PlayStation 4, Switch, Xbox One, and Windows in early 2018.
The game is an arcade style shoot ’em up featuring nine unique heroes wielding weapons ranging from the conventional sword to the ridiculous bongo drum. Players control all nine heroes, though not all at once. As each hero falls in battle, they leave an echo in the level that will serve as an AI companion for a future playthrough. Players simply need to find the fallen echo to add to their army until they have enough firepower to win or die trying. This twist on asynchronous multiplayer is called Community Continue.
Bitbox threw open the doors to Life is Feudal: MMO for its fourth beta test. The latest round of testing will run for two weeks, ending on July 21. New to this closed beta is the Trading Post, which allows players to trade resources and crafted items among themselves in a controlled and safe manner. Of course, there is little to stop someone from swinging their weapon afterwards, but that’s the risk in a survival game!
Life is Feudal: MMOis a large scale expansion to Bitbox’s medieval survival game. Life is Feudal: MMOfeatures massive, persistent servers that are 49 times larger than Life is Feudal’s private servers. Up to 10,000 players can group together as guilds to build cities and towns then go to battle in instanced battlegrounds, complete with siege equipment.
To accompany the announcement, Bitbox has released a tutorial video to teach new players how to build their very first house in game.
Editor’s Note: The mini-games has been removed from the game’s features list. The article has been updated accordingly.
Tim Conkling is launching his digital board game Antihero on Monday. Set in the gas-lit Victorian era of Oliver Twist, Antihero challenges players to build the biggest, baddest Thieves Guild in the city from the ground up. Players will recruit their would be thieves from the wily street urchins to steal anything that isn’t nailed down and hire thugs to batter and assassinate rivals to clear a path to the top. Successful heists will bring in gold, which can be invested into upgrades and better weapons. The pacing is designed to be fast and furious.
Antihero features a story driven campaign and an AI skirmish mode. Players can challenge their friends (or enemies) with online and offline PVP in both casual and ranked matches. Multiplayer mode supports both asynchronous and live play.
Published by Versus Evil (Armikrog), Antihero will launch on Monday July 10 via Steam for $14.99 USD, with 20% discount for all pre-orders. The game will support both Mac and Windows PCs.
HIDDEN DRAGON LEGEND Coming to PlayStation®4 This August
Oasis Games Adds Robust 2.5D Action Platformer Game with RPG Elements and Plenty of Challenge to Its Growing Library of Console Titles
July 7, 2017 – Oasis Games Ltd, a leading independent Chinese publisher, today announced that its new 2.5D Action Platforming game, HIDDEN DRAGON LEGEND, will launch this August for the PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system. Set in ancient China, the game challenges players to battle an array of fierce foes, jump and grapple to avoid obstacles and enemies, build their character through a deep, RPG-style skill tree, and solve puzzles in the heat of battle.
HIDDEN DRAGON LEGEND, which is powered by Unreal Engine 4, is a Chinese-developed indie title that transports players to Imperial China. In the game, players will utilize all their skills in combat, acrobatics, and puzzle-solving to navigate their way through tough enemies, powerful bosses and Metroidvania-style puzzles while building their fighter through an extensive skill tree that allows players to customize their fighting style. In the game world, competing factions vie to obtain a powerful object called the Dragon Cauldron, which grants inhuman powers at the cost of sanity and reason. When the player character finds he has been put under the spell of the Dragon Cauldronby a dark faction, making him a mere puppet forced to kill, he ventures forth to settle the score.
“HIDDEN DRAGON LEGEND transports players to ancient China for thrilling combat, deadly enemies, challenging puzzles and a surprising amount of depth,” said Alen Wu, Business Director at Oasis Games. “With a player-friendly price and intensely fun gameplay, the title offers action fans a great combination of entertainment and value.”
FEATURES
Action packed gameplay— 2.5D hack and slash platform gameplay set in ancient China
Slice and dice with combos— Dispel foes with a variety of attacks, devastating them with stunning combos and abilities
Fight with skill and style— Battle through waves of enemies using lightning-fast, deadly attacks, or perfectly time a dash to counter-attack adding even more combos
Get acrobatic— Jump, swim, and grapple to avoid obstacles, escape enemies and clear missions through vibrant, detailed levels inspired by ancient China and the paranormal universe
Plenty of challenge— Solve puzzles and unleash all your skills on tough bosses that stand in your way
Surprising depth— Explore an expansive skill tree that offers seemingly limitless combos to unlock with “Soul Stones”, stronger weapons, stats and special moves
Pure fun— Enjoy a deep yet intuitive pickup and play experience with an estimated 10 hours of gameplay
Developed by MegaFun Games and published by Oasis Games for PS4™, HIDDEN DRAGON LEGEND will be available on the PlayStation®Store for $19.99 this August. This game has not yet been rated by the ESRB.
Oasis Games Limited was established in 2011 and has become a top global interactive entertainment publisher. The company’s games have been translated into 16 different languages and published in more than 70 countries, reaching more than 100 million players. The company continues its pioneering presence as the first, and currently sole, strategic publishing partner of Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) Shanghai for the global publishing market—uniquely positioning Oasis Games to bring high quality games to PC and console players worldwide. Its blockbuster online RPG, Legend Online, has attracted over 50 million players and Naruto Online, the award-winning RPG browser-based game of the Naruto franchise, has amassed a global following. The company launched a lineup of exciting Steam and PlayStation®VR games during the PS VR launch window and continues to launch strong new games for PC and console. For more information, please visit www.oasgames.com.
NEXT UP HERO ANNOUNCED FOR PS4, XBOX ONE, AND NINTENDO SWITCH
AUSTIN, TX — JULY 7, 2017 – Aspyr Media and Digital Continue announced today that Next Up Hero is coming to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC, Mac, and Linux in early 2018.
Next Up Hero is an arcade action-adventure driven by Community Continue, in which players take turns fighting — and dying — in community game sessions, working to conquer impossibly hard monsters and bosses together, one hero at a time.
Choose from nine heroes with an assortment of weapons and abilities to suit your playstyle, from swords and rocket launchers to laser turrets, bongo drums, and boomerangs. When you die, you’ll leave behind an Echo of your hero on the battlefield. The next in the line of heroes will be able to resurrect your Echo as an AI battle companion. Take turns continuing friends’ games, fighting and dying until you have an entire army of Echoes by your side, and enough strength to finally defeat those jerk monsters. Everyone dies. Heroes continue.
Next Up Hero is the first original game from developer Digital Continue, founded by industry veteran Joe Tringali, the co-founder of 5TH Cell, creators of Scribblenauts, Lock’s Quest and Drawn to Life.
Next Up Hero is being developed with community feedback, beginning with an exclusive closed beta launch at RTX Austin today, and moving to Steam’s Early Access in the fall. Digital Continue will incorporate community ideas to improve characters, modes, weapons, attacks, and enemy types for the final game, launching in early 2018.
Aspyr Media, Inc. is an independent game developer, licensor and publisher based in Austin, Texas. Since 1996, we’ve extended blockbuster gaming franchises such as Star Wars®, Call of Duty®, Sid Meier’s Civilization®, The Sims™ and Borderlands® to new platforms worldwide. Today, Aspyr brings over 20 years of video game industry knowledge to independent developers as a publishing partner, helping to bring their unique visions to market.
About Digital Continue LLC
Founded in 2016 by Joseph M Tringali, Bobby Pavlock and Nitin Venugopal, Digital Continue is dedicated to bringing unique, original games to digital PC and consoles. Headquartered in Queens, NYC, Digital Continue is fully independent and is excited to be a part of New York City’s growing community of developers.
NETFLIX ORDERS SECOND SEASON OF THE ANIMATED SERIES CASTLEVANIA
FROM WOW! UNLIMITED MEDIA’S FREDERATOR STUDIOS
(Toronto/Vancouver, July 7, 2017) – Netflix has ordered a second season of Castlevania its new animated series based on the popular video game series. In addition, the network has increased the episode order from four in its first season to eight for the second season. The new Netflix original series Castlevania launches globally today and is the first proprietary production of Frederator Studios under the umbrella of parent company WOW! Unlimited Media (TSX-V WOW.A and WOW.B).
Inspired by the classic video game series from Japan’s Konami, Castlevania is an animated project written by best-selling author and comic book legend Warren Ellis. Castlevania is a dark medieval fantasy that follows the last surviving member of the disgraced Belmont clan, trying to save Eastern Europe from extinction at the hand of Vlad Dracula Tepes himself. The cast features the voice talents of Graham McTavish (The Hobbit, Outlander and Preacher) as Dracula, Richard Armitage (The Hobbit trilogy) as Trevor Belmont, James Callis (Battlestar Galactica) as Alucard, Emily Swallow (Supernatural) as Lisa, Matt Frewer (Orphan Black) as The Bishop, Tony Amendola (Annabelle) as The Elder and Alejandra Reynoso (G.I. Joe: Renegades) as Sypha Belnades.
“Castlevania has been a world icon for 30 years. WOW! and Frederator are honored to have the privilege of bringing it to life as an entertainment series that will continue its story for years to come,” added Fred Seibert, Chief Creative Officer of WOW! Unlimited Media and CEO of Frederator Networks and Frederator Studios.
Castlevania is executive produced by Warren Ellis, Kevin Kolde, Adi Shankar and Fred Seibert. Production services are provided by Austin, Texas based Powerhouse Animation with Brad Graeber supervising producer, Jason Williams as producer, and Sam Deats as director.
About WOW Unlimited Media Inc.
WOW Unlimited Media Inc., formerly Rainmaker Entertainment Inc., is creating a leading next-generation kids and youth animation business by focusing on digital platforms and content. The company’s key assets include: the world’s #1 digital animation network (Frederator Networks), the world’s first Hispanic animation network (Átomo Network, a joint venture with Ánima Estudios), one of Canada’s largest, multi-faceted animation production studios (Rainmaker Entertainment), one of the most successful U.S.-based independent animation production company of the past 20 years (Frederator Studios) and multiple owned and operated VOD channels on digital platforms, including its latest launch of Cartoon Hangover Select on Ellation Media’s VRV platform. The company operates out of offices in Toronto, New York, Vancouver and Los Angeles, and is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSX-V: WOW.A and WOW.B).
About Frederator Studios
Frederator Studios makes cartoons for television and the Internet. It was in founded in 1998 by serial media entrepreneur, and former Hanna-Barbera president, Fred Seibert, as a unique incubator for big animation ideas by producing original cartoons. More than 250 short films have resulted in 25 hit series for television and the Internet, including Butch Hartman’s The Fairly OddParents on Nickelodeon, Pendleton Ward’s Adventure Time on Cartoon Network and Bravest Warriors, as well as Natasha Allegri’s Bee and PuppyCat, on Frederator’s Cartoon Hangover Select Channel on VRV.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain information set forth in this press release contains “forward-looking statements” and “forward-looking information” under applicable securities laws. These statements relate to future events or future performance and are not guarantee of future success. In evaluating these statements, readers should specifically consider risks which may cause actual results to differ materially from any forward-looking statement. Except as required by applicable securities laws, WOW Unlimited Media does not assume any obligation to update the forward-looking statements contained herein.
Nex Machina is a twin stick shooter with cutting edge modern graphics. Set in a world where humans have been surpassed by artificial intelligence, robots have decided to overthrow the humans and take Earth for themselves. Players must now shoot down hundreds of robots and save the hapless humans to prevent praising their new robot overlords. Nex Machina features six worlds and over a hundred levels filled with secret paths and collectibles to discover.
Story
The premise of Nex Machina is as deep as the story gets. This is an old school arcade game that does not have time for silly things like plots. It only wants to know if you plan on continuing or not.
Gameplay
Nex Machina is a classic twin stick arcade shooter for the modern era. There are over a hundred short levels split across six worlds. Each level consists of a variety of enemies that will spawn in at a pre-set pattern with optional objectives like special enemies to kill and humans to rescue. Enemies vary from the standard cannon fodder to particularly nasty robots that fire a special laser at blistering speeds that cannot be dashed through. Each world is capped off with an awesome multi-phase boss fight that puts the player’s movement skills to the test.
The level design is excellent. The game gets progressively harder at a good pace and new mechanical challenges are introduced with some regularity. Trying to complete the optional objectives also gives the game a nice boost in difficulty, providing arcade veterans a much needed challenge. The sheer number of secret levels and collectibles available gives the game plenty of replayability.
Controls are pretty standard for twin stick shooters. Beyond the normal movement directions, players can also dash after a short cooldown, granting them a quick burst of speed and invincibility. This will allow them to pass through the straight pink lasers, but not the braided lasers. Players have their primary weapon that fires endlessly and is modified by a variety of battlefield boosts. A secondary weapon pickup that rotates between a variety of weapons can also be found scattered across some of the levels, giving players a chance to find something that suits their playstyle if they are patient enough to wait out their preferred weapon.
Arcade is the standard mode, offering four tiers of difficulty. Players start at the very first level and attempt to progress through all six worlds. The number of continues available to the player will vary based on the difficulty level. If players are looking to hone their skills on a single world, then the aptly named Single World mode is available. Multiplayer is also available as local couch co-op. To unlock customization options or battle it out for high scores, players can try the Online Arena mode where specific challenges are laid out. Completing them will reward players with coins that unlocks new skins and colours. As an added bonus, players can also view the replays of high score runs on the same platform. It’s a great opportunity to bone up on some new tactics. While Arcade mode is the bread and butter of Nex Machina, Online Arena is a interesting new way to add some extra replayability to the game.
Nex Machina is nearly perfect and would probably have earned a score reflecting that if I was grading the game on the console. Unfortunately, the game’s PC version is a little clunky. The mouse and keyboard controls are just awful. Movement with the keyboard works well enough, but the mouse is terrible. In my testing, the gunfire has a weird habit of randomly hopping to the other side of my character instead of following the direction of the mouse. I am also pretty sure that the mouse controls only fire in eight possible directions while the thumbstick can fire at any degree in a circle. Binding keyboard and mouse keys work well enough, but switching from mouse and keyboard to controller is unintuitive and the instructions are vague. Most games will automatically detect when an Xbox controller is plugged into Windows and switch over. Nex Machina on the other hand needs players to manually switch the controls over, and it does not make it very clear that the player needs to hit tab to cycle the input type. I had to wade into the Steam forums to find that out from the developers, who admitted it wasn’t the cleanest of implementations.
If PC players can get their hands on a controller for Nex Machina, they will be treated to the same fantastic experience their console brethren are getting. The controller performs incredibly well. Everything is extremely responsive and the four button layouts are mapped to keep everything close at hand. I like the fact the shoulder and trigger buttons are automatically mapped to the same key.
Visuals
If Geometry Wars was all about presenting the twin stick shooter in the most minimalistic way possible, then Nex Machina is the antithesis of that mentality. The game is all about pushing the boundaries with cutting edge graphics and plenty of objects bouncing around the screen. The art style is a modern take on the retro alien robot design. Nex Machina is visually chaotic when the action gets going, but there is a beauty in the madness. The animations are fantastic, and the transition animations between levels are a special touch. Everything that is mechanically important is visually distinct, making it easy for players with sharp eyes to pick up on vital cues quickly.
On the technical side, Nex Machina has a minimum system specs that is worthy of its impressive graphics. Don’t let the twin stick shooter thing fool you, rendering all those flying objects on screen demands a lot of horse power. Surprisingly, the graphic customization options are a little on the thin side.
Audio
Nex Machina delivers a solid audio experience. The sound effects are excellent. The soundtrack is fantastic. It is filled with pulse raising dance and techno music that pairs beautifully with the games fast paced action. The bass and the gunfire seem to meld together seamlessly, creating an amazing rhythm for the game.
Overall
Nex Machina is a fantastic twin stick shooter. It features an excellent visual presentation and an amazing electronic soundtrack. The gameplay is tight and incredibly fun. There is plenty of replay value between the Online Arena mode and the mass of secrets to discover. It’s just a shame that the keyboard and mouse implementation is so awkward. If you are going to play Nex Machina on the PC, do yourself a favour and play it the way it was meant to be enjoyed: with a controller.
“Puzzles are made for solving!” LAYTON’S MYSTERY JOURNEY™: Katrielle and the Millionaires’ Conspiracy Available on Mobile Devices Worldwide on July 20
Celebrate the Layton Series’ 10th Anniversary and Pre-Register on Google Play Today to be Among the First to Play this New Adventure
Los Angeles, USA (July 6, 2017) – Global entertainment company LEVEL-5 abby Inc. announced LAYTON’S MYSTERY JOURNEY: Katrielle and the Millionaires’ Conspiracy will be released to the App Store for iPhone and iPad and to Google Play for Android devices on July 20 for $15.99 and on Nintendo 3DS family of systems this Autumn. Celebrating the Layton Series’ 10th Anniversary,LAYTON’S MYSTERY JOURNEY is an extraordinary puzzle adventure game that follows detective Katrielle Layton, Professor Layton’s daughter, on a journey through London to solve mysterious happenings from missing cats to murder cases. Fans can pre-register on Google Play and to be notified when the first installment in the popular Layton Series™ is available to purchase and download.
“LAYTON’S MYSTERY JOURNEY delivers wonderful stories, colorful characters and challenging puzzles in the most accessible game in the PROFESSOR LAYTON series yet,” said Yukari Hayakawa, Chief Operation Officer at LEVEL-5 abby Inc. “We’ve built Katrielle and the Millionaires’ Conspiracy from the ground up for mobile devices and are looking forward to giving puzzle fans around the world the chance to experience the highly entertaining and deep puzzle adventure experience.”
In the latest installment in the LAYTON SERIES, Katrielle, assisted by Sherl, the talking dog, embark on a series of mysterious adventures through London encountering a charming cast of characters along the way. Featuring the largest collection of challenging puzzles in the franchise to date, players will also be able to change Katrielle’s outfits, customize the Layton Detective Agency and take part in mini-games as they advance in the story. Follow Katrielle on her trusty bicycle, solving case after unlikely case, until she unwittingly uncovers the Millionaires’ Conspiracy.
As a way to commemorate the launch of this new title, LEVEL-5 recently teamed up with the makers of the original “Real Escape Game,” Scrap Entertainment Inc., to launch “LAYTON’S MYSTERY JOURNEY: REAL WORLD PUZZLE SOLVING.” From June 20 through September 21, fans of the LAYTON SERIES can participate in finding and solving 50 puzzles that will appear in the real world at famous locations throughout 10 countries and through the online portal at https://layton.world/. Fans can enjoy puzzle solving before the actual game launch by teaming up and communicating with all other players using the TRANSLAYTON system. The more puzzles players solve, the more rewards and bonuses they can collect which will be useful in the game itself.
LEVEL-5 Inc. plans, creates, and markets video game software and produces mega-hit IPs targeting kids around the world. The company specializes in cross-media strategies and oversees corresponding counterparts (anime, toys, manga, etc.) for its titles. The company’s flagship PROFESSOR LAYTON™ series has shipped over 15.5 million units worldwide, The Ni no Kuni™ series, featuring animations created the Academy Award-winning Studio Ghibli, has sold over 1.5 million titles worldwide and received numerous prominent game awards. LEVEL-5’s cross-media titles include INAZUMA ELEVEN™, Little Battlers eXperience, and most recently YO-KAI WATCH™, which has sold over 13 million copies of its games worldwide. While maintaining its foundation as a game company, LEVEL-5 Inc. continues to actively explore collaborations with other media as it strives to flourish as a world-class entertainment brand. To learn more, please visit http://www.level5.co.jp/abby
Overall
