Tindalos Interactive and Focus Home Interactive released a new trailer today for Battlefleet Gothic: Armada’s latest DLC. The video introduces the Tau Empire, an alien civilization looking to expand their territory and bring enlightenment to other civilizations through the philosophy of Grater Good. The Tau Empire’s fleet are masters of long range engagements, able to strike enemies from afar with powerful weapons and then pummel the survivors as they attempt to close the distance.
The “Tau Empire” DLC costs $6.99 USD on Steam and is free to all who purchased the game during the Early Access phase and those who bought the game within the first two months of release.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zj-7bjsQRYc
Children of Arkham picks up with Bruce attempting to remember exactly what happened during the tragic event that took the life of his parents. Through doing so he remembers that it was far more than a mugging and learns that they were instead targeted by their fellow partners in corruption. The problem is, the very people that he needs to talk to in an effort to learn more about his past are the very people who are now being targeted by his old friend Oswald, now going by the moniker of Penguin, as his talk of revolution goes into full swing.
This episode does run a bit shorter than the first one and as mentioned earlier, Bruce spends most of his time reacting to events but that doesn’t mean it is a dull episode by any means. While certain events do play out in a fairly predictable manner, such as the expected developments of Selina being a wildcard romantic possibility and the complete overpowering of the Gotham PD by Penguin and his men, thanks to the writing showing Bruce Wayne and his Batman persona as two sides of the same coin rather than separate entities entirely, the introduction of a new threatening villain, and the hints as to what is to come thanks to the player’s decisions leaves me rather excited to see where things can go from here.
The voice work for the characters continues to work well with Alfred, Bruce, and Selina coming off as the best sounding characters in the episode though the new villain and Penguin also sound great.
Nanashi is a rookie in the Hunter Association who works alongside his childhood friend Asahi. Neither of them have much experience or are capable of summoning demons to help in combat, so they are given mostly mundane tasks such as gathering food while the more skilled hunters are supporting Flynn in an effort to help retake the city for humanity. Problem is, when war is taking place between humans, demons, and angels there is really no safe place for a greenhorn to learn the ropes. On a routine mission Nanashi’s mentors are slain by a powerful demon in Lucifer’s ranks and Nanashi also falls to the creature.
Playing intelligently against foes is one of the key elements in the series and it is always through the use of the demons that this intelligence comes into play. Similar to the previous title, players can talk with almost every demon they encounter and go through numerous steps in order to add them to the team. This generally begins with a question followed by various requests for things such as items, some HP/MP, money, or even the life of one of your demons. Players can give things over, refuse, or try to trick demons with nothing and if you happen to be successful they will generally join your group. Either that or they will leave combat, attack out of a mistaken answer which often ends your turn prematurely, or simply requires an extra talking session to complete.
Fusion returns with a few modifications this time around though these differences mostly come into play with regards to the abilities that players will want to carry over from fused demons. While players will still be able to combine two or more demons to create a new demon or even perform a special fusion for a really strong demon, the skills are now going to play a larger role. Each demon now has various skill affinities allowing them to have various elemental buffs and weaknesses. For example, an angel might have +2 light and -2 dark, meaning using light skills will deal extra damage while dark attacks will be weaker when used by this creature. These affinities carry over into things such as basic strikes as well so a pure magic using creature might have -3 with physical attacks, lowering the damage of skills immensely in that category. This means players will want to keep a fairly wide array of demons around for use in combat, especially since they can be swapped out at the price of one turn, to better plan and strategize their attacks to take down difficult foes while also offering a wider degree of successful customization.
The soundtrack for the title is outstanding in regards to providing a great atmosphere for combat and exploring the various dungeons and dark streets of Tokyo. The voice work in the game is also handled very well with the English cast pulling off their characters’ personalities very well.
After being shoved through a strange portal by Harper the rest of the group finds themselves right in the middle of a gladiator match that fans of Minecraft will recognize as a certain type of competitive game users created to mess around in the early age of the game. Thrown into this area where everyone is battling one another and death is a very real possibility, the group does their best to stay alive though it before the game is called to a sudden stop by the three spectators watching from above.
Once more players are also given a number of decisions to make throughout the episode and while one clearly sets who will be the player’s main partner throughout most of the episode, the rest of the choices feel rather basic at best, especially since certain events play out the same way regardless of what you choose. The new characters players are introduced to are given only a face value introduction and even the world itself is barely explored other than providing a big reveal that many likely would guess beforehand.
There are unfortunately no real puzzle elements this time around and players are only given a small area to explore before being shuffled along to the next story segment.
The soundtrack throughout the episode is about what fans have come to predict from the series and the voice actors continue to shine in their roles while the newcomers fit in well, with Ivor’s voice actor really standing out this time around with some of the funniest lines in the group and the core antagonist coming across as egotistically manipulative as he acts.
