Numerous Launch Rewards Available to Players of Free-to-Play Multiplayer RPG
LONDON (4th November 2016) – Guardian Codex™ is a new roleplaying game fromSquare Enix Ltd., that launched today for iOS and Android devices. The title features high-end 3D graphics and exciting multiplayer battle options, supporting up to four players. Additionally, a rich, single-player story allows players to fully explore the world of Guardian Codex.
Created by the team behind the popular card battler GUARDIAN CROSS®, Guardian CodexTakes place in a war-torn world split between the Empire and Resistance forces Taking on the role of Resistance Agents, players are sent into the virtual “Codex” where they must find and capture the legendary Guardians. These fully-customizable teams of Guardians will be necessary to battle the waves of enemies within the Codex, and are also used in multiplayer mode when joining forces with up to three other players to take down even stronger foes. The game also offers limited-time special events providing chances for bonus rewards.
With over 300,000 pre-registrations prior to launch, Square Enix is offering all who download the game a 4-Star Banshee Guardian, 6,000 Codex Credits, and five Magic Stones (III). A special login promotion will also begin on 6th November, providing players with additional Codex Credits each day they log into the game. Guardian Codex is available at the AppStore and GooglePlay.
A special opening movie created by Visual Works that marks the games release is available at: https://youtu.be/h5VW65H0BzI.
Players can stay up-to-date with Guardian Codex news by following the official Twitterand Facebook accounts.
About Square Enix Ltd.
Square Enix Ltd. develops, publishes, distributes and licenses SQUARE ENIX®, EIDOS® and TAITO® branded entertainment content in Europe and other PAL territories as part of the Square Enix group of companies. Square Enix Ltd. also has a global network of leading development studios such as IO Interactive™, Crystal Dynamics®, and Eidos Montréal. The Square Enix group of companies boasts a valuable portfolio of intellectual property including: FINAL FANTASY®, which has sold over 115 million units worldwide; DRAGON QUEST®, which has sold over 68 million units worldwide; TOMB RAIDER®, which has sold over 46 million units worldwide; and the legendary SPACE INVADERS®. Square Enix Ltd. is a London-based, wholly-owned subsidiary of Square Enix Holdings Co., Ltd.
Senran Kagura: Peach Beach Splashmay not be set for release until March 16, 2017 in Japan but that hasn’t stopped Marvelous from releasing the opening animation for their upcoming water gun based shooter. The opening animation, featuring the song “Rainbow Kiss” sung by the Japanese voice actresses for Asuka and Yumi can be found below and shows all of the different characters that will be available to play in the game as they dance and mess around in bikinis, making it a perfect fit for the series.
You can check out the full opening for the upcoming PlayStation 4 exclusive Senran Kagura: Peach Beach Splash below.
SPORTSBAR VR FOR PLAYSTATION®VR GETS MORE GAMES, TOYS, AND FIXES
The Ultimate Social VR Gaming Experience Adds New Tabletop Games, Physics-based Toys, and AI Tweaks
Seattle, WA – November 4, 2016 – Perilous Orbit and Cherry Pop Games released today a major content update to their virtual reality-enabled collection of pub games, SportsBar VR, for Sony’s PlayStation®VR. In response to player feedback, elements like AI have been adjusted to make the game more enjoyable, while Cherry Pop Games and Perilous Orbit plan to continually improve SportsBar VR with gameplay adjustments and additional content on an ongoing basis. The update also adds three new games to the mix – Chess, Checkers and Shuffleboard. Along with these additional games, SportsBar VR now has fun virtual toys to throw around the in-game environment, including a ping pong ball gun, a bouncy beach ball, a baseball, and an American football – all ready for players to toss to one another, or use for creating havoc in the virtual pub.
Are you a journalist with a PSVR? Review keys for both North America and Europe are available to media, please reply or send an email to Ted Brockwood (b[email protected])
Much more than a collection of popular pub games, SportsBar VR gives players the ability to interact with the 3D world around them — and to get rowdy! All set within an interactive virtual sports bar, SportsBar VR enables up to six players to play games ranging from air hockey to pool to darts, hang out, chat, roam the bar, or even make up their own challenges — like throwing cue balls, smashing bottles and much more. Loosen up in the virtual bar without ever drinking a single drop of beer!
SportsBar VR Gameplay Features:
Tons to Do: Darts, pool, air hockey, skeeball and more. Just about every classic pub game is here… All in beautiful, realistic 3D VR.
Go on, Make a Mess! Had enough of being a good sport? Then enjoy throwing bottles, cue balls and sticks around – nobody gets hurt and nobody has to clean up!
Hang with Friends: A fully immersive social setting enables you to simply hang out and chat
An Amazing VR Experience: Sports Bar VR is developed from the ground up for VR. Experience a fantastic VR environment, right from the comfort of your own living room.
For more information on development or to trade pub chat with friends, join the discussion by visiting Perilous Orbit and Cherry Pop Games on the web.
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ABOUT PERILOUS ORBIT
Perilous Orbit is a VR-centric game design and development studio with offices in Seattle & Los Angeles. Focused on creating high quality immersive experiences with partners around the world, we bring together years of experience building amazing games, productivity, and experimental applications for Microsoft HoloLens & Xbox. The Perilous Orbit team aims to find FUN as quickly as possible through rapid prototyping and ideation.
ABOUT CHERRY POP GAMES
Cherry Pop Games is an independent, multi-platform development studio specializing in Immersive gaming experiences with a core focus on emerging trends. With a target of blending new and exciting technology with a social world to create truly memorable moments in gaming. Cherry Pop Games, throws out the rule book on isolation in VR and instead embraces the future of social interaction in the virtual world.
Strategy RPG Fantasy War Tactics Celebrates Anniversary with Special Events
In celebration of Fantasy War Tactics’ first anniversary, Nexon Korea is inviting fans around the world to join in the festivities as the popular strategy role-playing game (SRPG) rolls out special in-game events starting Nov. 5 through Nov. 17. When launching the game, players will also receive ‘goodie bags’ filled with an assortment of new costumes, equipment and more on their journey to world domination as a gift for their continued devotion and support.
In addition to new items and equipment, the anniversary event will offer players the chance to explore the ‘Library in the Sky Birthday Party Dungeon.’ Lord and his companions will lead players through short, adventurous stages filled with fun stories, and perhaps to uncover the mystery behind the woman with the red hair who crashes the birthday party. Fans will also see additional items for sale in the exclusive shop.
Each day of the three-day anniversary event, all new and current players who log into their account will be rewarded with:
· Ian’s Costume on Nov. 5: Players will kick off the anniversary event with a new and improved costume for the most purrrr- fect character;
· 5 ★ Full Set Guaranteed Equipment Capsule (SS Legendary Grade) on Nov. 6: The “best of the best” equipment will be available as the ‘on-time’ gift to any player who runs the game;
· 365 Crystals on Nov. 7: In-game currency will be shared for players to buy gifts for their favorite characters.
Fantasy War Tactics is now available for free download via mobile device in the App Store and on Google Play.
We’d love for you to share the news of the anniversary events and new assets with your readers. Members of the Nexon team are also available for email Q&A’s on the Fantasy War Tactics.
With Final Fantasy XV already being announced as going gold, Square Enix has released a new trailer for the game as well as some details regarding the season pass and what it will contain. The trailer is CG only and is called “Omen” while the $24.99 season pass will contain three episodes that follow each of Noctis’ comrades, with players being able to play as them and try out their play styles while also exploring unseen areas, fighting against new monsters, and even obtaining weapons that can be used in the core game.
The episode for Gladiolus will be released first, followed by Ignis and then finally Prompto. These episodes can be purchased separately but at the moment no price has been announced for individual purchase. Following the release of the character episodes, Comrades, an expansion pack for Final Fantasy XV, will add a brand-new online co-op mode for up to four players which features intense battles allowing players to take full control of Noctis, Gladio, Prompto and Ignis as a group. Comrades will be available for separate purchase, and is also included in the Season Pass.
Atlus USA is continuing with their individual introductions of the English voice actors for Persona 5 and this time around they are focusing on introducing the voice actress for the character Ann, who will be voiced by Erika Harlacher. You can check out both the introduction video for the character, who is described as being a beautiful girl plagued by unjust rumors from her peers on a daily basis. But despite the Scarlett Letter treatment, Ann cares deeply about her friends…which is why she’s so eager to pick up the mask and join the Phantom Thieves.
You can check out that video plus an interview with her voice actress below and as for the game itself, Persona 5 is set to be released in North America and Europe on February 14th for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3.
Koei Tecmo has detailed the pre-order bonuses that fans will be able to receive when they purchase Berserk and the Band of the Hawk in the West. Those in North America and Europe, at stores such as Amazon, Best Buy, and GameStop, will be given six bonus costumes with a few being given to each character. These costumes are shown below and are called the “White Swordsman,” Golden Swordsman,” “Golden Hawk,” “Black Hawk,” “Pirate,” and “Blue Stripe.”
It seems that the “Wet Casca” costume advertised heavily in Japan will not be included in the Western version, or at least not as a pre-order bonus at this time. To go along with this announcement Koei Tecmo released three new gameplay videos and you can check them out below.
The Touhou series has always been something of an oddity in Japan. Despite being based entirely on a series of bullet hell games created solely by ZUN, the popularity of the franchise was unrivaled in the country until only recently when a certain anthropomorphized warship game was released. Thanks to this immense fan following, ZUN allowed numerous fan works to be developed including various spin-off titles.
Despite this popularity in Japan that eventually leaked to the West, no Touhou titles were ever officially released in English until just recently in the form of fan games. XSEED Games has decided to bring over one such title in the form of the uniquely blended Touhou: Scarlet Curiosity to PlayStation 4 owners but is the game worth your time?
Story
The story begins with Gensokyo’s 500 year old vampire Remilia Scarlet lamenting to her maid Sakuya Izayoi that she has grown incredibly bored. Despite having plenty of luxuries in her home, the Scarlet Devil Mansion, and numerous servants that serve under her, Remilia hasn’t had much to excite her lately. Bored with the standard everyday life she lives, Remilia hears rumors from Sakuya that a powerful and mysterious monster has been reported to have appeared in a nearby lake. In an effort to entertain herself, Remilia sets off to slay this creature, or if players choose to play as the powerful human maid Sakuya, investigate the rumors by visiting the lake itself.
Regardless of who you choose to play as, since players are given the option of selecting between Sakuya or Remilia when starting a new game, the player arrives at the lake, defeats one of the Three Fairies of the Light who is there investigating as well, and then hears a loud commotion coming from the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Upon returning home, the mansion has been demolished and now has various low level youkai, fairies, and other beings roaming the grounds, though Remilia’s other servants are more than capable of holding her home base as a safe area.
With her home in ruins, Remilia is even more excited at the turn of events and heads out to find out who destroyed her home and get some revenge at the same time. It is worth noting that this is far from the most nuanced storyline and even those who are familiar with Touhou lore won’t get too much extra out of the storyline compared to those that don’t.
There are various characters that are referenced that never actually appear and certain popular characters appear as bosses or side-characters throughout the storyline but don’t expect too many special interactions to happen outside of a few funny interactions. This includes the labyrinth that players can unlock and play through in an effort to unlock the true ending which simply helps add a bit of extra action and wraps up the story in a more satisfying but still lacking way.
Gameplay
As mentioned earlier, when starting the game players can choose to play as either Remilia or Sakuya and both of these characters have their own unique set of spells and skills that they can unlock throughout the game which plays in a rather unique way and often feels quite fresh thanks to the way things change up and the variety of skills players will unlock. You see, players will be traveling through a dungeon set-up making use of hack-and-slash style combat systems with various spells and skills at their disposal when they wish to use them while also dodging or flat out attacking the enemy projectiles that make the game seem similar to its bullet hell origins at times.
This means that players will often need to avoid various waves of glowing bullets being shot out in patterns that must be learned before either using skills to shoot at their enemies or simply getting in close to finish them off. Those who are unfamiliar with dodging shots will find that Touhou: Scarlet Curiosity can be rather forgiving since a death only brings players back to the beginning of a fight and usually the game is only really challenging during some boss battles. The gameplay is incredibly simple in nature and easy to master and there are various times when the pacing is broken up with a few different styled levels that allow for different kinds of exploration or bring the title into more of a side-scrolling brawler style than a dungeon crawling one.
It is interesting to note that Touhou: Scarlet Curiosity still has roots in the RPG area as players will find that they will level up while fighting enemies and obtain various drops that serve as equipment. Unfortunately, the way items are handled in the game are incredibly cumbersome and annoying more often than not. Not only are most items given the same exact name, often picking up three items at the same time that are all called the same thing, but they all will have varying stats. This means players must sift through their inventory quite often to determine whether the tenth item they’ve picked up is as strong as the second they obtained with the same name.
In fact, even the shops that crop up from time to time don’t even give players the ability to compare the items stats to their own since it is not possible to see the stats of equipment before buying it, making every purchase a gamble.
Visuals & Audio
It is worth noting that Touhou: Scarlet Curiosity is a fan game and therefore one cannot really expect the best graphics here and that is unfortunately something of the case here. While the game runs at a constant 60fps, the actual visuals are fairly simplistic in nature and even the character models, while designed to fit the standard depictions of each of the Touhou characters aren’t heavily detailed nor do they change in any way. Even the artwork representing these characters during dialogue scenes is middle of the road when it comes to Touhou fanart.
Thankfully the title does sport a great sounding soundtrack featuring plenty of upbeat tunes that fit in well with the action. This is especially true when it comes to the boss battles that players will often be taking part in. It is worth noting that there is no voice acting of any kind in the game though.
Overall
Touhou: Scarlet Curiosity doesn’t really impress too much outside of presenting a fun little action game that mixes together a handful of different genres into a satisfying enough game. The storyline doesn’t offer much in the way of enjoyment for fans of Touhou and newcomers will likely be fairly unfamiliar with most of the more humorous interactions outside of the obvious ones and while the combat works well, the inventory management is dreadful. That being said, this lighthearted action game still will be fairly enjoyable for fans of the series and those looking for something a bit different will find that Touhou: Scarlet Curiosity delivers that in a decent manner.
SONY INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT EUROPE ANNOUNCES SOFTWARE LAUNCH LINEUP FOR PLAYSTATION®4 PRO
Huge titles, including Uncharted™ 4: A Thief’s Endand Call Of Duty®: Infinite Warfare are the first to take advantage of PS4™ Pro’s heightened gaming experience
London, 3rd November, 2016 – Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe (SIEE) today announced the day-one software launch line-up for PlayStation 4® Pro (PS4™ Pro) (CUH-7000 series). Hit titles including Uncharted™ 4: A Thief’s End and Call Of Duty®: Infinite Warfare will be among the first to take advantage of PS4 Pro’s power and performance, which delivers heightened gaming experiences through improved processing capability and a range of visual enhancements[1].
From 10th November, 2016, in Europe, Australia and New Zealand, more than 30 games will offer enhanced visuals for PS4 Pro, while more than 45 games will be optimised by the end of 2016. All first party games launched during or after 2017 will take advantage of PS4 Pro capabilities upon release, including Guerrilla Games’ post-apocalyptic action RPG, Horizon Zero Dawn™. In addition to all first party games supporting PS4 Pro enhancements from 2017, Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe are thrilled to be able to support PS4 Pro enhancements across a wide range of world-class third party titles, including Final Fantasy XV and Watch_Dogs 2.
Every PS4 game, including future launches, will run on both the standard PS4 and PS4 Pro. Developers are now able to use PS4 Pro capabilities to deliver games in striking detail and clarity. On-screen action is visibly faster, smoother and has crystal clear movement – enabling the player to experience game worlds as they were intended.
With a 1TB hard disk drive accommodating more games, demos and content, PS4 Pro offers greater detail and performance through a boosted CPU and GPU, with resolution up to 4K1, HDR imaging technology, and faster or more stable frame rates. A selection of existing PS4 titles will take advantage of PS4 Pro enhancements via a free downloadable update for players who have previously purchased them.
Commenting on the launch, Jim Ryan, President, Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe said: “Since unveiling PS4 Pro, we know players have been very eager to see exactly how it will impact their favourite games. We are pleased to say that the console will give them the experience they have been waiting for; images are incredibly sharp and the tiniest details are magnified – making gameplay more immersive than ever before.
Being able to significantly boost the visual impact of our games by using PS4 Pro’s 4K and HDR technologies makes our software offering stronger than ever. These enhancements make us prouder than ever to say that PlayStation 4 is the best place to play.”
Below is a list of enhanced software available from launch:
Bound™
Battlefield 1
Call Of Duty®: Black Ops 3
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided™
DRIVECLUB™ VR
EA SPORTS™ FIFA 17
HELLDIVERS™
HITMAN™
Hustle Kings™
inFAMOUS™ First Light
inFAMOUS™ Second Son
Knack™
Mafia III
Middle-earth™: Shadow of Mordor™
NBA 2K17
Paragon
Ratchet & Clank™
RIGS Mechanized Combat League
Rise Of The Tomb Raider
Robinson: The Journey
SMITE
Super Stardust™ Ultra
The Elders Scrolls Online®: Tamriel Unlimited™
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim® Special Edition
The Last Of Us™ Remastered
The Last Of Us™: Left Behind
THE PLAYROOM VR
Titanfall 2
Uncharted 4™: A Thief’s End
Until Dawn™: Rush of Blood
VR Worlds
World Of Tanks
XCOM 2
About Sony Interactive Entertainment
Recognised as a global leader in interactive and digital entertainment, Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) is responsible for the PlayStation® brand and family of products and services. PlayStation has delivered innovation to the market since the launch of the original PlayStation in Japan in 1994. The PlayStation family of products and services include PlayStation®4, PlayStation®VR, PlayStation®Vita, PlayStation®3, PlayStation®Store, PlayStation®Plus, PlayStation™Video, PlayStation™Music, PlayStation™Now, PlayStation™Vue, PlayStation®Original and acclaimed PlayStation software titles from SIE Worldwide Studios. Headquartered in San Mateo, California, SIE is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony Corporation and has global functions and regional headquarters in California, London and Tokyo.
THE NEW YEAR BRINGS A NEW WORLD TO SAVE WHEN DRAGON QUEST VIII: JOURNEY OF THE CURSED KING RELEASES FOR NINTENDO 3DS ON JANUARY 21st 2017
New content includes two new playable characters, new side-quests, and the ability to send mementos of your adventure via StreetPass
4th November, 2016 – With the New Year comes new quests and great adventures, and 2017 will be no different when DRAGON QUEST VIII: Journey of the Cursed King comes to Nintendo 3DS family systems on January 21st 2017. This handheld retelling of the classic RPG that introduced the DRAGON QUEST series to Australia and New Zealand will be back and bigger than ever, with two new playable characters, more side-quests, and the ability to battle monsters on the go when it lands in the New Year.
The story begins when a jester, Dhoulmagus, comes to Castle Trodain and steals the King’s sceptre. He then uses its power to turn his majesty into a troll, the Princess into a horse, and the castle inhabitants into plants. The only one left unscathed from this attack is a castle guard who escaped the curse and must now step up to save the kingdom he’s sworn to protect. Only by travelling the lands, recruiting allies, and following the trail of destruction that Dhoulmagus leaves in his wake will The Hero be able to retrieve the sceptre in order to restore Trodain back to its former glory.
As players dive into the rich story of DRAGON QUEST VIII: Journey of the Cursed King, whether they’re visiting for the first time or coming back to relive the adventure all over again, they can enjoy full voice-acting in all plot-important cut-scenes, and new story content that will provide more back-story about The Hero and the villainous Dhoulmagus. Further additions include additional quests to complete and dungeons to explore, and even a new alternative ending.
Returning heroes may also find that elements of DRAGON QUEST VIII: Journey of the Cursed King have been streamlined for this handheld outing. Adventurers in a hurry no longer need to rush to a Church to save thanks to the new Quick-Save function, allowing them to save and exit the game at any time. And for warriors in a hurry, battling foes is also much faster with the introduction of the “Speed Up” feature, allowing heroes to cut their way through each encounter with much greater haste.
Those who wish to capture mementos of their quest to restore peace to the land will now find it’s easier than ever before, as at any time outside of battles and cut-scenes players can pause the action and take a photo of their adventure thus far. These photos can be customised in a variety of different ways, including allowing The Hero and his companions to perform special poses, adding stickers, filters, or putting a frame around the image to add a personal touch to their memory. Once the player meets Cameron Obscura in Port Prospect they’ll also be able to unlock Cameron’s Codex, where they’ll be rewarded for taking pictures of certain subjects, monsters, and situations.
All of these images can be saved to the SD card and shared to other DRAGON QUEST VIII: Journey of the Cursed King owners via StreetPass. Once these photos have been shared other players can give them a thumbs-up, and the more of these the image earns, the higher the chance of receiving a new item.
The New Year brings a new world to save when DRAGON QUEST VIII: Journey of the Cursed King releases for Nintendo 3DS family systems on January 21st 2017.