Yo-kai Watch 2: Fleshy Souls Review

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October 24, 2016

Yo-kai Watch 2: Fleshy Souls

Developer: Level-5
Publisher: Nintendo
Platform: Nintendo 3DS
Release Date: 15th October, 2016
Price: $39.99 USD – Available Here $59.95 AUD – Available Here

Overview

Yo-kai Watch 2: Fleshy Souls (and by extension Yo-kai Watch 2: Bony Spirits as the only difference between the two versions are a few obtainable Yo-kai and minor story details) is the sequel to the mildly successful first game in the series simply titled Yo-kai Watch. In Japan Yo-kai Watch is a huge phenomenon with lots of games, a big anime following and even a few big screen films. Yo-kai Watch 2 actually came out over 2 years ago in it’s home country so now that the title has received an international release, how does this monster centric RPG hold up today?

Story

As soon as you boot up the game, watch the opening animated rap video (yes, rap, it’s no DK 64 rap but it’s pretty fun) and then proceed to the title screen you can already tell what kind of game this is going to be. Those initial impressions of Saturday morning cartoon hi-jinks are not misleading, as the story begins with two evil looking cronies stealing the Yo-kai Watch and the main characters memories. It’s not long before you regain these though and are reunited with Whisper and Jibanyan who remain by your side for most of the game.

As someone who never played the first game I had no trouble getting into the narrative here as apart from a few early flashbacks, it seems the first game is never referenced at all. The story is well presented, using voiced cutscenes and classic RPG text dialogue, all accompanied by animation that acts out the text.The story is a bit slow to start off with the first few hours really failing to grip me outside of meeting the Yo-kai, but once it starts going into the origins of the Yo-kai watch and time travel sections it becomes much more intriguing.

The Yo-kai are definitely the stars of this game as the main character and most other humans are about as anime cookie cutter as you can get. Yo-kai however all have their own look, personalities and way of speaking that normally results in a good laugh or neat concept. From the whimsical Casper looking Whisper to Swelton, a fat sweaty Yo-kai who will break your heart as he explains how he has no friends and will just sweat all alone in the sewer, each Yo-kai you meet has a positive impact on your adventure. The idea that most negative feelings are associated with a Yo-kai haunting you is an interesting one and I always liked when the story played that up.

My big issue with the narrative is that you can’t just run through the story at your leisure. Whether it was simply to pad the game length or give you away to acquire more Yo-kai, the game forces you to complete mostly unrelated ‘key quests’ after every major story point before you unlock more story. This design choice is a strange one that not only hurts the games pacing and players freedom to progress as they would like, but also the game overall as I’ll explain in the following section.

Gameplay

Yo-kai Watch 2 has three main facets of gameplay, running around town completing quests, collecting Yo-kai and battling Yo-kai. The quests are easily the downfall of this title and unfortunately, makes up the largest chunk of your gameplay time outside of battles. It’s not that the map in Yo-kai Watch 2 is small or repetitive. In fact it’s quite the opposite as Springdale and it’s surroundings is actually a large, interesting metropolis full of life and secrets to uncover. It’s that most of your time is simply spent running between places. There is little variety in these quests with the majority being simple fetch quest that involve even more running, or having to take part in an average mini game like catching bugs or fish.

All this running is made worse by the near pointless stamina bar, that only seems to exists to hinder you. You do unlock a bike, warp points and a train system as you progress, but these do little to help. The train actually makes the problem worse, as it doesn’t act as fast travel but instead moves in real time. Have fun waiting 10 plus minutes if you want to get across the map on the train with little to nothing happening during that time.

Catching Yo-kai is another issue. There are multiple ways to get Yo-kai and most of them are completely fine. Yo-kai that join from quests or you get from a capsule machine are a great reward for your trouble, ones from quest especially as you get a nice story that accompanies them. You can even fuse Yo-kai and items later on to make all new Yo-kai.

Befriending Yo-kai in encounters is the big problem here. Unlike Pokemon for example, you don’t have a specific way to recruit Yo-kai. Instead, gaming’s best prolonging friend RNG is here. So first you have to find a Yo-kai, some of which are fairly rare, then you can try feeding Yo-kai a food item to increase there chance of you joining (there is no indication of what food a Yo-kai will like so this is all trial and error), then even if they loved the food you gave them, you just have to hope that at the end of the battle they decide to join you. This process was just a pain and I basically gave up trying to befriend any Yo-kai this way, making do with whatever Yo-kai I received in the story.

Lastly there are battles, which apart from the Yo-kai themselves are easily the best part of this game. The battle system in Yo-kai Watch 2 is based around management and strategy (with the emphasis on management). You manage up to 6 Yo-kai at a time while they automatically battle for you, however battles are from passive. Players have to actively manage targets, buffs and debuffs, health, Yo-kai placement, use items and more. Early in the game it may be possible to just let your Yo-kai do there thing with little input, but you definitely won’t get through with that strategy in later stages where monitoring both screens carefully is the key to success. This is a fun and involved experience that makes great use of the games best aspect, the Yo-kai, who to add to the strategy behind battles all have their own special skills, equipment slots, type bonuses and stats as well as the ability to level up.

My only issue with the battle system are the Soultimate attacks. These are moves you can trigger when your Yo-kai’s soul gauge is full and are basically the only way to get your Yo-kai to initiate an attack on your own command. So what’s the problem with this you may ask. They are really repetitive. From the touchscreen mini game you have to play to activate them (thankfully there are a few variations) to the identical animation that plays each time, these get old really fast. It wouldn’t be a problem if they were less frequent, but they just always seem to be available and as they are your most powerful attacks damage or effect wise, not using them rarely makes sense.

I must also praise Yo-kai Watch 2’s many game modes and post game content which is far from limited to simply trying to ‘catch em all’. You can battle online and locally with your strongest teams, trade Yo-kai online or locally, play Yo-kai busters (with up to 4 players in local co-op) which is it’s own decent mini game that can get you rare items, collect trophies, challenge the very difficult end game dungeons and more. Meaningful content is a non-issue in Yo-kai Watch 2.

Visuals

Yo-kai Watch 2 graphics really impress. All the polish and care taken here with the games bright and colourful graphics really shines through here. Even small details like the main character taking off their shoes before entering a home or how actual events take place with animation instead of just text, it adds to the experience and just makes everything feel like a living, complete world. From the bustling metropolis of Springdale and beyond to battles and the Yo-kai designs and models, the whole game is really just a complete visual charm.

The map on the bottom screen is essential for navigation and the UI during battle is intuitive and simple to understand. I honestly can’t find a single flaw in the visual departments. I never experienced any notable frame rate drops and I even found myself using 3D fairly just because it was implemented so well here. I’m definitely a bigger Pokemon fan but Game Freak could stand to learn a lot from Level-5 and what they have done with the presentation of Yo-kai Watch 2.

Audio

Just as impressive as the graphics is the energetic soundtrack. A ‘ghastly’ influence that is present in almost every song ties in with the Yo-kai/ghost/spirits concept of Yo-kai Watch 2 to deliver a very strong and thematic soundtrack. Each background song is just fun and perfect for the moment. The intro and closing credits song are excellent and make good use of the Yo-kai in ways I won’t spoil here.

Outside of the music, all the games sound effects are on point, from menu sounds to status effects and attacks. Lastly for sound, all the voice actors perform their roles outstandingly here and no one sounds out of place. Every actor feels like they are giving 100% with lots of energy and enthusiasm. The quality of the sound can’t be flawed and everything sounded excellent and loud coming through my headphones.

Overall

The world of Yo-kai is a fun and charming one and Yo-kai Watch 2 features perhaps the best audio visual presentation I have ever seen on the Nintendo 3DS. Unfortunately the gameplay outside of battles just failed to interest me and I had little desire to complete the mostly boring missions that infuriatingly lock off the main story, which itself suffers from a slow start. Yo-kai Watch 2 seems perfectly suited to younger audiences however there is merit for the older crowd to try it, particularly in the enjoyable battle system that requires good knowledge, preparation and management skills. The main issue will be if those gamers can be bothered to slog through the tediousness to get to the fun parts.

Madman Uploaded an English-Subtitled Trailer for New ‘Death Note’ Film

K. Roberts

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October 22, 2016

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Madman Uploaded an English-Subtitled Trailer for New ‘Death Note’ Film

Madman Entertainment uploaded an English-subtitled trailer for the 2016 Death Note sequel film, Death Note: Light up the NEW world, on Thursday. The trailer is embedded below. The film itself will be premiering in Australian cinemas on November 10, 2016, which is less than three weeks from now.

The film will premiere in Japanese cinemas one week from now on October 29, 2016. It is a sequel to the two 2006 live-action films. The plot of this film is centered around the rule that only six death notes may exist on Earth at one time.

In addition to the previously announced cast members, Tatsuya Fujiwara and Ken’ichi Matsuyama will also be reprising their roles from the previous films. They played Light Yagami and L respectively.

The Silver Case Remaster Arrives on PlayStation 4 in Early 2017

Travis Bruno

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October 22, 2016

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The Silver Case Remaster Arrives on PlayStation 4 in Early 2017

While The Silver Case‘s remaster release just happened for PC users, it has been announced that NIS America will be helping to publish the remaster of the classic title, which was the debut game from the hit developer Suda 51, on the PlayStation 4 in North America and Europe.

The company is aiming to have the remaster released physically and digitally in early 2017 while Grasshopper Manufacture will be handling the game in Japan during the first half of 2017. You can check out an introduction trailer for The Silver Case as well as some screenshots for the game below.

Shadow Warrior 2 Review

Jamie Laike Tsui

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October 22, 2016

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Shadow Warrior 2

Developer: Flying Wild Hog
Publisher: Devolver Digital
Platform: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Windows (Reviewed)
Release Date: 13 October 2016 (PC), Q1 2017 (Consoles)
Price: $39.99 USD – Available Here

Video Review

Overview

Shadow Warrior 2 is back in all its glory, with more dick jokes, pop culture references, and gory violence. After Flying Wild Hog’s success with rebooting the old Shadow Warrior FPS that many criticized as racist into a funny, modern shooter, the Polish developers have turned Shadow Warrior 2 into a bigger game with a ton of weapons to choose from. Shadow Warrior 2 also introduces four player drop in/drop out co-op support so players can tackle the Yakuza and the demons as a team.

Story

Shadow Warrior 2 picks up some time after the events of the first game. Lo Wang is still a mercenary for hire and soon finds himself once again sharing a brain with a disembodied voice. Kamiko is the grand daughter of the local Yakuza boss and her soul is implanted in Lo Wang after her body is injected with Shade by Zilla Enterprises. Lo Wang and Kamiko are off on an epic adventure to heal her body and return her soul.

Shadow Warrior 2’s continues to be an excellent homage to B movies and cheap martial arts films. The writing and the plot is corny enough to pay tribute without being so bad that it becomes cringe worthy. The humour is surprisingly diverse. Lo Wang’s childish, crass humour is supported by some pretty smart jokes and a parade of pop culture references. The plot is well paced, lingering just long enough to be entertaining without distracting from the game’s main event, chopping enemies into very small pieces.

Gameplay

Shadow Warrior 2 provides a lot of flexibility to players. Lo Wang can use a huge variety of guns, explosives, and melee weapons. All the hardware is supported by four spells for support. The weapons are broken down into ammo type, with plenty of variety within each category. As players collect rarer weapons, better item bonuses come with the weapon. Item mods serve as the main form of item customization. Each weapon has three slots for modifications, which are ranked by rarity and level. Modifications can be looted or crafted by merging three mods of lower rarity together. The two highest rarities provide big buffs, but also come with a penalty so gearing at the end of the game becomes an action RPG-esque RNG grind to find mods that have penalties that are negated by the weapon type. While I am ok with the idea of having mods with penalties, it seems a little counter-intuitive to me to have the highest rarity mods to have penalties attached to them, but the two most common rarities have no penalties at all.

Lo Wang has access to a variety of passive skills to help optimize him to each player’s preferred playstyle. Killing enemies awards experience, which is referred to in game as karma, and level ups provide a skill point. On harder difficulties, players are punished for dying by losing all accumulated karma for that level and being forced to start from zero. The sheer variety of skills available for purchase results in a lot of flexibility for playstyle. I played through Shadow Warrior 2 as a stealthy melee assassin, popping out of stealth long enough to deal massive damage before disappearing again, while a friend of mine created a short-range tank wielding shotguns and grenade launchers.

In a nod to Shadow Warrior 2’s old school roots, the game plays very much like a retro shooter. Lo Wang can carry an obscene number of weapons, health doesn’t automatically regenerate without skills, and enemies soak up loads of damage before keeling over dead. Combat is fast paced and chaotic in Shadow Warrior 2. Dashing is the main form of damage mitigation, especially for players focused on melee combat. Enemies spawns are generous, and in true action RPG fashion, also come in superior and elite flavours sporting random modifiers to make life more interesting. Yet with all the chaos, there is still room for slower paced players who are willing to invest in chi spells to control the flow of battle. The guns handle well and modifiers that change how guns behave allow players to wield the weapon they’ve been dreaming about at night. Shadow Warrior 2’s melee combat is what really separates the game from the masses of FPS titles on the market. All four melee attacks are executed with the two mouse buttons with directional keys for modifiers and parrying is done with the reload key. It is simple enough to be approachable but complex enough that melee combat doesn’t boil down to spamming light attacks for hours on end. With all the parts combined, Flying Wild Hog has created one of the best combat experiences released all year.

Shadow Warrior 2 uses open world maps. The levels are well designed, though some parts of the outdoor maps are a bit on the linear. As quests are completed, players are free to return to areas to roam around and track down the usual mass of collectibles; however, the game’s replay value lays in the new game plus mode, which allows players to start the game all over again.

Shadow Warrior 2 introduces co-op multiplayer. I appreciate the fact it is drop in co-op, as it is much easier to get friends in and out of games. The difficulty scaling is a little strange, as it seems to be set before the game lobby starts instead of scaling automatically as players come in and out. The overall difficulty scaling is quite good. I like that higher difficulties not only increase the power of enemies but also punish players for dying, encouraging them to play more conservatively.

Visuals

Shadow Warrior 2 looks great. The art style is a fun mix of early 90s retro and sci-fi with a distinct Asian flavour. The weapons are a variety of FPS standards and homages to famous weapons from pop culture history. There were a few occasions where models clipped during cut scenes, but these were few and far between. On the technical side, the game does struggle with some blatant texture popping, but otherwise ran solid on my test rig. The available graphic customization settings are quite thorough, which means tweaking Shadow Warrior 2 is very easy.

Audio

Shadow Warrior 2’s audio is probably the game’s weakest link. The good news is that the sound effects and voice acting is good. Some characters like Zilla have some pretty rough voice acting, but considering the game is shooting for a B movie vibe, the performance fits in quite nicely. The bad news is that the music is quite poor in comparison. The songs played in combat feels very similar and I noticed it kicked in at some odd times. Another major issue with Shadow Warrior 2’s audio is stuttering at the beginning of the level. Whenever I jumped into a level before all the visual textures loaded in completely, the audio would stutter for quite some time, making it nearly impossible to understand dialogue.

Overall

Shadow Warrior 2 is an excellent sequel. Flying Wild Hog took a solid reboot and expanded on everything that made it great. While I question the balance choices for rare item modifications and am rather disappointed with the audio, the incredibly fun combat and entertaining dialogue make up for Shadow Warrior 2’s shortcomings.

Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.

New Gameplay Footage Released for Atelier Firis

Travis Bruno

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October 22, 2016

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New Gameplay Footage Released for Atelier Firis

Gust and Koei Tecmo have released a set of three gameplay videos for Atelier Firis: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Journey and in each of these videos a certain type of gameplay is focused on. The first video focuses on exploring the various fields in the game, the second on the various aspects of combat, while the third video touches upon extra Atelier aspects that set Atelier Firis apart from past entries in the series.

You can check out all three videos below and as for the game itself, Atelier Firis: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Journey is set to be released in Japan on November 2nd for the PlayStation 4 and PS Vita and has already been confirmed for release in the West at an unknown date.

Field Exploration

Battle Footage

Atelier Features

Persona 5’s English Voice Cast Revealed

Travis Bruno

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October 22, 2016

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Atlus USA had some great news for Western fans of the Persona series as the company revealed the majority of the English voice actors who will be voicing the main characters in Persona 5 when it is released in the West. This includes a small sampling of the protagonist’s voice acting which is performed by Xander Mobus.

The English voice actors that have been confirmed in this announcement can be found below:

Protagonist – Xander Mobus
Morgana – Cassandra Morris
Ryuji Sakamoto – Max Mittelman
Ann Takamaki – Erika Harlacher
Yusuke Kitagawa – Matt Mercer
Makoto Niijima – Cherami Leigh
Futaba Sakura – Erica Lindbeck
Haru Okumura – Xanthe Huynh
Goro Akechi – Robbie Daymond

You can view Mobus voicing the protagonist in the first character introduction video below as well as Atlus’ PR Manager John Hardin talking with him about the role.

Xander Mobus Interview

Persona 5 Protagonist Introduction

Sentai Filmworks Reveals Their February 2017 Release Schedule

K. Roberts

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October 22, 2016

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Sentai Filmworks Reveals Their February 2017 Release Schedule

Sentai Filmworks has revealed their release schedule for February 2017. Included in the releases for that month is Amagi Brilliant Park, which is being released in a premium box set containing a collector’s booklet, park map and more. The full schedule is as follows:

February 7, 2017:

Young Black Jack Complete Collection. All 12 episodes will be available on DVD and Blu-ray with Japanese audio and English subtitles. The suggested retail prices are $49.98 and $59.98 respectively.

February 14, 2017:

Busou Shinki Complete Collection. All 13 episodes will be available on Blu-ray with Japanese audio and English subtitles. The suggested retail price is $59.98.
Comet Lucifer Complete Collection. All 12 episodes will be available on DVD and Blu-ray with Japanese audio and English subtitles. The suggested retail prices are $49.98 and $59.98 respectively.

February 21, 2017:

Green Legend Ran Complete Collection. The OVA series will be available on DVD with dual language options. The suggested retail price is $24.98. It has not yet been confirmed if the English dub included is the same one produced in the 1990s.
Uta no Prince-sama Revolutions Complete Collection. All 13 episodes will be available on DVD and Blu-ray with Japanese audio and English subtitles. The suggested retail prices are $49.98 and $59.98 respectively.

February 28, 2017:

Amagi Brilliant Park Complete Collection. All 14 episodes will be featured with dual language options on DVD, Blu-ray and in a premium edition box set. The suggested retail prices are $59.98, $69.98 and $179.98 respectively. A limited number of fans who pre-order any edition of Amagi Brilliant Park will receive an “early-bird mystery gift”.

All prices listed above are in USD (United States Dollars).

7th Dragon III Code: VFD and Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse Launching in Europe December 2

Travis Bruno

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October 22, 2016

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7th Dragon III Code: VFD and Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse Launching in Europe December 2

You may remember that Deep Silver would be handling the release of Sega’s 7th Dragon III Code: VFD and Atlus USA’s Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse in Europe and Australia and today the company has announced exactly when people in those regions can expect these RPGs to be released for the Nintndo 3DS.

The company is aiming to have both titles released physically and digitally on December 2nd with 7th Dragon III Code: VFD shipping with a bonus art book with all retail copies. If you need a refresher course for both titles you can check out some new trailers for each below.

7th Dragon III Code: VFD

Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse

Alone Together OUT NOW on iOS and Android

Press Releases

Philip Federico

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October 22, 2016

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Alone Together OUT NOW on iOS and Android

The next title in the hit ‘Fake Social Network’ puzzle adventure series is here!

Vanguard Universal (Shin Yokohama, Japan) 21st October2016 – Vanguard Universal and PQube are delighted to announce that Alone Together, the second game in the Fake Social Network series from Japan, will be releasing on Android and iOS today.

Bocchi World is a social network where lonely people chat and share puzzles to form new friendships. But what if not everybody is as they seem? What risks are there as these friendships start to move offline?

The Second in the Fake Social Network Series – Alone Together is a Puzzle Adventure played out in a Facebook-like interface!

Watch the trailer here: https://youtu.be/5Jybxeq8BZ4

Alone Together blurs the line between game and reality with an authentic-looking social media interface and notifications on your phone when characters message you!
Each member has an individual story line with a number of puzzles to solve. It’s up to you to bring the users together and solve the mysteries!

Return to the Fake Social Network with this thought-provoking second instalment;

Easy-to-use social media-style interface.
Interact with fictional users and complete puzzles to progress their stories.
Receive real-time alerts to your phone like on real social media networks.
Solve puzzles to unravel the mysteries of the other users.
Share puzzles across your accounts to solve with friends.

Alone Together uses a unique interface to deliver challenging puzzles and a character-driven story, blurring the line between fiction and reality. Get to know the characters as they share puzzles with you and ask for your help.

It’s up to you to bring the users of Bocchi World together!

Alone Together is available FREE today!
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=fakesocialnetwork.alonetogether

iOS: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/alone-together/id1144039329?ls=1&mt=8

The first game in the Fake Social Network series – Tokyo 13 is available here;

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=fakesocialnetwork.tokyo13
iOS: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/tokyo-13/id1103300363?ls=1&mt=8

For more information contact geraint[at]vanguarduniversal.com
Or join us on Social Media: https://www.facebook.com/fakesocialnetwork/

About Vanguard Universal
“Vanguard is a leader in the development of original mobile content and a well known publisher of smartphone games in Japan. We provide a number of services including simple and easy-to-play strategy game planning, advanced server programming technologies and consultation, art development, localization services and more.”

The Witch and the Hundred Knight 2 Screenshots Released

Travis Bruno

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October 22, 2016

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The Witch and the Hundred Knight 2 Screenshots Released

As previously stated, The Witch and the Hundred Knight 2 has been officially announced by Nippon Ichi Software and now the company has released some new details as well as a bunch of new screenshots and artwork for their upcoming PlayStation 4 action RPG that is completely unrelated to the first game in the series outside of featuring the Hundred Knight.

In the world of The Witch and the Hundred Knight 2, an incurable disease exists that affects only girls and it is named the “Witch’s Disease.” When afflicted by this sickness an eye containing immense power appears on the foreheads of the girls and when the eye opens the girl becomes a witch, losing all sense of her previous self, and destroys whatever she desires with her newfound abilities.

The story follows a pair of sisters, the elder sister named Amalie who lives in a remote village and her younger sister Milum who is the only family she has left after being attacked by a witch years prior. One day however, Milum vanishes only to return once all hope was lost with special flowers for her sister and an eye signifying the disease formed on her forehead. Despite the village and Amalie’s best efforts, Milum falls victim to the disease and transforms into the powerful witch Cerca, though despite this change there are still shades of the young girl left within Cerca.