Usually one can take release dates listed by various online retailers as either a placeholder or an estimated date but when it is the company’s own online store, one can easily surmise that the date is accurate. As such with Square Enix‘s Online Store updatingto contain a special Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessnessday one edition we now know that the game will be released on the PlayStation 4 on June 28th in North America.
Although this information has been since pulled, the above artwork still shows off all of the content that will be included in the game plus the aforementioned release date. As for the content that will be included in the launch edition it will contain various pieces of equipment that will provide boosts to various stats or provide special effects as well as custom battle music that is taken from the Valkyrie Profile series.
Not only was the fact that a new demo, where players will be exploring a dream world as a young Noctis, leaked earlier today but it seems that Final Fantasy XV‘s release date has also been revealed ahead of the scheduled event. After a certain sitedecided to post the video early, only to have it pulled later, it has been revealed that Final Fantasy XV will be released for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on September 30th.
This news was likely meant to be announced tonight at Square Enix‘s “Uncovered: Final Fantasy XV” so you can expect this information to be confirmed in about six hours at the time of this writing.
Square Enix was meant to announce a few details for Final Fantasy XV later tonight but it looks like someone has pulled the trigger a bit early in more than a few areas. The first piece of information happens to be that the company will be releasing another fresh demo for Final Fantasy XV where players will be “entering the dream” of a young version of Noctis who has been joined by the Final Fantasy summon Carbuncle.
Apparently the demo will be released once the event has ended, meaning later tonight, and you can check out the leaked trailer (that is at least at the moment still available) below.
Mindfield Games Announces April 20 Release Date for Space Exploration Adventure P.O.L.L.E.N
Complete PC game will be available on Steam, near-final VR beta version will be playable on Oculus Rift
HELSINKI – March 30, 2016 – Virtual reality games studio Mindfield Games has announced that its first-person space exploration game – P.O.L.L.E.N – will launch on Windows PC with mouse/keyboard and gamepad support on April 20 via Steam and the Humble Store. It will also be available that day on Oculus Rift as a near-final VR beta, which will be fully optimized with updates shortly after release.
“We’ve been crafting P.O.L.L.E.N for two and a half years, beginning on the earliest Oculus development kits, and we’re thrilled for players to soon experience it for themselves with the game’s full PC launch and the initial beta rollout of our VR edition,” said Olli Sinerma, co-founder of Mindfield Games. “P.O.L.L.E.N offers a uniquely captivating experience for each platform: a fiercely original and eerie first-person exploration game on traditional monitors, and a fully immersive virtual reality adventure that completely transports players to the surface of Saturn’s largest moon, Titan.”
Delivering a complete 5-8 hour gameplay experience on both PC and Oculus Rift, P.O.L.L.E.N places the player in a mysterious, mind-bending situation on a moon research base where nearly everything is interactive. Even a small, simple item can be the key to unlocking one of the game’s many puzzles and secrets. P.O.L.L.E.N’s real-time binaural soundscape has been designed to let players perceive it in the most natural way, as human ears hear it, with atmospheric audio that tells its own story as players explore the deserted environments of this remote and ominous world.
Established in 2013, Mindfield Games is a 15-person company from Helsinki, Finland. The team consists of industry veterans who previously worked at games development companies including Housemarque, Supercell, Rovio, Remedy and Redlynx/Ubisoft. Mindfield Games’ mission is to build innovative, interactive virtual reality experiences.
Deep Silver Reveals ‘Hearts and Minds’ Feature for Homefront®: The Revolution in The New “Ignite” Trailer
See Occupied Philadelphia Transform Around You as The Oppressed Population Rise Up and Fight Back Against The KPA
Larkspur, Calif., March 30, 2016 – Deep Silver and Dambuster Studios today revealed the unique ‘Hearts and Minds’ feature that powers player progression in Homefront®: The Revolution and released the latest gameplay trailer titled, “Ignite.”
Playing as freedom fighter Ethan Brady, the ultimate goal in Homefront is to inspire the people to rise up against the brutal military occupation and ignite the revolution.
‘Hearts and Minds’ represents the state of uprising across the oppressed Yellow Zones of occupied Philadelphia, and will increase as the player performs acts of resistance, such as destroying KPA infrastructure.
The open world dynamically transforms around the player as Hearts and Minds increases – a once cowed civilian population will join the player in acts of defiance, and the entire Zone will evolve from a state of lockdown to open revolution on the streets.
For more information and to get the latest updates on Homefront: The Revolution, visit the official website at www.Homefront-Game.com, follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @HomefrontGame or on Facebook at Facebook.com/HomefrontGame.
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About Homefront: The Revolution Homefront: The Revolution is an open-world first person shooter where you must lead the Resistance movement in guerrilla warfare against a superior military force.
A living, breathing, open world responds to your actions – you and your Resistance Cell can inspire a rebellion on the streets and turn Occupation into Revolution, as oppressed civilians take up the fight.
But your enemy has the advantage – superior technology, firepower, heavy armor and air support. You must learn the art of guerrilla warfare – ambush, sabotage, infiltration, deception – and fight a running battle through the war-ravaged suburbs of Philadelphia.
And the single player campaign is just the start – in Co-Op you and your friends can form your own Resistance Cell and become renowned as Heroes of the Revolution!
Features:
• Explore a living, breathing open world – experience true open world gameplay in a first person shooter, brought to life with astonishing CRYENGINE-powered visuals
• Wage Guerrilla Warfare – this is no linear shooter; learn the art of guerrilla warfare and use ambush, infiltration and hit and run tactics against your foe in thrilling un-scripted firefights
• Build the Resistance – recruit revolutionaries to the cause, establish bases and safehouses, capture and customise a deadly arsenal, and build improvised, homebrew weapons for your Guerrilla Tool Kit
• Ignite the Revolution – from oppressed citizen to revolutionary leader, an epic single-player campaign tells the story of the second War of Independence. The dynamic, evolving world responds to your actions as an oppressed nation rises up in defiance against the occupation
• Online Co-Op – take the battle online, form a Resistance Cell with your friends and earn your reputation as Heroes of the Revolution
About Deep Silver
Deep Silver develops and publishes interactive games for all platforms, seeking to deliver top-quality products that provide immersive game experiences driven by the desires of the gaming community. The company has published more than 200 games worldwide since 2003, including the best-selling zombie action Dead Island(TM) franchise, the critically-acclaimed Metro(TM): Last Light and the smash hit action adventure Saints Row IV(TM). Deep Silver is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Koch Media, GmbH, and also owns the development studios Deep Silver Fishlabs in Hamburg, Germany, Deep Silver Volition based in Champaign, IL, USA, and Deep Silver Dambuster Studios in Nottingham, UK. For more information, please visit www.deepsilver.com.
“PlayStation”, “PLAYSTATION” and “PS” Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Trademarks are property of their respective owners.
OCTOPUS TREE ANNOUNCES GOLIATH SMASHING ON TO STEAM MAY 12
Craft Giant Robots and Punch Monsters in the Face
Eden Prairie, Minnesota – March 30, 2016 – Octopus Tree, a new publisher focused on bringing exceptional indie titles to gamers worldwide, announced today that its award-winning premiere action title, Goliath, is coming to Steam on May 12, 2016. An open-world, action-adventure game with crafting and role-playing elements, Goliath is set in a universe where players build and customize massive robots to overcome the challenges they face.
“Many of us grew up playing with toy robots, imagining we were in control of them,” said Jeremy Zoss, Marketing Manager for Octopus Tree. “Goliath delivers that experience, as players can fully customize and control mechanical giants with four-player co-op in an all-out battle for world domination.”
“We are thrilled to be partnering with Octopus Tree on Goliath,” said Artem Bochkarev, Producer at Goliath developer Whalebox Studio. “We have worked extremely close with the team at Octopus Tree since the start of development, and together we have made Goliath the best game it can be.”
Goliath puts players in a world where massive monsters roam freely and gamers scavenge for resources and materials to create powerful giant robots called Goliaths. Goliaths can be customized and outfitted with weapons for various situations and battle preferences. Players can also create items and tools, build their fortress and find new allies, and choose which factions to support in the war that is sweeping across the world.
GoliathGame Features:
Build, Create and Destroy: Construct and customize giant Goliath robots, crafted from the materials found and tools earned along your journey to help level the playing field against the world’s colossal beasts.
Living World: Procedurally generated environments, quests and events, and a living ecosystem with changing weather and day and night cycles ensure that no two games of Goliath will ever be the same.
Adapt to Your Environment: Players must consider how different weather conditions affect various Goliath types while interacting with countless creatures to hunt and fight.
Boss Battles: Battle gigantic bosses that dwarf your massive mechanized warriors!
Cooperative Multiplayer:Goliath supports four-player co-op. Each player’s world has unique quests and rewards, and any loot you earn in co-op can be used in single-player mode.
Play Your Way: Choose one of several factions in a massive war that’s sweeping the land and determine who will come out on top. Players can build a fortified base to take on everyone or take on the role of a roaming nomad.
Goliath is a winner of the 2016 GDC Pitch Award and is coming to Steam on May 12 for $19.99.
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ABOUT OCTOPUS TREE
Established in 2016, Octopus Tree is a video game publisher focused on individualized attention to independent core game development partners. Octopus Tree offers a variety of funding, publishing, development, marketing, quality assurance and sales services to game developers based on the unique needs of their projects. Octopus Tree publishes games for a variety of channels and platforms. Based in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, Octopus Tree is a subsidiary of Encore Publishing Group. For more information, visit octopustreegames.com.
ABOUT ENCORE PUBLISHING GROUP
Encore Publishing Group offers a wide variety of best-selling print, productivity, home design, entertainment and educational titles through its portfolio of interactive digital brands. Encore Publishing Group brands include Broderbund’s The Print Shop and PrintMaster, Punch! Software, HOYLE and Octopus Tree. Encore Publishing Group develops and publishes software for a variety of platforms and channels, including North American retail and worldwide digital distribution. Encore Publishing Group also sells direct to consumers through its managed sites: broderbund.com, encore.com, hoylegaming.com, punchsoftware.com and punchcad.com.
Overview One of the most popular sources of anime adaptations lately has been light novel series and the year 2014 featured an extremely large number of said adaptations. With so many of these novels being produced, every series tries to do something different to stand out in some way. Black Bullet depicts a world on the brink of disaster where the best chance at survival is relying on young girls so the question is, is this series worth your time?
Story Black Bullet is set in the year 2021 where mankind has been pushed to the brink of extinction due to a virus called Gastrea. Gastrea spreads like wildfire and transforms any infected host into a terrifying creature with special abilities that grow more powerful the longer it is allowed to exist. With any infected transforming into Gastrea and going on a rampage infecting others, throughout the world humanity has been forced to live within sectioned off pieces of land that are protected by special monoliths.
These monoliths are created using a special material known as Varanium, a special type of black metal that is capable of repelling the Gastrea as well as the best means for defeating them as wounds caused by Varanium weaponry prevents the creatures from regenerating. This has placed humanity in something of a stalemate with the creatures as they can live in safety within the cordoned off cities and although the occasional Gastrea still manages to make its way into these cities, humanity has a powerful weapon capable of facing off against these single threats.
You see, back when the Gastrea virus first ran rampant ten years many pregnant women ended up becoming infected and as such passed the virus onto their unborn children. These children were then born always as girls and capable of using various abilities thanks to their contact with the virus. Named the Cursed Children, these roughly ten year old girls are usually paired up with members of independent civilian security forces as Initiators while the person they are paired up with the Promoter. With these pairs generally capable of defeating Gastrea that appear within the walls, one would think that the Cursed Children would be treated as a precious resource. Unfortunately, those who think that are few and far between.
Black Bullet follows the story of Rentaro, a man who lost his entire family at a young age when the Gastrea virus ran rampant and now works for a small civilian security firm with his Initiator the ten year old Enju. Rather than follow a solid story arc throughout this thirteen episode season, the story opts to follow these two through a number of smaller arcs that take place over the course of two-three episodes a piece with a breather episode or two placed as separation.
This type of story structure does lead to certain issues that are continuously dangled in front of viewers only to be pushed aside, likely due to the fact that the source material is still being produced in Japan, as well as some plot holes that never really are addressed and plenty of poorly paced rushed scenes followed by long information dumps in an effort to try and fit as much content as possible as the series fits three arcs in while also attempting to build up the world and develop the core cast.
The thing is, Black Bullet may have a number of weaknesses but thanks to the characters that we are introduced to and the amount of backstory we learn about these characters as well as the concepts the story tackles and the fact that the series finds a nice balance between humor, action, and horrible moments these weaknesses are only a small detriment to what turns out to be a very enjoyable series that I hope manages to get a second season sometime in the future.
You see, when we are first introduced to Rentaro and Enju the pair have already been together for eight months and have formed a very close bond to the point of being brother and sister/father and daughter. Obviously there are plenty of jokes made about the fact that Enju is always speaking about how much she loves Rentaro and wants to marry him in the future and with other young girls eventually gathering around him and his kindness towards them, the series does take advantage of this to make plenty of obvious and easy gags but it isn’t long before we see just how unique their relationship is and how different their Civilian Security organization handles things.
One of the strongest concepts of Black Bullet is the way that it depicts a hopeless world that almost appears as if it should simply vanish. Despite finding a semblance of safety, these walled cities are obviously presented as temporary solutions and with corruption running throughout the higher-ranks of politics, secrets abound about the Gastrea origins. On top of this, the Cursed Children, who should be seen as precious, are instead treated by many with extreme prejudice and hatred.
There is indeed a threat that a Cursed Child may transform into a Gastrea if their infection level reaches a certain limit (a concept that is never really detailed) but despite being seen as saviors, they are forced to live outside the city in slums or abused and killed as if they were nothing. Even among the Civilian Security branches there are those that treat their Initiators as little more than tools.
This creates a stark contrast between how Rentaro and Enju see the world and the way that the majority of the public feels, allowing for viewers to easily get behind the main pair as they try to make efforts to help out those less fortunate with themselves and even find sympathy for an early villain who shares his views, albeit far more violently. Thanks to this dynamic of the pair struggling against not only the extreme hatred of the Cursed Children but also against the violent threats, both Gastrea and outside variables, that come across their path, Black Bullet becomes a series filled with powerful moments that vary between heart-warming and heart-rending and memorable storylines that generally end up feeling poorly paced.
Visuals Handled by the fairly fresh animations studio Kinema Citrus, Black Bullet is a series that takes full advantage of using a vibrant color palette for the main characters to help them stand out from the often dull colored backgrounds. These character designs are well handled and while not a lot of detail is often placed into their facial animations, the team is capable of displaying plenty of emotions out of these characters.
The action sequences are handled quite fluidly and the designs of the Gastrea are memorable and though many simply resemble insects some later creatures feature memorable outlandish designs. Thankfully, Black Bullet takes the high road when it comes to fan service as those who may be worried about such a thing will find that it is nearly non-existent in the series or focuses entirely on the adult cast.
Audio Sentai Filmworks has released Black Bullet with both the original Japanese voice track as well as their own freshly recorded English dub. For those who prefer the original voice work, there is no problem here as the cast does a great job with their characters while the new English cast also handles their roles rather well though Rentaro’s English voice actor Chris Patton does a rather poor job with action sequences.
The soundtrack for the series features a large variety of different sounding tracks that are used to fit the various tones the series switches between. This is something of an accomplishment considering how quickly the mood in Black Bullet can turn. The opening theme “black bullet” by fripside is a very enjoyable theme song and quite a memorable one at that while the main ending theme “Tokohana” by Nagi Yanagi is calmer in nature but doesn’t stand out much in this regard.
Extras The bonus features included in this release are unfortunately thin as the only included extras are clean versions of the opening theme, ending theme, and trailers for other Sentai Filmworks products.
Overall Black Bullet is a very good example of how great a series could be if it were to be given the proper amount of time to properly pace itself. While the series has a lot of potential and offers enjoyable arcs, everything feels too rushed and poorly paced in an effort to pack as much content as possible into thirteen episodes. This means that viewers will be left with plenty of questions that aren’t answered once the series comes to an end, meaning they’ll need to go for the English light novels for answers, but will still come away with an engaging series that addresses some rough issues and features a satisfying balance between action and character moments. Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
It looks like Frontwing is taking their success in the West and are really running with it has the company has announcedanother new game that they are planning on releasing another title on PC through Steam sometime in the future.
The game, Purino Party, has only just been announced and at the moment all the company had to say is that the game will be a puzzle title and will feature an English release that will be handled by their own team, similar to their upcoming visual novel Corona Blossom.
Other than that, they have stated that the writer for The Fruit of Grisaia, Kazuya, will be working as the producer on the project
Koei Tecmo has launched Gust’s brand new RPG Nights of Azurein North America today and with European regions receiving the PlayStation 4 title on April 1st the company has decided to release a fresh launch trailer for the title.
You can check out the video below as well as some small details about the game’s story, which is darker in tone than many of Gust’s past projects, below, or if you wish, you can see our interview with the development team here.
Few leave their homes after nightfall in the kingdom of Ruswal, let alone have the strength and skill to take on the powerful azure-blooded demons that plague the uncharted island. One of the best among these brave few is Arnice, a beautiful knight of great skill and power sworn to protect humanity and defend the priestess Lilysse—her best friend. As she grows in power, Arnice can summon creatures known as Servan to assist her in battle as well as transform into a demon herself in order to carry out her mission.
Despite her strength, Arnice soon discovers that the solution to the island’s problems might not be as simple as defeating enemies in battle. Nights of Azure is a tragic tale of two friends faced with impossible decisions that will test their loyalty to their quest and to each other.
it seems that Ys Net is continuing to smoothly progress with the development of Shenmue III as their latest development update has revealed that the company has began motion capture system testing. They have included a few images showing the testing in action, shown above, and at the moment the company is simply testing out the systems to see which one of them will be the best fit for the game. Currently the one being tested is a new system created by Xsens.
That wasn’t all the news they had for fans however, as the company also showed off some of the fan mail that they have been receiving from fans and you can find their selected pieces below. As for the game itself, they are currently developing the game for the PlayStation 4 and PC.
