New trailer for STAR OCEAN: INTEGRITY AND FAITHLESSNESS showcases battle system
Character spotlights also revealed for Fiore and Victor
LONDON (13th April 2016) – Ahead of the launch of STAR OCEAN®: INTEGRITY AND FAITHLESSNESS™ on the 1st July, Square Enix Ltd., today released a brand new trailer for the title which showcases the game’s battle system and characters in more depth. The trailer gives fans a further glimpse at STAR OCEAN: Integrity and Faithlessness’ seamless real-time combat and transitions from fighting to exploring.
In STAR OCEAN: Integrity and Faithlessness, controlling up to six characters in battle, players must strategise with battle roles and skills to keep the edge in combat. To watch the full Battle System Trailer now, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGy1UQC_-ZY .
Character spotlight videos were also revealed for two further characters, Fiore and Victor. To watch the character spotlight videos now, visit: Fiore / Victor.
STAR OCEAN: Integrity and Faithlessness will be released in Europe and PAL territories on 1stJuly 2016 for the PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system. The game will be available with English and French in-game text only. A Collector’s Edition which features a steelbook™ case, 80-page artbook, in-game DLC and much more will also be available in limited quantities. The Collector’s Edition is available to pre-order now exclusively from SQUARE ENIX Online store, priced at £84.99 / €99.99. For more information, visit the Square Enix store.
About STAR OCEAN: Integrity and Faithlessness
Set between the events of the second and third games in the series , STAR OCEAN: Integrity and Faithlessness takes place centuries after humans have left Earth for the stars. At this point in history, the Pangalactic Federation is nearing the fulfilment of its mission: Peace and order throughout the galaxy. However, the embers of conflict begin to stir once more on the planet of Faykreed, 6,000 light years from Earth, as a new story begins in the ocean of stars.
About Square Enix Ltd.
Square Enix Ltd., a part of the Square Enix Europe business unit, 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. 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 boasts a valuable portfolio of intellectual property including: FINAL FANTASY, which has sold over 110 million units worldwide, DRAGON QUEST® which has sold over 66 million units worldwide and TOMB RAIDER® which has sold over 45 million units worldwide; and the legendary SPACE INVADERS®. Square Enix Ltd. is a London-based, wholly-owned subsidiary of Square Enix Holdings Co., Ltd.
More information on Square Enix Ltd. can be found at http://www.square-enix.com/eu/en/ .
STAR OCEAN, INTEGRITY AND FAITHLESSNESS, the STAR OCEAN: INTEGRITY AND FAITHLESSNESS logo, FINAL FANTASY, DRAGON QUEST, EIDOS, SPACE INVADERS, SQUARE ENIX, TAITO and TOMB RAIDER are registered trademarks or trademarks of the Square Enix group of companies. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Overview With the anime industry digging deep into the light novels that are being heavily produced in Japan, it is easy to see why certain series get snatched up and given anime adaptations. On paper a series like Magical Warfare seems like it has a lot going for it and considering the source material is already at twelve volumes there is plenty of content to draw from. That being said, now that Sentai Filmworks has brought the anime adaptation to North America is it worth your time?
Story Magical Warfare takes place in a world where after being persecuted for years, those capable of magic began to rise up and a great war took place in the year 1999. During this war wizards battled against one another as one faction wished to wipe out humanity so they would be free from persecution while the other fought to defend the world. After a major conflict, the world was torn asunder and while the standard Earth still exists by the name of “Existing World” the magicians almost entirely reside in a mirrored realm known as the “Collapsing World.”
Before falling into a deep sleep the strongest wizards at the time created something known as the “Gift” that prevents any magicians from fighting in the existing world. Those that injure other wizards using magic in that realm will suffer from a complete and total loss of their magical abilities and revert back to being normal humans. On the opposite side of the spectrum, the collapsing world is a nearly free battlefield where only a few neutral areas remain, especially since for convenience sake that realm has deteriorated to only containing Tokyo.
The story begins proper when Takeshi Nanase arrives at his school only to find that an unknown girl has collapsed next to his club room. After taking her to the nurse’s office she proceeds to sleepily cling to him and call for her brother before waking up, pulling out a gun, and shooting at him. Once the girl calms down, she tells Takeshi that her name is Mui and it isn’t long before a group of enemy wizards appear chasing the girl.
While Takeshi fends them off he realizes that he now possesses strange abilities and is told by Mui that he has gained Evasion magic. After encountering these foes it turns out that both Takeshi’s fake girlfriend Kurumi and friend Ida have also gained magical abilities since in this world those who are exposed to any sort of magic while they are young suddenly become wizards and since the “Gift” doesn’t apply to magicians hurting humans, which is a rather strange oversight, the three find themselves with new abilities and instantly decide to leave their old lives behind and travel with Mui to the other realm where they enter a neutral school meant to teach fledgling wizards from numerous factions about their abilities.
One of the first impressions that Magical Warfare makes in regards to how serious things are handled comes in the first few minutes when Takeshi, wielding a bamboo sword, directly blocks and clashes against an opponent wielding a two handed metal blade multiple times before his weapon breaks just in time for a final attack that allows the him to escape. This type of simplistic handling of a flimsy weapon standing up to a weapon that easily should cleave through it is a good example of what to expect from the series that then hands the main character a powerful ancient sword from the school store that is capable of using his friends’ magical powers as boosts to his own.
The hinted tragic backstory of Takeshi and his family is eventually revealed to be something incredibly simplistic to the point of being laughable, especially given the serious tone the series tries to pull with it, neither Ida or Kurumi receive any decent development outside of the predictable love triangle that forms when Kurumi, who despite the fake nature of their relationship harbors feelings for Takeshi, realizes that Mui also begins to feel for Takeshi, and the only real storyline that involves Mui attempting to free her brother from being controlled by a violent faction known as Ghost Trailer, is resolved halfway through the twelve episode season.
Outside of being involved in the love triangle both Kurumi and Mui are only given small bits of development here and there as we learn about why Kurumi and Takeshi formed a fake relationship in the first place and while Mui may be the main heroine in the series, viewers do begin to care at least a little about both of the two by the time things wrap up, though Magical Warfare falters in that regard as well.
Any sense of conflict that arises in Magical Warfare is handled incredibly poorly and while it may have worked well if the series were properly paced but unfortunately what we have here is something of a wreck as new characters and elements are introduced and quickly forgotten about. There are efforts made to try and develop the world that these characters are living in and how certain events are related to one another but it ultimately becomes a convoluted mess that ends up panning out incredibly poorly by leaving viewers with a cliffhanger of an ending.
Visuals Animated by Madhouse, Magical Warfare may sound as basic as they come but does look rather good in the process. The characters aren’t very memorable looking which is unfortunate but the combat scenes, as ridiculous as some of them are, are presented with fluid motion with plenty of care given to make sure the magical spells used by the fighters look as good as possible.
The backgrounds throughout the series are something of a mixed bag as the standard designs of the schools are far from special though any time the scenes shift outside the school or provide glimpses of the antagonists’ movements viewers are treated to some very impressive looking environments with just the right type of atmosphere to match the foreboding nature of what is being shown.
Audio Oddly enough considering the quality of the series, Sentai Filmworks has decided to give Magical Warfare an English dub to accompany the standard Japanese voice track. The English cast handles their characters well and the various magical incantations used to cast their spells sound better in English, though comparing the two tracks it feels as if Mui’s personality is presented better by her Japanese voice actress Nao Touyama as opposed to Allison Sumrall in the English dub.
One thing that does stand out in this series is the way they handle the soundtrack. There are a number of vocal insert songs that work incredibly well when paired up with the action scenes, making for a few impressively presented moments. Accompanying this impressive soundtrack are two fitting themes with “Senkou no Prisoner” by Yuuka Nanri as the opening theme and “Born To Be” by Nano serving as a memorable ending theme.
Extras Sentai Filmworks’ release of Magical Warfare contains only clean versions of the opening and closing animations as well as trailers for other Sentai Filmworks releases.
Overall Magical Warfare feels like the type of series that we have seen numerous times before and does almost nothing to stand out in any significant way. If anything it falls apart upon any type of scrutiny especially when it comes to trying to convey a serious story while providing laughable reasons for why the characters are actually fighting. Combine that with the way Takeshi and his friends are handled and you have a series that is as by the books as they come only worse making it one that fans can easily pass over unless they feel like checking out some poorly paced magical conflicts. Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Overview It is a bit hard to believe that there was a time that the Senran Kagura series was something of an “if” rather than a “when” regarding a Western release. Over the years we have seen every game in the series released without issue and even the anime and manga adaptations have made their way over with little issue. As such with Senran Kagura: Estival Versus being the series’ first step onto the PlayStation 4, hos is the series now that it has arrived on a console?
Story After sensing a strange presence during a trip in the woods, both Ryōbi and Ryōna find themselves witnesses a strange scene where an old woman is tending to what appear to be spirits of the dead. When the pair see that their dead sister is among the spirits they find themselves transported to a strange summer island and it isn’t long before a strange portal opens up behind the rest of the four main groups in the Senran Kagura series, bringing the members of Hanzo, Hebijo, Gessen, and Crimson Squad all to one location.
Upon arriving, Asuka realizes that the old woman is none other than her grandmother Sayuri and the group is informed that they have all been transported to a different plane of existence where dead shinobi still roam and that they must partake in the Kagura Millennium Festival with the winning group unlocking the potential to become the “Kagura.” While this may mean that the groups will need to fight against one another in order to destroy Festival Pillars, there are far heavier thoughts weighing on most of their minds as many of the girls can sense members of their family still residing in the land.
This means that there are some serious moments as well as emotional scenes that play out, especially between the three sisters. These moments are handled very well and help set up the baseline for the narrative and the setting. Those who are into the series for the comedic element will find that Estival Versus is more than ready to throw numerous jokes at fans and considering the girls are now in something of a tropical paradise most of the time, there are plenty of fresh jokes to be made and hilarious situations for the girls wind up in.
Fans of the cast will be glad to see that each girl is given plenty of time in the spotlight in the core story, especially since the story is told through stages and doesn’t require players to select a specific school, though unlike past games, the Shinobi Girl’s Heart missions that focus on a sole girl are locked away at the start of the game as players first must destroy a certain number of pillars which are often scattered around a stage and off the beaten path, to unlock. As for these little stories, they are fairly standard and provide a bit of extra humor for fans of a specific character but don’t expect too from these little side stories.
Gameplay In many ways the basic combat in Senran Kagura: Estival Versus remains similar to what fans were able to experience in Shinovi Versus though a few touch ups have been made. In certain stages players can now run along the walls and perform special attacks to surprise their opponents and make combat a bit more fluid and if you are fighting alongside a partner it is possible to turn a standard Aerial Rave move into a Combined Aerial Rave where your character and her partner will double team an opponent.
Another lesser feature is the addition of bombs to the game. These bombs are dropped from random enemies as well as from containers and while they don’t add too much to the game, players will find them a great way to clear lesser enemies. By pressing triangle your currently held bomb will be tossed and while they have different effects such as causing poison damage, freezing your opponent, or something similar, there are also dummies that can be spawned to draw attention, healing orbs that can be spawned, and special giant robots called Dolls that can be temporarily ridden to deal massive damage to enemies before they self-destruct.
Outside of these few changes players will find that the characters are all given their standard basic attacks, heavy attacks, and the ability to combo together various strings that can send their opponent flying before pursuing them into the air to unleash air combos. As each girl levels up her combo tree will expand and eventually their strongest special move will be unlocked, costing five total scrolls to unleash after entering Shinobi mode. Frantic Mode also returns and can be triggered through a few button presses or by swiping the touch pad from the middle out and as before this mode strips the character to their underwear leaving them vulnerable but able to attack faster and stronger than before.
A number of characters have had their move sets refined a bit in this iteration of the series and with this release we also see the addition of a few new fighters to the roster. Despite having so many playable characters now, the developer has done an excellent job making sure that most of these girls all have a unique fighting style and while some characters may not be as effective in combat as others, having the extra options is always a nice touch.
The signature aspect of clothing being torn in combat is still a prominent feature in Senran Kagura: Estival Versus and have been stepped up notch. While players can always opt to skip their transformation and even ripped clothing scenes or select to not have them featured at all, those who wish to see their combo strings rip apart the costumes of their enemies will be delighted to see that the various stages of damage have been varied up a bit and there are now special finishing areas in each stage.
These finishing areas are marked by small ! signs and if you defeat an opponent near these signs they will be stripped bare and sent into a special stage based elimination scene. These are quite funny to trigger though the layout of some levels does mean that there are many times you’ll end up being locked away from these areas or forced to leave them behind to continue. This style of layout also becomes in issue in regards to the aforementioned pillars as players need to often search a level to actually see it and with various routes often being blocked off this is a bit more annoying than one would expect.
Outside of the main combat scenes players will find that the dressing room has been enhanced with a new Diorama mode that allows the girls to be posed wearing clothing that you select for theme like usual and portrayed against various backdrops. The shop is also the same as it features various outfits and hair styles that are unlocked by playing through the game and the Lingerie Lottery that offers random chances at obtaining new underwear for the girls.
Those who want to take the fight online will find that Senran Kagura: Estival Versus features a number of different modes to try out such as your standard Point Battle to Capture the Bra and Understorm which are basically capture the flag and a collectible hunt for panties. There are more modes than this available though I’ve found these three the most enjoyable and thankfully the PlayStation 4 version supports more players online than the Vita version, allowing the fights to really get hectic at times.
Visuals & Audio With this being the first time that the series has arrived on the PlayStation 4 it is clear that the company paid extra attention to make sure all of the character models of the girls could look as detailed and colorful as possible. The cast looks better than they ever have in the past and even when fighting against the numerous shinobi grunts the game throws against you, whose outfits rip off just like named characters but without little cutaways, there is never an ounce of slowdown with the title as I found every aspect of the game to run as smooth as possible.
There are a few issues with some random enemies clipping into the ground a bit but these issues appeared very rarely. The fan service aspect of the game has been upped thanks to the aforementioned Diorama Mode allowing for fans to create their own photoshoots as well as the new variations on the costume destruction and special complete stripping environmental finishers. Don’t expect to see anything beyond risqué as the shining lights still cover all the important bits.
As far as the series’ soundtrack goes Senran Kagura: Estival Versus lives up to what fans have come to expect from the game with a number of rock tracks used for combat scenes and a mix of dramatic tunes and comedic sounding tracks designed to fit the dialogue scenes. The Japanese voice actresses from past games all return to reprise their roles in stellar fashion and the new girls in the game are handled just as well as the core cast though it is worth mentioning that this release only features English subtitles set to the Japanese voice track.
Overall Senran Kagura: Estival Versus serves as a great continuation to a series that has slowly been getting better as it ages. Although the story may still be filled with plenty of the comedic elements and character interactions that fans have come to love it also tells an interesting story beneath all the boobs and laughs. Thanks to the combat sequences being easy to grasp and as fun as ever, this series continues to show just how satisfying a beat em up can be even when it is a title many might still consider a guilty pleasure. Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Now that we know that Square Enix is going to be releasing Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness in North America on June 28th and in Europe on July 1st for the PlayStation 4 the company has begun releasing English trailers to help promote the game and show off how the characters will sound with the English dub, though those who prefer the original Japanese voice actors will be able to choose that option as the game will be released with dual audio.
The videos released this time focus on showing off the battle system in Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness as well as introducing both Victor Oakville and Fiore Brunelli.
We have been hearing about The King of Fighters XIV for quite some time now as SNK Playmore has steadily been releasing little videos revealing fighters for the game’s fifty character roster but this marks the first time that we are hearing about the game from someone else. Atlus USA has announced that they will be publishing The King of Fighters XIV in North America and they plan on releasing the PlayStation 4 title sometime in 2016.
Alongside the massive roster of characters that are still being revealed various improvements to the game’s Combo and MAX Mode mechanics as well as the Rush feature have been made as well as simplified combo inputs for those unfamiliar with the series.
It looks like Compile Heart is working on a brand new Neptunia game and although it may sound like it might be ambitious for the company thanks to its name, it isn’t too far out of their standard wheelhouse. This week’s issue of Dengeki PlayStation has revealedFour Goddesses Online: Cyber Dimension Neptune which is not an online game but instead a fantasy action RPG that takes place in a new world.
Each of the goddesses that have so far been revealed have brand new fantasy costumes designed to fit their job class with Neptune being a Holy Knight, Noire as a Black Knight, Blanc as a Priest, and Vert as an Enchanter. Currently no platforms for Four Goddesses Online: Cyber Dimension Neptune have been announced nor has a release window been detailed though it will likely be released at the end of the year or beginning of the next.
Back in 2013 Gust announced that they were working on something a bit different for the PS Vita and that it would be an RPG called Chronos Materia. Since that time we have heard practically nothing about that game and rather than simply let it slide away into memories after the initial release date delay, the company has decided to officially announce, through this week’s issue of Famitsu, that they are no longer working on Chronos Materia.
The game was originally meant to be released in September 2013 but was delayed and never given a new release date or even mentioned by Koei Tecmo or Gust.
In a move that should surprise no one, Arc System Works has revealed, thanks to the latest issue of Weekly Famitsu, that BlazBlue: Central Fiction will be heading to the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3 in Japan. With this reveal also comes information that a few new modes will be added into the game and that a brand new fighter, taken from the XBlaze series, named Es will be playable in the console release alongside the new characters Hibiki Kohaku, Naoto Kurogane, Nine the Phantom, and Hades Izanami.
The various modes that will be included in the home release are your standard features such as time attack mode, score attack, online battle, arcade fights, training mode, and of course the hefty story mode though apparently the company is going to be bringing a conclusion to the story of Ragna this time around.
Back in February NIS America announced plans to bring the Psycho-Pass: Mandatory Happiness visual novel to the West and today the company announced exactly when fans can expect it to be available. The company will be releasing the game on the PlayStation 4 and PS Vita on September 13th in North America and September 16th in Europe.
The company also announced that a limited edition version of Psycho-Pass: Mandatory Happiness will be available for $69.99 on the PlayStation 4 and $59.99 on the PS Vita and will include the following bonuses:
Psycho-Pass : Mandatory Happiness
Full-color, 72-page deluxe softcover art book (7″x10″)
Although Idea Factory International may have just announced the release date for Hyperdevotion Noire: Goddess Black Heart a couple of days ago, it looks like plans are changing a bit but don’t worry, you won’t have to wait too much longer than originally planned. The company has now announced that the PS Vita title will be released on PC eight days later than originally planned as it will now arrive on Steam on April 26th.
When released Hyperdevotion Noire: Goddess Black Heart will be priced at $29.99 but for the first week after the strategy RPG is released it will be available at a 40 percent discount.
