Seven Seas Licenses Lord Marksman and Vanadis, Love In Hell: Death Life, and My Pathetic Vampire Life Manga

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December 3, 2015

Seven Seas Entertainment kicked off their “10 Days of Licensing” at the start of the week and so far they have licensed quite a few titles as they revealed that they had picked up the license to the Lord Marksman and Vanadis manga adaptation of the light novel series that was given an anime adaptation back in 2014. The company is planning on publishing the series starting on September 13, 2016 and will continue to do so through single volume releases.

Seven Seas then decided to double-down on the license announcements yesterday as they revealed that they had acquired the license to the Love in Hell: Death Life manga series from Reiji Suzumaru. This manga exists in the same story of Love in Hell and will feature a number of cameos from characters in the first series, but this story will follow a separate character who finds himself in hell and can be enjoyed separately from the main series. The first volume of Love in Hell: Death Life is set for release on July 19, 2016.

The second announcement that was made is for a newer series from Rose Ishikawa named My Pathetic Vampire Life with the first volume dropping on October 4, 2016. More details about each of these manga series can be found below courtesy of Seven Seas:

Lord Marksman and Vanadis
The country of Zhcted is ruled by seven women known as the Vanadis, a group of warriors who are given powerful weapons and dominion over the country’s seven territories. Taking advantage of its neighboring nations’ civil unrest, Zhcted goes to war against the country of Brune. In a battle that decimates Brune’s army, the brave, young Brune nobleman Tigrevurmund Vorn meets the beautiful Eleonara Viltaria—one of the Vanadis.
Impressed with his skill as an archer, Elen allows Tigre to live in exchange for his servitude. But the battle is far from over, and extends further than either of them could have imagined. Tigre and his new mistress become caught in the middle of a plot that threatens not only their homelands, but the entire world.
Love in Hell: Death Life
Utsunomiya Sousuke is dead. But his new life is about to begin…in Hell! Upon awakening in the Afterlife, Sousuke meets his painfully sexy devil guide Sanagi, who may be short of stature, but packs an all-powerful punch. Like Rintaro before him, can the hopelessly irreverent Sousuke repent from his sins, or is he fated to be forever tortured and teased by a gorgeous demonic temptress?
My Pathetic Vampire Life
Koide was turned into a vampire at the age of sixteen—one hundred and thirty-three years ago. Now, poor Koide is trapped in an eternal loop of the same old homework, the same boring lectures and meaningless tests, and an ever-unquenchable thirst for blood. Koide has repeated his uneventful sophomore year of high school one hundred and thirty-three times, and now, in his one hundred and thirty fourth year, he doesn’t expect things to change—and is frankly too bored to care.
But his classmates this year seem a little different than before. They’re thrilled to have a vampire in their midst, and are eager to do whatever they can to help. Will “134” be Koide’s lucky number or is that just wishful thinking?

Bloodborne: The Old Hunters Review

Andrew Day

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December 2, 2015

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Bloodborne: The Old Hunters
Developer: From Software
Publisher: Sony
Platforms: PS4
Release Date: Out Now
Price: AU$29.95/US$19.99 – Available Here

Overview

It has been quite a while since I played Bloodborne. In a year that has been filled with so many new and exciting games, I have hardly had the time to go back for another death-riddled play through. Now that Bloodborne: The Old Hunters, the first (and I assume will be the only) DLC expansion to this year’s hit PS4 exclusive has arrived, I was gleeful for an excuse to jump back in. Stepping back into Yharnam filled me with a lot of different emotions – dread, anguish, sorrow, glee, excitement, and defeat – and that was just the first few minutes.

Story

Like you would expect from a FromSoftware game, the plot of The Old Hunters isn’t laid out to you with big sections of dialogue or cut scenes. Instead, the player is tasked to piece together the narrative from the various items that little the world, and of course from the world itself and the player’s experiences. When this kind of storytelling pays off, I am a huge fan of it because it allows the player to be further engrossed in the story because they are in a sense creating it.

The three distinct locations in the Old Hunters also tell a story of their own, from the dark Hunter’s Nightmare which almost feels like a sort of purgatory for hunters that have succumbed to the beast within – all the way through to the Astral Clocktower who’s twists and turns and staircases look like something out of an MC. Escher painting.

Gameplay

As you would probably expect, the gameplay of The Old Hunters it almost identical to the Bloodborne base game. You play as your Hunter who has chosen to investigate the Hunter’s Nightmare. Because you keep playing as your current character, you get to keep all of your current weapons and items, which makes it a lot easier since you already know what you’re doing.

One of the most important aspects of the Souls and Bloodborne series is that at its core it is about learning and adapting. The player needs to learn the attack patterns of enemies as well as reading their movements. Not only that but you have to learn what each weapon does, its stamina drain, how powerful certain combos are etc. Well The Old Hunters takes that core principal of the series and keeps it fresh by adding in new enemies with new attack patterns, new weapons that act almost completely different to any you have picked up in the base game, and some new areas that will have you frantically checking around every corner, hoping for a new item but expecting an enemy to leap out at you.

Fans of FromSoftware games will be excited to know that one of the new weapons is the Holy Moonlight Sword. The Moonlight Sword is an item that has appeared in just about every single one of From’s games, and I know I was personally disappointed when I couldn’t find it in Bloodborne, but thankfully that error has been rectified. The rest of the new weapons really are sights to behold and each completely change how you will play the game.

I can also say that The Old Hunters is home to some of the most intense and awe-inspiring battles of anything in the entire Souls series of games. I don’t want to spoil too much, but boss encounters like Lady Maria are both the stuff of dreams and nightmares!

Ok, so here is the question on everybody’s mind: Is The Old Hunters difficult? Well, I’m just going to come right out and say it – yes, yes the game is absolutely punishing at times. Just so you guys out there can have a bit of a bar to go off – many of the enemies you will encounter are different versions of end-game monsters. While you only need to have beaten Vicar Amelia in order to access the content, I would strongly advice progressing a fair bit further into the game in order to have a ghost of a chance of beating it.

Overall

I have always been pretty vocal aboust DLC and my hatred of some companies nickle and diming their customers for a new weapon of a half hour more content. However, I can say with a smile on my face that From Software have absolutely hit it out of the park and have shown off what DLC should be. I tried to time my exploits through The Old Hunters and I clocked up close to nine hours (on New Game Difficulty) which is longer than some full priced games I have played recently.

In addition to being more than well worth your money, The Old Hunters succeeds in ways that very few other DLC manage to; providing enough content that is both true to the base game and unique to itself to warrant its purchase. Bloodborne was already a great game, and The Old Hunters has managed to expand and add onto that in spectacular fashion.

Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.

Disney Infinity 3.0 Light FX Figures Get Their Release Date

Andrew Day

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December 2, 2015

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Disney Infinity 3.0 Light FX Figures Get Their Release Date

Well folks, Christmas is just around the corner and if you’re like me you are struggling to put together those lists so that you make sure to buy everyone the perfect gift. Well, Disney have given us all a helping hand by announcing that the highly anticipated Light FX figures for Disney Infinity 3.0 will be available from December 17th.

For those of you who may not be aware, the Light FX figures are a range of figures for the game that have their lightsabers ignite when placed on the Infinity Base. Similar to the Crystal Series figures for the first two games, the Light FX figures will be limited edition, so make sure you get yours ASAP so you can sneak them under the tree!

In addition to being limited edition, the figures are also retailer exclusive, meaning you will have to go to either Big W or Target to get yours! To help you, we put in a little breakdown of where you can get the specific figures:

Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, Anakin Skywalker: Big W
Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Kanan Jarrus: Target

Minecraft: Story Mode – The Last Place You Look Review

Travis Bruno

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December 2, 2015

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Minecraft: Story Mode – The Last Place You Look Review

Minecraft: Story Mode – The Last Place You Look
Developer: Telltale Games
Publisher: Telltale Games
Platforms: PC, iOS, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One (Reviewed)
Release Date: November 25, 2015
Price: $4.99 – Available Here

Overview
With Telltale Games continuing to follow a rather blistering release pace (for them) with Minecraft: Story Mode episodes the third episode in the series has already been released. This time around the developers waited a month before releasing the third episode in the series, The Last Place You Look, and after a disappointing second episode will this third episode manage to swing things around?

Story
As per usual for our reviews of episodic games, it is worth noting that there will be spoilers discussed for past episodes in this review. That means if you have yet to complete the previous episode, Assembly Required, then you should do so before continuing.

Now that that is out of the way, Minecraft: Story Mode – The Last Place You Look picks up immediately where the story left off with Jesse and the gang facing off against Ivor as he uses a splash potion to slow down the group and walk past them, effectively escaping while locking them in. Abandoned by the two heroes they previously recruited, the group manages to remember that they can actually dig through objects and tunnel out of the room.

This leads to a surprisingly action packed opening credit sequence that features Jesse and the rest of the group battling against a large number of monsters while navigating an incredibly dangerous pit-trap that they call a monster grinder. This serves as a great way to pick up the pace of the episode that has unfortunately been lagging in previous episodes and The Last Place You Look keeps up that pace with multiple tense encounters throughout the rest of the episode.

The comedic element also takes a welcoming rise from the ashes as Jesse and the gang work to find Soren and find their journey taking them from the monster filled halls of the aforementioned grinder to The End. With his Master Builder status, Soren’s managed to craft quite a few luxuriously strange areas that the group has to travel through and a number of simple puzzles they must solve as well in order to track him down.

This leads to a few running gags and a handful of humorous moments that take place over the course of the episode, especially once the eccentric Soren is found and his latest hobby is revealed. Soren turns out to quickly become a favorite character thanks to his personality traits and way of speaking to people. It is worth noting that some of the side-characters are pushed even further to the background however though it is worth noting that the previously annoying Axel does appear to rub off on Lucas this time around as he grows far more aggressive than previously shown.

The fact that these characters are starting to get a bit desperate and acting out leads to few dramatic moments and some actual worthwhile character development here that sees the story actually move forward in a meaningful way that actually feels important rather than simply padding along a kid-friendly journey. By actually delivering on some drama and providing players a few key choices that may play a larger role in the series, especially since this episode ends after confronting the Witherstorm, Minecraft: Story Mode – The Last Place You Look is a welcome improvement to what we’ve seen so far.

Gameplay
Similar to the style of past episodes players will be finding themselves taking part in quick time events to dodge enemy attacks and make various jumps but the slightly more interactive combat system does return to help give players a bit of a change of pace from time to time. The player choices here do seem to carry a little bit of weight though unlike the past episode there are no diverging paths that give players a chance to experience separate events.

The crafting table also makes something of a small return but unlike past episodes where players can make a joke, there is only one specific item that must be crafted here and it barely makes up a puzzle unlike a handful of other flimsy puzzles that are scattered throughout this episode.

Visuals & Audio
Telltale Games continues to be rather impressive when it comes to designing unique looking areas for Jesse and the gang to explore as they travel from place to place. The End as well as some of the contraptions that have been built by Soren make for plenty of varied looking areas while the characters are still presented in the same manner as before, with limited facial expressions that still manage to work well thanks to the visual style of the series.

The voice acting remains a fairly impressive highlight here as we see the addition of a new cast member in Soren whose voice actor fits the character’s personality perfectly while the rest of the returning voice actors continue to perform admirably since there are far more humorous jokes to be made this time around than in the previous episode.

Overall
After experiencing the very limited offering that was Assembly Required, Minecraft: Story Mode was in desperate need of a boost and thankfully The Last Place You Look has provided that. While the jokes may not click as often as most would like, this episode does offer some better humor here and there as well as some actual character development and storyline advancement, making it a marked improvement over what we have seen so far and hopefully a sign of better things to come from the series.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.

What FUNimation Is Releasing in December 2015

K. Roberts

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December 2, 2015

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What FUNimation Is Releasing in December 2015

FUNimation Entertainment is releasing five titles this month. The following list details each of those releases.

December 1, 2015:

Fairy Tail Part 18 DVD and Blu-ray combo pack – episodes 200-212 are featured with dual audio and English subtitles. On-disc extras include: “Guild Pride: Quatro Cerberus”, commentary for episodes 200 and 205, the textless opening and ending animation, the U.S. trailer and trailers.

December 8, 2015:

Haganai Season One Anime Classics Edition DVD and Blu-ray combo pack – episodes 1-13 are featured with dual audio and English subtitles. On-disc extras include: actor commentaries, DVD and Blu-ray spots, the original commercials, promotional videos, TV spots, the textless opening and ending animation, the U.S. trailer and trailers.
Riddle Story of Devil Complete Series Standard and Limited Edition DVD – episodes 1-13 are featured with dual audio and English subtitles. On-disc extras include: episode commentaries, the textless opening and ending animations, the U.S. trailer and trailers.

December 15, 2015:

Daimidaler: Prince vs. Penguin Empire Complete Series DVD and Blu-ray combo pack – episodes 1-12 are featured with dual audio and English subtitles. On-disc extras include: six OVAs, episode commentaries, commercials, promotional videos, the textless opening and ending animation, the U.S. trailer and trailers.
One Piece Season Seven Voyage Four DVD – episodes 422-433 are featured with dual audio and English subtitles. On-disc extras include: episode commentaries, “Chopper Plays Doctor”, the textless opening animation and trailers.

All of these releases are either now available for purchase or are still available for pre-order.

What Sentai Filmworks Is Releasing in December 2015

K. Roberts

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December 2, 2015

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What Sentai Filmworks Is Releasing in December 2015

Sentai Filmworks has several anime releases coming out this month. The following list details all of those releases.

December 1, 2015:

Lunar Legend Tsukihime Sentai Selects Edition DVD – episodes 1-12 are featured with dual audio and English subtitles. The textless opening and ending animation are included as on-disc extras.
Space Brothers Collection 6 on DVD and Blu-ray – episodes 65-75 are featured with Japanese audio and English subtitles. The textless opening and ending animation are included as on-disc extras.

December 8, 2015:

Aura on DVD and Blu-ray – the film is included with dual audio and English subtitles.
Rail Wars Complete Collection on DVD – episodes 1-12 are featured with Japanese audio and English subtitles. The textless opening and ending animation are included as on-disc extras.

December 15, 2015:

Chaika the Coffin Princess on DVD and Blu-ray – episodes 1-12 are featured with dual audio and English subtitles. The textless opening and ending animation are included as on-disc extras.
Hayate the Combat Butler: Heaven Is a Place on Earth on DVD and Blu-ray – the film is featured with Japanese audio and English subtitles.
Majestic Prince Complete Collection DVD and Blu-ray – episodes 1-24 are featured with dual audio and English subtitles.

The List of Madman’s Anime Releases of December 2, 2015

K. Roberts

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December 2, 2015

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Madman Entertainment’s anime releases of December 2015 are now available across Australia. This list details each of those releases.

Ghost in the Shell Arise Part 2 on DVD and Blu-ray – on-disc extras include: “Inside the World of Ghost in the Shell” Part 1, “Logicoma Heart”, “Ghost in the Shell: Arise – Episode:[.jp]”, DVD and Blu-ray spots, “Memory of GR –Making of Arise–”, “Logicoma Root”, “border:less project”, “COLOR”, “FORESEEING 2027”, “WORKING HIGH”, “memory”, “Yuki Will Never Forget Kenji”, promotional videos, theatrical trailers, textless animation and the U.S. trailer.
Gurren Lagann Pierce the Heavens Collection on Blu-ray – this limited edition release includes a collector’s art book and all 27 episodes and both movies a collector’s art in deluxe collector’s packaging. On-disc extras include: “Parallel Works”, “Yoko goes to Gainax!”, Sanzigen 3D test video, animated storyboards, compilation episode ending, the broadcast version of episode 6 and the textless opening and ending animation.
Sailor Moon Part 1 on DVD (standard edition and limited edition) – on-disc extras include the textless opening and ending animation and behind the scenes footage from the recording of the English dub. A booklet is included in the limited edition release, and this release comes in a special slipcase.
So I Can’t Play H complete series on DVD (subtitled edition) – on-disc extras include: the Japanese promo and TV spots and the textless opening and ending animation.
Space Dandy season two on DVD and Blu-ray – on-disc extras include “Dead Guy in Space” Part 2 and commentary for episodes 19 and 26.
The Last: Naruto the Movie on DVD and Blu-ray – on-disc extras will include Japanese promotional videos and the Japanese trailers.
Tokyo Ghoul limited edition season one DVD and Blu-ray combo pack – on-disc extras commentary for episodes 4 and 12, “Kaneki in Black and White”, Japanese commercials and promotional videos, the preview collection, the textless opening and ending animation and the U.S. trailer. Physical bonuses include an art book, a fabric banner and post cards.

Two mass market releases of Sailor Moon are now out as well. These two volumes contain six episodes each and are available at Target, K-Mart and Big W stores across Australia.

Wargaming Announces Community Campaign “Project R” for World of Warships

Press Releases

Philip Federico

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December 2, 2015

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Wargaming Announces Community Campaign “Project R” for World of Warships

The first ever custom community campaign for World of Warships has begun

December 2, 2015 — Wargaming today announced the start of a brand new community campaign for World of Warships, titled “Project R”. “Project R” is a special campaign that presents players with exciting rewards when they collectively achieve community objectives.

“Project R” allows players to earn pearls when reaching various milestones, to eventually unlock really cool in-game rewards including a ship with unique camouflage.

“It’s time to take World of Warships gameplay to the next level and with the introduction of Project R, players can now control the rewards they can receive and be part of a regional community effort to do so,” said Jasper Nicolas, General Manager, Wargaming Asia. “With over 3 million World of Warships players worldwide since the launch of the game on September 17, we are confident that Project R will whet the appetites of our gamers for even more such custom community content.”

This campaign launches exclusively first for the World of Warships Asia server from November 23 onwards and will be subsequently rolled out to the CIS, European and North American servers.

All World of Warships players are invited to try their hand at achieving the set campaign goals together to yield awesome rewards.

Action Stations!

For more information about Project R, please visit: http://worldofwarships.asia/en/news/common/project-r-announcement-restore-the-kamikaze/

For the latest information, visit the official World of Warships website:

http://worldofwarships.asia (Asia)
http://worldofwarships.com (North America)
http://worldofwarships.eu (Europe)

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About World of Warships

The highly anticipated World of Warships is the latest free, historical online combat game to be added to the Wargaming’s catalog. Command a massive naval fleet featuring history’s most iconic war vessels, level up important tech modules and prepare to dominate the oceans in World of Warships.

With four classes of ships, myriad upgrades, strategically designed environments the action never ends and every match is a unique experience.

Endless hours of strategy, tactical gameplay and pulse pounding combat await all who take the helm in World of Warships!

Official website:

http://worldofwarships.asia (Asia)
http://worldofwarships.com (North America)
http://worldofwarships.eu (Europe)

About Wargaming

Wargaming is an award-winning online game developer and publisher and one of the leaders in the free-to-play MMO market. Founded as a privately held company in 1998, Wargaming has shipped over 10 titles. Currently, Wargaming is focused on its team-based MMO war series dedicated to the mid-20th century warfare that will include the tank warfare title World of Tanks, the flight combat World of Warplanes, and the naval World of Warships. The three intertwined titles will form a common gaming universe integrated within the portal www.wargaming.net.

As part of its multiplatform line-up, the company has introduced World of Tanks on Xbox and World of Tanks Blitz on mobile and tablet. Launched in 2014 and 2015, World of Tanks on Xbox introduced epic tank-on-tank battles to console gamers and offers the first cross-platform gaming experience between Xbox 360 and Xbox One. In 2015, Wargaming announced World of Tanks for Sony’s PlayStation^®4, continuing its console campaign. The mobile MMO game World of Tanks Blitz has opened up Wargaming’s trademark team-based military IP to smartphone and tablet users worldwide.

Official website:

wargaming.com

BANDAI NAMCO ENTERTAINMENT EUROPE OPENING OFFICIAL MERCHANDISE STORE ONLINE

Press Releases

Philip Federico

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December 2, 2015

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BANDAI NAMCO ENTERTAINMENT EUROPE OPENING OFFICIAL MERCHANDISE STORE ONLINE

My Game, My Style: Exclusive and Unique Merchandise for Fans, Gamers and Geeky Fashionistas

Sydney, Australia – December 2^nd, 2015 – BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Europe is excited to announce today the opening of its Official Online Store: where fans, gamers and everyone else will be able to buy high-quality, original merchandise related to some of the most recognizable games ever.

The first items that will be available on the store will feature designs based on PAC-MAN, TALES OF, TEKKEN and GALAGA! Among the products available are posters, canvases, coffee mugs, hoodies, t-shirts and phone cases. These are exclusive items that can’t be found anywhere else and also includes a series of unique designs created by 35 well-known artists to celebrate the PAC-MAN 35^th Anniversary! To mark the store’s launch, exclusive offers are available: including free shipping from 2^nd December – 7^th December. After proceeding to the check-out just enter the code ‘FREE@BANDAI’ to gain free delivery*.

“We are all super excited about this long awaited store dedicated to our biggest fans! Our goal is to provide high quality, exclusive and unique items that have been carefully selected to communicate and represent our passion and love around iconic IPs. This is just the beginning as we are planning to work closely with all the people that love our brands to bring to life the craziest ideas they might have!” said Hervé Hoerdt; VP of Marketing and Digital at BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Europe.

The store is available to European fans starting today at: http://BandaiNamcoEnt-Store.com.

* Offer available worldwide with a shipping cost limit of 5,99€ Shipping fees above this for Australia and New Zealand must be

More information:

Official Website: http://BandaiNamcoEnt-Store.com
BANDAI NAMCO Entertainement Europe Official Twitter : @BandaiNamcoEU
BANDAI NAMCO Entertainement Europe Official Facebook : /BandaiNamcoEU

About BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Europe S.A.S.

BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Europe S.A.S., part of BANDAI NAMCO Holdings Inc., is a leading global publisher and developer of interactive content for platforms including all major video game consoles and PC, with marketing and sales operations in 50 countries across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Australasia. The company is known for creating and publishing many of the industry’s top video game franchises, including PAC-MAN™, Tekken™, SOULCALIBUR™, NARUTO™, NARUTO SHIPPUDEN™, Dragon Ball®, GALAGA™, RIDGE RACER™ and ACE COMBAT™.

*Please note that the EU store ships to Australia and New Zealand

King’s Quest: Rubble without a Cause to Launch on December 16

Jamie Laike Tsui

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December 2, 2015

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It has been surprisingly quiet since the launch of the King’s Quest reboot. The first chapter entitled “A Knight to Remember” launched back in August, earning 9 Capsules out of 10 in our review. Since then, it has been pretty much radio silence from Sierra and The Odd Gentlemen.

Today, the silence is finally broken with the announcement of King’s Quest Chapter Two, “Rubble without a Cause.” The game leaps a few years into the future, with the young Graham now crowned king. He is now facing his first serious challenge as leader. Goblins have invaded the kingdom and taken the people hostage.

King’s Quest “Rubble without a Cause” launches on Playstation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Windows on December 16, 2015. For those needing to catch up to the story, Sierra is offering the first chapter for free on PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 for PlayStation Plus members in North America.