Those familiar with Persona 4 may remember a certain cross-dressing event that took place during the game and now fans can re-experience that bit of humor thanks to Persona 4: Dancing All Night‘s latest DLC announcement. Atlus has released a trailer showing off part of the “School Festival Cross-Dressing + Seaweed Set” paid DLC.
The outfits shown off in the trailer are the cross-dressing costumes for the protagonist, Kanji, and Yosuke while the Seaweed costume for Kanji is teased with a silhouette. Persona 4: Dancing All Nightis currently set to be released in Japan for the PS Vita on June 25th while a North American release has been scheduled for sometime later this year.
Last week Idea Factory International announced that the PC release of Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth2: Sisters Generation had been delayed from its initial release date of May 19th to June 2nd but it seems that those waiting to buy the PC version won’t have to wait quite that long.
You see, today the company announced that they will now be releasing the PC version of Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth2: Sisters Generation on Steam on May 29th. Although the release date has been moved up a bit, the company will still be selling the $29.99 title at a 50% off discount for the first week.
Atlus USA has released a new trailer for Dungeon Travelers 2: The Royal Library & the Monster Seal and this one happens to introduce some of the many classes available in the game. The focus of this trailer is to introduce the five basic classes that every character in the game first starts off as.
When you start off these girls are fixed to their basic classes but as they grow players will be able to assign them new intermediate and advanced classes, though it is always possible to still put skill points into the basic class skills.
You can check out the trailer for the classes below as well as a brief description of each class from Atlus.
Fighter: Standard melee damage dealer, has skills for basic defense as well as attacks. With high HP and strength, they can be the vanguard of the party.
Magic User: The basic class can use all elemental damage-dealing spells. They can use the basic healing spell as well, making them an invaluable asset to the party.
Scout: A master of speed that can attack when the enemy lets their guard down, and can also steal money. Because they can use both daggers and bows, they can change their fighting style to fit your needs.
Maid: Though not good with physical attacks or magic, they can provide special support without using TP or needing casting time. The unsung hero type.
Spieler: This class is literally a wild card. The most powerful of the Spieler abilities are high-risk, high-reward gambles, so choose them for your party carefully! They can make a HUGE difference in battle.
Who’s ready for some Xbox Newsbeat? “What, no clever monologue for your intro, Andrew?” Nope, no time! Waste even a few seconds here and people will snap up the news before you even see it! So instead, lets just come straight out of the gate with two awesome headlines, straight from Microsoft HQ.
Casey Hudson Joins Microsoft as Creative Director at Microsoft Studios
Probably the biggest piece of news this week has Casey Hudson joining on as Creative Director of Microsoft Studios. After working for Bioware and EA on huge franchises like Mass Effect and Star Wars, Hudson has jumped to the big green offices to work on the upcoming HoloLens, Xbox and other gaming endeavors. Hopefully Hudson will thrive and take Microsoft to the next level during his tenure.
Xbox Wire, the official news site of Xbox has put up an interview with Hudson, which you can check out here.
New Xbox Features Now Available in Preview
Rolling straight along from news to news, Microsoft have started rolling out the new features for Windows 10 and Xbox One consoles. Here is a brief rundown of the features that lucky system previewers can try out now, and the rest of us will have access to in the very near future:
Xbox on Windows 10
Avatars – You can now download and launch the Avatars app from within the Xbox app.
Friends updates – Microsoft are making it easier to add friends, designate them as favourites and share your name from the Xbox app. Click on a friend’s profile in your friends list and click on More > Change friendship to make them a favourite, or from anyone’s profile to add them as a friend. The friends list will now also show you which of your friends are in a party, playing multiplayer games, or broadcasting. You can also now report or block people from the Xbox app.
Game hubs – Similar to Xbox One, you can now view the game hub for an Xbox One game and view the activity feed curated by the game’s community manager. Click on any game tile, under Home > Recently played or elsewhere in the Xbox app, and you will be taken to the game hub. There you can also see friends who have played the game, your achievement progress and more easily get the details on the game’s achievements.
Game DVR – You can now alter the keyboard shortcuts used for opening the Game Bar, starting and stopping recording, taking screenshots, and more.
Testing streaming – The Xbox team needs your help in providing information about your PC’s performance and connectivity characteristics as we prepare to enable game streaming from Xbox One to Windows 10 PCs.
Turn On/Off your Xbox One Console – The Connect menu in Xbox app has been updated to let you power your Xbox One on and off from your Windows 10 devices when they are on the same home network as your console.
Xbox One
Wireless Display app – After all the great feedback you’ve sent to the team, they have made improvements to the Miracast functionality in the Wireless Display app.
Short and sweet this week folks, but that is because like everyone else, Microsoft are gearing up for E3 in just a few weeks time, so expect Newsbeat to be a little light in the lead up as they hold back all the big announcements for then. So make sure you stay tuned for all the Xbox news as it becomes available.
Level-5 are at it again and bringing yet another follow-up to a much loved series. After selling seven million units worldwide, Inazuma Eleven is back with not just one – but two entries. Inazuma Eleven Go has been broken into two pieces, much like Pokemon, which are dubbed Inazuma Eleven Go: Light and Inazuma Eleven Go: Shadow.
Of course the features will be a bit different with each entry, tying one complete story together. Take a first look at the new details released by Level-5 today:
The storyline of Inazuma Eleven GO: Light and Inazuma Eleven GO: Shadow kick off with the tale of the young but talented Arion Sherwind as he begins his football career during hard times for Raimon Junior High. While Sherwind’s initial goal is simply to break into a formidable first team captained by the virtuoso player, Riccardo Di Rigo, bigger problems soon come to pass when the whole team is threatened with closure on the orders of Fifth Sector, a shadowy football governing body intent on controlling the ‘beautiful game’.
Offering a unique formula of RPG elements combined with football-based action, encounter over 1000 players to recruit for your starting line-up and discover over 100 in-game special moves to unleash, with certain characters and special moves exclusive to each version of the game. As well as presenting intriguing alternative storylines, each game offers exclusive Fighting Spirits which can be used by key characters, enabling players such as Arion Sherwind to summon a powerful force that can provide a skill boost or unique new Special Move.
As the story progresses, while new players can join your roster after victories on the field, players can also be recruited using PalPack cards, which can be obtained in-game and allow certain characters to be unlocked once specific conditions in-game are met. Alternatively, new characters, special moves and Fighting Spirits will also be available to receive via the internet from launch. With further game features such as Local Play functionality allowing up to four players to compete together, and StreetPass Challenges which allow fellow players to exchange information and take on each other’s teams, there’ll be plenty of opportunities to get to know your strongest line-up!
Check out the new screens down below and you can pick up both Light and Shadow for the 3DS on July 18th!
I think all Nintendo fans of recent years are very familiar with the Art Academy franchise. While there have been several releases, Nintendo does not seem to be unhappy with this series at all and are inspiring their fans to keep on creating with a brand new entry on the Wii U dubbed Art Academy: Atelier.
Like the games before it, this title will provide all of the tools you need to make some works of arts, along with new lessons that range in complexity as you progress. Sharing is also a big option this time around, as Nintendo have enabled Youtube uploads so players can share time-lapse creations via the web. I imagine this is all due to the SD Card within the Wii U and not an actual partnership, so do keep in mind that a small bit of card switching will be required. You can check out the first batch of screenshots below and look for Art Academy: Atelier to drop on July 4th.
For any one who hasn’t played the game yet don’t worry this review contains no spoilers. Episode 2 of Life is Strange (full review here) capitalised on everything that made the first game great and ended on a very memorable and tense set piece. So far, the narrative’s ability to focus on real life problems while incorporating a supernatural element has worked incredibly well, as has having a likable and relatable protagonist and a wonderfully detailed world. Now the centerpiece of this five part series has been released in Life is Strange Episode 3: Chaos Theory. Does this newest episode continue building on the momentum set by the first two? Read on to find out.
Story
Personally Episode 3 felt like the weakest episode we have received so far, especially in terms of advancement of the plot, but all that changed after I played through the final arc where the episode makes a strong case for itself to become one of the more memorable moments in gaming history (I’ll talk more about the ending later). The majority of this episode is focused on the disappearance of Rachael Amber, however while you learn more about this mysterious women in this chapter, you don’t really learn anymore about what happened to her at all. That’s not to say this is a bad chapter by any means, it just feels like a lot of old ground was retread. There’s more Chloe rebelling, more crazy Nathan Prescott, more sleazy Frank. All things we already knew about from the last two chapters.
Chloe and SuperMax make a great detective team.
It’s not all old ground though. One of the big highlights of this episode was Arcadia Bay’s reaction to the big event at the end of the last game and I honestly felt like the game would have played out much differently if I had ended that event the other way. Graffiti is different, the way people approach you seems different and while the central person of that event is conveniently not present for the entirety of the episode, you still felt like your part in the event played a huge role in shaping Arcadia Bay in this chapter. A lot of other small things also come up based on your past behavior, from small dialogues referencing past events to things like plants dying because you didn’t water them. It all adds up to create a world you feel like you have real impact in and fits in nicely with the whole butterfly effect theme of the game.
Episode 3 continues on with some of the best traits from the past two episodes. This world is again so full and lovingly crafted and really feels lived in, a very important aspect of this game to help ground it and make the world feel believable. Arcadia Bay is littered with intractable objects that all come accompanied by Max’s inner thoughts, giving the player insight in to how Max thinks and interprets the world in her head. Max is a deep, likable and relatable character which largely comes from these world interactions and her interactions with others. Even text messages received from her parents and friends help add further realism and uniqueness to Max’s character.
Believe it or not, even this cereal box gives some back story on Max.
Another highlight carried over is the return of Max’s diary that contains text messages, diary entries, character biographies and more. The game does a great job at providing you with the necessary information to understand the main story upfront, but for those who are interested in really delving into character histories, past events and Max’s thoughts on everything you can do just that. The diary also holds heaps of fun pop culture references, I even found a reference to The Wizards of Waverly Place Disney show which I couldn’t believe. Combine all the narrative contained within this diary alongside everything learnt in this chapter and the slight advancement of some sub plots and there is a heap of story to be digested in Chapter 3.
Now about that ending. Dontnod have taken it upon themselves to expand Max’s powers yet again in another very fun and ingenious way. I obviously can’t say much due to spoilers but the developers really took a risk here and the ending had me feeling all tingly inside, a classic sign of a good, impactful story in my book. It will be very interesting to see where this twist leads us as we head into Episode 4, the penultimate chapter in this series. Saying that, I can’t help but feel that a large choice was taken away from the player in the final scenes. Unfortunately that is common place in games like this where not limiting the number of branches the narrative takes will lead to an amount of endings the developer could never hope to create, but I feel Dontnod just wanted players to see their intended ending too much to leave that choice in as it seems like the story could have carried on just fine if Max didn’t interfere.
Force of nature is right.
As for the actual dialogue, it’s definitely not perfect by any sense of the word. There are a few awkwardly delivered lines and some of the writing seems more like adults imitating teenagers as opposed to what a teenager would say. That being said it’s mostly fine and even terrific at times, but it would be nice if some of the kinks in the script and voice acting were ironed out before release. There was also one cringe-worthy moment in this episode that I was hoping Dontnod would steer away from but it did happen. Again no spoilers but I felt having that interaction was a bit predictable and cliché, but at least I had a choice in the matter to avoid the worst of it.
Gameplay
Gameplay is very similar to the last two episodes as Max walks around looking for the next prompt to advance the story, investigating the area and taking the odd photo whilst doing so. A lot of the time you will have a choice in your actions or dialogue which will effect the story in a minor or major way depending on the gravitas of the situation. The options you have in these conversations often change depending on past actions and you can often rewind them if you are not happy with your answer. Once again your decisions feel important and thanks to Max’s time powers you can always watch out the immediate consequences of one action and then rewind to view the other, allowing you to make a more informed choice before you pick permanently.
Not every decision is life and death.
Max’s time bending powers are also used to solve puzzles that are well implemented into the story and help break it up, but the puzzles in Episode 3 are a bit hit and miss. Some of the challenges presented here I found myself stuck on a lot longer the in the past episodes. It was nice to see the challenge stepped up even though it might have just been me over thinking the solution, but that is to the game’s credit for misleading me with red herrings. The multiple solutions to some of the puzzles should also be applauded. I watched a let’s play of the final mission and the solution used was completely different from my own and showcased many things I had missed. Non-linear gameplay and logical thinking is always appreciated in games and it was a highlight here.
For all the positives in gameplay there are some negatives. While I loved the challenges that made me think or put me in a tense situation, I wasn’t so fond of the ones that had me just running around trying to find the right ingredient or searching for a password. These tasks offer no challenge, bring the story to a halt and are really just boring. Luckily these tasks aren’t too common and don’t take too long to complete.
Gathering items is definitely one of the more slow paced moments in Life is Strange.
Another problem that again doesn’t come up too much but is annoying when it does; how Dontnod deal with your access to Max’s powers. It’s hard to explain without spoiling anything but there is a scene at the end where your rewind abilities are available to you but inexplicably unavailable to be used by you the player. I didn’t like having that taken away from me only for the powers to be restored moments later. I don’t see how having the powers at that point would have interfered with any story telling or gameplay, so removing them just felt like an unnecessary restriction.
I also had an unfortunate glitch in the diner that got me stuck in an infinite rewind, forcing me to restart the chapter and sit through a lot of conversations again. This was only a one-off and hopefully doesn’t affect too many peoples experience. Dontnod have been pretty good with patches so I expect this problem to be rectified in the future.
I don’t think caravans and ninja’s have ever really existed in the same space.
Visuals
The visuals in this game are kind of like a 3D water colour painting with lots of soft tones and visible brush strokes. It looks great and details on characters and the environment are impressive for an art style that appears simplistic on the surface. Environments are incredibly detailed and have just as much personality as the characters within them. The PC version has plenty of options for visual settings and my version suffered no performance issues with my time in the game. I felt that for some reason or another Episode 3 looked slightly worse than past episodes, particularly in relation to facial animation but it was only a minor downgrade if that.
The interface is very clean and intuitive. Hand drawn lines pop up to represent objects you can interact with and also when the game is saving or you have made a consequential decision. When you perform a rewind the visual effects used are really powerful, user friendly and aren’t slow or clumsy. The freedom of the camera movement is fun to play with and allows you to set up cool screenshots in lieu of a proper photo mode.
The rewind effect looks great and gives a great visual of your powers.
One big negative that is not easy to overlook however is the lip syncing. It sucks and you can tell that no time at all was put into trying to get it to sync up and the best you can hope for is some coincidental matching mouth flaps. This is a cheaper title sure but it is just not up to today’s higher standards.
Audio
The game doesn’t have a big soundtrack however the licensed tracks used in the game are perfectly melded to the visuals. The soundtrack takes a really indie vibe with obvious inspiration from films like Juno and it really does compliment the world nicely especially during the game’s ending scene.
That’s a beautiful sunset, even more beautiful when complemented with the great soundtrack.
The voice acting is really good for the most part, with lines delivered well and character’s voices matching their personality from the shy Max to the hard working diner mum. No sound effects are out of place and complete the wonderfully detailed world.
Overall
Episode 3 may retread on a lot of old territory but its bold ending more than makes up for it and has us eagerly anticipating Episode 4. The choices made thus far are really building up to a climax and that began to be on display here. Once again beautiful hand painted graphics and detailed set pieces make Arcadia Bay feel like a believable, lived in town and the soundtrack again hits all the right notes at the right time. Some minor dialogue issues, horrible lip syncing and a couple technical issues do take away a little from the experience, but as a whole Life of Strange contains a fantastic narrative and some fun puzzles to allow the player to overlook the flaws. If you liked the first two episodes, there is no reason to stop now.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory II was released in Japan for the PlayStation 4 back in late April and while fans in the West are still waiting for the extremely likely localization announcement from Idea Factory International, there will be a little something to tide these waiting fans over.
According to Japanese website GamesTalk Compile Heart will be releasing a demo for Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory II on the PlayStation Store next week on May 28th, allowing players to play through the initial area of the game and take part in a giant battle. It is worth noting that while this demo is exclusively being released in Japan, Western gamers with an easy to create Japanese account can still access the store and download the Japanese demo.
As you may have heard, Aquaplus is working on a brand new Utawarerurmono strategy RPG called Utawarerurmono: False Mask that they are planning on releasing in Japan on September 24th for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation Vita.
Few details about Utawarerurmono: False Mask are currently known other than that players will take on the role of Haku, a man with no memory who is rescued from a bug-like monster by a beautiful girl named Kuon with animal ears and a tail.
Despite the limited details, Aquplus has released the debut trailer, found below, for Utawarerurmono: False Mask revealing that this visual novel RPG hybrid has been given a 3D gameplay perspective.
You may remember that Techland has been working on a dark fantasy game called Hellraid that placed players in a first-person perspective as they fought against skeletons and other fantasy creatures. Originally announced back in 2013 for last gen consoles, delayed to 2014 and announced for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4, then canceled for last gen, the company has been quiet about the game for a little over a year.
The reason for that has now been made clear as Techland has posted on their Facebookthat Hellraid‘s development has been “put on hold” and that it was not meeting expectations. Due to this, the game has went “back to the drawing board” and will be “reinvented anew” while the company focuses on Dying Light.
The full statement from the company can be found below:
Dear Hellraid fans,
We would like to officially announce that our dark fantasy FPP game Hellraid will not be released this year as previously planned, and the development of the game has been put on hold.
In the recent months we conducted an internal analysis and came to the conclusion that Hellraid, in its current shape and form, is not meeting our own expectations for this project. Therefore, we decided the best course of action would be to send it back to the drawing board and invent our dark fantasy title anew.
In the meantime, we will consolidate our development resources and focus on further expansion of our Dying Light franchise.
We wish to thank all our fans for your support – you’re the best!
