Life is Strange Episode 3 ‘Chaos Theory’ will be available to download by the time you are reading this and to celebrate, Dontnod and Square Enix have released a brand new trailer for the latest episode. I’ll be honest I haven’t watched it as I like to go into the episodes completely blind but feel free to check it out embedded below. Chaos Theory will have protagonist Max and her best friend Chloe breaking into their school after dark as well as delve further into the disappearance of Rachel Amber. We will also have new interactions with Nathan and Frank.
Life is Strange Episode 3 and the rest of the episodes are available on PC, PS3, Xbox 360, PS4 and Xbox One. The season pass will give you access to all five episodes for $29.95 AU while each episode costs $7.55 AU individually. Keep an eye out for our review of Episode 3 within the week. In the meantime, be sure to check out our full review of Episode 2.
Well, nothing ruins a good party like the authorities coming in and shutting it down. That’s exactly what happened at the grand opening of the new brick and mortar RazerStore in the Syntrend Mall in Taipei, Taiwan this weekend.
Razer originally was planning to give away free Razer Nabu X Smartbands to the first 250 visitors to the store each day as part of the celebrations, but the crowds started forming hours ahead of opening. The mall management ended up ordering Razer to move their planned giveaway off-site and to only run normal sales activities after the expected turnout was starting to pass the safe capacity of the mall. No word on where Razer moved the Nabu X giveaway, but they did give swag to fans who came into the store wearing Razer gear.
Indie Gala and Capsule Computers released the 60th Every Monday Bundle today, which I supposed makes it the Diamond Every Monday Bundle. This week brings five new indie games.
Krautscape – A racing game that mixes flying and land portions with a race track that is built as players race around.
Roogoo – A 3d puzzler that takes a classic children’s toy and amps it to adult level difficulty.
The District – You’ve been infected by a mysterious new virus and your government has given you the boot, leaving you to survive in the wilderness on your own. Can you make it?
For the first 24 hours of the sale, the entire bundle costs only $1.89. Grab your copy at Indie Gala quickly, before the price goes up.
In just a few hours, CD Projekt RED‘s The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt will be available for all to enjoy. But, just before that happens, we have the final trailer for the game’s launch — “Go Your Way” — featuring a few scenes from Geralt and Ciri’s journey all set to a nice folk song.
Here is the launch trailer, “Go Your Way”:
In The Witcher 3, you play as Geralt, embarking on his most dangerous journey yet. You must find the child of prophecy, an ashen-haired girl, a living and highly volatile weapon everyone wants to control. Discover Geralt’s ties to Ciri and play as both characters as this epic fantasy world comes to a close.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt comes to Windows PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 tomorrow, May 19. Stay tuned for our review.
One of my favorite indie games right now is Klei Entertainment‘s Don’t Starve. It is difficult, unforgiving, and makes one feel like Robinson Crusoe stuck on an island run by H.P. Lovecraft’s imagination.
But now, Klei is currently working on Don’t Starve Together, a multiplayer expansion to Don’t Starve currently available on Steam Early Access. I got the chance to speak with one of the chief designers behind Don’t Starve Together — Seth Rosen — about the game, transitioning from 2K’s Irrational Studios to indie powerhouse Klei, and making Don’t Starve feel a bit less (or a whole lot more) lonely with more people:
Don’t Starve Together is currently available on Steam Early Access for Windows PC, Mac, and Linux/Steam OS as a $5 add-on to Don’t Starve or for $19.99 for the Don’t Starve Frontier Pack, which includes both Don’t Starve and Don’t Starve Together. Be sure to follow Seth on Twitter as @SIRrosen.
America received the Gold Mario Amiibo as a Walmart exclusive back in March and now Nintendo Australia are giving Amiibo hunters down under their chance to own the limited and exclusive Gold Mario & Silver Mario Amiibos. For the first time in Australia these will be exclusive to certain retailers, with the Silver Mario Amiibo being exclusive to EB Games and Gold Mario Amiibo being exclusive to Target.
Unfortunately online pre-orders for the Silver Mario Amiibo sold out very quickly after the news was released and heaps of pre-orders have already flooded eBay where the figure is averaging around $90. Silver Mario officially releases in Australia on May 30th alongside Greninja, Jigglypuff and the Splatoon Amiibo’s. The Gold Mario Amiibo currently does not have a release date, but it is known it will be release sometime after the end of May.
While these Amiibo’s are practically identically both in look and function to the original Super Mario Collection Mario Amiibo, it is known that they will appear their respective colours when used as a figure player in Mario Party 10’s Amiibo mode.
We also have confirmation on Amiibo wave 5 release dates from the Super Smash Bros. Collection. Ganondorf, Palutena, Dark Pit and Zero Suit Samus will release on the 4th of July while Bowser Jr., Dr. Mario and Olimar will release on the 23rd of July. Will you be picking up any of the above Amiibo? Let us know in the comments below.
Hellscape Games is excited to announce that their indie Steam Greenlight project has moved onto the next level, Intergalactic Bubbles will be released next week on PC, Mac, Linux, Android and iOS devices.
The 3D bubble shooter shows no limits for players, who can bounce, bobble, swing and explode their way across the universe. Intergalactic Bubbles features stellar graphics, a full upgrade system, and fresh approach to the classic match-3 genre.
Take advantage of the free demoon Hellscape Games official website, before Intergalactic Bubbles is let loose on Steam,Google Play and the App Store on May 29.
Overview Despite being successful enough in Japan to warrant four anime seasons, The Familiar of Zero never got far off the ground in North America when it was originally released. The first season was licensed and released back in 2008 but beyond that the following seasons were never pursued. Until now that is, with Sentai Filmworks not only re-releasing the original first season but continuing into the second with The Familiar of Zero: Knight of the Twin Moons. So now that the second season has debuted in the West, is it worth continuing?
Story It is worth noting that since this is the second season of The Familiar of Zero, those who have not watched the first season will be missing out on quite a few details as very little explanation goes into the events that take place in The Familiar of Zero: Knight of the Twin Moons as everything was started due to the events that occurred over the course of the first season.
That being said, thanks to Saito choosing to assist Queen Henrietta, Louise, and the defending forces of Tristain in the battle to drive back the invading Albion’s forces, he forfeited perhaps his only chance at returning back to his original world. Now that he has chosen to remain in the magical realm with Louise, Saito continues to act as her familiar while trying to build a relationship with her which seems to have practically reset itself from the end of the first season due to her tsundere nature.
Since the Albion forces have begun to move, tensions are high in Tristain and with very few people she can trust, Queen Henrietta requests Louise and Saito to work for her in secret whenever the need arise. This happens quite quickly as Henrietta soon finds herself wrapped in a twisted plan of the new leader of Albion, the familiar mysterious woman Sheffield. While Saito and Louise are able to rescue Henrietta, this solidifies the fact that the nation is at war and it is from here that The Familiar of Zero: Knight of the Twin Moons finds its setting, albeit one that has severe pacing issues.
For the better part of this second season, Saito and Louise (though Saito is relied upon far more) are given tasks by the Queen in various single episode story arcs that do feel like they are advancing the story in some way but generally result in little to no development. Where the actual development does occur is nowhere near Louise, as she is barely given any real character growth throughout this entire season. In fact, to make matters worse this season introduces Louise’s two older sisters but who ultimately add very little to the storyline other than to serve as ways for Saito to be abused in different ways thanks to Louise’s constant misunderstandings and his own perverted glances.
This is something of a running issue throughout The Familiar of Zero: Knight of the Twin Moons as the majority of the cast that viewers were introduced to in the first season have now been sent off to war and never shown again. This leaves Tabitha, Kirche, and Siesta as the only established side characters and even then both Kirche and Tabitha play minimal roles here as most of the focus is spent solely on Saito and Louise or on temporary side characters.
A few new characters are introduced to try and pad things out in the form of Julio, a dragon knight with heterochromic eyes who constantly provokes Saito’s jealousy by making advances on Louise and perhaps the only character to really be given much development this time, the Captain of the Tristain musketeers, Agnes. As the Queen’s most trusted bodyguard, Agnes is a constant presence throughout the second season and it is thanks to this that one of the more interesting side-stories unfolds.
When Agnes was a child her village was mercilessly destroyed by the order of the government at the time and ever since she has worked her way up to try and learn the reason why. As this side plot unfolds we learn far more about her character than most of the current cast at this point and it serves as a great moment in the series, though it feels like her development comes at the expense of the rest of the cast.
There is something of a running theme throughout The Familiar of Zero: Knight of the Twin Moons as Saito and Louise’s relationship hits a bit of a wall due to their feelings about the war. Due to Louise’s position as a noble, her constant belief that dying for the Queen and for honor is the best thing while Saito, who comes from a world without the need for such things, constantly pushes back at how ludicrous the idea is, since what good is it to die on the battlefield and leave your loved ones behind.
The romantic element between Saito and Louise continues to develop at an odd pace best described as one step forward, two steps back. It is quite evident that both characters are aware of their feelings at this point in the series but thanks to the writing, the romantic element rarely advances due to most of the comedy in the series coming from Louise abusing Saito because of a misunderstanding or out of jealousy.
This means that not only does the actual progression feel stilted in this regard, but the comedy remains the same as before and is unfortunately starting to get rather stale at this point. That being said, although The Familiar of Zero: Knight of the Twin Moons does have its missteps, those who enjoyed the comedy from the first season will find plenty more to love here as there is far more comedy than drama save for Anges’ side story and the final closing episodes that deliver a fairly solid story with poor pacing that of course is left to continue into a third season.
Visuals Although The Familiar of Zero: Knight of the Twin Moons originally aired only a year after the first season, this second season handles the transfer to Blu-ray better than the first. The wide range of colors appear more vibrant than before, though it does seem to be rather fuzzy looking at times. This is partially due to the age of the series however and the often low quality appearances of the characters.
While close-up shots look great and the few action sequences are handled amazingly well, especially near the end. That being said, many of the mid-range shots or any side-profiles suffer from a severe lack of details with unintentionally deformed faces and expressions. As far as fan-service goes, this second season actually features less than the first season since most of Saito’s beatings come from him simply glancing at the chest of a girl rather than ending up in a compromising position.
Audio Now the first season of The Familiar of Zero featured an English dub since it was originally released with one and since this season was never released in the West, it features only the Japanese voice track. This isn’t much of a loss however as the previous English cast was sub-par at best and the Japanese voice actors, especially Rie Kugiyama, fit their characters perfectly.
Most of the background music is recycled from the first season which is unfortunate but there is a perfectly implemented instrumental version of the opening theme during the final episode. Speaking of the opening theme, this time around it is “I Say Yes,” by Ichiko which serves as a great intro theme for the series while the ending “Suki!? Kirai!? Suki!!!” by Rie Kugimiya is a nice comedic closing that pulls from Louise’s tendency to call Saito a dog.
Extras The only bonus features included in this release are a clean opening animation, a clean ending animation, and a few trailers for other Sentai Filmworks releases.
Overall Those who enjoyed the first season of The Familiar of Zero will find that the series continues well enough in Knight of the Twin Moons despite abandoning most of the side-characters and introducing only one that is really developed in any meaningful way. With a heavy focus on the war between Tristain and Albion, Saito and Louise’s relationship continues to fluctuate through a series of comedic misunderstandings that rely heavily on the same type of humor found in the previous season.
This ends up being an issue with the series as very little actual change or in any significant development between the two occurs in this season without it quickly being forgotten about to keep the status quo, resulting in the season ending almost the same exact way it started with very minimal story progression and brand of humor that is beginning to grow stale.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse Part 1 will be available on DVD and Blu-ray in Australia on July 3, 2015. Episodes 1-12 will be featured across two discs with dual audio. The on-disc extras have yet to be announced, however fans may reasonably presume that the textless opening and ending animation sequences will be included with this release.
The series was adapted by IXTL in 2014 from the adult visual novel developed by âge.
Pre-orders for the DVD and Blu-ray sets can be made here. Both sets have a suggested retail price of $59.99 AUD. Prices may differ between retailers.
Atlus has released a new character trailer for Lost Dimension introducing the S.E.A.L.E.D. members Sojiro, Zenji, and Himeno. Sojiro’s knowledge of medicine allows him to revive fallen teammates while also inflicting deadly status effects upon enemies. Zenji has the ability to mimic ally abilities allowing players to bring double the damage to foes, either that or he has a shotgun that works just as well. Finally there is Himeno, a woman capable of wielding both ice and fire with deadly precision.
You can check out this new character trailer below and in case you missed it, S.E.A.L.E.D. members Sho, Yoko, and Toya were introduced earlier this week. Those looking to pick up Lost Dimension can expect the title to be released on the PlayStation 3 and PS Vita in North America on July 28 and in Europe sometime this summer.
