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.
It looks like Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth2: Sisters Generation is going to be missing its previous release date of May 19th by about two weeks. Idea Factory International has announced today that they will not be able to release the title on that date and will now be releasing Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth2: Sisters Generation on PC via Steam on June 2nd.
To make up for this delay, when Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth2: Sisters Generation is released it will cost $29.99 but for a few days after launch the game will be sold at a 50% off discount. As for the content, this PC release includes all of the features from the original PlayStation Vita release as well as graphics that have been upped to 1080p.
Today Koei Tecmo released a new set of screenshots and a brand new trailer for Deception IV: The Nightmare Princess showing off the extra characters that have been added to the upcoming title. As we’ve previously reported, Deception IV: The Nightmare Princess features characters from previous Deception titles and after the player defeats these princesses in the game they will become playable characters in the mission mode. This includes Millenia the Clockwork Princess, Alicia the Branded Princess, and Reina the Tragic Princess.
As for the core game, players will still be able to play as Laegrinna, who is assisted by three Daemons, on a quest to kill the descendants of the twelve Saints that bound her father using Sadistic, Elaborate, and Humiliating traps. The brand new mode in Deception IV: The Nightmare Princess features the sadistic and mischievous Velgurie who is woken from her long slumber and must regain her powers by defeating humans in the dreamlands and the waking world to ensnare their souls. Velgurie is the first character in the series that can use kicks and somersaults to drive her opponents into traps, or away from her.
In 2005 a small mod for Unreal Tournament 2004 invited gamers to London, England. The city was in the middle of a zombie outbreak caused by Horizine Biotech. Fast forward ten years and the mod is growing into its second retail release. Tripwire Interactive is now looking to take the very best parts of Killing Floor and ratchet up the dial to 11 in Killing Floor 2 to create a gory, yet classy co-op shooter.
At its heart, Killing Floor 2 is still the same game as its predecessor. Six players work together to fight against increasingly difficult waves of disfigured creatures. New waves bring new and deadlier mutations and the entire game is capped off with a boss battle. Currently, there are four perks of the ten planned perks available for testing, along with some of the perk’s special weapons. Tripwire Interactive have released three maps for testing as of publication, with a fourth map to be released in the near future.
Between rounds, the trader opens her sales pod up. It definitely makes more sense lore wise than the first Killing Floor, when she would open up an actual brick and mortar store somewhere on the map. Money is gained throughout the round from kills and can be passed around to new players or those needing a little extra help to buy their best weapon.
The four perks currently available cover all the basis of a class based shooter. The melee/tank Bezerker perk uses home-made melee weapons and converted power tools. The Field Medic is almost completely self-explanatory, wielding dual-use weapons that can fire bullets or healing darts. The Support class runs a variety of deadly shotguns and specialize in doling out ammunition and welding doors to control the flow of Zeds and buy time for the team in particularly challenging waves. The final perk is Commando, who deals mid-ranged damage using a variety of assault rifles. Probably the most user friendly change in Killing Floor 2 is the tweaked experience system. It is now a lot easier to level certain perks. For example, in the first game the Support perk could only gain experience by welding doors, resulting in some really boring grinds where a fledgling support would whittle down a wave down to the last few monsters on their own and then keep a door welded shut as to level faster. In Killing Floor 2, all perks can gain experience by just killing enemies with the perk’s weapons on top of fulfilling the perk’s primary role.
Levelling up a perk will give a percentage based stat bonus for each level. For every five perk levels, the player can select between two talents. Right now, the talents are still work in progress. Some perks have better designed talents that will most likely survive to the game’s release, some talents are just downright awful. The Bezerker’s two level five talents are the first to come to mind. 20% more ranged weapon ammo or night vision for a primarily melee tank? Really?!
The three maps are rather varied in locale and well designed. All three have plenty of room to roam around in and have a good mix of claustrophobic interiors and wide open spaces to kite Fleshpounds and Scrakes around. Biotics Lab never fails to make my heart stop when I spot the imprisoned Clots being shuffled around the map on a conveyor or the ones left to wander in their small cells.
Killing Floor 2 remains a fantastic co-op experience. Even at normal difficulty levels, teams who are unable to stick together and support each other are bound to fail. No amount of experience, slow-mo Zed time, and ammunition in the world will save a bunch of lone wolves. Even in its current state, the game delivers some really tense moments. Currently, there is only one final boss, the 100 year old Nazi mad scientist Hans Volter. His three stage boss fight made me reminisce of hours spent raiding in MMORPGs. That first Hans Volter kill was ever so rewarding, especially after the several frustrating deaths while I learned the mechanics of the fight and a couple close calls. The future will bring more final bosses, including the return of the dreaded Patriarch.
One of Killing Floor 2’s biggest draws is the new visuals. The game has been upgraded with to Unreal Engine 3.5, giving it plenty of eye candy for those with powerful machines, while still being extremely accessible to a wide variety of computers. Tripwire Interactive has amped up the gore this time, as the maps slowly develop a thick layer of blood and gore as the rounds progress. I am impressed that the devs have figured out a way to pull this off without any noticeable impact to the game’s performance over time.
Tripwire has also included a new damage system called MEAT (Massive Evisceration and Trauma). It is inspired by Soldier of Fortune’s innovative GHOUL system. The MEAT system allows enemies to be sliced and diced based on how and what it was killed with. Slice a Zed with a downward katana stroke? Expect the body to fall to the ground in two pieces. When the slow-mo Zed Time is triggered, the game goes black and white except for the gore, which streak the view with shades of crimson. Tripwire has warned that some regions which ban extreme graphic violence will have their gore slider stuck at no or low levels when the game finally leaves Steam Early Access; however, Killing Floor 2’s excessive gore has quickly become an extremely guilty pleasure.
The audio is very good right now. Characters are extremely chatty with excellent voice acting and the gun sounds are enjoyable. The game also includes a metal-heavy soundtrack to slaughter zombies to, with options to enable or disable vocals.
I am always amazed by Tripwire’s attention to detail. I love the small touches like pressing the reload key with full ammunition will get the player to clean the blood off their weapon or check their ammunition levels. I even noticed that characters have comments that are tied to their current perk. It really puts a shine on the surprisingly polished game the developers have put together for Steam Early Access.
Killing Floor 2 is just bloody good fun, even in early access. There isn’t too much content right now and there are some balance issues that need to be worked out, but I still find myself having a great time playing. Developers should pay attention to how Tripwire is running the early access phase, as Killing Floor 2 is the perfect example of how an early access title should look. The game is surprisingly polished, is actively being tweaked, and a steady flow of content is beginning to form. If Killing Floor didn’t get your attention, then Killing Floor 2 will grab you like a Clot and won’t let go.
Hanabee Entertainment has just announced the second of three new home video releases slated for July 2015. This comes very shortly after the announcement that Hakkenden -Eight Dogs of the East- Season Two is coming to Australia on DVD and Blu-ray.
Captain Earth Part 1 will be released on both DVD and Blu-ray on July 3, 2015. Episodes 1-13 will be featured across two discs with Japanese audio and English subtitles. On-disc extras will include the textless opening and ending animation.
The series was originally broadcasted in Japan from April to September last year. Animation production was handled by Studio Bones.
The DVD and Blu-ray sets scheduled for release in July 2015 will be available for pre-order here in the very near future.
Hanabee Entertainment has just announced their first of three new home video releases for July 2015.
Hakkenden-Eight Dogs of the East- Season Two will be released on both DVD and Blu-ray in Australia on July 3, 2015. All thirteen episodes will be featured with dual-audio across two discs. On-disc extras will include the textless opening and ending animation sequences.
Animated by Studio Deen, the second season premiered in the July of 2013, less than four months after the first season concluded. The series is adapted from Miyuki Abe’s manga series, which has been published in Kadokawa Shouten since 2005 and collected into 13 tankoubon volumes so far.
Pre-orders for the DVD and Blu-ray edition can be made here. Both sets will cost $59.99 AUD. Hanabee’s trailer for this release is available below.
A couple of weeks ago Atlus announced that all launch copies and pre-ordered copies ofPersona 4: Dancing All Night would come packaged with a code for a collection of swimsuits for the female members of the cast. Today, Atlus released a new trailer for the game showing exactly what these swimsuits will look like.
In the trailer below, the swimsuits for Chie, Rise, Yukiko, and Naoto are shown off. While this DLC will be packaged with all launch copies when the game is released in Japan on June 25, those that miss out can purchase the swimsuits from the PlayStation Network at a later date.
