It is always nice to see camaraderie among AAA developers. To congratulate them on releasing Mortal Kombat X, Batman Arkham developers Rocksteady Studios sent an awesome Mortal Kombat cake to their fellow Warner Bros. Interactive team members. Here’s the cake, posted on Twitter by NetherRealm’s Ed Boon:
That’s right! Two bloody “kakes”, one with Sub-Zero and Scorpion’s severed heads stacked on one another. After cutting the severed head cake today, the NetherRealm team got an even bigger surprise:
Mortal Kombat X is available now on Xbox One, PlayStation 3, and Windows PC while Rocksteady’s Batman: Arkham Knight will be released on June 24, 2015, also for Xbox One, PlayStation 3, and Windows PC.
Many have been critical of Josh Trank’s (director of 2012’s Chronicle)upcoming Fantastic Fourfilm re-imagining over at 20th Century Fox, even after the reveal of the teaser trailer in January. But today brings a full trailer for Fantastic Four and it looks pretty great! Check it out after the jump:
Fantastic Four, a contemporary re-imagining of Marvel’s original and longest-running superhero team, centers on four young outsiders who teleport to an alternate and dangerous universe, which alters their physical form in shocking ways. Their lives irrevocably upended, the team must learn to harness their daunting new abilities and work together to save Earth from a former friend turned enemy, Doctor Victor von Doom.
As a fan of Marvel’s first family, I look forward to Trank’s interpretation of the comic. Do I wish it were part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Of course. But since Fox does not seem to be letting go of the Marvel properties they have (X-Men and Fantastic Four), I will at the very least try to appreciate when they bring in a wealth of talent in an attempt to make us forget 2005’s Fantastic Four or 2006’s X-Men: The Last Stand.
Fantastic Four will be released in theatres on August 7, 2015, starring Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Michael B. Jordan, and Jamie Bell. It is directed by Josh Trank based on a screenplay by Simon Kinberg, Jeremy Slater, and Trank.
Based on the character designs from Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon Crystal (Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Crystal), Sailor Moon, Sailor Mercury, Sailor Mars, Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Venus character wigs are now available in Japan. These premium high quality wigs are the result of a collaboration between Airily and ACOS.
More than 20 years after the Sailor Moonmanga first debuted, these are the first ever official character wigs for Sailor Moon. A natural finish was used for the parting and the nape of the neck. The wigs are designed to feel familiar to the skin.
For pictures and price details for each of the wigs, visit this page. Images of these wigs being worn by people in complete cosplay outfits can be found here.
On April 1, the developer’s blog of Four Leaf Studio’s visual novel Katawa Shoujo announced that the full Japanese translation of the game was completed and released in version 1.3. Four Leaf Studios has a tendency to post detailed joke ‘announcements’ on April Fool’s Day each year, and those fake ‘announcements’ were even translated and posted on the official Japanese blog. However, there was no April Fool’s Day announcement last year, and this year’s announcement is true.
Katawa Shoujo was originally inspired by a Japanese work, and the Japanese translation of the game is now available for free download on Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. In just over two weeks, the game will be available for purchase in hard copy at Comitia 112. The DVD case will feature artwork by weee and come with a disc containing version 1.3, which features the original English version as well. If you can get to Tokyo Big Sight on the 5th of May, 2015, consider buying this release to support the translation team who worked hard for three years to make this translation available.
The translation team will be at booth こ29a, and the fifth illustration book featuring artwork from staff and guest illustrators, “Imperfect Spectrum”, will be on sale there as well.
To find out more about Katawa Shoujo, visit the official website here. The game is rated 18+. The ‘H’ scenes can be disabled.
Mike McFarland will also be the ADR director for the dub. Bonny Clinkenbeard will be the script writer.
FUNimation provided a synopsis for the series: “Yato may just be a minor god now, but he’s determined to make it big and he’s got a plan. Unfortunately, things just don’t seem to be going his way. He doesn’t have a single shrine dedicated to him, his partner has just quit, and now he’s got to find a new divine weapon. Just when things look bleak, he meets a girl named Hiyori and changes her life forever.”
The series will be available in a standard edition and limited edition DVD and Blu-ray combo-pack on July 7, 2015. Details about the on-disc extras and the physical items that will come with the limited edition release have not yet been made available.
More keeps coming in from Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim. Today brings the trailer for the second season of Lucasfilm’s Disney XD series, Star Wars Rebels. The new season brings the Ghost crew back along with some favorites from Star Wars: The Clone Wars and some new enemies from the Dark Side. Check out the trailer after the jump, but a SPOILER ALERT for all who did not finish the first season:
It seems that the crew of the Ghost will be joining the larger battle alongside the Rebel Alliance this upcoming season. Not to mention that Ahsoka Tano — who was revealed to still be alive during the season finale after the events of Star Wars: The Clone Wars — will have a larger role within the new series along with a few others from Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Honestly, I’m glad to know this piece of the expanded universe was kept by Disney.
But the villain who appears to be taking quite a large role this season is none other than Darth Vader. With Ahsoka back in the Star Wars universe, it will be interesting to see her face-off against her former master.
No word yet on when the second season will be returning to Disney XD, but they have this Star Wars fan excited. Stay tuned for more updates and check out the livestream from Star Wars Celebration Anaheim — going through tomorrow, April 19 — on StarWars.com.
Madman Entertainment announced today at the Supanova Expo Gold Coast that they have acquired the theatrical rights to the Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection ‘F’ film.
The film will be shown in Australian cinemas in late winter 2015. Fans will have the option of watching it with Japanese audio and English subtitles or with the English dub that FUNimation Entertainment is producing. FUNimation hosted the world premiere of the film just eight days ago in Los Angeles, and will be screening the English dubbed version across North America in summer 2015.
Precise information about the dates and cinema locations will be made available soon.
Mortal Kombat X is the tenth title in the main fighting game series (just in case you don’t know your Roman Numerals), but the ‘X’ also represents the next generation, not only in consoles, but in fighters on the roster. Mortal Kombat X introduces many new wrinkles to the series, including the meta-game Faction War, ever-changing Living Towers, Kustom Kombat, offspring and relatives of beloved stalwarts (who may be on their way out due to age), and three fight style variations per character! NetherRealm Studios has always done the best job in giving fans options for longevity, and they hope Mortal Kombat X will keep you occupied for weeks, if not months at a time.
Story
WARNING:minor spoilers ahead. Mortal Kombat X‘s story takes two plotlines and binds them with a single thread: Shinnok and his amulet. At the conclusion of Mortal Kombat (2011), and even beforehand for that matter, it was assumed that its sequel would cover the events of Mortal Kombat 4, Deadly Alliance and beyond, at least partially and with a new twist as the newly established timeline informs. While that may not be the case entirely, characters from the two aforementioned games make appearances, both in playable and non-playable capacities. Shinnok in particular gets his due, holding the presence that a fallen Elder God should. The story opened shortly after the end of Mortal Kombat (2011), with Quan Chi leading Netherrealm’s forces, comprised of Oni and undead revenants such as Kabal, Stryker and more, against Earthrealm in an attempt to take control of its life force, the Jinsei. Soon enough, Shinnok shows himself, getting his hands dirty in the invasion by using his amulet to stave off Raiden and God of wind Fujin (who, sadly, is only present in the opening chapter). Johnny Cage, having become Earthrealm’s champion (after all, there weren’t many options left once Sindel wreaked havoc) alongside Sonya Blade and Kenshi aid the gods in imprisoning Shinnok once again, this time in his prized amulet.
We then skip ahead two decades, periodically flashing back 5, 20 and even 25 years (that’s just after Liu Kang defeats Shang Tsung, when Shao Kahn invades Earthrealm) in the past for exposition’s sake. Outworld is in political turmoil with Mileena leading an uprising against its new Emperor, the usurper Kotal Kahn. Meanwhile, a new Special Forces unit of talented youngins have been tasked with finding and retrieving Shinnok’s amulet, which had been stolen and replaced with an elaborate fake, something Raiden discovers quite quickly. Turns out the amulet plays a vital role in the Outworld power struggle, with our new heroes Cassie Cage (daughter of Johnny Cage and Sonya Blade), Jacqueline Briggs (daughter of Jax), Takeda (son of Kenshi) and Kung Jin (cousin of Kung Lao) caught smack-dab in the middle. The Story Mode plays out over a dozen chapters and is considerably shorter than its predecessor’s, which is the biggest drawback. Playing on Normal, it will likely take you just over 4 hours to complete. Also disappointing is the fact that new characters, including Erron Black, Ferra/Torr, D’Vorah and Kotal Kahn, are barely fleshed out, in fact, their backgrounds are breezed over. It feels largely like a simple introduction, or a setup for future tales, which can be said about many aspects of the Story Mode. I guess we’ll have to rely on the official comic books for more information.
Gameplay
Outside of Story Mode, there is a lot to do. At the outset, you are asked to choose a faction for the Faction War meta-game, which will pose objectives to you on a daily basis. Each week, a faction will be named victorious, and it’s your duty to aid your chosen faction by simply playing the game, earning faction XP. Getting into the actual gameplay, if you’re the kind of player who wants to main a character, perfect them, and then head online to crush everyone, Practice Mode will accommodate you in doing so. It is deep and fully-featured with frame data, easy variation switching, match Recording/Playback capabilities and every setting you’d want to have. You can even enter the Training Room stage and select different stages’ interactables, so you can work on stage-specific strategies (too dedicated for my tastes). As mentioned, every character has 3 variations. What this means for gameplay and match-ups is that strategy plays a larger role in selection, if only because a character can no-longer be singled out for being slow, or purely a rushdown fighter. Take Raiden as an example. In ‘Thunder God’, he can extend his lightning based combos, ideal for high damage in close. His ‘Displacer’ variation adds the ability to phase, so Raiden can control positioning, surprise the enemy and avoid projectiles. And finally, his ‘Storm Lord’ variations allows the manual setting of traps, something new to Mortal Kombat. Diversity and dynamism are the name of the game here.
Offline there are Traditional Towers to tackle, ranging from the Klassic tower (which grants you narrated motion comic-esque endings), Test Your Luck and Test Your Might towers, the Endless tower (exactly what it sounds like) and the Survival tower (which tasks you with fighting on with carried over health). Completing each of them nets unique awards, such as character skins. Test Your Luck and Test Your Might can also be played against a friend, as well as the regular Versus mode of course. Added this time is Kustom Kombat, which allows the players to manually select which modifiers they would like to fight with. It’s a fun party game mode that smartly caters to the entry-level fight gamer and expert alike…skills is practically neutralised when things get crazy. One of the most ridiculous modifiers has to be Dizzy Fatality Kombat, where either player can be finished off randomly during the fight, with only a 2-3 window each time. Speaking of which, the fatalities in Mortal Kombat X are gruesome to say the least. Spilled guts, jaws used as ashtrays…it gets worse from there, trust me. Brutalities also make a comeback, although in a new, more sudden and humiliating (for the victim) form. All characters have 5-6 of them, each requiring the player meet certain stipulations during the fight in order to pull them off. Lastly on the finishers list, there are Faction Kills, 5 for each faction, all of which are comparatively easy-as-pie to execute. Ranking up in your faction will unlock these.
Additionally, Living Towers have effectively replaced Mortal Kombat (2011)‘s Challenge Tower. There are three in total: one which changes hourly, one daily, and the other – called the Premiere Tower – is almost a promotional tower, letting the player try out DLC fighters before they are available and such. Again, in the same vein as earlier, completing these earns rewards. The Hourly tower usually unlocks a solo modifier for Kustom Kombat mode. It might sound small, but completionists will be driven mad by it. Something serious gamers will be happy to hear is that the netcode appears to be notably better than in the past. Online is smoother (from what I’ve played), with Versus and King of the Hill returning, along with Team Battle, which pits teams of 5 players against each other (1v1 at a time of course, there’s no tag kombat in this iteration) for the glory of your Factions. And if all of that isn’t enough to occupy you, NetherRealm have basically made the Krypt a separate lite-adventure game all of its own! There are items to pick up and add to your inventory, zones to unlock, collectables to buy (duh) and pop-up wolves, corpses and spiders…I hate spiders. And yes, I jumped…more than once. It’s so large, you’re supplied with a multi-page map! How anyone can not appreciate these efforts is beyond me. I could spend hours in the Krypt alone, which is a testament to the team at NetherRealm Studios.
Visuals & Audio
I can’t help but feel this is the first Mortal Kombat entry where the team at NetherRealm felt “we’ve finally realised our vision”. The graphics, lighting, character design, environments…they all add up to build a suitably dark tone that Mortal Kombat X should be known for. Well, along with a little tongue-in-cheek. The lighting system shines here (no pun intended), lending to said atmosphere, probably the best example of which can be observe on the ‘Sky Temple’ stage. Of note in character design, the female face models are less manly and more feminine (a real criticism of past games), and their costumes no-longer risque for the sake of it (don’t even mention bandage-wrap Mileena), but indeed practical and representative of their personalities and backgrounds. Musically, Dan Forden does his signature Mortal Kombat magic. There might not be an instant classic tune like the “Rooftop” or “Subway” tracks from Mortal Kombat 3, but they hit the right note nonetheless. Lots of celery was snapped, goo squished and watermelons punched in the making of Mortal Kombat X‘s sound effects, but the result is the most cringe-worthy moments. Even without any visual aid, they’ll have you squirming in your seat.
Overall
For all those whining because their favourite character didn’t make the cut – I feel your pain. At the same time, let’s be realistic: we don’t truly want another Armageddon on our hands, and with time constraints, memory allocation and other factors, it’s just not feasible anyway…unless you wanted to wait another year for the game? But I’m sure then you would complain about the “agonising wait”. And for those complaining about the “Easy Fatality” micro-transactions, just don’t use it. Simple. Unless you are absolutely useless and need them, does it actually affect your experience? No. My only real gripe with the game is the Story Mode and its brevity. But, then again, only a handful of years ago a Story Mode in a fighting game was unheard of. Otherwise, Mortal Kombat X is superb, offering a wealth of offline and online-centric content to keep you playing for weeks, if not months. And the three variations per character adds variety and strategic depth, helping to make Mortal Kombat X the most fluid, fun, technical fighter in the series. Now, excuse me while I kill this BLOODY POP-UP SCARE CORPSE! *Ahem*….
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
2K and WWE have come together once again. But this time, they’re looking to dominate your pocket. Earlier today, rumor became fact when 2K announced they have launched the WWE franchise to iOS and Android devices with WWE 2K.
Developed by Visual Concepts — a 2K Studio — and n-Space, WWE 2K includes a strong roster of both classic and current WWE talent, like Hulk Hogan, John Cena, Sting, Triple H, Undertaker, Daniel Bryan, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, and Bray Wyatt. Many aspects of the WWE console franchise have made their way to mobile as well, including Create-a-Superstar and Career modes, multiple match types, WWE Superstar ring entrances, live multiplayer matches, and unlockable rewards.
“As the first simulation-based WWE video game for mobile devices, WWE 2K provides an opportunity to experience virtual WWE action anywhere and at any time,” said Greg Thomas, President at Visual Concepts. “Inspired by the gameplay and authenticity of WWE 2K for consoles, WWE 2K offers WWE and mobile gaming enthusiasts a variety of popular WWE Superstars, game modes and more in a premium mobile format.”
This volume of Kill la Kill features the continuation of Lady Satsuki’s Tri-City Schools Raid Trip. She is facing fierce opposition from Kaneo Takarada, the student council president of Naniwa Kinman High School. Many people were surprised in early March when this volume was given an official classification restricting its purchase to adults only in Australia. The last volume ramped up the violence to the next level, so how much further does Trigger take it with episodes 15-19, and do they take it too far?
Story
Osaka is the last place left unconquered in Satsuki’s raid trip. Takarada rules Osaka with money in the same way that Satsuki rules Honnouji Academy with fear, and this makes for the main point of the episode; money can buy support, but fear rules people, an interesting thought when considered in relation to global politics and both past and current events. Satsuki’s real reason for the raid trip is revealed, and she fights Ryuko once again. Ryuko reclaims what Satsuki stole from her, and the main event of this volume then begins: the Honnouji Academy Cultural and Sports Grand Festival.
Despite the name of the festival, it bears no resemblance to actual cultural and sports festivals that can be seen in many other Japanese series. It serves as the next step in Ragyo Kiryuin’s plan to take over the human race, which actually turns out to be her plan to sacrifice the human race to Life Fibers. Satsuki’s true intentions are finally revealed, pitting her against Ragyo. Both Satsuki and Ryuko are now working towards the same end together. More details are revealed about Ryuko’s family, as are the horrifying atrocities that Ragyo committed. As Ragyo’s plans are put into action, enemies become allies as the members of the Elite Four join with Nudist Beach, the headquarters of which were damaged by Nonon Jakuzure under Satsuki’s order.
Visuals
Following episode 15, the action scenes are not as fast-paced as they have been up until that point. The violence increases significantly, with copious amounts of blood spurting from one character’s body at one point, causing blood to rain down for several seconds. While this is even more extreme than the violence shown in the last episodes, viewers may believe that the violence against this character is justified, if not straight away then when her actions in the past have been revealed. These actions include her experimentation on her one-year old child, who died in the process. Having no compassion towards the dead toddler, she experiments on her new baby girl by connecting life fibers to her brain, which has been revealed by removing the back of her head entirely, an event that is graphically shown. Viewer discretion during this scene is advised, as it is extremely disturbing and sickening, made all the worse by the baby’s crying and helplessness.
As episodes 16 to 19 prominently feature Nudist Beach, the organisation formed to destroy Revocs, Ragyo Kiryuin’s clothing company that is taking over the world, there is much more nudity in these episodes. Not only do Aikuro Mikisugi’s nipples radiate a bright purple light, but now his genital region does too. Unfortunately, the real-life implications of a homeroom teacher standing naked in front of two of his female students is an issue that is never discussed in Kill la Kill. One might also wonder how his clothes just fall off of his body with no provocation on multiple occasions.
The other major issue with these episodes, found mainly in episodes 16 and 19, is the continual sexual abuse of Satsuki by her own mother Ragyo. In episode 16, while Satsuki is in the bath at her home, Ragyo uses her hands to sexually stimulate sensitive regions of her body while the camera carefully avoids directly showing what Ragyo is doing. That sexual abuse is even featured in an already tasteless anime is a problem on its own, but that Satsuki did not say no or even remotely attempt to stop her mother makes the writing even worse. Taking matters even further, Ragyo later traps her in a giant cage, binding her hands together with a chain hanging from the top of the cage. Now completely helpless, Satsuki is forced to endure more sexual abuse from her mother, which include smacking Satsuki’s behind several times. This makes up the majority of the reason the Australian Classification Board classified this volume as 18+, and these scenes are not even beneficial in any way whatsoever. There is more than enough presented to make viewers realise how evil a person Ragyo is and to feel sympathetic towards Satsuki and her true cause, so these episodes should not be viewed in their entirety.
The new opening animation premiering in episode 16 is in the same style as the animation for “Shirius.” The new ending animation sequence focuses on Mako Mankanshoku in a somewhat deformed state. Fans of Mako will enjoy this animation, which features Mako doing completely random things. Episodes 15, 17 and 18 do not use more than a few seconds of the opening animation, or any of it at all, however the opening theme song is played at the end of episode 15.
Audio
Each episode tends to use the same music as the last in this volume, and at the same point in each episode too, meaning that some pieces of music are barely heard at all. Fortunately, the quality of the music is such that this does not matter too much. The voice acting continues to be as good as ever, although the pronunciation of names and terms continues to be particularly dreadful, even by the usual standards of English dubs. When characters in anime are given accents in dubs, the choice of accent is generally met with negative opinions, but the choice of accent for Kaneo Takarada here is an surprisingly effective choice that enhances the comedy. It is unfortunate that Madman’s release does not include English credits following each episode or at the end of each disc; it would be interesting to find out which voice actors contributed to the English dub.
The new opening song “Ambiguous” is a great replacement for “Shiriusu,” and “Shin Sekai Koukyougaku” is a fun replacement for “Gomen ne, Ii Ko ja Irarenai,” although there is a heavy contrast between the fun feel of the song and the dark and disturbing content of the episodes.
Extras
On-disc extras include the textless version of the new opening and ending animation and the ‘web-version’ episode previews. The previews featured in the extras menu are actually the same previews that follow the TV broadcast version of each episode. Given that Senketsu states in preview for episode 20 that viewers will have to watch the web-version previews from that episode onwards, it is strange that the web-version previews have not been included on any of the volumes so far, even though they are listed as being included.
Overall
The first episode of this volume is the final one to feature the fast-paced insanity and humour that has characterised this series so far; the following four episodes mark the almost complete shift from this being an action-comedy to being an extremely disturbing drama. It is often the case that attempts to add drama into a series will diminish its entertainment value and turn it into something that no longer bears any resemblance to previous episodes. Kill la Kill certainly does not retain all of its familiar comedy as it descends almost irreversibly into an dark, endless pit of evil. Although there have been several extremely disturbing and sickening scenes so far, there is some hope that the series will reverse its course instead of continuing to present an unnecessarily dark and dramatic revenge plot.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Author’s note: The initial score given for this review was inaccurate and has been updated by the author to reflect Capsule Computers’ ongoing commitment to providing reliable reviews for its readers.
