Edge of Eternity’s Kickstarter hit the $130k mark, unlocking possibly the most exciting stretch goal for the campaign, orchestral music composed by famed Japanese composer Yasunori Mitsuda. Mitsuda has composed some of the most memorable JRPG soundtracks, such as Chrono Trigger and Xenogears.
Edge of Eternity is a JRPG developed by French indie developers Midgar Studio. The game’s plot focuses on the siege that has crippled the three realms of Astrya, Junor, and Dehostra for the last 30 years.
The game has already been Greenlit on Steam and has only seven days remaining in its Kickstarter campaign. There are still two tiers of stretch goals left to accomplish that will bring extra playable characters and more summons. Copies of the game start at $15 USD and beta access is available for a minimum pledge of $30.
Edge of Eternity features an ATB battle system that will be familiar to JRPG players. There are three main progression systems in the game: traditional character levelling; a crystal-based system that unlocks bonuses, powers, and skills; and an original weapon customization system that will allow weapons to grow with players.
A pre-alpha demo is available for Linux, Mac and Windows. The full game is expected to launch in December 2016 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Linux, Mac, and Windows.
Right Stuf, Inc, and animation studio Sunrise Inc. recently announced the first title to be released as a part of their distribution deal: Turn A Gundam Part 1. The first half of the 1999-2000 series will be available for the first time in North America on June 30, 2015.
The first 25 episodes of the series were created, directed and written by Yoshiyuki Tomino, the original creator of the Gundam franchise. They will be released with Japanese audio and English subtitles. The on-disc extras will include the textless opening and ending animation.
Bandai Entertainment USA originally licensed Turn A Gundam, but did not release it due to their decision to leave the North American anime market. The upcoming release is available for pre-order from Right Stuf here.
Siren Visual announced in early March that they had a ‘wonderful’ announcement to make, and they have recently revealed what it is that they were so excited about. They ended up making three announcements about upcoming anime releases in Australia.
The first one is something that people have been anticipating for a while: a complete box set of the Monster anime series. It will be available exclusively on their website at some point “over the coming months”. Siren Visual were planning to include a booklet with a brand-new, exclusive translation of the articles from the Japanese booklets, but they were unable to get permission to do so from the authors. They did say that there is a possibility of the booklet being released in Australia at a later date, but they are not hopeful about this occurring.
Next up is Siren Visual’s announcement of Nagi no Asukara: A Lull in the Sea, which will be released in the next few months. They are working with NIS America for this release, and stated that while it will be different from the U.S. deluxe version, the Australian release will “be very cool”.
Their final announcement is that a Blu-ray release of Gainax’s anime series Nadia: Secret of Blue Water is coming in July 2015. Siren Visual did not state whether their release would reflect the U.S. or the UK Blu-ray release.
This volume takes us past the halfway point of the series. The action, the sheer insanity and every other aspect of it have all remained consistent so far, for better or worse. Some episodes have been better than others, but the creative team always manages to find some way to make every episode entertaining. This volume promises more violent action that the previous volumes, so do these five episodes maintain the same level of quality of the previous nine episodes, or is the action unnecessarily violent and over-the-top?
Story
After defeating Ira Gamagoori in the first battle of the final round of the First Naturals Election, Ryuko is now up against Houka Inumuta. Using his skills of data collection and analysis, he is able to dodge many of Ryuko’s attacks. Comparatively, this battle seems to be over far quicker than all the other matches, but it becomes clear that this fight did not take place so Inumuta could defeat Ryuko, but rather so he could gather more data about her fighting abilities for future reference. She then immediately faces Nonon Jakuzure, who uses the power of sound to overpower Ryuko and leave her and Senketsu unable to focus on formulating a plan to defeat Jakuzure. Ryuko then gains the power of flight and takes off like a rocket, eventually winning by using Jakuzure’s own power against her. Uzu Sanageyama is the last member standing of the Elite Four; the other three members are now sitting rather intimidatingly next to the hyper-energetic Mako Mankanshoku.
As the final battle is about to begin, a new character who had previously only been shown during a few brief shots is introduced. This person turns out to not only be an enemy to Ryuko, but an annoyance to Lady Satsuki as well. Her name is Nui Harime, and she possesses the ability to de-thread a Goku uniform without even breaking a sweat. Although Ryuko does not realise who she is at first glance, Harime wields the other half of the scissor blade and reveals to Ryuko that she was the person who murdered her father. Unable to control her rage, Ryuko continues to fight to such an extreme level that she loses almost all of her blood, essentially becoming a zombie as a result. She continues fighting, but is unable to formulate a strategy to defeat her father’s murderer. The best points in the series are not where there is relentless action and violence, but where the other side of Ryuko appears, the side that views Mako as a friend and part of her will to fight. This can be observed in the scene in which Mako brings her back to her senses. Following the conclusion of the battle, Satsuki reveals her ulterior motive for holding the First Naturals Election, and we then see Honnouji Academy’s finest soldiers taking over the Kansai region, all while Ryuko faces a serious dilemma of her own.
Visuals
The visuals are still consistent, and the animation is fluid even during the most fast-paced action scenes these episodes have to offer. There is an slightly increased reliance on still frames, though, suggesting that there may have been production issues caused by a low budget or time constraints. However, given the insanity of the show, it could just as easily be an intentional stylistic choice.
Female sexualisation is still prominent and frequently thrust right into the viewer’s face. There is some ‘equal opportunity’ ‘fan-service’ with the male transformation sequences, which still continue to be censored by the sourceless ray of light that fans of ecchi anime will be familiar with, but this does not make the objectification of the female characters acceptable. The male nudity raises questions about what is and is not morally acceptable at Honnouji Academy and the surrounding district; Ryuko’s teacher Aikuro Mikisugi again displays his nipples, which inexplicably produce a bright purple light. Also, Ira Gamagoori is almost completely naked next to Mako following his defeat in the First Naturals Election. Houka Inumuta, a fellow member of the Elite Four, gets told off by Gamagoori for wearing a tracksuit, because this show does not often like making any sense.
The violence in these five episodes is ramped up to a new level; copious amounts of blood spurt out of Ryuko’s body in what would realistically be a long enough period of time to render her dead. The choice to depict Ryuko as a zombie during this period of time is interesting, and may be an accurate representation of her mental state at the time. Fans of the slapstick violence seen so far in the series will likely find Mako’s method of bringing Ryuko back to her senses quite hilarious, if not completely over-the-top.
Audio
The audio remains as excellent as ever in these five episodes. The high-quality background music by Hiroyuki Sawano continues to be put to good use, although some pieces of music are used far more than others. Certain pieces are only used once throughout this entire volume. Any fans who have been having trouble deciding whether or not to pick up the CD soundtrack may want to get it while it is still available after watching this volume.
The voice-acting is also consistently good; minor characters and main characters alike are cast perfectly. There are, however, two negative things to note about the English dub. The names of character names and Japanese locations are horribly mispronounced, especially Mako Mankanshoku’s name, and many characters use more coarse language than they have previously.
Extras
The textless opening and ending animation sequences are included on this disc.
Overall
The episodes featured in this volume of Kill la Kill continue to entertain with the same level of action, bad-mouthing, drama, comedy and sheer craziness that has been the norm thus far. The insane and impossible amounts of blood shown in one episode in particular may put off some people from deciding to watch this series, as might the increased amount of swearing. For those of you who have been watching since episode 1, however, this volume will provide you with two hours of enjoyable entertainment.
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.
Recently Invertmouse, the group known for titles such as Without Within, Unhack, and Bermuda, launched a KickStarter project for their new visual novel Cursed Sight for the PC, Mac, and Linux. The KickStarter is seeking $2,000 and is already over halfway to their goal at the time of this writing and you can check out the KickStarter here.
Cursed Sight is described as a visual novel about struggling with fate and follows the story of Gai, who is sold by his family into Miyon’s temple while Miyon herself suffers from a great curse and it seems that her curse may be the most valuable weapon in the upcoming conflict between East and West Taria.
Invertmouse has also placed Cursed Sight onto Steam Greenlight where you can read a bit more about it and vote for it here while an early demo for the title can be found on the official website.
Legendary game designer Sid Meier’s latest game has launched. Sid Meier’s Starships is a turn based space combat game set in the Sid Meier’s Civilization: Beyond Earthuniverse.
Players will build their fleet and explore a dynamically generated universe filled with citizens needing help, rogue AIs, and pirates. Like the Civilization series, there are many paths to victory, both peaceful and aggressive.
Sid Meier’s Starships is available on Steam for Mac and Windows and on the iTunes App Store for iPad. Buyers who also own Sid Meier’s Civilization: Beyond Earth will be able to access special bonuses in both games, such as extra planet types and missions.
“Civilization: Beyond Earth encouraged players to explore humanity’s next chapter on an alien planet,” said Sid Meier, director of creative development at Firaxis Games. “Starships takes players on a new adventure to find the other worlds settled by humanity, engage in a series of tactical missions, and ultimately bring peace and unity to the galaxy.”
If you happen to be a big fan of the PC game HuniePop or never wanted to purchase a digital copy, you’ll be happy to hear that MangaGamer is now offering a special hardcopy version of the uncensored game which is now available for pre-order.
The physical version will cost $19.95 comes with a copy of the game, HuniePop‘s original soundtrack, and a digital art collection and those who wish to pre-order a hardcopy can do so here(18+ Only). Hardcopies of HuniePop will begin shipping on April 6th.
For those who haven’t heard of the game, HuniePop is a combination of a dating sim, RPG, and puzzle game created by a Western developer and featuring full English voice acting. A trailer and a list of hardcopy features can be found below.
Pi Day is this Saturday, so what better way to celebrate with a new Friday Special Bundle from Indie Gala and Capsule Computers. This Friday’s bundle contains 12 indie games. For a minimum of $1, buyers can snag
Streets of Chaos– You are leading a rag-tag group of survivors after the apocalypse. Their survival is in your hands in this strategy/board game.
Orc Attack– A humorous hack’n slash game starring the poor flatulent orcs you’ve slaughtered in the millions during your gaming career.
For a minimum of $2.99, buyers will also get
Leona’s Tricky Adventures– A adventure game with retro graphics featuring a puzzle mechanic inspired by Picross and Bejeweled.
Phoenix Force– A challenging top down shoot ’em up with over 100 levels. Test your dodging skills, as a single hit means death.
HyperRogue– A visual style that will remind you of those colour blindness tests, HyperRogue is a tactical RPG on a hyperbolic plane.
Shelter– Lead your children to safety through the beautiful landscape of Shelter.
Snowcat Simulator– The weather does not always play well, but every day a ski hill is closed is lost business. Master the Snowcat vehicles that make sure visitors have some great snow to ski on.
samurai_jazz – An 8-bit action/adventure inspired by samurai-dramas and film-noir.
Majestic Nights– An episodic action-adventure-thriller about the many conspiracies orchestrated by the guys in black suits.
Proxy Blade Zero – A technical combat revolving around combo-based combat with the Proxy Blade.
Ski-World Simulator – Drive your Snowcat and manage your ski-hill business in this simulator.
Pushcat – A retro puzzle featuring procedurally generated caves and five worlds.
For the first 24 hours of the sale, the top tier is $2.99. After that, the price rises, so grab your copy at Indie Gala.
Today NIS America released a new batch of English screenshots for Operation Abyss: New Tokyo Legacy and this time around they are focusing on showing off some of the battle screens, the dungeons you’ll explore, and the variants you’ll be encountering as you explore said dungeons. That being said a couple screens do introduce a couple of character.
The screenshots can be found below while Operation Abyss: New Tokyo Legacy itself is currently set to be released digitally and physically for the PS Vita on June 9th in North America and on June 5th in Europe.
Arc System Works has announced that they plan on bringing Damascus Gear: Operation Tokyo to the PlayStation Vita in North and South America. The title will be released digitally on March 24th for $14.99 and they are planning a European release sometime in the future.
This action RPG was originally released in Japan back in December 2013 and has players pilot a GEAR robot tasked with destroying RAGE robots while also upgrading their own mech with equipment obtained from enemies. The announcement trailer as well as a full story synopsis of Damascus Gear: Operation Tokyo can be found below.
In the year 2042, the genius scientist Dr. Yui Rich Atsuga unveiled her greatest invention. After that, the world was never the same. [GEAR System] This was the name given to the groundbreaking power system that allowed vehicles to surpass all prior speed and mobility limitations. Scientists around the world scrambled to utilize the highly advanced technology for themselves. With the new system, they built pilotable humanoid robots. These bipedal walking robots, once a distant dream, could outspeed ordinary vehicles. They possessed greater agility than humans, thanks to balancers utilizing the system, and a race to build the best units had begun. These robots were known as [GEAR], derived from the name of the system that unlocked their potential.
However, Dr. Atsuga’s invention would ultimately lead to humanity’s extinction. The year is now 2097. The [GEAR] turn on their human masters. Within two weeks, 80% of the world’s population is annihilated. The remnants of humanity have been forced to live underground. In order to fight these rogue machines, mankind turns once again to the [GEAR System]. The fate of humanity rests on the upcoming war to recapture the surface. Can the technology that destroyed their civilization be the very thing that gives it a second chance?
