A new visual novel by the name of How to Take Off Your Mask now has a set release date on Steam. Publisher roseVeRte has announced that the visual novel will be released on Steam, where it will be available for PC and Mac, on July 10th. The story of How to Take Off Your Mask follows a female protagonist named Lilia who thought she was an ordinary baker living in Leezera, the capital of Eroolia. That is until one day when she woke up she found herself transformed into a cat-girl known as a luccretia.
After panicking about her new situation, she runs into a city guard named Ronan. Despite being childhood friends with a clumsy boy named Ronan long ago, she is unsure if this man is actually him. How to Take Off Your Mask features only one romantic interest but the character’s personality will change depending on the type of decisions players make throughout the game. You can check out a promotional trailer for the game below as well as an early demo here.
There have been many, many, many games of, about, and taking place within war. Games in which players mimic soldiers on the front line, generals commanding their troops from afar, snipers specializing in taking out “high-value targets” from long distances, and even mercenaries. Not to mention all the outside the proverbial box (though, not really) protagonists in the space marine, mech pilot, Jedis, and so on. And sure, as the opening to games in the Fallout series go, “war never changes”. But have video games forgotten those the wars affect other than the ones fighting them? Other than the few times seen running away in fear, when do we ever get a look at the effects war has on the citizens in that region? What about the people these wars – fictional or otherwise – are being fought for? In the grand scheme of interactive entertainment, why are these people forgotten in anything outside the scope of an escort mission? Well, Tale of Tales’ Sunset opts to explore the side of war we never experience as players.
Sunset is a first-person exploration and simulation game from Auriea Harvey and Michaël Samyn, the two-person team that is game development studio Tale of Tales, that examines war from the perspective of an observer. And while this game doesn’t put you in the action, it may be one of the best examinations of war outside of a Ken Burns documentary.
Story & Gameplay
In Sunset, you play Angela Burnes, an African-American ex-patriot living in the fictional Central American country of Anchuria in 1972. Each day, just an hour before sunset, Angela cleans the penthouse of Señor Gabriel Ortega – a wealthy art historian who is trying to save as many pieces of art that he can – while he is away. Outside the apartment, Anchuria is in the midst of a civil war where a military general has seized control of the country and rebels are fighting in the streets for the freedom of Anchuria. But Angela is not one of these rebels. Everyday, Angela has one hour to clean, cook in, organize Señor Ortega’s swanky new penthouse apartment. In doing that, Angela ends up playing a much larger role within the geopolitical climate just outside the doors.
Sunset is an exploration game where Angela’s actions within Ortega’s penthouse can influence the tides of war by influencing Ortega. Each day, you are left a list of tasks to finish before you leave. More often than not, the tasks left do not require the full hour before sunset for you to finish. In this time, the player can do a few little things here and there that get the attention of Ortega. Spend a bit more time on a task to make the result a bit more artistic or visually pleasing, organize his furniture, unpack a few boxes that you are not required to unpack, hide a few private files for him to make sure he is not arrested if the military enters his home, and so on. From performing these tasks, you end up learning more about Gabriel Ortega and his life on the outside as well as more about the civil unrest that is nearly decimating your adopted country. If you do enough, Ortega may start leaving behind little notes for you to read and respond.
Your gameplay is what drives the story forward. You can just stick to your tasks, or ignore them altogether, and your game will be over within ninety minutes; you will never meet Señor Ortega and the country will continue to sink into a brutal civil war. But, if you take an interest in all that is around you in the apartment, you will discover so much more about both Angela and Ortega. The best way to experience Sunset is to take one’s time and learn as much as you can. If you play your cards right, Angela and Gabriel grow closer despite never actually meeting in-person. And when Angela’s brother – David – becomes a rebel leader and is fighting to release the country from the general’s grip, Ortega may also begin working alongside the rebel cause. Every choice Angela makes within the penthouse has the potential to cause a ripple effect that can turn the tide of the war in either favor.
When you read and hear of David’s exploits on the ground during the war, you realize something: David is the character you would be playing if Sunset were the typical first-person war shooter. The brazen rebel leader who is willing to die to save his country from the hands of an evil ruler. We have all played that game. What’s worse is that we will all most likely end up playing that game again. But Sunset is not that game. Angela isn’t the rebel fighter, the heroic marine, or the mercenary with a heart of gold. Angela is everyone else. Angela, quite frankly, is us; the ones who work are menial jobs, sleep in little apartments, go out with our friends on weekends, and live our lives in the background of greatness. What makes Sunset stand out from these other games so much is the simple feeling that it is all okay. Even the person who isn’t the typical dude on the cover of the new Call of Duty game can make a significant difference in that world. And in the case of Sunset, maybe even more so.
Visuals & Audio
It may seem a rather obvious statement to make given the images here, but Sunset is a visually gorgeous game. Because the game always takes place in the hour before the sun sets under Anchuria, the penthouse always basks in a beautifully-rendered warm color palette. And because it is an exploration game, Tale of Tales took the time to add in many small details around the apartment that help seep the player into the early-’70s world of Anchuria. Beautiful artwork, magazine and book covers, exotic plant life, and articles on the war in Anchuria fill the penthouse each day and each individual piece help secure you in the world of Sunset.
The soundtrack is done by none other than Austin Wintory, who has worked on games like Journey, Monaco, and The Banner Saga. As always, Wintory’s tracks can’t help but immerse you into that early-’70s vibe of Sunset. His music alone is a reason to jump into Sunset. The voice work and ambient sounds are also brilliantly done throughout.
Overall
Sunset is a quiet examination of the many factors that lead to a country in turmoil: differences in socioeconomics, geopolitics, the values of art and humanity, and so much more. Themes that are still a driving influence in today’s political climate. But what Sunset truly is, more than anything else, is an examination of the two most destructive and influential elements in humanity. The only two elements that can change the world: love and war.
In the end, we may not know which can be a greater force of change on this blue rock in space which we all inhabit, but we all know that it is our actions in both that will either bring us all together or drive us all apart.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Bandai Namco has released a developer let’s play for their latest Naruto title Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 which showcases some of the new gameplay mechanics that have been spoken of earlier such as the combined battle system (as opposed to the split battle drive system present in Revolution) and the new leader change system. CyberConnect2 President & CEO Hirashi Matsuyama (strangely not wearing a Naruto themed outfit this time) talks us through a couple of battles as they happen in the video which you can watch below.
Looks like this official screenshot may have been slightly edited…
As we expected, there is a limit to how many times you can change the leader of your team and there is also a cooldown, however you can swap characters mid combo to continue said combo. If you awaken, it seems everyone on your team will also awaken but you can still switch between them. After much fan request, ultimates can also be used while awakened now. Other minor things talked about in the video include the nicer graphics, more natural colours and that clothes can now catch on fire after being hit by a fire jutsu with other similar natural occurrences also being added to the game. Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 will be hitting the PS4, Xbox One and PC on Steam later this year, presumably sometime in October or soon after.
In a bit of a twist from the usual fair, gamers in Europe have been able to enjoy the English version of the Steins;Gate visual novel on the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita for a few weeks now while gamers in North America have been left waiting.
That is until today when it was announced that Steins;Gate will be released on the PS3 and PS Vita in North America on August 25th. PQube announced that online retailer Rice Digital will be selling an exclusive“El Psy Kongroo” Edition that is priced at $79.99 and it is currently unknown whether or not a standard version of the title will be available for retail purchase.
The special edition contains the following items:
Limited Edition Game Box
Gorgeous, premium quality 126-page art book featuring CG and Key Artwork
Double Pin Badge Set for new Future Gadget Lab members
If you happen to be a fan of Tekken then you’ll likely want to keep an eye out for news to come out on July 7th. I say this because the official Twitter account for Tekken is teasing that a Tekken related announcement will be made on July 7th. To be a bit more specific, it says that the announcement will be “major” and that fans should look forward to it.
Considering Tekken 7 has currently only been released in Japanese arcades this may mean that the fighting game is finally getting an official home console announcement or a number of character announcements through an arcade expansion, though until July 7th that is simply speculation.
While gamers in North America already knew that Persona 4: Dancing All Night would be released in their region sometime this fall season, gamers in Europe have been left wondering when exactly this unique rhythm game featuring everyone’s favorite characters would arrive on their shelves.
Thankfully it seems that there won’t be much delay compared to their North American counterparts as NIS America has announced that they will be bringing Persona 4: Dancing All Night to Europe sometime this Fall as well with gamers having the option of either picking up the previously announced “Disco Fever” edition or the standard and digital versions of the game.
Back in April NIS America announced that they would be assisting with Love Live! The School Idol Movie‘s limited theatrical showing in the United States. Now the company has announced that the film will be distributed by Azoland Pictures and will start screening on September 12th. When shown in theaters Love Live! The School Idol Movie will be shown with the original Japanese voice track accompanied by English subtitles.
To go along with the NIS America released an English subtitled trailer for the film which you can check out below. As for the theaters and the dates of the screenings, you can check out the list below, or herefor more details, to see if Love Live! The School Idol Movie will be shown at a theater near you.
Tempe, AZ | Harkins Theatres – Valley Art
Los Angeles, CA | Downtown Independent
Sacramento, CA | Tower Theater
San Francisco, CA | New People
San Diego, CA | Carmel Mountain 12
San Diego, CA | Gaslamp 15
Littleton, CO | Alamo Drafthouse Cinema Littleton
Washington DC | Angelika Pop-Up
Honolulu, HI | Ward Stadium 16
Cambridge, MA | Brattle Theatre
Bloomfield, MI | The Maple Theater
Kansas City, MO | Alamo DrafthouseMainstreet
Manville, NJ | Manville 12 Plex
New York, NY | Village East Cinema
Williamsville, NY | Dipson Eastern Hills Cinema
Columbus, OH | Gateway Film Center
Dallas, TX | Angelika Film Center & Café – Dallas
Katy, TX – | Alamo Drafthouse Mason Park
San Antonio, TX | Alamo Drafthouse Cinema Westlakes
Sandy, UT | Megaplex Theatres – Jordan Commons
Fairfax, VA | Angelika Film Center & Café – Mosaic
Indie Gala and Capsule Computers released a brand new Every Monday Bundle today. The indie bundle has a distinctively Japanese theme to it, as it is packed with plenty of visual novels and anime art styles.
eden* – The world is about to end and the only hope for humanity’s survival rests on the shoulders of genetically modified superhumans known as felixes. eden* focuses on the blossoming romance between one of the most powerful felixes and the soldier tasked with guarding her.
Higurashi When They Cry Hou – Ch.1 Onikakushi – This visual novel became so popular in Japan that it spawned an anime! Higurashi mixes a full multimedia experience for an unforgettable ride.
X-Note– Essi is on a quest to solve a murder and possibly unlock the mysteries of the USB key her deceased mother left behind.
Blue Rose – Lena, a knight of the Templar of the Blue Rose, is stuck in a small village in the mountains. Here, she will finally have the chance to become her own woman.
Super Chain Crusher Horizon – An arcade shoot ’em up that is perfect for owners of Ultra Widescreen monitors.
Go! Go! Nippon! ~My First Trip to Japan~ – If you can’t afford a vacation in Japan, then Go! Go! Nippon! will show you the best of what Japan has to offer from the comfort of your own home.
The Clans – Saga of the Twins – A lighthearted point and click adventure/RPG hybrid about Catz, Kitsune, and Xenonight and their wild adventure.
Project Root – A classic arcade shoot’em up updated with modern graphics.
For the first 24 hours of the sale, the entire bundle can be purchased for only $1.99. Be sure to grab your bundle at Indie Gala before the price goes up.
Blockbuster Puzzle Game Will Launch on Apple App Store and Google Play
London, United Kingdom — June 29, 2015— The Pokémon Company International announced today that Pokémon Shuffle Mobile is currently in development for mobile devices and will launch later this year.
Pokémon Shuffle Mobile is a new mobile game where players will battle wild Pokémon with their wits and puzzle-solving skills. By matching three or more Pokémon, players can deal damage and whittle down their opponents. Fans can even battle through difficult stages by using Mega-Evolved Pokémon. Pokémon Shuffle for the Nintendo 3DS family of systems has been downloaded more than 4.5 million times on the Nintendo eShop. Pokémon Shuffle Mobile will be downloadable at no charge on the Apple App Store™ and on Google Play™.
The Pokemon Company International has published and launched several successful apps including Pokémon TCG Online, Pokémon TV, Pokémon Jukebox, Pokédex for iOS, and Camp Pokémon.
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About Pokémon
The Pokémon Company International, a subsidiary of The Pokémon Company in Japan, manages the property outside of Asia and is responsible for brand management, licensing, marketing, the Pokémon Trading Card Game, the animated TV series, home entertainment, and the official Pokémon website. Pokémon was launched in Japan in 1996, and today is one of the most popular children’s entertainment properties in the world. For more information, visit www.pokemon.co.uk
Overview When the first game in the Hyperdimension Neptunia series was released in 2010, very few people thought that the title would launch a franchise that has seen a total of four main series games, plenty of remakes, an idol spin-off, and even a SRPG spin-off. As such it didn’t come as too much of a surprise when Idea Factory announced that the next spin-off would be an action game. What is surprising is that the title, Hyperdimension Neptunia U: Action Unleashed, would be developed by the Senran Kagura developers Tamsoft. So now that this action game takes our favorite characters and drops them into a battlefield, is Hyperdimension Neptunia U: Action Unleashed worth picking up?
Story While Hyperdevotion Noire was a spin-off title that didn’t require players to have a whole lot of pre-existing knowledge about the Hyperdimension Neptunia series to enjoy it, Hyperdimension Neptunia U is similar to Performing Perfection in the way that potential players should have some knowledge of the game’s characters from the start of the game or they simply won’t be able to enjoy it quite as much.
I say this because very little attention is actually given to the story in Hyperdimension Neptunia U. With the CPUs and CPU Candidates working together every difficult enemy that has risen up in Gamindustri has been defeated. With no strong enemies left to fight and the realm almost entirely at peace, the citizens of the land have grown complacent while the CPUs have simply grown bored.
In an effort to revitalize the citizens’ focus on the CPUs, two journalists, Dengekiko and Famitsu (who are clearly pointed out as characters based off of popular Japanese magazines) are tasked with coming up with articles about the CPUs and CPU Candidates. When approached by these two, the girls agree that they wouldn’t mind taking on a few quests here and there to have some nice things written about them.
That is more or less the entire set-up that Hyperdimension Neptunia U is given. From this point on players are given a large number of quests that can be completed in any order with certain quests resulting in the characters talking with one another after completion or commenting about events that may have happened in a fight. This means that the core of the story is fairly flimsy this time around and as mentioned before, newcomers will be receiving no backstory and very few details about the characters and the world.
Despite being lackluster, the characters still serve as the strongest aspect of Hyperdimension Neptunia U’s story and humor. Throughout the game the characters will break the fourth wall by commenting on the various aspects of the game, such as mocking that the destroyed clothing must be this game’s unique selling point and that they’ll power through it, or when Blanc tries to act out of character in an effort to make herself stand out a little more. These moments do come few and far between but fans of the series will certainly appreciate seeing their favorite characters in new scenes.
Gameplay Almost all of the time players spend with Hyperdimension Neptunia U will be on the battlefield as there is very little to do other than take on quests and battle against enemies. When players aren’t fighting they can access extra scenes for their favorite characters, use basic customization to change the outfit colors of the girls or equip various weapons that can be unlocked with coins earned by defeating a certain amount of the same type of enemy.
Once players do step onto the battlefield they’ll find a very solid title. Almost every character has a completely different move-set (with Ram and Rom being the only extremely similar characters though those familiar with the series should know why) featuring a mix of light attacks and heavy attacks to create various attack strings as well as skills taken from past games that have been reworked to work into an action game such as this.
Players must make use of skills sparingly as they work off a slowly recharging meter that can be refilled quicker by picking up dropped healing items from defeated enemies. A separate meter is used to let players know how close they are to being able to transform into their CPU forms where even Dengekiko and Famitsu obtain new stronger abilities and new basic attacks for a limited amount of time. This meter recharges over time though since players bring two girls into battle, the resting character generally fills their CPU meter faster allowing for quick transitioning or the use of a last ditch skill if used in a pinch.
Those familiar with Tamsoft’s Shinovi Versus will find the combat system extremely similar to that with elements of the Warriors’ series mixed in. Players will enter a stage where they will be tasked with either defeating a certain amount of enemies, taking down a boss, or completing a certain unknown goal that players will have to figure out to complete the mission. There unfortunately isn’t a whole lot of variety to be found in the missions players take on and even though the levels are nicely varied, most of them take place in a single room with very little exploration.
It also doesn’t help that the enemy AI is almost always limited to being rather idiotic. Unless the player is facing off against a boss enemy, standard foes will generally stand still and make the rare attack that can easily be interrupted and even on the higher level missions players will only be punished by attacks that deal large amounts of damage instead of intelligent AI to face off against. Despite these limitations Hyperdimension Neptunia U is a great title to play for a few missions at a time and there are even a few extra modes available once the player manages to complete the game.
Visuals & Audio Hyperdimension Neptunia U: Action Unleashed works quite well on the Vita as not only does the title look great, featuring nicely detailed character models that look just as impressive as they do in the games but almost no slowdown whatsoever, even when the player utilizes their strongest, and therefore flashiest, abilities. As mentioned earlier the levels are a bit small at times but nicely varied as players will be fighting in a variety of stages against a number of enemies commonly found in the RPGs. There is even a nice little touch of fan-service in the game since, as the girls take damage or utilize too many strong attacks in battle, their clothes will become torn. If that isn’t to your liking however, it is possible to unlock clothing that cannot be broken, though on the other side of things there is also clothing made to rip with little effort.
Those who wish to enjoy either the original Japanese voice track or the returning English voice cast will be able to choose as freely as they wish as switching between the dubs is quite easy while the actual performances are what fans have come to expect from the respective voice actresses. The soundtrack is familiar and charming and I must say that the team put in a nice touch of giving each fighter their own unique piece of background music that automatically begins playing when they transform.
Overall Hyperdimension Neptunia U: Action Unleashed is a far different title than fans of the series are used to but this step outside the box is a welcome change that features enjoyable fast paced combat featuring everyone’s favorite characters. While the storyline may be a bit iffy and there is little variety in the missions, there is plenty of fun to be had with this game, especially if you happen to be a fan of what Tamsoft has done in the past and Hyperdimension Neptunia.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
