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Blackguards 2 Review

January 25, 2015

Blackguards 2
Developer: Daedalic Entertainment
Publisher: Daedalic Entertainment
Platform: Mac, Windows (Reviewed)
Release Date: 20 January 2015
Price: $34.99 USD (Steam) $29.99 USD (GamersGate)

Overview

Blackguards 2 is returning to Mengbilla. After the events of Blackguards, Cassia of Tanos is on a quest to take overthrown Marwan off the Shark Throne and take it for herself. The game is based on the popular The Dark Eye pen and paper RPG game, using both the ruleset and the campaign world.

Story

Cassia of Tanos has been tossed into the dungeons underneath the arena by her husband Marwan. There, she faces death or madness at the hands of the spiders that inhabit the maze like dungeon. Her years of imprisonment leaves her permanently scarred and slightly insane, with only a book and the spiders to keep her company. After her escape, Cassia pledges to destroy her husband by taking the Shark Throne from him before she kills him.

First, Cassia recruits the three surviving gladiators from Blackguards. Takate, Naurim, and Zurbaran have gone their own ways since their adventure, becoming lazy and allowing their battle skills to dull. Next, she frees the bloodthirsty mercenaries who have been imprisoned for their brutal ways. Now, with a growing army of capable fighters, she marches on the Shark Throne, knocking out the Creators on her way to Marwan.

Players who did not play the first game or have forgotten the plot will not feel too out of place. Blackguards 2 is a self-contained story that is enjoyable on its own. The plot is pretty standard, but definitely continuing on Blackguard’s dark and adult-oriented theme. I found the plot to be like a nice shade of paint for the walls. Interesting enough to accent the game, but too bland to be memorable. The game’s plot is forwarded through conversations between battles and some light narration before the fight. The interactions are well written, but there is little room for serious character development which contributes to the plot’s blandness.

Gameplay

Blackguards 2 is a tactical RPG first and foremost. Combat takes place on a hex grid map that will be instantly familiar to pen and paper RPG players that use miniatures in their campaigns. Combat has not changed much since Blackguards, as combat runs using The Dark Eye ruleset. For North American RPG gamers, The Dark Eye may not be familiar, but it is actually the most popular RPG system in Germany. In North America, The Dark Eye has always been eclipsed by the likes of Dungeons & Dragons.

The game does not work on a true class system. All characters can theoretically learn every skill, special ability, and magic spell in the game if there was enough AP. Since AP is only awarded after a battle, there is a cap on how much AP can be earned in one game, so players will only have real flexibility with Cassia’s skills. It is simply too expensive to change the “class” of one of the three gladiators, as they come with a decent amount of AP already invested. It won’t be a huge hassle for most players, but power gamers or those particularly against a certain class type may find it annoying.

The battles have a good range of difficulty. Certain fights can be made easier based on successful interrogation of prisoners and purchasing intelligence from the beggar who spies for Cassia. After every three attacks, Marwan will send his forces out to retake lost territory. This addition to Blackguards 2 sounds a lot more impressive on paper than it is in real life. It is simply an extra battle where players will need to wipe out the enemy. Using a hero in the defense will lock him out from the next battle and losing the battle will require players to retake the territory. Because its objective is no different from most battles in Blackguards 2, these defense battles feel more like filler than actual content.

The combat is decent. It is obvious that Blackguards 2 is using a tried and tested rule set. The character stats are complicated enough to provide depth, but simple enough to understand so that new players are not overwhelmed. Success is heavily reliant on good character placement and controlling the battlefield.

There is a little more to do between battles now. Beyond spending AP on new skills and purchasing new gear for your characters, players can now interrogate prisoners. Based on a prisoner’s behaviour, Cassia will choose one of three options to gain the psychological upper hand. If successful, players will get a small bonus, such as extra intelligence for an upcoming fight. It is a nice little distraction between fights, but a small one in the greater picture.

Blackguards 2 has the exact same controls from Blackguards, for better or for worse. Players control characters in combat using a ring of actions, some which can be placed on the hot bar. Unfortunately, some of the most irritating parts of Blackguards’ controls are still present. For the most part, the game responds to players clicking the hex they want to interact with, instead of the character they want to interact with. It feels a little unnatural, but the real trouble begins when there is something like debris blocking the hex. The debris blocks the click from being registered, leaving the player to find some small uncovered part of the hex to interact with.

Visuals

Blackguards 2 has solid visuals. The models and textures are well done and the UI is well organized. The game ran without a hitch in my testing.

Audio

Blackguards 2 has an excellent cast of voice actors that could easily match AAA titles on the market. The entire game is has full voice acting, and it is an absolute pleasure to listen to. The music and sound effects are just as solid.

Overall

Tactical RPG fans and those who enjoyed Blackguards will enjoy Blackguards 2. It is a good RPG, but it is hard to shake the feeling that that it is more of an expansion pack than a true sequel. Sure, Blackguards 2 isn’t the only sequel guilty of such a crime, but the game does not really add much beyond a new story campaign. It has a solid audio/visual presentation and the combat is enjoyable due to its usage of a tried and true ruleset, but the game still suffers the same wonky controls from the previous game. I strongly recommend picking up Blackguards first before deciding if Blackguards 2 is worth a purchase.

Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.

Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns Expansion Pack Announced at PAX South

Jamie Laike Tsui

January 25, 2015

Guild Wars 2 will finally be getting its first full expansion pack. Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns was announced today by ArenaNet President Mike O’Brien and Guild Wars 2 Game Director Colin Johanson at PAX South.

Guild Wars 2 Heart of Thorns will bring a slew of new features and the setting of Jaguuma Jungle to the buy-to-play MMO. Professions are getting overhauled with the new Revenant profession and profession specializations. A new mastery system will bring a new progression path to the game. Guilds will be able to create and upgrade their own guild halls. Finally, PVP will be getting a major content upgrade with the new Stronghold game mode and a new map for World vs World.

No word on pricing or release date for Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns has been announced. For those who have yet to play the base game, now is a great time to get in, as the game’s price has been slashed to an all time low of $9.99 USD for the duration of PAX South.

Fake Colours Review

Alex Hover

January 24, 2015

Fake Colours
Developer: Forthright Entertainment, Beyond-Limits-Games
Publisher: Forthright Entertainment
Platform: PC (reviewed), OUYA
Release Date: Out Now
Price: $9.99 – Available Here

Overview

Fake Colours has made its appearance on the Steam store after being approved through the Greenlight process. A simple 3D puzzle game, Fake Colours involves moving cubes to its relative colour at the opposite end of a grid. This doesn’t sound too complicated, however, as the player proceeds through the levels, new puzzle elements are introduced ensuring puzzles get more complex as the game goes on. Brought to you by a group of developers called Beyond-Limits-Games, Fake Colours is the first game they have released so lets see if they have created a good first impression.

Gameplay
As highlighted in the overview, there is one main objective in Fake Colours. Three different coloured cubes – red, green and blue – need to traverse across a squared grid to reach their highlighted matching square. Cubes can only travel on the grid in their respective colours, so for example, a blue square cannot travel across a red or green path.

The mechanics will change a little throughout the game, as you can make bridges to help cubes cross different coloured routes and smaller cubes that change the colour of the cubes that pass through them. These new elements of gameplay will be explained in a text tutorial before the levels that introduce them so don’t worry too much if it sounds confusing at first.

Once you solve the puzzle, you will be presented with the time and number of moves that you completed it in. If you score 100% on the puzzle, it means that you finished the puzzle in the lowest amount of moves possible. This is where the replay value of Fake Colours will be found. Perfectionists will definitely strive to get 100% in all of the levels and this is by no means an easy task, as in the later levels there are a plethora of possible routes you can take.
Once you have finished all 30 puzzles, a time attack mode will be available to play where you can attempt to beat the puzzles as quick as possible.

I would have liked to have seen some kind of multiplayer element, such as a versus mode to see who can finish a puzzle first or some leaderboards for the time attack mode. The single player though more than makes up for this, puzzles in general are created well and the trickier ones can cause a few head-scratching moments as you deliberate your next move.

Audio
The audio is a little limited in Fake Colours, from the music to the sound effects you will encounter when moving the cubes around the board. Although the electronic track during the main level mode is relaxing and suited to the gameplay, it tends to get stale and monotonous very quickly as it’s on an endless loop. Understandably, the soundtrack to the game is not the highest of priorities in the development of a puzzle game, but a larger selection of music tracks would have been nice to see.

Visuals
Graphics are clean and sharp with a neon-like presentation. This suits the space background very well although there is only one background to look at throughout the entire game. It’s understandable that the background has to be kept in a uniform colour tone as too much colour may confuse the player throughout the levels, however, just a couple more backgrounds would do wonders to keep the game fresh and inviting.

The least pleasing element of the visuals is the presentation of the menus. They are large and use both bland fonts and colour. They appear to be rushed and tacked on at the last minute leaving the space management of the title screen non-existent. Besides that, the title screen gives off an ‘amateurish’ feel, certainly not good for a first impression.

Players have two graphical presets – low and high – to choose from, but due to the content of the game they are the only options the developers needed to include. On the other hand, the launcher offers a host of resolution options to select and windowed mode is present.

Overview
Fake Colours is a solid first entry from Beyond-Limits-Games and offers a competent puzzle experience. Once you get past the poorly presented menu and level screens, you will find a nice collection of puzzles to complete and perfect. It remains to be seen if there will be more content available in the future, but I feel at the price it’s available for now, it’s adequate for the game in its current state.

NEKOPARA Vol. 1 Review

Travis Bruno

January 24, 2015

NEKOPARA Vol. 1
Developer: NEKO WORKs
Publisher: Sekai Project
Platform: PC
Release Date: December 29, 2014
Price: $9.99 – Available Here

Overview
It is almost hard to believe the blooming popularity of PC visual novels in the West. There was a time that the closest fans would get would be an anime adaptation or a translation through unscrupulous means. Now not only is the effort to bring visual novels official English releases, but there are even a few that are being released in English right alongside their Japanese release.

Such is the case with NEKOWORKs and NEKOPARA Vol. 1 which was released in English the same day it was available for purchase in Japan, offering both an all-ages version as well as an 18+ version. That being said, this review will cover the all-ages Steam release but there will be mention of the other 18+ version here as that aspect is far from hidden.

Story
Kashou Minaduki is a man from a long line of Japanese confection makers but unlike the rest of his family, he wants to be a pâtissier that makes Western style deserts. As such he chooses to suddenly leave his family without saying a word to anyone in order to follow his dream. Once Kashou leaves and prepares to open his shop “La Soleil,” he finds that two large and heavy boxes have been left inside the shop and they happen to be making noise.

Despite moving without telling anyone, it seems that two catgirls, the youngest ones named Chocola and Vanilla, from home have chosen to follow him on his dream. You see, in the world of NEKOPARA catgirls exist and are usually taken care of by families as pets but occasionally are also taken in as workers or even lovers. Society has seen this as normal and no one bats an eyelash at the fact that a few catgirls may be running around, though there are specific restrictions in place as, despite possessing humanoid features and intelligence, their baser feline instincts still kick in.

Anyways, despite his best efforts to contact his little sister Shigure and send them home, Kashou eventually concedes that his initial choice to leave home and his dismissive attitude towards Chocola and Vanilla once they arrive is doing hurting these two catgirls. It may make some sense that he would initially reject the idea of living with the pair as he is trying to set out on his own, but the way he reacts towards Chocola and Vanilla is disheartening at the start thanks to the way that the pair immediately pulls on the reader’s heartstrings with how they react and their likable personalities.

Thankfully once he accepts their entry into his new life and brings Chocola and Vanilla on as waitresses to help him out in his bakery, the story settles into a warm pace that may raise a few complications occasionally but tells a heartwarming tale that will leave readers laughing and smiling. In fact, the bakery setting is very fitting as the best way to describe NEKOPARA Vol. 1 is incredibly sweet since once the initial hurdle is cleared, we follow Kashou as he learns more about caring for Chocola and Vanilla as well as their growing bond.

Chocola and Vanilla make an extremely enjoyable pair as Chocola’s never ending energy balances Vanilla’s quiet personality accented with biting humor. Now Chocola and Vanilla aren’t the only catgirls in NEKOPARA as Kashou’s brocon sister Shigure has managed to raise four other skilled catgirls and she is more than willing to help her beloved older brother in learning how to properly care for his newfound “Catpanions”. While this means training them so that they can obtain “Bells” which provide some form of independence, which means helping them avoid playing with feather toys and various other catlike reactions, it also means taking care of their baser needs.

As mentioned earlier, the erotic origins of NEKOPARA Vol. 1 are still quite apparent in this release. The context of both Chocola and Vanilla going into heat as well as the scenes leading up to and following removed events make it very obvious to tell what is happening. It is worth noting that three total scenes have been removed from this all-ages release and a few CGs have been mildly altered but other than that the dialogue remains the same. This shouldn’t put off too many readers though and I find Sekai Project’s decision to simply snip the scenes without altering the story to be for the best, as it leaves the story intact and causes no disconnect between events as readers can easily infer what happens.

With NEKOPARA Vol. 1 leaving readers with a charming ending, it is clear that there is plenty here left to be told, partially thanks to the title’s relatively short length. While this first volume ends on a very pleasing note it also leaves NEKOWORKs with plenty of potential to build off of. Kashou’s family situation, which is hinted at being quite dire thanks to his decision, is barely touched upon. Plus outside of Shigure, the rest of the characters in the story receive very little development. The other catgirls; Coconut, Cinnamon, Maple, and Azuki, play small roles where readers will only get to know some of their personalities and it would be great to see them given more of a spotlight in future volumes.

Gameplay
Now NEKOPARA Vol. 1 is a true kinectic novel, which means that there are no decisions to be made by the player. Players will simply read along however they wish to, whether it be at their own pace or by setting the text to continue automatically. One thing that is interesting to note is that players also have the option to display more than one text language at a time, meaning that if you so wish, you can have the original Japanese writing above the English translations.

Other than that, there is very little else for players to concern themselves with other than accessing the “Extra” section where you can view previously seen CGs, movies, or listen to the music from the game. One more thing that may interest some, is an option that controls the “Chest Bounciness” of the characters which is not only rather hilarious to use but also a notable inclusion considering the effects the “E-Mote” system has on the game.

Visuals
Now this E-Mote system is something that is unlike anything else most visual novel fans have seen. The only artwork in NEKOPARA that is static are a few of the CGs and backgrounds. Everything else is animated in some form as every character that is portrayed is not only gorgeously drawn but completely animated to the point that characters will walk towards the screen as they interact with Kashou or lean in from the side as they listen in on conversations.

These animated character models really bring the game’s already impressively cute character design to another level. The characters will move their lips as they talk, move around a bit on the screen according to the context, and the catgirls’ ears will move depending on their moods and what they are saying. It really does bring out the best in the dialogue and the characters while giving NEKOPARA something special to call its own.

Audio
Another nice touch is that, outside of Kashou, all of the dialogue in the game is voiced. Chocola, Vanilla, Shigure, the rest of the catgirls, and even miscellaneous characters are voiced in some way. The voice actors for these characters do a great job with their roles and it helps that the game features an option to adjust the dialogue volume for specific characters as Vanilla’s softer tone of voice can occasionally be difficult to hear compared to Chocola’s louder enthusiastic one.

As for the background music, there are a number of nice sounding tracks spread throughout the visual novel, though most of these are standard fair considering the slice of life genre this title is aiming for. That being said, the opening theme song “Taiyou Paradise” is very enjoyable and will be hard to avoid listening to again.

Overall
NEKOPARA is off to a great start here in Vol. 1. Chocola’s and Vanilla’s personalities do make them the stars here, the lack of character development for the rest of the catgirls and the short length is disappointing. However this is the first in what will likely be a series with at least one more release and it is clear that there is potential to be tapped in the next volume. What is told here in this volume is a sweet charming story that follows Kashou as he builds a new life with the two catgirls that followed him from home as he set out on his own path in life told in a way that I can’t wait to see continue.

Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.

Pokken Tournament New Fighters & Footage

Nathan Farrugia

January 24, 2015

Not much is known about the so-far-arcade-only title Pokken Tournament, but that has changed thanks to a live stream held yesterday in Japan with the games producer Katsuhiro Harada and head of The Pokemon Company Japan as well as a bunch of very excited Japanese Pokemon fans. A few matches were played unveiling game mechanics, new stages and even new playable Pokemon.

The game will be played with a D-pad and standard face buttons, even in arcades. Battles take place in a fairly small 3D arena, similar to the Naruto Storm series but with slower movement. So far, there are 5 playable Pokemon including Machamp and Lucario and the newly announced Pikachu, Gardevoir and Suicune.

Each Pokemon has a gauge they can fill and then use up to enter a Burst Mode, which is either a more standard powerup (such as Pikachu getting surrounded by a lightning aura) or that Pokemon’s Mega Evolution. Each Pokemon has a number of weak and strong attacks which can be comboed, special moves and ultimate attacks. You can see Pikachu use Volt Tackle in the video below. For defensive options it seems you can perform a standard block or do a side step. Pokemon can also jump and perform attacks in the air.

Another interesting similarity to the Naruto Storm games is that you can take two supports into battle with you and then summon them at any time, picking one of the two supports before the round starts (matches are best of 3 rounds). These Pokemon included Snivy, Emolga, Fennekin and Lapras who performed different attacks. The game will have a single player mode, local two player and also online mode so you can vs other people in arcades.

There is no word of a Wii U release as of yet (or even a release outside of Japan), but we don’t see why this wouldn’t come to Nintendo’s home console given the popularity of the series and that the Wii U has not received a full fledged Pokemon title as of yet. Check out the full live stream video below with commentary and let us know your thoughts on this Pokemon/Tekken crossover title. You can check out our mock roster for the game here.

Final Fantasy Type-0 HD trailer compares PSP release to HD versions

Travis Bruno

January 24, 2015

People have been waiting for Final Fantasy Type-0 to be released since the game was originally released by Square Enix on the PSP in 2011, so with Final Fantasy Type-0 HD set to be released on the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 on March 17th in North America and March 20th in Europe, the last four years have been quite a wait.

That being said, from the comparison video showing off the upgrades made between the PSP version and its current-gen counterparts we can see that at least the wait might have been worth it in some small way. Don’t take my word for it though, check out the video below to see for yourself.

Etrian Mystery Dungeon Protector class highlighted in latest trailer

Travis Bruno

January 24, 2015

Today Atlus USA released a new set of screenshots as well as a trailer focusing on the Protector Class in Etrian Mystery Dungeon. The Protector is a class featuring high defense utilizing its shield to survive attacks and taunting enemies to draw their attention away from the squishier party members.

Atlus also revealed that anyone who pre-orders a copy of Etrian Mystery Dungeon or picks up a launch copy will be given a collectible box, a “Sights & Sounds of Mystery” art book containing 28 pages of art and information, and a “Rough Sketch” soundtrack CD.

English subtitled trailer for God Eater 2: Rage Burst released

Travis Bruno

January 24, 2015

In what seems to be very coincidental timing, Bandai Namco Games Asia has released a trailer for God Eater 2: Rage Burst that features English subtitles. I say that because it was recently found that Bandai Namco has trademarked “Rage Burst” in Europe which means that an English release in the West is likely in the cards.

That being said, you can check out the English subtitled trailer below while, at the moment, God Eater 2: Rage Burst is set to be released on the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita in Japan on February 19th and in Asia on February 26th.

Senran Kagura: Estival Versus continues to impress with 17 minute video

Travis Bruno

January 24, 2015

Senran Kagura: Estival Versus continues to impress with 17 minute video

We’ve seen quite a bit of Senran Kagura: Estival Versus so far though most of it came in the form of screenshots. Well today that changed as Famitsu has released seventeen minutes of gameplay footage directly from the PlayStation 4 version of the game and I must say that the game is incredibly impressive looking.

You can check out the video below where the trailer starts at the beginning of the game and shows us Ryona and Ryobi as they pay a visit to their deceased sister’s grave only to encounter a strange group of shinobi performing a ritual that appears to result in their dead sister, Ryoki, coming back to life. Then because this is Senran Kagura, a dance sequence featuring all of the girls in white bikinis closes out the video.

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