Pokemon fans may not be aware but the Pokemon Trading Card Game Online has been available for some time now through the official Pokemon website. While it started off shaky, the game has evolved a great deal especially in recent months and is now making an appearance on the iPad worldwide.
The Pokemon Trading Card Game Online allows you to earn cards to create a deck and tackle both computer trainers and real life players from all over the world. You can get new cards for your deck by winning battles and earning coins to purchase new packs and theme decks. Physical cards you purchase will also come with a code you can enter in the game to redeem virtual cards. The card sets go all the way back to the Heart Gold & Soul Silver inspired sets and includes the new XY Rising Fist set as well.
The game requires a 3rd generation iPad or better running at least iOS 7 to be played and will take 504 MB of space on your device. The game is free to play on both the iPad and PC howver players can buy virtual currency to improve their decks. The Pokemon TCG Online for iPad is available now in most countries including the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand and will be available to the rest of the world by the end of the week. An existing Pokemon Trainer account can be used to login, players without an account will have to create one. You can find the app on iTunes at this linkand the PC version on the official site by clicking here.
If you’re looking for a more old school experience, the original Pokemon Trading Card Game for the Game Boy is available on the Nintendo eShop for 3DS and is a fantastic title containing cards from the first three sets and more. You can view a trailer for the iPad version of Pokemon TCG Online below.
With Tales of Hearts R set to be released in Europe and Australia on November 13th, Bandai Namco has announced a number of pre-order bonuses as well as a special Day One version of the game. Those who pre-order the game will be given three pieces of free DLC, all of which are costumes of previous characters in the series, details below:
The Legacy Costume of Caius from Tales of The Tempest for Kor
The Legacy Costume of Marta from Tales of Symphonia Dawn of the New World™ for Kohaku
The Legacy Costume of Malik from Tales of Graces F for Gall
Those who buy a launch copy of Tales of Hearts R will also be given the Soma Link Edition which comes with not only a set of free Tales of Vesperia outfits for Ines, Kunzite, and Beryl but also a participation code that can be entered to win one of five exclusive Japanese collector’s editions. This grand prize contains the following bonuses:
Japanese Collector’s editions of Tales of Hearts R signed by the team
A unique ‘congratulations video’ from Hideo Baba himself (Producer on the Tales Of series) will be shot for each winner
A personalised outer case with the name of each winner will be created for the occasion.
Flat Earth Games have released pricing information for their upcoming arcade stealth-shooter Metrocide. Available on Steam as an Early Access release in mid-October, Metrocide will cost US$6.99, and US$12.99 at full launch later in the year.
Along with this news, the Aussie developers have also released a video walkthrough of some gameplay, with commentary! Check it out embedded below for the best introduction to what Metrocide truly is and, if you’ll be attending EB Expo 2014 in Sydney this weekend, drop by and say hello to the team in the Home Grown Gaming section. Maybe you’ll be making the trip to PAX Australia 2014 between October 31 and November 2? In that case, give them a visit at booth #2708.
Today Electronic Arts and BioWare released a new trailer for Dragon Age: Inquisition and the focus this time around is on the game’s in-depth character creation mechanic. Players have always been able to customize their character by choosing their sex and appearance, but this time around there are more options than ever. As you can see in the video below, you can modify nearly everything on your character’s face.
Also released today was eighteen minutes of gameplay footage which can also be found below. Dragon Age: Inquisition is slated to be released in North America on November 18th and in Europe on November 21st.
Overview Almost every sport in EA Sports’ line-up made the jump to next-gen consoles last year except for one glaring omission… hockey. Considering the NHL game series has always been a stellar and consistently impressive series of titles, this lack of a next-gen version was quite strange. Now a year late to the party, EA Sports has released NHL 15 onto next-gen platforms with what they are saying is a major upgrade. However was everything spent on making the game look good while sacrificing everything else?
Gameplay It is clear what EA Canada prioritized when it came to NHL 15 and that is making sure the actual hockey gameplay is the highlight. The biggest changes this year come in the way that the company has revamped the physics of nearly everything in the game. The puck now acts like an actual puck would rather than a tiny ball, meaning that there can be just as many random events happening in the game as they would in real life, such as rebounds, strange bounces, and hopping.
The players have also been given a physics revamp to glorious effect. All twelve players on the ice can now react to various situations which makes for some amazing looking scenes. Nothing I have seen in the NHL game series can top seeing two of my team mates smash headlong into one another in the slot and sprawl out while trying to screen the goalie, forcing the goalie to nearly stand on his head to make a save from a slapshot. Even though it prevented me from scoring, the fact that something like this is possible now is outstanding.
It also helps that the skill stick has also been refined to go along with the new puck physics. Players can now make use of a number of new deking and skating mechanics to get past the defense and fake out the goalie, but be careful. Thanks to the new physics it is entirely possible for the puck to simply roll off of your stick if you’re too careless. Then again, don’t expect your AI team-mates to pull off any of these fancy new tricks.
Now while the action on the ice has been improved, the actual content of the game has suffered immensely. While the game still sports some standard modes such as Be a Pro, Be a GM, HUT (Hockey Ultimate Team), and Exhibition matches, not only are a few more familiar modes missing but so are a number of secondary features within these modes.
Be a Pro has been stripped down to the bare essentials. Players no longer are able to start in the AHL, CHL or any other minor league before advancing to the NHL, they simply have to choose to be drafted by a random team or pick their team. Once you do enter the game, customizing and making your player unique has also been stunted into the stone-age as the barebones offerings and details are almost insulting after last year’s offering.
On the ice, only recently has EA patched coach feedback back into the game where it was missing before, and when you are on the bench or in the penalty box, the option to sim to the next shift has also been removed. This glaring omission makes the fighting penalties that still spring up too often a chore, as you will be forced to sit in the penalty box for five minutes straight, giving the player a chance to go use the bathroom or something. Of course the game could always glitch and leave you inside of the penalty box for the entire match which makes for a great time…
In fact, the “3 Stars of the Game” something so expected given its place in the league, wasn’t even included until the most recent patch and even now it simply has been shoved into an end-game statistic with no detail. The Be a GM mode has also returned but it too has been completely stripped of features. Modes such as the Winter Classic and many others have been entirely removed from the game, leaving only Hockey Ultimate Team the mode that seems to have been left untouched, even if it is still a hassle to navigate at times.
Visuals & Audio Although this should be expected, the biggest improvement in NHL 15 comes in the graphical department. Team uniforms now move accurately and look amazing on the extremely detailed ice, allowing for some truly spectacular looking moments thanks to the new physics. Although player faces still need some work, especially since their faces are prominently featured compared to other sports titles, their facial expressions and goal celebrations are better looking than ever.
It also helps that the arenas in NHL 15 have been given a complete revamp. While there are still certain details missing in some arenas and unique features that some teams, such as the Blackhawks, have every arena has been given a major overhaul to provide an authentic looking experience. One of these big changes comes from giving the crowd actually having detail and some personality. Fans will hold up signs for their favorite players, wear jerseys and headgear, boo and cheer, and even if you are playing an away game you can still catch one or two die-hard fans who made the trip to cheer on their team. Heck, even vendors and ushers can be seen moving around the arena during replays.
What really gives NHL 15 a real game feel however is the way it is commentated and how every game is introduced. Using real footage of the city and stadium, each game is introduced by NBC Sports’ Doc Emerick and Eddie Olczyk using video footage of the two placed over the stadium in the background. The familiar voice of Olczyk and Doc Emerick’s addition has given the commentary some desperately needed life and detail.
Every time that the teams are introduced, these two will discuss various aspects of the game and what to expect, highlight specific players from each team and give us background information from their lives. Even Ray Ferraro gives some ice level commentary highlighting specific players who are having an outstanding performance as they replay some of their biggest hits, saves, or shots.
Overall For everything that NHL 15 does right it loses its edge elsewhere. While on-ice puck and player physics have been revamped for the better, simple features and mechanics have been completely abandoned for no reason. Authentic looking visuals and commentary give NHL 15 a real life feel, unfortunately the stripped modes and lack of other gameplay modes make this feel like a half-hearted effort that in many ways.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Foxtel, Australia’s largest provider of subscription television has today announced that they are bringing their services to Xbox One consoles. Foxtel have previously had their service; Foxtel Play on the Xbox 360 but this will be the first time that owners of Microsoft’s next-generation console will have access to all of the great channels.
Featuring no lock-in contacts and a wealth of channels, it is a hard opportunity to pass up. Subscribers will also gain access fo Foxtel Go, meaning they can stream live content to their smart-phone for no additional cost.
Here are the channels available to subscribers of Foxtel Play:
E!
13th Street
Style
BBC First
Lifestyle Food
Lifestyle Home
Crime + Investigation
FOX SPORTS 1, 2 and 3
Speed
Fuel TV
ESPN
Eurosport
Foxtel Movie channels
Showcase
FOX8
Arena
Lifestyle
History
Discovery
A&E
National Geographic
FX
SoHo
MTV
Universal Channel
Cartoon Network
Nickelodeon
Disney Channel
Plus Hundreds of On-Demand Movies and TV-Shows
This bad boy is about to become a whole lot more useful
So if you are looking to sign up, you can do so through you Xbox One console from today! Will you be signing up, or is your Xbox One purely used as a gaming machine? Let us know in the comments below.
The year’s highly anticipated horror game: The Evil Within, from Shinji Mikami, the godfather of the genre is almost here, and Bethesda are letting us all know that the game isn’t kidding around with their brand new gameplay trailer.
The new trailer shows off just how the game really does stick to the whole “survival” part of “survival horror.” Sparse ammunition, terrifying monsters and a sense of overwhelming dread are all par for the course here, but don’t take my word for it. We have attached the trailer below so you can take a look for yourselves.
The Evil Within will be on store shelves from October 16th, and will also be playable this weekend at the EB Games Expo, alongside a terrifying live action maze based on the game. So for all the Evil Within news as it becomes available, make sure you stay tuned to Capsule Computers.
Indie Gala and Capsule Computers are welcoming October with a new indie bundle. This week’s Every Monday Bundle #27 contains six indie games.
Pretentious Game– Ask a linguist about the power of words and they probably can go on for hours. Skip the extensive lecture and check out Pretentious Game, a puzzle platformer about poetry and love.
Train Town – A casual train sim from the makers of Trainz Simulator.
Trainz Trouble– Manage the movement of several trains and guide everyone to safety in this frantic puzzle title.
Mechanic Escape– Mech is the last of the TV-sets! Guide Mech through 80 challenging levels, just try not to get electrocuted.
T.E.C. 3001 – A high speed runner that will challenge players to jump, charge, dodge, and slide through a variety of obstacles.
Fly’N– A gorgeous platformer featuring 40 levels and four different playable characters.
For the first 24 hours, the bundle is only $1.99. Afterwards, the price goes up, so grab your copy at Indie Gala.
Overview
When Demon Souls came out years ago, it brought us a deep challenge that was all about memorization, attention to detail, and responding to repetition. It was the ultimate test in trial and error, and though its merits may be up in the air for some, there is no denying the impact the franchise made due to the heavy amount of copycats that followed shortly after. NIS America decided to take that same style of play and implement it in a new strategy RPG by the name of Natural Doctrine. Sure, you will die, even the trailer mentions that countless times. The question is with this new release is does one formula work in another genre. Well, the results are in. How does Natural Doctrine fare? Let’s find out.
Story
Typically, the story is the most important element of a strategy RPG. Titles such as Fire Emblem and Disgaea deliver rich worlds to the player, full of meaningful and memorable character interaction. While there is a tale to be told within the post-apocalyptic land in Natural Doctrine, it all comes off as cliche and extremely lacking, with paper thin character development and cringe-worthy dialogue segments. I know, most might be thinking that it is all about the gameplay, but in any title that is brutally hard, why should we as the audience settle for anything less than average?
To its credit, there are some moments that do not revolve around the main protagonist Jeff (yes, Jeff) that are enjoyable, such as the solo scenes of backstory – and more specifically Anca, who honestly is the most interesting member of the cast from the moment the game starts up. I guess I have become a bit more critical over the years with narratives in RPGs, but even with that its hard to truly recommend this title when it comes to a story – as again, the one here simply exists as a reason to get from point A to point B.
Gameplay
The gameplay in Natural Doctrine is a lot to take in. I can not put that lightly. While this title is set up like a more modernized version of your standard, typical strategy RPG, there is so much going on that not participating in the tutorials provided at the start is like buying a ticket to a never-ending “Game Over” screen. Even with those little tutorials however, we never really get to learn about advanced tactics that come later, as Jeff and company have to participate in trial and error to survive. Trial and error is fine, but there is a nice line between trial and error and freedom in a game, and you will quickly learn that the line is jumped over several times as you have to continuously set up your tactics in only one specific way to clear battles.
Linking is a unique feature that allows players to line up in a pattern on the field and team up to take down a specific area of foes without interruption from an opponent’s turn. In other words, you can do a great deal of damage by using this strategy by treating all of your characters as one unit, as they all will attack at once. This is something that needs to be on the top of your mind as you set up your characters, as if you put several characters in the wrong spot or too close together, they can suffer an instant death at the hands of a boss or larger enemy. Its a clever mechanic at heart, as proper linking is honestly the key to victory, and the added boosts of attack and defense are crucial at times to simply survive.
With each great feature that is presented comes a lot of deaths and frustration just to discover the basics within the game that were not really provided in the tutorials. For instance, if you want to open a chest, you cannot do so on a linked turn. Even when you do collect loot, it usually holds nothing of substance, so collecting loot can be a risk if the enemy is quickly approaching. The skill tree for each character is actually really simple to use, but again – can cost you big if not utilized correctly. As with most RPGs, characters who level up are awarded points that can be spent upgrading the large skill tree, but if you level up the wrong attack at the wrong time and miss out on something that is needed to solve a puzzle or hit the weakness of a foe, you are punished by having to do what could have been a twenty minute battle all over again.
Natural Doctrine has too much depth for its own good as it seems to want to reward players with a satisfying, “hardcore” experience, but delivers too little of payoff for the amount of frustration you have to trek through to victory. Imagine finishing a large wave of enemies, and feeling excited to move on – only to find out that the character that just opened the door to the next area was killed instantly by a foe. Sure, you can dust yourself off and try again, but eventually it all gets tiring and tedious. The amount of layers of strategy within the game will exite fans of the genre instantly, but their lights are sure to dim in minutes as they discover an illusion of a challenge, with a hard difficulty masking shortcuts and shortcomings in the gameplay department.
Visuals & Audio
The visuals is Natural Doctrine are honestly fine for a strategy RPG, as the character models are detailed well, the gore is on point (yes, there is a good amount of blood), and while the environments are stale and plain, the cutscenes look decent when playing out in front of you. That said, for a Playstation 4 title, I would expect a little bit of push from the developers to make this title look better. You know those cheap, greenlight games on Steam? Well, I have seen a lot of RPGs that look a lot like this one on the service, as there is just not enough going on at any time to pull the player in. The HUD does not help matters either, as all of the strings of text from linking and enemies covers the screen in extremely ugly font that kills any immersion the player might have with the atmosphere quickly.
I normally can get past bad voice acting, but Natural Doctrine’s work was a bit too rough to forgive. Hearing Anca slowly speak “no, stop.” as she is hit or having the characters go back and forth with pointless banter is hilarious for all of the wrong reasons. The music is also very out of place, as intense rock sets the scene for something as simple as a goblin walking through a hallway. The sound in this game is bad, but there is some weird sense of charm about it all. Sure, its terrible, but its a lot of fun to watch.
Overall
Natural Doctrine wants to be that game that is so hard that it becomes the next great challenge on consoles. Sadly, Kadokawa struck out here as no matter how hard you make a game, you have to remember that there is a human at the end of the controller, waiting to be entertained. With a thin story, deep – yet unsatisfying – gameplay, a cluttered mess of a HUD, and laughable voice overs and music, Natural Doctrine is too much of a chore to enjoy. I am sure there will be some patient souls that can click with this title, but most will want to pass on Doctrine as while it shows promise as well ambition, it never pulls itself together enough to deliver in the end.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
You think the next generation consoles have killed the Xbox 360? Well think again! Microsoft have just announced a suite of new bundles for players to get their hands on this holiday season. Been meaning to check out Gears of War, well now you can! Here is a list of all the bundles that Microsoft will be rolling out for the console that has been on-sale for almost a decade:
Holiday Value Bundle ($297)– Includes a 500GB Xbox 360 Console, one month’s Xbox Live Gold membership, Call of Duty: Ghosts and Call of Duty: Black Ops II
EB Games Exclusive Holiday Value Bundle – Includes a special blue 500GB Xbox 360 Console, one month’s Xbox Live Gold membership, Call of Duty: Ghosts and Call of Duty: Black Ops II
Not only are these two bundles pretty good on your wallet, but Microsoft have also announced a new price-drop for the system (these prices take effect from October 1st):
Xbox 360 4GB Console – $179
Xbox 360 4GB Kinect Console – $249
Xbox 360 250GB Console – $199
Xbox 360 250GB Kinect Console – $299
Xbox 360 500GB Console – $279
Xbox 360 Blue 500GB Console – $279
So there you have it, Microsoft keeping their last-generation console alive. Will you be picking one up? Let us know in the comments below and make sure you stay tuned to Capsule Computers for all the news on holiday gaming bundles as they become announced.
