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Sword Art Online: Hollow Fragment Review

August 26, 2014

Sword Art Online: Hollow Fragment
Developer: Bandai Namco
Publisher: Bandai Namco
Platform: PlayStation Vita
Release Date: August 19, 2014
Price: $39.99 – Available Here

Overview
Games based on an anime series have become a rarity in the West. Unless they are based off of Dragon Ball Z, Naruto, or Gundam, these titles rarely are brought over in English. However, perhaps thanks to its English run on television and the fact that the light novel is also being translated and released in English, Bandai Namco decided to bring Sword Art Online: Hollow Fragment over for Vita owners, and fans of the series to enjoy. However, is this title actually worth owning?

Story
Now before we get into this review, it should be worth noting that familiarity with at least the first fourteen episodes of the Sword Art Online anime series are required to actually get much enjoyment out of the storyline and the characters that populate Hollow Fragment. Also it should be noted that those who haven’t reached that point should expect some series spoilers from here on out.

Sword Art Online: Hollow Fragment does give players a chance to refresh their memory with a very brief rundown of events only to pick up during the battle between Kirito and Akihiko Kayaba, the owner of Sword Art Online who trapped every player in the game where death in-game means death in real life, on the 75th floor. While Akihiko promises that if Kirito defeats him, he will allow everyone to escape from the game alive, the story in Hollow Fragment deviates at this point.

Although Kirito manages to win the duel, a system glitch suddenly makes Akihiko disappear, forcing the players to continue their journey in SAO and advance to the 76th floor. Once the group arrives on the new floor, they find that not only has Leafa, from ALfheim Online, but also Sinon, from the just barely introduced Gun Gale Online, have managed to be transported into SAO for whatever reason.

To make matters worse, Kirito finds himself transported to an unknown area where he encounters a new girl named Philia who is being chased by a powerful floor-boss that has been given a significant drop in stats, allowing the two to best the creature. After talking with Philia, Kirito learns that this new Hollow Area appears to be outside of the standard system and not only can players explore this area, but they must also reach floor 100 to finish the game.

To be honest, the story found in Sword Art Online: Hollow Fragment is far from special, in fact it is rather lackluster at times, but it does give fans of the show more character development and time with some of their favorite characters as well as experience unique character events for the many female characters that populate the story.

Now, while not directly story related, this issue does affect a lot of the time players will spend reading what is happening and interacting with characters. The issue I’m speaking of is the fact that Hollow Fragment has been given an absolutely terrible English translation. Players will be lucky to read through four or five lines at a time and not notice a grammatical error or a completely incorrect translation error. While this issue can be a bit funny at times, simply because of how ridiculous some lines read (though this might also be due to bad writing in general), it is an issue that should have been addressed before the game was released, especially since some mistakes are incredibly obvious.

Gameplay
It is interesting to note that players have a few small customization options provided to them at the beginning of the game to give Kirito a small make-over, including a name change, but for all intents and purposes the game not only describes Kirito as he usually looks but continues to use that name everywhere in the story, even menu screens.

That being said, everything in SAO:HF has been designed to give players an MMO style of gameplay despite offering zero online capability. As players travel through their chosen area, they will encounter enemies wandering around the field where they can then be fought with using a somewhat complex method of attack that takes a bit to get used to. Players will automatically perform normal attacks, though combos and Burst Attacks can be activated and various skills that use SP can also be performed for added damage, healing, etc.

Since players can bring one ally with them, either one of the many main side-characters in the game or even random characters they have helped in the past, your partner will occasionally call out for specific skills or actions to be taken which usually results in a powerful combination attack. It is also worth noting that the game features a Switch system that allows players to swap “aggro” with their ally to avoid taking damage and recover their Burst meter, which is used for combo attacks and is slowed when the player has a high “risk” level.

Although it is complicated, due in part to the amount of skills available at any given time and the limited control scheme, the combat system is also perhaps the best aspect of the game unless you happen to be in it for the characters. While Kirito starts the game dual-wielding swords, his skills change depending on his equipment set and thanks to the limited amount of SP available at any given time, finding a balance between using skills, working with your partner, managing your stats, and dodging or parrying attacks make many of the battles, especially those that take place in Boss rooms, an exciting experience when you aren’t battling against the game’s terrible camera system.

Outside of combat, players will be spending their time exploring the world and advancing up each floor, exploring the Hollow area in an effort to find better equipment and see new events, and hanging around the hub town of Arc Sofia. The town of Arc Sofia is populated by countless NPCs wandering around the town, many merchants selling equipment and items, as well as story characters that players can interact with.

As mentioned earlier, there are plenty of girls in SAO and all of the main girls, including the new original ones, can be interacted with and there are some basic dating elements in the title. Players can engage each girl in mini-conversations that string together terribly translated phrases that make no sense whatsoever that players can press one button to reply to and increase their affection to unlock various bonus scenes.

Visuals & Audio
It is worth noting that although Sword Art Online: Hollow Fragment has been released on the Vita, many of the original assets come from the PSP game Infinity Moment and have simply been upgraded for release on the Vita. This means that although many of the in-game cutscenes and the character portraits are crisp and impressive looking, the actual in-game character models suffer from jagged edges at times and the environments tend to become repetitive very quickly. Also, alongside the aforementioned translation issues, the title tends to suffer from drops in frame rate when exploring Arc Sofia due to the amount of NPCs that appear around you.

One thing that is a nice touch is that almost every dialogue sequence in the game is voiced and the voice actors from the anime series retained their roles in the game. Although this release only comes with the Japanese voice work, it probably is for the best due to most of the series’ popularity being derived from the anime.

Overall
Sword Art Online: Hollow Fragment is a fun but flawed game that offers a complex yet satisfying combat system and plenty of content for non-fans while fans of Sword Art Online will be able to see a different side of the story while also enjoying their time, and fanservice, with their favorite girl or girls. Unfortunately, the story never really steps into any special territory and it really doesn’t help that the game’s translation has been handled terribly. Despite that, fans of the series will likely be happy to overlook these flaws in favor of the game’s hefty amount of content.

Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.

New Titan Souls Gameplay Trailer in Time for PAX Prime

Jamie Laike Tsui

August 26, 2014

Devolver Digital and Acid Nerve released a new trailer for their upcoming indie adventure game Titan Souls. The developers are preparing to bring a playable build of the game to the Indie Megabooth at PAX Prime this week. So if you are in the area, be sure to swing by and check it out.

Titan Souls is an action game inspired by the likes of Shadow of the Colossus. Winner of the prestigious Ludum Dare Game Jam, Titan Souls will take players on an epic journey across many dimensions, armed only with a single arrow, in search for pieces of shattered souls, guarded by mighty titans. The game will launch for PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, and Steam in early 2015.

Fairy Fencer F’s latest screenshots and trailer focus on “Fairize” techniques

Travis Bruno

August 26, 2014

A new set of screenshots and a new English trailer for Fairy Fencer F has been released by NIS America and this latest batch happens to focus not only on battle, but on the special “Fairize” moves that players can perform in combat. You see, as each character fights an opponent, a tension gauge will fill up and once it is full they can merge with their fairy ally to enter a Fury Form.

You can check out all of the new assets below, and listen to most of the characters’ English voice work, while the game itself is set to be released on September 16th in North America and September 19th in Europe.

Blood Lad Limited Edition set for September 2nd release

Travis Bruno

August 26, 2014

Blood Lad Limited Edition set for September 2nd release

A couple of weeks ago Viz released the first dub clip for Blood Lad and now next week those who are interested in the series will have the chance to own the series on Blu-ray or DVD. Viz is currently planning on releasing Blood Lad on September 2nd with the $69.99 Limited Edition offering a Blu-ray/DVD Combo pack and a normal DVD version for a cheaper $44.82.

It is worth noting that both versions of the release will come with all ten episodes of the series as well as the Blood Lad-EX OVA, but only the Limited Edition will come with a full-color chipboard case and a ninety six page art booklet. The Limited Edition also comes with a number of exclusive digital bonuses, such as an art gallery, almost a half hour of English dub outtakes, and a chalk art video from Anime Central.

For a better look at the limited edition you can check it out below.

NBA 2K15 “Yakkem” gameplay trailer released

Travis Bruno

August 26, 2014

Today 2K Games dropped a new trailer for NBA 2K15 and this one they have dubbed the “Yakkem” trailer. Why you ask? Well you’ll have to watch all the way to the end to find out. The video can be found below and features a lot of in-game footage showing off various teams from around the league shooting three pointers and going in for dunks.

Currently NBA 2K15 is set to be released on October 7th for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC in North America while gamers in Australia and New Zealand will be able to purchase the title on October 9th.

Indie Gala Every Monday Bundle #22 Now Available

Jamie Laike Tsui

August 26, 2014

Indie Gala and Capsule Computers released the Every Monday Bundle #22 today. The bundle features 7 indie games for a single price. Buyers will receive the following titles:

Night Shift – Current on Steam Early Access, Night Shift is an retro styled adventure to stop the endless night with the help of a muscle car.

Where Angels Cry – Solve the mystery at a monastery deep in the Alps in this hidden adventure game.

War on Folvos – A turn based strategy title featuring two campaigns across 20 levels.

1000 Amps – Plug is able to light up everything he touches. Find new power ups for him and light up the world in this open world puzzle platformer.

Shad’O – A colourful tower defense title located in the mind of William’s dreams, a boy who has lost all his memories because of the fog of oblivion.

Lucius – According to prophecy, Lucius is the son of the devil himself. On Lucius’ sixth birthday, his demonic powers are unleashed upon the unsuspecting people at Dante Manor.

dUpLicity ~Beyond the Lies~ – A dating sim and visual novel starring Yukina Kodou, a highschool student who has been ordered to woo Youji Kataoka and become his girlfriend under mysterious pretenses. The game features 15 different endings and 7-10 hours of gameplay. Be sure to vote for the game on Steam Greenlight.

For the first 24 hours of the sale, the Every Monday Bundle #22 is only $1.89. Afterwards, the price goes up, so be sure to grab your copy at Indie Gala.

CounterSpy Review

Zac Elawar

August 25, 2014

CounterSpy
Developer: Dynamighty
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Platforms: PlayStation 4 (Reviewed), PlayStation 3, PS Vita, iOS and Android (Coming Soon)
Install Size: 1.4GB
Release Date: August 20, 2014
Price: $19.45 – Available Here

Overview

CounterSpy is a side-scrolling stealth shooter with procedurally generated levels from Dynamighty, “exclusive” to PlayStation (although an iOS and Android release is in the works). CounterSpy is a cross-buy and cross-save enabled title, so purchasing on the PlayStation 4, for example, with give you access to the game on the PlayStation 3 and PS Vita as well. Though it has been classed an indie title, SCE Foster City Studio also had a hand in its development.

Story

CounterSpy is set against the backdrop of an alternate history Cold War. The story is absolutely absurd in that, instead of the ‘Space Race’ for the first country to land on the Moon, the two warring parties – in this instance referred to as Imperialists (the U.S.A.) and Socialists (the Soviets) – are battling to launch a missile at the Moon. That’s right, with no true understanding or care for the warning that it would pull the Earth’s satellite into the planet’s orbit and cause a mass-extinction event, the two sides commit to this insane competition of pure machismo. This absurdity, however, is a clear hyperbolic caricature of the war itself and the nations involved. C.O.U.N.T.E.R., the agency who takes it upon themselves to sabotage these plans, opposes the Imperialists and Socialists in equal measure. The player takes on the role of their premier field operative, tasked with finding the launch plans for either crazed superpower and foiling the launch. In regards to storyline, as you progress through the levels, a handful of humorous interactions between the agent and home base are displayed in text, with a short cut-scene playing to mark the finale. Otherwise, supplementary background information is given via the collectible ‘dossiers’, but that’s all there is to the narrative.

Gameplay

CounterSpy‘s is easy to grasp: progress as silently as possible, grab the launch plans, and get out. Being a 2.5D side-scroller, the player advances left to right as the 2D camera tracks along with their movement. But, then there are spots of cover where the camera moves behind the player and the game becomes somewhat of a gallery shooter. Some of the larger areas also deal with a lot of layers in verticality, and where it becomes confusing is some enemies will be standing offset, closer to the foreground than the player character, facing in towards the main path, and you’d instinctively think that means they will see you approach. But nope, they don’t. Sure, let’s just walk up and melee them in plain sight. And sometimes enemies in the far background can miraculously see (and shoot!) through walls as you stand behind them. Couple this with almost unfairly concentrated groupings of enemies, and it’s virtually impossible to get through a stage – having collected everything, mind you – without being spotted. CounterSpy becomes less of a stealth game, practically forcing you to enter conflict.

CounterSpy-Screenshot-03 — **Yep…blew him up and his head and arm got stuck in the stairs above. Imagine the reaction of the guy patrolling there!**

Getting called in by suspicious soldier, or spotted by security cameras raises your DEFCON level, which, once at its maximum, starts a countdown to launch that can only be avoided by sprinting to the end and aborting it/ending the level. Destroying equipment, which provides blueprints for weaponry, dossier entries and formulae – boosts that can be bought and selected at the start of each level, much like the your arsenal – also alerts A.I. to your presence. But, get an officer (wears all white) alone and he will surrender, immediately dropping the DEFCON level by one. Enemy types range from soldiers to captains with machine guns, grenadiers and rocketeers. Rockets fly at such a comically slow rate, as to allow players to shoot them mid-air. Ammo and health can be accessed in the levels, thought they are sparse in the latter stages. Certain formulae have very helpful effects, such as allowing you to run in silence or shoot through helmets/armoured security cameras, so save some money and invest! And CounterSpy might be a single-player game, but there is a competitive element to proceedings, as a ‘Rival Spy’s score will be presented for you to beat, and you can even find your fallen comrade’s body in the next level for a significant bonus.

Visuals & Audio

Right off the bat, players will be struck by the classic espionage-genre credits roll, with likewise signature music. The camera following the bullet across screen, the wipe transitions, all accompanied by an up-tempo beat, full of half-steps and accented by those trademark horn blasts…it all screams 60s spy film, and composer Jess Harlin (Lucidity) was perfect in his execution. As the player reaches the main menu, they’ll immediately notice an extension of the retro feel with the lo-fi television tube frame that persists even in gameplay. The screen also suffers from intentional speckling as if you are actually using an old TV with a loose antenna. The colour-palette is wide, but slightly faded, again lending to the overall dated vibe, while visual cues are brighter and clear. The characters in particular carry a cel-shaded style that just works for the atmosphere that is established. While the written text describing the location at the outset of every level and all the propaganda posters are quite funny, the biggest laugh came after a patrolling soldier found his dead pal, and said “oh my God, they killed Johnny!”. Hear it, and you’ll be in stitches every time.

CounterSpy-Screenshot-04 — **The enemies’ necks disturbingly stretch once the ragdoll physics kick in!**

Overall

CounterSpy is fun little game for the first two hours or so. After those couple hours, however, the game gets tedious, especially after you realise that there are many more blueprints and dossiers to collect, but you can already “finish” the game by tackling the final mission. Personally, there was a growing lack of motivation to continue further only to gather these collectibles and maybe even a formula and gun or two that hadn’t unlocked yet. For completion’s sake, I did in fact march on, but was sorely disappointed by the last few unlockable weapons as nothing seemed more advantageous than the simple, yet effective ‘Diplomatic Pistol’ (silencer) and mind-controlling ‘Dart Persuader’. The same can be stated for the remaining formulas. That said, CounterSpy is a well-presented, hilarious, visually distinct title that is good for those few hours, and given its cross-buy compatibility, you may end up playing it even more on the go, maybe on the train on the way back from work. Is it worth $19.45 though? Probably not. $12.95 is a more reasonable price, although PS Plus members can purchase CounterSpy at a discounted $15.56 for a limited time.

Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.

Magic The Gathering – Grand Prix Sydney Results

Vicky Martin

August 25, 2014

A magical weekend transpired at Sydney Olympic Park for the Magic the Gathering Grand Prix Event from August 22-24. Players from all over the world came to try their hand at the event, but in the end it was Australian; Paul Jackson who claimed the championship title, and became the first person from Western Australia to win the Grand Prix.

The riveting competition dealt the best cards to the following top eight players:

Paul Jackson (Perth)
James Zhang (Sydney)
Matthew Griffin (Auckland)
Maitland Cameron (Hobart)
Chris Sparks (Sydney)
Tomoharu Saito (Tokyo)
Park Jun Young (Seoul)
Don Van Ravenzwaaij (Newcastle)

However the Top Deck Event wasn’t just all strategic warfare, many of the gamers participated in the plethora of side events that were available. Everything from Legacy through to M15 Draft and even 2-Headed Giant and Commander games were being run all weekend, with prizes in the form of boosters, single foil cards and cash! As if that wasn’t enough, six of the country’s biggest and best Magic: The Gathering stores were on site to show off their wares and help players find that last missing piece for their decks.

Check out the incredible artwork and two great artists for Wizards of the Coast; R.K Post and Steven Belledin in the gallery below, and don’t miss out on your chance to go to the Grand Prix event in Sydney next year!

Haganai NEXT: Season Two Collection Review

Sergei Lazarev

August 25, 2014

Haganai NEXT
Studio: AIC Build
Publisher: Madman
Format: Blu-ray (reviewed), DVD
Release Date: July 23, 2014
Price: $59.95 – Available Here

Overview
Are you feeling lonely? Are you in dire need of more friends of even a friend? The creator of Haganai, an abbreviation of “Boku ha Tomodachi ga Sukunai” or “I Don’t Have Many Friends”, answered the calling of many anime viewers faced with this dilemma.

Haganai is centered around a group of strange misfits coming together in the school’s Neighbours Club in attempt to learn how to make friends. The ensuing antics were a riot during the first season and Haganai NEXT attempts to continue the laughter with round two.

Story
To recap, the Neighbours Club was formed by classmates Kodaka and Yozora and its member list was soon expanded to include Sena, a busty and attractive girl who can’t make friends despite her looks, the science girl Rika whose high IQ is downplayed by her extremely perverted mind, the effeminate Yukimura who is gender confused despite wanting to be manly and finally a bratty little girl who happens to be a nun. Oh and there’s Kodaka’s little sister too who likes to cosplay as her favourite vampire character.

While the humour was centre stage throughout all of Haganai, it wasn’t without its plot and more serious elements. Kodaka realised at the end of season one that one of the club members, Yozora, was his childhood friend. The reason he couldn’t remember was because Yozora sported a tomboy look back when she was a kid. Nevertheless, the two agree not to tell the other club members in case anyone got the wrong impression that they are more close than they seem.

In contrast, it’s Kodaka’s interaction with Sena that seems to be the main point of this season. Kodaka’s father is friends with Sena’s father, who is ridiculously named “Pegasus”, so the two are linked whether they like it or not. More than that, Kodaka’s hilarious alone-time with Sena’s dad ends with a promise to protect Sena from being bullied at school.

But the comedy still comes first with episodes such as where the gang all visit a theme park for the first time in their quest to find the meaning of friendship. Spoiler: they don’t find it. Which is the brilliance of Haganai in a nutshell, here are a bunch of people hanging out and doing what friends normally do yet they aren’t actually “friends”, or at least they don’t realise that they are friends all along!

The final few episodes of Haganai NEXT take a more serious turn as Rika becomes the main star of the show, confronting Kodaka about his feelings and motivations. Out of all the seemingly clueless characters, Rika is the one that is the most perceptive. Fans of Rika will love the attention she gets while others might not enjoy the plot elements that sometimes take centre stage of what is basically a comedy show.

The story here ramps up considerably in the end and it’s a lot more satisfying than just leaving things as they are like in most comedy anime. All the characters become more developed and fleshed out in some way, with a couple of new characters and a few game-changing secrets thrown at the viewers (oh my, Yukimura!). But if this is truly as good as it gets for our socially-challenged band of misfits, I can’t wait to see them graduate and enter society as adults!

Visuals
I loved the luscious character art in Haganai, with designs similar to Denpa Onna or Psychoelectric Girl, and Haganai NEXT only improves on what we received in the first season. With regards to fan-service, there’s still plenty of it. But the impact of the fan-service is a little less than the first season as you won’t see a bare-chested Sena this time around. The Blu-ray makes this show such a treat to watch. Haganai remains one of the prettier slice-of-life/comedy anime out there in terms of character art and animation.

Audio
The music accompanying Hagani NEXT is as amusing and fitting as ever, matching the antics happening on-screen. The opening theme of “Be My Friend” is a fast-paced “did you miss us?” sort of song, sung by the Japanese cast, while the ending theme “Bokura no Tsubasa” is a slow and thoughtful song set to some beautiful character art.

The English release of Haganai NEXT retains the Funimation voice actors we heard in the first season and suit the characters quite fine. But the rabid emotions among the bickering club members is on a different level when heard in Japanese, where the various puns and jokes are literally translated in the subtitles for full effect.

Extras
On the discs Madman has been kind enough to include the full short film that the characters made in the anime called “Black Dragon”: The Cries of the Damned along with your usual TV spots and trailers, commentaries and textless songs.

It’s worth mentioning that the English release of Haganai NEXT has been censored. There is a disclaimer on the back saying “Episode 2 contains select footage from the Japanese broadcast version.” Raunchy scenes on Japanese TV are often censored only to get revealed in the show’s DVD/BD release. Unfortunately they decided a certain scene was too raunchy for the overseas audience.

Overall
Haganai NEXT will fill you with plenty of laughs thanks to some crude, mature and in-your-face humour and inside jokes that otaku will love. The cast of unusual characters took some time to get together in the first season, but here it’s comedy with everyone involved from the get-go.
There is also some unexpected and serious character development here, particularly towards the emotional end, that reveals plenty of additional plot elements.

But you’re not here for the plot, are you? Haganai NEXT maintains the humour in the show’s outlandish, polar opposite characters. It’s also a quasi-harem without the romance thanks to the male MC and the girls around him. If you want to see one of the funniest anime shows in the last couple of years you’d do well to grab Haganai and Haganai NEXT off the shelves. You don’t need to be friendless to enjoy it, either.

Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.

Choose Your Side in new Mobile Game – “Star Wars: Commander”

Andrew Day

August 25, 2014

Have you ever wanted to join the mighty Galactic Empire or become a member of the rebel scum? Well now thanks to Disney you can in the brand new mobile strategy game Star Wars: Commander. This is the second recent game that Disney have released using the Star Wars brand, after Star Wars: Assault Team. Launching on iOS first (with other platforms to follow), Commander puts you either in the shoes of either the rebels or the empire in the battle for supremacy. Set during the time of Episodes IV – VI, players will be able to pick sides, where the rebels can call upon famous heroes like Han Solo, Chewbacca and Princess Leia, or the empire can summon mighty war machines like the AT-ATs, Tie Fighters or the elite stormtroopers.

In Star Wars: Commander players will:

Choose a side: Command AT-ATs, TIE fighters and Stormtroopers as the Empire or call on iconic heroes like Han Solo and Princess Leia as part of the Rebellion.
Build and defend a base: Train unique troops specific to each faction, and fortify a base with deflector shields, turrets, heavy artillery, and other defences.
Lead epic battles: Strategically deploy powerful armies, units, and vehicles against enemies and other players around the galaxy.
Travel to multiple planets and complete special missions: Play an all-new story as a valiant leader on the front lines of the Galactic Civil War.
Upgrade a strike team and its defences: Strengthen forces with multiple levels of upgrades for each unit.

Star Wars: Commander is a free-to-play game and is available now for iOS devices through the App Store. Which side will you be picking in the battle for the galaxy? To help you make up your mind we have attached a brief trailer below that shows off the game in action. Check it out below and let us know your thoughts in the comments, and remember to stay tuned to Capsule Computers for all the Star Wars news as it becomes available.

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