While it seemed like a bit of an odd acquisition at the time, few could have predicted the popularity bloom that Love Live! School Idol Project would experience after the first season aired in Japan. As such, fans of the series will have to keep a keen eye out for the series because although NIS America has released the first season of the anime in North America today, many of the online retailers carrying it have already sold out.
This includes both NIS America’s online store that sold both a standardPremium Edition as well as a Concert Set that came with a bonus CD and popular online anime store Rightstuf.
If you can find a copy, the series itself will be on Blu-ray and the Premium Edition comes with a 28 page full color hardcover artbook that contains character info, episode guides, and illustrations as well as a collectible slipcase.
Today Viz Media has announced that they will be holding a special live stream event for the debut of the new English dub of the original Sailor Moon. They are calling the event the “Moonlight Party” and it will place at 8:00pm (PST) on Friday, September 5th.
This event will be a chance for fans of the show to join in with company members from Viz as they watch the first four episodes of the original uncut Sailor Moon with its new English dub through either Hulu or Neon Alley while also enjoying some commentary and learning inside facts about the show from Viz’s staff.
Fans will also be able to ask Viz questions through their Facebook and on Twitter using #MoonlightParty as well as take part in trivia contests in order to win special prizes. The livestream will be held at the company’s YouTube page here or below if you happen to be around on that day.
Today Vita owners in North America will have another chance to step into the world of Danganronpa as NIS America has released Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair to retailers and through the PlayStation Store. Fans of the series in Europe have a few more days to wait until the game’s release on September 5th.
Thinking that they will be attending Hope’s Peak Academy, you and your fellow classmates in Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair end up trapped on Jabberwock Island, a tropical island where the group is meant to have a “love-dovey, heart-throbbing school trip” only for Monokuma to appear and start the killing game all over again.
Originally Natural Doctrine was meant to be released on September 16th when about a month ago NIS America announced that they were switching the release dates for Fairy Fencer F and Natural Doctrine, effectively delaying Natural Doctrine’s release by one week to September 23rd in North America and the 26th in Europe.
Today the company had another announcement for the game and unfortunately it had to do with another delay. Now Natural Doctrine, a strategy RPG for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation Vita is going to be released in North America on September 30th and in Europe on October 3rd.
Fans of Omega Force’s Warriors styled games will be happy to hear that Koei Tecmo has just released Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate in North America for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. This iteration of the title comes with a new batch of characters and stages added into the game as well as additional story elements.
It is worth noting that the title is only available as a digital download for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita while retail versions are available for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One releases. Our review of the Xbox One version of the game can be found here.
As we already have heard, Koei Tecmo is working on a cross-gen re-release of Dead or Alive 5 called Dead or Alive 5: Last Round and today the company announced that the title would be released in both North America and Europe sometime in Spring 2015.
Along with this announcement, and an English version of the trailer that you can check out below, the company also confirmed that all costume DLC purchased from the PS3/360 versions of Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate will transfer into the new version of the game, even for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 versions. Dead or Alive 5: Last Round will include Nyotengu, Marie Rose, Phase-4, and over three hundred unlockable costumes.
Overview Although there was a four year gap between Warriors Orochi 2 and Warriors Orochi 3, fans of this series that takes characters from Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors have been treated to a couple of iterations of Orochi 3 already. Now with the move to Xbox One and PlayStation 4, Koei Tecmo has once again released Warriors Orochi 3 in its new Ultimate form. With a number of new additions, does the title warrant a purchase for your Xbox One?
Story Although the warriors of the lands may be at odds with one another, a new force has appeared. An army of demonic soldiers has overrun the land and at their head is a multi-headed beast called the Hydra that is capable of defeating entire armies on its own. Despite the best efforts from the armies of Japan and the Three Kingdoms, almost every general, officer, and commander has been slain in battle.
In a last ditch effort to try and save the world from being taken over by the Hydra and the demon army, Ma Chao, Sima Zhao, and Hanbei Takenaka have gathered what resistance they could and have launched an all or nothing assault on the Hydra. Despite their best efforts, these three are about to be defeated until they are saved by a mystical woman named Kaguya.
Kaguya saves these three and informs them that she has the power to travel through time and has been sent from the mystic world in an effort to put a stop to the Hydra. To do so they must begin traveling into the past and, using their knowledge of the future, alter the course of history by preventing the death of allies and freeing fellow fighters from the demon army’s mind control, even going so far as to alter the past numerous times to change save a seemingly doomed ally.
Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate’s main storyline isn’t all that different from that of the original game, but considering the original game featured a lengthy story populated by numerous popular characters that isn’t too much of an issue. There are some added stages for new characters as well as entirely new chapters which expand the story past the point where the Hydra is killed as well as a prologue to add a bit of extra context for players, making this already packed storyline even bigger.
Gameplay The bulk of Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate plays the same as anyone familiar with the series should expect, though a few changes from the standard formula have been made. Rather than simply entering combat as a solo unit, players will enter each stage as a team of three warriors of their choosing who can be swapped between in battle and even in the middle of a combo to provide fluid multi-character combos.
It is interesting to note that while the Musou attacks remain the same, that there is a unique separation between the Dynasty and Samurai Warriors fighters, with Samurai Warriors’ characters’ Musous triggering extended combo attacks and Dynasty Warriors’ fighters’ Musous unleashing flashy attacks that are capable of dealing large amounts of damage. With each character filling up their Musou gauge while fighting, players can vary their fighters to fit their playstyle best and also unleash these techniques when the situation calls for it.
With over a hundred different characters capable of being used in battle, it is easy to fall prey to using only the first few fighters you unlock in the story, especially since the title offers the option to “Promote” fighters that reach level 100 back to level 1 with additional abilities. However thanks to an experience pool that is filled by completing various missions, players can level up and experiment with each fighter to see who fits their playstyle the best, since unlike the most recent Dynasty Warriors games, players cannot change a fighter’s weapon or fighting style.
Despite that limitation, players will have plenty of variety to choose from thanks to the numerous characters as well as the newly added fighting techniques such as Aerial Special Attacks. It also helps that players can always customize their favorite fighters’ weapon with numerous skills to try and make up for any shortcomings they might have by fusing various weapons together.
Outside of Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate’s story mode a few modes have remained the same, such as free play, but a number of new ones have been added. This includes the brand new Gauntlet Mode which will truly put players to the test. You see, Gauntlet Mode allows players to enter a battle with five warriors at one time but as you enter each stage, the “Miasma” level will rise the longer you remain and the more enemies you defeat.
While players can find rare ingredients and special items in the Gauntlet mode, they will also be put to the test against difficult opponents because the higher the Miasma level, the stronger the enemies. Things can reach a point where even a group of foot soldiers could be deadly to the team, forcing players to try and find the exit point as fast as possible. That being said, part of the difficulty here is the fact that since all of your fighters are moving around on the field at the same time, their AI is terrible, making them nothing more than human shields at times.
Another new mode comes in the form of Duel Mode. Duels are stylized to be similar to a fighting game where players can bring three fighters to face off against three enemies that can either be other players or the computer. While fighting players can activate Cards that are unlocked by obtaining fighters or completing stages in Duel Mode’s survival option with these cards triggering various status effects and dealing damage. It is worth noting though that the entire combat system from the standard game remains the same in the duel mode so it is entirely possible to have an extremely overpowered set of characters enter the mode.
Also included is the Musou Battlefield mode where players can customize an existing stage by swapping out various elements and then upload it online for others to try, or where they can download other players’ maps. Finally there are the new characters that have been added into Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate, with not only original characters being added into the line-up but those from Soulcalibur and Atelier Arland as well. This new batch of fighters is a nice addition that helps give players more options than ever before and are great entries for fans of those series.
Visuals & Audio
While the jump from last generation to the current generation hasn’t given Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate an amazing overhaul, the title does benefit in a few important ways. The character models on the fighters and the little in-game events are more detailed and feature better lighting, but the most important aspect is the fact that more enemies can now appear on the screen at any given time. This gives players the feel that they are actually in a sizable battle and reduces the pop-in rate that past games have suffered.
It is worth noting that like its original release, Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate features only the Japanese voice track but that works in the title’s favor as it fits with the series’ aesthetic. The various pieces of background music take from both Dynasty and Samurai Warriors with little alterations here and there, giving players plenty of satisfying battle music to enjoy.
Overall While many elements of the original remain the same and ally AI can be remarkably dumb at times, Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate adds enough new content into the already impressive amount of content available in the original to make it worth picking up. Not only do battles feel faster and larger thanks to the jump in generation, but the new set of fighters and additional story elements add plenty to the title, making it a great upgrade, even for those who have already picked up the original.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Our Destiny is all but upon us, and for a glimpse into our immediate future, Activision and Bungie teamed up with Google to create ‘Planet View’. Utilising Google Technologies, Planet View allows you to walk the surface of the Moon, Mars and Venus, where you’ll come across gameplay tips, hidden gems of information and bonus in-game incentives.
It may be only a small slice of the vastness that is Destiny‘s explorable universe, but there’s quite a bit of content to walk through here. Anyone who is into the lore or science behind their favourite sci-fi franchises will definitely want to check this out. It also marks the first time a video game world has been mapped using Google Technologies. Check out Destiny Planet View here, and “Become Legend” on September 9.
Man, American retailers seem to just not get enough of leaking Disney Infinity 2.0 info. Earlier on in the year a whole bunch of then-unannounced character figures were leaked by Wal-Mart, and now it seems that at least one Toys ‘R Us store has put the entire starter pack on its shelves! Disney Infinity 2.0: Marvel Super Heroes is not slated for launch for another 2 weeks (actually it is another 3 weeks over in the States) so it is enough of a surprise that stock has arrived THIS early, let alone the fact that someone has obviously put it on the shelves.
A small caveat though: Even though they are on the shelves and are priced, many retailers (Toys ‘R Us included) have the game’s street date programmed into the registers, meaning that even if someone were to try and buy it, the cashier would be alerted and the sale wouldn’t go through. Still that makes it even more of a tease for those fans who are dying to slam Iron Man onto their base and fly around the new Toy Box Mode.
Remember that Disney Infinity 2.0 officially releases down under on September 18th, so make sure you stay tuned to Capsule Computers for all the hottest Disney updates as they become available.
Spring has officially sprung ladies and gentlemen, and right now we are a tad over a week away from the Australian premier of Paramount Picture’s brand new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film and you know since this is an action movie in 2014, it obviously is being shown in 3d.
To really hype up the movie, Paramount have released another of their many featurettes that showcase some of the behind the scenes work that has gone into bringing the turtles to life. Where previous videos showcased the weapons and villains, now we get a look at the technology that went behind the 3d effects that are used in the film.
Check out the video below and remember that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles debuts on September 11th, so make sure you check it out and stay tuned to Capsule Computers for all the TMNT news as it becomes available.
