Viz Media has announced that they have acquired the license for the manga Twin Star Exorcists, also known as Sousei no Onmyouji. The series first debuted back in November 2013 in the monthly magazine Jump Square.
Created by Yoshiaki Sukeno, who also wrote the Binbou-gami Ga! manga which was later adapted into an anime series that was released in the West under the terrible name of Good Luck Girl, the first volume of Twin Star Exorcists will be released in North America during Summer 2015 where it will be released both in print and through Viz‘s digital marketplaces under the company’s Shonen Jump label.
Since there are currently only three volumes of this monthly manga at the moment, the release schedule for Twin Star Exorcists will likely be rather slow in the West.
For those who are unfamiliar with the manga, Viz Media has provided the below story description:
In the series, beings from the dark realm of Magano creep into our world and can only be expelled by talented exorcists. Rokuro is from a family of exorcists, but after a terrible disaster, he’d rather be a singer, a soccer player or anything else! He’s forced to own up to his incredible potential by the arrival of Benio, an exorcist who’s more than his match and stirs his competitive spirit. When neither can top the other in supernatural combat, they earn the title of “Twin Star Exorcists” – two supreme fighters fated to marry and birth the ultimate spiritual warrior. Will these rivals fall in love? The fate of two worlds hangs in the balance!
We have some good news for those of you waiting for Telltale Games‘ Tales from the Borderlands. The first episode of the series, called Zer0 Sum is now available for download on the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, PC, and Xbox One. The title is still set to be released later this week on November 27th for Mac devices as well as on December 3rd for the Xbox 360.
With the first episode of of five total planned for Tales from the Borderlands releasing today, Telltale Games has released a launch trailer for the episode and you can check that out below.
Today NIS America has revealed that Criminal Girls: Invite Only will be released in North America on February 3rd and February 6th in Europe. They also revealed that the game will be compatible with the PlayStation TV and there will be a special $51.99 limited edition version that can only be purchased through NIS America’s online store.
This limited edition comes with a copy of the game, an art book, a soundtrack CD, and collectible packaging. To go along with this announcement a number of new screenshots have also been released which you can check out below. It is worth noting that Criminal Girls: Invite Only’s Western release has been censored from the original Japanese release with the addition of extra mist to “motivate” scenes and the removal of all audio during these sequences.
Aniplex of America has recently announced release dates for Nisekoi volume 2 on Blu-ray and Gurren Lagann volumes 3-5 on Blu-ray. All prices listed below are in USD.
Gurren Lagann volume 3, containing episodes 11-16, will be released on January 6, 2015. Volume 4, containing episodes 17-22, will be released on February 3, 2015. Volume 5, containing episodes 23-27, will be released on March 3, 2015. All sets will contain dual audio, and they all have a standard retail price of $59.98. Each volume is currently available for pre-order for $49.98.
On-disc extras for volume 3 are limited to the textless ending for episode 16. On-disc extras for volume 4 include the textless opening ver.3 and textless ending ver.3. Physical bonuses with each volume include a two-sided poster and a 16 page booklet featuring an interview with the creators and an illustration gallery.
Nisekoi volume 2 is to be released on January 27, 2015. It will contain episodes 6-10 in Japanese with English subtitles. On-disc extras will include the Seishiro textless ending and the Ruri textless ending. Physical extras will include collectible ending card pinups and a deluxe poster. It has a suggested retail price of $64.98, but it is currently available for pre-order for $49.98. The first volume, released yesterday, is also currently on sale for $49.98.
As of last week, Sony has agreed to settle the charges made against them by the Federal Trade Commission (US) in regards to their misleading launch campaign of the PS Vita during in 2011/12.
The main case revolved around the console’s claims that players could continue any Play Station 3 game on the go by pausing at any time and switching devices. The FTC took issue with this as it was not true for “any” PS 3 game, but only a select few. Additionally, some games could only be switched over at certain times. An example of this is MLB 12: The Show (a baseball game) which could only be paused, saved and switched after completing a full 9 innings match. To make matters worse, Sony also forgot to mention that player would have to buy two copies of the same game to enact this feature.
The promotion of the PS Vita’s cross-platform capabilities weren’t the only aspect of the launch that proved misleading. For Australians, the PS Vita’s 3G version always proved problematic, but apparently we didn’t fair as badly as the US. The FTC included in its complaint against Sony that the $50 more expensive 3G capable version of the console allowed for live, multiplayer gaming through the 3G network.This simply wasn’t true. Sony simply didn’t provide this feature.
Sony’s advertising agency, Deutsch LA, also took the blame for pushing the PS Vita’s cross-platform gaming and 3G features. Moreover, the company received further criticism for asking staff to promote the product on personal social media accounts without disclosing their connection to Sony or Deutsch LA.
As a result of the settlement, consumers who bought the PS Vita during its US launch campaign (before 1 June 2012) are entitled to a $25 refund or a $50 merchandise voucher. Customers eligible for the refund will be sent an email from Sony after all aspects of the settlement are finalised by the FTC.
Jessica Rish, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Products made the following statement in regards to Sony’s behaviour:
“As we enter the year’s biggest shopping period, companies need to be reminded that if they make product promises to consumers — as Sony did with the “game changing” features of its PS Vita — they must deliver on those pledges. The FTC will not hesitate to act on behalf of consumers when companies or advertisers make false product claims.”
Sentai Filmworks has recently revealed their March 2015 release schedule. This list details each of those releases.
March 3, 2015:
Outbreak Company Complete Collection. The series will be featured with dual audio options and English subtitles on DVD and Blu-ray. The DVD edition has a suggested retail price of $59.98 while the Blu-ray edition has a suggested retail price of $69.98. This series was licensed in 2013.
March 10, 2015:
The Familiar of Zero: Knight of the Twin Moons (season two). All episodes will be featured with Japanese audio and English subtitles on DVD and Blu-ray. The DVD edition has a suggested retail price of $49.98 while the Blu-ray edition has a suggested retail price of $59.98.
The World God Only Knows: Goddesses (season three). All episodes will be featured with dual audio options and English subtitles on DVD and Blu-ray. The DVD edition has a suggested retail price of $59.98 while the Blu-ray edition has a suggested retail price of $69.98.
March 17, 2015:
Devil and Realist Complete Collection. All episodes will be featured with Japanese audio and English subtitles on DVD and Blu-ray. The DVD edition has a suggested retail price of $49.98 while the Blu-ray edition has a suggested retail price of $59.98.
March 24, 2015:
Place to Place. All episodes will be featured with Japanese audio and English subtitles on Blu-ray. The set has a suggested retail price of $59.98.
Student Council’s Discretion. All episodes of the first season will be featured with Japanese audio and English subtitles on DVD and Blu-ray. The DVD edition has a suggested retail price of $49.98 while the Blu-ray edition has a suggested retail price of $59.98.
March 31, 2015:
Gingitsune Complete Collection. All episodes will be featured with Japanese audio and English subtitles on DVD and Blu-ray. The DVD edition has a suggested retail price of $49.98 while the Blu-ray edition has a suggested retail price of $59.98.
Bungie released a new behind the scenes trailer featuring Destiny’sfirst expansion pack. Destiny Expansion 1: The Dark Belowis designed in response to player feedback demanding more content. The preview trailer features members of the development team giving a sneak peek at the new main character Eris, who serves as the main quest giver, and the new raid Crota’s End.
Destiny is Bungie’s first project after leaving Microsoft. The game mixes first person shooters with MMORPG mechanics, and is filled with raids, dungeons, and PVP scenarios. Destiny is available now for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. Destiny Expansion 1: The Dark Below launches on December 10th, 2014.
‘Puyo Puyo Tetris’, the merging of two famous puzzle games – Puyo Puyo and Tetris – will be released into Japanese markets on December 4th, available to Playstation 4 and Xbox One owners.
Addictive and fast paced, the multiplayer modes have always been a staple of Puyo Puyo and the trend looks set to continue in Puyo Puyo Tetris. Sega have released a trailer on its website (available below), detailing the different multiplayer modes that gamers will get to choose from. There are five modes in total:
Vs – a 1v1 mode, where players can choose to play Puyo Puyo or Tetris together, or even a combination of both at the same time. Puyo Tet Mix – players will need to handle grids of Puyo Puyo and Tetris at the same time. Swap – a countdown will start during this mode, and when it expires the game modes will swap. Party – up to 4 players with power ups available. Big Bang – immediately sent into fever mode, players will need to create ‘garbage’ that will end up being destroyed – hence the ‘Big Bang’.
Aside from the modes highlighted above, there is the ‘National Puzzle League’, where players all over the world can compete together and rise through the ranks. There is also a club that requires registration, which at the time of writing seems to be exclusively used for expanding your network of friends within the game.
Last but certainly not least, replay videos of your memorable matches or otherwise, can be shared amongst friends and the Puyo Puyo Tetris community. If the game appeals to you, but you are dissuaded by the language options, then try out the recently released Tetris Ultimate.
Death is upon thee in the form of words, thy cannot escape the grim fate of a reaper’s hunt. And so, Bacon Bandit Games and Digerati Distribution present Letter Quest: Grimm’s Journey, a haunted twist to scrabble and its unusual place in a role-playing game. What is this madness? Should we grimace in response? Or endure the dead weight of Grimm’s Journey?
Story
Grimm is not your average reaper, aside from the whole “lingering in the darkness in a long, hooded black cape and a scythe in hand”. Who would have thought that Grimm or his partner in crime, Rose, would need the power of words to slaughter horrifying monsters? In practice, the clever concept of using words as a means of fighting delivers an enjoyable casual gaming experience for players. However, let’s not forget that Letter Quest: Grimm’s Journey is clearly a revamp of PopCap Games, ‘Bookworm Adventures’ from 2006. What is clearly lacking . . . is the storyline. The developers attempt at narrating Letter Quest: Grimm’s Journey through the comic strips, is disjointed from the main focus of the game. Despite the limited storyline, players will still be incentivised to complete all of the 40 levels, all of which offer 4 different challenges for players to complete.
Gameplay
What makes the game unique and addictive to play, are the limitless range of words that players can create using the fifteen letter tiles in each round. Players are able to deal damage to monsters with each word they spell, however the damage dealt is greater if longer and more complex words are used. The encyclopaedia factor adds to the thrill of learning new words from the tiles provided, and thus being able to transfer their knowledge from the game to the real world. Unless of course, players are too embarrassed to reveal that they didn’t know the name of one of their favourite television shows, ‘Dexter’, actually means “on or towards the right-hand side”.
One Of My Best Saved Word Images!
The most exciting and challenging element in Letter Quest: Grimm’s Journey are the different combination of tiles that impact on the word choices players make. There are an assortment of tiles with crippling (or wonderful) effects, which ultimately impact on the amount of damage the player deals to the monster and possibly, themselves. At any random time, monsters can transform letter tiles into poison, whirlwind, rocks, crystals, knives and duplicate tiles. God forbid, players get caught with plague ridden tiles and must prevent the spread of disease to other tiles in each turn. To top off the rising difficulty of each level, in Grimm’s Journey there are bosses who can only be defeated on special word conditions, for example; Coney King takes quintuple damage from words containing the letter T.
In order to survive, it’s essential for players to constantly upgrade their weapons, health bar, alchemy, armour and purchase books that increase the percentage of damage dealt, as well as purify potions that remove the bad effects on tiles. Players are able to buy goods from the store using the gems they earn in-game from battle and treasure chests. During rounds, players are able to make purchases from a dodgy-looking Santa, which is good because the store is not accessible in-game. These items include; a shield that reduces damage by 50% for one turn, increase damage by 30% for one turn, bacon for increasing 10% health and steal health for 50%. In other instances, players could earn themselves a mystery reward if they guess the correct word right, with only 9 attempts to fill in all of the blank spaces.
Visuals & Audio
Bacon Bandit Games and Digerati Distribution have done a superb job balancing the creepy and dark undertones of a grim reaper in their picturesque animations. The cartoonish bosses – evil rabbits and angry wolves stand out with the colourfully detailed scenery of caves, graveyards and forests. Despite Letter Quest: Grimm’s Journey being a casual game, it was good to see a map included in the game to outline the players path. One of the best visual features in the game, is the fact that players can save their best word image at the end of each round – for boasting rights of course!
Grimm’s Journey is packed with sinister and fast-paced music, which draws on the intensity of the turn-based combat in the game. I found the music to be more dramatic during boss levels, as expected, and I couldn’t help but think of myself playing in an arcade arena. However, after several hours of playing through each of the levels, the upbeat music can start to get on players nerves.
Overall
Being a fan of word puzzles and role-playing games, there’s no denying that Letter Quest: Grimm’s Journey does a fantastic job at combining the two genres into one game. While it may seem like child’s play, Grimm is suitable for all ages and will have even the greatest minds baffled to solve their next word. Don’t leave Grimm hanging on one letter, join the hauntingly beautiful scrabble pursuit.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
I love Batman, no secrets there. I also love just about everything else in the DC Comics line-up. I grew up watching Batman: The Animated Series and nowadays I have withdrawels waiting weekly for Arrow to air. I also love Lego and fondly remember playing with the colourful bricks all in my youth. Combining the two is often a dream come true for me – my Lego Batmovibile still sits proudly assembled from my 16th birthday and my keys are adorned with a Lego Joker keychain. However, I didn’t LOVE my time with Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham. Don’t get me wrong, as a celebration of Batman’s 75th birthday and a love letter to DC Comics it does a stellar job. But as a video game, and more importantly – a video game sequel, it is a few bricks short of a masterpiece.
Story
Following on a little after the events of Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes, Lego Batman 3 sees the universe being threatened by the inter-galactic collector – Brainiac. After attaining the powers of all seven lantern corps, Brainiac heads to earth to add it to his collection. Brainiac’s arrival sets the scene for our game, where the Justice League are forced to team up with the likes of Lex Luthor, The Joker and Solomon Grundy who are all aboard the Watchtower (The Justice League’s orbiting satellite) in order for there to be a planet Earth left to return to. While it isn’t a particularly in-depth story, it is a pretty cool way to have some of our favourite heroes and villains team up together – and there are few villains in the DC roster who are better suited to the role than Brainiac (MAYBEDarkseid, but he could be a little TOO dark a character for a kid’s game).
Gameplay
Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham, surprise surprise plays just like most other Lego games. You take on the roll of one of 150+ (no, not even kidding) super heroes and progress through the game’s linear story, doing some mild puzzle solving and combat along your way. The game takes place over 15 campaign missions, and during your first play through will not take all that long to complete, but Lego games are best off being shorter experiences to keep up with the attention of the target demographic.
Sadly, the free-roaming that was a huge part of Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes is long since gone, and while there are a few hub areas like the Bat Cave, Watchtower and a few planets here and there – these are minor in comparison to what’s come before, and the result is a much more linear gameplay experience. I found this to be a bit of a let down, especially considering that exploring the fully realised Gotham City was one of the best parts of Lego Batman 2 (and that version of Gotham was more fun to explore than last year’s Arkham Origins’ iteration). That sense of freedom and exploration has all but disappeared, leaving players to rely on the levels themselves to fulfill their need to explore, build and discover.
Lego Batman 3 also feels like a step back from more recent Lego Games, with the most recent comparison being with Lego: The Hobbit, which made great strides in creating a real RPG-style adventure for players, with its unique loot gathering/crafting mechanics. In comparison, Lego Batman 3 is a lot more bland and bare-boned, which left me feeling a little bit empty during my playthrough. While I am more than happy for Lego franchises to differentiate from one another, it should be that the mechanics between them are different, not that some franchsies have more toys than the others.
One thing that has always kept me coming back to the Lego games have been the incredible amount of collectibles to unlock. Not only are there 150 characters to unlock and use, but there are minikits to put together, Adam Wests to solve, studs to collects and upgrades to buy. While the story can be breezed through in only a few hours, players might have a little bit of a tougher time if they are completionists. However the sheer number of collectibles means jumping back into previously beaten stages is more of a joy than most other games – and being able to play as any currently unlocked character is always fun.
Batman’s trip to outer space isn’t without its flaws though, and lack of an open-world is not the worst of them. Lego Batman 3 is incredibly buggy. Oftentimes events won’t trigger, enemies won’t spawn or characters will just end up in places that they shouldn’t be which causes the gameplay to come to a sudden and immediate halt. On more than one occasion I was forced to quit out of the game and reload the level I was in from scratch after an item or event that was required to proceed never appeared.
For me, the game is most fun as a love letter to DC Comics. While the gameplay isn’t as stellar, the easter eggs, references and flat out allusions to DC’s long and storied history are absolutely brilliant. One of my favourite ever unlockables in a video game made it so that whenever I hit an enemy, the sound effects and comic “KAPOW” and “WHACK” text boxes from the old Batman ’66 TV series would pop up and it is the things like this that show the developers really care about the product they have created.
Visuals & Audio
Like I said above – it is a Lego game, the visuals don’t exactly change much between games, and this is rightfully so because lets be honest TT Games nailed the Lego look and feel from the get go with Lego Star Wars, so why fix what isn’t broken. Much like every other Lego Game before it (bar The Lego Movie Videogamewhich had a unique look and feel among its brethren) the environments are made of a mixture of high-definition, fully-rendered backdrops with a bunch of interactible (see:breakable) objects being made of Lego.
Many voice actors from the previous Lego Batman games have reprised their roles, and they all do killer work. Not only does the consistency between games help keep the sense of continuity strong, but it has allowed some of these actors to really embrace their role. Troy Baker as always manages to steal the show as Batman (also to note – Baker is the only person in history to portray both Batman AND The Joker) but he is joined by an absolute extravaganza of voice acting talent, like Clancy Brown who IS Lex Luthor at this point, having portrayed the character in cartoons for almost two decades now.
Where Beyond Gotham really shines is as a love letter to DC Comics fans, and a lot of this comes from the way that the game is presented. Firstly, by getting actors from as far back as Adam West (who voiced the Caped Crusader in the 1966 TV series) all the way up to Stephen Amell, (who currently plays Oliver Queen/The Arrow in the hit tv-series Arrow… which you should check out if you haven’t already) the developers show a lot of love to the entirety of DC’s history. Little audio cues like John William’s Superman theme or Fox & Gimble’s Wonder Woman TV theme playing then the characters take to the skies respectively are just flat out awesome and are sure to bring a smile to the face of anyone old enough (or fanatical enough) to remember watching the movies of television shows in their younger days.
Overall
If you are like me and play Lego games every time a new one is released, and grew up reading DC Comics and watching Batman: The Animated Series then Lego Batman 3 is pretty much everything you want in a game but when you really think about itLego Batman 3 is a strange little product. It looks like it is trying to hit all of the target demographic checkboxes and in many ways feels like a love letter to the past and future of DC Comics. Adam West’s Batman, the old Wonder Woman theme, Kevin Smith as a playable character, and even TV’s Stephen Amell voicing Green Arrow all show a lot of care and love for the comic book giant, but at the same time they seem to appeal to people who would likely never play a Lego Batman game. This strange mix of kid-friendly mechanics with jokes and references that are sure to go WAY over their heads leaves Lego Batman 3 in a sort of limbo where only a tiny niche will truly “get” all of the game’s nuances.
As far as being a good game, Lego Batman 3 – Beyond Gotham definitely has its flaws. The removal of the open-world environment that Lego Batman 2 brought to the table (and other Lego games since have carried on) really make this one feel like a huge step back for the franchise. The game also glitches out rather frequently, often forcing the player to completely quit and re-enter the game for them to resolve. For all the steps back the game takes, the character roster is an absolute dream and lets you play as some of the greatest heroes and villains the world has ever seen. All in all if you love Lego and/or love DC Comics then this is the game for you – but if you didn’t grow up on them then be prepared to wonder “Why is this a thing,” an awful lot.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Viz Media has announced that they have acquired the license for the manga Twin Star Exorcists, also known as Sousei no Onmyouji. The series first debuted back in November 2013 in the monthly magazine Jump Square.
