As a long-time Magic: The Gathering player, I sometimes forget that Wizards of the Coast releases other products; like a little known game called Dungeons & Dragons. Not only are they the publisher for the world-renowned pen and paper RPG, but they have just released the newest edition of the game!
With every new edition comes new rules, new character classes and new dungeons to explore and loot. Thankfully, this means that the onset of the 5th edition is the perfect jumping on point for new players. To help this fact, Wizards have released a brand new Starter Set to help get you off and running. The Starter Set includes a 64-page adventure book with everything the Dungeon Master needs to get started, a 32-page rulebook for playing characters level 1 – 5, 5 pre-generated characters, each with a character sheet and supporting reference material, and 6 dice.
So if you have ever wanted to try out Dungeons and Dragons, but found all of the books and rules too daunting, then this is the perfect opportunity to get on board. The 5th Edition Starter Pack is available now for the RRP of $19.99. If you don’t know where you can pick it up, then check the link here that will show you your nearest stockist. If you wanted to brush up on some of the rules beforehand, then you can grab the free digital rule book from here.
Will you be starting up D&D for the first time with the advent of the fifth edition, or are you a long-time veteran of the game? Whatever category you fall into, let us know how the 5th edition will change the way you play! As always, make sure you stay tuned to Capsule Computers for all the RPG gaming news as it becomes available.
Paramount Pictures are soon to release a movie that many of us have been waiting our entire lives for. The infamous heroes in a half-shell, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are about to make their return to the silver screen, and to get everyone hyped up for the movie, Paramount have put up a little Facebook App.
The app, aptly titled “Which Turtle Are You?” scans through your likes to determined which of the our eponymous ninjas you most associate with. (I gave it a try and turned out being Michelangelo). Head over to the official Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Facebook page and see which of the TMNT you align-with. Then, let us know your result in the comments below.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is set to hit screens on October 17th, so make sure you stay tuned to Capsule Computers for all the turtles news as it becomes available.
Overview Wars have been fought over land and resources and the concept of dwindling resources is brought up quite often in the world today. As such the idea that humanity might need to try and create another planet worth living on is a novel but believable concept. Mars is often the planet brought up in these terraforming discussions, and in the case of Yu Sasuga’s Terra Formars, that is indeed still the case. So now that the first volume of this manga has been given an English release, does Terra Formars establish itself well enough to hook readers?
Story Five hundred years prior to the events that take place in Terra Formars, humanity realized that the Earth would be running into major problems in the future and in an effort to terraform Mars, humanity sent a type of moss that would survive the environment as well as a creature that could barely survive on the planet in an effort to not only warm the planet, but create a simple but effective ecosystem where the creatures would eat the moss and die to be used as fertilizer for the moss.
The creatures chosen for this mission were cockroaches and now that five hundred years have passed and Mars has become a planet covered in moss, mankind sent a manned spacecraft called BUGS 1 to see how things on the planet are and to eliminate any cockroaches still alive so humanity can begin establishing a base on Mars.
Unfortunately when communication is completely lost, a specially outfitted crew is organized for BUGS 2. I say special because the crew members aboard BUGS 2 have all underwent a special procedure with a success rate of less than 40% to provide them with the abilities of various insects in order to survive on the planet’s still less than savory conditions with the use of an injectable drug. The U-NASA team, consisting of these specialized individuals from around the globe, includes Shokichi Komachi from Japan and numerous others.
When the crew lands on Mars, they quickly find that what has happened on the planet is unlike anything science could ever dream up, as the small cockroaches sent to Mars have now evolved into six and a half feet tall muscular Neanderthal creatures that can kill a man with little effort whatsoever, which quickly becomes the case as this extermination mission quickly turns into one of survival as members of the team are eliminated in an instant and even those who try to put up a fight with their insect abilities find themselves struggling against these giant cockroaches.
Through and through Terra Formars is a mature action manga where its ridiculous sounding ideas actually make it a memorable and enjoyable read. The reason for this is not only does the inclusion of insect abilities for the crew create interesting looking transformations, but also because the cockroaches are ridiculously powerful. The action is fast paced and everything happens extremely quickly so readers will find themselves unable to pull away from the manga as the crew fights for survival.
It is also worth noting that, since the crew of BUGS 2 have been augmented with insect abilities, Yu Sasuga spends a few panels giving readers a brief info drop about what makes that insect unique with factual information and how a human might make use of these powers. Not every insect is given this explanation but it is a very nice highlight given how intense the action sequences play out and even how a certain plot tries to unfold.
In this first volume, surprisingly enough, we have a rather contained story following the crew of BUGS 2 as they struggle to survive on the planet and escape meaning that it is entirely possible to enjoy this volume as its own little story but it is pretty clear that there is a lot of ground to cover with a premise such as Terra Formars’ and Volume 1 does an excellent job showing just how powerful and monstrous the cockroaches on Mars truly are.
Artwork It is worth mentioning that this is a Viz Signature release, meaning that the manga is about an inch taller than your average release, which is good because a lot of the artwork in Terra Formars is incredibly detailed and gruesome looking and this extra space allows for those details to be shown better. Ken-ichi Tachibana has done a great job designing the characters in Terra Formars with clean memorable looking faces that transform into believable looking insectoid faces when the characters use their abilities. The cockroaches themselves are also nicely detailed with a lot of time spent making their simple looking expressions look more scarier than they should simply due to their neanderthal nature and unnatural strength.
I mentioned earlier that characters will die and they do die often and in gruesomely illustrated ways. This includes very detailed looking internal organs being exposed by a character being cut in half or bulging eyes as a head is destroyed. It can also be said that Viz has done a great job with translating the text in this volume without damaging the artwork at all, since there are a number of scenes where text is placed over artwork and it is done so perfectly.
Extra Content There are only a few tidbits of extra content included in Terra Formars Volume 1 and these come in the form of two pages of brief character bios for the crew of BUGS 2, including their country of origin and their likes and dislikes. The story then closes out with a few pages talking about an old Japanese myth and the origin of staple foods, a teasing statement for the future of the series, and finally ending on a page meant to shock the reader but not be relevant to the story.
Overall Terra Formars has a strange sounding premise and gives its characters even stranger sounding abilities, but that is actually what makes the series so great in its initial volume. The time readers spend with the cast as they struggle against these insurmountable odds makes for a thrilling read in what I hope will be a sign of things to come as the series progresses. With impressive looking character and transformation designs and plenty of gore to go along with the fast pace that everything unfolds in this first volume, Terra Formars establishes itself as a bloody action story that spends some time delving into factoids and brings with it some emotional moments for the cast before they face off against a deadly humanoid creature simply thought of as a pest in the world today.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Last week we learned that Fi will be a playable character in Hyrule Warriors and now we have a gameplay trailer from Koei Tecmo showing off how exactly she will fight against enemies in the game. Those who have played The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword are familiar with Fi’s origins and as such it should come as no surprise that she does not use any weapons outside of her own abilities and transforming into a sword to dispatch her foes.
You can check out the gameplay footage below and be sure to keep an eye out for Hyrule Warriors when it is released in North America on September 26th and a week earlier on September 19th in Europe.
While we already know that XSEED Games is bringing Akiba’s Trip: Undead & Undressed over to North America for the PlayStation 3 and PS Vita, it was up in the air regarding a European release for the title. Well today NIS America revealed that they are going to be handling the European relase of the game and are planning on releasing it on October 10th.
It is worth noting that XSEED has not actually announced a release date for the game in North America at the moment, but going by this announcement we can likely expect it here in the States within the next few months.
NIS America describes the game as follows:
Akiba’s Trip: Undead & Undressed is an open-world action RPG in which players undertake numerous missions in a virtual recreation of Akihabara, Tokyo’s popular ”Electric Town” district. The player’s goal is to identify vampires called “Synthisters” with the help of an in-game smartphone app, then engage them in battle to strip their clothes off so their bodies are fully exposed to sunlight. Boasting a unique combat system in which everyday objects become weapons, multiple story routes, a varied cast of characters based on common anime and video game tropes and a narrative dripping with social satire and subtle nods to Japanese pop culture, Akiba’s Trip is a present-day supernatural adventure for the gamer in all of us.
Today Viz Media announced that they will be holding a special theatrical showing of Berserk: The Golden Age Arc III – The Advent during the 2014 Japan Film Festival of San Fransisco. This event is being presented alongside the 2014 J-Pop Summit and the screenings will be held on July 23rd at 7PM and again on July 27th at 7PM.
Berserk: The Golden Age Arc III – The Advent will be shown with its original Japanese voice work and have English subtitles. Tickets will be sold at $13 each and can be purchased here. For those who can’t make it to the theatrical showing, you can also pick up Berserk: The Golden Age Arc III – The Advent as it was released on Blu-ray and DVD earlier this year.
For those who are unfamiliar with the movie, Berserk: The Golden Age Arc III – The Advent takes place a year after Griffith was imprisoned by the Kingdom of Midland and the Band of the Hawk has since been on the run and is nearly breaking apart. To everyone’s surprise, Guts returns to the Hawks and begins to search for the imprisoned Griffith.
An all new Dragon Ball Z film has been announced to be in the making with Akira Toriyama once again spearheading the project. Leaked before it’s official announcement on Saturday through popular Japanese magazine V Jump, it comes as no surprise another film is in the works after the great success of Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods it. Details are thin as of right now but we do know some information. First, the movie will open during the Golden Week string of Holidays next Spring in Japan (April 29th to May 5th). Secondly, the story that the film will revolve around was actually intended by Akira Toriyama to be a part of the original serialization of the Dragon Ball manga , meaning it will most likely take place during the time of the canon story. Third, Toriyama has stated he has been busy making new character designs for the film. Lastly, Toriyama also promised more action and that the film will be “utterly funny”.
It’s great to see another Dragon Ball Z film on the horizon especially as Battle of Gods was generally well received. We are still unsure if this is a sequel to Battle of Gods or will take place before hand meaning there will be no Super Saiyan God Goku. Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods is currently doing an English theatrical run at selected theatres in the States. Check here for details on that tour.
Indie Gala and Capsule Computer’s Every Monday Bundle has reached sweet sixteen! To celebrate the momentous occasion, Every Monday Bundle #16 contains seven games. For one price, buyers will get:
One Finger Death Punch– A brawler where every attack matters. Prepare to break years of button mashing habit with this game.
Galactic Arms Race– Evolutionary Game’s top down shooter mixes Diablo’s loot system with classic space games like Freelancer and Star Control.
Ichi– A one button puzzle game that will challenge even the most keen puzzle fan.
Rhythm Destruction– Curios Panda Games has mixed shoot ’em ups with the music genre in one rocking bullet hell.
Dysan the Shapeshifter– Also known as Dungeon Gate, players will be able shape shift into any NPC creature they encounter in this open world RPG.
Millie– Even millipedes dream of flying! Help Millie achieve her goal by sending her to the local Aviation School in this challenging puzzler.
Cafe 0 ~The Drowned Mermaid~– The visual novel genre is huge in Japan and is growing in popularity in the West. Cafe 0 send players on a journey about coming to terms with death. Be sure to vote for the game on Steam Greenlight.
The indie bundle is $1.49 for the first 24 hours of the sale. After, the price will go up, so pick up your copy at Indie Gala before it’s too late.
We already know a good deal about Assassin’s Creed Unity, and we still have a few months until it releases. Today, Ubisoft are ready for you diehards to take away even more knowledge as a shiny new trailer has dropped, detailing Arno, one of the main characters who is out to find the powers behind the French Revolution.
Sure, the clip looks nice and aside from the controversy surrounding female protagonists, no one really has much room to complain about the latest chapter in the Assassin’s Creed franchise that is shaping up nicely. Check out the clip below and drool over some decent gameplay footage, seasoned with some narrative.
Also as you may or may not know, today was Bastille Day. Bastille Day marks the day that the French Revolution began and to commemorate that day the company also released a bit of a twisted history lesson which can also be found below.
Early access on Steam has been great for PC gamers as it formalized open beta testing, allowed gamers to experience games, buy games before release, take a closer look at the progress of game development and even caused some accidental early releases. Well now it seems that Sony is planning to bring this system to their PlayStation 4.
Would something like Early Access work on consoles? The PC platform has proved there is an advantage and a market for alpha and beta versions of games. Sony might be trying to adopt early access to get ahead of their competitor, Microsoft’s Xbox One.
Sony told Gamasutra that recently this idea has been floating around the office and that they are already taking actions towards making early access and open beta tests available for future PS4 titles.
That’s one of the massive conversations we have internally — that, at what point does a game meet standards of release? We still at some point ensure that we’re being mindful of the consumer … Honestly, we’re working through that right now. We’re figuring out what’s ok. We obviously have our tech requirement checklist that people have to adhere to. So we’re internally discussing, what does that list look like this? What are the caveats? Stuff like this. So it’s still a project that a lot of minds are considering. No details yet, but it’s something on the top of my mind every day. – Adam Boyes, Developer and Publisher at Sony
There are downsides that Sony is concerned about such as gamers being negatively influenced by buggy and undeveloped games. There is also the cold reality that some games never get finished. Developers may shut down or abandon projects before the full release and Sony needs to decide if they pick up Steam’s terrible habit of not offering refunds.
So if you have ever wanted to try out Dungeons and Dragons, but found all of the books and rules too daunting, then this is the perfect opportunity to get on board. The 5th Edition Starter Pack is available now for the RRP of $19.99. If you don’t know where you can pick it up, then check the link here that will show you your nearest stockist. If you wanted to brush up on some of the rules beforehand, then you can grab the free digital rule book from here.
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