NIS America has announced that the side-scrolling brawler from Nippon Ichi Software Battle Princess of Arcadias now has a release date in North America and Europe and that release date happens to be on June 17th and the 18th respectively.
No price for the game has been revealed as of yet but it is worth noting that Battle Princess of Arcadias is going to be released as a digital download title only and the game involves players playing as the Battle Princess Plume who must fight against monsters who are overrunning the kingdom of Schwert with the use of tons of weaponry and skills as well as other allies who will help Plume in her battle against these forces.
Just prior to their appearance at Supanova Melbourne 2014, Madman sat down with voice actors John DiMaggio and Jeremy Shada, the instantly recognisable voices of Jake the Dog and Finn the Human from the phenomenon that is Adventure Time.
In what has been classified as the Ultimate Adventure Time Interview, both actors answer questions raised by the fans themselves. What they enjoy about their character, their favourite episodes, their views on the tremendous success of the series. You name it, they probably discuss it. So what’re you waiting for? You know what time it is. Check out the video below and listen to Finn and Jake talk about Finn and Jake…it’s pretty meta.
You may have heard late last year that MangaGamer had picked up the rights to release Shuffle! follow-up Really? Really! in English sometime in the future. Well today the company has announced when fans can expect to purchase Really? Really! and have even opened up pre-orders for the game. Really? Really! is set to be released on June 6th and can currently be pre-ordered here (18+ Only) for $31.95 compared to the standard price of $34.95.
For those who don’t know, Really? Really! is similar to Tick! Tack! as it takes place after the events of Shuffle! but instead follows the story of what would happen if players pursued Kaede Fuyou past the game. In this PC eroge the story involves Kaede’s memories being left in tatters after Primula’s magica powers go out of control sometime after the events of the main game. When this happens she falls into a deep coma and is unable to awaken so Rin and his friends must dive into her mind and try to repair her jumbled memories and return them to normal so she can wake up.
Zombie Studio’s latest game is a randomly generated horror game. In Daylight, players will wander a haunted hospital as Sarah. Armed only with a cellphone for light, Sarah must escape the grounds while a spirit mercilessly chases her.
Join Senior Editor Jamie Laike Tsui in the hospital. Wander around the unit for the criminally insane as Sarah hunts down the notes which will unlock the strange symbol blocking her escape. Be sure to check out the review of Daylightto learn more.
We livestream gameplay footage on our Twitchpage. Our YouTubechannel is updated with content daily. Also be sure to follow us on Twitter, and Facebook. Leave a comment here or head on over to our YouTube page and leave a comment so we know what you think and how we can improve our Impact! feature.
If you have been looking forward to purchasing Lapis Gunner from MangaGamer you can now do so as the game has just been made available from their online store. Of course, as the image above shows slightly, this is a PC eroge which is for Adults Only and features a lot of tentacles doing what tentacles do in these games.
Anyways, the game can be purchased here (18+ Only)for $9.95 and for those who didn’t know, Lapis Gunner takes place after the first game in the series Ruby Striker and involves Lapis Gunner attempting to save her friend Ruby before she too falls victim to the tentacles.
While the PC version of The Elder Scrolls Online has been available for a bit over a month now, those who wanted to pick up the MMO on the Xbox One or PlayStation 4 were waiting for the game’s tentative release sometime in June but that wait just grew a lot longer.
Today Bethesda issued a statement that the game would be delayed “about six months” so the company can fix a number of unique problems that have appeared on each platform. To try and make up for this delay, Bethesda is offering a $20 upgrade from the PC or Mac version of the game to the next-gen console as well as a character transfer to the console of their choice as long as they buy the PC version by the end of June.
The full statement from Bethesda can be found below:
We’ve been grateful to our fans for the wonderful response to our recent launch of The Elder Scrolls Online for PC/Mac, but we know many of you are eagerly waiting to play the game on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
We continue to work on the console versions of ESO, and game development has been progressing steadily, but we are still working to solve a series of unique problems specific to those platforms. Integrating our systems with each console manufacturer’s networks — which are both different from the PC/Mac system as well as different from each other—has been a challenging process. It has become clear that our planned June release of the console versions isn’t going to be possible. Though we have made great progress, we have concluded that we’ll need about six months to ensure we deliver the experience our fans expect and deserve.
We know that the news of an ESO console delay is as disappointing to many of you as it is to us. We want to do what we can to make it up to our fans who want to start playing now, so we have worked out the following arrangement with Sony and Microsoft:
Via a special offer, anyone who purchases and plays the PC/Mac version of The Elder Scrolls Online by the end of June will have the opportunity to transfer their character(s) to either console version when they are released. The offer will allow you to begin playing immediately on the PC/Mac, and then add the PS4 or Xbox One version and transfer the character(s) you have created and developed. And, you don’t have to pay full price for the game twice. For $20, eligible PC and Mac players will have the option to add a full, digital version of ESO on either the PS4 or the Xbox One with your character transfer(s), and another 30 days of included game time.
Whether you decide to take advantage of this offer or not, we promise to do everything we can to get the game released on both consoles as quickly as we can. We will keep everyone updated with additional details regarding character transfers, specific offer dates, when you can expect console beta to start, and of course, when ESO on consoles will launch.
As we predicted after the ratings leak for New Atelier Rorona down in Australia, Tecmo Koei has officially announced that they are going to be bringing Atelier Rorona Plus: The Alchemist of Arland to the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita in the West. The enhanced game will be available for purchase both at retailers and digitally in North America on June 24th while Europe gets it a few days earlier on June 20th.
Atelier Rorona Plus is a remake of the 2009 PS3 release and has been given a large number of improvements compared to past Plus titles and the full list of updates can be found below while screenshots for the title can be found below that.
Enhanced 3D character models
New field map modelling creates more rich and vibrant scenery
New chapters featuring Totori and Meruru who return from the latter games in the Arland trilogy, brimming with new content and illustrations
Additional Content, including playable characters, maps, bosses, costumes and more
Improved Synthesis system and new Assignment system
Expanded Item Crafting
New battle system with advanced battle features and skill execution between characters
New Time Capsule system allows players to bury items in Atelier Rorona and retrieve them in Atelier Meruru Plus, and Atelier Totori Plus
Over 30 different Endings: Interactions with character and decisions made to complete missions with affect the ending offering extremely high replay value
Data saving and sharing between PlayStation 3 and PS Vita versions
Two big names in John Goodman and Ken Watanabe have joined the voice-over cast of Transformers: Age of Extinction, both playing Autobots; the former will be voicing Hound (seen below) with the latter voicing Drift (seen above).
These respected actors join the legendary Peter Cullen, reprising his iconic role as Optimus Prime, and Frank Weller, who’ll be tackling yet another character in Galvatron. Rounding out the voice-over cast are John DiMaggio as Crosshairs, Mark Ryan as Lockdown, Robert Foxworth once again as Ratchet and Reno Wilson returning as Brains.
Michael Bay said of the casting news;
I am pleased to welcome two gifted and versatile actors, John Goodman and Ken Watanabe, to the world of Transformers. And to reteam with Peter and Frank, who have brought Transformers characters alive from the beginning. I’ve been fortunate to work with some of the best voice talent in the business, and together we will introduce several exciting new robots to fans of the franchise around the world.
Transformers: Age of Extinction opens nationwide from Paramount Pictures on June 26, 2014.
The Steam page blurb for The Last Tinker: City of Colors lists Banjo Kazooie as one of the games inspirations. This colorful adventure certainly shares some spirit with the bear and bird (in this case a monkey and sheep), but the title that it brought to mind for me was the original Spyro the Dragon. Although it never reached the critical heights or gameplay complexities of Banjo Kazooie, Spyro was nonetheless an important jumping off point for a lot of younger gamers. The Last Tinker inspires the same sort of feeling, and the simple combat and story do mark it as something of a kid’s game. That said there is an instant death difficulty setting, so don’t be in a hurry to write this off as something purely for the young’uns.
The game is fully compatible with the Xbox 360 gamepad, and you can check out CC’s preview of it here.
Story
The Last Tinker takes place in Colortown, a city where the Reds, Greens, and Blues used to live in harmony. Now they are divided, barricading themselves in their own districts and suspicious of anyone of another color. Koru, the titular Last Tinker, is a young boy who lives in the outer districts of the city with his best friend Tap. When the city is overrun by The Bleakness it is up to Koru to fight back against the colorlesss force and restore unity to Colortown.
It’s pretty obvious what City of Color is getting at. When the city was united each of the three people’s was recognised for a particular trait – the Greens were curious explorers for example- but now that they are divided those characteristics have mutated into their negative forms of fear, anger and depression. Koru must save the city not only by fighting the monsters of the Bleakness, but by restoring the people’s trust in each other and getting them to work together.
The story is kept simple and sweet, and although the characters have to get by on cuteness and humor rather than personality, The Last Tinker is so packed full of positivity and good messages that it doesn’t matter. This is a game that is unafraid to stick its neck out and say good things about the world, and is a lovely pick-me-up in a world full of titles that tend to live on the grim and gritty end of the spectrum.
Gameplay
Looking at screenshots for The Last Tinker it seems unlikely that Assassins’s Creed and Rocksteady’s Batman would play any part in it. Surprisingly both the combat and movement systems draw from those two “grown up” titles. That said neither of these systems is as complex or polished as those found in AC or Batman- to be expected from such a small title.
The combat system riffs on the tricolour design theme. Koru meets up with three colour spirits throughout the game, each granting him a standard move and a special power relating to their personality. At first Koru only has Red’s punch and damage enhancing rage mode, with the move-set fleshed out by a dodge and very basic counter (hit the other dude first). As in Batman, enemies telegraph their attacks via exclamation mark, and Koru’s moves can be strung together whilst he moves from enemy to enemy. The basic set up is fun, but greatly enhanced when the other color spirit moves are unlocked- it’s a real shame that you don’t get much of a chance to play with the full set.
Seasoned gamers will find The Last Tinker’s normal difficulty an easy task, but luckily there are a great range of difficulty options available that ensure the game can be tailored to anyone- there’s even a colour-blind mode.
Whist the combat can be tweaked to suit a player’s skill level, the platforming and exploration is locked down at easy. There is no such thing as the jump button in The Last Tinker, leaving Koru to move around the world in freerun fashion. Whilst this gives things a nice flow the auto jump does kill most of the platforming challenge, making it possible to fly through sections by holding down a button and moving the control stick. The odd challenge can arise in sections requiring some timing and the level design has some fun moments, but from a grown gamers perspective the platforming gameplay isn’t much of a selling point.
There are a couple of collectibles to spice things up though: floaty paintbrushes and colorful gems. In good ol’ adventure fashion you can smash crates and crystals to collect the gems inside (touching water is a death sentence too, whilst on that note). These can be spent on new moves and upgrades at the Dojo booths scattered throughout Colortown. The unlockable moves open up the combat system considerably, allowing for more powerful attacks or larger areas of effect.
In addition to picking up gems there are also a handful of Floaty Paintbrushes hidden throughout each scene. Tracking them down isn’t particularly difficult, but they can be used to unlock various visual quirks (big head mode, mirror etc.) and modes (God mode)- which is another nice flashback to the 3D adventures of old.
The two mushroomy gentlemen in the above screenshot form my favourite part of The Last Tinker’s gameplay- the puzzles. They are Bomber and Biggs, and they both respond to Koru’s colorful powers in different ways. As the name would suggest, Bomber is a tad explosive, whilst Bigg’s size is his advantage. Mushroom beds throughout the game allow either of these two to pop up, and special flowers can be used to switch between them. They allow for a lot of different puzzles that add to the non-combat portions of the game, and the faces that they make throughout are priceless too.
Audio & Visuals
Bizarre little characters like Biggs and Bomber are par for the course in The Last Tinker, along with an endless parade of bright colours and vibrant landscapes. The three color theme echoes throughout the presentation, with three themed districts home to the three differently coloured inhabitants. The Greens are a strangely appropriate combination of tortoise and bunny, whilst the pudgy bears of the Blue district laze around in an almost Parisian night scene.
Little touches here and there hint at Colortown’s crafty origins- the characters speak in cardboard cutout speech bubbles and Koru begins to lose his colour when low on health. Some of the characters are ever so sweet, and I never failed to enjoy watching Tap fly off into the distance trailing a rainbow of confetti behind him (the game’s equivalent of a map marker).
The Last Tinker’s soundtrack is what first prompted my Spyro the Dragon association. It’s upbeat and full of energy, with bouncy guitar right at the front of it all. It does have its dark moments when Koru is in combat and the like, but for the most part it ramps up the joyous atmosphere of Colortown and is a delight to listen to. The lack of voice acting enhances that feel too, with the characters speaking in Animal Crossing style squeaks and noises. The characters just scream out to be plush toys, and if there is ever a plush of Tap I will be first in line.
Overall
The Last Tinker is incredibly endearing, and whilst it is skewed to a younger gamer there is considerable effort made to give the grown ups something to enjoy. It’s characters and setting are bursting with color and charm, and the messages at the heart of it’s story manage to get across without ever becoming too serious or saccharine. Whilst the gameplay has some shortcomings for older gamers kids will have a ball with Koru and Tap, and the whole thing is just so infectiously optimistic that even the cynical adults out there may find themselves drawn in.
SEGA has released the first gameplay trailer for the upcoming standalone package which brings back the familiar Western Front to Company of Heroes 2. The video also reveals a June 24 release date so make sure to check it out below!
The Western Front Armies adds two new factions – the US Forces and the German Oberkommando West. Each army has new gameplay options, infantry, team weapons, vehicles, abilities and upgrades that will fight on eight seasonal multiplayer maps.
The pack will also add an “extended progression system” which isn’t detailed upon further other than it will introduce “unique content”. Those who preorder the DLC will net themselves two vehicle skins with matching profile faceplates.
Interestingly enough, the DLC will be standalone, meaning that purchasing one of the two armies gives you access to multiplayer content such as all 23 maps but limited to the one army. Described as a minimal entry point, it should see new players jumping in and trying out the strategy game.
