“Hyrule Warriors” (“Zelda Musou” in Japan) was announced way back in December to the shock and elation of many “The Legend Of Zelda” fans around the world.
Now, a few months later, we’ve been given some more news regarding the hack and slash title: “Tecmo Koei” has been announced to be handling the publishing of the game over in Japan and they’ve already come out an revealed that they plan to release “Hyrule Warriors” on the Wii U this summer.
Obviously “Nintendo” will be publishing and distributing the game here in the West but, at this point in time, we’ve been given no word to when exactly that will be so, for now we’ll just have to be happy knowing that it WILL be hitting the West eventually.
Just in case you’ve forgetting all about this game, I’ve posted the teaser trailer for it in our featured video section below so head down there to check it out and make sure you hit up our comments section to let us know what you think.
“Sony Computer Entertainment” today released another trailer for their upcoming PlayStation Vita exclusive game “Freedom Wars“. This brand-new trailer gives audiences another huge look at the gameplay style of the game while also showing off its graphics, soundtrack and co-operative elements.
The video has players go up against a “Dive Punishment Abductor” titled “Koushin”, a creature featured in the game. “Freedom Wars” is set to hit Japan on the 26th of June with a Western release later on in the year. Head down to the featured video section below to check out the new trailer and don’t forget to hit up our comments section to let us know what you think of the game.
EA Mobile is celebrating 100 million The Sims FreePlay downloads in style with a major content update. The “Saddle Up” update features the surfing hobby, a new area in the beach, a surf van, and the equestrian themed content. Sims will now be able to raise six different breeds of horses in the new Rustic Stable. They can participate in the Show Tricks and Vaulting hobbies with their new horses and potentially unlock the Unicorn by earning all Show Jumping ribbons.
Iceberg Interactive (Dark Matter) and Darkling Room are taking the impressive step of developing three follow up games to The Lost Crown at the same time. The first of the three titles is The Last Crown: Blackenrock, which will be takes place in between The Lost Crown and the previously announce The Last Crown: Haunting of Hallowed Isle.The Last Crown: Blackenrock will be released later this year. Darkling Room plans on capping off the horror series with The First Crown.
All three new Crown games are being developed for a Steam release. In the mean time, Darkling Room is currently working on preparing The Lost Crown for a Steam release. For more information on The Last Crown: Blackenrock, be sure to check out the official site.
Gone are the days of generic superhero stories! Now, in 2014, we’ve gotten to a point in time where superheroes aren’t as one dimensional as they used to be and I personally think it’s a great place to be creatively-speaking. Over the past few years the superhero movie craze has exploded with the release of countless “Marvel” and “DC” films to the delight of audiences around the world. Hero stories have evolved to the point where it’s no longer JUST about saving lives while living two of your own, no this genre has grown to be much more than that.
Nowadays audiences are more interested with “realistic” superhero stories. Ones that show the pain of coming to terms with a heroic role or the devastation that comes with not being able to save everybody. This is the new age of superhero stories. “Zetman” happens to be an anime series (based on the original manga by Masakazu Katsura) that fits into this new age of superhero stories perfectly. It revolves around two young men, both leading their own lives but both of which share the same goals; to protect this world. Dealing with the themes of loss, anger and coming to terms with the lives they’re thrown into, “Zetman” truly does belong in this new hero age. (Read Travis Bruno’s review of the series by Clicking Here)
Story
The one thing you have to know about the “Zetman” series is that it’s based off of a manga that has been running since 2002 and is ongoing at this point in time. The series is a total of 13 episodes so before even watching this anime it’s obvious that it is going to be somewhat rushed. Unfortunately it doesn’t pay off well for “Zetman” but we’ll get to that soon enough. The series follows the stories of two young boys growing up in a world crawling with dangerous monsters disguised as humans. These monsters (called “players”) were developed long ago to fight in underground arenas for the sake of entertainment. The rich would watch these human-turned-creatures fight to the death.
They’d gamble, they’d eat, they’d drink and they’d have a pretty good time doing it too until these “Players” decide that enough is enough and rebel…which is exactly what happened. Cut to many years later and we’re introduced to Jin; a young, homeless boy living with his grandfather Gorou. Little Jin, along with his friend Kouga, would fight crime on the streets of this unnamed city. While Jin would ask for money to save people, Kouga felt that it was immoral and would fight simply for “justice”. One fateful day, Jin’s grandfather is murdered by a cereal killer who’s been causing some serious trouble around town. After certain events transpire, Jin confronts this “person” who turns out to be, yep you guessed it; a “player” disguised as a human. Transforming (“regressing” as they call it in the series), the murderer attacks Jin but this kid isn’t normal, he’s something different, something on a whole other level.
Jin kills the “player” with his natural strength and this is where the series truly kicks off. Many years later, Jin is now a teenager and lives with the woman who took care of him after his grandfather died. After coming into contact with another “player”, years after his first kill, Jin transforms into what we soon come to know as “Zetman”. Jin’s life then begins spiraling into obscurity as he finds out more about his past and continues to battle the evil forces know as the “players”. Now I’ll stop there, not only because I’ve already written enough about the story but because to tell you anymore will most likely take away from the twists and turns of the series. “Zetman” is written VERY well though it is majorly rushed so you don’t always get the full picture. I feel as though some storylines are cut short due to the crippling episode limit but, for the most part, you do get a chance to enjoy every small arc as they play out.
What I loved the most about “Zetman” was the way the stories of Jin and Kouga intersect with each other: For most of the series we’re shown these two men individually living their own lives and walking separate paths, both of which are leading to the same place but we don’t know that until a little later. The comparison and contrast between the two main characters is brilliant and it’s shown in the series in a way that isn’t too obvious but isn’t too vague, there’s a nice balance to it. The series falls victim to something quite typical of short series’; the first few episodes are great and the last few episodes are brilliant but the ones in between are lackluster and I blame it on the 13 episode restriction. Had they been given more screen time to work with, I guarantee this series would have turned out so much better.
Visuals
Despite the fact that “Zetman” was only made two years ago, I still found it to be kind of rough around the edges when it comes to the animation quality. Artistically-speaking, the series looked brilliant! It had a gritty and rough style that focused on the use of over-exaggerated facial expressions to convey true emotion to a degree in which I don’t believe I’ve ever seen before, the only unfortunate thing about the series is that it’s animation quality wasn’t the best, as mentioned above. There were times when you saw a definite bump in the quality but those times were few and far between, and often easy to miss. What I found myself reveling in most of the time was how well-designed the characters were.
Not just the monstrous “players” but even just the regular human characters had an air of “realness” to them. “Zetman” (the series) looked like an artistic fusion of “Tiger & Bunny” and the “Shin Megami Tensei” series. Jin and Kouga definitely shared characteristics with Kotetsu and Barnaby (Tiger & Bunny), and “Zetman” absolutely looked like a demon you’d come across in any “Shin Megami Tensei” title. Luckily for me I happen to enjoy both those series’ so i absolutely loved the style of “Zetman”…if only the animation was good enough to do it justice.
Audio
This is where I believed the anime really fell flat. “Madman Entertainment” has given viewers the option to watch the series in both it’s original Japanese form or in it’s English dub form but it seems as though the English cast really lets the series down due to their sub-par acting. It was only near the very end of the series did you truly get a feel for just how talented these actors and actresses really are, most of the series they were forced to recite mediocre dialogue and, honestly, it didn’t seems as though they did the best they could’ve even with what they were given.
Characters seemed…bored. Half the time the voice actors couldn’t even scream or show true emotion though there were pockets of the series that showed some of what it was I was looking for. The soundtrack, for me, wasn’t memorable at all. I found the opening theme song to be quite annoying and the closing theme song to be just out of place. I wasn’t impressed at all when it come to the soundtrack, not until the very last scene of the series where it really made an impact on me. Had it made me feel that way throughout the whole thing, then I would’ve been more impressed.
Extras
The “Zetman” series collection come with nothing but the bare bones of any anime release: Clean opening and closing sequences, and a series trailer. I was quite disappointing; the series has such a great artistic style so it would have been nice to see some more artwork from the development stage but instead we got nothing. The on thing close to that was the flip side of the cover sleeve which had a nice image of the main cast.
Overall
I actually really enjoyed this series but that was only because I chose to put a great deal of focus into theorizing and speculating about the story in regards to all the different pieces of information that weren’t provided through. The voice acting and lack of memorable music did put a real dampen on the experience but at least the art style was good enough to keep me around. The animation quality isn’t the best and the story is rushed so, even when it comes to the things I did like about the series, some aspects of them did bum me out a bit. I’m not sure how close to the source material this anime is but I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt and say that fans of the manga will enjoy the anime. I think if you have an open mind about what anime titles you watch and you don’t mind sitting through some cringe-worthy dialogue than this may just be the series for you.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Well it was bound to happen eventually. Hell, I’m surprised it didn’t happen sooner. With all her talk of victory and the joy of crushing people’s wishes, Akira finally managed to push Ruko too far. With last episode‘s promise of battle, it’s time to see if anyone can manage to push past Akira’s mind games and best the crazed model in battle.
When you get right down to it, Ruko is actually the perfect Selector to bring Akira down. Due to her having only recently entered the fray, Ruko is not considered a true threat to those who have been at it for a while now. Of course underestimating your opponent is never a wise thing to do and Akira’s resulting surprise from Ruko’s natural talent serve to throw her off her game a little. Plus it probably didn’t help that her own LRIG pointed out the Ruko was gifted. Breaking into her usual response of revenge, Akira decides to shatter Ruko’s resolve by destroying her cards, as she has done with every opponent in the past. However, unlike in the past, Akira makes a mistake and fails to guess Ruko’s cards correctly. Boy is that satisfying. Having seen Akira gloat about her WIXOSS talent since her introduction, it was an auspicious moment to see an opponent she couldn’t predict. This also revealed that, despite apparently following textbook moves, Ruko has added her own flair to her moves.
The enemy of my enemy, may be my enemy still
With her attempts to crush her in battle failing one after another, Akira decides to use her ace in the hole: wish reading. But from the moment the battle began we knew this would happen and we knew how it would end. As has been made so obvious throughout the series, Ruko has no wish, ergo Piruluk has nothing to read. Though this fact once again causes Ruko to think about her desires, the revelation that her opponent has no wish hits Akira hard. Having already emerged victorious in a number of battles, Akira is no closer to her dream, so the fact that someone with no end goal would stand in her way enrages her. Thus Akira joins the growing cast of characters who despise Ruko’s love of battle and fear the fact that they cannot fathom what she is thinking. If Ruko’s memories are true, her mother even left because she was afraid of her daughter. Which is depressing beyond all belief. It also makes you wonder about our cute little protagonist. Though she comes off as sweet and innocent, the enjoyment she finds in battle is entirely contradictory to this. To the point that it even frightens her. It’s a pretty dark concept.
In an effort to kick her while she’s down, the episode continues to follow Akira after her absolute defeat at the hands of Ruko. It is during a run in with Iona that we receive yet another indication of Akira’s villainy, as well as an explanation of a flashback from the last episode. Remember when we saw Iona battling that unidentified sick girl? That was only her second loss, which means that there was still hope…enter Akira. Promising to lose in order to help the poor girl, Akira goes back on her word and claimed victory for herself. So…Akira killed someone. As if we already didn’t like her. I mean sure, I understand that we’re supposed to feel some empathy for the girl, but she’s just so…evil. She’s so caught up in making her dream of destroying Iona come true, that she’s willing to ruin her own life in the process. Which is a good thin I suppose because that’s exactly what she’s doing. Though now that she’s most likely lost her third and final battle, who knows what’ll happen to her now. What is the tainted form of wishing suffering upon someone? Bad…I’m guessing it’ll be bad.
Tears shed for friends forgotten…
Not to be left out of the loop, the episode also spends some time focusing on Ruko’s long suffering friends. As Hitoe struggles with a pain she cannot truly comprehend, we see that she does possess some latent memories of her friends. However her loss continues to play catchup and erases any clues that could reawaken her stolen thoughts. As horrible as this is for Hitoe however, we also see the impact that this sudden personality change has on Hitoe’s mother. Having seen her child laughing just the day before, Hitoe’s mother is understandably worried when her daughter returns home depressed and unwilling to talk. The scenes with Hitoe’s mother also reveal that, despite having no knowledge of the Selector world, she remembers Ruko and Yuzuki. Which means that only Hitoe’s mind was affected. So not only does the poor girl lose her friends, those around her slowly begin to worry as Hitoe constantly screams in pain when she comes close to remnants of her past. Though, in a moment that flies under the radar somewhat, Hitoe is still able to hold her mother without any ill effects. So that’s something…I guess. It’s still tragic though.
As with literally every Selector in this anime, Yuzuki is not exactly living the good life at the moment. Remaining distant from her beloved brother, she is surrounded by some “friendly” girls from school who wish to impart some helpful knowledge on the girl: stay away from Kazuki. You see, apparently every girl at this school is a horrible person. Perhaps you recall the chase sequence from episode 4? Each girl straight up declares that they couldn’t care less what happens to Yuzuki, they just don’t want her to interfere with Kazuki’s life. Like they have the right to say that. They claim that because she “stalks” her brother, there are a number of rumours going around regarding their relationship. Seriously? I mean, we know how she truly feels about her brother, but what kind of rumours go around this school? Does nobody understand the concept of siblings? Is it really that weird for them to spend time with each other? Man those girls are aggravating. All that considered, I have to give Yuzuki credit for just walking away as they spoke. A lesser person would’ve fought back…I would’ve fought back. Though she did take out her frustration on that new Selector…
Sometimes it’s all you can do…
Anyway, with her world crumbling around her, Ruko isn’t in the best shape at the moment. She has one friend who is lost forever, one who is trapped in a cycle of anger and depression, two enemies who have denounced her as horrid and blasphemous and a conscience that leads her to take all of these events to heart. Let’s face it, being a Selector sucks…
Check out more selector infected WIXOSS Impressions HERE.
I have fond memories of playing Unreal Tournament over a LAN in the old computer labs at school. Space jumps, one shot kills and user names aimed at mocking other students mothers. Well now that old school magic is back with Epic Games announcing an all new entry in the Unreal Tournament series. To make the announcement even better, the game will be free to play (and we mean that in the truest sense of the word as their will be no microtransactions) and have a completely open development cycle. Some of the top Unreal players are getting invovled with the games creation and all code produced for the game will be made publically available on Github for any Unreal Engine 4 user to utilise.
Virtual Reality fans will also be pleased to know the game will haveOcculus Riftsupport, so you can play your First Person Shooter in actual First Person. The game promises to be sticking to its old competitive FPS roots, with the game being developed for PC, MAC and Linux. You can check out the announcement below.
As Ekon, the player battles evil (and goofy) Octoids using a vast array of powerful weapons that include fan favorites Toxic Infector, SubZero Cannon, and the almighty Decompressor. Quick reflexes and special attention to loot drops are necessary at all times; they’re the quickest path to new weapons, ammo refills, and upgradable stats such as Reload Speed and Health Regen. Ekon the Cyborg ships with 34 levels and includes both Story and Survival modes unlocked from the start.
“We’re all hardcore gamers at Wicked Dog,” says Jeffrey Lim, producer at Wicked Dog Games. “With Ekon the Cyborg, we wanted to prove that mobile games don’t need to be ridiculously easy or cater to a casual audience in order to succeed. Ekon is a love letter to those early PlayStation games that wowed us with amazing (for the time!) flat-shaded polygon graphics and deviously challenging gameplay. Hope you enjoy mowing down Octoids as much as we enjoyed creating them :)”
Key Features
Frenetic, action-packed twin-stick shooter built from the ground up for touch screens
Gorgeous 3D arenas inspired by the early PlayStation era
Two gameplay modes: Campaign and Survival
Wide variety of upgradable primary and secondary weapons
Special events (like falling bombs!) that can turn the tide in a matter of seconds
Tons of unique enemy types
Awesome boss fights
Leaderboards that let you immortalize your exploits!
Wicked Dog Games was founded in 2011 in sunny Singapore by talented developers who fondly remember Street Fighter 2: The World Warrior, Super Nintendo games, and 1990s isometric RPGs on PC. The studio is laser-focused on mobile with a classic console gaming sensibility. For more information on Wicked Dog Games, visit http://www.wickeddoggames.com/
Infrequent/Mild Alcohol, Tobacco, or Drug Use or References
Frequent/Intense Cartoon or Fantasy Violence
Compatibility: Requires iOS 5.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. This app is optimized for iPhone 5.
Description
Go on an epic fantasy adventure – one puzzle at a time! Play a puzzle to battle monsters, find treasure, and collect items for your hero. Help rebuild the Kingdom of Puzzelot, and defend it from dragons and other legendary beasts!
QUICK AND SIMPLE TO PLAY! Swipe to match 3 swords to battle monsters or match 3 shields to defend your hero.
CREATE YOUR OWN HERO! Find and collect hundreds of unique items to customize and improve your hero.
BEGIN YOUR ADVENTURE! Brave 50+ levels filled with dangerous monsters and rare treasures.
· Knights of Puzzelot combines a match-3 puzzle with a colorful fantasy RPG that’s free to play.
· Exciting turn-based puzzle play that’s easy to learn, challenging to master.
· Defeat monsters in puzzle-combat: magic weapons, whirlwinds, and fireballs change the puzzle as you play.
· Hundreds of unique items: find or craft matching sets for powerful bonuses, and make the ultimate knight!
· 50+ levels of puzzle adventure with unique monsters and treasures. Find new treasures in old levels to collect even more!
· Build and upgrade the town with blacksmiths, training dojo, merchant and more to aid in your quest.
*** Knights of Puzzelot is free to play. Players can purchase additional coins or gems for real money, or earn them through special offers. Please adjust your device settings if you wish to disable the ability to purchase in-game content ***
Strike It Rich in 1849 Gold Rush Sim, Released Today for PC, Mac, iPad, & Android Tablets
City management game from indie developer SomaSim can be downloaded from Steam, GOG, App Store, Google Play, and other online stores
SAN FRANCISCO – May 8, 2014 – The year is 1849, and gold has just been discovered in Northern California! Grab a pickaxe and claim your fortune in SomaSim’s new game 1849, a bustling Gold Rush sim reminiscent of city management classics like SimCity and Caesar III. Following an early access beta release and acceptance by Steam Greenlight, the final version of 1849 is now available worldwide for download on PC, Mac, iPad, and Android tablets (see below for links).
Set during an unparalleled period of American history, 1849 features 20 levels set in existing California cities brought to life with graphics inspired by period photographs and surviving architecture. In each level, players must establish and grow the local economy while balancing citizens’ needs against the backdrop of real Gold Rush scenarios and challenges. Should Sacramento be a mining town, a farming community, or a hub for trade? Will the pioneers flocking into Monterey become productive prospectors or devolve into unruly drunks at the local saloon? That’s your call!
In both versions, the gameplay has been tuned to accommodate brief play sessions or longer marathons, with no in-app purchases or incremental charges to mar the experience.
“Over the last few years casual city management games have gained popularity, but they’re nothing like the in-depth simulation games that defined the genre back in the day. Those were games I could lose myself in for hours, building a massive empire out of nothing. We’ve tried to bring back this gameplay and experience in 1849,” says developer Robert Zubek. “It’s a game tuned for today’s technology and players — the scenarios are designed so you can play for a few minutes on the bus if that’s all the time you have, or spend hours building a huge bustling city. At its heart 1849 is a classic city management game with all the bells and whistles that make this genre so much fun.”
SomaSim is a San Francisco-based studio founded in 2013 to create simulation games for modern devices and audiences. Their first game is the Gold Rush-themed 1849, which released for PC, Mac, iPad, and Android tablets in May 2014. Lead developer Robert Zubek has previously worked at EA, Three Rings Design, and most recently Zynga, where he was a founding team member on both CityVille and Farmville 2. Writer and art director Matthew Viglione comes from a publishing background and has over ten years of graphic design and communications experience. Together they designed 1849 to recapture the magic of the simulation games they loved to play growing up. Learn more at http://somasim.com.
