You may remember a game from a few years ago called Ciel no Surge where players had to help the amnesiac girl Ion. Well that game received a sequel of sorts called Ar no Surge for the PlayStation 3 and while neither of these games were ever given a chance in the West, it seems like Tecmo Koei and Gust are not done with the series yet. Today it has been revealed in Famitsu magazine, courtesy of Hokanko, that Gust is creating an enhanced version of Ar no Surge for release on the PS Vita called Ar no Surge Plus.
Ar no Surge Plus, a reworked version of the game that includes new costumes and Vita touch features, is going to be released on October 2nd in Japan alongside an offline version of Ciel no Surge that has supposedly been reprogrammed from scratch. Will this happen? Well Tecmo Koei Europe seems interested according to the Tweet below, so make sure to let them know.
“@Sterkenburg0: @tecmokoeieurope Is there any hope left for Ciel nosurge and Ar nosurge?” — How many of our #TKfamily wishes for this one?
— KOEI TECMO EUROPE (@koeitecmoeurope) May 23, 2014
Atlus has just published Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth in Japan and it looks like they are already about to announce a new game. A teaser site simply called ‘This is not Broccoli‘ has been created by Atlus and the page consists of a gigantic tree that players must click a button to climb up.
As they climb a few colored orbs appear and once you reach the 10,000 meter mark the orbs form 2DX and the words Coming Soon appear under said orbs. Thanks to the font choices as well as the tree theme, it is evident that Atlus is probably teasing a new Etrian Odyssey game and going from the orbs, it might be a remake of the second game in the series, Etrian Odyssey II: Heroes of Lagaard. So we can likely expect the announcement of Etrian Odyssey 2DX sometime in the future.
Bandai Namco have revealed some very exciting news about its latest Ultimate Ninja game, Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution. First off, a demo will be available across Japan and Europe from July 2nd and will be available to play until July 23rd. The demo will feature 6 playable characters with two modes. One is an offline arcade mode and the other, for the first time in a Naruto game demo is a full online versus mode! So far we know who 4 of the 6 playable characters will be, including Tailed Beast Mode Naruto, Sasuke, Kakashi and Mecha Naruto. The demo appears to be coming to all three release platforms which are the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC.
That wasn’t all the big news announced today though. Obito Uchiha will be making his debut appearance as a playable character and will be sporting the Juubi as his true awakening. Not only that, but he will have a unique team ultimate jutsu with Madara which involves the Jubii effectively nuking the battlefield. You can check out the new screenshots below to see him in action. Obito joins the huge list of new characters joining the game including Konohamaru and Naruto’s old sensei Iruka. The full game releases on September 11th. Let us know if you’ll be grabbing the demo and check back with us for our impressions when it becomes available.
Today some new screenshots for Dragon Ball: Xenoverse were released by Bandai Namco and in it we see both Future Trunks and a Mysterious Warrior who Bandai Namco describes as someone from the Future. In these screenshots we see what looks like two on two battles and it is worth noting that the way that Trunks is being shown is the exact same as how he looked in the ‘Dragon Ball Online’ MMO as Time Patrol Trunks.
Considering Dragon Ball: Xenoverse will allow the player to fight through multiple famous battles in the series’ history, and it looks like the mystery fighter is wearing various articles of clothing from other warriors, it seems players will be traveling back in time, though why they must is still a mystery.
You probably know that Freddie Prinze Jr. handled the voice work for James Vega in Mass Effect 3, but you might not know that it was his first time doing voice work for a video game. Well now he is back for a second time with BioWare and EA‘s Dragon Age: Inquisition and this time around he is voicing the Iron Bull, a powerful mercenary Qunari.
As such, you can check out a video below where Freddie Prinze Jr. talks about how he enjoys voicing video game characters and also talks a bit about Iron Bull, as well as some additional gameplay footage.
While we were shown some additional gameplay footage of Hyrule Warriors during E3, since then Nintendo and Tecmo Koei have released new gameplay footage focusing on the weapons the player will be able to use in the game and both of these trailers focus on Link’s weaponry.
There is the simpler looking sword using link video and the more elaborate looking Fire Rod that has some really fancy looking abilities and both of them can be found below. Hopefully in the next few videos we’ll see how Midna, Zelda, or the other playable characters will look in the game. Until them Hyrule Warriors is set to be released later this year exclusively for the Wii U.
While Civilization Revolution might have been a simpler version of the Civilization series, it had plenty of fans on consoles as well as an eventual release on mobile phones. Well today we have some news for fans of that game, but it might not be news you’ll be excited to hear.
You see, Civilization Revolution 2 has been announced by 2K Games but they are not going to be releasing it to consoles, instead it is only coming out to iOS and Android. The iOS version of the game which will be compatible with iPhone 4S+, iPad 2+, iPad Mini 1+, and iPod Touch 5 is set to be released on July 2nd while the Android version is “coming soon.” It is worth noting that Civilization: Beyond Earth is still in development and is set for a PC release later this year.
Blue Estate is coming out this week, with the US PSN version coming out on Tuesday and the EU PSN version coming out on Wednesday.
Blue Estate, the upcoming darkly funny rail shooter developed by HESAW and published by Focus Home Interactive, the publishers of Bound By Flame, is set for a release this week for the PS4. The game is based on the Blue Estate comic books by Viktor Kalvachev. Players will navigate the game as Tony Luciano, the homicidal son of LA’s crime boss Don Luciano, and Clarence, an ex-navy seal who’s sole objective is to clean up the mess Tony creates. Tony wages war with the Sik gang in order to rescue his “Helen of Troy”, while Clarence has to try to end the war.
The title will be out this week, as stated earlier, and PSN+ subscribers will enjoy a 20% discount that was made just for them! Below you will find a trailer on Tony Luciano and the wide variety of features that players will have on the new PS4 controllers.
We are but days away from the release of Transformers: Age of Extinction and as if excitement didn’t already fill the air, the guys over at Paramount Pictures have given us one last clip from the film, as well as two character-centered featurettes. The trailer, titled “Maybe it should be,” shows Mark Wahlberg being an over protective father. Check it out:
As if that wasn’t enough, we also have two character featurettes for you to check out. The featurettes focus on Jack Reynor’s Shane and Wahlberg’s Cade. Actions speak louder than words so check out those bad boys below:
Meet Shane:
And now Meet Cade:
So there we have it. WHat will likely be the last little bits of promotional footage shared before Age of Extinction hits cinemas this Wednesday, June 25th. So as always, make sure you stay tuned to Capsule Computers for all the news about the robots in disguise as it becomes available.
Overview When an anime is created to help promote a game, it can range become something memorable, even anime based around card games. Sometimes these series stand out on their own; other times they are simply an advertisement used to advertise a game. The case of Leviathan – The Last Defense is a bit unique however as the game it is based off of was a digital iOS game by GREE in Japan that actually was released as the anime aired. As such, is Leviathan – The Last Defense more than promotional material?
Story The world of Aquafall has been a prosperous land where fairies, dragons, dragon-girls, and other magic beings have thrived for years. When meteorites begin falling on the world, strange creatures called Lucasites began pouring out of them with a mindless intent to destroy anything they come across. However in the town of Haruna, very few are preoccupied with the thought of this danger, choosing to send scouts out to investigate, and most of the residents continue to live out a peaceful life.
A girl named Leviathan is one of the few affected by this threat as her beloved older brother left one day and has never returned, though his spear appeared reappeared and is now her only memento. While out practicing her water magic, Leviathan accidentally blasts a fairy named Syrup out of the sky and the tiny fairy takes it as fate. You see, Syrup is trying to rally forces to fight against the threat the world is now facing by organizing an Aquafall Defense Force and thanks to Leviathan’s magic powers, she seems like a great fit.
When the incredibly strong and athletic Jörmungand and pampered but skilled with fire Bahamut also meet with Syrup, the group is assembled. Or so it would seem, but the story of Leviathan – The Last Defense is about as heavy as a feather. The first few episodes of the series serve as a way to introduce viewers to each of the three girls as they go about their days generally ignoring what Syrup says and any effort in actively trying to fight against the Lucasites.
In fact the first actual battle they intentionally fight against these creatures is attempting to retrieve Jörmungand’s battle axe from inside of a swamp dragon’s stomach. For some time after that every fight is mostly a matter of circumstance as the girls encounter a creature while trying to do something else instead, such as have a barbecue on a beach.
There are some moments that the story takes a bit of a serious tone, but Leviathan – The Last Defense never becomes anywhere near as dramatic as it may look. A cave-in with trapped family members may seem as serious as it can get in a show like this, but even then the tension is sapped away from the cutesy attitude of Syrup and the dimwitted nature of the other girls as the danger becomes an afterthought and success is always a given.
It is interesting that the fairy of the show is called Syrup mainly because that is the best way to define Leviathan – The Last Defense, since it is a show that is sugary sweet with little consistency but just enough to keep some form of a premise held together by adorable, albeit one note, characters. These characters are what make the show worth watching for those who want something simple to enjoy as the plot is far from the best aspect, though a few RPG style elements used later on are a nice little touch.
By the end of the series, Leviathan – The Last Defense does find itself with a very simple resolution, which is more than one generally gets for a series based off a game, but it still is lackluster considering the problem with the Lucasites is far from over and as the girls learn, the danger they pose to the world is a reality that needs to be faced, even if there are plenty of threads left hanging when the credits roll.
As mentioned each of the characters in the series are overly cute with Leviathan being a quiet and solemn girl who loves barley tea and her missing brother, Syrup, the happy go lucky fairy with a bottomless pit for a stomach, Bahamut, the pampered princess who is always having tantrums about the girls’ situations, and the energetic Jörmungand who is ready for anything. Bahamut and Leviathan go through a few small developments in the show but nothing ever goes deep or dark in this light-hearted fluffy series.
Visuals This is a series that thrives on color and moe girls being one of the selling points of the show and Leviathan – The Last Defense pulls that off quite well. The environments that the girls travel through vary decently enough and have some detail, but the highlights are the girls themselves as they are all designed to ooze cuteness at every turn. Of course this does bring with it some problems with odd looking limbs and it is pretty clear from the onset that the show had a low budget and the animation mirrors that fact. The cute aspect of the show also helps eliminate any concern for overt fan-service since, despite there being a beach and hot spring episode, the girls always have scale underwear that randomly appears and disappears depending on their clothing.
There are also magical girl style transformation sequences for each of the three girls as they assume their more powerful dragon-girl forms and these are presented nicely, although they seem to be used to pad an episode’s length at times. It is worth noting that Gonzo has used a decent amount of 3D CG for the series as every Lucacite creature is presented in this form, as well as the larger dragons, making them look incredibly out of place, and at times even the girls are shown in 3D CG while fighting the creatures.
Audio It is worth noting that Leviathan – The Last Defense has been released with English subtitles accompanying the original Japanese voice track. This isn’t much of an issue however as the voice work from the Japanese voice actresses work well for the series and fit fantastically with the cute character designs.
The background music throughout the series is fairly simple and airy which fits the series, but also makes it forgettable at times. That being said, the opening theme “Hajimari no Resolution” by Yuki Kanno is a very impressive sounding opening theme that tries to present the show as a more serious series than it really is. The closing theme, “Truly,” by PASSPO☆, is a fairly standard ending theme for a fantasy series such as this.
Extras Leviathan – The Last Defense: Complete Collection is a very bare bones release as far as special features are concerned. The only bonus content on the disc are clean versions of the opening theme and ending theme as well as trailers for a few other Sentai Filmworks releases.
Overall Leviathan – The Last Defense is a cute light-hearted story that provides some nice brainless entertainment. It asks very little of its viewer and provides a good time all around with nice doses of comedy and just enough story to hold itself together. Unfortunately this isn’t enough to really make it stand out in anyway but those looking for an airy series to simply enjoy will probably find Leviathan – The Last Defense to their liking.
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