Titan Comics have just released a brand-new trailer for their upcoming comic collection “A1: The Weirding Willows“. This new comic collection follows the story of Alice, a character you may all know from the story of “Alice In Wonderland”. Well, she’s older now and since the time back when she was a child, she’s discovered many new worlds and made many new friends but maleficent forces have begun traveling through those same portals and it’s now up to her to stop them from destroying the world she loves.
When she was nine, Alice discovered a portal to another world… a world
called Wonderland!
But Wonderland isn’t the only world connected to the Wild Woods, a
dimensional nexus that Alice spent her childhood exploring. It’s a
strange, magical place where Earth, Wonderland, OZ, Neverland, Mars,
Pellucidar and Elysium collide – and where anything can happen!
From talking rabbits to winged monkeys, from Frankenstein’s Monster to
a rampaging purple T-rex, from a kidnapped Mowgli to a werewolf with a
deadly secret – there’s never a quiet day!
Now a young woman, Alice and her amazing friends are all that stand
between the gateways in the Weir – and those who would exploit them.
This astounding first collected edition includes a brand-new chapter,
exclusive to this volume.
Step into the Weirding Willows… and be transported to worlds beyond
your imagination
Writer Dave Elliott alongside his small team of comic book experts – made up of Barnaby Bagenda, Sami Basri, Sakti Yuwono, Jessica Kholinne and Gloria Caeli – are the talented people who have revived the story of “Alice In Wonderland” in ways you couldn’t even imagine. The A1: The Weirding Willows trailer released by Titan Comics is available to watch in our featured video section below so head down there now to check it out and don’t forget to hit up our comments section to let us know what you think. The Weirding Willows Volume One is set for a release on the 1st of July which is only just around the corner so keep your eyes on the this site and on Titan Comics for when that comes about. For now, enjoy the trailer!
Magicite is a rogue like platformer that mixes elements of exploration and survival. Developer SmashGames drew inspiration from Monster Hunter and Spelunky to create a merciless platformer that will challenge players. The game recently left Steam’s Early Access program, but is still being actively updated thanks to funds raised through Kickstarter.
Story
Magicite does not have a story. However, the townsfolk in between levels do have a few things to say. That little bit of writing that contributes to a surprisingly light-hearted game, considering the unforgiving difficulty level.
Gameplay
Fans of Spelunky will be right at home. Magicite draws from Spelunky’s merciless platforming chops and mixes it with a survival system popularized by Minecraft and throws in a dash of RPG gameplay mechanics for good measure. Players will kick off the game by creating their character. At the start, players will have extremely limited customization choices. Besides a few cosmetic choices, players can only roll random stats and two random traits. After a few solid runs, more customization options will be unlocked. New races, hats, and companions will provide some extra bonuses that will make the game a bit easier. Each race has a different set of starting equipment with some tweaked stats, hats impart special effects, and companions provide a passive bonus. There is enough variety that players will be able to create preferred builds for solo runs, group play, and so forth.
Once character creation is out of the way, players will be teleported to the forest biome with a few items based on their race. Each level is randomly generated, meaning success is based on a whole load of skill and a little bit of luck. At the end of each level, players will be presented with three possible biome choices that are randomly generated. Between the levels, players will visit a small town where they can purchase supplies, sell unneeded items, and craft equipment. As they level up, they will gain more stats and have access to three branches of skills: melee, magic, and ranged. Characters are able to wield up to three skills, and all three are assigned randomly from a pool. Magic seems to be the toughest of the three paths, as finding the items to craft staffs is more challenging than melee weapons or arrows.
Players will need to harvest resources to manage hunger and craft tools while surviving against numerous traps and hostile creatures. Crafting is a relatively simple affair. Tools can be made by combining two other items together. The system is very simple and there are only a small handful of combinations to memorize as many are repeated with different grades of ore. Unlike similar crafting based games, it is not necessary to have a wiki page open on a second monitor to keep track of all the crafting recipes in Magicite. The equipped items are crafted with the help of NPCs in the towns between levels. The NPC-based recipes are equally simple, mixing a base material with different grades of ore. Overall, Magicite’s recipes are designed to emphasize smart resource management, whether alone or in groups, versus complex crafting systems. I find solo play to focus more on inventory management as there is a surplus of resources with limited inventory slots, while more teammates turns the balance towards spreading a very limited amount of resources among the group.
Magicite is a tough game. In this sense, it is clear that developer SmashGames took a page from Spelunky. Health pools are low and potions are scarce. Bringing friends can make things a little easier as downed players can be revived in group play. On the flip side, more people means managing knockback in combat is a little more difficult. Reviving friends triggers a three second timer which leaves the reviver vulnerable. Strangely enough, if the reviver dies during that cooldown, the revive will still go through. I am not completely sure if this is intentional or this is a glitch.
The controls in Magicite are strictly keyboard and mouse based. The keyboard is used for moving, while the mouse is used for interacting and aiming. The controls are tight and responsive, which is a must for a platformer this challenging. Personally, I am not a fan of the default bindings for the dash keys, but the keys are easily rebound.
Visuals
Magicite is deliciously retro with its own unique flair thanks to the square shaped characters and vibrant colours. The game’s darkened backgrounds help give that extra pop to Magicite’s colour palette. The game scales up to high resolutions very well and runs without any major hiccups.
Audio
Like its visuals, Magicite’s audio is retro inspired. Curiously, there is no menu music, but once the game kicks off, players are greeted with a solid chiptune soundtrack. Magicite’s sound effects would fit right at home on the SNES and other 16-bit systems.
Overall
Magicite is a fantastic game. It is challenging, chock full of replayability, and loads of fun. The audio and visuals are highly polished. The controls are extremely responsive and SmashGames expertly mixes survival, platforming, rogue-like, and RPG elements into one slick package. Magicite is a must play for co-op fans, platformer nuts, and anyone who likes a challenge.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
While NIS America has had an online store for quite a long time, they are now looking forward to expanding that store to Europe. Today it was announced that an NIS America Europe online store will be launching on July 1st. This means that gamers in Europe will now have the same opportunity to pick up various limited editions that were previously only avaialable in North America.
When the store launches there will be limited editions for the following four titles, one of which is a game that is being localized in North America by Atlus. The titles that will be available for pre-order are Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair, Disgaea 4: A Promise Revisited, Fairy Fencer F, and Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth.
Today it was announced that Studio Trigger will be debuting their Ninja Slayer animation during Anime Expo this year. For those that are unfamiliar with Studio Trigger or Ninja Slayer, Studio Trigger is best known for their most recent anime Kill la Kill as well as Little Witch Academia.
Ninja Slayer on the other hand is an American graphic novel that gained huge popularity in Japan. Originally written by Bradley Bond and Philip Morzez, Ninja Slayer was translated into Japanese and shared over Twitter where it became a cult hit that sold over 300,000 volumes of the graphic novel.
As such Studio Trigger will be showing off the world premiere of the first promotional trailer at the company’s panel discussion on July 3rd at 6PM where attendees will have a chance to get some free goodies and also buy some Ninja Slayer merchandise from the Good Smile Company’s booth.
You may remember that last month Viz Media picked up the license to not only the original Sailor Moon but also the brand new version of the series, Sailor Moon Crystal which is set to debut on July 5th in Japan. Well today Viz Media acknowledged that they will also be debuting the series on Neon Alley and Hulu the same day that it is available in Japan.
To go along with this announcement Viz Media has released an English subtitled version of the promo video released earlier this month and you can check that out below. Once the first episode debuts, following episodes will be shown, in subtitles of course, on the first and third Saturday of every month.
Entwined Developer:Pixelopus Publisher:Sony Computer Entertainment Platforms: PlayStation 4 (Reviewed), PlayStation 3, PS Vita Install Size: 1.8GB Release Date: June 10, 2014 Price: $11.95 – Available Here
Overview
Sony has really been waving the indie flag since their announcement of the PlayStation 4. Their emphasis on showcasing independent titles, however, stems further back; more specifically, once Journey by thatgamecompany became a huge success on the PlayStation 3, the proverbial light bulb switched on over their heads. Most recently, Pixelopus – a group of fresh, game design graduates – reaped the benefits of this push when their first title under the SCE Worldwide Studios umbrella, Entwined, was revealed and spotlighted during the PlayStation Media Briefing at E3 2014. And that same day, it was available on PSN for the PS4, with a PS3 and PS Vita release due next month (although it is a cross-buy title, which means PS4 purchasers will have access to all three versions).
Gameplay
“Forever apart, always together” Entwined is, at its core, about two souls – a bird and a fish – who are in love, and although they come from different “worlds”, journey to unite in every lifetime. You, as the player, control these soul-mates as they travel through a metaphysical space in order to find each other and fuse into a soaring dragon. The bird is controlled by the right thumb-stick, and is unable to pass into the left hand side of the screen. Mirroring this, the fish is governed by the left thumb-stick and is restricted to the left hand side of the screen. The goal of gameplay is to successfully guide these two characters through the corresponding “gates” as they approach. In ‘Story Mode’, there are nine ‘Lifetimes’ (stages) to play through, each ramping up in difficulty. Everything is colour coded to match the characters on-screen, easily signifying to the player the specific gates that must be passed and orbs that must be collected by each. The aforementioned orbs are placed in-between the sections of gates, and add to the two respective meters that, when filled, allows the player to initiate a bonding process by pressing ‘L1’ + ‘R1’ together.
There is almost a complete 180° arc of motion achievable with both, and when they meet at either the top or bottom of the screen, they glow green and are able to pass through green gates. The patterns of the gates get progressively more complex and difficult, with the speed of the advance increasing as well. Missing a gate brings your meter down a notch, but completing a stage on a continuous run sees the animals’ tails glow, and once they combine at the end, they will be transformed into the ‘Evolved Dragon’. Greeting the player at each level’s conclusion is an open area where they made fly freely, collecting orbs before enabled to sky-write until a bright light invites you to the next Lifetime. The ‘Story Mode’ presents a good challenge, especially as it wears on, but is ultimately short, able to be completed in under an hour. The true value and replay-ability of the game comes from its ‘Challenge Mode’, whereby players must survive without missing a maximum of three gates long enough to unlock the next arena. Leaderboards promote competition and, trust me, you’ll either be rage-quitting by the third stage, or spurred on that much more to go all the way. If you’re the latter type of person, expect to spend hours replaying after agonizing failures until you finally succeed.
Visuals & Audio
As mentioned, colour plays a huge role, not only tonally and in the aesthetic style of the game, but more integrally in its implementation as the prime form of player guidance. The golden fish and azure bird leave trails of light as they swim and fly through space, advancing head-long into their correlating gates. The backdrop of each Lifetime follows its own unique theme, reflected in all visual elements on-screen, and shifts as you progress, sometimes becoming somewhat of a distraction with its pulsing auroras. This is not a bad thing, but is instead a welcome facet that augments difficulty further. Starting off in a serene ‘Water’ level, swooshes and other apt sound effects can be heard, but there is no actual body of water visible. It is in this sense that the arenas, so to speak, are abstract representations of their given theme. Some are more overt and recognizable, such as the ‘Earth’ level, delving into defined caverns and decorated with floating rocks.
As you succeed in extending your chain, the luminous creatures grow even more bright, but in phases, not exponentially. As mentioned earlier, transforming into the ‘Evolved Dragon’ takes an extended period of successes, but with no written score to keep track of your chain, the game relies on visual and audio cues to depict when the bird and the fish are at their peak luminescence. It’s hard to identify the difference between this state, and the other steps leading up to it, but thankfully the only time it is of any importance is if you are hunting a special Trophy called ‘Resolution’ that requires you complete every level as the ‘Evolved Dragon’ – which has orange and blue accents – and not just an ordinary one. As you reach the point where you can merge, a prompt appears telling you to tap ‘L1’ and ‘R1’; the music picks up, everything gets faster and upon triumph, the two beings metamorphose into a majestic, emerald dragon. The area in which you are set free is a more solid manifestation of its related theme; i.e., the ‘Fire’ area housing a volcano-esque structure in the center with lava pits and cracked ground below, and clouds above that throw bolts of lightning. It’s actually quite a hellish landscape for such a chilled game now that I think about it!
Overall
Entwined is a beautiful, calming experience…until you decide to tackle Challenge Mode, that is. The gameplay is simple, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. Visually, the game is stunning, and the use of colour is both artistic, but also smart in regards to player guidance. For the same reason that people enjoyed Flower, gamers will surely appreciate the peace and serenity of flying around, skywriting with a rainbow emanating from your wings as the rare experience in gaming that it is, as opposed to all the violence and shooters we are marketed year-round. There are momentary lockups during play as the game connects and sends information to PSN, which may well be demonstrating this young studio’s inexperience on the technical side, but the only justifiable reason for hesitance to buy Entwined is the weight of its value. If Challenge Mode is not to your taste, as you get frustrated quite easily, then you aren’t going to get much more than 50-90 minutes out of Entwined on average. At $11.95, that’s something to consider, but also a point of consideration is the fact that it is a cross-buy title. I’d recommend you give into the halcyon aural atmosphere and hypnotic visuals, as the basic but addictive gameplay will end up calling you to return and attempt to top that leaderboard, regardless of how high it’ll raise your blood pressure.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Earlier this month Eleven Arts announced that they would be partnering with Starchild to bring K: Missing Kings over to the United States for screenings in theaters across the country and today the company has revealed exactly when and where those screenings will be held. The full list of what theaters the movie will be available at as well as options to buy tickets can be found here and while supplies last anyone with a ticket who attends a screening will be given an exclusive B4 sized movie program.
The company also announced that the premiere of the film at Los Angeles’s Downtown Independent will feature a special guest appearance by the voice actor Masakazu Morita, who voices Yukari Mishakuji in the movie, and the movie’s producer, Go Nakanishi. A special Q & A session will also be held with these two after the show is over where fans will be able to ask these two questions. The original anime series, K, is licensed in North America by Viz Media and it will be interesting to see if the company will eventually pick up K: Missing Kings for release as well.
Today MangaGamer had some news for fans of Lilith’s games, or tentacles in general I suppose, as they have announced the release date for Armored Warrior Iris for the PC. Now it is worth noting right off the bat here that this game is Adults Only and is only meant for people 18 and over and this one in particular looks to be very hardcore. Anyways the game will be available for download on July 18th and you can pre-order the title here(18+ Only) for $24.95.
The setting for Armored Warrior Iris sees the player playing as Iris Rebel, a once feared Armored Warrior that has been sold into slavery after losing on the battlefield and it also looks like her partner, Mei Li, will also be forced into the same situation. Because of this situation she now has to service customers of all kinds, ranging from former comrades to various aliens and worse. Armored Warrior Iris appears to be a nukige and it will have multiple endings and tons of hardcore scenes that offer over 200 different CGs and numerous “h-scenes.”
Overview While many anime are action packed tales, romantic comedies with girls everywhere, dark twisting tales, mysteries full of twists, or simple fun for kids, there are also anime series that try to focus on a story of a different nature. Such was the case with Spice and Wolf, a series that focused on a man and a wolf deity with a heavy emphasis on economics. Now while Spice and Wolf focused on microeconomics, Maoyū Maō Yūsha, or simply called Maoyu in the West, is a series of a hero and a demon king but this time focused on macroeconomics. The question is, does Maoyu tell a story worth following?
Story Humanity has been battling a long and bloody war against the demons with no clear victor in sight. Because of this never ending cycle of death, the humans have sent forth their Hero and his compatriots to drive into the heart of the Demon Realm and put an end to the Demon King. Not wanting to bring his allies into danger, Hero leaves one night and strikes out towards the Demon King’s castle like an arrow, ready for blood.
When he arrives at the castle, he is surprised to find that this Demon King is actually a Demon Queen and despite the fact that these two should be tearing each other apart, Demon Queen cordially welcomes him to her castle and declares her love for him, hoping that the two can work together rather than fight. Although Hero is unsure of her motivations, he soon learns that the that this war has went on for so long is due to how beneficial it is to both humans and demons, with each side not really wanting a true end to the war.
As such he relents to work alongside her, to see what lies beyond the war in a world where victory and defeat do not exist, but peace reigns. Taking the guise of a human called Crimson Scholar, Demon Queen and Hero hope to start influencing the world by tackling a number of issues on the human side of things, such as lack of food, low education levels, and dependency on war funds to stay alive. If it wasn’t clear already, Maoyu is far from your standard fantasy anime and it is one that will give viewers something to think about as they watch the series.
Now before we move on, it is worth noting that all of the characters in the story are actually named after their position, Hero is called Hero, Demon Queen is called Demon King or Crimson Scholar, and other characters such as Merchant, Big Sister Maid, Female Knight, etc. are all called as such. Speaking of those characters, that is another major part of Maoyu, the fact that although the overarching story follows the plans of Demon Queen and Hero, it takes time to focus on the side characters as well.
While a lot of characters grow under the tutelage of Crimson Scholar and then use their knowledge to help advance the world, no one’s rise in position compares to the story of Big Sister Maid and how she goes from being a serf who can do nothing but take orders and run from everything to a woman full of conviction in what it takes to be human. This all comes to a head during a poignant speech delivered at a pivotal point in the series that stays will stay with viewers long after they have finished watching the series.
It is interesting to note that although there is a decent amount of action to be seen, the focus on a world full of magic, armored cavalry, and medieval weaponry is on developing said world instead of harming it. This means that although the series takes breaks here and there to create a budding romance between Demon Queen and Hero as well as establish Female Knight as a rival/co-lover, there are plenty of times where the story will involve political maneuvering, economic warfare, tariffs, insider trading, and more.
Things can get a bit too slow at times but those who are interesting in a slow but well told story such as this will be delighted in seeing Demon Queen’s plans come to fruition. Unfortunately because of the slow pace of the story and how grand the scheme is, a lot of things go unsaid and this becomes an issue later in the series when numerous developments occur one after another, likely in hopes of driving a second season, but feel leaves viewers feeling a bit let down as it feels like we are only getting half of the story here, especially since some major points are either gleaned over or simply left to be developed later on, which may never come.
Visuals Maoyu is a series that has some very unusual looking artwork at times thanks to the way that the backgrounds and environments in the series are handled. The backgrounds have a unique textured look to them as if done with watercolors or something similar which gives the series an outstanding backdrop to place the more standard looking characters up against.
Considering the series is stylized after a medieval European setting, most of the architecture and clothing resembles such a timeframe with a fair amount of detail put into each aspect while the characters themselves are standard fair, though Demon Queen and Female Knight will probably be many viewers’ favorite characters. It is worth noting though that any time the series uses CG for large group shots, the CG is atrocious looking which makes the thankful that they aren’t used often.
Audio It is unfortunate that Sentai Filmworks did not give Maoyu an English voice cast as it would likely have made some of the more complicated aspects of the series easier to tackle for those unfamiliar with the material or handling such a dialogue heavy series such as this. That being said, the voice work by the Japanese cast is handled very nicely with the Demon Queen, Female Knight and Female Mage’s personalities standing out the most.
The background music for the series is fitting enough at times but does little to stand out, though it is worth noting that the opening theme “Mukaikaze” from Yohko is an underrated gem while the closing theme “Unknown Vision” by Akino Arai is a suitable closing theme with a fairy tale-like tone.
Extras For Maoyu: Complete Collection’s release there are only a few bonus features on the disc and many of them are fairly standard. There are Japanese commercials, previews, and Blu-ray spots to advertise the show, a clip advertising the social card game made from Maoyu in Japan, a clean version of the amazing opening theme as well as the simpler ending theme, disc credits, and trailers for other Sentai Filmworks anime.
Overall The series seemed to pass under the radar of Western publishers for a while and it is great to see that Sentai Filmworks took the chance with the somewhat unconventional series. Although it hurt by how large and detailed the scope is, the story of Maoyu is one that is populated by a likable and interesting cast of characters with an incredible focus on building up a fantasy world that is handled in a way that is far from the norm. Maoyu may be a series that falters near the end and leaves things hanging for a second season, but it is a series with plenty to offer for those willing to take the chance.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Funimation has recently released the first English theatrical trailer for Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods, a few weeks after it was announced the movie would be coming to select American theatres over a few dates in August (you can view full details of the release here). Judging by ear it seems all the usual voice actors are returning to reprise their role for the film but if you want to make sure you can check out the full cast list below.
Goku / King Kai: Seán Schemmel
Vegeta / Piccolo / Shenron / Yamcha / Bubbles: Christopher R. Sabat
Beerus: Jason Douglas
Whis: Ian Sinclair
Gohan / Ox-king / Narrator: Kyle Hebert
Trunks: Laura Bailey
Goten / Videl: Kara Edwards
Bulma / Seer: Monica Rial
Roshi: Mike McFarland
Krillin: Sonny Strait
Tien: John Burgmeier
Oolong: Brad Jackson
Chi-chi / Mrs. Briefs: Cynthia Cranz
Android #18: Meredith McCoy
Pilaf: Chuck Huber
Shou: Chris Cason
Mr. Satan: Chris Rager
Chiaotzu / Puar: Brina Palencia
Mai: Colleen Clinkenbeard
Dende: Justin Cook
Buu: Josh Martin
Supreme Kai / Elder Kai: Kent Williams
Dr. Briefs: Mark Stoddard
It’s great to see some voice artist reprising their roles from the original Z series such as Meredith McCoy voicing Android 18. Let us know what you think about the trailer and the voice cast below, particularly your opinions on the new voices for Beerus and Whis.
Today it was announced that 
Today 
