Join editor Joe Morgan as he dives in to show off the first half hour of the game. You’ll see him experience space combat, space stations, interplanetary capitalism, upgrading skills and perks, and more. A couple of rogue mercs may even have his number.
Be sure to check out our full preview for Starpoint Gemini 2!
We livestream gameplay footage on our Twitchpage. Our YouTube channel 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.
Each year, we as a team come together and have to make the brutal decisions of defining the best of the best. It sounds difficult, but in all honesty, the development teams make it easy by delivering quality products that we get to consume each year – and these awards are our way of paying proper tribute.
Which titles went that extra mile to please? What experiences left us in reflection? These are the games that will live on past a generation as they offered a form of entertainment greater than our currency. This is the Game of the Year Awards for 2014, so join us as we celebrate greatness yet again!
Welcome to Capsule Computer’s 4th Annual Game of the Year Awards!
Click on the pages below to and find out who wins, along with our editors’ choice awards and special bonus feature GOTY Podcast!
Slowly but surely we’ve made it into the age of videogames. Many years ago playing video games was something only certain people did and, for the most part, it was quite a niche market…not anymore. “Sword Art Online” is an Anime that originally began as a light novel series written by the very popular novelist Reki Kawahara (Fumio Kunori), it eventually became popular enough to warrant an Anime adaptation and from then on in the popularity of the series soared to even greater heights. With its videogame-based storyline (which is quite appealing in this day and age) and its semi-relatable characters, it is easy to see how and why this Anime has become such a favoured series in the hearts and minds of many Anime fans around the world. Madman Entertainment has only recently released this series “down under” and luckily for me I’ve been given the chance to review it. I think it’s about time we “log-in” and see what all the fuss is truly about.
Story
Volume 2 continues directly on from Volume 1 (read our review here) though there is a bit of a timeskip inbetween the two. It has now officially been two years since the players of Sword Art Online became trapped within the game and the quest to complete the entire 100 floors is still in progress with the online community hitting the high 70s number, this means they’re all fairly close to getting out yet there’s still quite a long way to go before they can. Kirito continues on his lone quest as a hero but over the course of the story within Volume 2 it seems he changes his tune pretty quickly when he once again reunites with Asuna, a player he felt some sort of spark with when he first met her in the events of Volume 1.
I’ll try my very best not to give much away but it will be quite hard to NOT considering the points I intend to make so I’ll slap a low-level “spoiler” warning on this part of the review just in case it does turn out that way. Volume 2 has the series slowly transform into more of a simple fantasy story rather than the “players trapped in game” story that it hosted at the start of the series. Players have somewhat forgotten about the real world and have started living in Aincrad as if it was reality rather than a videogame, it’s obvious enough for the main character to point out so I’d say it was a purposeful storyline development and to some people it is a beneficial change but for me it was not and that is only because the main characters also changed, they lost sight of the their original goal for what seemed like a great deal of this volume and I felt as though this was a mistake on their part.
Volume 2 Aincrad Part 2 had a pretty solid focus on the romantic connection between our main characters; Kirito and Asuna became incredibly close and, despite being a part of the “Assault Team” and the “Knights of the Blood” guild who are self-tasked with the completion of the game, decide to take a small vacation away from the “hustle and bustle” of surviving so that they can instead work on the romantic side of Sword Art Online.
I’ll give the creators this much; it did set itself apart from other series’ because two characters actually get together despite the whole “I’m too shy to tell you how I feel” dilemma from both parties but, as mentioned, they lost site of the main goal and it actually worked to revert the character development we saw in the first half of the series. Spoiler: Asuna became somewhat of a needy bride and Kirito played on the “you’re my wife, I don’t want to see you hurt” ideal despite Asuna proving herself to be just as good a fighter as Kirito himself so I’m not too sure why they would go ahead and do something like this but I suppose it is what they assumed the audience would love.
Certain things transpire when Kirito and Asuna find a young girl passed out in the woods near where they live, yes it becomes that real, and after a short story arc with here we realise that this series isn’t all it is cracked up to be; it became for too corny for my liking, things just happen to fall into place for these characters and I understand they are the main characters living in a fantasy world but there are also certain ways to go about things and this was not one of them.
Unfortunately I cannot outline exactly what I’m referring to only because it happens closer to the end of the volume and I’m not sure people will be too happy about it being spoiled. The series ends in what I’d consider to be an extremely typical way and I was actually hoping it would end the story in a negative way rather than a positive only because it would make both more sense and an ending that I believe would’ve made a greater impact on the audience but, as always, these are my opinions and my opinions alone.
Visuals
Volume 2 was visually the exact same as volume one and, considering they’re both a part of the same series, I’m not surprised there was any change in aesthetic quality. If anything I was less impressed with the environments of Volume 2 simply because the story was not written in a way that would have the characters journey through these expansive and beautiful environments, unlike Volume 1 to which I compare. The animation stayed the same; great and I’m so glad it did because, as a fan of action, I longed for battle scenes that hosted extremely high calibre animation quality.
Battles were few and far between with the count being something small like two or three within the whole volume, though those battles were quite high-octane and fairly entertaining despite being short. There isn’t much that can be said about Volume 2 that hasn’t already been said about Volume 1; the animation is still great though the characters aren’t put into to many situations where the animation team can go all out, the environments are good but once again the story doesn’t take us on as much of a journey as it did last time so we’re not really shown as many beautiful environments. All in all it still looks fantastic!
Audio
Much like the visuals of Volume 2 Aincrad Part 2, the audio still stands at quite a high calibre much like it did in Volume 1. My only complain would have to be the voice acting and I can’t entirely say it is the actors/actresses fault because they are only to read what they have been told to so more of the blame goes on the scriptwriters and translators rather than on the performers themselves. Some of the dialogue is just so horrendous; breaking character and saying things that dwindle the impact of situations came up a fair few times, not to mention some of the silly secondary characters and their pieces of dialogue.
Luckily for the series most of the characters have great voice actors and actresses, even our two main characters who go through a pretty bad stage where their interactions are somewhat cringe-worthy. The music is kicked up a notch in Volume 2 with the use of some rock and fantasy tracks being entirely on key with the situations within the scenes, the music team really made their bones with what they did in Volume 2 (as well as volume 1) and it did a lot to bring up the value of the series and make situations all the more intense or emotional.
Extras
Once again this release does not feature any real on-disc extras apart from the usual textless opening and textless closing sequences that come with every Anime release. It does, however, continue from what Volume 1 did previously and it does come with a set of six postcards that feature art from the series which looks to be done by several different artists considering they’re each in a different style. These extras are fantastic for those of you out there who absolutely love the series and the characters because each of the postcards depicts another character or group of characters in settings not entirely seen in the series. Usually standard Anime releases come with no physical extras so Volume 2 Aincrad Part 2 gets points for trying.
Overall
Look “Sword Art Online Volume 2 Aincrad Part 2” is a great Anime release that comes directly off another great Anime release (part 1) and the series in general is actually fairly good, the only real problem I had with this Volume is the actual story; it lost sight of its main goal and its characters were no where near as good as they were within Volume 1. I know I’ve been comparing the two volumes the whole way through the review but I believe it to be justified considering they’re both a part of the same series and to understand one you really need to understand the other.
Fans of fantasy Anime will absolutely love this and so will fans of romance because volume 2 really kicks up the “lovey-dovey” side of surviving in a strange and dangerous world. If you’re a fan of Anime series’ like “.Hack” or “Log Horizon” than you’ll definitely be into this one so give it a good try but if simply reading what I have to say about the series is making you hate this release than I guess it’s just not for you. There are a lot of players in this game we call “life”, if we were all the same it’d just be boring.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
In Bardbarian, players control Brad the Barbarian as he decides to trade his battle axe for a lute (which for some reason sounds like an electric guitar) and decides to use music to defend his town. This unique tower defence title has a huge bullet hell/shoot ’em up influence to it, creating a unique adrenaline filled experience. Filled with creativity, Bardbarian is a fun, fresh action title that’s way more fun than it looks and easy to recommend for fans of tower defence & shoot ’em up games.
Gameplay
Many mobile titles that try unique attempts at mashing genres often fail, so it’s fantastic to see a game like Bardbarian take a leap of faith and comfortably land a successful mix. The idea is basically to take your typical tower defence title, but make the towers soldiers who follow you around as you defend the town against waves of enemies. Your character Brad does not fight, but rather inspires the combatants to by playing guitar riffs (I’m calling it a guitar because it sounds like one) that improves certain stats, which is the game’s form of casting spells. Players choose these songs with a touch of a finger, as well as manoeuvre Brad around the battlefield with the soldiers following. The waves of enemies run towards to the town shooting and your soldiers also shoot automatically as they follow. This leaves the player to play songs and dodge the enemies’ projectiles, giving it a very side scrolling shooter vibe. It all feels very natural and is very pick-up-and-play with what seems to have pretty much no learning curve at all, it just works. While a survival mode is present and an endless mode to be available soon, the main focus is on the campaign which involves 4 levels and 21 long waves of enemies. These levels are broken up as parts of a particular night, and can be played consecutively in a single game, or once unlocking them you can skip ahead although it’s not recommended. From start to finish it’ll take about an hour, but you won’t be able to do this on your first try.
Like most games that involve in app purchasing, Bardbarian is all about grinding. Each level ends on a tough boss battle, and each has harder and harder enemies. Thankfully, earning currency is easy and there are plenty of upgrades which feel rewarding. That’s the beauty behind Bardbarian, everything you purchases matters. Unlike many titles these days that just increase a small stat, upgrades in Bardbarian dramatically effects gameplay and are also rather creative. The player feels rewarded for upgrading and encourages them to keep playing as the more you upgrade, the more fun the game becomes. While in app purchasing is present, it isn’t required as the game is more than fair when it comes to upgrades with affordable prices and currency easily earned. Many freemium games could learn a thing or two from Bardbarian in this aspect.
Audio & Visual
Bardbarian features hand drawn artwork that is filled with charm and character. The animation on the other hand can be a little wonky at times but it’s easily forgivable. The soundtrack comes from musical artist Maximum Satan, who sounds exactly as metal as their name sounds. Filled with distorted guitar riffs and drums with double kick, the soundtrack to Bardbarian is pretty awesome. What’s nice to see is that while the game has a clear metal influence, the gimmick is not milked dry which is noble of Tree Fortress, as I figured they’d want to try to appeal of fans like Metalocalypse or Brutal Legend a little more. Regardless, audio is awesome. However, it doesn’t loop perfectly which can be slightly annoying, but it’s not a massive deal.
Overall
Bardbarian is the most addictive mobile title I’ve reviewed in a very long time. The concept is a creative blend of genres that feels natural, upgrades feel rewarding and powerful, in app purchasing doesn’t feel forced, a rocking soundtrack and everything is filled with character. Bardbarian is easy to recommend, blast to play and I’m glad this review is over because now I can go back to playing it!
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
The collector’s edition comes with a copy of the game of course, some special packaging, an 80-page hardcover art book, a cool looking pocket watch, and the Aerith Gainsborough’s “Midgar’s Flower Girl” outfit DLC. The full unboxing video, featuring Mat Kishimoto, the product manager, can be found below and the game itself is set to be released in North America on February 11th and February 14th in Europe for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. We recently had some hands-on time with the game and our impressions can be found here.
We now know, Deception IV: Blood Ties will be released on the PlayStation 3 and the PlayStation Vita in North America on March 25th and in Europe on March 28th, with the PS3 version allowing players to upload videos of their highest scoring trap layouts to the internet and challenge others to beat their scores and the Vita version allowing the touch screen trap layout and activation. Now Tecmo Koei has released some debut English screenshots and a teaser trailer which highlights some of the aspects of the game and can be found below.
Players will be controlling Laegrinna, a woman called the Devil’s daughter, who must use traps ranging from banana peels and flying cakes to iron maidens and swinging axes to eliminate enemies and will be assisted by three Daemons who will help her sacrifice these enemies and upgrade their traps, with each Daemon delighting in a certain type of death, be it sadistic, elaborate, or humiliating. Examples of how these traps will work can be found in the aforementioned screenshots and trailer below.
It has been awhile since we’ve seen an ESRB rating for a game with some strange themes and now we have one in the form of Conception II: Children of the Seven Stars, which involves creating children with fellow classmates. The game has been rated M for the 3DS, with no rating for the Vita version yet, and it has been given this rating due to “Fantasy Violence, Language, Mild Blood, Partial Nudity, Sexual Themes.”
The full ESRB ratingcan be read below while the game itself is set to be released by Atlus in North America sometime this Spring.
This is a role-playing game in which players assume the role of a young student trying to rid the world of monsters. While exploring dungeons, players engage in turn-based battles with a variety of human and fantastical enemies (e.g., ogres, demons). Human characters occasionally use guns to shoot the player’s characters; other fighters use hammers, swords, or blasts of energy to deplete opponents’ health meters.
A handful of scenes depict a character covered in blood across the chest and upper arm. The game includes some suggestive dialogue (e.g., “You have giant boobs!” “I think your breasts are very lovely . . . Um, well…Their shape is…I think boys would like them.”). During the course of the game, players are able to engage in a Classmating system, in which two characters interact to create a Star Child; these brief sequences do not depict sexual acts, though the female characters shown are often partially nude and placed in suggestive poses (e.g., on their hands and knees).
Female characters are also depicted with jiggling breasts, and camera angles often zoom-in on cleavage and buttocks. The words “sh*t” and ‘a*shole’ appear in the dialogue.
If Yu Yu Hakusho and Soul Eater had a baby, Noragami would definitely be it. It borrows from other series of the same genre of anime certainly, but what makes Noragami so damn good is its execution, that is where the brilliance lies. If episode 1 was all about introducing us to the premise, episode 2 is a masterwork of world-building.
In this one episode, Noragamai sets the table for the entire series, giving colour and life to the world between the Near and Far Shore. It details the mythology of the Near and Far Shore, the Phantoms that live between them and the rules of the world. Its a great episode all around that gives an incredible level of depth to the Noragami mythos.
With that I feel pretty confident in saying that Noragami is the best anime of Winter thus far. Its got two solid episodes clocked on the meter and things look to continue strong. The concept is great, the mythology is highly intriguing and the action on screen is compelling. Not only that but the cast is well-rounded with plenty of great gags to lighten things up.
The episode opens up where we left off last week. Hiyori is coming to grips with the new reality that lays before her. She is now a drifter between the Near and Far Shore. Her soul keeps falling out of her body in what ends up being a hilarious sight gag. Yato has promised to grant her wish of bringing her back to normal. But in the mean time she has to help him find a Regalia (a human weapon, not unlike those in Soul Eater). After she spends the episode searching across town for a Regalia for Yato, she winds up in a spot of trouble. From this point on things get turned up to 11.
Smack bam right in the face, we get hit by development after development. The pacing and timing here is utterly superb. Each revelation is handled with a deft hand, as to not over explain, but also detail just enough. There are two points here that are worth noting however. The first of all is Hiyori’s tail. We learn via Yato that this is a link between her spiritual and physical forms and that if it were cut off, she would die. If that link is broken, she could possibly become a phantom. The second point of note is the introduction of the third member of the cast, Yukine, Yato’s new Regalia.
Now while I’m no big fan of Yuki Kaji’s ham-fisted voice work, which grates on the nerves more than it does just about anything else. Despite that, I did get a real kick out of the debut of Yukine. His tsundere reaction to Yato cracked me up, it was unexpected and timed perfectly. Especially after we get a brief glimpse at the look at his sad life.
It is a surreal thought to think that Yato just witnessed Yukine’s life from start to end. How do you cope with that? How does that make you feel? Well I’m sure we will see more of this connection between Yato and Yukine in the coming weeks, but damn you can colour me intrigued after this brilliant episode.
This was a great follow-up for Noragami to its excellent premiere last week. It built upon its premise in great fashion, detailing the concepts and rules of this world all the while further developing its solid cast of characters. If Noragami can continue on with this consistently, I’ll be one happy soul. Noragami has got me hanging for a new episode each week. I can’t wait to head back down to the place between the Near and Far Shore and see what the Stray God gets up to next.
While gamers, myself included, have been able to enjoy the over-the-top fan-service that Senran Kagura Burst provides for a few months, gamers in Europe are still waiting for the title to be released in their region, although they are receiving both a physical release and a digital option whereas North America was provided only a digital release.
Well today publisher Zen United has announced that the game will be released on February 28th at retail and February 27th through the 3DS‘ Nintendo eShop. As you may have noticed the box art for the game has also been revealed and can be seen to the right. As for how the game is, our review of the North American version can be found here.
Overview Ninjas are cool. Everybody knows that. They have swords, smokebombs and they run silently through the night. They also kill people…which isn’t good per say, but still the swords are cool. On top of all that, the last thing you want to give a ninja is a reason to go after you. Say by doing something like getting in their way. Unfortunately not everybody got that memo and many characters were harmed in the making of this videogame. No animals though.
What terrible advertisement placement
Story More of a mission than a story. Kuro, our player character, has received some dire news. It would appear that the Amida Clan is rising once again, which isn’t good for reasons unexplained. Anyway, it is up to the lone ninja to slay his way through opposing forces to ensure that his Sensei receives the message and begins preparations. Trouble is afoot.
Gameplay Shadow Blade plays like an old fashioned side-scroller, on account of it being a side-scroller game. Players take control of the ninja Kuro and attempt to make it to the end of each stage. Of course, it’s not as simple as all that. First of all, the game isn’t a flat landscape. Luckily ninjas are quite adept at jumping, a skill that is consistently useful. As the game progresses, Kuro gains the ability to double jump and air dash, abilities that greatly increase his aerial acumen. Coincidentally, these skills are acquired just when they are needed. Talk about lucky. For a little extra height, wall jumping is also an option.
Smoking in confined places can be dangerous
Moving on from movement, there are also a number of enemies who will attempt to hinder Kuro’s progress. Though they appear sparsely, these enemies are a very real threat as Kuro will be defeated in a single hit. Starting at the common swordsman, opponents will steadily increase in strength and variation as the levels progress, even netting themselves some long ranged weaponry. Enemies also bolster their forces with a number of tricky traps and devious devices. Mainly spikes. Deadly, deadly spikes. They’re also not opposed to electricity, so watch out for that.
The game itself runs on a star based ranking system, a ninja star based ranking system in fact. Enemies killed, time taken to complete a level, collectibles collected. Each of these factor into the total score. That being said, a perfect star ranking is not recquired to progress through the game, as simply finishing a level will suffice. There is a total of three chapters in the game and an additional Hardcore option, featuring a few extra levels that are considerably harder due to the lack of checkpoints.
How did he even get there?
Visuals and Audio Shadow Blade features a very unique and stylised look. Characters feature certain exaggerated elements, such as slender limbs or a dramatically hunched pose. Kuro himself is also recognisable by his odd style, for example his pure white eyes and solid black mask. The bright yellow scarf is also fairly attention drawing. The backgrounds are also rather picturesque and feature elements that, whilst visually pleasing, do not overpower the characters in the foreground. The overall visual theme varies depending on the chapter and serve as a visual connection between the levels.
Being centred on the actions of a ninja, the soundtrack is understandably inspired by ancient sounds. Japanese percussion and wind instruments give the game an authentic air, lending to the old fashioned nature of the plot. Strings are also played when point orbs are collecting, adding an extra track to the audio that is only truly appreciated during a clean run through of the stage. Closer to a gameplay level, sword strikes are met with a classic “schwing” sound effect. Firearms also have a charge up tune, serving as a warning for Kuro to get out of the laser sights. Quickly.
Special delivery from Ninja News Network
Overall Shadow Blade is a simple, fast paced bundle of fun. With ninjas, so it’s at least 20% cooler than regular side-scrollers. The game’s slow release tutorial provides a fair learning curve and doesn’t overload with moves right from the get go. The option to choose either a touch or button based control scheme also adds range to the game, making it more accessible to players and their individual preferences. The levels themselves take roughly one minute to complete and, as such, do not prove to much trouble to complete. Even if you’re of the perfectionist mindset, it’s not too much effort to replay a level until those three ninja stars shine on the score screen. Essentially, Shadow Blade is a short, fun experience that is more about the gameplay than any form of plot. Though ninjas are notoriously secretive, they probably wouldn’t reveal much anyway…
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
