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Before I kick off my impressions of episode 9, I would like to apologise for the 4 week delay that came as a result of my PC having an unfortunate run in with a glass of ginger ale. Needless to say, when it is actually possible to pour myself a delicious beverage from one of my fans, the chances of it functioning for long enough to watch the episode, let alone write about it, were nigh on zero. Luckily, I held onto my ‘craptop’ from 6 years ago so service should be resumed as normal. I hope you enjoy the article!
The tides have turned and all of a sudden I feel myself questioning how I should react to Golden Time. Though, this is not a negative comment by any means. It takes a special kind of anime to be able to force me to rethink what I was so comfortable thinking and Golden Time has succeeded in doing so. Even great series like Toradora never made me feel like Taiga wouldn’t end up with Ryuuji no matter how often I thought that Ami might be a better girl for him. Hell, even Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo never made me really question the narrative because it didn’t matter how much more suited to the main character the other girls were, Shiina was always going to come out on top because of the hideous trope that is ‘First Girl Syndrome’. So far, Golden Time has managed to avoid adhering to simple generics and has succeeded in making me reconsider what is right and what is wrong and that fills me with excitement.
While episode 8 gave us a disjointed look into Linda and Banri’s forgotten past, episode 9 focused more on Linda and her emotional struggles that led her to actually liking Banri. Until now, we have only really heard Banri’s story and although it was still told from his perspective, the focus was taken off of him and this allowed Linda, who is normally a very stoic character, to show that she actually has feelings. All at once, I found myself sympathising with the girl that only last episode was simply a roadblock standing in the way of what I considered to be the true pairing of the show. But here she was, crying for the sake of her brother with Banri trying to comfort her, but ultimately failing due to his own shortcomings. I have said it before, but their portrayal of two people just talking and trying to reason things out in a very stressful real-life scenario reminded me that Golden Time is unforgiving in its realism. It obviously has its unrealistic elements, lest we forget that Banri has a ghost following him everywhere, but whenever important conversations are involved or relationship issues crop up, I can’t help but draw parallels to my own experiences of love and I am often blown away by just how accurate its portrayal of adolescent love really is.
What was odd about this episode was that Kouko’s role felt very small despite her showing more uncertainty and emotion than in any other episode prior to this. Though it was not made certain whether she overheard Banri talking to Linda the night before, she seemed dejected in the morning and for the next few days she was off of school, supposedly because she fell ill. When she came back she seemed distracted and eventually ended up breaking down in front of Banri and confessed her fear of losing him. Once again, this is a situation that is all too real outside of the 2D world. Even though she was the one pushing him away only a few episodes ago, now that she has recognised her feelings and is giving everything to their relationship, he may have become a bit too comfortable and, with his memories slowly returning, he has been spending more and more time with Linda behind her back. It might seem harmless to him, but to her it clearly broke some of the undying trust she had for him and now she is scared. Underneath all of her grandiose she is just a normal girl who cries when she thinks she is losing someone and who has relatable flaws. Depth of a puddle indeed…
As the episode came to a close I expected a somber ending to round off this recent focus on Linda, but then Golden Time came along and slapped me in the face. Suddenly, the ghost of Tada Banri got his body back and his first thoughts were of Linda! Next episode has a ridiculous amount of scope for confusion, heartbreak, and an absolute menagerie of other emotions if Banri of the past manages to get loose and reach Linda. Excited is not the word, but rather terrified; I am terrified to see how episode 10 plays out, but at this stage, you would be a fool to look away!
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Kingdom Tales from Cateia Games is an interesting mix of town-building mobile game, and the Settlers of Catan board game. In the midst of a war between humans and dragons, you must stand up and help rebuild your damaged kingdom, all while making your way to the Dragon’s Keep to hopefully end this war once and for all. You have to practice resource management as well as town building while completing challenges to progress through the game’s worlds. The game is far from perfect, but all in all it is still a fun experience for everyone who loves this style of puzzler.
Story
The story of Kingdom Tales revolves around some of the most classical of fantasy elements – kings, knights, fairies and of course dragons. Humans and Dragons have always been at odds with one another and nowthe latter have decided that it is their time to rule and have begin waging war upon the land. Humans, fae, and a whole wealth of other fantasy creatures are under threat and it is up to the new King of the land to take up arms, and help rebuild his fallen kingdom, all while making his way to the dragon’s den.
The story feels a little cliche and derrivative, but it still manages to bring a certain charm to the whole package. As you might expect, the story really takes a back seat to the gameplay, and aside from a handful of small cut-scenes and some sections of dialogue between characters, it doesn’t really impact on the overall game in the slightest.
Gameplay
Kingdom Tales is by and large a puzzle game. It combines traditional puzzle elements and combines them with town-building video game mechanics, and throws in some Settlers of Catan in for good measure. Each stage has you fulfilling three different objectives. These objectives can range from “build X Tents” to “Amass X happiness points” (which are collected by having your villagers collect water from wells.
When it comes to building your little settlement and completing the goals, it is very much a game of resource management. Everything costs gold, materials or a combination of the two and it is up to you to efficiently and economically build your town without running out of money, all before the clock winds down.
When you begin, you can select from two different game modes – Adventure and Relaxed. Adventure has you playing through the missions as normal, adhering to the time limits that each stage imposes on you. Relaxed retains all of the same gameplay mechanics but eliminates the time limit, allowing you to tackle the missions at your own leisure. The choice means that he game is accessible to almost everyone no matter how finely tuned their puzzle solving senses are.
Something that does need to be brought up is that although it is a free download, Kingdom Tales is not a free game. You are given a few levels to play around with when you download it, but unlocking the remainder of the game will set you back $2.99 as an in-app purchase. I am hugely opposed to this style of deceptive marketing – hiding your game’s price behind a “Free” pricetag so this almost killed the experience for me. However, as a silver lining, aside from the game unlock, there are no OTHER in-app purchases like more gold or materials.
Visuals & Audio
Kingdom Tales has a cute little art style that is very befitting of the setting of the game, but it can conflict a little with the tone. The fairy is always bright and cheerful and smiling, even when she is describing how dragons ravaged her land. The game does feature a nice little cinematic cut scene to introduce us to the game’s world, but it feels a little outdated and features some choppy frame rate issues as well as some texture problems.
In-game is a lot different, you are zoomed pretty far out so you only get to see everything at a distance and it would have been easy for the devs to skimp out on the detail. However, this wasn’t the case and even from the distant viewpoint, you can see a heap of intricate detail on the building. You can count individual cobblestones on a rooftop or the dark eyes of a wolf blocking the path. It is pretty cool to see the work that went into it.
Overall
So Kingdom Tales has its fair share of problems; a somewhat derivative story, questionable marketing tactics and some out of place visuals, but really it is still a fun game. If you are into puzzles, then the clever mix of town building and Settlers of Catan will have you hooked from the beginning. Once unlocked, the game features 45 levels for you to play through, each with three missions to complete and a bunch of secrets to find.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
One of the strangest Pokemon, Espurr. That stare… Credit to OshiHidra
The Pokemon world is a strange and wonderful place where gamers have spent many, many, many hours within. The expansive regions have been a place where trainers bond with their Pokemon; battling, breeding, trading, exploring, catching and much more. While Pokemon games are generally well designed and are probably not meant to be picked apart like we are about to, there are definitely some strange on goings in the Pokemon world that just don’t make much sense, even in thier own universe. This is a list of the 40 strangest things I have personally noticed within the main Pokemon games myself and from other sources I came across on the Internet.
1) Some towns have only 3 houses and a population of less than 10.
2) Diglett can learn sucker punch despite having no arms.
3) Doduo can learn Fly despite not being able to actually fly.
4) Bird Pokemon have to be taught the move Fly, dispite flying in the air during battle.
5) A tiny Pidgey weighing in at 4 pounds can support the weight of its trainer and fly across an entire region.
Pidgey will get you places… Credit morganchan for the image
6) Likewise, water pokemon have to be taught to surf before they can be used to swim on, despite some pokemon only living in water.
7) Higher level pokemon are only found in certain areas. I wouldn’t want to be a trainer starting out in Anistar City.
8) Some Pokemon that probably shouldn’t be able to be a certain gender but are, for example, male Gardevoir and female Mr.Mime.
9) Wailord and Skitty can mate in daycare. Yeah just think about that for a minute!
10) How does a Pokemon learn a move from a TM when the TM is just some wierd CD?
11) Adults fight young kids and take money from them if they win.
12) Pokemon can scale waterfalls and mountains but not small ledges, nor can people jump over them.
13) You have your own upstairs room in the house, but your mum doesn’t so where does she sleep ?
Your mother sure is nice to let you have the only bedroom.
14) Gym leaders spend 24/7 at their Gym…except for when you get to their town and it’s important to the story.
15) How come no one else has picked up the TM’s lying on the ground before you, or any of the other rare and valuable items for that matter.
16) You can beat the Champion 100 times and never become the champ yourself.
17) If Spoink stops bouncing, it’s heart stops meaning it will die, however you see it not bouncing during it’s faint animation…
18) Nidorina and Nidoqueen can’t breed but female Nidoran (F) can.
19) A criminal group will fight a single child one at a time, give said child their money when they lose and will completely give up after being defeated by said child.
20) Locking eyes means you must battle, even if your down to one Pokemon with no HP left. Seems fair.
21) A giant Tropius will hatch out of a tiny Pokemon egg…fully grown.
22) A small shrub can completely block your way even though you probably have Pokemon with moves that would destroy a building. Why can’t I just use Scratch, Slash or Ember!
All fear the shrub… Credit to RNZZZ
23) A kid that starts out with no experience can somehow surpass people who have been training their Pokemon for years, after only a few days into their adventure.
24) You can catch Pokemon that control time, space, dimensions and even catch Gods. They will abandon the purpose they were created for to sit in your PC.
25) Goodra’s Pokedex entry states it attacks with retractable horns. It throws a punch that’s the equivalent of the force of a hundred pro boxers. However it’s base attack power is only 100. Does that mean a highly tranined boxer only has a base attack power of 1 ?
26) Strangers you just met will happily give you their phone numbers to give you the opportunity to defeat them again.
27) The Pokedex entries describe some Pokemon as references to real world animals such as dogs, horses and Indian Elephants. However there are no animals in the Pokemon world.
28) Regular water can cure 50HP while a potion made specifically to cure pokemon only cures 20HP.
29) You need specific running shoes before you can run…
30) Professor Oak can’t even remember his own grandsons name or tell if you are a boy or a girl…
What a great Professor. Credit to vgcatz for the comic.
31) A Professor of Pokemon sends a complete rookie to gather data on all the Pokemon for him.
32) A number of Pokedex entries make note of bringing harm to children or having joy at childrens despair. For example, Drowzee enjoys eating the dreams of childrens beacause they are tastier than adults while Duskull gets enjoyment from watching children cry. Driftloon even makes children vanish if they grab onto it thinking it’s a balloon!
33) The protagonist’s father never seems to be represented in the games. Maybe there’s a high divorce rate in the pokemon regions ?
34) Your small backpack can fit a near unlimited number of items along with a bunch of very rare items and a bike.
35) You can only carry $999,999 pokedollars, but the bike in Red and Blue cost a $1,000,000. Maybe it’s so expensive because you are allowed to ride it inside.
36) The Professor always knows when your about to ride your bike inside…
37) You can’t rename your Pokemon after you first catch them without the help of the Name Rater.
38) Trainers are happy to give you double money just because you have an Amulet Coin with you.
39) Why can’t we just walk around the Snorlax! And why do I have to wake it up to capture it!? I’m only going to use sleep powder on it anyway!
Snorlax always blocking your path. Credit to Shadow306k for the picture.
40) Wailord is actually three times less dense than air when you calculate its size and weight. This means it would actually float which is probably why it’s called the float whale Pokemon.
Got an oddity you didn’t see on this list ? Leave a comment below and let us know what it is or let us know what you think of the list we have compiled. Poke bank releases over the holidays so be sure to fire up your Nintendo 3DS and old Pokemon games and bring all your old pokemon into your Pokemon X and Pokemon Y games and to download the special Celebi that comes with the download.
Aesthetica of a Rogue Hero Studio:Arms Publisher:FUNimation Format: Blu-ray/DVD Combo Release Date:December 17, 2013 Price: 69.98 – Available Here
Overview The harem and ecchi genre of anime are full of series that feature either indecisive or weak willed main characters with girls that just so happen to fall right into their laps. In recent years there have been a few series where a protagonist will actually make an effort to develop as a character and even give viewers a reason to believe that these girls might actually like them. However what happens if you go to the opposite side of weak and bring forth a powerful main character that pretty much does whatever he wants? Well you would get Aesthetica of a Rogue Hero, and now that FUNimation has brought the series over to North America is it worth picking up?
Story Roughly thirty years ago, young people from across the world began to vanish into summoning circles which has transported them to another world. While thousands of people have been brought to these other worlds, only around half of them manage to escape them and those that do come back with enhanced physical abilities and more often than not, magical powers that they gained during their time in the other world.
As such, when someone manages to make it back to their original world alive, they are seen as unique and gifted individuals. An organization named Babel has been formed by the United Nations to take in these gifted people and not only train them to better harness their abilities but also house them from going rogue and possibly causing untold levels of destruction.
The story of Aesthetica of a Rogue Hero follow Akatsuki Ousawa, a summoned hero who has vanquished the Demon King and saved the world from destruction. Despite pleas, and attempts to subdue him, by the thankful members of the world of Alayzard, Akatsuki is determined to go home and when he makes his way back through the portal, it is revealed that he has taken the Demon King’s only daughter, Miu, with him to the normal world in an effort to protector and fulfill the Demon King’s dying wish.
When he arrives, Akatsuki and Miu are quickly brought to Babel where they are enrolled in the curriculum, with Miu pretending to be Akatsuki’s long lost younger sister who just so happens to have amnesia in an effort to pass her off as a normal human. There is a reason that the series is called Rogue Hero however and that is because Akatsuki’s personality is that of a laid back pervert who is exceptionally skilled at all manner of melee combat, thanks to his energy manipulation ability, though he tends to use this power to strip women of their bras and panties in an instant while their clothes are still on.
The bulk of Aesthetica of a Rogue Hero follows Miu as she attempts to become acquainted with how life works in the normal world and making friends while general ecchi show shenanigans occur throughout. There is some very vague story moving along in the background as Akatsuki wishes to fight against the leader of the Student Council, who also happens to be a member of a powerful worldwide force known as COCOON, which has grown concerned over how powerful Akatsuki might be.
However this storyline never comes to fruition and is merely mentioned a few times thanks to the amount of time that is spent on these ecchi harem events which usually see Akatsuki harassing Miu, her new friends, and a female member of the Student Council named Haruka. While it is nice to see a powerful and confident male lead at the helm, most of the things that Akatsuki does leave a dirty aftertaste and although Miu often thinks back at how it might have been him being considerate in a way, it almost always feels poorly done and generally portrays Akatsuki as a boorish guy who comes off as a brute that cares little about decency.
There is some final bits of plot that come together during the last few episodes of the series which see the bulk of the cast fighting against an enemy that has returned from the land of Alayzard after Miu, but after this concludes viewers are left with a cliffhanger ending that could potentially lead to some great things, but sadly that may never be the case. Instead, all viewers are left with is general ecchi shenanigans with an unlikable male lead and a paper thin plot made worse by the fact that it teases an actual storyline but goes nowhere with it.
Visuals Aesthetica of a Rogue Hero is clearly an ecchi show and it lets viewers know that almost immediately as Akatsuki strips his pursuers of their undergarments. There are so many panty shots and instances where the female cast in the series is put in revealing clothing, or completely stripped naked that it actually starts to lose a bit of its charm. There tends to be a point of overkill and some variation is necessary but sadly that isn’t the case with this series as Miu tends to be the only girl naked or fondled and even then the detail on these scenes is rather basic.
As far as the character designs themselves, they are relatively simplistic outside of Akatsuki who exudes a lot of power thanks to his buff appearance and confidence. The action sequences are nicely animated and any time the characters use their magical abilities or powers the visuals take a nice jump in quality but sadly these scenes tend to be rather limited overall.
Audio With Aesthetica of a Rogue Hero FUNimation has provided both the original Japanese voice track as well as their newly recorded English dub. The English voice cast does a satisfactory job with their characters, with Miu’s voice actress Felicia Angelle taking the spotlight here. While some may prefer the original Japanese voice track, the English writing team has managed to make a few of the scenes a bit more enjoyable thanks to the terms used.
As far as the series soundtrack goes, most of the background themes are easily forgettable though the series does tend to feature the orchestral version of the opening theme as combat music. Speaking of the opening theme, we have “Realization” by Faylan which has a nice action feel to it and is accompanied by some nice looking animation, and the ending theme is “Ai no Sei de Nemurenai” by Aki Misato is calmer but less enjoyable.
Extras As far as bonus features go, Aesthetica of a Rogue Hero comes with a number of on-disc extras to help pad out the standard inclusions of promotional videos from Japan, textless opening and ending themes, trailers for other FUNimation anime and the US trailer for the series. There are two commentary tracks as well as six original videos that equal twenty three minutes in length. These videos are presented in Japanese only and feature the female members of the cast in numerous lewd situations in an effort to help provide some various elements of fan-service that the main series could not.
As far as the commentary tracks go, episode 2 features Alexis Tipton, the voice of Haruka, Monica Rial who handles the voice of Kuzuha, and Felicia Angelle, the voice of Miu. Episode 8’s commentary features Joel McDonald. the voice of Motoharu, Ryan Reynolds, the voice of Chikage, and Eric Vale who voices Akatsuki. This is the first time that Ryan has been on a commentary and both commentaries are fairly enjoyable.
Overall There have been many harem series that have managed to create a likable male lead and even put together a strong storyline while also delivering on all of the ecchi goodness that fans of the genre like. However Aesthetica of a Rogue Hero only manages to deliver on the latter and sadly, even then there is something to be said for teasing viewers a bit and having some variation instead of always instantly stripping every girl in sight and having their poorly animated breasts fly out. Sadly this leaves Aesthetica of a Rogue Hero as an easily forgettable title with decent action scenes that had a few moments where it could have been great but consistently failed to deliver.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
High School DxD Studio: TNK Publisher: Madman Entertainment Format:DVD (Reviewed), Blu-Ray Release Date: November 20, 2013 Price:$59.95 – Available Here
Overview High School DxD is many things, subtle is not one of them. It is pretty much what you would expect, a unashamed fan-service heavy harem anime and if that is what you’re looking for, you’ve found a pot of gold here in High School DxD. However if you’re not into this type of anime, this is probably not something you’d be interested in.
The book’s cover matches its content with High School DxD. As far as harem anime go, this one is king. Not only does it feature a great cast of characters, it also features a pretty deep story and mythos that transcends its ecchi elements. If you’ve come to High School DxD expecting some harem fun, you’ve got all that and them some. High School DxD may just be the next big harem anime.
Story As far as the harem genre goes, variety is something hard to come by. The genre is quite bloated with the same old cookie cutter harem anime, so when an anime like High School DxD comes along it is hard not to stand up and take notice.
High School DxD has quite an interesting setting to say the least, a world where devils and angels are at war with one another. It is about as left-field of a setting can get for a harem anime. While it does focus on a high school, very little of the series revolves around it, rather the series uses it more as a base of operations for its eclectic cast of sexy demonic misfits.
The series follows Issei Hyodo, a horny teen with dreams of becoming the ‘harem king’ which one can only presumes means that he will compile the greatest harem ever or something like that. From the get go Issei separates himself from the standard harem protagonist, he isn’t at all ashamed of his perverted nature and doesn’t even attempt to hide his intentions, thoughts or desires, even going so far as to voice them at any given opportunity. On top of that, Issei is no wimp, in fact he actually kicks ass. It’s refreshing to see a protagonist who is so proactive and straightforward, something that anime in general doesn’t often have.
The mythology behind the series adds immeasurably to it as well. The struggle between the devils and angels is a compelling one and as we come to see more and more of this world and its history we come to realise this is not your standard harem anime, this is something special, something with real substance to it.
Alongside the solid story-telling and brilliant characterization is of course the fan-service, which I’m sure most watching the series would be looking for. High School DxD is in no shortage for fan-service and actually features some pretty explicit stuff, in particular bare breasts being shown in every single episode. While this may sound a little overwhelming to some, High School DxD uses fan-service in a playful way, never coming on too strong, instead making for some sexy fun rather than throwing breasts on screen just because it has nothing better to do. The fan-service adds to the fun of the series greatly.
Ultimately High School DxD is a harem series with a great story and cast of characters, that doesn’t take itself too seriously. It will having you laughing, excite you with some crazy action and undoubtedly have you hooked from start to finish.
Visuals and Audio In terms of aesthetics, High School DxD is simply gorgeous. It features superb sakuga animation and brilliant artwork. The character designs are each very unique and memorable in their own rights. The fan-service is conveyed very tastefully and is some of the best the genre has seen in quite some time.
As for the soundtrack, High School DxD impresses all around. Be it the excellent incidental music or the catchy opening and ending themes, there is a lot to like here as far as music goes. This release also happens to feature an English dub from Funimation and I must say it is one of the best dubs Funimation have ever put together. While there is instances of creative license from Funimation, deviating from the original Japanese, it actually turns out being far better than the original Japanese version. With some playful lines thrown in and about a million different variations on ‘boobs’, you’ll be hard pressed to not laugh at this excellent dub. Of course the Japanese audio is also available on this release and it is very good as well.
Extras If you are the kind of anime watcher who likes bonus content, Madman have got you covered with this release of High School DxD. This complete collection not only compiles all 12 episodes of the series, but it also comes jam packed with a bunch of other special features as well. On disc there are two episode commentaries, ‘Fantasy Jiggles’ featurettes, Japanese promos, textless opening and endings and much more. It is an incredible release from Madman and more than worth the price of admission.
Overall High School DxD is a harem lover’s harem anime. It takes the harem genre to new heights and directions with its compelling story beneath its ecchi surface. This isn’t just your run of the mill harem, this is something truly special.
It is hard to find an anime as fun as High School DxD is. Once it gets the ball rolling it just doesn’t stop. It is a balls to the wall action comedy romp, that doesn’t take itself too seriously. If you are looking for a fun anime to sit down and have a bit of a laugh with, High School DxD is one of the best choices available. However if you’re not into such explicit fan-service, this may be one to avoid, however with how very good it is, that may be something you could look past.
High School DxD is honestly one of the best harem anime of all time. And what better way to sum up High School DxD then with the immortal words of Issei Hyodo, “Man.. Boobs sure are great!” What more can I say? This is the definitive harem anime. High School DxD is the harem king.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Abducted Developer:Sunside Games Publisher: Sunside Games Platforms: iOS Release Date: December 21, 2013 Price: $2.99 – Available Here
Overview
Abducted is an episodic sci-fi/horror adventure game released by Sunside Games – the makers of Crow, also on the iOS platform. In it, you play a human named Eve, who has been abducted by aliens and awakes to unfamiliar surroundings. In fact, she doesn’t recognise anything because she doesn’t remember anything. Communicating with a virtual intelligence on her arm device, she must unravel the mysteries of who she is, this ship she finds herself on and how she can possibly escape. So, will Episode 1 seize your time? Read on to find out.
Story
As mentioned above, you wake up with no recollection of who, what, where and why. Before you shut off at the thought of another amnesiac device, let me just state that the story is the biggest (maybe even sole) redeeming component of the whole experience. Eve has a device attached to her arm, used as a path of communication by what appears to be an A.I. She can converse with this A.I. via text responses, of which there are up to three choices at any given time. These branching conversations provide context and unveil more details about the world. “Change Conversation” can be selected to start the dialogue tree from scratch if you want to squeeze absolutely every bit of information out of “the Arm”. Well written, the dialogue merely hints at the resolutions to the bigger questions whilst creating new ones. This might sound frustrating taken at face value, but it’s done correctly here, giving you just enough data to be sated.
Gameplay
Abducted features a skill tree, although in Episode 1, it is all but pointless and unnecessary. With every aforementioned parcel of knowledge you gain from ‘the arm’, skill points are acquired. Navigating every inch of the significantly linear landscape also offers skill points; points of interest glow, and accessing them adds to your database as well, which can be read through at any time via ‘the arm’ (further conversations can even be triggered by looking up an entry in the database first). Movement is governed by point-and-click conventions, but Eve likes to interpret the ordinarily 2D method of navigation in her 3D environment in unintuitive ways, taking a longer route or moving in the wrong direction. If you’re impatient and tap again while she is already in motion, it seems to confuse her even more.
Eve has two main powers at her disposal from rather early on: ‘Manipulate’ and ‘Pulse’. The former is used more-so as a puzzle mechanic with the latter being your go-to attack, although your encounters mostly comprise of running away from a particular pursuant, or avoiding aggressive tentacles. Otherwise, ‘Manipulate’ can be used to placate the tentacles, which act as the ship’s defensive systems. Lastly, there are terminals which represent the basic objective of each zone. They can be either solved or hacked. To solve them (as seen in the image below), you are required to identify a set of glyphs and find their match in a second batch. These glyphs are found in the immediate surroundings, and can be uncovered by blasting their hiding spots with ‘Pulse’. Hacking involves a classic Snake-like mini-game, where you control a line using a virtual d-pad, picking up glyphs on the way from point A to point B on a grid. Having two approaches to achieving the same goal is appreciated as a source of variety, yet it isn’t entirely necessary, and the difficulty levels of both are always manageable – easy in fact.
Visuals & Audio
The developers laud their in-house Radiance engine for being able to render volumetric fog, dynamic lighting and shadows with great effect, but the game sometimes tends to look like a game design course experiment in Unity. There is a distinct lack of detail that would become even more apparent if the game wasn’t strategically bathed in darkness. And when there are heavily lit areas, it’s almost as if “high bloom” is the only way the slider moves. Environmental object meshes are blocky and just adequately textured, and certain animations are decidedly rigid. The music is appropriately atmospheric and eerie in parts, although the sound effects are of a painfully stock quality. Eve has to have the most ear-piercing, aggravatingly bad screams and groans ever heard.
Overall
Abducted looks and plays, to an extent, like a high-end prototype, not a finished product. The animations are stiff, the environments are poorly textured, the timing and chase elements are half-baked and Eve likes to take the most difficult path (or just plain walks the opposite direction) to get to a destination. But – and this is a big but – the dialogue is well-written and the story is intriguing enough that I want to learn more. If you take the time to explore the environment and engage in “the Arm’s” speech-tree, your curiosity will surely be piqued. Episode 1 creates more questions than answers, but in the least frustrating way possible. Hopefully the game develops some more depth in Episode 2, as Sunrise really need to polish the gameplay experience to match up to the potential of the plot.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be foundhere.
Dungeon of the Endless is a rogue like dungeon crawler mixed with a heavy dose of tower defense set in the Endless universe that began with the 4x space strategy game Endless Space. Players will guide their prisoners through a dangerous dungeon as they attempt to escape with their lives. Dungeon of the Endless is currently in early alpha and is available through Steam’s Early Access program.
Rogue-like games have been all the rage in the past twelve months and tower defense titles for the last 24. Amplitude Studios explores both genres with their new game Dungeon of the Endless. The gamewill start players off with two heroes and a power crystal. As the heroes begin opening doors in the dungeon, they will be able to build machines that will help defend against the oncoming hordes while generating much needed resources for expansion. For every door that is opened, players will be rewarded with industry and food points. Industry is needed to build machines while food is used to heal heroes and pay for level ups. Though there is a display for science points, they have yet to be implemented in the game.
Beyond the doors lay enemies to slay, loot to collect, blueprints to learn, heroes to recruit, merchants to buy from, and most importantly the elevator to the next level. Waves of enemies will spawn in random rooms every few minutes. Unlike the enemies found behind doors, the waves will march towards the crystal in hopes of destroying it. Killing enemies rewards the player with dust that is needed to power the crystal. Every 10 dust allows the player to power the machines in one room. As enemies attack the crystal, players are penalized dust. Once the elevator to the next level is found, the trickiest phase of Dungeon of the Endless begins. One hero will need to pick up the crystal and carry it to the elevator as endless waves of enemies spawn and attack the heroes. The heavy crystal will weigh down the hero, slowing them down to a crawl. This phase is a tense race to outrun the waves of hostile creatures while the unencumbered heroes provides some protection to the poor hero chosen to play the pack mule.
The gameplay an excellent balance of dungeon crawling and tower defense. The two elements don’t necessarily go together, but Amplitude Studios have made them mesh well. The game requires players to be prepared to come rushing to the defense of their crystal during a wave of attackers or risk leaving one of their heroes safely in the base to buy time against attackers at the cost of having one less fighter while exploring.
It is important to note that in its current state, Dungeon of the Endless is blisteringly hard. The game is meant to be played co-operatively, but the co-op has not been implemented in the game yet. Getting to the second level of the dungeon is already a good challenge and the second level’s difficulty goes up exponentially. Enemy waves of attackers can ambush just as a door is opened and a horde of angry monsters are stumbled upon, making the game even more challenging. Each time the player loses all their heroes or the crystal is destroyed, the game restarts with two new random heroes and a new dungeon layout.
The controls are decent for the most part. The controls are very similar to the average RTS, so Starcraft players will be right at home. The hotkey are well thought out, though the game could use more hotkeys, especially for building machines. The UI layout is Spartan and utilitarian. One of my biggest irritants at the moment is pressing escape will pause the game instead of closing any menus currently opened. To close those menus, I had to manually press the X icon.
Dungeon of the Endless is presented in a retro styled graphics reminiscent of the 8 and 16-bit era of video gaming. The colour scheme is on the soft side and rather modern compared to the harsh colours of retro titles. Right now players are stuck playing the game in full screen mode and have a choice between pixel perfect resolution as intended by the developers or one that fits the game to the size of the screen.
The music and sound effects in Dungeon of the Endless are very pleasant. There are a few songs implemented in the game right now. The music and the sound effects, like the graphics, are a modern take on retro chip tunes. Amplitude Studios has a great soundtrack on their hands if they can maintain the current quality of music for the remaining soundtrack.
Dungeon of the Endless is shaping up to be a great game. There are some excellent ideas forming here. The dungeon crawling and tower defense elements are worked together in a pleasant manner. I believe Amplitude Studio’s challenge is to implement the Science function in a meaningful manner and finding the correct difficulty balance while they add more content to the game.
World of Tanks just keeps growing and growing its roster of armored vehicles and it is no different for Update 8.10. After including Japanese tanks for the first time just a few months ago, this new update will expand the Japanese lines even further with 14 new tanks. But, don’t be so foolish as to think that Wargaming would stop there, as the update will also add a couple more Soviets tanks and a new arena.
More specifically, Japan will see an additional 4 light tanks, such as the Type 5 Ke-Ho; 9 new medium tanks, such as the STB-1; and a premium medium tank by way of the Type 3 Chi-Nu Kai. The new Soviets will bring a little something more to their tech tree with the medium tanks Tier 9 Object 430 Variant II and the Tier 10 Object 430. So, players will get to try that new armor while exploring the new arena titled “Hidden Village”.
These will be making their way to World of Tanks in the brand new Update 8.10 which has already released for Europe, Asia, and North America, but will be going loud on December 26th for China and Vietnam, then making it’s final rounds to Korean players on December 27th.
Nikita as a series has an interesting back-story. It is a show, based off another show, which was based off a movie, which was based off ANOTHER movie. Nikita-ception and a half going on here. The latest iteration by Warner Bros and the CW Network stars Maggie Q in the titular roll, and has her breaking free of the spy agency known as Division, who captured and trained her from a young age. Season 3 takes place after Nikita and her friends have managed to overthrow the old Division and tasks the “New Division” with tracking down rogue agents and bringing them in. The show has all the elements of an awesome spy drama, but is sometimes held back by its reliance on overdone tropes and some stiff performances.
Story
Nikita’s third season marks a big change of direction for the series. Previously, Nikita (Maggie Q) was striving to overthrow the terrifying and controlling intelligence agency – Division. Now, after their successful coup at the climax of the second season, Nikita and her colleagues are leading a new Division into the future – by first rounding up and bringing in rogue agents (known as the Dirty Thirty) who refuse to acknowledge the change in management.
The change in direction for the show makes it relatively easy for new viewers to jump on board. The show’s past is presented in such a way that anyone who was not familiar with the agency or its employees would be able to piece the entire backstory together like an old mystery novel. Moments of “oh so THAT’S what they were up to…” or “Oh so that’s what she meant by that last episode,” are plentiful.
While the story is overall friendly to newcomers, there are some areas that do rely heavily on past watching. Most of these revolve around emotional attachments between the characters. Michael’s (Shane West) proposal to Nikita at the climax of the first episode has a lot more impact if you are previously acquainted with everyone involved.
The series initially plays off like one of those “killer of the week,” cop serials that have become popular on television, with the agents tracking down and attempting to apprehend a different member of the Dirty Thirty every week. These episodes are good, but really feel uninspired – especially compared to the latter half of the series.
Since Nikita is such a different show than it was during seasons 1 and 2, a lot of characters have formed new bonds or grown apart. Nikita and Alex’s relationship has developed further to the point that they are almost sisters (and again, parts of their history are easy for newcomers to pick up on), while previous series regular; Amanda Collins (played by Melinda Clark) has turned into the primary antagonist. She orchestrates a series of escalating trials to punish Division, and especially Nikita and Alex whom she believe have betrayed her.
The later part of the series revolves around Nikita’s trying to do right no matter the cost. It ends up costing her dearly as Michael is caught in an unimaginable accident, which makes him unable to continue on as a field agent, and sends him spiralling downwards into depression. When a cure to his injury is made available, it ends up being a trap and Nikita is forced to make the hardest choice of her life.
Many of the episodes are gripping and have you drawn into the show. You see Division’s new leader Ryan (Noah Bean) struggle with the burden of running the agency and relying on the trust and support of his team, and the conflict caused by him needing to keep secrets in order to protect them. This comes to a head in episode 5, where the President has threatened to kill all members of Division should the agency’s identity become known.
The series overall is good, but sometimes slips into often seen tropes of the genre. Nikita having to choose between her life, and the life of her fiancé at the end of the series punctuates this nicely. However when the show isn’t relying on spy movie tropes, it delivers some awesome and gripping television.
Easily the most profound episode is actually the second episode. A young girl is kidnapped by a member of the Dirty Thirty and brainwashed into being a killer. Alex and Nikita both resonate strongly with this, having been caught in almost identical situations themselves. It offers some heartbreaking moments as well as some deep emotional growth between the two leading ladies and is one of those television episodes that you can watch over and over again.
Visuals & Audio
Visually, Nikita is breathtaking (no, I’m not just commenting on the actress Maggie Q). The set pieces are all amazingly designed, and whether it is the inside of Division, the Oval Office or even in the middle of Hong Kong, it all looks great. The crispness and sharpness really comes across on Blu Ray as well, and stands as proof of what the medium can do even in films or TV shows that don’t rely heavily on CGI.
The series’ soundtrack is very subdued and often you wont even notice that music is playing. It does however go a long way to set the tone of the scenes, especially those that are action-heavy. I am always a fan of music that you don’t immediately know is playing, and Nikita really pulls this off perfectly.
Some of the actor’s performances can oftentimes come off a little stiff and woody. It is so frequent that I found myself wondering if it was the fault of the cast or if it was intentional to portray their stoic, tough-guy/gal attitudes. Lyndsy Fonseca probably provides the show’s best performances, able to perfectly depict both strong, powerful side of Alex, along with the emotional and sometimes frightened, all the while remaining relatable and likeable.
Extras
Nikita Season 3 is a little light on the extra features, including only deleted scenes and a gag reel. As is expected, the deleted scenes are a mixed bunch, with some being great little snippets at some areas of the show that we otherwise wouldn’t have gotten to see, while some others are a little light on any content and you can see why they were cut. The gag reel on the otherhand is a lot of fun. It is hilarious to see these actors and actresses trying their hardest to remain stoic and serious, then screwing up and bursting out with laughter.
While the deleted scenes and gag reel are fun, I would have liked to see a little bit more included on the disc. Since this is such a drastic leap forward for the series, some sort of short-recap wouldn’t have gone astray.
Overall
Nikita suffers from a few problems, namely reliance on old spy-movie cliches and some stiff acting by some of the cast members. However, it is an awesome show despite all of this, and it is easy to see how it has become such a cult classic in its three short years on television. Season 3 was a big turning point for the show, and the way it is presented means that newcomers wont necessarily feel ostracised, while still maintaining the pace and tone that long-time viewers have come to expect. Its amazing visuals are a testament to how the Blu Ray medium can make everything look better no matter how much (or little) CGI is used. Nikita can quickly become a guilty pleasure, where you just have to keep watching to see what happens next, and whether or not the next member of the Dirty Thirty will be brought in.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
