Hanabee have just announced their third and final acquisition announcement from Supanova Brisbane. The acquisition is of none other than Oreshura, the popular light novel adaptation.
They confirmed they will be releasing the series in a Japanese audio only DVD ($59.99) release on the 8th of February, 2014. The entire 13 episodes will be covered in one complete collection.
Oreshura is interesting in its portrayal of the romantic comedy genre. Rather than being a comedy about love, it is a comedy about hating love! It comes from A-1 Pictures, the studio behind series such as Sword Art Online and Anohana.
Be sure to stay tuned for further information on this Hanabee release as more details come to light.
The best deal this weekend goes to Amazon’s 33% off PayDay 2. The game is probably hands down the best co-op game released all year. At $19.99, this is the lowest price for PayDay 2 so far. I thoroughly enjoyed the game and can’t recommend it enough. Find out more about the game in our review!
Greenman Gaming has a 20% off voucher. Use GMG20-X80Z3-CU97Y when you check out to knock an extra 20% off most games, including ones already on sale!
Finally, drama! After weeks and weeks of teasing us with hints of Banri’s past, light has finally been shone on the situation, lifting the veil of mystery and providing me with the emotion I have been longing for. No kidding, a small tear began to well up in the corner of my eye for the first time in a while. Far too long I have waited for a good old fashioned romance that can invoke that kind of emotion in me. Ironically, the last one that reached that level was Toradora. Yuyuko Takemiya really knows how to play on my heartstrings with her light novels and J.C. Staff seem to always do a fantastic job of translating them onto the small screen. Golden Time has the potential to be the anime of the season and considering that it is going toe to toe with Kill la Kill as a 2-cour anime, ending as spring begins to break through the clouds, that is extremely high praise.
Why the sudden onslaught of compliments you may ask? Simply put, it is because the chips were down and everyone’s hands were thrown on the table. There was no messing around like last week. Banri took the initiative and demanded answers after months of being left in the dark about everything around him. Recollecting how he was in love with Linda for so long was the spark that lit the fuse; always treated as a friend, until the old Tada Banri was cast from his body, and replaced with the person he is now. I’m no stranger to being ‘friendzoned’ and I can vouch for Banri – it sucks. The parallels that Golden Time draws to my life and I’m sure the lives of many others are astoundingly accurate, but never moreso than when Banri just decided that enough was enough. Finally breaking, he posed a great John Mayer lyric to Kouko; friends, lovers, or nothing?
As for Kouko’s reaction to his advances, I am unsure of how to feel. Undoubtedly, rejecting him and then sprinting after and crashing into him on a bike when he was about to jump off of the bridge was incredibly romantic. Hell, I sat up from my warm bed, embraced the cold English air, and declared, “Yes! YESSSS!” to the world because I couldn’t be happier that they are finally going to get together… However, I am unfortunately burdened with the knowledge of how that would end in real life. Clearly Kouko is not entirely over Mitsuo since it was her outburst at him that caused Banri to finally break, and beginning a relationship with someone when you are not ready is never a good idea. She said herself that her emotions were still paralysed and she took shelter in Banri after realising that he was the only one that understood her. Maybe I give women a bit too much credit, or I am secretly caring underneath my asshole exterior, but nurturing her recovery seems more important than Banri being able to wear the coveted ‘I-Have-A-Girlfriend’ badge. Having been on the receiving end of the friendzone, I can understand Banri’s pain, but realistically she needs more time and I hope that Golden Time addresses this issue, especially considering how true-to-life it has been thus-far.
I can’t believe I’m saying it, but that wasn’t even the most exciting part of the episode. I could have never expected how Banri would drop the news to Linda that he was finally aware of her façade and her reaction was just as surprising. After being rejected in amongst all of the rest of the confusion in his life, the weight placed on his shoulders must have been huge and eventually he lost his cool. The normally calm and calculating Tada Banri dropped his guard and erupting like a volcano he let his memories fly out, catching Linda unawares and opening a whole new window of possibilities for future episodes. Banri’s once unrequited love seems to now be mirrored in Linda and considering that she came to look at the hospital every day and was so desperately trying to tell Banri that it was not her fault that she was acting so distant there is definitely something there that will not fade just because Kouko is Banri’s new girlfriend.
Conflict with a chance of rain is my forecast for the future of Golden Time. Maybe not next episode since I can only assume that will exhibit the newly in love Kouko coming to terms with everything and most likely being exaggeratedly in love which, I can only guess, will be adorable and hilarious. The spirit of Tada Banri loved Linda for a reason and now that the chance is there I can’t imagine he’ll be quiet about it even though he can’t speak to him directly. Kouko and Banri are together, but for how long? Stay tuned and find out.
For more awesome reviews of this season’s best and worst anime, head over to our Anime Impressions page.
Dark Matter is a 2.5D platformer. Our hero, only known as The Ensign, wakes up to discover the crew of her massive ship is dead and a parasitic species of aliens now call it home. A mysterious AI has awoken her from seventy years of sleep and together they hope to escape from the ghost ship.
Story
One A.I. survived the massive self-deletion after the ship was hit with not one, but two separate alien attacks. First, The Angels consumed the ship and left it in ruins. The survivors found themselves under attack soon after by the mysterious parasitic aliens. After a long and horrifying battle, the ship was overcome by the aliens. The last remaining AI searched through the med bays and discovered our hero The Ensign and wakes her from her slumber. The Ensign must work her way to the A.I. so they can escape the hell ship.
The story is told through by the A.I.’s recollection of the events and the diaries left by the crew in their dying days. The mood is grim and the desperation of the crew is apparent. Unfortunately, the plot gets a little lost near the end of the game. A final boss suddenly gets thrown in the way of the player and the game ends abruptly. Originally, the game ended with a confusing text epilogue. In a recent patch, the ending has been replaced with a full-fledged cut scene that quickly wraps up the plot in Dark Matter. It is a great deal better than the text epilogue. It does try to tie off a lot of loose ends in a short period of time but does little to make the ending any less abrupt. The crew diaries are probably the best part of the storytelling in Dark Matter and it is an utter shame there are not more diaries.
Gameplay
Dark Matter is a platformer with a horror theme and an emphasis on exploration. The exploration mechanics will have players wandering around the claustrophobic hallways. There are lots of side paths to explore, but unfortunately everything is spread around so far apart, players will spend a lot of the game wandering around the ship with very little to do. The Ensign does not move very fast and has an extremely limited stamina bar for sprinting. I found the map to only be helpful half the time. It will show the rough direction where The Ensign needs to head to, but will give leave the players to wander around the halls until they find the connecting path.
Combat breaks up the monotony of wandering the halls once in a while. It is a shame that the combat is few and far between, especially once the player learns how to avoid triggering spawns. There were a few tense moments during the beginning of the game, but once players figure out that turning off the lights near enemy spawners prevents enemy from spawning, the game becomes a lot less tense. Â Ammunition and med packs are created from resources enemies drop and were never really in short supply. The weapon mods weren’t particularly game changing and in the worst case scenario, the pistol has unlimited ammunition. It is a weak weapon, but it is still enough to slowly kite enemies while the player nibbles away at their health with the pistol from a distance. The combat did very little to ratchet up the tension and the fear expected in a horror game.
The puzzle mechanics are very interesting and are easily the best part of Dark Matter’s gameplay. Unfortunately, once they are mastered, they make the rest of the game very easy. Most of the puzzles respond to light sources. Players will need to shoot out light sources so they can sneak past alien spawners safely, open doors, and avoid exploding traps. Other traps will actually require the player to shine their flashlight on the trap to disable them. Woe was the day I discovered three traps requiring darkness right beside three requiring light! The remaining puzzles are classic fetch and flip switches types that will require the player to wander around and explore.
Dark Matter is plagued with bugs. Hit detection can be a little spotty at times and the enemy A.I. seems a little lost at times. It is advertised that the enemy A.I. will adopt to players tactics, but frankly I found the A.I. wandering around as if no one was around while it was clearly taking damage about 10% of the time. The ladders also suffer from some bugs that will not allow the player to climb them. Reloading the game usually solves those problems, so they are not of the game breaking variety.
The controls are good when they work. The player moves around with WASD and aims with the mouse. Right mouse button is used for interaction. However, I found the ledge climb mechanic could get a little fussy and would randomly decide to stop working. Holding down right mouse button will bring up the aim mode, but I found it to be only marginally useful as the mouse point’s crosshair worked perfectly.
Visuals
Dark Matter is presented in 2.5d. The game is played as a side scrolling platformer, but the graphics are all 3d. The environment is very well done. Even though one would imagine a spaceship to be a rather boring and monotonous environment, InterWave does an excellent job using the alien invasion to liven up the otherwise boring ship. The enemy design look great. The aliens are varied and actually look like they evolved for their purpose. I found the animations were probably the weakest part of the visuals. The reloading animations leave much to desire and The Ensign’s gait looks unnatural. There is a heavy emphasis on light in Dark Matter and InterWave pulls off the visual effects perfectly. Eerie shadows are cast as The Ensign’s flashlight shines into an area.
On the hardware side, the game ran smoothly. I did not encounter any problems while running Dark Matter on my PC. There are options to lower the graphics quality for slower computers, but the game lacks detailed control on tweaking the visuals. Instead, players will have to settle for general graphics settings ranging from low to ultra.
Audio
Audio makes and breaks the horror genre. Anyone who has watched a horror movie or played a horror game on mute will tell you it is a lot less scary without the music. Dark Matter manages to pull off a really eerie atmosphere. The music and background noise is kept to a bare minimum while exploring, which makes hearing the clattering sound of alien claws against the steel hull all the more creepy. The voice actor does an excellent job of giving life to the A.I. that guides The Ensign through her journey. He strikes the perfect balance to create a lonely and tortured soul with a slight hint of monotone.
Overall
Dark Matter has some solid ideas behind the game. Unfortunately it fails in execution. The exploration aspect of the game ultimately is extremely boring and the combat does little to solve it. The backstory is excellent, but the actual story itself feels disorganized and the game ends abruptly. The graphics and audio are done well, but the game is buggy and is in need of a good patching. At $14.99, I have a hard time recommending the game.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Don’t you just love the smell of comics in the morning? Well if you are a comic fan looking for your next big read then look no further. The latest issue of Titan Comics’ It Came! is about to hit store shelves, and anyone who picks it up is sure for a treat. The book which is drawing ever closer to its thrilling finale, is written like a classic, low-budget 50s sci-fi film so fans of the genre will love the tone and style of the book, while everyone else can just enjoy the great sci-fi story.
We have a few preview pages for you guys down below so be sure to check those out. If ‘It Came!’ sounds interesting to you and you want to check out some more then be sure to check out our preview for issue #3 here, and #2 here, and as always, be sure to stay tuned to Capsule Computers for all the Titan Comics news as it becomes available.
Overview It’s been a great year for the horror genre, especially on the PC. While long-running AAA titles flounder to stay relevant, smaller indie games have come out from the shadows to scare the living daylights out of us. Games like Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs and Outlast have taught us the meaning of dread once again.
Before the year ends, we’re treated to yet another indie title based on the popular Slender Man meme. Now I’m a bit out of touch with creepy internet in-jokes, but it seems like this is the modern boogeyman only far more horrifying. Naturally, the internet jumped onto the idea and began Photoshopping this suspiciously tall guy in various images. Can a game based on this simple idea be both terrifying and satisfying? We gave the Slender Man a hug and lived to tell the tale.
Story
Given the budget nature of Slender: The Arrival, the story is told through vague notes picked up throughout the game rather than voice acting and scripted cutscenes. You play as Lauren who visits her friend, Kate, only to find her house abandoned and in a mess. Drawings of stick figures and crazy words scratched into surfaces accompany you for most of the game thanks to Kate, in case your encounters with the tall guy aren’t scary enough.
Thus the player must traverse across six chapters in search of Kate, filled with tasks, while learning what exactly happened. It’s short and there’s hardly any insight into the player’s character, Lauren, but the narrative is sinister and quite disturbing once you’re invested and read all the notes and clues scattered throughout the game. Slender does a satisfactory job at providing a story that gives purpose to the game, rather than just throwing the player in a ghost house maze, even if it’s a fairly bare bones experience.
Gameplay Slender: The Arrival uses the successful first-person formula of other survival horror games and has the player run around with a flashlight gathering notes and interacting with objects, complete with the camera HUD. There are, however, no puzzle elements in the game but instead has you activate switches and finding keys, for example. While trying to do this, the game throws everything it can to scare the hell out of you. Slender’s appearance is incredibly startling, moreso than other closet horror games purely because of the random and loud nature.
He teleports around you, distorting the screen and blasting twisted audio into your ears. If you have heart problems, stay right away from this even if you’re not that scared because every time he appears in your field of vision (or right in front of you) you can’t prevent your ticker from skipping a beat. This effect is magnified with head phones and only the bravest will play this at midnight with the sound right up.
So the game is scary to a degree, but how does it handle while you’re screaming like a little girl trying to get away? Incredibly frustrating. Player movement is one of the most sluggish I’ve experienced in an FPS-type game with a nauseating head bob of someone running home from the bar. You see, the fear starts to wear off once you die several times due to unresponsive movement, not being able to see anything when Slender gets too close and having to run around in circles for thirty minutes trying to find your objective. Worse, there is an invisible stamina limit and you’ll be hitting it during every sprint wishing you could run just a bit faster.
The level design isn’t a problem, but getting your bearings is. I like to think my sense of direction isn’t that bad but Slender: The Arrival had me hopelessly lost in a couple of its areas, no longer scared but increasingly frustrated. At least give us a “You Are Here” map!
One aspect that’s interesting is the random nature of some of the levels, meaning it’s not a simple exercise in trial and error when you die. Items you have to collect might appear in different locations or the player might spawn on the other side of the level. This is a double-edged sword as while it gives the game some re-playability, the flaws mentioned make it infuriating at times.
Visuals
As a downloadable indie title, there’s very little to complain about here. Running on the Unity engine, the game is terrifyingly dark and oozes with atmosphere. The occasional level sees the player wander outside during the daylight which is both pretty and still very eerie. The Slender Man himself is faithfully recreated while the player’s vision is broken up by feedback every time he appears. While annoying when it gets too frequent, this distortion effect is almost perfectly done.
Audio
The sound design contributes greatly to the fear factor in pretty much every horror game. Just turn the sound off and see how important it is. Slender: The Arrival sounds absolutely horrifying to the point where I was wanting to just play the game with some audio coming from the speakers. It’s that scary.
Every distortion effect is backed up by shrilling sound, the player constantly breathes heavily and the ambient music is ever-present, like an unbeknownst actor about to check the cupboard in an old horror movie . Having said that, the music can get a little much and I feel like it could be more effective when used sparingly. After all, it’s rare when there is complete silence around the player.
Overall Slender: The Arrival is a worthy attempt at a brief horror experience and is one that succeeds in capturing the essence of the Slender Man meme. It managed to scare the pants off me and wish for a fleeting second that I didn’t have to review games! While it excels in atmosphere, it unfortunately suffers from overly simple gameplay, frustrating mechanics and a very short length. If you’re looking for a small but scary romp and you’ve exhausted the other bigger titles, by all means give this a go. It’s at a budget price and it’ll do the job it’s made to do; make you mash the pause button every few minutes.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
At Supanova Brisbane, Hanabee have made a major license acquisition announcement. They have officially revealed that they have acquired the license for popular anime series Accel World.
Accel World comes from the creator of Sword Art Online and similary focuses on a virtual world. With an interesting premise and unique cast of characters, Accel World is an unforgettable anime that must be seen.
Hanabee will be releasing the series on DVD ($59.99) in dual language across two parts. Part 1 will feature the first 12 episodes and is slated for DVD release on the 8th of February, 2014. Stay tuned for further information on the releases as it surfaces.
Hanabee have just dropped a bombshell at Supanova Brisbane. They have officially announced the acquisition of popular 2012 action anime series BTOOOM!.
BTOOOM! revolves around a game of the same name that becomes all too real when players are placed into a Battle Royale-like scenario where they must kill one another in order to survive. The twist is that the weapons at their disposal aren’t your average weapons – they are explosives.
The 12 episode series is slated for release on both DVD ($59.99) and Blu-Ray ($64.99) in dual language format on the 8th of February, 2014. Stay tuned for further information on this release as it comes to light.
Blizzard has brought Diablo III to current-gen consoles earlier this year, in arguably better form than the PC, and will be releasing it on PlayStation 4 as well. A trailer and a set of screenshots have been shared showing the game in action on the PS4 with Blizzard promising the game to run in 1080p at a smooth 60 frames per second. Check these out below.
Called the “Ultimate Evil Edition”, Diablo III on PS4 will feature a custom interface, support for the Dual Shock 4 touch pad and social functions. Not only will PS3 players be able to transfer their characters over (one-way), but this version will include the updates and new features that will come with the Reaper of Souls expansion pack on PC.
Currently the PS4 version has no release date but is expected sometime in 2014.
Earlier this month Namco Bandai announced that they were working on a new Idolmaster game for the PlayStation 3 called The Idolmaster: One For All. While details about the game are still scarce, minus a short debut trailer, the company has released some of the first screenshots of the game which can be found below.
From what we do know so far, The Idolmaster: One For All will allow players to produce all 13 of the idols of 765 Production and that there will be some new songs and some new costumes in the game. Currently there is no release window for The Idolmaster: One For All in Japan.
