While we’ve seen a number of characters from Utawarerumono shown off via their character cards, today Atlus USA has decided to highlight these fighters and put them together in a trailer focusing solely on their fighting capabilities.
The trailer can be found below but before you check that out, you can also find three brand new character cards, this time highlighting one Utawarerumono fighter and two Toheart 2 fighters, below. Currently AquaPazza is set to be released in North America on November 19th as both a digital download and physically for $29.99.
Hakuowlo – the honorable Emperor of Tuskur who wields a metal fan with great dexterity
Konomi – the cheerfully hyper high school student who is deadly with her bookbag
Manaka – the timid student who takes on the esteemed position of class president with a supernatural affinity for books
Revolutionary Girl Utena Studio:J.C. Staff Publisher:Hanabee Format: DVD Release Date: 2nd October 2013 Price: $59.99 – Available Here
Overview Once upon a time, many years ago, there was a little princess who was sad…
Everybody knows how the fairytale goes. The princess is in peril with no hope of rescue, until a dashing prince arrives just in time to save the pretty damsel. That’s how it normally goes. But what if the princess vowed to become a courageous prince herself? What if the villian thought he too was the prince? How would the story play out then?
Once upon a time…
Story Revolutionary Girl Utena takes place in that most thoroughly explored locales in all of anime: highschool. Within Ohtori Academy is Utena Tenjou, an extremely popular girl idolised by almost every other student. At some point in her past, Utena was saved by a “prince” who deeply affected her own sense of self. Presenting her with a ring bearing a rose crest, the prince promised that they would meet again. Longing to become a prince like her saviour, she possesses a very courageous, tomboyish and in some ways naive nature. She also stubbornly wears a boys uniform, her belief being that it is another step closer to the prince she longs to be.
During one of her many moments spent staring out of school windows, Utena witnesses a male student slap a girl across the face in, what she assumes to be, a lovers quarrel. Angered by the students actions, Utena challenge him to a kendo duel after school. He agrees, though declares that it will be held in the forbidden Arena Forest, believing her to be a challenger he was told he would face. At the entrance to the forest, Utena stumbles upon a large gate, emblazoned with a rose crest. Though the door seemingly refuses to open, her ring reacts with it, beginning a mechanism that that reveals a large spiral staircase. Ascending to the top of the staircase she discovers a strange floating castle, along with her duelling opponent, Saionji, and the girl whom he slapped, Anthy. After drawing a sword from Anthy’s chest, because of magic, Saionji explains the rules of their duel: the first to lose the rose that will be pinned to their chest is defeated. Despite uses a wooden training sword against Saionji’s magical blade, Utena surprises him by claiming victory. As is apparently the custom of these duels, Utena is now Anthy’s fiancée, revealed to be the Rose Bride. Which is important…for reasons.
Just your typical upside-down sky castle
Over the course of the series it is revealed that the Student Council is seeks a mysterious power, one said to be able to revolutionise the world. What this means exactly is left fairly ambiguous, though each member believes it will grant them the chance to make their dreams come true. Pursuing this power, the Council continuously challenges Utena to duels, in the hopes of reclaiming Anthy. Each duellist notes the power of Anthy, though none ever specify what this means beyond being able to “revolutionise the world”. Within these first twelve episodes, Utena engages in seven duels. The overarching theme of these duels is actually best explained in the preview for episode thirteen. It is explained that each duel was fought for a different core reason, these being: friendship, choice, reason, love, adoration, conviction and self. Each duel is also prefaced by a strange cutaway featuring two girls, though only their shadows are seen. These odd girls discuss a number of strange stories, which often relate to the main plot in some way.
Occasionally the series will also reference Utena’s goal of finding the mysterious prince of her past. Unfortunately the series leaves a lot of this fairly untouched, save for an occasional mention. Even after discovering that the Council bears the same ring that the prince gave to her, Utena never really investigates anything. She also just kind of accepts the duelling system, never even asking Anthy about her true power.
The duel that started it all
Amidst the seriousness of the series, it also has a sense of humour and throws some random plotlines out. In one of particular note, a magical curry spice forces Utena and Anthy to switch personalities…not sure why…screw it, it was magic. Also they don’t seem particularly annoyed by this fact, spending at least a whole day before even trying to find out what happened. This episode also sees Nanami, a rival of the girls, trek to India…or the stereotype possibly known as India…not even that, there’s just a bunch of elephants everywhere. This episode does, however contain, one of the funniest moments of the series. Utena, in Anthy’s body, explains her “true feelings” to Saionji, simply writing dumbass in big red letters…jerk deserved it.
One of the core themes of Utena is infatuation. Each episode deals with various characters and their powerful feelings for others. Whether or not these feelings are reciprocated, or even healthy, is another matter entirely. At one point its openly stated that Nanami has a big brother complex and she does not react kindly to those who get between her and her brother. One of the main attractors of attention in Anthy, the Rose Bride. With it being her duty to be bound in marriage to the top duellist, she essentially becomes a prize for people to fight over, a destiny she wholeheartedly accepts. Due to, what can be assumed, was a tough life, Anthy simply follows orders without voicing her own opinion. If she even has one. She also seems to wind up on the receiving end of slaps at startlingly frequent intervals. Though slapping does seem to be the main way to express unhappiness in this series…it happens a lot.
Nice to meet Chu
Visuals Utena definitely possesses an old school style, what with it being sixteen years old and all. It has the unmistakeable colour style found in these older series, featuring far more subdued and somewhat faded colours. That being said, you’ll know how important a character is based on the colour of their hair, the brighter it is, the larger a role they’ll have in the series. Anime 101. Characters also have a very angular style about them, featuring fairly pronounced noses and chins. They have an overall lanky build, with none really deviating from this build, though height does vary quite a lot.
The series also has a running style depicting characters as shadows devoid of details. This visual is generally applied to flashbacks, denoting gaps in memories or the overall mysterious nature of some figures, such as the prince. Roses also play heavily into the visuals of Utena, representing the Student Council’s true form, along with the prince of Utena’s past and Anthy, the Rose Bride. Each character involved in the duels also possesses their own colour of rose, generally relating to their overall look, furthering the colour centric theme of the main cast. The series will also occasionally place a border around certain scenes. The border itself is comprised of thorns with, you guessed it, roses in each corner. This generally appears to highlight a characters.
Not your average prince and princess
Audio The English dub of Utena is…not that great. It, more than anything, dates the series. Harking back to some of the older anime dubs, it feels as if the dub is almost afraid to translate the vocals of the original Japanese version. The characters don’t really have an emotional range, never seeming to raise or lower the volume of their voice regardless of the situation. Intense moments are met with a dull surprise at best. This really takes away from any given moment that the visuals and dialogue itself are attempting to create, and it can honestly get kind of painful to listen to.
The soundtrack, on the other hand, definitely fits the overall feel of the series. Centred on the more historically refined instruments, the audio adds a sense of flair to the series. Trumpets provide the regal feel sought by Utena in her goal to be prince-like. “Zettai Unmei Mokushiroku (Absolute Destiny Apocalypse)” also begins to play each time Utena opens the Rose Gate, becoming synonymous with the series’ numerous duels. This possess some pretty intense lyrics, though they appear to simply be a collection of thematically relevant words.
The piano and, more specifically, the song “The Sunlit Garden” also plays directly into the story as it is central to the relationship between Miki and Anthy. In the two episodes focusing on the dynamic between them, the tune is played numerous times by both characters, representing the connection between them, if any actually exists that is.
Do you know? Do you know? Do you know what that means?
Extras Utena contains the regular extras for an anime release, featuring a clean version of both the opening and ending themes, “Rondo – Revolution” and “Truth” respectively. Also included are a number of TV spots for the remastered series, one for each duelling opponent along with a general thirty second trailer. A TV spot and the official music video for “Rondo – revolution” are also present. Also included in the collection is a book featuring episode commentaries by director Kunihiko Iruhara, along with his thoughts on the opening theme and closing animation. It also includes staff discussions about the updated audio and visuals, a look into the shifting ideals in “girls’ manga”, excerpts of notes found in the original laser disc release of Utena and an art gallery. Whew.
The power to revolutionise the world!
Overall Utena is immediately recognisable as an older anime series. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a bad thing. Though dated, the animation has an almost nostalgic air to it, calling back to a different time of anime. That being said, the plot is also dated in a different way, tending to leave much ambiguity. Though this may be attributed to the collection presenting a third of the total series, it still feels as if the characters are too shallow for the amount of time they’ve had exploring them. Revolutionary Girl Utena is an odd series that amidst its bright colours, explores some of the more twisted and unspoken forms of “love”. Though you might want to watch it in Japanese…trust me.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
I personally thought that, with only one day left until the release of Pokemon X and Y, that no more actual Pokemon announcements would be made, looks like I was wrong though because the latest issue of CoroCoro Magazine has dropped some crazy Poke-Bombs on the world and it’s just made Pokemon fans everywhere more pumped up for the game’s release tomorrow. Alongside the Official Release of the Starter Pokemon’s Final Evolutions, we were also given 4 new Mega-Pokemon.
It was also announced that the magazine itself will be giving away a special in-game Garchomp within their next issue. The Garchomp will be holding a “Dragon Fang” and will come loaded up with the moves; Crunch, Dragon Claw, Dig and Draco Meteor. The magazine has said that details on how to get it’s Mega Stone will also be revealed in the next issue of the magazine.
– Chesnaught – Delphox – Greninja –
There has been a fantastic amount of leaks from Pokemon X and Y over the past week or so including the names of the the Starter’s Final Evolutions and, while there has been no Official confirmation, I believe it’s safe to assume the following information about these ones: Chespin’s final evolution will be a Grass/Fighting Type called “Chesnaught” with the ability “Overgrow”, Fennekin’s final evolution will be a Fire/Psychic Type called “Delphox” with the ability “Blaze” and Froakie’s final evolution will be a Water/Dark Type called “Greninja” with the ability “Torrent”.
These evolutions will take a little getting used to but I’m sure once you’re using them in-game you’ll come to love them just like every other Pokemon out there. Click the image above to see it on a larger scale.
– Mega Tyranitar – Mega Aggron – Mega Kangaskhan – Mega Gengar –
Here we have the next four Mega Pokemon to be released, two of which were already leaked but have now been confirmed. Allow me to take you through the info that we have so far: Mega Tyranitar will keep it’s original Type and ability so there’s no big change there apart from stats, Mega Aggron will turn into a pure Steel Type and gain the ability “Filter” which reduces Super Effective damage, Mega Gengar’s type hasn’t been confirmed as of yet but it’s ability has been confirmed as “Shadow Tag” which keeps the enemy Pokemon in battle no matter what, making it a huge asset to one’s team, Mega Kangaskhan will have the ability “Parental Bond” which allows the Pokemon to attack twice in each turn, so far no changes in type have been confirmed.
Pokemon X and Y for the 3DS is set for release tomorrow on the 12th of October worldwide so start gearing up for the ride of your life and for an adventure that you won’t soon forget!
People, Pokemon X and Y for the 3DS is only ONE day away and if you weren’t already excited enough for that then allow me to pump you up just that little bit extra. Let’s put X and Y aside for just a short moment while I talk about the fact that there is already another confirmed Pokemon game in the works and this time it will be focusing on the franchise mascot Pikachu.
It was confirmed by The Pokemon Company’s CEO, Tsunekazu Ishihara, that it is deffinitely in the works and it actually just kicked off this Summer so we don’t know exactly when we’re going to see the game in all it’s glory. Mr. Ishihara also said that the game will center around not only Pikachu but a boy who, and I quote; “takes on the world using playfulness as a weapon”.
Look, just because Pikachu is going to be the main focus doesn’t mean it is automatically going to be a smash hit and that’s not just my personal opinion, Mr Ishihara himself said that he’s concerned that the game will not live up to the Pokemon name as well as the Pikachu name and if that does happen it will damage the character’s popularity.
That’s a great sign for future players of the game, it means that the team behind the title will do the best they can to make the game live up to the Pokemon/Pikachu legacy. I’m excited for this one and I think a great deal of Pokemon fans are feeling the same right now.
Tower Defence games come by the dozen and most of them are the same old thing over and over again yet people can not get enough of them which leads me to believe the developers of that sub-genre are doing some things right. I’m not a fan at all of those types of games and I am left wondering about what the appeal of playing a game of its type is, well the team over at Dreamgate alongside their publisher buddies at Chillingo have come out with this game; Steampunk Tower which, while it being a traditional-type tower defence game, has me somewhat intrigued and has got me re-thinking the genre. Read on to see my full review of the game.
Gameplay
Like I had mentioned just above; it is a very typical and traditional tower defence game but don’t take that as a bad thing because I can’t honestly see a way to improve the genre as it seems like it’s pretty stable and well-rounded as it stands. You are given one tower and are attack from both sides of the tower, you earn money from kills which you can then use to buy more weaponry or upgrade the turrets you already have in action. There are a variety of different enemies to go up against, some with certain specifics, for example; one may be immune to electricity-based ammunition whereas another takes critical hits from the electricity-based rounds.
The thing I liked about this game is that, before a mission, you’re given just a small piece of information that tells you what you may be going up against and it allows you to change the way you were going to tackle the mission, very smart. Alongside various enemies are your weapons and their upgrades. Now I wouldn’t say that thee are various weapons because there are, essentially, only four; machine gun, heavy cannon, lightning coil and saw launcher. That isn’t a lot of variety but you do get to upgrade these weapons a great deal so, in a way, that eliminates the disappointment that comes with only have four unique weapons. With those weapons comes the Tower’s abilities which are directly controlled by you the player.
Abilities like “The Eye” wherein which a player literally controls a giant laser that takes out enemies, these abilities come at a cost of certain jewels that you will find in-game and are extremely helpful when in a bit of a jam. I didn’t often use them but when I did I felt that it was worth the wait.You rank up as you go through the game, getting high scores and beating the enemies in different ways and actually being promoted does do something for you so it is worth aiming for, it allows you more levels on your tower which means more turrets which, in turn, means more carnage.
You traverse a map through an old-west style town, there are challenge levels where it is similar to survival or you work under certain rules which, all in all, add up to your score and help you gain money to upgrade your weaponry and to help get promoted. The gameplay is very well-rounded, very stable and very fun. I have to say; I did get quite addicted to the game while reviewing it and I believe it was because it was so easy to pick up mid-fight and finish what I had started in my previous game sessions. For me, being able to pick up the game at any time and enjoy playing it is a necessary thing for an iOS game to have, this game has it and that’s what makes it great.
Visuals and Audio
The game looks nice, it’s called “Steampunk Tower” and you truly believe it is. It looks the way a Steampunk-based game should and I think it’s fantastic. The colour-scheme is real earthy with a great deal of brown, dark orange and gold used throughout the game. The animation was great too, it was very fluid and you could really pick up on how much work was put into the game even though the enemies and, in fact, your turrets are very small. The one complaint I have about the game is that, from what I’ve seen, the background doesn’t change, your playing field doesn’t change, it is perpetually a baron wasteland and while that fits into the whole “Steampunk” deal, it did get boring to look at and ultimately had me disinterested. It is unfortunate but it is true and while some people may think I just havn’t played enough of the game, I’ve played 14 levels of it at this point in time as well as the challenge levels along the way and I’ve seen no change in environment. It is simply unfortunate for it to be that way but it doesn’t “wreck” the game, it is just something I picked up on.
Audio-wise the game is simple yet effective! First of all the music is very well suited, the game is full of dated tracks that you would expect to hear in a Steampunk-style game and reminded me a lot of the music in Bioshock Infinite so you can see where I’m coming from when I say it was an accurate style to put within this type of game. On the battlefield there was no big music track, the best way to explain what it was is that it felt like something was always creeping up beside you. It wasn’t too loud, it didn’t take over, it was nice. The sound effects of the weaponry and the enemies both attacking and being killed were fantastic and it added to the gameplay, especially because of how satisfying the sound of destroying a tank was. It did a great job of keeping you interested.
Overall
This game was simply fantastic, while it did nothing to break the mould of the genre it also wasn’t a terrible game. It felt like it was done right and, apart from the lack of scenery in the game, it was perfect. Each individual aspect of Steampunk Tower suited and complemented the others. It is incredibly well-rounded, incredibly fluid both in gameplay and in aesthetics and I found it fairly hard to put down after a session. I think Dreamgate have done a fantastic job on the game and, once again, Chillingo has added another great titles to it’s roster of great games. Don’t pass this one up at all, be you a fan of the genre are the total opposite like me, I think a wide audience will enjoy this one.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
The news for Artdink’s latest Dragon Ball Z game Battle of Z continues to slowly come in after a massive blowout of information with the new trailer which revealed alot of the roster. This update focuses on the signature ultimate attacks characters can perform and also includes a bunch of new sweet looking screenshots.
We see Super Saiyan 2 Gohan will be able to perform his finisher Father-Son Kamehameha, Cell firing a massive Kamehameha straight towards the ground and Frieza using what seems to be the final attack he used against Goku when his back was turned, an odd choice for Frieza’s finisher as it is normally the classic Death Ball move. We have also seen Goku use the Spirit Bomb, which left a massive crater in the ground and has been said to be able to knock out opponents in one move. According to the official Facebook page, not all characters will be getting an ultimate move and you will need a Limit Jewel item to perform them.
Taken from the official Facebook page:
Completing missions provides two kinds of rewards; ‘Dragon Ball Points’ (DP) that can be used to buy items from the Item Collection Store or ‘Special Bonus’ events that allows fans to send more ‘GENKI’ and earn ‘Premium Points’ (PP) in exchange of this ‘GENKI’. With PP, players can buy unique items such as the ‘Limit Jewel’ and much more from the Premium Collection Store! When equipped with the very rare and unique ‘Limit Jewel’, some brawlers will perform an ‘Ultimate Move’ like Goku’s Spirit Bomb!
We also got more of a look at both the stat and visual customisation available in game. We can change the colour of Gohan’s Gi to make him look like he did in the Bojack film, change the colour of Cell’s skin and even edit the colour of Frieza’s purple-y thingies. In terms of stat customisation, characters will be able to equip skills into different slots. Characters will have more slots in certain areas depending on their character type which can be one (or a couple) of either Fighter, Support, Balanced and Long Range.
Battle of Z is shaping up to be one of the most unique games in the franchise in a long time with it’s customisation component and 4 on 4 battles. The game is coming to PS3, Xbox 360 and PS Vita in early 2014. Check out the full collection of new screenshots below.
In case some people missed the screenshots from Gamescom, Microsoft and Capcom Vancouver have released a short cinematic trailer showing off one of the more ridiculously awesome vehicles in Dead Rising 3. The vehicle is of course the “Roller Hawg” the combination motorcycle and steamroller.
The trailer may be short, just 30 seconds, but showing off just a little of what the Roller Hawg can do is really more than enough. Fans should be more than ready to want to try it out for themselves in Dead Rising 3. Those wanting to see the Roller Hawg prepped and ready to crush and burn zombies can find the trailer embedded below.
Dead Rising 3 is currently set to release as a launch title for the Xbox One on November 22nd, 2013, but those wanting to ensure themselves a Day One edition of the game can preorder the game now.
Codemasters has announced today that a mini version of F1 will be hitting the app store in F1 Challenge. Players will complete over 90 racing events and recreate thrilling moments from the 2012 FIA Formula One World Championship with slick touch controls for on-the-go gaming. The game features all the perks of the official license with cars, drivers and tracks. Modes include Time Trials, Duels, Chase the Ace, Race events and short Grand Prix challenges with 12 cars on the track at once.
F1 Challenge features a simple and slick control system, with options for both left and right handed gamers. Players move by using touch to steer, a simple tap to deploy K.E.R.S. and by slip-streaming to gain the advantage on their opponents in the game’s isometric view which has been tuned to take advantage of Apple’s Retina Displays. As you complete challenges they will unlock an in-game collection of F1 facts and trivia about cars, teams, tracks and drivers.
F1 Challenge is avaialable now on both the iPad and iPhone for a price of £1.99, you can download it here. Watch the trailer of the game below if you’re curious to see how the sport has translated over to the small screen. No Android version has been announced thus far. We recently reviewed F1 2013 which is available on consoles and PC, you can check out the review here to see what we had to say.
Daisuki has been great about giving free access to anime series via streaming and today they’ve announced something new to make it even easier for those trying to catch up on or watch a simulcast. Today it was announced that those looking to watch anime on their iPad need not look further with the release of the new and completely free Daisuki app.
The official streaming app will allow those wanting to check out the latest, like Monogatari, and greatest, like Lupin the Third, of anime right from their iPad. Even the screenshot above shows just some of the selection that is available now. Designed to be easy to use with a single hand, anime fans can scroll through the list of series, pick one out and see all the episodes and descriptions before settling down and watching it.
Those wanting to check out the Daisuki App for themselves can find it on iTunes.
Overview A.R.E.S. Extinction Agenda was first released for the PC back in 2010 and being a side-scrolling platformer it isn’t surprising that it is finally making its way onto Xbox Live Arcade. What is surprising however, is that the game has received a pretty good overhaul with brand new additions. Does A.R.E.S. Extinction Agenda Ex give an even better experience than the original PC with all of this new content? Let’s take a look at how it stands up.
Story A.R.E.S. is the story of a robot duo sent to investigate a problem on a remote space station. The problem? Lots of killer robots, zombie killer robots to be precise as the drones on the station have become infected with Zytron. The main character Ares has been tasked with locating the head scientist, while Tarus searches for more information on the Zytron menace. While the original game only included the Ares story and levels, the Xbox version adds in the Tarus story and levels to make the game twice as long storywise, although the levels themselves are identical.
While both stories are short, only 7 levels each, they are still fairly well crafted even with the addition of the Tarus campaign as it fits within the original story and fills in the gaps. Though they are both decent it does come across a little cliche at times as there are certainly troupes that pop up in a game set on a space station fighting zombie robots. But, even with those slights, the story works well with the tight combat/platforming gameplay and the collectible data clusters adds an additional depth to the entire thing.
Gameplay
The gameplay in A.R.E.S. is well crafted, as a combination of Mega Man and Metroid. The levels are formulaic, but as there are only 7 it doesn’t suffer from adhering itself to formula. Each level consists of platforming and combat, mini-boss, more platforming and combat, then the level boss, which all works well. Through the story Ares and Tarus gain more abilities and weapons, which allows them to do more things and access more areas, plus replaying past levels to reach what couldn’t be before is always a great component to any game to make replaying levels more interesting than just a speed run.
Levels also keeps track of a score, which allows Ares and Tarus to level up to gain more health. Replaying doesn’t stack the new scores either making their level based more on skill than just grinding. There are still things to grind however, upgrades and repairs are purchased with scrap dropped by the enemies, so in order to get the max everything out those players do have to collect a lot of scrap. Upgrades however must be found in order to use, which is where the Metroid style gameplay of looking everywhere and backtracking to past levels with new abilities plays a major part. Ares and Tarus also have similar, but still different powers and weapons, so that playing through the same levels again still presents a new experience.
While all the previous gameplay elements work fantastic there are still some problems with A.R.E.S. the most major of which is the control scheme. Since running and gunning is such a big part of the game, it makes sense that the controls are mainly step-up like a twin stick shooter, left stick moves right stick aims and shoots, the problem however is that jumping is just as important. Being a platformer, jumping occurs a lot, not as much as shooting, but being tied to the A button makes this incredibly difficult to do while also shooting and trying to hold the controller comfortably.
The controls aren’t the only issue either, as jumping itself feels a lot like a heavy robot having to make somewhat precise jumps that are sometimes unforgiving. One wrong move results in death and having to reattempt the entire thing, which can be irksome in a few of the areas. Though getting certain upgrades can at least make these somewhat easier. Boss battles can also have irksome moments when dying and having to get back into the fight, it is nice that the dialogue is skipped after the first time, but waiting for the boss to prepare can lead to points where dying and trying to get back into the fight can take what feels like a long time on multiple attempts.
Visuals and Audio
This is where A.R.E.S. shines, as both are fantastic and one of the highest points of the game. The visuals are crisp and clean, great for HD and the color is often vibrant in both the environments and enemies. While there is no dialogue, instead everything is done in subtitles, the music is phenomenal. Catching the spirit of the genre, as well as having plenty of music across the course of the game, this is one of the better soundtracks of a XBLA release in some time.
Overall A.R.E.S. has some problems, the controls take getting used to and could have been improved by allowing players the ability to set the controls themselves, plus certain parts can be aggravating to navigate even when knowing what to do. But, past those issues the game still has some pretty great aspects, the visuals looks amazing, the music is great, and the addition of Tarus as a playable character doubles the length of the game from the original release. Those that really enjoyed the original and are interested in the additional story and differing gameplay or those what are fans of Mega Man/Metroid style offerings should find some fun.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
