The epic second episode of Marvel’s Avengers Initiative is said to take the focus off the green monster known as The Hulk and put the emphasis on the man with the plan Captain America.
Episode 2 will allow players to control Captain America as he combats a large quantity of escaped super-powered villains all the while trying to figure out who the mole within S.H.I.E.L.D. is and foil the nefarious plans of the Masters of Evil.
We previously reviewed the first episode of Avengers Initiative which you can see here. If you are interested in picking up this game you can do so right here on the app store. For updates on the game and Marvel XP in general be sure to like the official facebook page.
A trailer for episode 2 can be seen below. Let us know what you think in the comments section.
Sage Fusion is a point-and-click style RPG adventure for the iOS, featuring a story that’s told with the visual flair of a visual novel. It’s developer, Kidalang, is based in Indonesia and hope to release games with equal emphasis on gameplay and story-telling. Sage Fusion is their first title. Have Kidalang fused together all the right elements in realising their creed? Read on to find out.
Story
The game starts off with two spies, named Vientiane and Florence, attempting to infiltrate the very heart of the Neo Vatican; the headquarters of the Zeian Church. The infiltration mission does not go unmet however; guards descend upon the two, who survive the confrontation. Before things can move any further, the story switches over to our main protagonists, bodyguard Alvonse Brin and his boss, a wealthy trader named Marlon Ziglar.
Marlon was set to meet a very important client in Capistad, the capital of the Galactic Union, and so Alvonse wondered why his services would be needed; was this not just a civil business meeting? As you play it all out, you learn much about Alvonse’s past, get to explore Capistad, help out it’s citizens and ponder some philosophical and deep questions about human civilisation. Their story together may begin in search of a part for Marlon’s broken down coffee machine, but the two come to a much better understanding of each other.
And after the meeting finally takes place, the events that occur from that point on will entice you to continue on with “Chapter 2” once it is released. It must be said, though, that there is quite a lot of text to read through, and it slows down the game’s pace quite drastically at times. In the Inventory/Pause menu (one in the same) at the top right, the text speed can be changed, which helps. Also, there are numerous and repeated spelling and grammatical errors such as the line “there are so many stuffs here…”.
Gameplay
The gameplay is very simple and revolves around simply tapping points of interest, objects or people to move there or interact with them. Items that are picked up can be viewed in the Inventory menu, although they are simply listed in text-form with no imagery implemented, which is disappointing but not a major aspect of the gameplay, so it’s rarely used to begin with.
Combat also involves tapping the attack you want to use, which displays a quick description and its AP Cost, tapping it again to confirm and then tapping on the enemy you want to hit. Once the attack animation starts, a shield icon will fade in over that enemy’s head. Tapping it will break the enemy’s defence, allowing for a stronger attack. The longer you wait before successfully tapping it, the more powerful the blow.
The same technique is used while defending. Turns can be skipped in favor of saving up your attack power, which raises as you successfully defend against your enemies’ attacks. Items can also be used in the same way; by simply clicking the Use Item menu on screen, choosing which item to use and then confirming the pick and it’s target. These can range from Revitalizers, which heal your HP bar, to Grenades, which can be used against multiple opponents. Using an item does also require expending AP.
Visuals
With over 70 hand-drawn backgrounds, Sage Fusion has a great visual appeal reminiscent of a motion comic. The Galactic Union is well developed visually, as are the characters. The visual design is unique, although inspiration from certain Japanese RPGs could be argued.
The world is colourful with each distinct area having a representative colour scheme, such as the poorer Inner Globe being bathed in browns. I do wish that the objects you collect had their own visual representation within your inventory, which is very basic and completely text-based. That being said, the visuals are probably the best aspect of Sage Fusion.
Audio
The music of Sage Fusion thematically fits very well. Most notably, whenever the Zeian Church is encountered, or the Neo Vatican is visited, this great organ-heavy track plays that evokes the air of reverence, but also a slight sense of power and intimidation with it’s low keys and tone before it picks up. The speed of the music picks up appropriately during battle sequences, of course.
In terms of sound effects, I was a little underwhelmed. Barring a few key ones, the soundscape starts to sound a bit bare because of the lack of effects. Dialogue is all text, which is expected, but it would have been nice to hear a little signature greeting whenever you engage in conversation with each character. Just one or two words, nothing extensive. The game really would have benefitted from some further audio support in that aspect.
Overall
Sage Fusion has a meaningful story with some political and moral overtones that relate to the real world and our lives. Even religion is tackled. But its futuristic, fantastical sci-fi setting is a decidedly different world than our own. There may be some slow moments, too much superfluous text to troll through, consistent English/grammatical errors and a lack of augmentation through audio, but Sage Fusion has a great visual style, a nice battle system and is quite long considering it’s just “Chapter 1”. All in all, I recommend exploring the Galactic Union.
Ubisoft have released news that their upcoming Wii U platformer Rayman Legends will be published in Japan by Nintendo rather than themselves. This comes as no surprise as Ubisoft has usually had other companies publish their games in the Japanese market. Rayman Legends will release in Japan in Spring 2013, not long after the game is released in Australia and New Zealand on the 28th of February, 2013.
In anticipation of Rayman Legends’ 2013 launch, Ubisoft have released a demo for the game on the Wii U eShop for European users. To promote the demo release they have uploaded a trailer for it which can be seen below.
What do you think of Nintendo publishing Rayman Legends in Japan? Let us know in the comments section below.
Sony released a new trailer today featuring everyone’s favorite raccoon heister, Sly Cooper. A few of Sly’s closest cohorts chimed in to answer a very important question: “Who is Sly?”
In the trailer we are treated to interviews with Sly’s pals Bentley and Murray, and Sly’s love-hate interest Carmelita Fox as they each try to explain who Sly Cooper is to them.
Even more important than the question “Who is Sly,” comes another inquiry later in the video: “When is Sly?” The footage shows him dressed in decor spanning the centuries such as Robin Hood and a Samurai, which he presumably picked up from his ancestors.
With the help of his crew, Sly can be anyone, anywhere, anytime. Can you?
Check out the trailer below see Sly’s gang give you their input.
In news that surprises no one, the third installment of the Rebuild of Evangelion film franchise has made a lot of money, 4.1 Billion yen in fact.
The third film titled Evangelion 3.0: You Can (Not) Redo has done incredibly well consider its only be in cinemas for about a month. So well in fact that it has eclipsed the entire total unadjusted box office return for it’s predecessor Evangelion 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance which tallied in at a smooth 4 Billion yen.
What do you think of Evangelion 3.0 being a box office smash hit? Are you surprised? No of course you’re not, silly of me to ask. Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
Ever wanted to have safe sex but thought that condoms were relatively emasculating? Well with Fist of the North Star condoms, you can engage in intercourse with your lover with all the strength of Ken’s raging fist without that raging fist of a penis impregnating or catching any sexually transmitted diseases.
Of course this is yet another thing that only those geniuses in Japan would be able to think up and is naturally only available to those very geniuses. I wonder how many men have proudly shouted Kenshiro’s infamous catch phrase “You’re already dead” as their partner is climaxing? You can of course purchase these Fist of the North Star branded condoms online here.
What do you think of these manly condoms? Let us know in the comments section below.
Level-5, the Japanese game company behind the Professor Layton series, has just released a completely different kind of game to the Nintendo 3DS eShop for North America and Europe. How different? So drastically, I’m regretting bringing up Layton at all. Oh well, anyway their new game Crimson Shroud is actually based around the concepts of classic table top RPGs as evidenced by the die in the picture.
Crimson Shroud was created by Yasumi Matsuno a developer whose works include Final Fantasy Tactics, Vagrant Story,and Tactics Ogre, which looking at would have made more sense to bring up in the first place. The game was already released in Japan as part of the Guild01 game pack, but now is available for North America and Europe like Liberation Maiden and Aero Porter from the same pack.
Players can check out the launch trailer for Crimson Shroud embedded below and those wanting to download the game to their Nintendo 3DS can find it for $7.99 (€7.99 / ₤7.19) on the eShop now.
Some unfortunate news has struck the upcoming live-action film adaptation of manga series Attack on Titan. After some internal disputes regarding the script for the film, director Tetsuya Nakashima has quit the project leaving the film’s future in limbo.
Toho the films production company has delayed the film to a vague release in 2014. This is surely disappointing to fans expecting to see the Attack on Titan live-action film in its original release of Fall 2013. Thankfully though there will be an anime adaptation beginning in Spring 2013.
What do you think of the live-action Attack on Titan film being delayed? Let us know in the comments section below.
Tecmo Koei have released a new trailer for the face-punchingly awesome Fist of the North Star: Ken’s Rage 2. The new trailer for the Fist of the North Star: Ken’s Rage sequel focuses largely on the gameplay behind the beat-em-up game.
As you can imagine by the Fist of the North star title, the game features a lot of punching people in face very hard until they die because as Ken famously says, they are already dead.
Check out the Fist of the North Star: Ken’s Rage 2 gameplay trailer below and let us know what you think of it in the comments section.
Sharpen your claws because we’re getting closer to The Wolverine!Twentieth Century Fox has revealed a bran new international poster for The Wolverine (featured right). While the rooftop angle and dark tone to some may seem slightly “The Dark Knight-ish”, upon inspection you’ll notice the building and the surroundings are of Japan where the film is set. Taking place after the events of X-Men: The Last Stand, Wolverine is a lone warrior clashing his adamantium claws against samurai steel as he confronts a mysterious figure from his past.
From director James Mangold, The Wolverine will hit theaters on July 26, 2013.
