Hey, remember back in August when Nippon Ichi teased a new character with the above image? Well it seems that now is the time for them to reveal what game that is. The character you see above is named Metallica and she is the main character of an upcoming action RPG from Nippon Ichi named The Witch and the Hundred Cavalrymen. The game will be a PlaySation 3 release according to Dengeki Playstation and will be a dark open world fantasy action RPG.
If that wasn’t enough genres for you, the story will follow Metallica, an attractive witch from the swamp who is battling the ugly witch of the forest and players will play as the main leader to her hundred cavalrymen. Metallica may only be able to see one soldier at a time, which is you, but she can summon more to your side at request.
The title will be open world, with no transitions between towns and the world and players can even choose to side with right or wrong and certain characters and towns can become enemies or allies depending on your actions. The title will be rather dark with its gameplay as well as quite brutal which is a change from Nippon Ichi’s usual titles, but Disgaea designer Takehito Harada is taking the reigns for the game’s graphics. Expect to see The Witch and the Hundred Calvarymen in Japan Spring of 2012. Let us hope that perhaps a localization by NIS America will shortly follow.
Earlier today Bethesda announced the voice cast for a number of their main characters as well as voice actors who have yet to be announced a specific role. The big name here however is Max Von Sydow who is an Academy Award nominee. We’ve heard Von Sydow’s voice before as he has voiced the first two trailers for Skyrim, but he will be playing the role of Esbern, a Blades agent and chronicler who has been hiding over the years.
Also joining the cast is Tony Award winner and three-time Academy Award nominee, Joan Allen who will be playing the role of Delphine, one of the last remaining members of the Blades order who is seeking to unravel the mystery of why the dragons have come back. Perhaps Lynda Carter, famous for playing Wonder Woman, may have some hints as her voice role Gormlaith Golden-Hilt is one of the heroes who overthrew the dragons when they first appeared in the land.
Also confirmed to be playing a role is Cristopher Plummer as Greybeard elder Arngeir,Michael Hogan, Vladimir Kulich, Claudia Christian, Diane Louise Salinger, Renee Victor and George Coe who all have yet to receive specific roles. It is safe to say that Bethesda is pulling out all the stops to make Skyrim the best experience possible, especially with all these actors adding their talent to the title. What do you think of these names?
Remember those rumors that began circulating all those months ago about a potential movie being made for Dead Island? Well it seems that there will indeed be a movie created for the game and Lionsgate will be the movie studio to do it. In a press release earlier today it was revealed that the movie is currently in the early development stage. It will be produced by Sean Daniel who has done other films such as The Mummy and Tombstone.
The movie is going to take the first trailer for the game, the one involving a family being assaulted by zombies and a little girl flying through a window as the “primary creative inspiration” but they also have added that the movie will adopt the “focus on human emotion, family ties and non-linear storytelling” that the game contains. Sounds extremely interesting no?
The company behind the creation of Flower, thatgamecompany announced earlier today that they are intending to release their next big and beautiful game Journey early Spring of 2012. Journey had a tentative release date of Fall 2011 but it seems that path wasn’t the one taken as this minor pushback was announced earlier today on the PlayStation Blog.
TGC’s own Jenova Chen said that the online beta test went extremely well and they are taking the extra time to take the community feedback and improve Journey from where it already was during the beta. As I mentioned earlier, it is always good to see game’s given a chance to be polished and not rushed out the door by their developers. When the game is officially released, it will be exclusive to the PlayStation Network as a downloadable title.
If you were hoping to be playing the downloadable only fighter Skullgirls before the end of this year then you will be out of luck. Reverge Labs has announced earlier today on the game’s official website that the title has been pushed back to a launch in early 2012. The reason for this delay according to the developer is to polish a number of the game’s features from the feedback they receive when showing the game off at expos over the past year.
Peter Bartholow, the Designer/Producer/Community Manager at Reverge Labs said that “Some companies call this ‘feature creep,’ but we call it the extra polish that takes a game from ‘good’ to ‘great.'” It is always good to see a game get that extra player of polish and take feedback to heart. Some updates listed are new effects, 3D backgrounds, more music from Michiru Yamane and of course “innumerable balance and gameplay tweaks.”
Kiloo Games are proud to announce Bullet Time the next massive action-adventure for iOS. Through a vivid post-apocalyptic world you’ll experience the engaging story of John Irish as he strives to reclaim his family from the grasp of a savage breed of mutated beasts. The game takes place in a depraved, distant future. Society has crumbled and only a few human survivors are living scattered throughout the wilderness.
Play through the multiple campaigns delving deeper into the story of Bullet Time or join the action online, as players take part in three-player co-op multiplayer against the vicious mutated hordes! Bullet Time boasts a large, living 3d-world with quests, secrets and treasure to discover. Every player character can be customized uniquely and every weapon can be upgraded extensively.
Get ready for November as the countdown to Bullet Time begins now! Just to let you all know – Kiloo Games is a 11 year old games development company with 50+ released titles and 30+ million achieved installs, not a bad achievement right there.
Check out some of the screens and video trailer below.
Phil, Jared and Kyle are back from Japan with some stories to tell about their misadventures at TGS. We talk about Mass Effect 3, Battlefield 3, and get into some of the craziest things we’ve seen while gaming.
Cast: Alexis Ayala, Philip Federico, Dustin Spencer, Jared Hilliers & Kyle Moore
Oh, Japan! is a weekly feature in which we chronicle the wierd, wacky and just plain crazy goings on in Japan. Because we all know, Japan is prone to doing things that make us Westerners say “Oh, Japan!”.
We have had video games, prank shows, music videos, game shows and now I present to you some weird pictures of places and products from our Japan adventure from last week for Tokyo Game Show. We also stumbled upon a Cat Cafe MEEEOOOWWW in Shinjuku – (video below courtesy of our editor Jared) after our Cat Cafe experience we then walked into a variety store called (ドンキホテ) Donkihote and discovered a number of crazy wacky stuff openly accepted in Japan. (Gotta love the Black Man Underwear)
Check out the clip below and don’t forget; Don’t suppress the cats while they sleep. What more can I say besides, Oh, Japan!
Check out the pics below, our personal favoite is the “Finger Basher” and the Poo Hats modelled by our bearded warrior Kyle Moore. We also stumbled upon just like the OS system a run down abandoned Linux Cafe in Akihabara. Let us know what your favourite crazy products are.
Arkedo Series – 02 SWAP! Developer: Arkedo Studio Publisher: Sanuk Games Platform: Playstation 3 (PSN, reviewed), Xbox 360 (XBLA) Availability: Out Now Price: $2.49/€1.99/£1.59
Arkedo Studio has returned to the Playstation Network with the second installment of the highly successful Arkedo Series. Entitled SWAP!, this puzzle game follows a binge drinking (milk, that is) cat on his quest to return to the grand castle through a series of colour matching puzzles, a far cry from their previous title, JUMP!. This twin stick puzzle game is challenging but exciting. The speed of the game changes and offers a few modes of play. The visuals are colourful and bright, while the music, although not memorable, fits the game well. However, the game does suffer due to its over reliance to the simplicity of its game mechanic and the staples that puzzle games bring.
Gameplay
The gameplay can be described in one sentence: four match puzzle game. The core mechanic revolves around that style of gameplay. It is a classic formula that has never tried throughout the ages (Connect Four anyone?). It is also twin stick, the face buttons have no input in this game. The left stick is used to move the cursor around the blocks while the right stick swaps the blocks in any of the four directions. The controls work well and are quite comfortable. With the added fact that the blocks can move as far as they can without any repercussion, the quest for those points can seem like a breeze, if you know what you are doing. Power-ups are present in the game, including temporary halt of the blocks, as well as coins and treasure chests to boost the score. Combos, a staple of puzzle games, are also present.
The modes on offer are more numerous than that of JUMP!, but by only one. There is Castle Mode, which acts as the story mode of the game. King Kat, the protagonist, has had a night of binge milking and doesn’t remember the activities of the previous night. The story covers the journey home to his Castle, played out in five levels. These levels can be a challenge when the speed of the game increases to the higher levels. Then there is Arcade Mode, a never ending line of blocks with the simple objective of collecting points before a game over. Then there are the Challengers. Each challenge has a set objective, like doing a combo or achieving a certain score. The challenges are unlocked after the completion of Castle Mode, to keep the players coming back for seconds.
The mechanic is reliant on simplicity. Being a downloadable title, this is understandable. Many downloadable titles have hit it big time by sticking to the basics. I will mention Limbo as a prime example. It is basically a 2D platformer at its core but its art direction, storytelling and complementing mechanics made it a very compelling game. However, with the four match puzzle genre, there has to be a certain degree of originality or creativity so that the player wouldn’t turn it off and walk away. I don’t see it with SWAP!. Yes, playing the game was fun, but only when speed was a factor. With JUMP!, at least there was some sort of variation. Despite that, the gameplay mechanic should appeal to puzzle fans.
Visuals and Music
The visuals heavily differ from those of JUMP!. While JUMP! was based on the 8-bit era, the SWAP! art style tends to focus on the cute factor. To be honest, this was done very well. King Kat has this simplistic design but still looks cute. His expressions during the game reminds me of the facial expressions in anime, which I did enjoy. I even glanced at them during gameplay. The blocks are colourful and easy to look at, which is good considering that is all you will e looking at. The menus are well designed and fit the overall art style.
The music is quite generic and unmemorable. However, it does fit well with the game and some of the tunes are easy on the ears. Each of the stage music complements the gameplay, despite its generic tone. So does the main menu theme. Its cutesy aswell, so it blends in with the overall art style. Just don’t expect any sort of great music piece. JUMP! suffered the same problem. It was great but too generic.
Overall
SWAP! is a great game. The gameplay can be enjoyable and fun and the visuals are colourful and cutesy, fitting the overall tone of the game. The music is not bad but not memorable either. The problem is that the mechanic is basic and it can get boring if there is nothing happening. Its over-reliance on the simple mechanic restricts the game to cross new boundaries that other downloadable titles manage to do. Its lack of original spin on the genre will make it fade into the shadows of already established puzzle games. Despite that, it is a well-built game with the tendency to have fun at times found. The higher speeds of the game will provide a challenge, testing your nerves and skill.
Four years after the initial installment of the Darkness, Top Cow Productions and publisher 2K Games are gearing up for the release of its sequel, the Darkness 2. Jackie Estacado is back and so is the Darkness he’s been trying to bottle up. The sequel boasts the same incredible story written by comic book author, Paul Jenkins, who was responsible for the writing behind the first Darkness. Another addition is quad-wielding with being able to control the two demon arms at the same time as firing two weapons. These features, plus a lot more, are guaranteed to bring a pretty awesome sequel to our gaming screens on February 10 2012.
For more information including a kickass trailer, developer Q&A, podcasts, downloads, and media. Head on over to EmbracetheDarkness.com. And with a name so warm and cuddly you just know this game is going to be as happy go lucky as the first one.
