Monday, September 8, 2014
Destiny, A String of Vita Disappointments, eXistenZ, and Short Circuit
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Games: Like many of you, I'm looking forward to the release of Destiny in a day or so.
Having played the alpha and the beta I already
know what to expect, and I'm definitely ready to sink my teeth into something a
little bigger than what I've been playing lately.
Since I knew this was coming,
I've been hesitant to start any large-scale games, and instead I've been spending
time on handhelds and smaller projects. Nothing against them at all, but i'm definitely getting the itch to sit
down in front of my TV and play something with a lot of pizzazz to it.
From what I've heard, the preorders have been about 3 to 1 in favor of
the PS4, and I'm a part of that statistic… If you'll be playing on the PS4 as well, feel free to send me a friend request and maybe we'll see each
other on the battlefield. Hit me up at GCBrad on PSN.
So, what about those handheld games I mentioned?
First up was Natural Doctrine.
I've covered it a bit here
at the blog before, but I sunk a fair number of hours into it since then and I have to say
that I'm quite disappointed with the game, not only because it gets a lot of
things wrong, but because it had the potential to be so great. I'll save most
of the gory details for my full review which is still in-process, but a lot
of potential is squandered thanks to a frustrating difficulty curve and
systems which don't get properly explained.
It's a real shame because when the
game works, it's pretty cool… There are some great ideas here, and I'm a fan of
the strategy RPG genre. I'm always up for another one, and especially one like this that has new ideas. Unfortunately, it just commits too many sins to forgive. I
can easily imagine a lot of people who would have otherwise loved it staying away
because of how offputting it can be.
I may chip away at this when I'm feeling self-hate, but it's on indefinite hold for now.
Also on the Vita, I just played Don't Starve.
I've been
wanting to try this one for a while, but I knew it was coming to Vita and that
seemed like the best place for it. I love the premise and the art is quite sharp,
but I have to say that after playing it for about half an hour... I don't want to
play anymore.
From what I can tell, the game is just a bunch of crafting, and
at this point in my life, crafting is a "game mechanic" that feels like a big waste of time to me. It feels erroneous to
even call it a mechanic… You're simply collecting shit to make other shit.
It's busywork, and while I can see how that might be okay for some people (and
not saying there's anything wrong for liking it if you do) for me it's pretty
close to the bottom of my list of things I enjoy.
Deleted.
I also spent a good bit of time with Akiba's Trip: Undead & Undressed, and much like Natural Doctrine, it's another one with a lot of potential and a great premise
that ends up being a bummer.
I mean, the concept is that you are a person
running around Akihabara, yanking the clothes off of vampires in order to expose
them to sunlight. That sounds awesome, right? Unfortunately, the actual
gameplay is a lot like Sega's Yakuza, only about 1/19,000th as entertaining thanks to an insipid story, way too much boring dialogue, a shallow combat system, and
not nearly enough sex appeal to sizzle.
I don't quite understand the logic of
taking this premise and then making something that ends up being so boring, but
there you go.
Deleted.
Adding to this list of recent disappointments is Velocity 2X. I've heard a lot of people praising it, but I've got to be honest
here… It just does not click with me at all.
The action involving a spaceship
that teleports never feels natural or intuitive… There's a weird kind of
stop/start pace that doesn't build momentum, and it's not pleasant. The weird thing is that the game clearly wants you to do speed runs, so that makes the way it feels to me even weirder.
Besides that, it's just not very fun… You basically teleport to get
around walls while collecting a bunch of crystals, and then every once in a while
you leave the ship and do two-dimensional platforming, which is again, mostly about
teleporting past walls and collecting crystals.
Deleted.
Anyway, Destiny in a day or so!
Movies: I found myself in the unusual position of having a
couple of hours with nothing to do and I've bookmarked about 1000 movies on
Netflix without having watched any of them, so I figured it was a good time to
knock at least one off of the list. I settled on David Cronenberg's eXistenZ…
A title I only vaguely knew about, although I've heard people talk about it
several times.
Here's what I knew: it was gross, and people plugged into some
kind of virtual reality.
Here's what it's actually about: people plug into a
virtual reality simulator via incredibly disgusting bio-consoles,
but it's really a psycho-trippy developer's-eye look into how games are developed and what they mean to the people who play them.
I don't know if Cronenberg is a
gamer himself, but he gives uncommonly insightful commentary from the dev side, and I found it incredibly interesting
and relevant, especially in light of the last two weeks.
eXistenZ ended up
being quite a bit different than I expected, but in an altogether better way. I was bracing for one of those hokey films that wants to base itself on gaming without knowing anything about it, but it was
quite sharp and provocative, and didn't feel dated at all.
Excellent
film.
Speaking of movies, we've been looking for films to
introduce our five-year-old, and today we chose Short Circuit.
It's been
years since I've seen it, although I remembered quite liking it back in the day,
and I have to say, it holds up really well as a kids' film.
It's simple
enough for even young children to understand, quite tame in terms of content,
and it's paced superbly so as not to lose the attention of smaller viewers.
Not
only that, who doesn't like the military-robot-come-alive Johnny Five?
Interesting to look at and easy to love, he's a great star.
If you haven't
seen it in years and you forgot about it, or if you're a parent looking for a good film to watch with your kids, this is a fun choice.
********************PR/NEWS/INFO********************
Styx: Master of Shadows, the infiltration game from Cyanide
Studios, has a unique verticality that is ample throughout the gallows, alleys,
courtyards and winding halls within the Tower of Akenash. Coming October for
PS4®, Xbox One® and PC, scale and prowl through the expansive and mysterious
home of the World Tree, either subverting the guards, or quietly and invisibly
disposing of them.
Today's video is the first of a series of gameplay trailers
we will be releasing over the coming weeks until the release of the game. It
illustrates some of the Goblin's skills, as he uses his stealth, weaponry, bold
moves and smart use of the environment to get rid of the tower's denizens.
Youtube:
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Today Deep Silver announces the launch date for Escape Dead
Island - November 18th in North America.
YouTube: http://youtu.be/VaAWvz2lKYc
YouTube: http://youtu.be/VaAWvz2lKYc
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After a bit-longer-than-expected Anomaly 2 is all set up to
hit PS4! The tower offense strategy - or reversed tower defense if you prefer -
game will land in Full HD on PS4 on September 16th 2014.
Anomaly 2 is a sequel to the critically acclaimed Anomaly
Warzone Earth. Maintaining the core elements of the original, Anomaly 2 adds
new features to the single-player campaign and finally puts your skills to a
test in a completely unique experience: the dynamic tower defense vs. tower
offense multiplayer mode!
In the years following the invasion of Earth in 2018, the
planet has been overrun by alien machines. Humankind is on the verge of
extinction. Traveling together in huge convoys, they search the frozen tundra
for food and supplies. Since the war, the roles have been reversed: now our
species seems to be the Anomaly on a machine-controlled planet. Your convoy,
Commander, is called Yukon.
Find more at http://anomaly2game.com/
For more goodies join us here https://www.facebook.com/anomalygame
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Idea Factory International is excited to announce today that
Hyperdimension Neptunia™ Re;Birth1, a new installment in the long-loved
fan-favorite RPG series Hyperdimension Neptunia, has been released on the
PlayStation®Vita handheld entertainment system in physical and digital forms in
the North American market today, August 26, 2014. It will also be available in
digital form in the European market tomorrow, August 27, 2014. Idea Factory
International is also excited to reveal to fans in Australia that the game will
be digitally released on the Australian PlayStation®Store!
Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth1 is a remake of
Hyperdimension Neptunia, which was previously released for the PlayStation®3
computer entertainment system in 2011. Updated event conversations, graphics,
and newly added game mechanics will entertain fans who have already played the
PlayStation 3 version of Hyperdimension Neptunia as well as newcomers to the
series.
The official website for Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth1
now features a new gameplay trailers! Visit ideafintl.com/rebirth1 to find the
trailers and more information about the game!
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Here are two characters from Persona Q that need
no introduction.
...because you get to pick their own names! Here are the
character videos for the heroes from Persona 3 and Persona 4 for you to view:
YouTube:
P3 Hero
P4 Hero
About Persona Q
Persona Q is a first-person dungeon crawling RPG
adventure that combines the casts of the hit ATLUS games Persona 3 and Persona
4in a brand new story. Not only is Persona Q the first new RPG in the
Persona franchise since 2008, but it is also marks the first time a Persona
game will release on a Nintendo platform. The Personadevelopment team
joined forces with the Etrian Odyssey development team to create a
true fusion of the two franchises - Persona Q features the map-making
and first person exploration from Etrian games and fuses it with the character
development, combat, and motifs of the Persona games. Persona Q will
be available at retail stores in normal and premium editions:
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Have you pooped today? If not, we've just made your day by
announcing The Binding of Isaac Rebirth's release on November 4th,
2014. That's a Tuesday. I sure do like Tuesdays, we hope
you do too...Mmmm tacos. Tacos have fiber. Fiber helps you poop.
Anyway, as you patiently wait for Nicalis to squeeze out the game, you should watch the trailer below which was created using the blood of unicorns, bacon, poop, cream cheese, and burlap sacks. How many of those are actually true? Watch to find out! Nightmares included free of charge, of course!
Anyway, as you patiently wait for Nicalis to squeeze out the game, you should watch the trailer below which was created using the blood of unicorns, bacon, poop, cream cheese, and burlap sacks. How many of those are actually true? Watch to find out! Nightmares included free of charge, of course!
More information can be found on the official website
at http://bindingofisaac.com/ or on the Rebirth FAQ
page http://bindingofisaac.com/post/77761867219/the-binding-of-isaac-rebirth-2014-q-a
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You're on
your own. No one to come for you. No one to help you. No one to hear you
scream. Slender: The Arrival, the official Slender Man video game, is
coming September 23, 2014 on PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system and
September 24, 2014 on the Xbox 360 games and entertainment system from
Microsoft, announced Midnight City, the independent publishing label of Majesco Entertainment Company (NASDAQ: COOL), an
innovative provider of games for the mass market.
Developed by four-person Toronto indie team Blue Isle
Studios and the only official Slender Man game, The Arrival puts you
in the epicenter of the mystery surrounding the enigmatic Internet persona that
has captivated and terrorized millions. Slender: The Arrival wraps
players in a dark, foreboding atmosphere and a story fraught with terror,
paranoia and other-worldly forces.
Written by the creative team behind Marble Hornets, this latest iteration in the Slender Man
universe expands the canon established by the original web-series, with some
new twists and extended content. Building on the successful Steam launch last
Halloween, Slender: The Arrival comes to consoles with brand new
story elements and features extended levels that continue to unfold the Slender
Man mythos. Players are enveloped in a world of sensory deprivation filled with
haunting visions and audio cues that create an ominous backdrop perfect for
fostering a healthy dose of tension and paranoia. Follow the clues and unravel
the mystery, that is, if you can survive.
The new content will be offered to Steam and PC players who
already own Slender: The Arrival at no additional charge as free DLC.
Slender: The Arrival is rated T for teen and will
release in the US September 23, 2014 on PlayStation®3 computer entertainment
system for $9.99 digital download from the PlayStation Network, and on
September 24, 2014 on Xbox 360 for $9.99 digital download from the Xbox
Live Games Store.
Independent publishing label Midnight City will also release Costume Quest 2 this Halloween season from Double Fine
Productions.
For more information, please visit our website: www.midnight-city.com
For more on Blue Isle Studios, please visit: www.blueislestudios.com
Follow us on:
Twitter: @Midnight_City https://twitter.com/Midnight_City
Casey Lynch Twitter: @Lynchtacular https://twitter.com/lynchtacular
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/midnightcitygames
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/MidnightCityEnt
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/midnightcitygames
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/MidnightCityEnt
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