Thursday, May 7, 2015
A Mega-Rundown
Welcome
back to Coffeecola!
First up, here are some links to recent content up @Gamecritics:
@RichardNaik’s ‘it kicked me in the balls’ review of
Bloodborne
@ApricotSushi’s review of visual novel If My Heart Had Wings
@MikeSuskie’s review of indie headscratcher La-MulanaEX
@JimB_85’s review of the nerve-wracking Titan Souls
And my review of the micro-mecha Damascus Gear: Operation Tokyo
Also, please check out the most recent @Gamecritics Podcast,
in which we talk about chocobos covered in Bloodborne. It’s one of our best
episodes, I think!
If you need more to listen to, I was recently a guest
on the @VideogameBreak podcast, which you can check out right here. It's a
really tight, peppy show, and a good one to listen to if you don't like a lot
of excess chatter. (I don’t like a lot of excess chatter.)
One other quick note about podcasts -- we will be recording the long, long,
long overdue @Gamecritics Monster Hunter 4U podcast this
Saturday, so if you have any questions, comments, anecdotes, or anything else,
I would love to read them on the air. Tell me favorite/least favorite monster and
why? What's your favorite weapon? What would you like to see in the next Monster
Hunter? Or, send anything else along those lines. I want your questions and
comments!
 |
| Attack On Titan |
Although I was not familiar with the license before I
started playing, I will say that it's interesting enough to make me want to go
watch the show despite several of my friends warning me against it. Apparently
it's a mess, although I remember it being extremely popular with certain folks.
I may still give it a go, but I'm not one to watch a lot of that stuff these
days, so I may have to content myself with the movie clips included in the
game.
 |
| Lifeline |
I don’t play a lot of iOS these days apart from Marvel
Puzzle Quest, but I did start playing Lifeline. It’s a
text-only game that takes the form of text messages sent to you by an astronaut
who’s stranded on a distant planet. I can’t say too much for fear of spoiling
it, but I will say it’s the most interesting iOS game I’ve seen in quite some
time.
 |
| Dying Light |
Also, regular readers of this blog may remember that I talked about Dying
Light a while ago, and had a really great time with it. Such a great
time, in fact, that I planned on completing the game 100%, but review
responsibilities popped up and I had to put it aside. In the interim my wife
got her own PS4, so I thought this would be the perfect time to get back to my character
and do the entire campaign with her in co-op.
It's been a great time so far. Although the game is significantly
less scary when you have a friend, it's also quite a bit more fun and having backup wherever you go is
pretty awesome. It's also worth noting that the main character has a whole set
of animations that you never see if you play solo (the game is shown in
first-person) so seeing those moves is sometimes really cool, and sometimes
totally hilarious.
 |
| Gogmazzers |
Other things I'm playing -- not a lot of new
stuff, actually. I’m still chipping away at Monster
Hunter with the ultimate goal of defeating Gogmazios in G-Rank. Good guys
@j_monster and @Discobeaver have been giving the wife and I a huge boost in
multiplayer lately, so we’re slowly working on crafting G-level armor and will
get to that goal eventually, although it's a long-term project.
 |
| Helldivers |
Also, still playing quite a bit of Helldivers. It's tough to find two
extra people to make a full crew of four that’s needed to unlock all of the
higher-level stuff, but we’re chipping away at it. If you haven't played it
yet, I strongly recommend you do so… It's most likely going to be my
multiplayer game of the year. I really can't imagine anything topping it at
this point.
 |
| Airmech Arena |
Also, I was glad to see that AirMech Arena finally hit PS4 last night. I downloaded it immediately, and it
looks great on current hardware. That said, I need to stop getting into games
which are multiplayer-focused and have no real ending, but dammit, I have a
weakness for robots and an even bigger weakness for robots that transform.
Plus, despite the fact that I'm not a big fan of RTS, I like this
action-focused approach, and it's simple enough for someone like me to be able
to handle effectively. It's free to play so anyone can check it out, and the
developers give a pretty good amount of stuff for free to begin with, so no
complaints there. I do plan on buying some extra things when I get deeper into
it, tho.
 |
| Tron Bonne & Co. |
Also, just a heads up that The Misadventures Of Tron Bonne is
now available for download on PSN. The last time I checked, this game is going
for something like $250 on eBay, so this is another Suikoden II situation
where an old-school classic is now available for pennies on the dollar. I love Tron
and her Servbots, and they’re some of the best characters to ever come out of
the Mega Man franchise. If you've
never played this game (and I'm guessing that's most of you out there) it's well
worth the six dollars they're charging. Go for it!
 |
| Toren |
Oh, and one quick note on Toren, the female-led adventure game
coming from Brazilian developers, Swordtales – It should be hitting PS4/PC on May
12. It looks a bit rough in this early trailer, but I dunno… Kinda got a good
feeling about this one.
Finally, I'm sure you know, but the P.T. demo has been removed from PSN. You can't download it anymore, but if it's still ON your hard drive, it's still playable. For the moment, anyway. So don't delete it!!!
Television: The family and I have been continuing to watch the first season of The Flash (only one episode left!) and we're still loving it. In fact, we enjoyed it so much that we decided to check out Arrow after seeing him guest-star in a couple of episodes.
I’ve known about Arrow
for a while, but I wasn't interested in checking it out… I heard that it was
dark and moody, and it didn't seem that interesting to me. That said, after
seeing him with Flash and wanting more of this television-based DC universe, we
jumped in. Although there are certain parts that I don't like (way too many
rich douchebags so far) we’re going to hang in there and see how it develops.
Speaking of which, I'm quite amazed at how well DC comics come to life on TV. I know that DC is hot to create their own version of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but I really haven't really cared for many of the DC films. However, what they’ve done on the small screen so far is quite awesome, and I've been shocked at how many superheroes they've been able to work into these programs. I'm just getting started on Arrow so I don't know how many will pop up there besides Black Canary, but on The Flash we've already seen Gorilla Grodd, Reverse-Flash, The Atom, Firestorm, and more. More shockingly, they've all been pretty cool, and I've become keen to see more of this growing collection of superheroes. It's interesting that filmmakers have totally failed to make something like this happen, but the CW (!!!) has captured something about these properties that doesn't work elsewhere.
Speaking of which, I'm quite amazed at how well DC comics come to life on TV. I know that DC is hot to create their own version of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but I really haven't really cared for many of the DC films. However, what they’ve done on the small screen so far is quite awesome, and I've been shocked at how many superheroes they've been able to work into these programs. I'm just getting started on Arrow so I don't know how many will pop up there besides Black Canary, but on The Flash we've already seen Gorilla Grodd, Reverse-Flash, The Atom, Firestorm, and more. More shockingly, they've all been pretty cool, and I've become keen to see more of this growing collection of superheroes. It's interesting that filmmakers have totally failed to make something like this happen, but the CW (!!!) has captured something about these properties that doesn't work elsewhere.
Thanks
for reading!
***************PR/NEWS/INFO***************
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announced that
the Mortal Kombat X Jason Voorhees Bundle will be available for download
to Kombat Pack owners. The Jason Voorhees Bundle includes playable
character and Friday the 13th icon, Jason Voorhees and the Horror
Pack, comprising of three horror-themed skins including Vampiress Mileena,
Kraken Reptile and Pharaoh Ermac. Those who do not own the Kombat Pack can
purchase the Jason Voorhees Bundle beginning Tuesday, May
12 at the PlayStation Store, Xbox Marketplace and Steam for $7.99. Jason
Voorhees and the Horror Pack will also be sold separately for $4.99 and $3.99
respectively.
*
The Evil Within: The Consequence DLC is
available! Pick up where you left off in The Assignment with these
concluding chapters, featuring a balance of stealth-action and gunplay.
In The Evil Within: The Assignment and The
Evil Within: The Consequence, players take on the role of detective Juli
Kidman, Sebastian Castellanos’ mysterious partner, in a concurrent story that
looks to answer some of the questions surrounding her whereabouts during The
Evil Within. Along the way she will encounter disturbing new enemies, discover
new mysteries, and uncover new horrors. The Assignment and The
Consequence give fans of The Evil Within the perfect opportunity
to discover detective Kidman’s hidden motivations and her mysterious connection
to Mobius, the shadowy group thought to be behind the gruesome events of The
Evil Within.
Both The Assignment and The Consequence are
available as part of The Evil Within’s Season Pass. Priced at $19.99, the
Season Pass offers savings on all three add-ons for the game, including the
third DLC, The Evil Within: The Executioner, and is available on PSN, Xbox
LIVE, and PC. Pricing and release dates may vary by territory and/or
platform. The Consequence is also available for purchase separately
and is priced at $9.99
*
Agatsuma Entertainment Co., Ltd. is proud to confirm
the North American digital release today of Sayonara UmiharaKawase + on
PS Vita.
Easy to play, difficult to master, ‘Sayonara UmiharaKawase +’ is a totally unique ‘Rubbering Action’ physics based puzzle platform game with over 20 years of gaming history.
Developed by the creators of the original game (Kiyoshi Sakai and Toshinobu Kondo) and available for the first time globally on the PlayStation Vita, this cult classic was a Japanese indie smash hit before the rest of the world knew what a cult classic was!
Completely re-envisioned for the PlayStation Vita, play as `Umihara Kawase` - a 20 year old backpacking Japanese sushi chef armed with a fishing rod, a rubber fishing line and a fishing hook. Avoid fish-like enemies, conveyer belts, spikes, watery pits, time travel and more. The deeper in to this dream-like game players venture, the more challenging the solutions and the greater the time pressure becomes. Along the way, look out for shortcuts and secret exits and unlock bonus levels.
As a special bonus for fans, the first ever title in this gaming franchise ‘UmiharaKawase’ has also been included. UmiharaKawase was originally released way back in 1994 for console.
Easy to play, difficult to master, ‘Sayonara UmiharaKawase +’ is a totally unique ‘Rubbering Action’ physics based puzzle platform game with over 20 years of gaming history.
Developed by the creators of the original game (Kiyoshi Sakai and Toshinobu Kondo) and available for the first time globally on the PlayStation Vita, this cult classic was a Japanese indie smash hit before the rest of the world knew what a cult classic was!
Completely re-envisioned for the PlayStation Vita, play as `Umihara Kawase` - a 20 year old backpacking Japanese sushi chef armed with a fishing rod, a rubber fishing line and a fishing hook. Avoid fish-like enemies, conveyer belts, spikes, watery pits, time travel and more. The deeper in to this dream-like game players venture, the more challenging the solutions and the greater the time pressure becomes. Along the way, look out for shortcuts and secret exits and unlock bonus levels.
As a special bonus for fans, the first ever title in this gaming franchise ‘UmiharaKawase’ has also been included. UmiharaKawase was originally released way back in 1994 for console.
*
Posts
Hey. First time poster, first time reader. You came highly recommended by Ochalla, so here I am!
Count me in as one of the folks who's happy about the PSN debut of Tron Bonne. I do have Mega Man Legends 2 in physical form, but never got my hands on this one... at least until now. The funny thing is, I haven't spent any appreciable time on either Suiko 2 or Tron Bonne, possibly because I'm currently not seeing eye to eye with my Vita. My PSP actually sees more action if you can believe it.
Hey ArugulaZ...
(Dig that handle, btw. so peppery!)
You got me curious... what's the issue with the vita?
Oh lord, where do I START?!
The system has been poorly supported by Sony. When there's a sale on PSN, the Vita usually gets the shaft. Games that SHOULD work on the Vita don't, but do function on the PSP. These games are often compatible with the Vita, but you have to use immensely annoying workarounds to get them on the system (ie transfer them from a PS3). The Vita only accepts one user account at a time, so you can forget about getting accounts and games from other territories.
Wait wait, there's more! Key franchises don't exist on the Vita... if you want to play them on the system, you'll either have to download the dated PSP versions or do without. The PSP had at least three Grand Theft Auto games... the Vita has el zilcho. The only Star Wars games native to the Vita are Angry Birds and a stinking pinball game!
Here's the creme de la crap. Sony recently released Playstation TV, which is basically a Vita without the screen or touch input. It doesn't work with some Vita games, and it can't really be used as a media player either because it's not compatible with Netflix.
I'm sorry, I'm getting ranty here, but the Vita is the utter definition of wasted potential. It would be capable of great things if Sony had given it the same support as the PSP, but they haven't, so all I do with mine is play fighting games, PSOne titles, and RPGs from the vastly superior PSP library.
The Vita is inferior to its predecessor in so many ways, and that's just sad. It's like The Matrix Reloaded to the PSP's The Matrix.
Hey Arugula.
Yeah, I hear ya... Don't disagree. Sony has really dropped a lot of balls.
That said, I still get a lot of use outta my Vita. I love it pretty hard in spite of all the mistakes.
Really sad that it's so ignored tho... most people even forget it exists, which is a shame since it's such a great piece of kit.
SONY!!!!!!
::shakes fist at the sky::
I just wonder if Sony knows what differentiates consoles from handhelds, because they sure don't seem to realize that there's a difference. What was their last "killer app" for the Vita? Borderlands 2. Now it's not a bad port, but it doesn't run especially well on the system and is probably not the best choice for on-the-go gaming.
I rant a little more about this on my blog, and I'll post a link here because I'm shameless like that.
http://kiblitzing.blogspot.com/2015/05/pushing-my-love-over-borderlands.html