Thursday, October 23, 2014
A Second Look at Senran Kagura: Shinovi Versus. Also, get your own customized game swag!
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Games: I recently covered Senran Kagura: Shinovi Versus over at @Gamecritics, but in a very unusual turn of
events, I continued to play it after I finished the review… That's wildly out
of the ordinary for me, and after having spent another 20 hours past the point
at which I wrote my opinion, I feel like I have more to say on it.
Although I touched on it in my review, I think one thing that’s really brilliant about the game is how small in size it is.
I've never liked Musou games
before, but for some reason this one really clicked with me, and it had nothing
to do with the naked ladies. As I was trying to think about why this one was so
enjoyable when so many others bored me to tears, I came to the conclusion that
the gameplay comes in perfectly bite-sized portions, so that fatigue never
really gets the chance to set in.
Take the snake-eyed Hikage, for
instance… She has lightning-fast knife attacks, a poison shot, and one of her
special moves is to turn completely invincible as she goes into a primordial rage.
On the other hand, Mirai is quite fragile, but packs a machine gun inside of
her umbrella. She needs to play very much like a sniper, and can only dash
backwards, further emphasizing her lack of ability to engage directly.
Although I have my preferences when it comes to the characters, I found that
spending time with each of them was well-rewarded, and I admired how much
variation there was between them.
Another
aspect that didn't come to full fruition until I had gone through the story
mode a second time (and was only enhanced with a third and a fourth) was just how
much nuance there was to the writing, and how much attention was given to the
story mode and backstory of each ninja.
While I thought they did a fine enough job in the content that I saw, I was quite impressed when I found that some of the ‘tropey’ characters ended up having more depth than I would've expected. The oversexed pervert character (well, one of them, anyway) actually had some good motivation underneath the surface stuff, some of the ‘focused’ characters had elements of self-doubt, or questions about their beliefs. It ain’t War & Peace, but there's more humanity in the writing than it had any right to have. In fact, after playing for another 20-ish hours past the point of review, I think I would probably re-characterize the game as having a heftier visual novel aspect -- probably another reason why this one has hooked me when other Musou games haven’t.
As an experiment, I decided to try Hyrule Warriors after being so thoroughly wrapped up in Senran... I wasn't sure whether this newfound appreciation was a change in my taste or if there was more to it than that, but after putting an hour into Hyrule, I wanted no more of it.
It felt busy but shallow at the same time, none of the characters struck me as interesting, and the mechanics did not feel as complex. I don't know if that holds true over the course of the entire game, but it just wasn't as fun to control these characters, and the stages felt like they dragged on for-eh-ver. Of course, to be fair, I didn't spend enough time with the game to unlock extra weapons and some of the
While I thought they did a fine enough job in the content that I saw, I was quite impressed when I found that some of the ‘tropey’ characters ended up having more depth than I would've expected. The oversexed pervert character (well, one of them, anyway) actually had some good motivation underneath the surface stuff, some of the ‘focused’ characters had elements of self-doubt, or questions about their beliefs. It ain’t War & Peace, but there's more humanity in the writing than it had any right to have. In fact, after playing for another 20-ish hours past the point of review, I think I would probably re-characterize the game as having a heftier visual novel aspect -- probably another reason why this one has hooked me when other Musou games haven’t.
As an experiment, I decided to try Hyrule Warriors after being so thoroughly wrapped up in Senran... I wasn't sure whether this newfound appreciation was a change in my taste or if there was more to it than that, but after putting an hour into Hyrule, I wanted no more of it.
It felt busy but shallow at the same time, none of the characters struck me as interesting, and the mechanics did not feel as complex. I don't know if that holds true over the course of the entire game, but it just wasn't as fun to control these characters, and the stages felt like they dragged on for-eh-ver. Of course, to be fair, I didn't spend enough time with the game to unlock extra weapons and some of the
character modifier items and so forth, but
then again, I wasn't really motivated to.
In hindsight, I feel like I should give the game and the developers more props for the things that are done exceptionally well, and I do
think it's one of the few games in recent memory that genuinely got better with more time put into it.
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In other games news, I recently started Styx: Master of
Shadows. I’d been looking forward to it for some time, but after the first hour
and a half, I haven’t been back to it.
So…. Yeah.
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Misc: I’ve mentioned it on Twitter a few times, but my wife
has started making handcrafted videogame shirts, and she’s taking orders.
You can check out her site and see what she’s made so far, but
she can do just about anything and she’s happy to take custom orders. Basically,
if you don’t’ see a design you want, just email and ask! She can probably whip
it up for you!
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| I wore this shirt yesterday! |
If you’d like a shirt, sweatshirt, pair of socks, coffee
sleeve (or whatever) with your favorite game-related thing on it, drop her a
line.
FYI: She hasn’t found a reliable source for good hats yet,
but she’s working on it. If YOU know a good hat wholesaler, any tips would be appreciated! ^_^
*************PR/NEWS/INFO*************
Tin Man Games’ seventh Fighting Fantasy digital gamebook
app, Caverns of the Snow Witch, arrives on the iOS App Store, Google Play and
the Amazon Appstore for Android, nearly 30 years to the day since the original
publication of the paperback!
Tin Man Games has taken the classic Fighting Fantasy solo
adventure and transformed it into an interactive digital experience, using
their critically acclaimed gamebook engine. With animated page-turning, dynamic
links, an automated adventure sheet to show changing stats and display magical
treasures, the reader can also roll physics-based 3D dice to bravely battle the
creatures found within the Crystal Caves and beyond.
Fighting Fantasy: Caverns of the Snow Witch is now available
to download from the iOS App Store, Google Play and Amazon Appstore for
Android. It costs $5.99 USD/£3.99/5,49 €.
Tin Man Games maintain a site dedicated to their Fighting
Fantasy apps at www.FightingFantasyApps.com. The Official Fighting Fantasy site
can be found at www.FightingFantasy.com. Tin Man Games also runs a developer
blog at www.TinManGames.com.au.
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Hand of Fate, the Kickstarter-funded title from Defiant Development that seamlessly blends RPG, rogue-like and action-adventure
elements with board and collectible card game features, will launch on Xbox One
in January 2015 in addition to the previously announced PC and PlayStation 4 releases.
Gamers
who download Hand of Fate on Steam Early Access will be able to play new content created by industry
luminary David Goldfarb, of Battlefield and Payday fame,
prior to the game's official launch. Goldfarb has designed original
encounters, locations, items and a story which flesh out a hidden optional
quest in Hand of Fate.
The Early
Access build of Hand of Fate is now available for PC, Mac and
Linux on Steam at a discounted price of $25 USD.
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Deep Silver Volition knows all
too well the Seven Deadly Sins: Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Envy and
Pride. For Johnny Gat in Deep Silver Volition's Saints Row: Gat out of
Hell standalone expansion, the seven deadly weapons represent a means
to devilish fun on his rampage through Hell. Can the Devil and his demonic
allegiance withstand the persuasiveness of Johnny's unrighteous arsenal? Have a
look at this new video featuring the seven deadly weapons and check out a
description of the weapons below (don't be shy, curiosity is not a sin): http://youtu.be/z0rHaIeuiMY
In addition to the trailer release, Deep Silver announced that Saints Row: Gat out of Hell and Saints Row IV: Re-Elected will launch on January 20, 2015 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC for the software bundle, and PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC for retail standalone Gat out of Hell. Two different pre-order offers were also announce -- Purchase the new gen bundle for $49.99 with retailers such as Amazon, and receive two special DLC packs outlined below, or get the Gat out of Hell specific DLC when pre-ordering it as a standalone game for only $19.99.
Saints Row: Gat out of Hell Devil's Workshop Pack
SAINTS WINGS, JESTER'S SKULL
Tired of flying on the wings of a fallen angel? With the Devil's Workshop Pack you can fly on the purple wings of a Saint instead. Also included; Yorick, the flaming skull that acts as the source of Shakespeare's infernal might. Finally you can wield all of the power of Shakespeare with none of the iambic pentameter: what's not to love?
Saints Row IV: Re-Elected Plague of Frogs Pack
HELLISH PRINCESS, INFERNAL GUARD, LIL' CROAKER
Take some mementos from hell with you to virtual Steelport! Rain amphibian death onto Zinyak's army with the Lil' Croaker, and look good doing it wearing either Infernal Guard armor or Hellish Princess costumes.
In addition to the trailer release, Deep Silver announced that Saints Row: Gat out of Hell and Saints Row IV: Re-Elected will launch on January 20, 2015 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC for the software bundle, and PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC for retail standalone Gat out of Hell. Two different pre-order offers were also announce -- Purchase the new gen bundle for $49.99 with retailers such as Amazon, and receive two special DLC packs outlined below, or get the Gat out of Hell specific DLC when pre-ordering it as a standalone game for only $19.99.
Saints Row: Gat out of Hell Devil's Workshop Pack
SAINTS WINGS, JESTER'S SKULL
Tired of flying on the wings of a fallen angel? With the Devil's Workshop Pack you can fly on the purple wings of a Saint instead. Also included; Yorick, the flaming skull that acts as the source of Shakespeare's infernal might. Finally you can wield all of the power of Shakespeare with none of the iambic pentameter: what's not to love?
Saints Row IV: Re-Elected Plague of Frogs Pack
HELLISH PRINCESS, INFERNAL GUARD, LIL' CROAKER
Take some mementos from hell with you to virtual Steelport! Rain amphibian death onto Zinyak's army with the Lil' Croaker, and look good doing it wearing either Infernal Guard armor or Hellish Princess costumes.
For more information about the
Saints Row universe, please visit the official sites:
Web: http://www.saintsrow.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/saintsrow
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/saintsrow
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/saintsrow
Web: http://www.saintsrow.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/saintsrow
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/saintsrow
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/saintsrow
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You can
watch the Dragon Age: Inquisition The Hero of Thedas trailer at the
following link: http://youtu.be/qzRjfkXW9Lo
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It's time
to take the fight to the Divine Empire as Tears to Tiara II: Heir of the
Overlord, the strategy RPG for the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system
is now available in the Americas for $39.99. Despite having a "II" in
the title, the game requires no knowledge of the previous title, as the story
and gameplay are all self-contained within the 80-plus hours of strategic
combat and visual novel-style storytelling in the original Japanese
audio.
Tears to
Tiara II features:
· More than 15 main characters to get to know as
the story unfolds in the visual novel.
· Strategic turn-based gameplay will challenge the
most battle-hardened generals
· The joint attack combat systems adds extra depth
to the strategy gameplay, and makes for more replayability
· Original Japanese language story and battle
audio at a discounted $39.99
Tears to
Tiara II: Heir of the Overlord is now available in North and South America for
$39.99. Pre-orders and a limited quantity of launch edition games will come
with the Tears to Tiara II Visual Works, a 31-page booklet that combines
sketches, concept art, character designs and background visuals. More
information on the game, combat systems and more are available on the official
website, http://www.atlus.com/tears2
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Wondering
what is going on with Amazon Game Studios? Well, let us tell you! Today we’re
happy to show you three new games that will be launching this year— Til
Morning’s Light, Tales From Deep Space and CreepStorm. These
are creative, hand-crafted games that are fun to play, deliver interesting new
customer experiences, and utilize exclusive Amazon technology. Check out the
game trailers and other assets here: http://games.amazon.com.
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GungHo Online Entertainment America (GOEA), a multiplatform
publisher for the online gaming community, today launched a Steam Greenlight
campaign for its side-scrolling, puzzle-based adventure PC game Dokuro.
Already available on the PlayStation®Vita handheld entertainment system and
mobile devices (iOS and Android), Dokuro is expected to be
released on Windows PC based on the support of the Steam community.
A recipient of industry awards, including IGN's Best PS Vita
Puzzle Games of 2012 and Just Push Start's Original Game of the Year for
2012, Dokuro is a zany action-puzzler that enables players to
manipulate the game's environment and transform its diminutive protagonist
between two forms - a nimble skeleton and a dashing prince - to solve a variety
of puzzles in order to help an innocent princess escape the Dark Lord's
fortress.
Dokuro challenges
players to utilize both Dokuro's skeletal and hero forms to approach and tackle
various puzzles, traps, spiked pits and boss battles to save the princess. With
nearly 150 levels of escalating complexity and difficulty, Dokuro puts
even the most seasoned puzzle and platform gaming veterans to the challenge.
To check out Dokuro's Steam Greenlight page, visit:
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Starting now, Steam users
can pre-purchase Techland’s upcoming open-world zombie
action game Dying Light in a special 4-Pack bundle. At a price
of three games, players receive four copies of Dying Light, one for
them and three giftable extra copies for their friends. This promotion is a
great way to delve into the world of Dying Light with a
trusted team and get the most out of the game’s extensive multiplayer options.
Invasions by the Night
Hunter are the asymmetric multiplayer aspect of Dying Light, revealed in
the latest gameplay trailer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raVcgenC9No
Dying Light will be released in 2015 on January
27th in the Americas,January 28th in Australia and
New Zealand, and January 30th in Europe and Asia.
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Dark Souls: Prepare to Die fans are amongst the most hardcore and tight-knit gamers in
the world. In an effort to provide continued support to these players,
FromSoftware and BANDAI NAMCO Games have worked tirelessly to make it possible
for these most ardent of Dark Souls supporters to migrate
their Dark Souls: Prepare to Die games, saves, and
achievements from the Games for Windows Live platform to STEAM.
Pertinent
details about the migration option from Games for Windows Live to STEAM can
be found below:
· Games for Windows Live users will be able to redeem their Games
for Windows Live Tokens on STEAM to get Dark
Souls: Prepare to Die Edition at no additional cost.
o To find your Games for Windows Live Token,
please head to the support webpage at: http://support.xbox.com/en-US/billing/prepaid-codes/locate-games-for-windows-live-tokens
· In the month of November there will be a period
by which Games for Windows Live Dark Souls: Prepare to
Die Edition users will be able to transfer their Save Data
(character & progress) and Achievements over to their STEAM accounts.
· Players will still be able to use their Games
for Windows Live Tokens to redeem the STEAM version
of Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition at no additional
cost even after the migration period ends; but game Save Data and Achievements
transfer functions may not be available.
· Games for Windows Live Rankings will not be transferred to STEAM.
The
specific migration start and end dates will be available soon; however the
migration period will begin sometime in November 2014 with more specific dates
to come.
We will
be sharing more information soon regarding the migration process in upcoming
media alerts.
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If you're
a fan of SENRAN KAGURA, get ready to slice and dice... up some delicious treats
while rocking out to some funky beats! SENRAN KAGURA Bon Appétit! is slated
for November 11th in North America exclusively on the
PlayStation®Store for $14.99, while the EU release by Marvelous Europe will
launch on November 12th. The game includes the girls of Hanzo and Crimson
Squad, complete with story routes for each girl to play through. If you're a
fan of the straight-laced Gessen girls or the fierce Hebijo ladies, you can
pick up the Gessen x Hebijo DLC pack two weeks later, on November 25th,
also for $14.99. More info on the game can be found at the newly launched
website at www.hanzonationalacademy.com/skba/
We're
also kicking off the SHINOVI VERSUS DLC schedule today with two content packs,
and the first one's free! The "Shinovi Hairstyle Set" includes 20 new
hairstyles, one for each of the core shinobi, all on the house. Alongside that,
there's "Costume Set 1," which includes five different outfits (the
Gym Clothes, School Swimsuit, Uniform & Swimsuit, Uniform & Thigh
Highs, and Japanese Dress) for a bundle price of $5.99. The outfits are also
available individually, for $1.99 apiece. Marvelous Europe will be releasing
the same DLC on the EU store tomorrow, October 22nd.
That's it
for this week, but hold onto your Hachigane, because next week, two new
challengers will enter the fray...
To stay
up to date, check out our official Facebook page!
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Rainbow Skies (Vita)
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The
Phantom PI: Mission Apparition (great for kids!)
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RIVE
(wiiU)
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How To Survive: Storm Warning
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