Noahmund - PC Review

Noahmund was a Kickstarted title that has recently been released upon the PC. Taking several ideas together such as turned based and real time strategy, Estudio Ábrego have created an almost slower Tales of series concept with an action combat system that relies on thinking ahead as to where you’re going to move as the biggest influence was Chess.

I want to note upfront that as much as I loved the concepts behind Noahmund, the technical issues and some of the design choices prevented me from really enjoying the adventure. Starting off with one of your protagonists passing her exam and becoming an agent, you are soon sent out on an adventure that leads to many perils some of them being as simple as unbalanced enemies causing you to see a game over screen until you figure out how to take them out instead of heading back to the last save point. But let’s start at the beginning shall we?

Noahmund’s world is created on what is essentially a game board comprising of squares to move on as you pass through. When out on the field this can work very well in your favour as you’ll never be blindsided by enemies and if you play your cards right you can even avoid them. Where things tank a little bit is that for every square that you want to move, you have to press “A” on your controller. EVERY. TIME. There’s no way to map movement onto either the D-Pad or the Thumbstick nor is there a way to simply hold down “A” to continue moving. You want to move, you have to hit “A”. This makes exploration feel really drawn out and honestly it wore down my finger quite a bit after a while.

Once you’ve moved into combat, there are three lines that you can move through in order to get up to or move away from your enemy. Attacks can be done front, back, up and down but special attacks, depending on which ones a character has, can only be done front or back so tactics needs to be adjusted accordingly. Like the map movement though, if you want to move a character in battle you have to keep moving the thumbstick in the direction that you want to move making it feel very mechanical instead of smooth like your enemies often appear to move. Like the map movement, if make things feel drawn out and I felt like more time was spent looking at where I was moving than actually fighting the combat because the AI was a step ahead of me having already finished the job by the time I got there. That said, the AI for your characters felt well designed as often they can feel lacking compared to yourself.

In between the exploration and the combat there is dialog which is perhaps the Noahmund’s best feature. The interactions between the characters are believable and the emotions come across pretty well especially when one is annoyed or distrustful of another. Another nice touch is that there’s also not only internal monologue, but that it comes across as actual silence making another wonder why they aren’t saying anything.

As if the rest wasn’t enough, Noahmund in a way is incomplete and some of the features left out are unacceptable. One such item is the opening cinematic which is simply in Spanish without any subtitles activated to let you know what is being said. Even then, half of my attempts to get the cutscene to render with English subtitles were unsuccessful as I went back more than once to double check. After this, if you explore enough of the beginning area there’s a backer zone that is also only written in Spanish. While I could have asked a friend to translate these for me, Noahmund is a fully releases title and for these portions to not be addressed sadly comes across as very lazy.

So for all of its great ideas, Noahmund falls very short and I’m sad because after seeing what it promised I was really excited for it. Now while it can still be improved upon and modified a little bit in order to make it a smoother experience, for right now, I’m sad to say that it falls very short of being what could have been a great title.

Game Information

Platform:
PC
Developer(s):
Estudio Ábrego
Publisher(s):
Estudio Ábrego
Shinyuden
Genre(s):
Real Time
RPG
Mode(s):
Single Player
Other Platform(s):
N/A

Source:
Provided by Publisher

Article by Pierre-Yves

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Join the ancient order of Hell Warders and defend the light on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC this fall - News

Hell Warders is a game after my own heart. Tower Defense? Third Person Action? Put them together and I'm more than happy. Coming out this fall, Hell Warders puts these two together for both solo and coop action both online and within the comforts of your own living room!

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Hell is at our gates! Join the ancient order of Hell Warders and defend the light on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC this fall

Summon Armies, and Play Cooperatively in this Tower Defence, Third Person Action hybrid!

PQube (London, UK) August 29th, 2018 – PQube Limited and Antigravity Game Studios are proud to announce Hell Warders, a third person action tower defence hybrid coming to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC this fall worldwide.

Hell is at our gates! Rise up as one of the mighty Hell Warders, an ancient order of heroes with unique powers and abilities, to resist the demon hordes head-on. Push back wave after wave of Hell-spawn with an arsenal of weapons, rip apart their fearsome commanders with powerful hero skills, and deploy your army of knights, archers, and mages to bring the fight back to Hell!

Annihilate the legions of Hell
Control powerful Heroes, unleash devastating abilities and deploy strategic defensive units in this brand new sub-genre title.

Fortify your defenses
Set up archers, knights, mages and catapults - choose their position, upgrade their abilities and create the strongest resistance possible.

Join forces online and locally
Combine forces with up to four players and battle the legions of evil! Hell Warders supports co-operative play with friends and online matchmaking.

Choose from three class-based heroes and enhance them
Choose from three diverse heroes – each with their own unique weapons, skills and abilities. Completing stages rewards you with beacons which upgrades your skills and unlocks powerful artifacts allowing you to stand toe to toe with even the toughest of demons.

Challenge Epic Encounters
Battle demonic monsters, from the small and numerous to the epic and towering. Every resident of Hell is out to stop you!

Hell Warders is ready to defend the Nexus worldwide on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC this fall

Check out #HellWarders on social media

Article by Pierre-Yves

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GOD WARS: The Complete Legend - Switch Review

God Wars: Future Past released last year on the PS4 bringing about one of the better Strategy RPGs that I’ve played in a long time, which says something with my love of both Disgaea and the more recent Banner Saga. What made this title take a step above the rest was not only the little mechanical aspects to its combat, but also its story which is more “realistic” than over the top fantasy like it could have gone. While there are still fantastical elements such as Gods, Oni and other spirits, this more down to earth and often serious adventure of both Lady Kaguya and Kintaro is even better that it was before.

God Wars: The Complete Legend isn’t just a “port” from the PS4 / Vita over to the Switch. Instead, it’s both Future Past as well as the DLC and new content known as the The Labyrinth of Yomi thrown in for even more to do. PS4 and Vita users shouldn’t worry as this new content is being brought to those respective consoles alongside the launch of the newest version on the Switch.

The Nintendo Switch continues with God Wars to show off exactly how well this “small” console can perform both inside and out of its cradle. I still maintain that this system is exactly what the “PSTV” should have, or could have, been. Keeping in line with the more “realistic” vibe, the maps that you’ll be fighting on are big and often have plenty of elevation factors that depending on where you start will either give you the advantage or make you have think how you’re going to make it through. Grid-based combat that takes into account elevation and the positioning of your targets? Not many go into these fine mechanical details and it changes the level of strategy drastically making you often have to re-think your plans.

Even in the realm of turned based combats, God Wars is a bit slower than the rest because of the added think time as to how you’re going to approach a situation. You can either move as a group with your “tanks”, units designed to take the brunt of the attacks, in front while they get healed from behind and others launch magic. You can move in a more swift group to knock out your enemies hard and fast. Finally, in my case, you can pull enemies towards you one by one as you pick them all off and adjust when they all come your way. One way or the other, battles will often take upwards of ten plus rounds until it’s over meaning there’s no real “quick battles”. Regardless of your approach, you're going to need to keep an eye on where you're facing.

When it comes to your units themselves on the field, positioning is key and the enemy AI is often on the same page never really giving you an easy time. Face to face with an enemy will deal the least amount of damage and in many cases give the opportunity to block some of said damage with a shield or evade completely. With physical attacks in mind, you’ll want to strike from the sides for more damage or from the back for the highest possible blow. While yes striking your enemy from behind isn’t the most honorable, it does the most damage and as your party is often at a 1-3 disadvantage? Take the shot because you can be sure the enemy will!

The above is based on an equal playing field before elevation is even considered. Attacking an enemy from behind while they are on a ledge above you? Your sure shot easily becomes a miss as they have more of a chance to dodge the blow. If your unit is on that ledge however striking from above? Be prepared for the numbers because your enemy really won’t last long. What was really neat with these elements is that if you’re too high above or too low below, you can’t hit within melee with shorter weapons allowing you to effectively hide even from ranged weapons like bows as there’s a clearance factor that has to be accounted for. A lot of these elements are introduced early enough on allowing you to evolve your strategies moving forwards.

Another factor in all of this that I often found interesting is that damage from physical attacks isn’t one-hundred percent. It can deal either more or less before even factoring in a critical hit. The only time you can be damned sure about the numbers is when it comes to magic.

God Wars has, especially for a Strategy RPG, one of the best magic systems ever as your spell casters never become useless fodder once their reservoirs are emptied. Instead of starting off with full Magic Points, MP, you’ll instead start off with a smaller number that is only a fraction of your full amount. Characters will then receive “X” amount of MP per turn which can be increased via passive abilities or by spells that grant that much needed boost to your melee characters for their special abilities. This was great especially for when fights dragged on as there was never that final moment of “oh no” as your MP ran out. It does increase the difficulty as your foes have access to the same systems for taking out the healers fast is a must but for me it’s a small price to pay to keep everyone in the game as long as possible.

Maybe the one negative point for God Wars that I can make is that the combat often takes the reins when all you really want to know is what happens next. For a lover of SRPGs and of grinding and experimenting with your units, this may seem a bit hypocritical to state but bear with me for a moment.

The reason for this statement is that often the story missions if you were to simply follow from one to the next, are way too damned hard as the difficulty spikes rapidly. In order to compensate for this, there are tons of side quests that come with their own rewards that can be taken in order to level up your units and their “jobs” such as Fighter, Priest, Magician, and the others that open up as you level up the basic three. Taking on these missions will prepare you both in regards to experience and in cash flow to buy new equipment in order to better survive your next encounter. The only issue here is that often several of these have to be done in order to increase your chances at survival so it could take upwards of half an hour if not longer before getting back into the story and what happens next because you also need to do that fight.

The job class system, like the magic, is among one of my favorites. Each character has the ability to choose two classes as they see fit which add onto a third that belongs to that specific character. Fighters are good with melee attacks, Priests are there to heal and Magicians are there to launch destructive magics. Once you’ve started to level these up, other classes in their veins will unlock like Monk, Samurai or Spiritualist as the second level before even more later on. In order to keep unlocking you’ll have to experiment with many of these as the later classes require multiple classes to be leveled up before being unlocked.

What’s great about this system is that you’re never penalized for experimenting or changing classes. With two that can be attached at a time plus a character's personal core class, any skills that have been learnt are yours to keep and can be used as long as the class has been selected for use. Up to three passive abilities can be equipped at any time, and in this case, the class that it comes from does not need to be in use. This lets you experiment as you see fit and honestly I’ve made every character level up Priest for both a basic, if not advanced healing for grinding purposes, and the passive ability to increase Job Point acquisition up to fifty percent making all new jobs that much easier to invest points into.

And this is honestly just the mechanics. Visually God Wars is amazing to look at both on the small and the big screen. Taking it on the go is just as awesome as putting your feet up on the coffee table or on your living room chair. The colors of the environments, the characters both as sprites and as 2D avatars are bright and pretty to behold. The music that plays in the background either on the world map or within battle is great to simply let play for a few moments and never gets old. I also quite enjoyed the voice acting as the characters work with one another and the battle sounds aren’t annoying even if you’ve heard them a hundred times.

Overall, God Wars: The Complete Legend is a great re-release of God Wars: Future Past. With all previously available content present and more added in upon this release, there’s more than enough to love while either at home or on the go and it has really found an amazing home on the Nintendo Switch.

Game Information

Platform:
Nintendo Switch
Developer(s):
Kadokawa Corporation
Publisher(s):
NIS America
Genre(s):
Strategy RPG
Mode(s):
Single Player
Other Platform(s):
Sony PlayStation 4

Source:
Provided by Publisher

Article by Pierre-Yves

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Deiland - PS4 Review

Deiland is this tiny planet floating quietly and peacefully in space. Lived on by just one person, you, everything changes the day that a member of the space exploration forces lands and teaches you how to build tools to better plant your crops, cut down the trees you’ve planted for wood and to mine for rocks and metal. With tools now in your hands, you set about collecting raw materials in order to build newer things so that instead of eating berries you’ll now be eating stew and jello. With all the relaxation through the days and the nights though, beware, as you’ll sometimes have to defend your home and crops against monster attacks.

Deiland is exactly what the doctor ordered for me. Calm and relaxing in a world of “go go go”, the fifteen-ish hours that I spent was more than worth it. While you could rush about, somethings simply take time and there’s an appreciation there as your tool eventually get better giving you access to do more in less time but it also gives you more to do making your simple life not quite as simple anymore. You also don’t need to rush about as you can simply concentrate on one thing at a time and there’s no penalty, you get to it when you get to it. It’s also a relaxing game to beat to full completion as I’m only four trophies short of the platinum doing simply what the title laid out for me. (Edit: It only took another three hours from the point of this writing to get said Platinum Trophy)

At its core, Deiland, titular and your planet, is a simulation. You play the role of a Prince of a tiny planet who will eventually have a house and a barn to sit by his farm. You get to plant vegetables for food, cotton for cloth, seeds for trees or for flowers. Eventually you’ll have a few sheep that you use to get milk which you can then turn into cheese or use to make pancakes. It’s a very relaxing process and hours can go by and you may not even notice it.

Because you are on this little planet however, getting what you need may sometimes get tricky but patience is always rewarded. After your first visit you’ll soon be visited by a chef, an alchemist and a pirate. Later on there are a few others that you’ll meet on either your planet or by doing something a little different but more on that to come. Each of these visitors however will have goods to sell and “chores” for you to do. Performing these chores will grant you rewards from new recipes to new schematics for your tools making your life easier. While you don’t “have” do to these chores, it’s well worth your time.

Eventually you’ll be able to explore another location that is a lot less simulation and a little more in the action and adventure vein. Here you’ll meet a few other people and while there are monsters to fight for experience and materials, there isn’t much else. It works as a scenery change. As Deiland is more of a simulation than anything else, the combat is kept at a strict minimum and is actually quite basic. You can attack physically with your hands or whatever is held within them or use magic once it’s unlocked. Aside from that, it’s only there as an attachment to the story and while basic, fits because of why it's there. Why is it there you ask? Spoilers!

It’s with these spoilers however that you eventually learn that Deiland is more than simply a calm and relaxing simulation. There is a darker side to things and it only truly comes out to play once you’ve started to build up your planet, upgrade your buildings and level up as there is an RPG system. You’ll start getting these dark dreams that have a sense of foreboding and as time moves on, you’ll learn more. Not just you’ll learn more, you’ll want to learn more because you’ll want to know what is going on more than you’ll want to grow giant pumpkins for potions!

Days turn to nights, nights to days, and it’s only by planting, building and slaying monsters that you’ll be able to level up. Leveling up has its benefits as you get to put points into Strength, Constitution, Agility so that you can have more stamina, hit harder and move around faster. You can also get more Intelligence so that your magic is more powerful and that your prices while bartering will be better. Each system works together nicely.

Because Deiland isn’t very big, you can run across the surface fairly quickly. Because of it being small though, you’ll have to worry about debris coming in and hitting your planet as well as your house and your farm. Being the Price of this world though you can rotate the planet around to avoid the damage to anything important. The best part about this is that if you mine what hits your planet, you can not only get crystals which are used for magic and making jars, but you may also find new things to plant and grow. Some people can only be met this way so make sure to look out for these impact sites!

Everything is fairly stable too as Deiland may have crashed on me once and I had to reload because my visitors couldn’t land. Aside from that, the autosave is so smooth you don’t even know that it’s there. Also, I do want to note that it does take a couple hours to realize how well everything comes together as at first it can seem like a few elements simply tossed together into a pot and it isn’t until it’s simmered a bit that you realize just how well everything is intertwined.

Deiland is worth it. If you like relaxing experiences, do it. If you like moving around a farm and growing crops without worry for much else, this has you covered. If you like things closer to Rune Factory or Popolocrois, this may not quite be for you but I would suggest taking a look anyways as while the combat and the RPG may not be on the same levels, it’s fun. So with anywhere between ten to twenty hours of relaxation? This little planet is more than worth your time!

Game Information

Platform:
Sony PlayStation 4
Developer(s):
Chibig
Publisher(s):
101XP
Genre(s):
Adventure
Simulation
Mode(s):
Single Player
Other Platform(s):
PC

Source:
Provided by Publisher

Article by Pierre-Yves

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Yakuza Kiwami 2 - PS4 Review

No Problem This Dragon Can't Punch

I consider myself a stupidly fortunate guy. I was born to affectionate, selfless, and well-meaning parents; I've been able to retain close relationships with childhood friends throughout an adulthood that can shift between meaningful and inconsequential; and more relevantly, I've had the honor of brawling, laughing, and weeping through every installment of the Yakuza series, during each titles' respective release, from 2006 all the way to just a few moments ago.

I must dare to proclaim to you, current and prospective Yakuza die-hards: brawling, laughing, and weeping through Yakuza Kiwami 2, a brass-balls-to-the-face remake of 2008's Yakuza 2, may have upgraded my status from “stupidly fortunate” to “spoiled-beyond-belief”; notwithstanding a combat moveset that isn't as varied or plentiful as previous installments, YK2's takes what is considered one of the best stories in the series and infuses it with a visual and mechanical overhaul, placing it near the nape of Shadow of the Colossus as one of the most impressive remakes on PS4.  

It's the dirty summer of 2006. Kamurocho is one of the most beautiful districts in Japan. It's also the most dangerous. To enter its jurisdiction is to invite the fist of every mobster, racketeer, and hostess club personality to a Timeshare seminar on your jaw and ribs. A hailstorm of dishonor and greed brews between two rival crime organizations, The Tojo Clan and The Omi Alliance. Fearing the superior finances and manpower of the latter, the former recruits the unwavering nobility of Kazuma Kiryu, the series' protagonist, the embodiment of dragon fire in a perpetual state of flex, to negotiate peace. Lucky for us, as virtual brawling enthusiasts, Ryoji Goda, son of the Patriarch of The Omi Alliance, will do anything to guarantee an all-out war.

By “war,” I mean the painful yet hilarious dazzlement of kicks, elbows, and bicycles-to-the-thorax that only characters in the Yakuza universe can suffer without requiring face-replacement surgery. While YK2's main narrative retains the story, structure, and cinematic choreography of the 2008 original, the visuals and game mechanics have adopted the detail and fluidness of Yakuza 6's Dragon Engine, meaning you can bear witness to every particle of Kiryu's blue dragon aura as it swirls from his cannonball shoulders to the high pugilist heavens. (In other words, it's the best looking game in the series.)

This isn't merely a copy-paste job of Y6's Dragon Engine, which often endured plentiful screen tearing and the occasional framerate dip; this is a revision that renders most of those issues nearly insubstantial (on the regular PS4). Rather than occurring during manic, dozen-men fight sequences, as they did in Y6, these problems crept up only a few times, within cramped hallways and alleyways, of all places. Other than that, for the vast majority of the adventure, the game thrives at an unencumbered 30 fists-per-second.

The combat system, too, feels like an revision of the one utilized in Y6, which granted fluidness to stringing combos, unloading heat actions, and bouncing blows between foes. It denoted a sensation of wielding Kiryu in his athletic prime, despite his “old” age, at a stage in his life where he had removed all impurities from his martial arts technique. However, as a consequence of this purification, Kiryu felt robbed at shotgun-point of the various fighting styles that granted him such a surplus of versatility in Yakuza 0. Even though YK2 can't match that installment in terms of the burliness of its movesets, it definitely succeeds in supplementing the Dragon Engine with variation, while fine-tuning everything that already worked.

On top of Kiryu's acrobatics, blocks, and swings being more perceptually accurate and responsive, as well as rib-crunching charge moves being added to his light and heavy attacks, weapons make a comeback as a cornerstone of self defense and punishment. Any weapon that you pick up can now be stored in your inventory, and can be brandished with a simple touch of the D-pad. Knives, batons, stun guns, legendary-yet-brittle samurai swords: these and many more tools of righteous carnage can stack the odds even more in your favor, as most weapon types possess their own career-ending Heat Move. It sucks that weapons have the durability of overcooked tofu, causing them to break, forcing you to constantly swap them in and out of your equipment slots. But they're so damn plentiful and useful in a pinch that the inconvenience of item management is actually easier to deal with than it is to complain about.

As per Yakuza's tradition of thematic diversity, when you're not shaming every hitman, underling, or street punk with poetic ferocity, you'll be engaging with all the fine restaurants and recreation that Kamuracho -- arguably one of the best and liveliest locations in the gaming sphere, at the most glamorous it's ever looked -- is proud to offer. The Yakuza series has become renowned for having more quality mini-games and surprisingly deep side quests than most games would ever consider, and YK2 is no exception. You can fearlessly engage in everything from golf to karaoke to managing a struggling Cabaret Club, and be surprised at how each activity is as fully fleshed out as it needs to be. The modes added to this remake, such as the Cabaret Club and Clan Creator, are especially worth experiencing for the artistic ridiculousness of their lengthy and uproarious substories.

It's nearly impossible to play Yakuza Kiwami 2 without feeling spoiled. This remake doesn't just transform an old game's visuals into something more visually palatable. It actually adds all the elements you'd expect from a modern day Yakuza title and wraps them around the bones of the most polished version of the developer's most modern game engine. Fuse these assets together with fan-favorite story and a plethora of side activities, and you have yourself not only one of the best remakes on the market, but also one of the best Yakuza titles to date.

Game Information

Platform:
Sony PlayStation 4
Developer(s):
Sega
Publisher(s):
Sega
Genre(s):
Action
Adventure
Mode(s):
Single Player
Other Platform(s):
N/A

Source:
Provided by Publisher

Article by Jedediah

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Little Dragons Café - Switch Review

Little Dragons Café was created by the same guy who brought us Harvest Moon - Yasuhiro Wada. If that's not a good sign, I don't know what is! Run a cute café AND raise a baby dragon?? I'm in!

First impressions

This game is definition of cute, right down to the art looking like it was drawn with colored pencils. The music suits the game perfectly and sets the tone for a light-hearted, laid-back and uncomplicated fantasy tale. Unfortunately, the unnaturally long loading screens and slow story progression takes you right out of that mood. This can get fairly annoying, so I highly recommend that you use this time to get a snack because all the talk of delicious food is bound to make you hungry!

Plot

You are given the choice to play one half of a set of fraternal twins (boy or girl who can be renamed) who are put in charge of their mother's café after she falls inexplicably ill. I say inexplicably, because the reason is completely nonsensical and there is no hint of her being part dragon prior to her falling ill or after. A random old man (wizard) shows up in your mother's bedroom to tell you that your mother is half-dragon and that the only way to save her is to run the café and raise a baby dragon. Your twin sibling has the sense to be skeptical at first, too and questions the absurdity of the wizard's story. In the end, the great wizard Pappy moves in with you and gives you your very own pet baby dragon.

At first, it appears as though your twin sibling is pretty useless, and he/she is, but don't don't worry, your dragon (I named mine Doug) more than makes up for it. At each stage of his growth he can assist you with gathering ingredients and recipe fragments to improve the quality of your menu, and consequently, your café's overall reputation. As the story progresses, you will also encounter some interesting characters who will help you in the café, whether you want them to or not. Eventually, the wizard Pappy also increases the height of your café allowing for certain customers to rent a room and stay awhile.

Gameplay

This game is part farming sim, café sim, pet sim and rhythm game. You are responsible for gathering ingredients by searching the surrounding area (which grows as you get further along in the story) and then cooking the meals with a rhythm mini-game. I *loathe* fishing in games, so I was super thankful for the easy fishing mechanics in this title. You also don't seem to have to worry about inventory space - hooray! As soon as more of your island is available for exploring, you will be granted a quick travel back to the café, which saves SO MUCH TIME, especially when your staff starts slacking off.

Pay attention to which ingredients you use for each recipe because eventually you will run out and it isn't always easy to harvest the exact same thing again. There is no way to accurately predict where a specific ingredient will be - except maybe the eggs. (Hint: it's not a chicken - it's an egg bird, obviously!)

The rhythm game took some getting used to - probably because I kept forgetting that the direction the arrow was pointing is vital to knowing which corresponding button to press.

You can assist with taking customers' orders, serving their food and cleaning up after them. It is definitely faster to do this yourself, even with the NPC's blocking your path or pushing YOU out of their way. Luccola (the green orc) will always take care of cooking for customers - once you create the dish initially and add it to the menu.

The dishes that you make go in to your inventory and can be fed to your dragon to keep up his stamina or change his color. The color change took a few days before it became apparent, so stick with the same color-producing food for max effect. You can also "cuddle" your dragon to increase stamina, but this doesn't result in shiny dragon manure, which helps to increase the rarity or amount of ingredients you can collect from plants, gardens and fishing holes.

The only way to save the game manually is to go to sleep, and you can revisit earlier scenes by reviewing the photo album.

Overall

There are super cute touches that really make this game standout. I really liked the way the NPC's names change as their personality is being revealed and that certain foods will change your dragon's color as well as play different music while you cook them. I also appreciated the gradual introduction to all the gameplay mechanics because I know I wouldn't have been able to retain all that information in one sitting.

Unfortunately, these qualities don't significantly outweigh the drawbacks. Although the game is cute and enjoyable, it doesn't warrant a premium price tag. The long loading screen paired with a very quick in-game day cycle (10 seconds real time = 10 minutes in-game) make it difficult to accomplish much - even when you can stay up all hours. The visuals and controls can be glitchy and jerky resulting in unintentional actions.

The impression I got is that the game was trying too hard to do too many things, and it didn't end up being stellar at any of them. The plot and progression speed weren't exciting enough for me to not want to put the game down. That being said, I will go back to this game for short and infrequent intervals when I am in the right mood for it.

Game Information

Platform:
Nintendo Switch
Developer(s):
Rising Star Games
Publisher(s):
Aksys Games
Toybox Inc.
Genre(s):
Adventure
Mode(s):
Single Player
Other Platform(s):
Sony PlayStation 4

Source:
Provided by Publisher

Article by Lauren

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Jaggy's Corner - Sunday August 26

Today's edition of Jaggy's corner is going to be me ranting about Death Note. Read on if you want to know why...

Death Note Netflix

For the uninformed, Death Note started as a manga that became a series. It is set in Japan that follows a student who finds a magical book called the Death Note. On the first page are rules for the books use, “The human who's name is written in this book will die.” It's a terrifying concept but a really good anime – to a point. (IMO, the first antagonist is the best. The later portion of the story was less intriguing to me... In fact, among anime fans that holds true for most of them.)

When I stumbled upon news that Netflix would be releasing a sequel to the movie that premiered last year, my knee-jerk reaction was horror and disgust. The media has a tendency to ruin great things. As much as I was excited for Ghost in the Shell, I also dreaded it. Speed Racer was made into a live action movie that bombed out. As for Dragon Ball Evolution, it received so much hate mail that the writer publically apologized. I've seen rumors about there being an Akira adaptation. This better not be true. *grumbles*

Looking at the media for Video Game to movie adaptations hasn't brightened the light any. Tomb Raider, released earlier this year, was drastically altered. While the movie wasn't a total wash, it definitely steered away from some much needed interactions. Also, the fact that writers decided to stretch out the ending reveal to allow for a sequel was intriguing for anyone who didn't play the game, but I felt that doing so was wrong. It could have stood on its own.

PY: I finally sat down this week to Tomb Raider and honestly? It was good. It was more in the vein of the newer games and I think they did well by it. It's sort of like the Prince of Persia: Sands of Time. The Director knew "nothing" of the games and didn't want to and because of it the movie was good because it did it's own thing. It wasn't amazing by any means, but it was enjoyable. If you want really good video game based movies? The three CG Resident Evils that feature Leon S. Kennedy are amazing.

Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within was a passable movie but honestly I recall nothing of it. Final Fantasy Advent Children was a much better movie between the two. (Besides, I happen to love the music in that. Yes. Final Fantasy VII or bust.)

PY: uh.... Spirits Within was bad. REALLY bad. Advent Children was amazing but needed the director's cut version to really flesh it all out. The Turks rocked it. Also? FF IV / VI. *drops mic and walks away*

Considering I've only seen four other video game to movie adaptations, it stands to reason that I'm not running to the box office. Bearing that in mind, reading news about a Death Note sequel angers me. Of the adaptations I've seen, Death Note will not rate on my list 'to see.'

My Feelings about the Sequel

Anyways, let's talk about this sequel. The screenplay will be written by Greg Russo. Incidentally, he is also said to be hired for a reboot of the Mortal Kombat movie (Another adaptation I worry about). Not only that, but he will also be writing F.E.A.R. Unfortunately, not much is known about the writer except that he's a huge fan of video games. Perhaps that's why he's been hired for the video game adaptations, though I fail to see why he would take over a Death Note sequel. Especially after the first one...

Death Note 2017

So let's get to the skinny. I did not watch the Netflix version that released in 2017. The fact that there is a sequel to it concerns me greatly. In researching what to write about this topic, I discovered a WatchMojo video which explained why the Netflix movie was horrible. I agree with it. The anime and manga are far superior to the Netflix version. Whomever butchered the brilliant story telling to create the most recent piece of trash needs to have their name written in the book...

Stop it Hollywood. Seriously, no one appreciates fan favorites getting slaughtered by a bunch of American's who are full of themselves. Anime lovers of such masterpieces like Serial Experiments Lain, Elfin Lied, and Neon Genesis Evangeleon want specific things like complex/nuanced storytelling, unique settings, and amazing characters. Unfortunately, Hollywood latched on to arguably two of the top rated psychological animes ever released (Ghost in the Shell and Death Note respectively) and threw them in a dumpster fire. Netflix is not doing the anime any favors by hiring a screenwriter with no successful credits. (At least, that I know of. If I'm mistaken, please enlighten me. I didn't find anything useful regarding his accreditation.)

Here's the thing, the writer for Death Note had some credits backing him! And considering that the writer received plenty of awards for Immortals, Death Note could have been great! Instead, fans received a story that was set in the US, characters like Light were nowhere near as complex, and the protagonist practically shouted from the rooftops that he had this magic book. What a pansy.

While Netflix tried to bring an amazing anime to life, they stripped everything that was good out of the series. I get that things need to be relatable to the audience, but part of the reason people really loved Death Note was because Light had a code. Instead of showcasing the real brilliance of the story, it was turned into a low rate shitty horror movie. Light became a character that was not masterful, strong-willed, nor calculating.

Considering that the movie was not well received by anime fans, getting a fresh perspective on the series is not a bad idea... Unfortunately, the new screenwriter seems lesser known and will likely have a much harder time doing it justice. For me, this spells disaster and any true anime fan will tell Hollywood where to shove it.

Final Thoughts

I have zero hopes for this sequel movie. I thought it was going to be amazing (since I hadn't realized there was a Death Note movie) and I found out how horribly wrong I was. Given that a relatively unknown writer will be handling the story, and given the past failures of adaptation movies in general, this one will slide off my radar. Greg Russo is going to have to contend with the plot of one of the best animes, so to that I say good luck – though I'm not holding my breath.

I'll also take a moment to repeat what I said above. Hollywood. Just. Stop.

PS: Also stop releasing only 3D movies, giving inconvenient 2D time slots. K, thanks. BAI.

Anyways, what do you guys think? Are you skipping this one too? I'd love to hear the epic rants.

Until next time,

Article by Susan N.

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QubicGames' Party Sale & Contest!

Hello everyone! Everything that you need is above so have fun and good luck!

Article by Pierre-Yves

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Dead Cells - PS4 Review

Dead Cells is a really interesting rogue-like that had me laughing, crying, raging, and celebrating, all within the span of an hour. If you like 2D rogue-likes, come and join us for a look at Dead Cells, in a review that has definitely not been looted.

To give a bit of a preface for Dead Cells, the feeling I got upon starting to play was a sort of Rogue Legacy meets the Souls series. Now, while I generally hate comparing something to the Demon/Dark Souls, the comparison here is more in regards to story and tone, rather than any semblance of gameplay or difficulty. You aren’t exactly given much of a story. You are some sort of amorphous pixelated blob, or series of cells I’d presume, that lands in a castle dungeon, upon which you immediately possess a headless corpse. That’s it, that’s all you’re given.

More understanding of the world, or castle in this case, that you’re in is revealed by exploring the castle and finding examinable objects that will provide bits of exposition or background. As far as I can tell, this king who may or may not be evil used the castle as a prison, and some sort of disease spread amongst the people.

In terms of gameplay, Dead Cells is a rogue-like through and through in a lot of the traditional senses. You start off in the dungeon, collect weapons from enemies, collect blueprints for unlocking gear, gather stat increasing…paper?, and beat up enemies for their…life essence in the form of “cells”? Okay, so maybe not ENTIRELY traditional, but the main basis is there.

You have a 2D side-scrolling adventure where you can carry two basic weapons, two traps/skills, and an “artifact”, but you’ve gotta find those throughout the stages. If you die, then you lose all your gear and character upgrades, and need to start again from the beginning dungeon area, with the whole dungeon layout changed up on you. Thankfully, you can purchase permanent upgrades during every intermission that happens between area transitions, where you may also heal and acquire character traits, labeled as mutations. Mutations can be combo damage modifiers, health augments, or even a form of life leech.

During actual exploration of the castle, there are a few things you need to keep in mind. You have your two weapons and two skills, and they can all be used simultaneously. You are, however, restricted to only those weapons, meaning if you find more, you have no inventory, and need to choose if you’ll replace what you have, or leave the item where it is. While this is a perfectly acceptable gameplay mechanic in general, I would like to point out that drops are, primarily, very luck dependent. (Editor's Note: I don't even need to read the next sentence to start laughing at your bad luck!) In other words, it is entirely possible to make it halfway through the game without any sort of reasonable new gear provided your luck is that bad (that would be me, by the way). On the plus side, it certainly made me get more skilled at dodging enemy attacks and learning patterns.

In addition to the fairly standard rogue mechanics, there are a number of really interesting aspects. Throughout your castle exploration, you may notice a timer near the minimap, that will fill in as you explore. The timer pauses during the intermission/upgrade segments, and will also pause when you enter a “room” with a chest, “choice”, or vendor, giving you ample opportunity to contemplate your choices. So what purpose does this timer serve, if any? Well, there are doors that will only remain open up until your timer hits a certain amount.

For instance, there is a door in “The Promenade” that I’m fairly certain closes at the 2min mark. This is an interesting way of promoting faster exploration, and really increases game pacing if you bother with the doors. Since you will not be able to return to previous segments of the castle unless you die, you need to balance exploration, speed, and enemy combat in order to work out a good balance of finding treasure/weapons, earning cells, or making it to the timed doors.

Fortunately, even if you die, upgrades and weapon plans will remain with you, although the weapon plans need to be unlocked by paying in cells, same with the general upgrades. Also on the plus side, you can “invest” cells into an upgrade, and have those cells remain used there. For example, if there is a weapon that costs 20 cells to unlock, if you put 17 cells into the weapon unlock, the weapon will still only require 3 more cells, even if you die. You can generally find plans in secret areas, dropped from enemies with a star above them, from elite monsters, or from bosses.

The elite monsters act as a very neat little optional miniboss, as you can simply avoid the obelisk/monument from which they spawn, although they tend to drop some nice stuff, and are the way you unlock runes, which are another permanent upgrade even if you die, and will usually allow you to explore new areas of the castle zones, and is also how you unlock the daily challenges, which are pseudo dungeon areas that give you a preset layout and time requirement which you need to beat.

With a timer and handy teleportation gates strewn about areas, Dead Cells certainly feels a lot faster paced than most of the other rogue-like games I’ve played. Even the combat, with liberal use of the dodge roll, feels a lot more fluid and technical. With a fresh soundtrack that I felt really captured the ambiance of each zone inside the castle, and some pretty dang nostalgia inducing pixel style graphics that aren’t grossly overdone or under-styled, Dead Cells is certainly a game I’d recommend for any fans of the rogue-like genre who are looking for a challenge, especially since there is such a wide array of platforms to choose from.

Game Information

Platform:
Sony PlayStation 4
Developer(s):
Motion Twin
Publisher(s):
Motion Twin
Genre(s):
Metroidvania
Mode(s):
Single Player
Other Platform(s):
Microsoft Xbox One
Nintendo Switch
PC

Source:
Provided by Publisher

Article by Richard

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Action-packed space adventure Landinar: Into the Void available September 18th! - News

If you needed some way to get lost in space, pick a fight with someone bigger than you instead of talking it out, or even just talking it out once you realize you won't win? Landinar: Into the Void could be for you!

Check out this almost ten minute video that showcases what Landinar is all about as it heads to
Early Access September 18th,

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From the developers of Convoy, Landinar: Into the Void is an action-packed space adventure in a backwater quadrant under tight control of the empire.

As player you take control of a captain down on your luck, with more enemies than friends and a knack for getting into trouble. After an unfortunate run-in with the law, the time has come to make a change. Get into your ship and fly out into space to take on contracts, fight enemies and collect new tech to design and build your own spaceship.

In Landinar: Into the Void you create your own adventure. You decide what to do, who to talk to, who to fight and how big (or small) your space ship is going to be!

Landinar: Into the Void is currently in development and will release on Steam September 18th 2018.

So, why Early Access?
We've spent the last 3 years working hard on Landinar: Into the Void. We are almost ready to release a sandbox mode in early access, where you can explore the universe, take on quests, find tech and build your own ship. It's time for us to involve players in these final steps and listen to their feedback and criticism. During early access we have planned several large content updates. For the final release we are aiming for an engaging story mode campaign with (branching) main and side missions and several other features:

• A complete story mode campaign in which you help the rebellion liberate the quadrant.
• More sectors, stations, NPCs, quests and other content.
• Additional ships, enemy types, mini bosses and other challenges.
• More weapons, abilities and ways to interact with the world.

Article by Pierre-Yves

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