Vampire the Masquerade: Swansong Announced for 2021

Lesquin, France, October 19, 2019 - On the heels of Werewolf: The Apocalypse - Earthblood, Bigben’s catalogue is expanding its presence in The World of Darkness with the production of a new video game based on the famous franchise Vampire: The Masquerade. Already teased at Bigben Week 2019, this new game titled Vampire: The Masquerade - Swansong will release in 2021. It will be developed by Big Bad Wolf studio, a narrative RPG specialist and author of the award-winning game The Council.

Vampire: The Masquerade is the most iconic role-playing game of its generation and sets the standard for many tabletop gamers. The first setting in the World of Darkness universe created by White Wolf Publishing in 1991, Vampire: The Masquerade transposes the vampire myth into modern societies. The player takes control of one of these immortal creatures hiding in the shadows of our cities. They struggle to control their bloodthirsty instincts by leading a life of both predator and outcast, in a world where the boundaries between reality and the supernatural are always blurred. Vampires in The World of Darkness are nothing like the solitary monsters of the ancient legends. They are superior and sophisticated creatures who live among humans behind a shield of secrecy: The Masquerade. Organised into complex secret societies, they create their own laws and are members of distinct clans with contrasting visions of their role in the world.

Thrilled with the success of The Council, Big Bad Wolf studio intends to continue specialising in narrative RPGs, a new genre that they are helping to define with their creations. With this adaptation of Vampire: The Masquerade, the team is working on its most ambitious project. The game will feature a strong story, supported by solid RPG mechanics that respect the rules of the fifth edition of Vampire: The Masquerade and the universe of The World of Darkness.

"At the studio, we're long-time and passionate fans of the tabletop role-playing game Vampire: The Masquerade. We have wanted to create a video game inspired by this universe for several years now. This project fits perfectly with Bigben’s desire to expand its catalogue of narrative games. We are very happy to be unveiling it together," says Thomas Veauclin, Creative & Art Director at Big Bad Wolf. 

"My past experience as an editor and author of role-playing games, and also as Editor-in-Chief of an RPG magazine, is proof of how important this project means to me personally," adds Benoit Clerc, Head of Publishing at Bigben." Just like me, many fans have been waiting a long time for a new adaptation of this cult game, which will be developed by one of the most talented studios of its generation."

In this narrative RPG adapted from the 5th edition of Vampire: The Masquerade, the player takes control of 3 vampires belonging to different clans of the Camarilla, the secret society to which most vampires belong. Weaving between their intertwined tales, the player has to confront the different points of view of his characters to unravel fact from fiction. With whispers of conspiracy, murder and power struggles, the player must protect his clan, discover the truth and above all enforce the Masquerade, the vampire law designed to conceal the existence of creatures of the night from humans. 

About Bigben

Bigben, a leading publisher of video games on PC and consoles, is known for its creativity and innovation. After its acquisition of four development studios (Cyanide, Eko, KT Racing and Spiders), which are all internationally recognised for their expertise in different genres, Bigben is strengthening its position as a developer and publisher of premium games and is aiming to become the world's leading AA publisher. www.bigben.fr

About Cyanide

Cyanide is a French video game development studio created in 2000 and based in Nanterre. It has two subsidiaries located in Montreal and Bordeaux (Big bad Wolf). The studio is known for its sports games, such as the popular PC series Cycling Manager and its console version, Tour de France. Cyanide is also the author of Blood Bowl (Sport/Fantasy, 2009), the adaptation of the famous Games Workshop board game; Game of Thrones (RPG, 2012); Styx: Master of Shadows and the sequel Styx: Shards of Darkness (Infiltration, 2014/2017); and Call of Cthulhu, a game adapted from the tormented world of HP Lovecraft (investigative RPG, 2018). More information can be found at www.cyanide-studio.com

About White Wolf

White Wolf is a licensing company focused on creating the best participatory brands in the world. Since its original entry into the roleplaying game market in 1991, White Wolf’s World of Darkness has grown to be one of the most recognized and successful brands in the hobby game space with collective book sales in excess of 10 million copies during this time. White Wolf’s World of Darkness brands, which include Vampire: The Masquerade, Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Wraith: The Oblivion, and Orpheus, has been licensed for television series, console and computer video games, interactive media events, and a myriad of merchandise and other entertainment products. More information at: www.worldofdarkness.com


Article by Susan N.

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Into the Dead 2 - Switch Review

Into the Dead 2 is the runner gunner sequel to Into the Dead, now moving from your phone or tablet to your home console. Like a mash up between the “line runner” type games that are all over your app store, and a first person shooter, Into the Dead 2 definitely puts a spin on the standard style.

Into the Dead 2 is a zombie…survival/shooter/runner where you race through zombies in order to rescue your family. Gameplay consists of running in a single direction forward through the zombie hordes, trying to get to the distance checkpoint to complete the stage. It’s a little rail shooter like in the sense that you’re set on a path and shooting at zombies, but you’re free to lean left or right to start heading more towards one direction or the other, and you can go pretty far off the main track this way.

Also unlike a rail shooter, you can only shoot in front of you, and that is also somewhat limited by whether the game considers the enemies to actually be in front of you or not. As you clear more stages you can unlock different guns to bring with you into each stage, one primary and one secondary of different classes. You can also bring an animal companion along with you that will serve different roles. As an example, the first doggo you get will attack enemies, and the second one you can choose will help find ammo crates. Yup, you don’t have limited ammo, so you need to decide when you should shoot and when you should try to evade.

There are weapons that you can find for in-stage use that can help you mow down zombies, and even if you aren’t using them or are unable to find them, your guns earn exp that you can use with gold earned in stages in order to upgrade your weapons and animal companions. Upon stage completion you get to choose a reward, which also generally includes a one-time augment that you can attach to your weapon for the stage it’s activated for.

There are a couple different modes you can choose from, with the standard story mode, bonus side missions, and a sort of survival run, where you try and get as far as you can while killing as many zombies as you can. Stages will give you benchmark goals to meet, and if you do well enough or complete enough of them, you can unlock new weapons or earn extra weapon augments.

Into the Dead 2 is pretty basic in its presentation, primarily because it is a mobile game that made its way to a console. While there isn’t anything particularly wrong about Into the Dead 2, despite the occasional glitch where the game got confused about which gun I had out when one ran out of ammo, preventing me from shooting until I ran over an ammo crate, there also isn’t really anything to make it stand out from the crowd.

Stages get rather repetitive rather fast, and unlocking new guns later once you’ve already invested in earlier weapons feels like more of a chore than a bonus. While the animal companion is a neat idea, they are rather situationally useful or aggravating. Half the time the first dog attacked an enemy I was in the middle of shooting it, so either I lost my ammo, or the dog “missed” and has to wait on the cooldown before attacking another zombie.

If you’re using your switch as a mobile or handheld device, I can definitely see picking up Into the Dead 2 as a quick game while you’re on public transit, or perhaps between classes, but it definitely isn’t something I would pick up as a “console” title. Considering it’s also free to play, although at reduced content, on mobile, you may want to reconsider the platform that you’re looking to play this on.

Game Information

Platform:
Nintendo Switch
Developer(s):
PikPok
Publisher(s):
Versus Evil
Genre(s):
Action
Mode(s):
Single Player
Other Platform(s):
Mobile

Source:
Provided by Publisher

Article by Richard

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Crusader Kings III Announced!

BERLIN - 19 October 2019 - The security of a dynasty rests in the quality of its successors. An heir should be strong. An heir should be forward-thinking. Heirs should improve on the oversights of their predecessors. But the most successful heirs are those who build on an already secure foundation.

Crusader Kings III is the sequel to the classic Paradox Development Studio game about medieval conquest, intrigue, religion, and high drama. It is a firm step in the direction of a new generation of grand strategy games, with new 3D character models and an even more detailed map. Designed to enhance the experience of Paradox veterans while being more welcoming to young squires, Crusader Kings III is a rich setting for an infinite number of new stories.

Crusader Kings III is slated to arrive in 2020, available for PC via Steam and included in Xbox Game Pass for PC.

“Crusader Kings III is a grand medieval simulator where you are free to live out any plausible ruler fantasy that we could think of - but not without challenge.” says Henrik Fåhraeus, the Game Director. “Seeing its predecessor explode in popularity was very satisfying, especially considering that user friendliness was never our primary goal. Now we have a chance to address an even larger audience.”

Crusader Kings III is the ultimate grand strategy role-playing experience.

• Shape Your Dynasty: Guide unique characters through history, choosing lifestyles best suited to their personalities and your ambitions.
• Rewrite Medieval History: Dynasties will change and adapt to changes in family and politics, and religious beliefs are more firmly under your control.
• Build a Mighty Kingdom: Use your vassals’ fear of you as a weapon or call on familial obligations to persuade reluctant relatives to submit.
• Experience High Drama: Stranger than fiction stories leap off the screen, as characters plot against you and events push you to extremes.
• Learn as You Go: Guided advice to help newcomers navigate a rich medieval world. In-game suggestions tip you off to paths you might not have considered.
• The Usual Crusader Kings Fun: Keep a stubborn council in line, scheme against your overbearing uncle or marry the rich duchy...oops, I mean pious duke or duchess of your dreams.

Greater detail about the features of Crusader Kings III will be coming in the next few months.

And, since there is no better time to practice your skills as a ruler, Paradox Development Studios is happy to announce that the base game of Crusader Kings II is now free on all platforms where it can be purchased. CK2 players can also join us on The Monarch’s Journey, a series of custom challenges for the game that will unlock in-game rewards upon completion.

Prepare your trusty steed and rally your banners. The troubadours are ready to sing your songs. The splendor and intrigue of the Middle Ages returns in Crusader Kings III. www.crusaderkings.com

About Paradox Interactive

Paradox Interactive is a leading global publisher of strategy games for PC and console. The company has developed and published a world-renowned catalog stretching back to 1999, with players hailing from all around the world.

The publisher’s steadily-growing portfolio includes firmly established franchises such as the critically acclaimed Europa Universalis, Crusader Kings, Hearts of Iron, and Stellaris series created by Paradox Development Studio, the Age of Wonders series created by Triumph Studios, as well as award-winning titles such as Cities: Skylines, Pillars of Eternity, and more from a network of partner studios. Paradox is the owner of the World of Darkness IPs and is publishing Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2.

Paradox’s head offices are located in Stockholm, Sweden. Our development studios are located in Stockholm, Malmö and Umeå, Sweden, in Delft, The Netherlands, in Seattle, Washington, and in Berkeley, California. We share a passion for gaming and gamers, and our goal is to provide deep and challenging games with hours of gameplay and endless variety to our ever-growing community.

For more information, please visit our forums and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Comet sighted!


Article by Susan N.

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Disgaea 4 Complete+ - PS4 Review

Having already been a huge fan of the original Disgaea 4 when it released years ago, I came into Disgaea 4 Complete+ expecting to enjoy my time with an old friend. A quirky, sometimes brutally challenging friend nonetheless, but a comfortable reunion all the same. I am happy to say that I was in no way disappointed, as Disgaea 4 Complete+ is the perfect reminder of how great the Disgaea series really is.

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BATTLETECH: Heavy Metal Expansion Launches November 21st

BERLIN & STOCKHOLM - OCTOBER 19, 2019 - Paradox Interactive and Harebrained Schemes today announced the Heavy Metal expansion to BATTLETECH at PDXCON, the annual celebration of Paradox’s global community. Launching November 21, 2019 for a suggested retail price of $19.99 / £15.49 / €19.99 and included in the BATTLETECH - Season Pass, Heavy Metal adds eight new ‘Mechs featuring several classic designs, a Flashpoint mini-campaign, and eight weapon systems to the turn-based strategy title on PC, Mac, and Linux.

Heavy Metal adds a massive amount of new gameplay options to the world of BATTLETECH, including seven classic ‘Mech designs from the original BATTLETECH board game and an additional ‘Mech designed exclusively for this expansion. Players can also look forward to eight new weapons systems to destroy their foes in unique ways, along with a brand new Flashpoint mini-campaign.

Key Features:

• One Original and Seven Classic BattleMechs: Seven classic ‘Mechs from BATTLETECH’s 35-year legacy make their triumphant return along with the first completely new ‘Mech designed exclusively for this expansion. Each classic ‘Mech comes with unique equipment that reflects the flavor and lore of the original board game.
• Eight Game-changing New Weapon Systems: Eight all-new weapon systems can be utilized to destroy even the most formidable opponents in a wide variety of unique ways. The ‘Mech Mortar is the first AOE weapon in BATTLETECH and can destroy multiple units at once, while the new COIL Beam generates more energy the further the attacker travels before firing, a perfect fit for light ‘Mechs.
• New Flashpoint Mini-Campaign: Come face-to-face with two legendary characters from BATTLETECH lore - the Bounty Hunter and the Black Widow of Wolf’s Dragoons. A derelict cargo ship has drifted into the Periphery from deep space; what secrets does it contain, and who will ultimately control its mysterious payload?

“Heavy Metal brings a greater level of diversity to BATTLETECH by including eight new ‘Mechs and a variety of devastating weapon systems that will change the way players destroy their opponents,” said Mitch Gitelman, BATTLETECH Game Director and co-founder of Harebrained Schemes. “The new mini-campaign weaves its way through your mercenary career to the point when you become an elite MechCommander, capable of facing off with two of the most legendary MechWarriors in BATTLETECH history.”

BATTLETECH: Heavy Metal will be available for digital download on the Paradox Store and Steam for PC, Mac, and Linux operating systems. Purchase the BATTLETECH - Season Pass on the Paradox Store for all expansions at a discounted price. The Paradox Publisher Weekend is live on Steam until Monday at 10:00 AM PDT, offering sales of up to 66% on all BATTLETECH titles:

• BATTLETECH - 66% off
• BATTLETECH Digital Deluxe Edition - 66% off
• BATTLETECH Mercenary Collection - 40% off
• BATTLETECH: Flashpoint - 50% off
• BATTLETECH: Urban Warfare - 50% off

Stay tuned to BATTLETECH’s Twitch, YouTube, and Twitter for the latest updates, livestreams and more.

About Paradox Interactive

Paradox Interactive is a leading global publisher of strategy games for PC and console. The company has developed and published a world-renowned catalog stretching back to 1999, with players hailing from all around the world.

The publisher’s steadily-growing portfolio includes firmly established franchises such as the critically acclaimed Europa Universalis, Crusader Kings, Hearts of Iron, and Stellaris series created by Paradox Development Studio, the Age of Wonders series created by Triumph Studios, as well as award-winning titles such as Cities: Skylines, Pillars of Eternity, and more from a network of partner studios. Paradox is the owner of the World of Darkness IPs and is publishing Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2.

Paradox’s head offices are located in Stockholm, Sweden. Our development studios are located in Stockholm, Malmö and Umeå, Sweden, in Delft, The Netherlands, in Seattle, Washington, and in Berkeley, California. We share a passion for gaming and gamers, and our goal is to provide deep and challenging games with hours of gameplay and endless variety to our ever-growing community.

For more information, please visit our forums and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Comet sighted!


Article by Susan N.

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Atelier Ryza Ever Darkness & The Secret Hideout - PS4 Review

Atelier Ryza: Eternal Darkness & The Secret Hideout is the tale of Ryza and her two best friends Lent and Tao as they are just about to hit adulthood while still keeping to adventures that the rest of their town thinks is childish. Adventuring where they shouldn't one day and they come across a girl named Klaudia being attacked and while saving her, they are saved themselves by an Alchemist and his warrior companion. Changing their life forever, adulthood is coming faster than they thought with a darkness coming back again to finish what it started.

When it comes to long running series, Gust's Atelier is up there with the likes of Square's Final Fantasy and Enix's Dragon Quest. Like these other two, it falls into a bit of a trap of what have we done? What have we not done? Do we change up our formula? Or do we keep refining it while still innovating forward AND keeping the magic that has been created over the years.

Like Dragon Quest, the Atelier series had stuck to its core and has experimented with the elements that are almost in their own way, magic. Playing with various chemicals and materials, the Atelier series prides itself on alchemy and the stories of those that practice it. Having had ups and downs with the various entries dating for me all the way back to Atelier Iris on the PS2, Atelier Ryza is probably one of the best damn entries in the series for a variety of reasons.

I could probably go on and on about how much the visuals have been upgraded and how beautiful it's made the various landscapes around the island and the mainland across the water, but I won't. For Robert, I'll mention that characters finally look like they are walking or running instead of gliding around the environments. The graphics are nice, but it's everything under the hood of this latest alchemist's adventure that just blew me away and keep coming back for more.

As “open worlded” as my favorite entry of Atelier Firis was while Firis explored the world on her way to take her alchemist’s exam, there was still a straight line structure and events that needed to happen in order to keep moving forward. Open world or points on a map to be explored, the Atelier series have always kept in line with the standard approach to JRPGs and in that regard, Atelier Ryza is no different. Where things have been adjusted are that you don’t always have to go over to the next point in order to move the story along. Instead, you can keep exploring or do other things until you feel ready to move along as there are finally, NO. TIME. LIMITS.

Further to that, you also get treated to small cutscenes that let you get to better know the people living on this island while either practicing alchemy or moving from point to point on the island looking for side quests to tackle. Time of day is still fundamental to the overall adventure, morning, afternoon, evening and night, but not having to worry about a calendar moving forward was quite refreshing. So with this switch, you can start really taking your time in order to talk to everyone, to hunt for materials, to tackle side quests that not only let you get to know people better, but actually blend into one another as well as progress everything forward. It’s this shift in how things progress that have turned Atelier Ryza into a nice and smooth experience that can be enjoyed instead of stressed over as you worry about meeting the imposed time limits.

Now with all of the time in the world, there are other adjustments in the gameplay that can finally shine and be revamped. You now no longer need to worry about how much time is spent moving between areas or how much time it could take to pick up items and ingredients from each some that you visit. Time now only moves forward as you move from location to location and it isn’t like it’s a killer amount of time either. Moving between parts of the town will maybe cost an hour while heading out to the mainland and your eventual secret hideout will cost a few extra hours. So with time now out of the way, what has it paved? It’s paved a whole new way to explore the environments and gather materials.

While out and exploring you could at one time either pick something up or hit it with your staff in order to break off what you needed. It’s simple, and it worked. Now though, you can pick up items, you can hit them with your staff to gather one type of material or you can now hit them with axes, hammers or scythes in order to gather something else. Hitting a tree with a staff will give you the fruits of the tree. Hitting it with an axe will give you the wood. Hitting it with a scythe will give you bark shavings or perhaps pieces of vines. It’s not trial an error as much as exploring and cataloging which materials can be gathered how. Not all tools are available for use on every surface but those at least are clearly indicated so that you don’t waste your time figuring that out.

As your inventory gets full, you’ll have to make your way back to your Atelier in order to store what you’ve picked up. This hasn’t changed, though in a bit of a twist, how you go back to your Atelier has. Quick travelling is, for lack of a better word on my part, interesting. It starts off with being able to instantly return to Ryza’s room or use a town sign board in order to move between the various districts and the boards that can be found within. It’s neat, but eventually it starts to get old as Ryza’s Atelier goes from being her bedroom to her secret base on the mainland. Going between the two wasn’t exactly the easiest after a while because to hit the mainland, you have to set sail. To get to the Atelier, you had to run through a few maps. And just as I was about to get fully annoyed, Atelier Ryza shifted some elements around once again making everything better.

Quick travel eventually evolves from the town signage boards over to having the full world map that can be accessed from anywhere. While you can always tap your heels three times to go home, you can eventually just pick a region and the map that you want to go to. This makes exploring and picking up materials that much easier as you no longer have to keep running through the same areas in order to get to the new ones. The town signage however still plays a factor as you can use the world travel to hit the district that you want, and from there, you can zoom on over to the particular area within once you’re there. In a nutshell, Gust have created an experience that evolves as your character’s skills do so there’s always something new to look forward to.

Alchemy itself is now a lot more fun than it’s ever been. With no time limits at all, you can now make orders for sometimes twenty or thirty minutes at a time without noticing especially if you’re trying to get something just right for features like extra attack or defense, or trying to make something new. Going into a new avenue for creation, you are now no longer bound by having to find each and every new alchemical formula. Working now on a node like basis, recipes learnt can lead to new recipes after you’ve invested the appropriate materials into each node. What this change has really brought is that you don’t always need to have all of the materials in question, instead, you can get away with following one of the various paths which alone can change the properties of the item.

The same line of thought applies to character equipment. Building the basics, the node like features lead to newer and more powerful models. Following upon these new track of features, items created for battle now are no longer single time uses, but neither are they unlimited. Now, each character, not just alchemists, can both equip and use items for battle. Ryza for example can equip up to three while Tao can equip two and the brawn of the operation can equip one. Even if Lent can just equip one item, he can still use them which is a lot more than many other entries of the series could say.

To use these items, each one has a point usage when you go into battle. Bombs for example use 2pts while your starting healing items just 1pt a piece out of a pool that is shared by the entire party. If you run out of points though, you can always use the items that you have equipped to grant you more points at the cost of losing one of the items you had on hand. It’s a neat little balance as some items come in twos and threes and you’ll eventually want to replace them so it’s a good way to phase things in and out.

Going into the last of the new and shiny features, is the new battle system itself which has gone from turn based to real time. Now instead of turn orders, both your party and your enemies have variable cooldown times until their next actions which are dependent on what previous action was taken. What’s really neat is that you can pick who you want to use in battle while the other two will act independently in either a “passive” or “aggressive” mode. In passive mode, characters will concentrate on physical attacks while in aggressive mode they’ll use their abilities which use up the AP that are accumulated off of each landed physical hit.

Adding a layer to this is that stored AP can be used in order to level up your party’s tactics which allows things such as hitting enemies twice per physical attack instead of just once which in turn raises the AP faster in order to use abilities faster. Also each time that you level up your tactics you can store more AP each time allowing you to do “interrupts” which are perfect for “following commands” such as your allies calling out to you to use magic or items. Doing either of these will allow them to do a follow up and if you can do both fast enough, it’ll result in a mega follow up which is perfect for tough enemies or boss fights.

So between the new format in order to tell the story, the new alchemy system that lets you learn or modify things on your own terms instead of always needing to follow a recipe and the new battle system that goes much faster, Atelier Ryza: Eternal Darkness & The Secret Hideout is not only the best that Gust have ever given us, but it's an example of what JRPGs should be aspiring to be. These well balanced systems and a wonderfully written story mesh so we'll together that it's almost impossible to put down.

Game Information

Platform:
Sony PlayStation 4
Developer(s):
Gust
Publisher(s):
Koei Tecmo
Genre(s):
RPG
Mode(s):
Single Player
Other Platform(s):
Nintendo Switch, PC

Source:
Provided by Publisher

Article by Pierre-Yves

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Age of Wonders: Planetfall Revelations November 19th

BERLIN & STOCKHOLM - OCTOBER 19, 2019 - Paradox Interactive and Triumph Studios today announced Revelations, the first-ever expansion for Age of Wonders: Planetfall at PDXCON, the annual celebration of Paradox’s global community. Revelations launches on November 19, 2019 for a suggested retail price of $14.99 / £11.39 / €14.99 and is available within the Planetfall Season Pass. Expanding the world of the turn-based strategy title on PC, PlayStation®4, and Xbox One, Revelations introduces the ancient Heritor Secret Technology,  new campaign missions, and location mechanics.

Revelations sets in motion the return of the entombed Es’Teq dynasty, whose Heritor descendents aim to use ancient technology and reincarnate billions of followers across the galaxy, establishing divine rule. The Heritor wield strong Entropy weapons that are effective against machines and can awaken ancient Es'Teq minds. Claim ancient secrets or succumb to their power in a new campaign with tactical combat and in-depth empire building.

New Key Features:

• Anomalous Sites Mechanic - Explore 30+ mysterious sites filled with traps and powerful enemies to reap unique rewards and uncover great secrets. Encounter unique choices based on each faction or Secret Technology.
• Additional Campaign Missions - Experience the awakening of the Es’teq dynasty and the rise of their Heritor descendants with 10+ hours of new content across two campaigns.
• New Secret Tech: Heritor - Use ancient Heritor technology to drain the essence of enemies, fueling the opportunity to use powerful abilities, create strong Entropy weapons, and summon new units.
• Tomb World Scenario - Challenge yourself to complete this deadly new Scenario, where Heritor enemies create an onslaught of destruction. This scenario also includes a new multiplayer questline to allow more players to join in on the action.
• 'The Forgotten' NPC Faction - Broken, insane, or otherwise unfit for Heritor’s utopian society, The Forgotten were never meant to be resurrected.
• Threats to Your Empire - Reapers are robotic assassins created long ago to destroy those who were friendly to the Heritor cause, but now hunt all who walk the planet. Equally deadly are the Megasow and Piglets, bio-engineered wildlife gone rabid after the fall of the Star Union, which will devour anything in sight.
• Locations, Pick-Ups, & Mechanics - Visit an Essence Gash or Es’Teq Well locations to supply new combat effects or abilities to your units. The Holopad pickup provides diplomatic rewards and additional influence over allies and enemies. Take over Imperial Defenses like the new Soul Beacon, Cluster Mine Launcher, or Firestorm Missile Silo to aid in combat.
• Free Content - All players will gain the ability to take over the new Imperial Defenses, unlocking Operations that boost the combat effect of your colonies. In addition, the Orbital Relays mechanic boosts your empire’s infrastructure to allow for nearly instant unit transportation between sectors - but beware of sabotage interference by enemies!

"This first expansion allows players to explore deeper into the Planetfall universe, uncovering how the collapse of the Star Union empire has awakened beings from its mysterious past,” said Lennart Sas, co-founder of Triumph Studios and Game Director of Age of Wonders: Planetfall. “With the introduction of Heritor Secret Technology, NPCs, and Essence, Revelations is a new chapter for Planetfall that will affect the rise and fall of empires to come.”

Age of Wonders: Planetfall is available for digital download on Steam, the PlayStation Store, and the Microsoft Store or as a physical edition. The Paradox Publisher Weekend is live on Steam until Monday at 10:00 AM PDT, offering 10% off the Base, Deluxe, and Premium editions of Age of Wonders: Planetfall.

Purchase the Age of Wonders: Planetfall Season Pass on the Paradox Store for access to three post-launch expansions and an instant reward!

For more information about Age of Wonders: Planetfall, please visit: www.aow-planetfall.com.

About Paradox Interactive

Paradox Interactive is a leading global publisher of strategy games for PC and console. The company has developed and published a world-renowned catalog stretching back to 1999, with players hailing from all around the world.

The publisher’s steadily-growing portfolio includes firmly established franchises such as the critically acclaimed Europa Universalis, Crusader Kings, Hearts of Iron, and Stellaris series created by Paradox Development Studio, the Age of Wonders series created by Triumph Studios, as well as award-winning titles such as Cities: Skylines, Pillars of Eternity, and more from a network of partner studios. Paradox is the owner of the World of Darkness IPs and is publishing Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2.

Paradox’s head offices are located in Stockholm, Sweden. Our development studios are located in Stockholm, Malmö and Umeå, Sweden, in Delft, The Netherlands, in Seattle, Washington, and in Berkeley, California. We share a passion for gaming and gamers, and our goal is to provide deep and challenging games with hours of gameplay and endless variety to our ever-growing community.

For more information, please visit our forums and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Comet sighted!


Article by Susan N.

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Disgaea 4 Complete+ - Switch Review

Promises are basically contracts and they are meant to be kept whatever the cost. Unable to keep his promise to a woman that meant everything to him, Valvatorez has for hundreds of years refused to take even an ounce of human blood. Having lost all of his powers because of this and become a lowly Prinny Instructor dood, hell soon both come back into power on a crusade against the Corrupternment who refused to allow him to give his graduating Prinnies the Sardines that he promised them.

Strategy game of the decade. I'm serious. Disgaea 4 whether in its first release or the various re-releases is one of the best damn entries in the Makai Series. It's also an extremely solid experience full of tales of loyalty, revenge, and incredulous denial. Sorry Mao and Almaz, three was good, four was perfect. For a premise that at the time would have essentially been a Twilight spoof featuring a vampire, a werewolf and a teenage girl, the political ride that they embark on to overthrow a government was nothing short of brilliance in its craziness involving the living, the dead, and the in-between.

Known for its strategy, Disgaea and the subsequent entries into the Makai Series such as Soul Nomad and the World Waters or Maki Kingdom and Phantom Brave, have also struck a good balance with heavy strategic turn based combat and story. Loads of dialog between stages and even in stages themselves, it's an element that can really make or break the experience because if the characters don't resonate with one another or the story itself feels lackluster, then you're left sighing between stages and just wanting to get it over with and out of the current five of the main series? Disgaea 4 hits it on every level.

Like any good tale, ours starts off with Valvatorez being slighted in not being able to give his graduating Prinnies the deadlines that he promised. Fighting the warden of Hades, his boss, he finds out that he wasn't even the returning Axel's call, but that of the Corrupternment. Setting off on his crusade, it won't take long to meet the rest of the cast such as one of my favorite females in gaming Fuka, and her sister Desco that her father built to help her take over the world. Over the top, the shenanigans take to the battlefields on some very solid turn based mechanics with plenty of grinding and more class changing and min maxing to keep even the most insane occupied until level 9999. At least until they reincarnate one more time.

Hitting the fields of combat, you can summon up to eight party members onto a square based environments that just get more complicated as the story moves on. Characters whether story based or class created all have different movement ranges and proficiencies with different weapons in order to dominate the battlefield. Swords, bows, guns, axes, spears, staves, fists and monster weapons are all available on top of throwing your enemy into a killbox or stacking your entire party for a tower of maximum damage. What's always been great is that there's no wrong way to do things and improving upon Disgaea 3's change to how units learn their abilities.

Up until the point of the original release of Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten for the entire theme behind Valvatorez’s decision and decline from the Tyrant he was once known for, characters would gain abilities by leveling up their proficiency with a weapon. For melee characters, this worked great, for casters? It was a little trickier as they would more often than not be using their actual spells. Moving into the new system, characters now learn and upgrade abilities with the mana that is earned for defeating foes. This can let you skyrocket a unit’s progression forward and even help you out if a particular stage is causing you grief because your team isn’t yet strong enough… item world. But what of the weaker ones? Mana is split between everyone so has defeated a foe, so if there was a combo? Everyone gets a part of it. If it’s a tower of your characters to beat higher level enemies mercilessly? It goes even faster!

It’s abusing the system, yes abusing, that lets you propel forward in both the story and into the side stories that have been provided over time. All the DLC and additional characters are present, and as they start at level 100 and you have to beat them up first? Well you may want to work on your cheese tactics. This is honestly what has always made this series so damned good. The post game isn’t designed as an afterthought, it’s designed to be tackled head on and at all times past the initial unlocking of it, you have the item world that can be used to exp grind your party while simultaneously making your items more powerful. It’s a win-win, as long as you win of course.

Still technically a niche title, even if this is the… third re-release? Disgaea 4 was the first NIS title to hit the realm of actual HD sprites and it's looking even more amazing on the Switch than it has so far. Having also re-released on the PS4 which Nick is covering, the Switch offers up a bit of a double experience as you can take it on the go and it looks just as good. Like most of the series, the PS2 entries of D1 and D2 were brought to the PSP while the PS3 D3 and D4 were brought to the Vita and in each case, care was taken to make sure that they would run smoothly. Furthermore, with D1, D4, and D5 now being on the switch, over half of the core series is straddling the netherworld both from the comfort of a player’s home to the on the go in the bus or in a boardroom between meetings. Yes I’ve done all of the above and there are no regrets. Both to playing Disgaea and where I’ve played it.

Whether it’s your first time getting to see the glorious adventure of Valvatorez, Fenrir and Fuka, or the third or fourth time, it’s an adventure that doesn’t get old. Because of its initial HD treatment, Disgaea 4 Complete+ feels just as refined as it did upon its original release. While some may find it a little harder to get back into after the vast changes into Disgaea 5: Alliance of Vengeance or the Complete version, for me? It’s going to be really hard to de-thrown this tale of politics and sardines from the throne that it currently sits upon.

Game Information

Platform:
Nintendo Switch
Developer(s):
Nippon Ichi Software
Publisher(s):
NIS America
Genre(s):
Turned Based Strategy
Mode(s):
Single Player
Other Platform(s):
Sony PlayStation 4

Source:
Provided by Publisher

Article by Pierre-Yves

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Surviving the Aftermath is Available on Epic and Xbox Game Preview

BERLIN & STOCKHOLM -- Oct 19, 2019 -- Paradox Interactive today announced Surviving the Aftermath, the next chapter in the publisher’s Surviving brand, is now available in Early Access on the Epic Games Store and Xbox Game Preview. Developed by Iceflake Studios, the post-apocalyptic colony builder is being co-developed alongside the community with regular updates incorporating player feedback. Players who want to get in on the ground level and participate in the game’s Early Access period can purchase Surviving the Aftermath at an early-bird discount of $19.99 / £15.49 / €19.99. Surviving the Aftermath will leave Early Access and launch on Epic Games Store, Steam, Xbox One, and PlayStation® 4 in late 2020.

Check out the Early Access launch trailer to see Surviving the Aftermath in action.
In Surviving the Aftermath, players will build and manage a colony of survivors in the shadow of a world-ending event. Resources are scarce following the apocalypse, and survival requires mastery of complex systems to optimize production and colony management to ensure nothing is wasted. Players will construct buildings, manage colonists, adapt to natural disasters and more in an effort to restore civilization.


Surviving the Aftermath is more than a colony builder and enables players to go beyond the shelter to explore a dangerous world filled with unique biomes, hazards, bandits, and more. Recruit and send out teams of Specialists to gather resources and intelligence about the world around the colony. Players can see what their teams have discovered by utilizing a vast overworld map that adds layers of strategic gameplay not typically included in a colony builder.

“Throughout Surviving Mars’ development we learned the importance of listening to our community and their feedback helped elevate that game to new heights,” said Nikhat Ali, Lead Producer on Surviving the Aftermath at Paradox Interactive. “With Surviving the Aftermath we want to get our players involved as early as possible so we can make sure we’re making the game they want to play. We have an ambitious content schedule ahead of us that includes monthly updates where we will incorporate feedback from our players and we’re confident the team at Iceflake is the right team for the job.”

“Surviving the Aftermath is the game we’ve always wanted to make,” Lasse Liljedahl, CEO and Lead Designer at Iceflake Studios, said. “When we pitched our plan to Paradox, they recognized our passion and commitment to making this game the best survival colony builder it can be. We’re beyond thrilled to finally share our dream project with the world and to have the support of one of the industry’s leading publishers.”

Surviving the Aftermath Features:

• No Place Like Home: Build and manage a colony of survivors after a world-ending event. Construct more than 50 unique buildings to handle everything from resource collection and farming to exploration and security. Don’t forget to construct the Gate to venture into the savage world beyond your colony.
• Surviving Earth: Explore a vast procedurally generated world featuring six different biomes filled with exploitable resources, bandits, and more. Each environment has different conditions that will affect your colony’s survival. Stay vigilant: Natural disasters will put your survivors to the test.
• Survival is my Specialty: Recruit over 46 unique Specialists, each with their own skills and motivations, to manage your colony’s resources and production. Send them beyond the Gate on scientific missions, scavenger runs, and to fight bandits.
• Expect the Unexpected: Life in the aftermath requires you to make moral choices. You may not be able to control everything in your colony, but how you respond to situations and emergent events will shape the character of your new civilization.
• Mods: Surviving the Aftermath players can bring their own visions to life using Paradox Mods.

Future updates to Surviving the Aftermath include diplomacy and combat options between colonies, expanded tech trees, endgame content and much more. To learn more about Surviving the Aftermath, and to check out the content roadmap, head over to http://survivingtheaftermath.com

About Paradox Interactive

Paradox Interactive is a leading global publisher of strategy games for PC and console. The company has developed and published a world-renowned catalog stretching back to 1999, with players hailing from all around the world.

The publisher’s steadily-growing portfolio includes firmly established franchises such as the critically acclaimed Europa Universalis, Crusader Kings, Hearts of Iron, and Stellaris series created by Paradox Development Studio, the Age of Wonders series created by Triumph Studios, as well as award-winning titles such as Cities: Skylines, Pillars of Eternity, and more from a network of partner studios. Paradox is the owner of the World of Darkness IPs and is publishing Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2.

Paradox’s head offices are located in Stockholm, Sweden. Our development studios are located in Stockholm, Malmö and Umeå, Sweden, in Delft, The Netherlands, in Seattle, Washington, and in Berkeley, California. We share a passion for gaming and gamers, and our goal is to provide deep and challenging games with hours of gameplay and endless variety to our ever-growing community.

For more information, please visit our forums and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Comet sighted!

About Iceflake Studios

Iceflake Studios is an independent game development company founded in 2007 and based in Tampere, Finland. Although, their roots go as far back as 2003 when they started making game modifications. They are a team of experienced game developers and have made games for  PC, console, and all current VR and mobile platforms. The studio’s biggest successes include the multi-million download hits Premium Pool and the popular ice fishing game Ice Lakes.


Article by Susan N.

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Fire Emblem: Three Houses - Switch Review

Fire Emblem: Three Houses is a game that takes a familiar formula, adds a lot of new elements to it, and manages to produce an ambitious and entertaining strategy / RPG hybrid that I found almost impossible to put down.

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The Ninja Saviors: Return of the Warriors - PS4 Review

It is hard to deny that The Ninja Saviors: Return of the Warriors is a fantastic callback to older quarter devouring arcade machines of yesteryear. With everything from cyber ninjas to a pulsing, heavy soundtrack to a dystopian future, this title oozes 80's charm and fun, fast, but challenging gameplay as well.

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MistOver - Switch Review

After a deadly mist covers a part of the world unleashing death and hell itself upon it, it just as quickly disappeared. Fearing what may come out it, expeditions started to make their way in for fortune and fame against the creatures that lay waiting for them within.

MistOver, like the name implies, is a hardcore permadeath roguelike of what a fantasy world could be like once the mist that devestated it fell back to where it came. Finding a sort of weird, yet perfect marriage, between Etrian Odyssey, Mystery Dungeon and Darkest Dungeon, you'll be putting a team together and sending them out into unknown territories to complete quests and hold off what is basically the end of the world.

If I hadn't seen who had developed this I honestly would have said that it was Atlus and that this belongs in the Etrian series. Krafton have not only created an excellent and hardcore form of gameplay, but the art style is simply uncanny in all of the right ways. MistOver definitely stands out enough to catch your eye and make you wonder what's it all about with its various characters acting as classes and the hordes of different monsters.

After a very brief and quick tutorial, you’ll be starting off with a view of the town that will be acting as your base of operations. Leaving town with a party of up to five, you'll be entering fields where every step your party takes will take away from both your light source and your hunger in the typical Mystery Dungeon fashion. Starting with a high value of four units a piece, MistOver holds no punches as it doesn't take long to leave your party both hungry and in the dark with the monsters already hiding just out of sight.

None of the styles that compose MistOver are ever to be taken lightly and even less in this case. Starting off at level one, each member of your party owns no equipment, has no way to improve their skills, and over all of this, has no way to upgrade their capabilities until at least a few delves into the mist where they’ve gained enough experience in order to level up. Equipment can only be found in the reaches of the mist or as a quest reward, experience can only be gained by fighting packs of monsters that have not been fought before, and skill points are given at the rate of one per level and then you have to pay for the upgrade. Needing to buy food every time you come back as what you had become spoiled, there’s a lot of inventory management along with the stress of if you’ll even make it back.

But it works. Even if it feels rather unfair in the opening few delves and you getting a hang of the system, it works. The party that you form up can have up to five characters. Each character works as their own class and its finding what works for you that will help you ever push forward. Sisters are clerics, Omnyoji are Japanese spirit priest, Ronin are badass warriors without defensive abilities, Paladins are tanks, Witches are glass cannons, Reapers are a form of long range warriors specializing in debuffs and Werewolves are just freaking cool and look like berserkers.

More than just their class alone, as they level up characters can learn special abilities that require another character to be in front, behind or to the side in order to be performed. My favorite Shadowblade for example beside a Witch can launch giant ninja stars onto every single enemy. The Sister in front of the Shadowblade can hit everyone with a less power but cause bleeding damage over time. Each character is placed on a 3x3 grid and their placement matters for every single skill. Some like the Reaper and Ronin if in the middle row can use almost everything they have, while if you have your Shadowblade in the back, she’s really there for the ninja star ability because of how useful it is.

On top of worrying about your inventory space, how much food you have left, how much light and if you have the space for more equipment or not, MistOver is a severe game of numbers. Skills will all tell you how much of your attack power they deal and if it’s for one enemy, a row, column, or everyone. AND FINALLY as you level up these abilities, they don’t cost more but actually less as the character has gotten better at it. Who would have actually thought. So leveling up abilities is finally in your benefit as you can cast them more instead of less.

Now where MistOver hurts the most, is the perma death. Once a character has reached zero hit points, as long as you notice, you have a chance to save them. It’s not pretty and it hurts to lose them, but thankfully you don’t need anything special for once, you just need to heal them up. My first Paladin died because I had nothing on hand and didn’t know that just magic would do it. MUCH later when I finally hit game over, my Witch died because I didn’t know she was bleeding out once the battle was over. But gave over you say? Can’t you just recruit more characters? Yes, but only for so long.

MistOver’s permadeath is two-fold. One is for your characters, the second is for you save file. Let’s just say that the second hurts a lot more than the first. So, why? While the mist may have pulled back, it pulled back just enough to save up power in a sense in order to finish what it started. In order to prevent this, everytime that you launch your party out into the mist, you’re going to have to do one of several things while exploring, grinding for experience and taking care of quests.

You’re going to have to open chests which lead to loot, light up flowers which grand you back your own light making you only really have to worry about your fullness, and finally, kick the crap out of monsters that you have to do anyways in order to level up. It sounds easy, but in the beginning once you’re learning what to do, “it ain’t easy kid” and you’ll often see the clock move towards your doom. Once that clock strikes what is basically midnight, there’s a play by play visual cutscene in which you’ll see the world being torn apart until everything fades to black and the credits roll.

Oh! And there’s no NG+ or carry over from this. Just the option to start anew knowing a little better what you’ve got to do and the results if you don’t!

That said, MistOver was fantastic. Each character can affect the environment differently such as the Shadowblade can hide for fifteen turns or the Paladin can break obstacles freely instead of your party losing hit points. The controls themselves are smooth, the amount of customization for classes and party setup are vast especially when put onto a 3x3 grid and finally the combat itself was fun. It’s an amazing marriage between Etrian Odyssey’s class like system, the Mystery Dungeon series’ take on dungeon crawling and Darkest Dungeon which forms the more western influence.

This last element is what makes everything tricky. It isn’t just that you lose the light while exploring, but it’s that you pick up jinxes as the adventure moves forward. Thankfully unlike Darkest Dungeon where you have to worry about physical injuries and mental ailments and having to lose party members to be healed, MistOver instead heals everyone the moment you get back. What it does in order to make things harder however is that as you level up you pick up bad traits such as your attack power decreasing when you get hit, automatically bleeding, or losing defense because of where you’re exploring. Thankfully even if you pick up these bad traits you can always swap them for another. You can’t get rid of them, but at least you can work at mitigating the damage.

So as long as you don’t game over because the clock went and struck twelve, MistOver will keep you busy for a lot of hours. Hell, even if you wipe out and decide to go at it all over again, MistOver is worth it. MistOver is honestly a dungeon crawler that fans should look into even if they have a fear with permadeath for characters. Even if they die off, you keep the gear, cursed, but you keep it and slap it onto the next replacement that you’ve hired as a just in case things went south. With plenty of quests, boss fights and environments to explore, the mist awaits you!

Game Information

Platform:
Nintendo Switch
Developer(s):
KRAFTON, Inc.
Publisher(s):
KRAFTON, Inc.
Genre(s):
Dungeon Crawler, Roguelike, RPG
Mode(s):
Single Player
Other Platform(s):
PC

Source:
Provided by Publisher

Article by Pierre-Yves

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Destiny Connect: Tick-Tock Travelers - PS4 Review

Destiny Connect: Tick Tock Travelers is a cute little adventure brought to us by NIS. While Tick Tock Travelers tells a cute story of bravery, friendship, and beating up household appliances, it has quite happily inserted itself in the role of what you may call “RPGs for Dummies”. If the book series happened to have physical examples to get you started with RPGs of course.

Contrary to what you may think from the above statement, Tick Tock Travelers isn’t lacking in terms of what went into it’s production. Far from it. A lot of the story and soundtrack flows nicely together as you follow a young girl named Sherry as she strives to find out why machines have invaded after time mysteriously stops. Sherry and a handful of others don’t seem to be affected by time stopping, so Sherry sets out to discover the cause and set time back in motion. Dragging along her friend Pegreo and a robot named ISAAC she found in her basement, Sherry and her rag-tag bundle of would-be heroes travel through time in order to set it right. I’ll be perfectly honest when I say the storyline was exactly what I would expect it to be. While most of the characters each have their own unique quirks and personalities, they’re hampered a bit by the lack of voice-acting, which I would generally expect to see on a console title such as this.

Before we get any further into this, it should be stated that Tick Tock Travelers gives a bit of a weird feeling that I couldn’t really pin down until writing this review. At times it feels like a low budget title, and at other times it has aspects that I would generally associate with a higher budget title. This weird sense of dissonance really got to me until I figured out why it felt like this. Ultimately, Tick Tock Travelers feels very much like a game that you would give to a younger player to get them into the RPG genre. This isn’t saying it doesn’t have a certain draw for the older audience, but personally I felt like I was on the fence for the scale of “would this look awkward if someone my age bought this in a store”. As an example, while the storyline they were going for is a bit of an interesting combination between fairly generic and slightly unique, there wasn’t anything that I didn’t expect to happen, even to the point of me calling out stuff that was going to happen 20-30 minutes before it does. That being said, the plot is rather well constructed and tied together in a way that didn’t leave me saying “But why would you even do that?”.

Also reflecting the feeling of being a game for a younger audience is the art style. While the vast majority of the NIS titles I’ve played before usually consist of anime styled sprites and SRPG gameplay, Tick Tock Travelers throws that out and instead goes with a cartoonish 3D graphical choice. Characters in cut-scenes are fairly expressive and tend to have overly exaggerated reactions to pretty much everything, leading to a feeling that the game is trying very hard to indicate what characters are feeling or trying to express.

While this can be taken as more of a comedic tone for the older players, the art style and character reactions are very reminiscent of a lot of kids shows that my neighbor's nephews have taken to watching. There are a bunch of little details that most kids probably wouldn’t pick up on however, like the fact that reflective surfaces actually do show a distorted reflection when anything, whether enemies or your on-screen character, walk in front of them. Additionally, different floor materials produce different sound effects when stepped on.

Gameplay consists largely of turn-based combat that gets initiated by running into enemies, or being run into. Normally you will be roaming around the town of Clocknee looking for your next objective, with a bunch of green enemy icons dispersed throughout the area. Different icons indicate the types of enemies you’ll see if you get in a fight, making it rather easy to pick up on which types of enemies you’d prefer not to pick a fight with, although most of them aren’t particularly that hard. When in combat you have up to three characters in your roster, with one mandatory being ISAAC, and you take turn smacking your opponents, with the higher speed characters/enemies getting more frequent turns.

Both the player characters and enemies have SP bars that will build when performing most actions, reaching a max of 300%. Skills each fall into one of three tiers, numbered for your convenience, and use the same amount of SP (e.g. 100% for tier 1, 200% for tier 2, 300% for tier 3). Skills can be upgraded with items that can be acquired from beating up the home appliances turned murder machines that make up your enemies, and is the main reason the game isn’t particularly difficult. Sherry gets a skill almost right off the bat that heals for an absurd amount of health for a ridiculously low cost. Coupled with her high speed, chances are you won’t have too much trouble surviving the fights. Each character does get their own specialized skills that fill a certain roll in the party, with ISAAC having the ability to swap between forms, and roles, as you progress into the game.

You do get given tutorials for everything the game has to offer, usually to the point of being questionable (yes game, I’m aware that the Save/Load icon in the main menu means I can save and load my game. Yes, I also know that saving on the same file overwrites the previous save). On the plus side, all the tutorials are incredibly condense and precise, and even the combat tutorials are spread out over a decent length and generally take little more than 20 to 30 seconds to go over before sending you back into the fray. I must say I did appreciate that the combat tutorial was performed outside of any “real” combat in a rather unique way, so props to the dev team for going that direction.

While I’m inclined to describe Tick Tock Travelers as a game that feels low budget from an older player perspective, the only area I didn’t make this association in was the soundtrack. The soundtrack in Tick Tock Travelers really nails it, and using my previous analogy feels like a Hollywood blockbuster budget. There are little quirks to the game that were both endearing and frustrating, such as the aqua orbs. Throughout the town you’ll (maybe) find some shiny areas. Investigating them gives you an aqua orb. These can be exchanged for different outfits that don’t actually affect your stats, but I found they looked better than that awful plaid shirt that Sherry starts with.

Problem here is that the “shines” are fast, and there’s a couple of seconds between shining, meaning it is INCREDIBLY easy to just not notice them. I found more mashing the examine button than actually looking for shining areas. The camera is a force to be reckoned with, often times I found myself struggling to get it to stay pointing where I wanted it to. Movement also feels weird, as occasionally I felt like I was moving to fast, and either I whizzed right by things or enemies, or the camera couldn’t keep up properly to a change in direction or location. A weird thing I noticed playing on PS4 is that if you hold down the PS button, the game sort of pauses, and the music cuts, but the sound effects will continue. And for the love of all that is good and holy, why does no-one question the little girl having a laser gun?!?

Overall, Destiny Connect: is a cute little title that has a decent draw for those new to the RPG scene, but may not have the same draw for the older crowd. The soundtrack is solid and the storyline is rather interesting. Combat is pretty fluid and while there isn’t much of a difficulty, the enemies are pretty interesting and there is a lot of different tactics you can use with the different characters. Although Destiny Connect: Tick Tock Travelers makes for a good introductory RPG, a lot of those looking for another RPG in their larger repertoire may feel let down by the simplicity and “hand holding” that happens. While probably fun for the younger crowd, it may not pass muster for the older crowd.

Game Information

Platform:
Sony PlayStation 4
Developer(s):
Nippon Ichi Software
Publisher(s):
NIS America
Genre(s):
RPG
Mode(s):
Single Player
Other Platform(s):
Nintendo Switch

Source:
Provided by Publisher

Article by Richard

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