Nick’s Games of the Year – 2018

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes.

Game of the Year – SoulCalibur 6

Game of the Year is a highly subjective thing. Usually you are looking at a AAA powerhouse like God of War or something that was best-in-class in a preferred genre (like Ni no Kuni II as RPGs are probably my favorite genre). However, Soul Calibur 6 did so many things very well and I continue to come back to it time and again since it released. The presentation is solid, if not spectacular, but it’s more about the combat and the systems. The RPG-light create-a-character mode is one of the best single player fighting game offerings I have ever experienced, the actual story mode is very well done and the combat is a great deal of fun, whether against the AI or another player. Soul Calibur 6 checked a bunch of boxes I did not even realize I wanted my fighting games to tick, but whether I am firing it up for a quick few matches or for an hour-plus session, this is the most fun I have had with a game this year.

First Runner Up – Ni no Kuni II: The Revenant Kingdom

It was no secret that I loved the original Ni no Kuni. It was flawed, but it was absolutely enchanting and I spent a ton of time with it. Well, Revenant Kingdom managed to keep almost everything that was great about the first game and improved many of the problems along the way. It is a grand adventure that has a ton of charm in its characters and story and is a great way to spend a lot of hours.

Second Runner Up – Yakuza 6: The Song of Life

Yakuza 6 gave me a character that I really cared about, and a story that I felt the need to see through until the end. It’s wacky, there’s some padding that hurts pace a little now and again, but there is a ton to see and do along the way and all of it is presented very well.

Biggest Surprise – METAL MAX Xeno

Everything about this title screamed that it was put together on a budget. I can’t remember the last time I installed a full fledged RPG that had such a small install foot print on my PS4 (I believe it was about 3GBs). I did not particularly like the main protagonist, yet many of the other characters were charming and enjoyable. The further I got into the game, more of the mechanics appealed to me further and further and before long I found myself having played through the entire game. I came into METAL MAX Xeno with pretty low expectations, but JRPG fans such as myself should find a lot to like here.

Guilty Pleasure – Shining Resonance Refrain

There’s nothing new about Resonance. In fact, it is a remake of a game from the last console generation, and there are certainly times it plays and looks the part. Yet I enjoyed the characters, the story and the various systems a great deal. So much so that it was one of the only games I bothered to platinum trophy this year, and I played through it twice to experience the extra content. I came back well after posting my review just to do that, making Shining Resonance Refrain my video game comfort food of 2019

Biggest Disappointment – Final Fantasy Dissidia NT

I almost went with Telltale or The Walking Dead’s final season here, because really that has been one of the most depressing storylines in the industry this year. That being said, Final Fantasy Dissidia NT kills me, because I loved the game on the PSP. I logged so much time into it and this latest update just left me feeling cold. The RPG elements are basically gone, the combat is incredibly thin and despite the fact that it looks and sounds gorgeous, the entire experience was a hollow one for me. Considering I was looking forward to it since the moment the title was announced and picked up the deluxe version on day 1? It’s pretty easy to say this was a disappointing release for me given how little I still play it.

Article by: Nick

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Happy Holidays and CGR Game of the Year Awards!

We would like to take a few moments to thank everyone that has visited us or that has dropped by over the course of the year. We appreciate both the support and plan to continue to bring you coverage on titles both big and small, new and old over the course of the next year.

With the holidays upon us, we will be taking a break and resuming normal review coverage as of January 7, 2019. In the meantime however, we'll be bringing you our Games of the Year at the beginning of the new year starting on the 31st and running straight though until the 4th. 

We hope you enjoy both our awards for this year and your respective holidays! Be safe. Have fun. Happy gaming!

• Nick: December 31st
• Robert: January 1st - Happy New Year!
• Richard: January 2nd
• Susan N: January 3rd
• Pierre-Yves: January 4th

The Chalgyr's Game Room Team

 

 

 

 

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Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden - XB1 Review

Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden is built off of the hit tabletop game, Mutant Year Zero. For those unfamiliar, Mutant is a hugely popular tabletop game from Sweden that was first released in 1984 and the "Mutant: Year Zero" franchise is something of a prequel if you will, taking place a few hundred years prior to the original 1984 release. Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden is set in the new Mutant: Year Zero era and is, frankly, wonderful to behold. A mutated blend of adventure, stealth, roleplaying, and tactical strategy, Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden is a gorgeous game that does what few games manage to do … surpass the hype train.

Now, just to get it out front, I absolutely and utterly abhor stealth games; they are literally the worst and I struggle to really get "into" games that heavily rely on stealth elements. It is even worse when games that have no business being stealthy, put stealthy elements into them (looking at you Battlefield 1 …). I just find so very little enjoyment in hiding or sneaking my way through a game. MYZ: Road to Eden blends the heavy stealth element into its narrative quite well, but does not force it upon you; heck if you would like, you can go in guns blazing (as I do), though it will certainly increase the difficulty, which is interesting because the three difficulty settings are "Normal," "Hard," and "Very Hard" with an "Iron Mutant" option (as opposed to the traditional "Ironman" mode in other human-based games).

From the start this game wants it to be a challenging experience and it is, but not to the point of controller-throwing frustration; it teaches you well throughout the campaign that careful planning mixed with the near-fanatical need to explore every scene for loot, is far more important than guns-blazing or stealthy-stab-stab. If there is a single piece of advise that I can give, it is to save before every. single. fight. Period. You are going to fail and the last thing you want is to have to go back to a save that is twenty or thirty minutes prior.

Gameplay is a rich blend between real-time exploration and turn-based combat; you enter the scene and have free reign, moving no different than you would in a more isometrically-angled Witcher III third-person style, but in stealth or free-form movement. If you spot enemies you can straight up fire on them with your non-suppressed / quiet weapons (like Dux's crossbow), or you can scout the area in stealth-mode and set up an ambush.

Once you enter combat you will find where XCOM becomes a major influence, moving into specific squares and your characters will have action points they can spend on things like using throwables (Molotov cocktails are great!), using items like medkits (you will use these … all the time), moving/sprinting, setting up overwatch, reloading, using a skill (Bormin's charge is pretty wonderful; reminds me of the biotic Charge ability in Mass Effect, but with more blue glowy effects and more meat), or straight up attacking with one of your equipped weapons.

Setting up areas of fire and trying to funnel the enemy towards your tanky character is key and combining character skills will be paramount to success (like rooting an enemy into place after using a Molotov on them, then charging them once the Molotov area of effect has warn off) is a great way to pin an enemy into place for a round or two so you can focus on damage, then charging them to (hopefully) knock them down for a few more turns, is an excellent way to provide some fantastic punishment. A word of caution though, enemies are not all susceptible to the same tactics so you will need to reinvent your style on-the-fly.

By way of post-apocalyptic settings, Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden simply wipes the floor with other franchises. The waxy look of the new Fallout games, the dusty Mad Max setting, the broken dystopia of The Last of Us, and the cold, hard crush of the Metro titles are all interesting in their own rights, but none of them feel truly alive. The fall of civilization is not supposed to be alive you say? I counter that post-apocalyptic titles are about life, and how it finds away <I so very wanted to put in the mythical Jeff Goldblum GIF here> to thrive in a decimated world. Horizon: Zero Dawn and Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden are the two that come to mind that really embody this ideal; I am confident there are others, but these two stand far above the rest.

As you take your little squad of mutants and head out from the Arc, you will find yourself in a lush world inhabited by the detritus of the civilizations of yesteryear that beckon you to explore every nook and cranny and if you do you will be rewarded. Gathering parts, picking up loot, and farming every enemy on a map will become an obsession and it pays off in dividends as you earn mutation points to level up your squad and work to improve your weapon loadouts. MYZ: Road to Eden is about exploration with a healthy dosage of excellently balanced tactical combat.

There are very, very few things to be concerned with when looking at Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden, chief amongst them being the difficulty. Outside of it simply being a hard yet challenging game, the only real gripe I can come up with Is less a gripe and more just sadness in the fact that the Xbox One version, which looks great, cannot hold a candle to the PC release. That is common in nearly every game that is ported cross-platform, but still, the Xbox One version (and presumably the PC version) is so good that the only real concern I have is that it does not look as good as the PC version? Laughable as an issue; in fact, it is not even an issue. I am literally reaching to provide some criticism and the one thing I can come up with is so incredibly shallow I probably should not have mentioned it.

Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden is a must-buy this holiday season. Such a seamless and wonderful amalgamation of genres is rare and The Bearded Ladies have blended them so well that in Road to Eden you have a completely unique experience that feels natural, almost welcoming. Until it steps on your face but I say that is a part of the charm…

Game Information

Platform:
Microsoft Xbox One
Developer(s):
The Bearded Ladies
Publisher(s):
Funcom
Genre(s):
Turned Based Strategy
RPG
Mode(s):
Single Player
Other Platform(s):
Sony PlayStation 4
PC

Source:
Provided by Publisher

Article by Robert

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Deep Silver Upcoming RPG OUTWARD New Trailer and Release date - News

It's always a good day when an announcement gets multiple of us excited because we can then roll for initiative to see who goes first in a melee to take the lead. Outward, from studio Nine Dots and being publisher by Deep Silver is an RPG adventure where while you're an adventurer, you're not "the one". You're a person in a fantasy world and that's it. Go out. Have fun. Try to survive. Releasing in March, which feels so far away, here's the trailer!

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OPEN-WORLD TRAILBLAZING RPG ‘OUTWARD’ SET FOR MARCH 2019 RELEASE

GAMEPLAY TRAILER FEATURES TENSE SURVIVAL AGAINST MAGIC AND MONSTERS

Walnut Creek, CA, December 19, 2018 — Publishers Deep Silver and developer Nine Dots, along with Maximum Games, have announced the release date for their hardcore fantasy adventure RPG Outward. The game will hit PlayStation®4, Xbox One, and Steam on March 26th, 2019. The announcement is accompanied by a trailer that highlights the game's focus on challenge, immersion, and fulfillment.

Outward is an open-world fantasy adventure game featuring deep simulation and immersion. In it, players will experience an entirely new kind of RPG, where they play the role of a true inhabitant of a sprawling world, requiring biological maintenance and self-preservation against a harsh, uncaring environment. These simulation aspects also extend to the game's representation of magic as an intricate web of rituals required to evoke supernatural powers. The game also packs a surprising feature: two-player local and online multiplayer, with local split-screen. This feature allows two friends to share a journey knowing they have at least one ally at their side and offers unique opportunities for strategy.

Today's trailer showcases the rich fantasy world and the various obstacles the player's avatar will have to face in this mystical environment. As a regular human being, players will create their own destiny against a variety of dangers both magical and mundane. Exposure to the elements is just as likely to kill the player as the monsters that roam the world. To survive, they will have to grow and master the game's complex weapons, traps, and magic.

Key Features

• Survive in the wilds as you explore a vast and harsh land
• Play solo or cooperatively, split-screen locally or online
• Ritualistic, step-by-step approach to spellcasting
• Constant auto-saving means you must live with your decisions
• Encounter dynamic defeat scenarios
• A unique experience with every playthrough

Article by Pierre-Yves

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Is the Reliance on CGI Hurting Cinema?

Is the computer-generated imagery or popularly known as CGI a good thing for the cinema world or its the other way around? People may have a contradicting view on this.

With this, filmmakers were able to add great effects on their films which are impossible using practical effects. However, if it is poorly developed it could affect audience immersion and turn the movie into a laughing matter.

We have witnessed lots of breathtaking CGI for the past years, and it has greatly affected the outcome of every movie. Because of this, the directors have made a firm stance against computer generated elements in making films. They want to revive the dying art of practical effects. For them, a heavy reliance on CGI, if done carelessly could create a movie that is absolutely unwatchable.

The Good Effects of CGI in the Film Industry

Not all filmmakers rely on CGI. Some feel that relying on computer-generated imagery can only destroy their film. However, other filmmakers think that if CGI applied properly it will help a lot in creating a realistic movie. Here some reasons why CGI should not be banned:

3. CGI Makes the Impossible Possible

For some film makers, CGI is the reason why their movies bagged the highest recognition in the movie industry. An example of this is the trilogy "Lord of the Rings." With the help of CGI, Jackson was able to achieve his vision completely. How Middle-earth should look like was shown clearly in the film.

It was also thru CGI, Jackson created Mordor, Rivendell and the famous Gollum. The said movie also managed to bring home lots of Academy Awards because Jackson was able to achieve his vision completely and featured impressive movie special effects, thanks to CGI.

2. CGI Can Make Real Life Movies Better

If in the past, faking the background has several lapses like Jackie Chan's Rumble in the Bronx movie. This is already resolved in the age of CGI. Even a simple movie that do not require digital effects can use CGI.

If your film is a real-life story and you need to show a scene from the past, the best way to do it is by using CGI. Movies like life story can make the film more realistic.

3. CGI Creates Some of the Best Computer Animated Movies

If it is not because of the success of Toy Story, computer-animated films like Finding Nemo, Inside Out and Up would not have been produced. The very first film Pixar has produced gave them the funds to produced other computer-animated films. It was also thru Pixar's success that driven Dreamworks to create their own CGI animation like Madagascar movies, How to Train Your Dragon and Shrek.

Movies Affected Negatively by Too Much Reliance on CGI

There are some movies who have relied too much on computer-generated imagery which affected them negatively. One of them is "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies." As compared to LOTR that depend so much on CGI, this film does not get the result it expected to have.

The part of the movie where the people in costumes wave around swords, without a firm plan as to how the scene would actually play out. If you check this part, you will see that this thing was a mess.

There are two reasons why LOTR achieved a better result and its the other way around for The Hobbit. One reason is that Hobbit was filmed in a rushed schedule while LOTR takes several years to complete the film. Another reason is on the visions of the two filmmakers del Toro of the Hobbit and Jackson of LOTR.

Final Thoughts

To answer our question is the reliance on CGI hurting cinema, I guess it depends on how you will use it. The success of a movie does not depend only on computer-generated digital effects. The story, preparation, length of filming and the director's vision also play a big part in the success of the movie.

Article by Angela Floyd

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Achtung! Cthulhu Tactics - XB1 Review

Achtung! Cthulhu Tactics is a wonderful semi turn-based squad-focused strategy title focusing deeply on tactical setup and execution. The unfortunate thing about this alternative take on World War II is that it will be inevitably compared to the revamped XCOM franchise and that does Achtung! Cthulhu Tactics a bit of a disservice because while similar, it still feels and behaves very, very differently. There are certainly similarities, and the inspiration of the venerable XCOM franchise is easily spotted in Achtung!, it is still very much its own brand of strategy gaming … and though wonderful at time, still has a bit of a way to go to fully mature into a household brand.

Alternative-history games have been done countless times and one of the most notorious eras would be the horrific years between the early 1930's to mid/late 1940's commonly referred to as "World War II." From zombie Nazis to superpowered Nazis, to generally just the fight against Nazis in any form or faction; it has literally all been done before. Almost. Achtung! Cthulhu Tactics is something fresh and new in the alternative WWII history genre; they add XCOM-style tactical gameplay and mix it up with a little Lovecraftian devilry … the notorious Cthulhu. The refreshing take on World War II though, wears off its novelty with a bit of repetitive gameplay; each mission (main story of side mission) feels the same with only the end objective being slightly different from others.

Though a bit shallow, I do have to say that the game runs wonderfully on Xbox One; rarely do multi-platform releases run so smoothly on all platforms but Achtung! Seems to have taken care to ensure each platform looks gorgeous and runs smoothly. This is doubly-impressive given what I believe is the single best implementation of "fog of war." FoW in games has been around since the dawn of time it seems; I have fond memories of WarCraft: Orcs & Humans, WarCraft II: Tides of Darkness, and Command & Conquer campaigns where I would, in my youth and immaturity, simply find the cheat code to remove the FoW because I wanted to see what was going on.

That practice of mine has since gone by the wayside unless I am replaying a campaign for the umpteenth time and I simply want to see how the AI reacts to me (for science, you know?), but with Achtung! I could watch replay after replay of enemies being vaguely represented in the "lite" fog of war, as darkened, misshapen blurbs until you get into a closer sight radius, is wonderful. As you move free-form through the linear maps, until you come into combat where it then goes more traditionally turn-based, the black FoW disperses to this shallow "lite" fog of war that is simply gorgeous. If an enemy takes an action while in that fog, their model comes into a clearer view, but then goes back to this darkened shade. It is great to behold.

Each mission briefing/setup honestly feels like it could be a more serious entry into the wonderful Inglorious Basterds film, with a rugged table, a map that has objective pins into it, and WWII-era accoutrements throughout the screen. I love looking at it, even if it is a bit bland after you have seen it a dozen times, but it serves its purpose and allows you to choose the mission, kit out your team, then drop into a fairly straightforward map that has you running from cover-to-cover with the hopes of destroying any resistance while keeping your team alive. The first half-dozen missions are exciting, but as you progress it just feels … the same. Run to cover, set up overwatch, hope to the heavens that you hit whatever nastiness is coming your way, then move to the next rock formation or sandbag setup. But hey, at least your soldiers have a far better hit percentage / possibility than those in XCOM …

As you progress through Achtung! Cthulhu Tactics's Cthulhu-riddled campaign the repetitive and generally shallow nature of the gameplay rears its ugly head early, however it is still an enjoyable romp through a new take on an alternative World War II outcome. It helps that it runs like silky-smooth butter and has some wonderful models in it, though it does feel a little too linear in its encounters and does not scale well with different difficulty settings. Achtung! Cthulhu Tactics is, I hope, the start of an interesting genre that blends relatively free-form movement until turn-based tactical combat rears its bestial head. A perfect title for those that are itching something different than their three hundredth playthrough of XCOM 2, Achtung! Cthulhu Tactics is a great way to pass the long days of your holiday vacation.

Game Information

Platform:
Microsoft Xbox One
Developer(s):
Auroch Digital
Publisher(s):
Ripstone
Genre(s):
Turned Based Strategy
Mode(s):
Single Player
Other Platform(s):
Sony PlayStation 4
PC

Source:
Provided by Publisher

Article by Robert

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Touhou: Gensokyo Defenders - Switch Review

Gensokyo Defenders is a neat take on the classic tower defense style, with a greater focus on your player character than on the traps you set. True to the Touhou style, there are lots of bullets and swathes of enemies to evade and fight off.

In the land of Gensokyo, the main method of dispute resolution or time killing is Danmaku, or what basically amounts to a bullet hell battle. Recently however, Yukari has come up with a new game to play, and taught it to the rather dense and easily influenced faries. So welcome the new method of battle/entertainment, defense battles!

The defense battles are, at their base, pretty standard fare: you have multiple waves of enemies attacking a “base point”, and you need to lay traps down to prevent the enemies from reaching your base. Each enemy that reaches your base will take a point of durability off of it, and if the durability runs out, you lose. Placing traps requires money that’s earned in-stage by defeating enemies, and you can lay or remove traps at any time. There’s also a short break between waves where you can set up/demolish traps before choosing to start the next wave.

Where Gensokyo Defenders gets a little more innovative is in the stage layouts and use of the player character. Stage layouts can be simple pathways, but they can also feature environmental hazards such as large thorns or rivers. Any enemy that isn’t a flying type can be thrown into the hazards in order to kill them. This also works on your player character, however. You don’t just place traps, your character can actually shoot and use special moves in order to attack the invading enemies. In fact, I generally found that the majority of the enemies I dispatched were from me actually shooting them, rather than the traps I had laid out. Occasionally there will be power ups that will increase you normal attacks and special moves that you can pick up. Additionally, after a certain point, you unlock the ability to upgrade your character or traps using the stars you earn in stages, which are awarded based on how much health your base has at the end of the mission.

While the graphics are pretty decent and the character art is pretty good, I did happen to notice that it seems that characters generally tend to be rather…bustier, than how they’re normally portrayed, which is maybe a little weird, but considering the massive amount of fan based interpretations of characters, not particularly unusual. The music consists of some rather nice remixes of Touhou tunes, some of my favourites in fact, and I didn’t notice any sort of lag that you normally see in these style games, especially when there are a boat load of enemies on screen and everyone is shooting, although it does become rather difficult to see where all the bullets are, and who is shooting what.

Ultimately, Gensokyo Defenders feels like something that would be more at home as a tablet or phone game, just with higher specs. If you plan on using your Switch more as a mobile style device, rather than a console, Gensokyo Defenders feels a lot more “right”. That being said, there isn’t any issue with it as a short and sweet time waster for a console. You can pick up a mission or two, and complete them in 10-15 minutes without too much hassle. Gensokyo Defenders would definitely appeal to those looking to make their Switch more of a mobile handheld, or those who enjoy a good tower defense style game.

Game Information

Platform:
Nintendo Switch
Developer(s):
Neetpia
Publisher(s):
Unties
Genre(s):
Action
Tower Defense
Mode(s):
Single Player
Multiplayer
Other Platform(s):
N/A

Source:
Provided by Publisher

Article by Richard

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HellSign - PC Preview

HellSign is an interesting mix between grueling action-RPG and an investigative pseudo-puzzler that is both punishing and tedious at times. Still in Early Access as of this writing, HellSign is a fun if frustrating new take on a genre that has been dominated by either point-and-click adventures or Diablo/Dark Souls-style games (but rarely both)

For being an Early Access title, HellSign is surprisingly stable and generally well-balanced assuming you do not mind The Grind. One of the concerns I had throughout the game falls onto gear; I seemed to always be under-geared for an area and though ammo is affordable and plentiful, I was still pouring tons of cash into the regularly-depleted ammo reserves that I had. I know too that for the action-RPG genre, due to the popularity of the Souls games, has begun to return to gaming roots in the "figure it out" way while leaving any manner of real in-game assistance (hints, tutorials, etc.) out of the game. That is not to say HellSign does not help, nor that some hints/guidance is yet to be added, it just means that in its current state that a ton of trial and error plus a whole lot of dying will come into play (and you will get cheesed often).

That said, HellSign is more of an investigation game with action-RPG elements tied gracefully into the various areas that you will visit. Each of these areas and investigations are tied together with some of the most stunning comic book-style story panels that are simply gorgeous. Most investigations in areas (that are opened via communicating with the locals in the bar or picking up hints from other dungeons) involve walking around a gruesome scene, generally an abandoned house or building, with your little flashlight and flicking between your EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomenon, aka "spooky voice thing that appears on voice recorders") and a blacklight. As you use your EVP tools to grab clues and hints, you will be assaulted by a bazillion giant spiders, poltergeists, ghouls (seriously, screw ghouls, they will wreck your face), and other nasty denizens of the afterlife.

What is a really neat concept that you do not find in many other titles is that if an area is too hard (and most will be), you can leave the area, keep the loot, then come back when you are more powerful and the area will stay persistent. In many action-RPG titles when you leave and return to an area, the world respawns or resets itself (to most degrees) and it is back to slogging through an area. Not so with HellSign and I like the idea/concept.

As HellSign is under continuous development things will likely change, including balance between the handful of "classes" that you can choose from at the start of the game. Even with the oddly giant spikes in the difficulty that you will inevitably run into, HellSign is a tensely enjoyable paranormal investigation game with a solid understanding of the use of aural cues to heighten the fear and intensity. It also helps that it is a solid title that though largely grey and seemingly colorless to my goofy eyes; there is something inheritantly terrifying about a colorless world. Add to the mix some solid dash-attack-retreat-attack style gameplay and an interesting leveling system and you have a solidly spooky game on your hands. Fortunately any real kinks in balance will hopefully be addressed by the super active development team. Head on over to Steam to check it out; it is certainly worth it. You can find it here.

Game Information

Platform:
PC
Developer(s):
Ballistic Interactive
Publisher(s):
Ballistic Interactive
Genre(s):
RPG
Mode(s):
Single Player
Other Platform(s):
N/A

Source:
Provided by Publisher

Article by Robert

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Jaggy's Corner - Saturday December 15th

Over the last week or so, a number of holiday events have started in various video games, making our lives interesting because we want to play them all! Anyways, this week I'm going to talk about a game that I haven't really touched on before, and that is Destiny 2. I've been playing it since September and as a person that generally does not like shooters, I quite enjoy it.

The Dawning

Destiny 2's holiday event is called The Dawning and it requires baking cookies to give to people in The Tower and in some of the zones. When certain quests are completed, players will receive a new engram called WinterDrift Engrams which gives players new armor sets, emotes, and shaders. This is particularly good for players like me who are not yet at 600 power yet!

After making the first cookie for Zavala, players receive a quest to get a new exotic sparrow. I'm super excited about this. I like the sparrows... Anyways, a complete list of items, with pictures, can be viewed on the Destiny 2 Reddit thread found here.

So how does one begin The Dawning? First players have to go to Eva in the Tower, who is a stone throw away from Ikora. She will give you the initial ingredients to make a cookie for Zavala. Once that is completed, players have to farm the rest of the ingredients to complete the quest they receive. To make any of the cookies, players have to do their regular routine like completing strikes, bounties, gambits, etc... Since ingredients can be acquired as drops from every enemy, it's quite easy to make the first batch of cookies.

With that said, each kill and enemy type will drop different types of ingredients. Here is a handy list of the ingredient needed and what enemy or weapon type is required.

Common Ingredients

• Chitin Powder – HIVE
• Ether Cane – FALLEN
• Dark Ether Cane – SCORN
• Cabal Oil – CABAL
• Vex Milk – VEX
• Taken Butter – TAKEN

Rare Ingredients

• Bullet Spray – SMG, Machine gun, or Auto Rifle kills
• Delicious Explosion – Grenade Launcher, Rocket Launcher, or regular Grenade kills
• Sharp Flavor – Sword kills
• Personal Touch – Melee kills
• Perfect Taste – Precision Kills
• Flash of Inspiration – Orbs of Light
• Impossible Heat – Solar kills
• Null Taste – Void kills
• Electric Flavor – Arc kills

It takes three ingredients to make a cookie, a common, a rare, and Essence of Dawning. Since we covered how to get the common and rare ingredients, now it's knowing how to get the Essences. These are acquired from doing anything in the game. The amount received is based on what activity players complete. For example, public events will grant 5 Essence of Dawning whereas Heroic Strikes will give between 15-17. Nightfall Strikes have the highest drop at 23 Essence of Dawning, so take that into consideration when farming for cookies!

Anyways, initially, players need to use 15 of them in order to make a cookie while all the other ingredients require significantly less.

Once a player upgrades the oven to masterwork, each recipe will only require 10 Essence of Dawning. For more information about that and more can be seen in this video by Ninja Pups. Much of what I detailed in this article is in the video however, Ninja Pups goes into the best methods for farming Essences.

One final point about the Essences is the moment they are placed in the oven, they are consumed. In other words, make sure to have the right recipe before adding the Essence!

Final Thoughts

I've only been playing the Dawning content for a day and already I'm having a fun time with it. I definitely am going after the new sparrow and I like some of the ghost shells that can be received. I think it adds a light vibe to the game's content and The Tower looks pretty. Besides, I still need better gear!

How about you? Are you enjoying the Dawning?

Don't forget to follow Destiny 2 on Twitter for more updates.

Until next time!

Article by Susan N.

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Win a copy of X4: Foundations!

With X4: Foundations now having been out for a couple weeks we've got a treat for you. Just in time for Christmas we have two keys to give away!

What do you need to do to win?

Two lucky winners will be drawn at random from those that give our friends at Egosoft a follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/EGOSOFT and then send a quick email to Nick@Chalgyr.com letting him know you've followed them and are entering the contest.

And that is it!

The contest kicks off with this post (so 2PM Eastern Time on Friday, December 14th, 2018) and will run for a week (so get those emails in by this time on the 21st). That night we'll take all of the entries, run them through a random drawing and reach back out to the winners via email with a code.

Good luck!


Article by Chalgyr's Game Room

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Nier Automata - PS4 Review

Nier Automata is one of those games that if you haven’t played, you’ve more than likely heard of. From the same person that brought us the feels-fest that was Drakengard, we get the sequel to Nier: Gestalt/Replicant.

Nier: Automata takes place in a post-apocalyptic style world, where aliens have invaded using machines as an army force, and all the humans have fled to the moon. You take up the role of 2B, and 9S, two androids in the service of YorHa, the militant group dedicated to wiping out the alien threat. The plotline, while interesting, isn’t exactly going to be giving you any surprises, or at least I don’t expect it to. Almost every “plot twist” you can probably see coming a mile away. What the story lacks in surprises, it definitely gets you on many of the smaller aspects: the interactions between characters, the extra conversations from the side quests, and the general lore you pick up about the world are what really draw you in.

Gameplay is a weird mash-up of top down hack-and-slash, 3-D action, top-down shooter, and scrolling top-down shooter. While I know that other people really disliked having all these different aspects mashed into one game, I really appreciated the variety it gives in gameplay. The 3-D action is where most of the game will take place in, and is how you roam the world, accept and complete side-quests, and progress in your YorHa mission to defend the Earth. 2B is attack based, having a main attack and a secondary attack, while 9S is a whiny tag-along who can hack enemies and locked chests. As you hack and slash your way through enemies, you can pick up chips and programs that you can equip for various effects, such as increasing attack or defense, or increasing movement speed. The shooter sections are fairly straightforward, usually being either an auto-scroller or having a single route to follow.

Where would we be if we didn’t talk about the soundtrack? Nier: Automata has a seriously wonderful soundtrack, and also has an in-game jukebox with various remixes in the main camp you’ll be visiting. Be careful though, one of the song titles is a spoiler if you recognize where it’s played in-game. The music was always great, regardless of whether it was a boss fight, a background tune for the area you’re in, or the event music.

Nier: Automata is a really weird game for me to give a solid score to, because there was a lot I thought could have been done better. I would have liked to see more ship/mech battles, the combat can be trivialized with the right program loadout, 9S is one of the most annoying main characters I’ve had to suffer through for quite some time, and the third character you can play as gets way too little screen time.

The areas may be big and pretty, but it takes you a long time walking back and forth through a lot of them before you get the fast travel option, which became available right as I was on the verge of getting fed up, so whether that’s a happy coincidence or good planning I’m not certain, but the fast travel would have been handier earlier. Some of your mission directives can be rather vague at times, and you can get a ridiculously huge zone displaying for where you’re supposed to be to fulfill your directives. While the variety of different weapons is nice, and it’s great to be able to upgrade them, some of the items needed to upgrade either your ranged firing pod assistant or the weapons themselves are downright infuriatingly annoying to get cough purewater cough.

Ultimately, Nier: Automata is a game that I absolutely loved, but I have a really hard time figuring out why. Perhaps it’s the atmosphere, maybe it’s the music. It could be the intriguing side-quests, or maybe I just like beating up robots. It could be the swathe of multiple endings you can get, or it could be the entertaining characters. Regardless, despite its many faults, there is a certain draw that will keep you playing for long after you think you’ll stop.

Game Information

Platform:
Sony PlayStation 4
Developer(s):
PlatinumGames Inc.
Publisher(s):
Square Enix
Genre(s):
Action
RPG
Mode(s):
Single Player
Other Platform(s):
Microsoft Xbox One
PC

Source:
Purchased

Article by Richard

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X3: Albion Prelude - Retro Reflections

X3: Albion Prelude is a massive space sandbox title that falls takes place in EgoSoft's massive X franchise. Positioned between the "old" X universe (the original title) and the "new" X universe (later releases), X3: Albion Prelude bridges the gap and shows a galaxy in turmoil. Consisting of various campaigns surrounding a war between both familiar and new corporations, Albion Prelude is about finding your place in the power struggle that has gripped the universe. Pilot an exploratory ship or command a fleet of fighters or trade freighters as you raid fleets or control the stock market. X3: Albion Prelude is about finding your place … and its place is in your gaming library. Prepare to sink hundreds of hours into your galactic empire.

I have nearly 700 hours sunk into X3: Albion Prelude so I certainly enjoy it. When you first load in you see a title screen that reminds me of Episode 04 of Cowboy Bebop ("Gateway Shuffle") and that very feeling is what hooked me from the very start. Firing up a new game will give you a list of starting points ranging from a Terran Commander, who starts as a member of the Terran faction, and is a powerful spacecraft loaded for war, or as a Bankrupt Assassin who literally starts with nothing but a small (and weak) ship, with no credits whatsoever.

Out of almost 20 starting scenarios, I tend to start off as either the Argon Patriot who pilots a sleek Elite (M4 class of spacecraft), about 2,000 credits, and is relatively neutral throughout most factions in the game though tends towards Argon interests, or as the Argon Peacekeeper, who is in command of a Nova Prototype (M3 class of ship, more on classes later) and is an Argon military sympathizer with a respectable 30,000 credits to his name. Both of those starting scenarios give quick access to the Commonwealth Main Plot, which is a fantastic campaign covering the war between the Argon and Terran factions. It is a solid campaign with some great moments.

Anyhow, the choice is yours for the taking, just remember, reputation is everything. If your rep is too low for an area, then you will not be able to accept quests or make purchases at stations. You can build rep various ways, from trading to hunting opposing factions after purchasing a license from the faction you wish to represent. As your rep grows, so too will the opportunity to purchase new crafts, and that is where the fun lies. There are 19 different ship classes, and the primary races all have their own unique craft for each class. The M1 class is the Carrier class, capable of pulling into a system and launching massive fighter swarms.

Others, like the M2+ and M2 Heavy Destroyer and Destroy respectively, are built for taking abuse while dishing out unfair amounts of destruction. Seeing one of these warp in-system is terrifying, especially if you are like me and love the M3/M3+ fighter/heavy fighter crafts, or M4/M4+ interceptor/heavy interceptor classes. These vehicles are built for offensive combat in a small, maneuverable craft … that would, even at the best of times, be pounded into dust by an M2. M5's are the scouts, fast, lightweight and offensively garbage. M6 corvettes are a general favorite as they can take a beating but are jam-packed full of turrets. M7 frigates are the veritable tanks, designed to take a punishment while support craft do the primary damage. M7 itself has two other categories, M7C, which is the Drone Carrier designation, is the little sister to the M1, but on a smaller scale and works with drones rather than fighters, and the M7M which are a sight to behold as they are Missile Frigates. Sleek and slightly faster than the other M7 designations, they are not as heavily armored and they have considerable upkeep on account of the fact you need to pay for the missiles (all the more reason to build stations that can then supply your M7M fleet with missiles at a significantly lower cost).

But man, when these bad lads come ripping into normal space, they unleash hell. Watching rockets streak through space is glorious … and it is even more stunning when some fancy M2+ is turned to slag under the barrage. I could sing the US National Anthem every time one of these things pulls into a fight. The M8 bombers are literally glass cannons and are designed to take out the M6, M7, M2, and M1 class of ships (and their variants) as they are lightly armored and have little point defense options, but they come with torpedo tubes and holy moly they are destructive. A single salvo can lay waste to ships far, far larger. They just need to make it to the fight.


The last five designations, TL, TM, TP, TS, and TS+ are all transport ships, ranging from small to large, each designed to haul your cargo from point to point. I myself am partial to packing a few TS+ Heavy Small Transports, two or three Military Transports (lightly armed ships that can carry fighters for defensive purposes) and some M4 interceptors into a Wing then sending them off to make me some money and that is where the simulation aspect comes into play. Sure dogfighting and broadsiding is awesome, but the fact that you can upload and tweak AI pilots for every ship? That is GREAT.

I often found myself taking control of a wing of ten to twelve M4+ Heavy Interceptors, then having that Wing protect set to patrol contested sectors. That wing is not all that impressive, so I would complement it with a large Wing of M3's that are set to protect my particular ship, half of which would be set to missile defense maneuvers where they would stay close to the craft I was piloting intercept any incoming missiles. I would then set a mixed M6 and M7 wing to patrolling the same sector in case any larger craft want to come play (and that can often happen in contested areas).

While all of this is happening my transport teams are out moving goods between my various stations that I built, thus allowing me to maintain a supply route between the front lines and my production fields… All with a few upgraded AI options that are purchasable in-game. Toss a few M5 scouts out there to whip through at lightning speeds and scan sectors or quickly (and I mean *quickly*) transport missiles from the supply lines to my frigates and corvettes. Sound like fun yet? Because it is.

X3: Albion Prelude in its vanilla form is utterly fantastic, but the 7 year old game is far from dead. With X4 on the horizon, revisiting Albion Prelude has been a time sink, especially with the various mods that you can get for it (seriously, the Star Wars mod is absolutely epic). Regularly on sale on Steam, X3: Albion Prelude is a gorgeous and incredibly complex sandbox space simulator. While it can be imposing with its high learning curve, warping into normal space via your jump engines or a Gateway with your fleet at your back has never felt better …

Game Information

Platform:
PC
Developer(s):
Egosoft
Publisher(s):
Egosoft
Genre(s):
Simulation
Mode(s):
Single Player
Other Platform(s):
N/A

Source:
Purchased

Article by Robert

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Rise of Industry - PC Preview

I was initially really excited when I got Rise of Industry (ROI) because it looked like a game that was right up my ally! I followed the tutorial most of the way through then proceed to plop down my headquarters in a medium sized town. I then began placing crop and livestock farms complete with water access and selling my grass fed organic produce at the local farmers market like a good little hipster. Yay capitalism… except I was hemorrhaging money! Ok, what else does the town want? Wood? Ok I can do that. A deforesting we go! So I set up a bunch of lumberyards and began exporting wood… and still I was hemorrhaging money!? Fine! Being from Canada I know how this goes!

Exporting natural resources doesn't make you a lot of money, you need manufactured products to roll in the dough. I'm going to become the tycoon of beef stew! (don't judge I was hungry). So I set up a decent supply chain, trucks were whizzing down the highway like it was the month before Christmas until finally I began exporting my delicious meaty stew. I finally began to break even, sort of. Then I looked at the rest of the tech tree, realized I'd have to do the same for every single product on the there and thought why?  

ROI takes players back to the old tycoon age where you supply resources to growing towns using ever increasing complex supply chains. As you spread across the map you're forced to juggle warehouses and trucking depots and even trains to move your products wherever it needs to go. Once you outgrow your home town you'll need to buy the right to expand into new municipalities. But be careful, if you don't supply these cities with produce they will build their own factories and farms and you'll be forced to deal with the one thing business people the world over bemoan: competition. Don't worry, if your rivals get to be too annoying you can buy them out and resume your Coke like mega conglomeration status.

Honestly that's about all there is to ROI. It's minimalist in its design so you can focus on building your supply chains. And this is my main issue with ROI: it is very very minimalist. I have sunk hundreds of hours into repetitive games like Rimworld, Factorio, Banished and every tycoon and simulator game you can think of but for some reason ROI fails to keep my attention. I don't feel satisfied enough with the progress to keep rejigging the supply lines, buying new territory doesn't give me that little thrill that moving forward does in other games. I'm hoping this will change as the game adds more content which the developer does constantly! (One of the main reasons it took me so long to write this review, everytime I went back to confirm something there was a new patch!)

Normally I would look at a game like ROI with its bland, mobile like graphics and think it's just another early access game that will not amount to much more than it already is. Not this time, not with this developer. Through all the comments on Steam and the discussion/community pages Dapper Penguin Studios is one of the most engaged developers I have ever seen with an early access game. Ever. Not only do they engage with fans in meaningful discussion but they actually listen and, through YouTube videos explain why they made the changes they made. It's obvious there's pasion here and I think this little game will grow to be something complex and special.

I'll keep coming back to ROI and testing out the new content as the game progresses. I have a sinking feeling that, at some point the hook will be set and I'll disappear down the rabbit hole of supply chains and beef stew in the near future.

Game Information

Platform:
PC
Developer(s):
Dapper Penguin Studios
Publisher(s):
Kasedo Games
Genre(s):
Simulation
Mode(s):
Single Player
Other Platform(s):
N/A

Source:
Purchased or Provided by Publisher

Article by Breanna

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