Neptunia Game Maker R:Evolution Digital Deluxe Edition + Limited Edition DETAILS

LOS ANGELES, CA., April 2, 2024 – Summertime in Gamindustri is here and Older Nep is ready to take in the sunshine! We are excited to announce that the May 14 release of the Neptunia action RPG, Neptunia Game Maker R:Evolution, will have a Digital Deluxe Edition available for purchase on launch day for the PlayStation®4, PlayStation®5, and Nintendo Switch™. The brand NEW Digital Deluxe Edition Trailer shows off the contents of the Digital Deluxe Edition, including the EXCLUSIVE Swimsuit Costume Set available only on the Digital Deluxe Edition.

The Digital Deluxe Edition (PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch) includes:

•     Neptunia Game Maker R:Evolution digital game
•     Digital Art Book (31 pages)
•     Soundtrack (15 tracks)
•     Swimsuit Costume Set (1x for each playable character*, 12x total) - Older Neptune, Neptune, Pippih, Jagaa, Reedio, Noire. Blanc, Vert, Nepgear, Uni, Rom, Ram

NEPTUNIA GAME MAKER R:EVOLUTION
LIMITED EDITION PREORDERS ARE READY!

 

The Limited Edition (PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch) is now available for preorder.

The Limited Edition includes:

    Official Hardcover Art Book
    Official Soundtrack
    2x Cloth Posters
    Steel Game Case
    Reversible Cover Sleeve
    Collector's Box
    Exclusive Trading Card

Check out the Limited and Standard Editions with the links below.

Limited Edition (NA) | Limited Edition (Europe) | Standard Edition (NA)

DAY ONE EDITION (PS4, PS5, NINTENDO SWITCH) + DUAL PACK PLUS (NINTENDO SWITCH) ON IFI EUROPEAN/UK ONLINE STORE 

 

We'd also like to remind our fans in Europe/UK that the Neptunia Game Maker R:Evolution Day One Edition for the PS4, PS5, and Nintendo Switch on the IFI European/UK Online Store is available to wishlist.

The Day One Edition (PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch - £54.99) includes:

    Neptunia Game Maker R:Evolution game
    Reversible Cover Sleeve
    Older Neptune Cloth Poster
    Set of 4 Stickers
    Acrylic Standee
    Collector's Box

The IFI European/UK Online Store will also have the Day One Edition Dual Pack Plus for the Nintendo Switch.

The Day One Edition Dual Pack Plus (Nintendo Switch - £119.99) includes:

    Neptunia Game Maker R:Evolution Day One Edition
    Neptunia: Sisters VS Sisters Day One Edition
    Special Bonus Item: Acrylic Shikishi

Head to the IFI European/UK Online Store to stay up-to-date with Neptunia Game Maker R:Evolution announcements.

Neptunia Game Maker R:Evolution - IFI European/UK Online Store

LEARN ABOUT THE CAST 

OF NEPTUNIA GAME MAKER R:EVOLUTION + 

SYSTEMS ON THE OFFICIAL WEBSITE

 

Meet some of the cast of Neptunia Game Maker R:Evolution, including the star of the show: Older Neptune! Check out the full cast here.

Older Neptune

This title's protagonist, the "other" Neptune from a parallel world. A girl who travels through dimensions, and always has an energetic, positive personality.

She encounters Goddesses who are called the "Failure Goddesses," and is asked to become the president of the Game Maker "Victory."

 

 

 

 

Pippih

One of the Failure Goddesses. She is confident and reckless. This girl has a leadenly mindset and tends to drag everyone else along with her. She believes herself to be the smartest in the world.

As the sensible one of the three Failure Goddesses, she's often plays the straight man. Within game development, she takes on the role of the producer as "Pippih P." She holds the grand objective of "unifying the world" through games.

 

 

Jagaa

One of the Failure Goddesses. She's cool and calm, often acting as a mediator. She believes herself to be the most calculated person in the world.

She often employs acronyms such as "E.O.R." (Egg On Rice). She says "Do the math!" as her catchphrase, but she doesn't really seem to grasp the meaning of it. Within the understaffed Game Maker "Victory," she's in charge of both production and PR, among other things within the game development discipline. She dislikes bugs and ghosts, and she will faint at the sight of either one.

 

 

Reedio

One of the Failure Goddesses. She's an airhead of a mad scientist who spouts nasty comments at others with a smile. She believes herself to be the most sensible person in the world.

Always smiling with an inscrutable personality, she repeats various experiments in her constant search for new experiences. Within the understaffed Game Maker "Victory," she's in charge of "programming" and "graphics," among other things.

 

 

 

 

LEAD OLDER NEP AND FRIENDS TO VICTORY AND
LEARN ABOUT THE GAME SYSTEMS

 

How can players build Older Nep's game studio to VICTORY? Learn more about Company Management, the Battle System, and how to utilize OIder Nep's Motorcycle below!

Company Building Expansion

At your company's Plaza, you can gather Creators and place Objects. Placed Objects will affect Disc development.

1. Company HQ

    Work hard to create something brilliant.

2. Objects

    Use objects to inspire your Creators' best works.

3. Creators

    Hardworking devs will assist in your endeavors.

Link Chains

Chain is a cooperative attack system that can be activated by swapping characters during an attack, with each chain bringing bonuses like increased damage. After combining multiple chains together, you can activate a "Link Chain," a simultaneous strike between party members equal to the number of chains in your combo.

Dungeon Exploration, Time Attacks, and Racing

 

Dungeon Exploration

    Cut down on travel time with the addition of a shiny new custom motorcycle!

Time Attacks

    Mount your bike and tighten your corners as you pass through checkpoints, racing the clock for a new best time. Return to the challenge as many times as you like. Clearing time challenges will unlock sweet rewards.

Racing

    Race against monster opponents, taking laps to claim victory on various race courses. Depending on your placement, a victory prize may await you.

1. Map

    Displays a map of the current course.

2. Position, Time, and Laps

    Shows your current position, time elapsed since starting, and current lap.

3. Boost Gauge

    A gauge necessary for using Boost.

4. The Monster's Stamina

    The competing monster will also burn stamina to try and surpass you. Take the lead and force them to go all out.

Check out the entire game systems of Neptunia Game Maker R:Evolution here.

Product Information

Title: Neptunia Game Maker R:Evolution
Console: Nintendo Switch™, PlayStation®4, PlayStation®5
Release Date: May 14, 2024
Release format: Physical, Digital
Developer: IDEA FACTORY/COMPILE HEART
Publisher: IDEA FACTORY INTERNATIONAL
Genre: RPG
Player(s): 1
Main Character Designer: Tsunako
Character Designer: Katsuyuki Hirano
Voiceover option(s): English, Japanese
Language Format (Subtitles): English, French, Spanish (Spain)
ESRB: T

Contact Us
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Join our Discord!

Article by: Susan N.

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XSEED Games to Publish Granblue Fantasy: Relink Physical Editions in North America for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5

Cygames Developed Action-RPG to Launch Feb. 1, 2024

TORRANCE, Calif. — Late 2023 — XSEED Games, the independent-minded publishing brand of Marvelous USA, Inc., today confirmed publishing rights for the physical editions of Granblue Fantasy: Relink in North America for PlayStation®5 and PlayStation®4. The action-RPG from the popular Granblue Fantasy series will launch on Feb. 1, 2024, with three physical versions on PlayStation®5 — a Standard Edition for an MSRP of $59.99, a Deluxe Edition for an MSRP of $99.99, and a Collector’s Edition for $179.99. A Standard Edition for PlayStation®4 will be available for an MSRP of $59.99.

The physical Granblue Fantasy: Relink – Standard Edition will include the game on disc and a key to redeem the Granblue Special Item Set “Relink pack” within the original Granblue Fantasy game, which will be limited to the first print run. The Deluxe Edition will add an artbook, a soundtrack CD, a set of postcards, and in-game DLC including Starter Item Pack, Character Color Packs 1-3, and the weapon ‘False Sword of the Apocalypse.’ The Collector’s Edition will include everything within the Deluxe Edition while adding a ‘Sword of Eos’ keychain and a ‘Proto Bahamut’ statue figure.

In celebration of the Granblue Fantasy Relink announcement, a new trailer debuted at gamescom: Opening Night Live 2023:

Fans looking forward to Cygames’ latest fantasy adventure will have the opportunity to experience the thrilling action at the XSEED Games booth (North Hall #1325) during PAX West at the Seattle Convention Center, from Sept. 1-4.

About Granblue Fantasy: Relink

Granblue Fantasy takes place in the Sky Realm, a world where myriad islands float in a great blue expanse. Take your role as captain of a skyfaring crew, joined by a scrappy little dragon named Vyrn and a young girl with mysterious powers named Lyria. Together you sail with a colorful cast of crewmates, including kings and misfits alike, for Estalucia, a fabled island beyond the end of the skies.

In the Zegagrande Skydom, islands are guarded by powerful creatures known as primal beasts and winds carry tales of a secretive organization known as the Church of Avia. Unveil a web of intrigue reaching far beyond the borders of Zegagrande and engage in a battle for the fate of the Sky Realm itself.

Game Features:

• An Action-packed Party: Engage in real-time combat with a party of up to four characters in Granblue Fantasy: Relink.

• Strategize to Save the Skies: Choose from a diverse roster of characters, each with their own unique weapons, skills, and combat styles. Whether button-mashing with abandon or timing each attack with perfect precision, there’s a play style for everyone. Every enemy and party formation has its own strengths and weaknesses—the key to victory lies in working out how these pieces fit together.

• Customizable Combat for Everyone: Assist modes provide accessibility for gamers of all skill levels. Full Assist mode essentially handles all aspects of combat when enabled.

• Adventure Alone or With Friends: Granblue Fantasy: Relink offers a complete single-player experience as well as cooperative online multiplayer action. Unite with others to tackle more than 100 quests that feature various goals and enemies!

Granblue Fantasy: Relink is developed by Cygames, and XSEED Games will publish and distribute the physical editions in North America starting on Feb 1, 2024. More information on the upcoming pre-order to be made available soon by XSEED Games. This title has been rated "T for Teen" by the ESRB.

More information about XSEED Games’ products can be found at www.xseedgames.com. Fans can also follow XSEED Games on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Twitch, get in depth info from their developer blog, and join the discussion on their Discord server at:http://discord.gg/XSEEDGames. #GBRL

About XSEED Games

XSEED Games is the independent-minded publishing brand of Marvelous USA, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Marvelous Inc., which is a publicly traded company listed in the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Formed in 2004 by a small group of industry veterans, XSEED Games is headquartered in Torrance, California and publishes video games on PC and consoles in North America. The publisher's diverse portfolio of over 100 titles includes releases from Marvelous Inc. including STORY OF SEASONS (Bokujo Monogatari), Rune Factory, and DAEMON X MACHINA, titles from third-party partners including AKIBA’S TRIP, Corpse Party, and Granblue Fantasy: Versus, and titles from independent developers including Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin, Potionomics and Cuisineer. XSEED Games has grown its reputation among global gamers with its critically acclaimed localizations and commitment to fans, remaining ever dedicated to its “indie spirit, player-first” approach for quality games.

 

Article by: Susan N.

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Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of the Super Heroes - Retro Reflections - TBT

Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of the Super Heroes by developer Capcom Co., Ltd. and publisher Capcom Entertainment, Inc.—PS1 Throwback Thursday review written by Hamza. 1999.

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes.

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Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of the Super Heroes is a superb crossover fighting and one of the finest from 90’s gaming. As the name implies, familiar characters from the more famous titles of Capcom and the Marvel universe clash and collide – and occasionally join forces as allies. Each character is beautifully animated.

Characters like Hulk and Venom are wonderfully detailed; their sinews and popping veins standing out like no other. When the green rage-monster moves, aggression and force can be felt at every step; likewise with the symbiote, whose slimy nature is fluid and precise. The energetic, detailed sprites not only give life and energy to the characters, but also to the whole “I’m just here to win” attitude that is so prevalent with such fighters. I haven’t played a more energetic, electrifying and awesome game as Clash of the Super Heroes.

Instead of continuing on with a traditional review praising the highs and lamenting on the lows of the game, I’ll instead put forth a very memorable memory that I have associated with the game. Without further ado:

Back in 2003 when I was in the 4th grade in Oman, my school held a fundraiser for the hurricane victims in Sri Lanka. Since there were no limitations as to what one could do to participate and donate, I and a couple of my friends decided that we would use my TV and PlayStation (since I lived practically next door to the school) to accept donations. Our idea was to charge a small fee per game for a limited play-time (500 baisa for 30 minutes; 1 riyal for 60 minutes); with the money incurred going to the fundraiser. At the end of the day, we managed to accumulate around 15 riyals (roughly $40). Though this wasn’t very much – even at the time – it was a major effort for a couple of ten year olds.

When the fundraiser time was drawing to a close, and with the crowd thinning every passing hour, my friends and I decided to stick around and play games to our liking. The one game we all agreed on was Clash of the Super Heroes: a favourite across the classroom. For the next couple of hours or so – well into midnight – I and four of my friends took turns to whip the virtual asses out of each other. No alliances mind you, only enemies. At every successful victory, the victorious would retain his position, while the defeated would get rotated to the other person, and so on. What makes this particular memory such a happy one, is it was the first time I was engaging in a multiplayer co-operative style of playing I had only heard about in magazines and online forums.

Our playful, hushed swearing, attempts at distracting the other player, and screeching reminders to use the combo attack are all what stick vividly in my mind. Anyone who has ever engaged in multiplayer combat with their friends – especially when it gets loud and chaotic – will know the feeling. It’s one of those memories that etches itself permanently in your brain. Though I’m not at all close to my classmates now, and it’s been decades since I last touched my PlayStation, this particular highlight stands out among the rest when I think back to school. Whenever I’m having an off day or just want to think about a time where innocence reigned supreme, I often invariably go back to this moment… a moment where we acted good for a cause and kicked each other’s asses.

Note: Screenshots from all platforms that were available at the time can be found here at Moby Games.
Score: 9.5 / 10 

 

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Our Favorite Games Through the Years - Part 4 - Gaming Thoughts

Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes

The disc-based rea was an interesting one. Hardware had more moving parts than ever, leading consoles to often break down more quickly than their cartridge-based ancestors. That being said, it opened up so much more storage space and audio fidelity. Gaming soundtracks evolved into more than a series of repetitive series of loops to full-blown music.

Robert:

PlayStation One: Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

Those that know me may actually be shocked at this one- given my adoration of JRPGs, you'd think I'd pick one of the many, many influential and high-quality JRPGs on the PS One. But nope ... SotN is uniquely special because of the absolute rug pull that happened at the "end" of the game. Nobody saw it coming and it was well before the widespread availability of the internet so spoilers were minimal. A beautifully-designed game, Symphony of the Night brings me back to hot, humid summers (without air conditioning), Creed, and just genuinely loving the innocence of childhood.

The PS One is an interesting beast for me as it was the last console of mine that I played while still something of a child. By the time the Xbox generation appeared, I was a newly-minted adult and that very "childhood innocence" that the PS One so wonderfully represented would be shattered just a few months prior to the Xbox's November 2001 launch.

Pierre-Yves:

GameCube: The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker

I bounced a lot on this one. Skies of Arcadia was stellar but I never got to play enough of it. My brother actually bought me a copy a few years back and I need to set my Wii up to stream it for an Extra Life marathon one of these years… maybe that could be this year’s main event! Baiten Kaitos was also fun with a card based RPG system.

But, as much as I hate open worlds, Wind Waker was just fun as there was an ease to it that a lot of other titles still don’t have. This was also one of the first titles where Link was being given a personality which was fun. The cell shaded graphic also made this scary enough adventure a lot more approachable and I was more than happy to buy the Wii U Edition and the console of it.

PlayStation One: Breath of Fire III

Game of the everything and I’m sad that Capcom have left the series… nowhere. A bit like Mega Man if we are being honest.

Breath of Fire 3 had it all. Amazing story, accessible design, minimalist transitions to get to and from battle always keeping things moving, it was perfect, and it still holds up today. That’s it. This is probably my #1 game.

Sadly, most of what made BoF III amazing didn’t translate to BoF IV and the chance they took on Dragon Quarter for the PS2 didn’t work for most people. The series would basically see nothing until BoF VI which I don’t know much about other than being a mobile title that I don’t think has been localized.

Being that the PS1 has a vast and amazing library, honorable mentions go to: Lunar: Silver Star Story - Complete, Lunar 2: Eternal Blue - Complete and The Legend of Dragoon.

Richard:

GameCube: Metroid Prime

Continuing with Nintendo consoles, we have the GameCube. This was an insanely easy choice for me: Metroid Prime. Yeah, this is probably one of the more "mainstream" entries on my list, but that doesn't matter. I've always been a big fan of Metroid games, and Metroid Prime really drove it home. From the soundtrack to the gameplay to the environment and tricks you need to do to earn some of the powerups, I loved absolutely everything about Metroid Prime. Every so often I still break out my GameCube for this, because man is it a great 1st person Metroid title. The boss fights, the environments, even the cool sequence breaks you can do are just so much fun. I love Metroid Prime, and really hope they continue making Metroid games like this in the future as well.

PlayStation: Spryo the Dragon

Moving onto the Sony consoles, we have our first title, and one I expect most people to recognize: Spyro the Dragon. Yup, that sassy purple lizard wins my PS1 category, and for good reason too. Spyro the Dragon is an absolutely amazing classic title. Even if you play the reignited trilogy, which is a sort of remaster, the game is still as great as it ever was. I've played Spyro the Dragon so many times and so often, that I actually once used to be able to complete it in a timeframe where I would be able to get it included in the 120% speed run listing. Not a great ranking, as I played it glitches, but not in the last 50 either. Spyro the Dragon holds a really special place in my heart and is almost always my go-to game when I don't know what to do. Well, it ends up turning into the first three titles, but it's Spyro the Dragon nonetheless.

Nick:

Sony PlayStation: Final Fantasy VII – to say that there were a lot of great games on this console would be an understatement. Like the NES and Genesis, I had a ton of games for this. Early titles like Battle Arena Toshinden and Beyond the Beyond broke me in. Tecmo’s Deception still ranks as one of my favorites of all-time. Many of my sports franchises like Madden and NCAA Football hit their stride here. And the fighting games! But Final Fantasy VII just resonated with me from the start. It was the first game I ever pre-ordered (from an Electronics Boutique – anyone remember those? I got a free t-shirt with my pre-order…). It was this massive, multi-disc game. My friends would come over to play it while I was off at college or work. I think there were four or five of us playing through it at once. I know that to many people, this title has become overrated over the years, but there’s no discounting the impact it’s had on gaming since.

Sega Dreamcast: NBA 2K – The Dreamcast was an underrated console, and sadly Sega’s swansong in that market. There were a ton of really cool, underappreciated games that released on it. However, no game stuck with me and my friends quite the way NBA 2K did. It had a ton of arcade flair, but plenty of stat-tracking baked in as well. Playing a franchise mode was a hoot, and the little mini-units in the controls that updated you on things like player stats along the way were just cool.

Nintendo GameCube: Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance – The further I get into this list, the more convinced that if PY asked me to, I could almost do a convincing top 10 for about 80% of these categories, and the GameCube is another reason why. There were a ton of fun games on this console, but this was my introduction to the Fire Emblem series, and it was love at first sight. That you could later port this over to the Wii game, Radiant Dawn just made it that much cooler later on. But the combination of strategy and RPG elements, plus punishing tactical difficulty made this my favorite game on the platform, hands-down. 

Article by Robert, Pierre-Yves, Richard, and Nick

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Sable Releasing on November 29th for the PlayStation 5!

Midden, October 28th, 2022 – Raw Fury and Shedworks will release the visually stunning adventure Sable for PlayStation® on November 29th. The uniquely beautiful exploration game with the original Japanese Breakfast soundtrack will be released with additional content, as well as PlayStation-exclusive features.

Sable tells an atmospheric coming-of-age story on a beautiful alien planet, at a uniquely decelerated pace. Players take on the role of young Sable, who leaves her home to embark on a journey through a world of ancient monuments, decaying architecture, nomads, and spaceship wrecks plunged from the cosmos.

Features:

• Explore at your own pace - no time pressure and no dangers

• Drive and design your own unique hoverbike through a handmade landscape

• Help the inhabitants of the world, discover mysterious places and uncover secrets

• Original soundtrack from Japanese Breakfast

• NEW! Try your hand at fishing in the desert and showcase your collection of bugs and fish in the Vivarium

• NEW! Show off your talent with the all-new Angler Mask

• EXCLUSIVE! Ride the dunes as immersive as ever before with DualSense™

Sable is already available as a digital download for the Xbox Family and Windows PC. The PlayStation®5 version will be released digitally on November 29th. Stay tuned for more information at https://rawfury.com/games/sable

Article by: Susan N.

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Returnal - PS5 Review

Returnal by developer Housemarque OY and publisher Sony Interactive Entertainment—Sony PlayStation 5 review written by Jim with a purchased copy.

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

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The tagline for the 2014 Tom Cruise movie Edge of Tomorrow was Live Die Repeat. You could use the same lines to describe Returnal, first-party Sony exclusive developed by Housemarque who are known for their smaller indie games like Resogun and Nex Machina, which is a game where you will live, die, and repeat. With Returnal being their first big-budget game but does it stand up to Sony's other big titles?

Returnal tells the story of Selene who crash lands on an alien planet while following a white shadow signal. Selene sets out from her busted ship to find this signal but along the way, you will die and then you learn that the planet changes and you have to start over from your ship. You also learn that there used to be sentient life forms that inhabit this planet. You will see statues and bodies of these "xenotypes" and now Selene not only is trying to make her way to the signal she now tries to figure out what happened to these aliens and why when you die you start over and the world changes. This makes the story a science fiction thriller with a tiny bit of horror mixed in mostly in the atmosphere the game gives but I would be lying if I said I didn't jump at least once.

Returnal's gameplay is a mix of third-person shooter, roguelike, and bullet hell. The shooting feels good and even pressing the L2 trigger halfway to aim feels right thanks to the adaptive triggers. Pressing the L2 button all the way ready the alt-fire. All the guns you find will have an alt-fire and each time you find a gun even if it is the same you are already carrying could have a different alt-fire. While talking about the Dual Sense control the Haptic feedback in this game is amazing I could feel pretty much everything Selene does from running to getting hit. Now the roguelike comes in from the world-changing every time you die. You will always start in the same place but the layout will be different every time. You also lose everything you have collected in your last run only starting with your handgun.

Guns do not have to be reloaded but they can overheat after firing so many shots without a rest. Each gun has varying numbers of shots. When you overheat a gun you can press the trigger at the right time to overload the gun and you can use it faster. It's much like when you reload a gun in Gears of War with pressing at the right time for a quicker reload. As you use your gun you will gain proficiency making any new gun you find have better stats. And finally, we have bullet hell for a third-person shooter there can be a ton of enemy fire coming at you at one time making combat hectic and fun.

The boss fights are hard and will have you running from a ton of colorful shots coming at you. Even with having to start over so many times I never got tired of playing Returnal on each run you never know what you may find in the way of upgrades, items, and parasites. Parasites are well parasites you can attach to yourself for one buff and one debuff you can only have five at one time before it will randomly detach one of them for a new one. You can get rid of them only with a certain item or a machine that I rarely see. You can find items from chests and defeated enemies you can also find fabricators that use Obolites that you collect from enemies and find around the environment to buy items and or upgrades.

The other type of currency in the game is Ether, Ether is a permanent currency that you keep even after dying. You can use these at Reconstructors that let you respawn once without starting over and at a Cthonos that shows up near the crash site shortly in the game the Cthonos makes a random item that you have yet to discover. Ether also can be used to cleanse malignant items and chests. Malignant items and chests can be picked up without being cleansed but will cause a suit malfunction. Suit malfunction will add a random debuff and a condition to get rid of the malfunction like opening so many chests or doing so many Melee kills. getting three malfunctions will cause a critical malfunction where you will not trigger another ill effect but will destroy a random item you have.

As you explore the planet you will find other dead Selene's and you will find a voice recording slowly telling the story of what is going on on this strange planet. You will also find Selene's house that you can enter once in a while and tells more backstory on Selene. These segments are short but are played in first-person giving you an emersion that seems right at home in a horror game. The game was is also best played with headphones on. I have a 3D audio set that sounds amazing. The rain hitting Selene's helmet, the enemies, sounds in the environment are all so well done.

The game being a PS5 game is beautiful there can be so much going on at one time on the screen with no slow down or lag. The enemy designs are cool to look and the xeno lifeforms that lived there before have a unique design. I liked finding the Xenoglyph Ciphers that let you translate Xenoglyphs. Xenoglyphs are writings the Xeno's left long ago that tells what happened to them.

There is real satisfaction when you can finally beat a boss and advance. It's like a souls game but with lots of shooting and running. There is some mild platforming but nothing too hard you will find a much harder time in the enemies than anything.

Summary

Overall Returnal is another amazing first-party Sony title that hits all the right notes. Although the game crashed on me once and that makes you start from the crash site again I did enjoy my time. Just make sure you have a few hours to play if you don't use the PS5's rest feature you will have to start a new cycle when reloading the game. It may be early still but Returnal is definitely on my game of the year list as of this writing.

Score: 9.5 / 10

 

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Days Gone - PC Review

Days Gone by developer Bend Studio and publisher PlayStation Mobile, Inc.—PC (Steam) review written by Pierre-Yves with a copy provided by the publisher.

Estimated reading time: 9 minutes

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While "Zombie Apocalypse" stories are quite literally a dime a dozen, there are a few that stand out from the crowd. Having exclusively originally released for the Sony PlayStation 4, Days Gone by Bend Studio has made it over to the PC and it granted me a wish that most only ever dream of. I got to play Days Gone for the first time again.

Released back in April 2019, I didn't really sit down to Days Gone until sometime into late November when Izzy bought it for me while we were out running errands. Having sat down to it, reviewed it for the PS4, crowned it a guilty pleasure in my 2019 Games of the Year selection, I was shocked at how new everything felt while loading it up on the PC and with an Xbox controller to boot.

The story starts off with our protagonist Deacon St. John saying goodbye to his wife Sarah as she's medevaced out on a helicopter as Deacon stays behind to help his best friend Boozer that wouldn't make it out of there alive with his own wounds to tend. Fast forwarding to two years later where Deacon never got to meet back up with his wife as the camp they were to meet up at was overrun, it doesn't take long for things to re-go to shit as Boozer is once again wounded and in a chase, Deacon loses his own motorcycle essentially keeping the two of them in the middle of nowhere Oregon for the foreseeable future.

Essentially starting off with nothing and the stage set, the "world" for the most part is at your fingertips in a non linear style of storytelling. Instead of throwing you on massive quest after massive quest, or on some small quests in between larger ones, it's basically both. Days Gone unlike a lot of others will tell the entire story over time but how you get there is really up to you. Do you need to do it all? No. Major plot points will cover what you need but often you may not even know what's major and what's minor in the overall game until the moment has passed keeping things interesting enough as you are never quite sure where something could lead.

Now, unlike a lot of PC only players sitting down to Days Gone for the first time, this is my third time experiencing the story. The first is my own original playthrough where if I wasn’t reviewing something else I was playing Days Gone making Izzy grumble that I was shooting zombies yet another night instead of co-oping something we had on the go. The second, is when Izzy herself found out the addiction of taking out these same zombie hordes as she Platinumed it (something I myself have not done). So with two separate times through the story, the first in the driver's seat and the second in that of the passenger, sitting down to it again has given me an even better appreciation of how all of the elements come together.

As I said just about a year ago now, Days Gone is not a masterpiece in any way but it still manages to provide a great adventure in an Open World which for it to draw me in says something as I tend to stay away from Open Worlds often getting bored without the lack of direction that they hold. Playing to this aspect is something that Bend Studio have managed to do well as with the non-linear story, it doesn’t matter if you’re doing missions for one camp or another, it all comes back to play into Deacon’s adventures to find a way to keep Boozer alive from his latest injury while also preparing for both of them to leave this “shit hole” that they find themselves in.

This is probably one of the biggest draws to Days Gone as it allows you to get to better know the characters of the world that you find yourself in with Deacon. Unlike a lot of other Open Worlds, this one revolves around certain groups of people instead of just pockets of random one time quests that will never string themselves into something more than a bit of extra experience in order to level up. As the various storylines move forward, the shades of grey of each person’s decisions, the lengths that they are willing to go, and the motivations behind them really help to sell that with all of the brutality, death and destruction to go around, no one out here is really a good guy. People just exist and do what they need to survive and the dialog that follows either makes you love or hate them.

To further this point, the story is told in a mix of in person cutscenes, over the radio conversations, and “offline” Deacon rants which are always something to hear especially when it’s in relation to “radio free Oregan, the truth will set you free. Often being able to keep moving around the map to get from one point to the other for the first time, picking up resources, there’s never really any downtime. If it so happens that you are ambushed by a pack of freakers or attacked because you went too close to a marauder camp, the conversations will pick back up once you’re done the fight, meaning that you’ll never lose out on something that could have been important which I really appreciated. Oftentimes, conversations will be cut off because of a fight or a cutscene and then nothing making you miss out and having to reload if you wanted to find out what was said. Here? You’ll never miss out on anything.

As for the gameplay, it’s a solid enough third person action, stealth, shooter style. Using a combination of items, Deacon can use melee weapons such as knives, bats, 2x4s, ranged weapons such as pistols, shotguns, crossbows, and then throw tables such as molotovs, pipe bombs and actual grenades if you find them. Don’t want to make noise? By crouching down and sneaking up on enemies you can silently take them out and save on things like ammo which is sometimes in short supply especially if you come across the scariest thing that Days Gone can throw at you. Hordes.

Now, there are a ton of freakers out there. These are basically zombies. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes including a god damned BEAR. ZOMBIE BEAR. Like… zombies aren’t bad enough you had to go and make a bear one? Taking things like the bears and other special types aside that show up over the course of the story, nothing is scarier than coming across a horde even if you think you’re ready for it. The story will bring you against two in particular as you have no choice in the matter, you’ve got to face them if you want to make it to the end. As for the rest though? If you want to check out all of the possible locations for upgrades and resources, you’re going to have to fight them off and one “Deacon St. John” on foot or a motorcycle is not enough for hundreds of freakers running straight for you.

Not only is the sight one to make you cry, but the shift in the music also makes it a lot more tense and even if I’ve been through a few times now? I totally forgot about how early that you can come across them as I was trying to get something out of a Nero Checkpoint and then the horde started to pour out of a train on the overpass above. These moments remind you that while humanity is scary with their guns and their explosives, there are plenty of other things out there like these hordes that are even scarier as there’s no sneaking up on them.

Now unfortunately, it's entirely possible that not everyone is going to be able to experience Days Gone in the same manner that I have. Having started off trying to run things off of my laptop with an i5-4670K 3.40GHz, 32GB DDR3 2400 MHz and a GTX 1060, I just couldn't get it to run without the worst case of choppiness that I've ever seen. Loading up my actual PC running an i9-10900F CPU @ 2.80GHz, 32GB DDR4 at 3200 MHz and a GTX 3080, wow. Adding in an ultrawide display? This is why I said above that it was like getting to replay something for the first time. While yes, I obviously know where the story was going, the world looked better. I could see more detail and I could in general just see more as I had a wider field of vision. The downside to this is that I don’t think anyone running older setups will be able to see the same thing or even run it if my laptop was any indication.

So overall, while the graphic upgrades to Days Gone on the PC (as long as the PC can handle it) are amazing especially compared to either a Sony PlayStation 4 or PlayStation 4 Pro, Days Gone is still the same title and that’s not a bad thing. Between the non-linear storyline that lets you explore at your own pace and the solid gameplay design that is just as easy to handle twenty, thirty, or forty hours down the line as it is in the beginning, there’s plenty to do, love and explore in a world that’s seen better days.

Score: 8 / 10

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Side Note: Short of some of the shadows, I was almost able to get Nioh 2: The Complete Edition running just as nicely off my laptop as on my PC so I know it can still “run”.

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Kingdom of Arcadia - PS4 Review

Kingdom of Arcadia by developer Spoonbox Studio and publisher EastAsiaSoft—Sony PlayStation 4 review written by Richard with a copy provided by the publisher.

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

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Kingdom of Arcadia is a throwback to both old school games as well as high school. It has the retro style from those really old games I used to love, at it feels like one of the games I made in high school for my programming class. There's a lot to say about Kingdom of Arcadia, from the rustic appearance to the same “oof” sound effect that every monster makes. I wouldn't really call it good, but I definitely wouldn't call it bad. It just sort of...is.

Sam, our protagonist, loves video games. So does his dad. Turns out his dad has a magic arcade machine that transports Sam into a pixel kingdom. Wonderful parenting, that. Once in the pixel kingdom, the king issues a quest for Sam: retrieve the four magic rods from the guardians turned evil by the evil wizard. So off you go, and with the most anti-climactic “pop” sound I have ever heard, into the portal with you to traverse all five floors floors of each castle and beat up the boss, getting the rods so you can return home.

Kingdom of Arcadia markets itself as a metroidvania title. It...sort of is, I suppose. But let me back up here a second to tell you what it feels like to play KoA. When I said earlier it feels like a game I made in high school, I meant that quite literally: it feels like a group of high school students made it. I'm not talking super computer and programming savvy students either, just “average students”. I mean, that doesn't make it bad, it just doesn't really make it a whole lot. It feels like playing something incredibly rudimentary or basic. It does exactly what it is supposed to, but no more and no less. So how does it play then? Well, it's a 2D platformer, where you traverse five areas per castle to find the exit, then beat a boss. You can jump, swing a comically oversized sword, jump, throw weapons, swim, and swing on vines. There are chests to break open, hidden walls to discover, and switches to use.

There is no map, and backtracking is largely optional unless you take a wrong turn. Upgrades can be purchased for your armour, sword, and throwing weapons, which increase your health, melee attack, and ranged attack respectively. Each stage you progress through may have a wall that you need to throw a switch to move. These are colour coded for your convenience, and come in red, green, or blue. Once hit, the switches stay activated even if you die, making for easy shortcuts if you happen to bite the bullet right in front of an exit door. There are also breakable walls with chests behind them, which contain money, health, ranged ammo, or one possible secret...eyeball ahriman thingy... per level. No idea what the secret monster things actually do though... Either way, coins can be collected and spent on gear upgrades, and each stage is fairly short in itself, at least until the last few.

Kingdom of Arcadia is incredibly short. I literally beat it in one sitting over the span of about 4 hours, including a dinner break, feeding my cat, and helping my Dad move some furniture. The graphics and area designs are interesting and varied enough, and do have that retro feel, but also aren't really refined in any way. The grammar is also, well, poor, and I was constantly wondering whether or not it was poorly translated, or it was an english game to begin with. The trophies are also pretty dumb, as I got the platinum for the game after clearing the second castle. Furthermore, upon clearing the game, I got a bronze trophy and was told “do it again for a silver”, but wasn't really given any incentive for it.

There are a bunch of design choices that I'm inclined to label as “questionable”. The secret items being behind some random breakable wall, and the fact you can access your shop from the menu but it just removes you from the level and puts you in the shop being the two major ones. Also, while you can find coins floating around in a stage, they don't come back, similar to how switches stay flipped. I definitely wouldn't really call this a metroidvania. A platformer sure, but not really a metroidvania. There isn't any of that backtracking upgrade searching that I've come to love out of metroidvanias, there are no side quests, and as far as I could tell, the secrets don't even actually do anything? That being said, gameplay is surprisingly smooth and the loading times were fast. Another positive is that the game is cheap, so it is more or less worth what you pay for.

Summary

Ultimately, Kingdom of Arcadia feels more like something you'd find on a random internet website as opposed to a console title. It isn't bad, but it definitely doesn't do anything to really put itself out there as particularly outstanding or interesting. While the gameplay is rather smooth, levels begin to feel tedious after a while, and I found myself quickly losing the drive to really explore the locales. You don't really feel fulfilled walking away from Kingdom of Arcadia. If you want to introduce your kid to platforming games or something in those lines, sure why not, but don't go expecting this to fulfill any craving or empty hole you may be feeling.

Score: 6 / 10

 

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Super Meat Boy Forever - PS4 Review

Super Meat Boy Forever by developer and publisher Team Meat—Sony PlayStation 4 review written by Richard with a copy provided by the publisher.

Estimated reading time: 9 minutes

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Oh boy, here we go again. Back for more, Team Meat is here to deliver a flying lariat to the throat that is Super Meat Boy Forever. After the sadistic success of Super Meat Boy, SMBF changes up the playstyle to deliver to you a completely new experience, but still jam packed with the table-flipping difficulty you've probable come to expect.

In Super Meat Boy Forever, the nefarious Dr. Fetus kidnaps the adorable Nugget, who I presume is the kid of Meat Boy and Bandage Girl. Needless to say, it's up to you to help guide them through the dangers they will experience on their quest to save Nugget from the grip of Dr. Fetus.

Now, those who have experience with Super Meat Boy may want to know that there have been some major overhauls to the gameplay in SMBF. While basic progression is similar to the previous title, meaning you make your way through individual stages of a world, fight a boss, then move onto the next world, all while dodging instant death traps like saws and spikes, SMBF changes the brutal platforming gameplay. Gone is the day of full control over Meat Boy, instead it is now a side-scrolling “auto-runner”, where you are always constantly running forward. Jumping off a wall or landing on a little direction pad will make you reverse direction, but Meat Boy can, and will, keep running in the direction he's facing, provided there isn't anything blocking or killing him.

Unlike in the previous title, where there were few gimmicks and everything relied on your own understanding of stage composition, a lot of gimmick type aspects are added in SMBF. You can now punch and slide tackle, for instance. This will let you hit enemies, and bosses, as well as destructible environment objects. An airborne punch also propels you straight forward for a short distance. You can also drop down fast while in the air and slide on the ground, allowing you to avoid midair threats, or to duck under saw blades.

In addition to the new action moves, there are many new environment effects. Without wanting to ruin too much of the surprise, you have stuff like acid/glass, that you can only spend a set amount of time in before you need to leave, blocks that can turn intangible blacks tangible, and hooks to grab onto that will move you up or down. While the focus of both games is primarily your own skill, where the previous title focused on your ability to navigate terrain, this title focuses more on your ability to correctly interact with stage environments and objects. There are a lot more “puzzle” type segments this time around as well.

Another new aspect is that the game is seeded. That's right, the stages are generated from a code that can be randomized or manually input when you're starting up a new game. This is interesting for a number of reasons, as it means that item locations can change depending on your game seed. Furthermore, each stage in each world is comprised of smaller segments. These segments will differ between the game seeds, meaning you could, theoretically, have the toughest time at the beginning of the game only to have a really easy late game. Yes, this actually happened to me. I had significantly more collective deaths on the first world than the last world. Back to harass you as well are the collectibles, only this time they come as pacifiers instead of bandages. Collecting these, as well as fulfilling certain achievements, will allow you to unlock new characters to play as. There is also a new game plus feature, which retains unlockables, but allows you to restart the game with new collectibles. Seeing as there is an unlockable character that requires 90, and there definitely aren't that many in the game from what I can tell, this would probably be required to unlock that character.

A couple of interesting things that have resulted from levels being in segments are the locations of items and the in-game timer. Items are also randomized according to the seed, which also includes warp zones. This means your warp zone may be in a dark world stage instead of the light world, most likely meaning it is significantly harder to unlock. As reference, my first two warp zones were in the light world, and my rest weren't. So how do you unlock the dark world? Well, you have to clear the associated light world stage within the time limit set by the developpers. These time limits can range from “meh” to “HOW THE BLOODY HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO SHAVE 12 SECONDS OFF THAT TRASH?!?!?”.

Words were had, controllers were thrown.

Thankfully, the in game timer keeps track of your overall time in a stage, and will update after each segment indicating whether you are currently under or over based on how much time is allotted per segment. For instance, clearing a segment fast might mean you have a green “-1.2” next to your timer, indicating you are currently 1.2 seconds under the the time to beat. Doing poorly in the next segment could mean you now see “+12.7” meaning you are now 12.7 seconds over the segment total you should be around to reach the goal within the time limit. Lucky enough, dying will just return you to the beginning of the segment you are on, and will revert your timer to what you started the segment at. This is really useful for scoping out fast paths through segments.

Let's talk a little bit about what I personally liked and disliked about Super Meat Boy Forever. I like how the bosses were actual bosses you fought, and weren't just races/dodging endurance contests. I liked the segment timer. I liked how some of the collectibles were timed, and you needed to get to them fast. I liked the massive number of really cool gimmicks and environmental effects. I did not enjoy the constant running function, which made the game feel more like it was going to be a mobile/iOS style game instead of a console/PC title. I didn't like how harsh some of the time requirements were for unlocking the dark worlds. While this is predominantly seed dependent, it was still quite frustrating. I am rather on the fence about the seeded games. On the one hand, this means there are a myriad number of different combinations, all with varying difficulties that can be formed, which is really cool. On the other hand, having a string of some of the most arse precision movements that felt like they only had a few frames as a window was wretched. The first world's dark world? Good lord man, I legitimately thought I was going to cry.

While the above were simply likes and dislikes, that doesn't mean there weren't any issues with the gameplay itself. Hitboxes are...weird and mostly awful. It feels like Meat Boy has a bubble around him larger than his character sprite that will take collision damage. While this isn't too bad normally, it results in some extremely frustrating moments when trying to thread a thin gap, or when you're supposed to make contact with a gimmick, only to die as you grab a hook or enter a warp portal as soon as you touch it, because those spikes nearby are just a little too close to the portal. Another issue that kept cropping up was with the punching mechanic. Punching can be done by hitting any button that will cause you to jump while midair. Since you have more than one button for this, what happens if both buttons are pressed, or one is held as a jump and the other pushed as attack? You get a quarter second punch with hardly any of the momentum you need.

Super frustrating.

Also, special mention goes to the last boss. There is a gimmick to block attacks, but half the time I found the attacks would just completely bypass by “block” and still hit me for no good reason. Some of the jumps are super tight, and some gimmick activations were super sketchy. As a reference, I had a total of, I think about 54 deaths in the last world leading up to the boss, including using multiple deaths on a timed pacifier I wanted to collect. The boss itself? Somewhere around 168 deaths. I mean, I did it, but it was a super iffy fight all around, despite the other boss fights being more or less decent.

Summary

All in all, I have to say that Super Meat Boy Forever felt like a step back from its predecessor. It felt clunkier, there were some collision detection issues, and it felt a lot less refined. That being said, it's by no means bad, although it is a drastic difference from the original style. While I wasn't fond of the gameplay changeup, that is entirely personal preference and should be taken with a grain of salt. While you should come in to Super Meat Boy Forever expecting a vaguely similar feeling to the previous title, it is still by and far a different experience. A few collision detection patches and maybe some time requirement adjustments for those a little too casual to make the cutoff for the dark world stages, but who are better with the platforming, could really go a long way.

Score: 7.5 / 10

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