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STARSEEKER: Astroneer Expeditions is just that! Massively co-operative and not an MMO! When you first run the game you are instantly into the tutorial...
Today we’re looking at what has rapidly become an absolute favorite in the open-world RPG genre for me. An interesting story, memorable NPCs, stunning visuals, and a setting absolutely dripping with flavor, Dread Delusion sets its tone immediately and sticks with it.
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Showing posts with label Square Enix Ltd.. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Square Enix Ltd.. Show all posts
Tactics Ogre: Reborn might be an update on an older game, but don’t let that trick you into thinking it’s some outdated relic of a bygone age in gaming. The original game was ahead of its time, and Tactics Ogre: Reborn is far more than just a fresh coat of paint to pretty things up. There is a ton of depth here for strategy RPG fans to lose themselves in, whether you are coming back to the title again or experiencing it for the first time.
For those unaware of the origins of this title, Tactics Ogre: Reborn is a remake of a remake, which seems silly at first glance, but thankfully at both stops along the way, the title has soon additional polish and features along the way. The original Tactics Ogre released on the SNES way back in the mid 90’s, with an updated release in 2010, with the subtitle ‘Let Us Cling Together’. This third and latest iteration is the best yet, with touched up visuals (that still retain their pixelated style), voiced cutscenes, newly recorded music, updated combat (both the system itself, the UI and the AI). So this is far more than a simple port.
For those unfamiliar with any of these versions of the game, know that Tactics Ogre: Reborn a turn-based strategy game with a lot of RPG elements sprinkled in. You have characters on a grid-based field, using melee, ranged and magic attacks to try and beat the other team / complete level objectives. This in turn leads to earned experience, money and items that can then be used to improve the characters in your team. Some of your army is made up of specific created characters, others might be mercenaries you purchase and have the option to rename. Most maps will require a balance of classes and abilities to help deal with what the computer throws at you.
Stages are well-designed, often having elements such as chokepoints, differing elevations and varying topography that impact how well your characters perform. It’s also very tactical. If you have a character who uses a bow to sling arrows around the map, you do need to be mindful of your own troops, since if they are in your line of sight as you shoot, may get inadvertently peg your teammate instead. There’s a heavy emphasis on elements with a rock > paper > scissors type of vulnerability / resistance mechanic. You can put an enemy into a worse spot by putting them between two of your own units. There is a lot of depth here, and Tactics Ogre: Reborn benefits not just from improved AI, but also some streamlined UI and mechanics.
These elements won’t matter to those who haven’t played the prior games, but there’s a nice bit of polish on the more optimized UI. This is a game where you are mostly operating out of menus, so it’s appreciated that some time went into improving this. There were some mechanics that have been cleaned up as well, providing more streamlined gameplay that keeps the action just a smidge brisker, focusing on the ‘fun’ that Tactics Ogre: Reborn provides.
It helps that the writing is solid, and I appreciate the voice acting during major scenes. The presentation is excellent, and it helps with the immersion, especially with regard to the overall narrative. I also appreciate that you have some control over the story and not just the combat. This allows for you to make a handful of important choices along the way, and they have some ramifications on the story, the possible endings and even things such as available classes. I love that sense of ownership over the story (the Bioware games are among my favorites ever, largely due to this element).
Combine this with the various progression elements like earning levels and developing characters into new classes, and there’s a great feedback loop that kept me coming back for more. It is worth noting that as great as this title is for fans of the genre, it’s probably not the cleanest of entries for newcomers. There are simpler examples of the hybrid strategy RPG genre, and there are times that this series still shows its age in a handful of places.
While the graphics are better than the original, the pixelated style might not be for everyone. Ditto the slower pacing of this style of game. Personally, the nuance and micromanagement of building up characters (I took the time to customize the names of my purchased units, for example) and the thoughtful pace of place appeals to me a great deal.
Summary
Tactics Ogre: Reborn is a fantastic update of an already excellent game. The strategy of combat combined with the RPG progression elements are incredibly satisfying. Sure, the original game is nearly thirty years old, and there are times that it shows its age, but thoughtful work was put into streamlining the gameplay and improving the interface in ways that reflect more modern times.
Tactics Ogre: Reborn is absolutely worth playing, whether you are revisiting the title or experiencing it for the first time.
This year E3 was completely
showcased online due to the length of the pandemic that we are still recovering
from. With it came a number of challenges, not only for game developers but for
companies showcasing new games they’ve been able to work on during the last few
years. In this article, I’m going to cover many of the E3 announcements this
year, as well as some of my most anticipated.
Nintendo
Direct
Out of the Nintendo Showcase came a
number of titles being ported to the Nintendo Switch like Worms Rumble and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 and 2.
Both of these titles I’m excited to see on the Switch because I played a bunch
of both Worms and Tony Hawk games many years ago, so it’s on account of
nostalgia. I’m also personally excited for some more Legend of Zelda because Breath of the Wild 2 was announced! Again, while
I haven’t played all of the Zelda series, it holds a special place in my heart,
meaning I will not miss this title when we get it in 2022.
Metroid fans can rejoice because a
new game was announced titled ‘Metroid Dread‘ which puts players in the role of
Samus Aran. This is the fifth installment of the Metroid series and fans of the
side-scrolling action can finally look forward to this latest addition.
Beloved Shin Megami Tensei V is slated for launch in
November 2021 which will make plenty of fans of the role-playing title happy.
The game is designed to be a hybrid between Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne
and Shin Megami Tensei IV, so expect to be raising and fusing demons along with
other new mechanics. I’ve never tried this series, but I do know that many
people in my circle are hyped for this one!
Dear Villagers is publishing a JRPG
this year titled Astria Ascending and it looks fantastic. I’m not
too familiar with this title but knowing that it’s being published by Dear
Villagers who brought titles like Hover, Edge of Eternity, and The Dungeon of
Naheulbeuk: The Amulet of Chaos, I’m interested to watch some of Astria’s
gameplay.
So we all know about my love for
Dontnod’s Life is Strange series, yes? Well good news for people like me! Life
is Strange is being remastered and I have to say that the graphics do appear to
be much better than the original (Although, I’m not sure that the games will be
worthwhile to purchase again, but we’ll see.) Anyways, we also saw a more
in-depth trailer for Life is Strange: True Colors where players get to
be Alex, a woman who feels the emotions of others. This is a must buy for me in
September of this year!
Strangely I’ve missed any news about
the Hitman series since the third game was released as the final installment,
but Square Enix surprised us with a mobile, free to play title called Hitman Sniper: The Shadows. The mobile market has
gained a lot of traction over the last couple of years and it shouldn’t be a
surprise that studios are jumping on the band wagon, so who knows? This game
could be good. I may give it a shot. (Terrible, I know.)
I love a good Final Fantasy game and
Square Enix hit us with a trailer for Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin. This
title is an action role-playing game and is a spin-off of the main Final
Fantasy series. Although, based on the trailer, I can’t say I have high hopes
for it right now. The trailer repeats the protagonist’s need to kill someone
named Chaos and if that is the sole motivation for the story, UGH. Square, I
hope for your sake and for Final Fantasy fan’s sake that there is more to the
game than that. Just saying…
Finally, Square Enix showcased a new
Guardians of the Galaxy game, which isn’t
necessarily a bad thing, but I am often skeptical of movie-to-video game
renditions. I’m especially worried about it because of the terrible Fast and
Furious video game. While it would be awesome to ride with the Guardians and
maybe attempt to stop Thanos before oblivion happens, I don’t have high hopes
for a video game. I especially don’t tend to have high expectations given that
the showcase for it was needlessly long. I want this to be good, but I don’t
know yet. We’ll see.
Xbox
and Bethesda
Out of all the game announcements
from this year’s E3, there is only one that I shrieked over. That would be for
more SLIMESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS. Yes. That’s right. We are getting a Slime
Rancher 2 and I’m over the moon. I played a ton of the first game on stream and
absolutely loved every minute of it. I will get this game and play a TON of it,
because it’s just that good. Trust me. You’ll thank me later.
Technically, there was a second
title I would have been really excited about. For reasons I’m not going to go
into here, I happen to love Top Gun (and yes, this does mean I will be watching
Maverick in Theatres when it releases very close to my birthday. It’s
tradition. Top Gun can never be a quiet movie. NEVER.) Now, if this Top Gun trailer
was a standalone game, I’d be ALL OVER IT. Alas, no. Top Gun is merely a DLC
for Microsoft Flight Simulator. You almost had it. ALMOST. *Grumbles*
There’s another title in the Xbox
line-up that has peaked my interest and that is The Ascent which looks to be a
cross between Cyberpunk and XCOM. It is definitely a third person game and
players seem to be able to have a squad, but I am not yet sure if this is a
single player or multiplayer title. Either way, it looks neat and I’m totally
down for more tactical games especially if they are in the vein of Cyberpunk.
Check out the trailer here.
A couple other intriguing games are Redfall – a vampire game which can be played solo
or multiplayer, Psychonauts 2 – a cute platformer which was
developed by Double Fine, Starfield – a first person action-adventure game,
Twelve Minutes – an interactive thriller by
Annapurna, Aragami 2 – a ninja stealth game developed by Lince Works,
Other titles announced during the
Xbox showcase were:
Shredders – Developer Foam Punch announced
this snowboarding game
Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising & Hundred Heroes – A JRPG that was
successfully Kickstarted and launches in 2022
Forza Horizon 5 – Playground Games returns
to the stage with this popular driving title
Party Animals – This is a physics-based
brawler which looks like Gang Beasts but with animals
Replaced – A side-scrolling steampunk action
game coming out in 2022
Somerville – By Jumpship comes a sci-fi
adventure where players try to make their family whole again
Battlefield 2042 – The iconic first person
shooter by DICE and published by EA is releasing the seventeenth
installment in the series
Stalker 2: Heart of Chernobyl – Sequel to
Shadow of Chernobyl, Stalker 2 is a first person survival shooter from GSC
Games
Devolver
Digital
Devolver Digital always has an
interesting showcase where I often don’t think the games are real until I look
them up. As history shows, the studio doesn’t have many games to show off, but
what they do announce tends to be different than others. One of those titles is
Death’s Door which is classified as adventure,
shooter, action roleplaying, and fighting game. Players take the form of a crow
who reaps the souls of the dead. It sounds strange because it is.
Another title announced by Devolver
Digital is a game called Inscryption which is a card-based deck building roguelike
mixed with some escape room puzzles and psychological horror. As I said, they
announce games that are off the wall, and this one is no different. Check out
the Inscryption trailer here.
Coming to the App Store and Google
Play later this year comes the title ‘Tumble Time’. This game is so strange
that I don’t even know what to say for it. If you’re brave enough to think that
your head won’t explode, check out the trailer here.
The final three titles that were
announced at E3 this year are Demon Throttle, Trek to Yomi, and Wizard with a Gun .(Not gonna lie, I kinda want
this even though I know I would SUCK HORRIBLY at it.). Feel free to check out
all the trailers for those to get more information about them.
Ubisoft
Is it really E3 if we don’t have a Just Dance announcement? Probably not. Normally
we have some embarrassing demonstration or performance that makes the dancer in
me roll over in my future grave. As much as I love the Just Dance series
because it is a fun game, the marketing kills me every year. Please, I beg you.
Find another way to market the game because this travesty needs to end. I BEG
YOU.
Just when I thought the face-rolling
was done, Ubisoft announced Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora. Don’t get me wrong,
at the time the Avatar movie came out, it was a cinematic marvel. But movies
that become video games are very much hit and miss. Some of the good ones
include Mortal Kombat, Golden Eye, Lord of the Rings, and Star Trek Bridge
Crew. It’s not to say that the Avatar game can’t be good, it’s that I don’t
have particularly high hopes for it. (Also, I wasn’t super enthralled with the
movie like most people were.)
I know a lot of people who are
extremely excited for Rainbow Six Extraction, but I’ve never been much
of a shooter kind of player. It doesn’t help that the developers felt the need
to change the original name from quarantine. The word is not bad or malicious
and I don’t see why the change was necessary. Anyways, I’m sure the fans of
Rainbow Six Siege will be excited for another title but to me it’s just another
shooter.
There are two titles that grabbed my
attention during E3 and those are Riders Republic – a first person cross between
the Tony Hawk Pro Skater, Steep, and The Trials series – and Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope. Riders Republic
has a lot of potential replayability with the different modes while Mario +
Rabbids Sparks of Hope is a tactical strategy game like the first one of its
kind. And honestly, I really loved the first one.
Koch
Media
From Koch Media we saw a trailer for
King’s Bounty 2 which is an upcoming turn-based
tactical RPG. While I never played the first game, this title is a fantasy
based game that I’m interested in looking at. We also saw a trailer for
Encased: C.R.O.N.U.S. which is a sci-fi RPG with what seem to be factions.
Another sci-fi RPG that also combines horror elements is a game titled Dolmen which will be available on the PS4 and PS4
in 2022.
There were several other games that
were showcased during the Koch Media presentation. Some of those titles can be
see in the YouTube video below:
E3
Final Thoughts
Overall, I found that this year’s E3
presentation was lacking something for me. I think because of the pandemic I
wasn’t as excited for it this time around. It has nothing to do with the games
presented or the developers who worked tirelessly from home to present upcoming
games to the public. That said, I’m glad that E3 even happened because most
other events delayed their in person shows to 2022. While I wasn’t as hyped up
this year, a few presentations impressed me with their upcoming releases.
LOS ANGELES, CA (MAY 2, 2019) - Square Enix is excited to present the trailer for Episode 3 of Life is Strange 2! From Square Enix External Studios and the Life is Strange team at DONTNOD Entertainment, the second season of the award-winning franchise continues on May 9th 2019 with Episode 3, titled "Wastelands."
In Episode 3, the long journey from Seattle to Mexico continues as Sean and Daniel Diaz arrive in the Redwood Forests of California, a few months after their dramatic escape from Beaver Creek.
Reunited with Cassidy and Finn, the brothers experience life on the fringes of society as they befriend a close-knit community of drifters and runaways, and begin working on an illegal farm in an attempt to scrape together enough money to continue their journey.
New friendships, relationships, and mentors influence Sean and Daniel, encouraging them to learn more about themselves and each other. Friction arises between the brothers and their resolve is tested once again. As tensions rise, can their strong bond survive?
Square Enix Ltd. develops, publishes, distributes and licenses SQUARE ENIX®, EIDOS® and TAITO® branded entertainment content in Europe and other PAL territories as part of the Square Enix group of companies. Square Enix Ltd. also has a global network of leading development studios such as Crystal Dynamics® and Eidos Montréal®. The Square Enix group of companies boasts a valuable portfolio of intellectual property including: FINAL FANTASY®, which has sold over 144 million units worldwide; DRAGON QUEST®, which has sold over 78 million units worldwide; TOMB RAIDER®, which has sold over 74 million units worldwide; and the legendary SPACE INVADERS®. Square Enix Ltd. is a London-based, wholly owned subsidiary of Square Enix Holdings Co., Ltd.
Thursday, March 21, 2019 — LONDON – SQUARE ENIX® is excited to announce the release date for the third episode of the all-new five-episode season from Square Enix External Studios and Michel Koch and Raoul Barbet’s Life is Strange team at DONTNOD Entertainment.
Life is Strange™ 2 Episode 3: ‘Wastelands’, will release on May 9, 2019, on XBOX ONE®, the all-in-one games and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system and Windows PC.
The Life is Strange teams at Square Enix External Studios and DONTNOD Entertainment would like to share the plans for upcoming Life is Strange 2 content in 2019 with players.
Episode 3, ‘Wastelands’, continues Sean and Daniel Diaz’s journey to Mexico, as they reach the towering redwood forests of California. Falling in with a community of drifters on the fringes of society, the brothers are exposed to new experiences, encounter new friends and new challenges, and must confront much about themselves in the process. New relationships cause friction between the brothers and raise doubts about their unity. Can they stay together, or will their journey together end here?
Tune in here to find the latest updates from the Life is Strange 2 developer blog.
Founded in 2008, DONTNOD is an independent studio that develops video games in popular genres, such as adventure (Life is Strange), action (Remember Me) and RPG (Vampyr). Every new game is an original, multi-platform creation with a unique narrative experience and gameplay and is aimed at a wide audience, whether released in episodes, or in “one-shot” format. The studio has built an international reputation amongst working with worldwide leading publishers such as Square Enix, Bandai Namco Entertainment, Focus Home Interactive and Capcom. www.dont-nod.com
DONTNOD (ISIN code: FR0013331212 - ALDNE) is listed on Euronext Growth Paris
About Square Enix External Studios
Square Enix External Studios is a London based development and publishing group that works with top development studios across the world, establishing new intellectual properties and developing new franchises within the umbrella of Square Enix Holdings. Square Enix External Studios have been responsible for multiple games including the Just Cause® and Life is Strange® series, as well as titles such as Batman: Arkham Asylum® and Sleeping Dogs®.
About Square Enix Ltd.
Square Enix Ltd. develops, publishes, distributes and licenses SQUARE ENIX®, EIDOS® and TAITO® branded entertainment content in Europe and other PAL territories as part of the Square Enix group of companies. Square Enix Ltd. also has a global network of leading development studios such as Crystal Dynamics® and Eidos Montréal®. The Square Enix group of companies boasts a valuable portfolio of intellectual property including: FINAL FANTASY®, which has sold over 144 million units worldwide; DRAGON QUEST®, which has sold over 78 million units worldwide; TOMB RAIDER®, which has sold over 74 million units worldwide; and the legendary SPACE INVADERS®. Square Enix Ltd. is a London-based, wholly owned subsidiary of Square Enix Holdings Co., Ltd.
LIFE IS STRANGE, SQUARE ENIX and the SQUARE ENIX logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of the Square Enix group of companies. DONTNOD is a trademark of DONTNOD Entertainment SARL. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
One-Hundred years have passed since our Hero, the descendant of Erdrick, defeated the Evil Dragonlord as his predecessor once did. Following in the footsteps of Dragon Quest, Dragon Quest II follows another in the line of Erdrick who must set out to find the Prince and Princess of the two sister kingdoms as they all descend from the same line in order to fight off a Priest gone mad with power. Working off the premise of more, Dragon Quest II finds more enemies to fight, more party members to tackle the adventure with, more locations to visit, more spells to cast, and finally more bosses to fight. While this works in several cases, sometimes the idea of more is not a good thing.
