Ni no Kuni Wrath of the White Witch Remastered - Switch Review

Following the success of its sequel Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom, Wrath of the White Witch is making a return of Studio Ghibli's and Level 5's partnership for the Switch, PS4 and PC featuring remastered graphics and overall quality improvements. Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch was actually the second of the Ni no Kuni projects started in 2008. Following the originally released Japanese only version titled Ni no Kuni: Dominion of the Dark Djinn for the Nintendo DS, Wrath of the White Witch was the only one to be released in the West late in 2013 and as much as PY has ranted about it, I'm only getting to it now.

A title I’ve been colloquially calling “Ghibli Pokemon”, Ni no Kuni is a story about a young boy named Oliver who explores a fantasy world of magic, monsters, and adventure. After Oliver witnesses his mothers death, he breaks a curse on a doll by crying on it, revealing itself to be Drippy, the “Lord High Lord” of the fairies. He decides that young Oliver is what the fairies refer to as the “pure-hearted one”, who will save the parallel world that Drippy is from from a great evil that is plaguing the kingdom, brought about by Shadar. Turns out Shadar is stealing pieces of peoples hearts, causing them to have negative personality shifts. Drippy mentions that everyone in the other world has a soulmate in Oliver’s world, and by saving the soulmate of his mother, it may be possible to bring his mother back to life in Motorville, the town that Oliver resides in. So off Oliver goes to a new world, to try and cleanse Shadar’s influence

While normally in my reviews I would end here for the general plot and move onto some of the gameplay mechanics, but there are a few thing I want to point out about Ni no Kuni that I both loved and hated at the same time. One of my biggest gripes with any sort of fictional or fantasy setting is how “good” everyone except the villains tend to be. Everyone is absolutely willing to help, and the hero is a constant pinnacle of righteousness and goodness. Here’s the thing though: Oliver didn’t want to save the other world until Drippy said he could bring his mother back, and only then did Oliver say he would help the other world.

The whole reason for Oliver going to the other world isn’t actually to save it, it’s to get his mother back: a fact he seems to consistently leave out when talking to anyone who wants to know what his goals are. More than once Oliver will say something to motivate someone to help him in his quest to defeat Shadar, only to be rebuked for his lack of forethought or knowledge about the character’s circumstances. Unfortunately, the game flops back and forth between telling Oliver off for thinking that common platitudes and stock emotional motivation speeches will work, and deciding to let his stock “everything works out with friendship and enthusiasm”. Another similar point to this is that upon going to the other world, my first thought was “what about Oliver’s clothes being odd in comparison to the other worlders?” promptly followed by the game calling Oliver out on his “weird clothes”.

In terms of gameplay, Ni no Kuni has a lot of traditional RPG elements. You have you overarching world map that you roam about, with monster icons that you walk into to start battles, cities are sprawling with those in need and bounty monster hunt requests to take. While Oliver is granted magic via his new wand and his “Wizard’s Compendium” that Drippy gives him, you also have familiars that will assist you in battle. This is the reason I refer to the game as Ghibli Pokemon, as the game is animated by Ghibli, but has a monster collection system similar to Pokemon, complete with evolution paths. Now that I’ve mentioned the monster collecting, let’s talk a bit about combat.

Combat in Ni no Kuni ranges between pathetically easy and infuriatingly difficult at times, sometimes even for the same fight, although most notably with bosses. In battle, you and your allies have up to three minions, or familiars, as well as themselves to fight as. You can swap between the currently fighting member of a character mostly at will, although only one will be on screen to perform actions per character at any given time. Each monster, or human, has their own set of action commands available. As an example, Oliver can cast spells, use items, attack, defend, or attempt to flee. The first familiar you get can attack, defend, and use skills, or tricks as they call them. As your creatures level they will learn new moves, and as you progress through the game Oliver will learn new spells.

Actual combat uses an interesting but often times frustrating combination of active and turn-based battle. It’s active in the sense that, as long as you aren’t locked into an attack animation, you have free reign to run around the battle field, and yes this causes enemies attacks to miss, provided they aren’t sure hit moves. These moves are chosen, and then have a cooldown timer, or in the case of normal attacking, have a time limit to how long it lasts. To add an extra layer of complication, the monsters have a limited stamina bar, prompting you to swap them in and out as their stamina depletes and refills. Additionally, health and magic is shared amongst all monsters in your individual character party. Not cumulative, but determined by the humans health and magic. Swapping out doesn’t heal anything, just sends out a different creature to take damage on the same health bar and use the same magic gauge.

This is an interesting concept that falls flat at some critical points, but was still a joy to play around more often than not. You learn fairly early on that most bosses will have a move that will hit your party unless you can flinch them out of it, and the general idea is to defend during that time frame. Flinching is not all that reliable, as it can only be used in some certain situations, or when the enemy is about to attack and needs to be timed properly. While guarding is generally the way to go, if you’re locked into an attack animation or your current minion on the field doesn’t have the defend option, you’re basically taking the equivalent to a haymaker to the face. Also, while allies are fairly competent, they are by no means even remotely “smart”. They basically only either go all out, or super conservative.

At least, I couldn’t really get them to do much else. Unfortunately this means they also don’t often guard the big attacks, or react fast enough to if the minion out can’t defend. So you get blasted, time to heal! Except bosses don’t care, because they can spam these big moves all they want. I had a few boss fight that I just restarted after about five minutes of continuously trying to heal partner from large move damage. Second attempt, sometimes I didn’t even see the wide area attack. Moving while selecting battle options does feel a little clunky, but thankfully you can use the shoulder buttons to select options, so it isn’t all that awful. My biggest complaint about the battle system is about the standard attack command. I would have much preferred if you stayed in “normal attack mode” until you cancelled or chose another move, as a lot of the time I found myself just mashing the “A” button” while roaming the world map so I could finish battles that happened to crop up.

Unfortunately this means you probably aren’t paying attention to the combat at this point, which means “catching” monsters becomes more difficult, as you basically just have a set chance of having a monster stand back up dazed after beating it, and one of your party members has the ability to tame the monsters. Useful for getting those creatures that you can one-shot, not so much for the sanity of those trying to “catch ‘em all”, as it were. To compound on this, although in a bit more of a split feeling sense, if you get too powerful monsters start running away from you. Great for avoiding unnecessary fight on the world or dungeon *cough cough* dangerous place maps, but really annoying if you need to farm items for a quest, or just really want a certain creature on your team.

At least you’ll be able to see a great view as you explore the other world, as you get Ghibli animation and drawings at it’s finest. What’s Ghibli animation you may ask? Well first: shame on you, and second: still shame on you. A well known worldwide Japanese animation studio is behind the art and animation of Ni no Kuni, and it certainly adds a flair and for me, a bit of childhood nostalgia. Granted most characters have eyes that look a little dead at times, but there’s a lot of facial changes, even in minor characters. As you progress through the game, you’ll help people by borrowing personality aspects from others who have an abundance of the trait you’re looking for, enthusiasm or kindness, let’s say, and you’ll give these traits to people who have been cursed and no longer have these traits. When you do, I noticed that the characters facial expressions actually change between before and after giving them the personality traits. Maybe a minor detail, but it’s these minor details that really make you appreciate what’s gone into making the game.

Speaking of works of art, the soundtrack is one heck of a piece of work. Something just gets me with symphonic music, and I’m pretty sure the entire Ni no Kuni soundtrack is performed by a symphony, which means I couldn’t get behind it more. Sure I love my chiptune boss themes and my electric guitar battle ballads, but sometimes you really just can’t go wroth with that orchestral sound you get out of tracks like this.

While not particularly horrendous offenders, there are some aspects that were a little aggravating in the game in addition to what I’ve mentioned. First and foremost is how slow it feels to physically walk on the world map. Even with a walking speed boost you can get from cashing in on side-quests, it still feels like a slog to get from point A to point B on foot, particularly of note if you have to travel to different places for side-quests and the enemies just won’t leave you alone. Back to the topic of monster raising and evolving them, going through with an evolution resets the monster level to 1. While this is all well and dandy for those who want the most of anything out of their creatures so they can get the bonus stat increases from the higher level “reset” on evolution, this also means that your minion is now “weak”, at least for a period of time, until you regain some of those levels. It would also be nice if the game gave you a bit more info on the type of creature you evolve into for the second evolution, as there is a split and you may not know offhand what role the new creature should play in your party.

My last nitpick is about the arse-hat fairy following you around. First off, he’s a right blooming dick half the time. No really, when talking to someone he almost always has either something snarky to say, or just calls them a daft sod, or something akin to that. Fun fact about the British dialect/slang he throws out, depending on region it’s used in, it could be seen as more or less offensive in a variety of cases. But I digress, while I do enjoy the nose-lantern fairy and his antics, what I can’t stand is in battle some of the time. Drippy can throw out these little orbs for you, which can also be obtained by flinching enemies, but will restore MP and health if you pick them up. The sodding little bugger can throw them outside the battle area though, and let me tell you, it isn’t that pleasant to be in the low health zone only to see Drippy fling a large health orb out of bounds. I swear he did it on purpose.

Overall, Ni no Kuni sits in a really weird zone with me. While I enjoyed seeing a lot of the lampshading of common tropes and how they were deconstructed, they also got played straight. Combat was an interesting take on an “active turn-based” system, but felt clunky a lot of the time, and was something I started to actively try and avoid when I could help it, or if the enemies around weren’t giving good resources. The story, while both typical yet fresh in presentation, had a lot of points I sat there ripping holes in the actions of the characters or events that were happening. The monsters are cute, but don’t present much of a sense of urgency or danger because of that, though the bosses are a little better in that regard. The soundtrack and artstyle are wonderful put together and really match the tone and feel of the game.

While I don’t believe it truly lived up to all the hype it’s received, by no means does that make it sub-par. If you’re a fan of traditional JRPGs and Studio Ghibli, you’ll be all over this title if you aren’t already. And even if you did play it on PS3 before, portability on the Switch is always nice to have.

Editor's Note: Having played and loved it on the PS3, I have just picked it up for the Switch since I wanted Richard to finally have the chance to experience this. Now? Now he needs to play the second! - PY

Game Information

Platform:
Nintendo Switch
Developer(s):
Level 5
Publisher(s):
Bandai Namco Entertainment
Genre(s):
RPG
Mode(s):
Single Player
Other Platform(s):
Sony PlayStation 4, PC

Source:
Provided by Publisher

Article by Richard

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Paranoia: Happiness is Mandatory Release Date Pushed Back

Red alert, Troubleshooters! Traitors have infiltrated Alpha Complex and stolen some of the game code for Paranoia: Happiness is Mandatory.

Friend Computer is furious and is asking you to be extra vigilant. Because of this intrusion, Friend Computer has decreed that every citizen must remain confined to their quarters. The release of Paranoia: Happiness is Mandatory has been delayed until November the 14th, when the codes of the game are in a safe place!

Paranoia: Happiness is Mandatory will release on November the 14th, as requested by Friend Computer.

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About Bigben

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

About Black Shamrock

Black Shamrock is a video game development studio focused on “core gamer” strategy and rpg titles for pc and consoles. Managed by game industry veterans, the studio was acquired in 2017 by Virtuos, the global leader in video game content production. A part of Black Shamrock activity is now dedicated to co-development on major titles in collaboration with studios from all around the world.

About Paranoia creators

Greg Costikyan is a five-time winner of the Origins Award for Best Game of the Year and was inducted into the Adventure Gaming Hall of Fame in 1999. Eric Goldberg is a three-time winner of the Origins Award and the designer of MadMaze, the first online game to draw one million players.

Paranoia® & Copyright © 1984, 2016, 2019 by Eric Goldberg & Greg Costikyan. All Rights Reserved. Cyanide S.A., Authorized User. Published by Bigben Interactive and developed by Black Shamrock and Cyanide Studio.

Article by Susan N.

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Atomicrops - PC Review

Introduction

Atomicrops is a bullet hell with farming elements, a la Stardew Valley, where it has players grow plants while simultaneously fighting off the creatures eating your profits - literally. As a person that absolutely adores Stardew Valley, I always found that the game would drag on, but Atomicrops found a nice balance between farming and challenge. While I'm absolutely dreadful at bullet hells, I love this game - despite my inability to pass the first boss. (I know... I DID say that I'm dreadful at this style of game. I wasn't joking...)

Gameplay

So, let's look at the tutorial which is short. And when I say short, I mean very short, to the point that I wasn't aware that the tutorial was complete. It takes you through the basics of planting your seeds, watering them, and fertilizing crops. Most of the game is spent managing your time between planting your crops and then risking your life to get more seeds. At the start of the game, players venture either to the left or to the right. To the right of the farm is a plains area that harbors bees and other fun creatures while the left is the desert area. Despite my terrible ability to play the game, I have found that going to the desert area was easier for me.

For a bullet hell game, this game is awesome in that players learn which monsters are best to go after and which need ignoring. Not all creatures drop items that are useful and certain places have items that are useful to survival but not necessarily 'easy' to get to. That said, in Atomicrops, there are fun items that players can acquire that will help grow more crops. One of the fun items is a pig, whose function is to expand the land you can plant seeds. Not only is this useful for making more money, allowing you to purchase better weapons or health, but the pig saves time! Players are able to collect more seeds to plant than wasting time tiling soil. Occasionally, players will get other items like a scroll that reveals the location of golden chests, or a turret that can be placed to help fend off creatures.

After a few minutes of running around in game, players will reach 'night time' quickly. It is during the night that your farm becomes overrun by creatures who will eat your precious crops, so it's important to keep an eye on your profits! More than that, other pesky creatures like the bunnies will try to kill players. It's in the players best interest to decide which creatures are the primary targets and which ones can be left for a while. To do otherwise, would mean that players can die quickly or not make a ton of money.

At the end of each day cycle, a helicopter arrives to take the players to the hub area. This is the area where players purchase new and better weapons, buy more health, and woo a couple of different characters - similar to Stardew Valley, though with much fewer options. Keep in mind that while Atomicrops has a romance option, but the focus is more about survival and defense where Stardew Valley is focused on casual gameplay - just so we're clear on the differences. Anyways, as we know, I'm terribad at bullet hells and never managed to get enough roses to seduce one of the two characters, though both of them have their uses. One character will help defeat monsters so that players can get perks, more seeds, or hearts. The other character will take care of the crops, while you are collecting more seeds. Really it's up to the player. Though, keep in mind that the rose cost increases each day roll and the benefits received by the player changes each time.

To the north and south of the farm are areas that are unlocked with bridge repair kit and these areas not for the feint of heart. The rabbit monsters, which are everywhere on the map, are tougher in these areas and they shoot faster. It also seems like there are more enemies on the map in these areas. Sadly, I wasn't able to make it much beyond that point to see more, but with practice, the game becomes easier to progress.

After a player completes a season that lasts only three days, they are given a rating. Depending on how much players have made, they are allotted rewards.What's not to love about that?

Overall, Atomicrops never bores players because there are many things to do and to focus on. And even though I never made it far in the game, I really enjoy this title.

Controls/UI

It's quite simple to learn the controls of Atomicrops whether it is played on controller or on keyboard and mouse. With the controller, I found that certain things were much easier, but since I'm terrible with aiming on an analog stick (as I grew up as a PC gamer), I opted to play with keyboard and mouse. So, WASD are the movement keys and like with most games, F is used to pick up items. Spacebar allows players to fertilize the soil. Picking up crops once they've grown means holding down the alt key, which I find is weird but isn't hard to become accustomed to. Shooting monsters is done by left clicking while aiming the mouse in the direction of the creatures. Planting or tilling soil requires players to press on the right mouse button. It's important to know that both buttons will run at the same time, meaning that players can plant seeds and shoot creatures simultaneously. This is a super useful fact to know about the game.

On the bottom left of the screen are icons indicating the amount of water being held, pickaxes, and fertilizer. In the middle on the left is where any seeds or roses are displayed. On the top left has the display bar for health and how many beans were made in that day. 

For an Early Access title, Atomicrops is a solid game, although I have some questions. In the main menu, there is a button to show the controls for the game, but it actually doesn't have anything listed. A pop-up appears that simply says 'under construction.' Yet, when players are in game and they hit escape to get to the menu screen, the keyboard controls are shown on the left hand side. Huh? Why show the controls for keyboard but not have the controls listed for the controller?

Finishing off the Monsters

At first I was going to crab about the difficulty level of this game, because I felt like it was a little too challenging for certain players who are not adept at bullet hell games. However, leading up to writing this review, I read an intriguing opinion piece about a games' difficulty level from the perspective of a game developer, and found that my opinion about Atomicrops difficulty changed. Just because it is a bullet hell game and knowing that I'm terrible at these games, I knew the terms of the game style before requesting for a review code, meaning that my complaint about it was not as valid as I thought it would be. As such, I feel like the challenge level of Atomicrops is about right (especially after watching people play this who are infinitely better than I am). I found that the game becomes easier with practice. The only thing players have to worry about is having the patience.

The complaints that I have about Atomicrops are mostly preference based but they are:

• The tutorial is a little too short. Having a bit more time in there might have helped.
• I wish we had the option not to take the helicopter - especially if players don't make enough money on the first day.
• The days are a little short. At higher levels the day time is perfect, but maybe entertain the idea of giving the first couple of seasons more time during the day so that players can get used to everything. Perhaps that would be good for an 'easier' setting.
• I would love a screenshot button. It's really challenging to use snipping tool or a third-party program to take screenshots when trying to dodge shots from every direction.

Atomicrops is a fun bullet hell and farming game that allows players to buy new weapons, heal, and court a couple of different characters. It has a level of chaos that I actually enjoy and I can't wait to see what elements will be added to this Early Access game. As such, I'm giving Atomicrops a 9 out of 10 because it's fun even though I'm dreadful at it!

Please be sure to follow Raw Fury and Atomicrops on their Official Website, Twitter, and Discord. Raw Fury also has a road map that will be updated as more features are implemented, so keep an eye on social media.

Game Information

Platform:
PC
Developer(s):
Danny Wynne, Toby Dixon, Joonas Turner
Publisher(s):
Raw Fury
Genre(s):
Simulation, Twin-Stick Shooter, Action,
Mode(s):
Single Player, Coop
Other Platform(s):
Consoles in 2020

Source:
Provided by Publisher

Article by Susan N.

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Zynga Kicks off Breast Cancer Awareness Month

SAN FRANCISCO – October 1, 2019 – Today, Zynga Inc. (Nasdaq: ZNGA), a global leader in interactive entertainment announced that its iconic game, Words With Friends, is kicking off a month-long initiative supporting Breast Cancer Awareness Month, #WordsWithHope. Each day in October on the company’s social channels, a word of hope and corresponding statement will be shared from inspiring people whose lives have been touched by breast cancer, shining a light on the importance of screening and early detection, and honoring the warriors that have faced this diagnosis.

Joining Zynga and Words With Friends in this month-long campaign are well-known individuals across entertainment, business, sports and medicine:

• Talia Balsam
• Pat Benatar
• Sharon Byers
• Katie Couric
• Regina Dugan
• EMM
• Roxane Gay  
• Melissa Gilbert
• Neil Giraldo   
• Judy Greer   
• Sally Hawkins
• Alice Hoffman
• Olivia Newton-John   
• Betsey Johnson   
• Billie Jean King   
• Purnima Kochikar
• Sharon Lawrence   
• Julianna Margulies   
• Deepthi Menon
• Carol Mills
• Alanis Morissette   
• Phuong Phillips   
• Amy Poehler
• Melissa Rivers
• Janice Roberts
• Kendra Scott
• Ellen Siminoff
• Jaclyn Smith
• Taryn Southern
• Mindy Sterling
• Alison Sweeney
• Chandra Wilson
• Rita Wilson
• Trisha Yearwood

“Statistics show that one in eight women in the U.S. will receive a breast cancer diagnosis in their lifetime,” said Deepthi Menon, Senior Vice President of Words With Friends at Zynga. ”And we’ve seen the power that community can have in bolstering strength, courage, and humor during times of illness. Over the years, our players have shared their stories of friendship and support that they’ve found in Words With Friends, and we’re proud to be joined by these incredible, esteemed women to spotlight this cause that touches so many.”

“Awareness and early detection are powerful tools for improving breast cancer outcomes -- but words are powerful too,” said Dr. Richard Wender, Chief Cancer Control Officer of the American Cancer Society. “During October’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month as well as year-round, keep words of support, compassion, caring and hope at the forefront, as we continue to battle this disease that affects so many of the people we love.”

For more information about Breast Cancer Awareness Month and other ways to get involved, visit www.cancer.org/wordswithhope.

The #WordsWithHope campaign begins today with iconic singer and actress Olivia Newton-John, and her word, “thriver.” To join in on the campaign, follow Zynga on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, and follow Words With Friends on Instagram.

About Words With Friends

Launched in 2009, Words With Friends has become the #1 social mobile word game in the United States. Since these early days, the game has expanded to new platforms like Facebook Messenger, and launched a hit sequel with Words With Friends 2. The game’s success through this decade-long journey has been powered by player connections made through quick and clever wordplay that has become a touchstone in fans’ lives.

About Zynga

Zynga is a global leader in interactive entertainment with a mission to connect the world through games. To date, more than one billion people have played Zynga’s franchises including CSR Racing™, Empires & Puzzles™, Merge Dragons!™, Words With Friends™ and Zynga Poker™. Zynga’s games are available in more than 150 countries and are playable across social platforms and mobile devices worldwide. Founded in 2007, the company is headquartered in San Francisco with locations in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Ireland, India, Turkey and Finland. For more information, visit www.zynga.com or follow Zynga on Twitter and Facebook.

Article by Susan N.

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The Alliance Alive HD Remastered - PS4 Review

The Alliance Alive is a 3DS title that released early last year, and is now getting an HD remaster. A cute story of guts, determination, RNG, and frustrating ladders, The Alliance Alive is definitely one of the most fun RPGs I’ve played recently.

Back when Alliance Alive first released, I heard the name maybe once, read a few bad reviews, and promptly didn’t think too hard about it. I’d be kicking myself harder today if I hadn’t played the HD remaster. The story is a little hard to pin down without spoilers, but the gist of it is that the world has been split into sort of cordoned off sections, with an impassable wall called the dark current. The world is ruled over by daemons, powerful beings that decide to lorde of the humans of the world like an impersonable king to his peasants. However, one of these sectioned off lands has it pretty rough, with the local policing force of the daemons, the beast-folk, treating the humans as disposable tools for their own amusement. Well, eventually something is going to give, and a group of humans decide to overthrow their oppressors.

Gameplay in Alliance Alive is a wonderful throwback to a lot of traditional RPG elements. You have ye olde world map with monster symbols that you walk into to initiate combat in a turn-based fight, a world map that you traverse with different abilities when the unlock, guilds to visit and upgrade, and so many collectibles to find. Do some of you older gamers remember Final Fantasy II? Not the North American version, but the original II, or the remake released later? The one where your stats are determined by how much you use a stat? Remember how awful that was? Well Alliance Alive does that the way it was supposed to be done.

While stats such as they are aren’t affected, your HP and SP have a chance of increasing after battle. As someone who has struggled with RNG like nobodies business, I can assure you that Alliance Alive isn’t as mean as it could be. Although I do question why my healer has twice as much health as my tank, at least they won’t be dying anytime soon. Combat is both traditional turn-based RPG fare, where you select a move for all your units and then you and the enemy whack each other till someone dies, but it has it’s own twist to it. Characters can have two weapons equipped and spells available to them, giving a wide variety of customizable options to bring into battle, each with their own specific skills. The catch is you need to learn those skills through the power of dice rolls. Yup, they’re RNG as well.

However, the more you use a weapon, the more likely it seems you are to learn something new. These skills also have internal levels that you can increase. The analyze percentage increases as you continue to use a certain skill, and seems to carry between characters (although I haven’t extensively tested this), while learned skills per weapon and formation levels don’t. Formation levels also have a chance to increase as you use the skills in battle, and will be affected by what role in a formation that character currently fills.

Essentially you have a 5 by 3 grid, where five is the number of units you can bring to a fight, and 3 is the “location”. The further back you are, then less likely you are to be targeted by enemies. Additionally, you have roles such as attacker or defense that will give specific stat boosts related to the role to the character. Not going to lie, as you unlock more skills with your weapons the game can get kind of complicated in order to figure out what formations you want, when to use skills, what weapons to use etc., especially when you take into consideration that you need to use talent points in order to increase weapon proficiency, rate of unlocking new skills, and rate of increases to HP and SP.

Some of the talents will also decrease SP cost of skills, or increase SP recovery per turn, as stronger skills will require more SP to use. Another interesting battle trait is that if a character gets KO’d, they lose a portion of their max heath until you go sleep at an inn. This freaked me out at first when I thought it was permanent. With the full health recovery after every standard battle though, hopefully this won’t happen too often for you.

Admittedly the combat will get a little tedious after a while, particularly if you’re trying to have your front line units get more health than your rear-guards but their health just won’t go up. The grind is real. Thankfully you can speed the battles up to 4x speed, as well as turn on auto battle which will use the last skills used by each character, provided they have the SP to do so. Careful though, as self-targeting spells only get used on the caster in auto battle. It’s definitely a fun and interesting concept, and there’s a bunch of stuff that becomes available in new game plus to keep you coming back for more if it follows the original.

There’s library entries to fill out, a bestiary to complete, strong monsters that roam the countryside, and plenty of interesting characters to interact with. New game plus is also good for those who really want to see all the different combinations of things you can do, as there are five different guilds to help throughout the game that you may not get the chance to max out the level of during a playthrough. There are a number of guilds in the game, and once you reach a certain point you can start recruiting in order to increase the guild levels and get better bonuses from the guilds. While these bonuses are wide and varied between the different guilds, you can also get in-battle help from them occasionally, if you find yourself close enough to a guild tower.

As an HD remaster, and with little comparison to the original, I can’t outright state any gameplay changes they’ve made, but I can tell you that the game looks like it was made for the 3DS, but with a substantially increased graphical quality. The chibi characters are really cute, and the little walking 16-bit characters in the menu screen gave me so much nostalgia. While having voiced characters would have been nice to see, er, well hear, at least the music was good and catchy, so while it felt a little less immersive not hearing the characters voices, at least I could be entertained by the soundtrack. And not the ladders. Oh good lord, trying to go down the ladders in the lava area had me pulling my hair out. One particularly arse-ish ladder took me five minutes for the character to settle on. It would have been a lot better to have the player push a button to get on the ladders, although I do appreciate that you can just “push” doors and such open.

Overall there’s a lot I really enjoyed about The Alliance Alive: HD Remastered. The characters are pretty much all interesting and fun to watch, the soundtrack is good and catchy, the combat system is…trying at times, frustrating occasionally coupled with pleas to RNJesus, but definitely something that had me hooked. I appreciate the fact you can change formation mid-battle at no penalty at the beginning of your turn, particularly if you choose a wrong formation, no sweat, just choose another. One of the best things though is the handy guidebook. Easily accessible basically whenever, it stores all the info and tutorials you need, and I was definitely referring back to it often as I was playing.

As someone who has always loved a good RPG, I was not disappointed in The Alliance Alive at all. Yes some parts got a little frustrating at times, but that’s part of what makes the experience something you remember. While maybe not as portable as its 3DS brethren (at least for the PS4), the HD remaster is definitely a crisp and vibrant addition to the JRPG scene that I just couldn’t put down.

Game Information

Platform:
Sony PlayStation 4
Developer(s):
FurYu Corporation
Publisher(s):
NIS America
Genre(s):
RPG
Mode(s):
Single Player
Other Platform(s):
PC

Source:
Provided by Publisher

Article by Richard

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Team17 Partners up with Aggro Crab Game and Announces a New Title

Tuesday, 1st October 2019 – Team17 has today confirmed a brand new partnership with Seattle-based Aggro Crab Games, which will see the studio’s upcoming title, Going Under, released under Team17’s award-winning games label.

Scheduled for a 2020 release on PC and console platforms, Going Under is a fast-paced, satirical, dungeon crawler set among the ruins of failed and poorly conceived tech startups. Following the adventures of Jackie, an intern at carbonated drinks startup Fizzle, players will venture into the dystopian and chaotic depths of the dungeons below the bright and bubbly campus building, utilising the junk found from fallen companies to battle a variety of monsters and epic bosses.

Caelan Pollock, Co-Founder, Aggro Crab Games, said:

“We’re thrilled to finally announce our partnership with Team17. Our first game out of college, Treadnauts, was heavily inspired by the Worms franchise, so to have signed with Team17’s games label for our sophomore title is a perfect fit. Going Under is an offbeat and chaotic dungeon crawler that’ll feel extremely relevant in today’s fast-paced, high-tech world, and we’re looking forward to sharing more of the game in the months ahead.”

Debbie Bestwick MBE, Chief Executive Officer, Team17 Digital, said:

“The aim of Team17’s games label is to nurture the very best indie developers around the world and help them bring their games to market. Aggro Crab Games immediately caught our eye with Going Under, a satirical take on failed tech startups crossed with dungeon crawler gameplay. We’re excited to start eradicating destructive company cultures and redefining the meaning of boss fights next year!”

Today’s announcement is the latest in a series of recent partnerships signed by Team17 that continue to expand the games label’s portfolio of titles into next year and beyond. Going Under will be released on PC and consoles in 2020.

To keep up to date with all the information on Going Under please like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and join us on Discord. Going Under is also now available to add to Steam wishlists.

About Aggro Crab Games

Based in Seattle, Washington, Aggro Crab Games was founded by college friends Nick Kaman and Caelan Pollock in 2018. The pair worked previously on Treadnauts, which launched on PC and console platforms in summer 2018. Aggro Crab Games’ debut title, satirical dungeon crawler Going Under, is currently in development for PC and console platforms, and will launch in 2020.

About Team17 Digital Ltd

Founded in 1990, Team17 Group plc is a leading international video games label and creative partner for independent developers. The portfolio comprises over 100 games, including The Escapists, Overcooked!, Yoku’s Island Express, Yooka-Laylee, the Worms franchise and many more from developers around the world. Visit www.team17.com for more info.



Article by Susan N.

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Green Hell - PC Review

Green Hell is a tough-as-nails survival title that brilliantly uses a story mode to easy you through the harrowing survival experience and set in what is easily the most gorgeous survival game available to date. Set in a dense Amazonian rainforest, Green Hell’s staple survival elements will find you peeling leeches off your limbs, managing your sanity via intelligent elements such as hydration or proteins, crafting makeshift weapons, and building structures to protect you from hazardous elements.

Though not ground-breaking by any means, Green Hell does manage to tie in be an excellent introduction into survival titles, with its easy approachability and smooth gameplay elements, however veteran survival game players will find the simplicity of Green Hell something of a drawback. Is Green Hell worth the modest price asked? Without a doubt. Will you spend the next three to four hundred hours exploring the lush rainforests of Green Hell? Likely not.

Simply put, Green Hell is gorgeous with its thick underbrush, towering trees, dense rain, and an atmosphere that simply oozes … humidity. and bugs. While I am an occasional fan of the survival genre, often finding most tedious and set about 4-5 years behind with regard to graphical fidelity, with Green Hell I was instantly pulled in … by the mud. Seriously, it looks great (and I hate to get dirty), but what I found as the real icing on the cake was the combination of the stunning graphics and quality audio design.

Emerging from your humbly built abode after an intense downpour, to see the sun poking through the clouds and canopy, only to be greeted by the sound of distant running water, various birds and insects, is a wonderful experience. Just be ready to see sub-30 FPS on anything other than modern hardware; this game is a bit of a hog and though it runs excellently on a Ryzen 7 2700x with 32GB RAM and an RTX 2080 8GB (CPU, GPU, and RAM are all overclocked), but with less powerful systems, you will likely see performance issues, especially just after a rainstorm.

Then you die. Because you forgot to pull off leeches (which you will be doing dozens of times an hour). Or you did not grab a protein bar or cooked meat or a drink of water for what seems like the thousandth time an hour. Or you got bit by a snake (seriously happens constantly; keep your tobacco handy in game because that is what is used to heal snake bites, and you will get a TON of them). The balance to manage sanity and enjoyment is weighted poorly in the more challenging difficulty settings but works well in the more beginner or basic difficulty levels.

In fact, balance is not the only place Green Hell shows some of its more amateur underpinnings. Take crafting for example, some items, such as buildings or basic survival needs, are managed through a crafting notebook and that is an enjoyable and immersive experience. However, if you want to craft smaller items, such as weapons or building elements specific to the larger items in the notebook, then you do so through a more traditional crafting menu … This strange dichotomy is rampant throughout Green Hell and though confusing, is not exactly detracting from the overall experience.

That very strange branching path for similar elements shows its real colors in the overall experience of Green Hell. The story is interesting, full of exciting moments, and incredibly well written … not exactly something one would expect from a survival game. In most games you simply … wake up with some sort of vague recollection of being abducted and thrown out of a plane, or maybe your plane has crashed in some hostile environment, or you are a prisoner or whatever. Instead, with Green Hell, you are researcher Jake Higgins and along with his wife Mia, head into the Amazon rainforest in an attempt to deepen relations with one of the Lost Tribes.

From there the game progresses through a few simple days (used as a basics tutorial) then the fecal matter really hits the rotary blades. Unfortunately I cannot go into any real detail about the story since, well … spoilers. Though exceedingly fun, to go into it at all would really spoil things; I can say this though … imagine a more realistic take on Indiana Jones, but full of the fulfilling if mundane elements and not so full on crazed volcano-dwelling heart-stealers or Arks that can, well … you know. Where the duality lies is in the fact that the game’s story mode is stellar yet the standalone sandbox mode is actually quite unfulfilling. This lies largely in the fact that though engrossing for a time, Green Hell is not as deep as other titles (like The Forest or, believe it or not … Rust).

Though full of frustrating elements, like snakes and leeches, Green Hell has some incredibly memorable elements that tie well together with the lush forest and oppressive weather effects. Though the UI aspect of crafting is a bit off-putting, the organizational aspects are interesting, engaging, and immersive and lend well to the overall experience that Green Hell provides you with. While veteran survival players may only spend a dozen or so hours in the game, Green Hell’s approachability, storytelling, and immersively gorgeous graphical fidelity make it one of the most accessible and forgiving survival titles of today.

Game Information

Platform:
PC
Developer(s):
Creepy Jar
Publisher(s):
Creepy Jar
Genre(s):
Survival
Mode(s):
Single Player
Other Platform(s):
N/A

Source:
Provided by Publisher

Article by Robert

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Element Space Launches for Console in 2020

SYDNEY – Oct. 1, 2019 – Element Space, the sci-fi tactical RPG from Sixth Vowel and Blowfish Studios, brings its strategic battles and ideology-driven decisions to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in Q1 2020.

In the year 2199, the universe is at a fragile peace as factions of the Galactic Congress grapple to determine a future for humanity’s space colonies. Seeking to throw these groups into disarray, an underground terrorist sect called Tempest wreaks havoc across the universe. Lead a squad as Captain Christopher Pietham to thwart radical threats and Tempest’s secret plans.

Command Pietham’s squad in tactical turn-based battles across a 15-hour campaign, finding ideal positions to decimate foes in 24 hand-crafted stages complete with destructible cover. Characters aren’t locked into grids, so enemies can stray from cover. Use superior positioning and environmental hazards to gain an advantage and eliminate them from the battlefield.

Fight with more than 30 melee and ranged weapons and unlock new perks by building a reputation with various factions. Seize the power of the Sixth Vowel, a force created by the Movement of Light that allowed humanity’s cosmic expansion to happen. Utilize its abilities to manipulate sound, light, and matter, or wield its fearsome energy against enemies.

A nuanced ideological system tracks narrative decisions and battle actions, affecting relations with characters in both Pietham’s squad and the outside world. Not only does this impact which characters become playable, it also triggers different narrative branches.

“We made Element Space to be full of tough decisions, but a collaboration with Blowfish Studios felt like the obvious choice,” said Javier Entelman, CEO, Sixth Vowel. “Their experience with console ports and the games industry gives us confidence that we’ll be able to deliver the best experience possible to console gamers when they fight the Tempest later this year.”

Blowfish Studios will showcase the console version of Element Space alongside other titles from its upcoming catalogue Oct. 11 – 13 at PAX Aus 2019 in Melbourne at Booth #PR03. To learn more, please visit the official website and join the community on Twitter and Facebook.

About Blowfish Studios

Blowfish Studios is an award-winning independent game developer and publisher based in Sydney, Australia. We strive to release original multi-platform games, while also collaborating with developers from around the world. As developers first, we bring a wealth of knowledge and expertise to any partnership. Our team provides development services to get the game release ready, porting to all major platforms, platform approval, marketing and promotion to the world.

To learn more about Blowfish Studios, please visit the team’s website.

About Sixth Vowel

Sixth Vowel is a Buenos Aires, Argentina-based game developer, and a subsidiary of Inca Games. The team seeks to make high-quality games and to become one of the largest studios in Latin America in order to better contribute to their game-developing community. Element Space is Sixth Vowel’s debut title, the studio named after the mighty power that leads humanity to the stars and showing their conviction to tell amazing stories through games.

To learn more about Sixth Vowel please visit the developer’s website.

About Inca Games

Inca Games is publisher based in Buenos Aires, Argentina comprised of games-industry veterans. The publisher is committed to fostering growth of the Latin American game development scene by creating strong partnerships and working on high-quality projects.

To learn more about Inca Games, please visit the publisher’s website.

Article by Susan N.

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Touhou: Azure Reflections - PC Review

Released as an enhanced version of a game originally published in 2012, Touhou Azure Reflections is now available on PC for all you fellow bullet hell aficionados out there. With some interesting gimmicks that will keep more veteran players entertained, or striving for score, and a story mode that can be easy enough for newcomers, Azure Reflections certainly paints a solid picture for the genre.

I believe I’ve used this phrase before, but the Touhou series, and generally other bullet hell styles as well, can usually be summed up as “the most colourful death you’ve ever experienced”, and Azure Reflections is no stranger to that. A sort of “retelling” of the events of “Embodyment of the Scarlet Devil”, local lazy and forever in poverty shrine maiden Reimu finds herself once again trapped in the mist of the Scarlet devil mansion. Is Remilia up to the same old tricks? Has the maid decided to host a revolt? Is Flandre going to beat you into next century? The first two maybe, the last definitely.

While the traditional Touhou titles are top down auto-scrolling shooters, Azure Reflections is a horizontal shooter, allowing you, and forcing you, to shoot both forwards and backwards in order to dispatch those annoying fairies (yes, Cirno too). While the standard fare is there, choosing a character (if unlocked) and shot type to help you get through the mansion to resolve the incident, there is a fancy little barrier system, where you can pull up a barrier to absorb bullets and then make a sort of bum rush at the enemy in order to return that absorbed damage. This is in addition to the spell cards that give you the bullet clearing/high damaging blast and your standard shot.

There are a few other changes to the standard formula, where you can actually take damage and recover your “hit point” as long as you don’t get hit within a time window after taking the first hit. This is a great system for newer players who need a little help learning the ropes (or those that aren’t as good at the games). Another interesting change for the newer or less proficient (like me) audience is that you can clear the storyline on easy. Yep, that’s right, you don’t get cut off for being a weenie this time, as long as you meet the other requirements (which they handily tell you if you fail to meet them). My biggest issue is trying to horde spell cards for no real reason. Probably because I want to earn the spell card bonuses. You can now also customize your appearance with accessories that you can purchase, which also happen to have effects attached to them, such as increasing the graze score bonuses. Are you all about the fashion, or all about the efficiency? Either way, there’s something there for you.

As can generally be found in the Touhou titles, the music is well done, with each character and stage having their own remix of the songs from the original Embodiment of the Scarlet Devil. The graphics are crisp and sharp in the standard anime style for the series, but come in multiple expressive variations. The neat little “cutscenes” during battles where the characters are duking it out are pretty cool too, and you can even unlock a model viewer and jukebox for music listening and character viewing.

While the title definitely feels easier compared to some, or most, of the other Touhou titles, that’s what the harder difficulties and self imposed challenges are for! Seriously though, any game that has a difficulty called “Lunatic” with the description “for crazy people” you know is gonna be like ramming your face at a brick wall. Although Azure Reflections is relatively easier, except the stupid bats, there was a lot I really enjoyed about it.

One of the aspects of the Touhou series as a whole that is also applied to Azure Reflections is how the characters interact with each other. Usually there’s a lot of rather un-serious banter, a couple of puns or gags, and occasionally a serious line or two. While most of this can get lost in translation, whether official or fan, I’m glad to say that the banter in Azure Reflections was well translated and doesn’t fall off the mark of what I’ve come to love and expect from the series.

As a whole, Touhou: Azure Reflections is a bit of a niche title. Most people I know aren’t super big fans of the bullet hell/danmaku style games, and those that will play them don’t necessarily recognize the Touhou franchise. That being said, what it offers is not only true to its roots, but also offers its own twist to keep things fresh and interesting. If you’ve got a hankering for colourful bullets, a masochistic tendency to watch yourself get shot down, a desire for an anime-esque scrolling shooter challenge, or a fancy soundtrack, you can’t go very wrong with Azure Reflections.

Game Information

Platform:
Sony PlayStation 4
Developer(s):
Unties Games
Publisher(s):
Souvenir Circ.
Genre(s):
Side-scrolling
Bullethell
Shoot 'Em Up
Mode(s):
Single Player
Other Platform(s):
NA

Source:
Provided by Publisher

Article by Richard

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Alpha Sign-ups Available for The Red Solstice 2: Survivors

SEPTEMBER 24TH, 2019 - Developer Ironward today announce that alpha sign-ups for their sequel to the best-selling original, The Red Solstice 2: Survivors are now open.

Accompanying the announcement comes the second in a planned series of trailers exploring the gritty sci-fi world and its emboldened survivors who stand as the last bastion against an unfathomable alien menace.

To join the fight players will need to sign-up to the mailing list to get alpha access and stand against the insidious virus that threatens to consume the universe.

The Red Solstice 2: Survivors blends real-time tactical action with in-depth strategy and planning in a world where humanity's last survivors are beset on every front. Join with your friends for up to 8-player co-op in a tense struggle for survival through squad-based battles that mix the fast-paced action of Helldivers with the thoughtful strategy of games like X-COM.

The Red Solstice 2: Survivors lead developer, Hrvoje Horvatek said: "One of my favourite movies of all time is Aliens and the idea of creating a game that embodies this, with the right feeling, is something that always inspired me.

After playing the Night of the Dead map mod for Warcraft 3 I first caught a glimpse of that atmosphere I had imagined, and this inspired me to create my own mod for Warcraft 3, Night of the Dead: Special Ops, which became hugely popular at the time and ultimately led to the creation of The Red Solstice franchise."

Alpha sign-ups are open now. You can check out the previous gameplay teaser trailer on YouTube to get a greater sense of the atmosphere the sequel is looking to invoke.

About The Red Solstice 2: Survivors

Sequel to the best-seller The Red Solstice. Plan your strategy, then infiltrate a real-time tactical battlefield, alone or with up to 7 squad members. Can you show cunning in combat to stay alive, and fight for the future of humankind?

It's the year 117 After Earth, and corporations rush to secure dominance over the last remnants of humanity. It's up to you to take command of your squad, fight the powers that be, and find a cure to the virus that threatens to end mankind.

Across both a deep strategy layer and engaging real-time combat missions, you'll need to think on your feet to survive in this hostile world and determine the fate of the planet. Choose your mission, design your load-out, then take to the battlefield and lead your squad to victory.

Playable in single-player or with up to seven friends, The Red Solstice 2: Survivors combines tense claustrophobic action with careful strategic planning to create a sci-fi experience like no other.

About Ironward

Ironward is a Croatian game development studio launched in 2014 who have released two games set in The Red Solstice universe, and are currently working on developing the third title, The Red Solstice 2: Survivors.

This small but dedicated team focus on providing a unique gaming experience for their players by implementing new and creative gameplay mechanics.



Article by Susan N.

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Puzzle Quest: The Legend Returns - Switch Review

Sure, Puzzle Quest: The Legend Returns is not going to be the biggest, shiniest name out there during the usual swarm of fall releases. However, the charming mix of puzzles and RPG elements provide a lot of fun and manages to take a simple concept and making something deep and entertaining from it.

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Destiny 2 Moves to Steam and Launches Shadowkeep!

Starting October 1, independent game development studio Bungie takes the first step toward the next era of Destiny 2, Bungie’s critically acclaimed sci-fi action MMO, with a vision of Destiny becoming a single, evolving world for friends to play together anytime, anywhere.

Today marks a massive, foundational shift for Destiny.

“During 2019, we’ve developed and shared a clarity of vision we’ve never had before in Destiny. We’re finally going to make the Destiny 2 we’ve always wanted to make—one world that you and your friends are going to meaningfully change and make memories in,” wrote Luke Smith, Game Director, Destiny, in a note to the Bungie player community. “October 1st is the first step toward what we want Destiny 2 to become. This isn’t just the next chapter of Destiny 2, but the next chapter of us. We’re just getting started.”

Here’s what’s immediately available for Guardians globally right now:

Destiny 2: New Light (Play for Free)

Destiny 2 is now free for everyone, offering a brand-new entry point for newcomers that puts the world of Destiny 2—and all its foundational modes, activities, and rewards—into the hands of every player, with no barrier to entry. In addition, players can free roam to all destinations, including the Moon—they can even participate in the first campaign mission of the Shadowkeep expansion. Now anyone can play Destiny 2 on all major platforms!

Destiny 2: Shadowkeep

Shadowkeep is the next chapter in the Destiny 2 franchise, reuniting you with an old ally from the original Destiny, Eris Morn, to confront new Nightmares. Guardians will return to our Moon—twisted, reshaped, and haunted by the trials of our past—to confront new threats and uncover new additions to their customized arsenal. This is not the same Moon Guardians woke up to—new areas will be uncovered and once-familiar places have irrevocably changed. Destiny 2: Shadowkeep is the first expansion-level, stand-alone content we’re delivering for Destiny 2—à la carte and requiring no ownership of previous content.

Season of the Undying (included with Shadowkeep)

Season of the Undying, the next Season of content for everyone, unveils a prophetic awakening of the Vex, time-traveling war machines, as they start their own mysterious war with Guardians on the Moon while Guardians race to find and eliminate the Nightmares. As part of the single, evolving world vision, content will more deeply tie together narratively from Season to Season as the world of Destiny meaningfully changes alongside players.

Destiny 2 on Steam

The new home for our Destiny PC community is Steam. Players will be able to bring all their progress and purchases with them to Steam, including their Guardians and vaults—at no cost. Full details on how to start this migration are on bungie.net.

Destiny 2 Cross Save

In this next era of Destiny 2, we’re committed to unifying our global Destiny 2 community. Cross Save will be available on all supported platforms—PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Stadia later on this fall. With Cross Save, you’ll be able to access the same characters tied to one primary account, enabling you to have a unified experience with the same Guardians on different platforms.

Google Stadia

Later this fall, Destiny 2 debuts on Google Stadia, inviting new Guardians to join its ranks. Stadia is a new gaming platform from Google for playing AAA video games across all kinds of screens. To learn more about Destiny 2 on Google Stadia, please visit the official Stadia page at the link below.

One Destiny 2, one community. Thanks for being on this journey with us. See you starside.

Destiny 2 and Destiny 2: Shadowkeep are available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC via Steam, and later this fall, on Stadia.

For more information:

• Destiny 2: Shadowkeep Launch Trailer
• “The Moon and Beyond”—Developer ViDoc
• Destiny 2: New Light (Play for Free)
• Destiny 2: Shadowkeep
• Destiny 2 PC on Steam
• Stadia
• Destiny 2 Cross Save
• Destiny 2 and Destiny 2: Shadowkeep Press Kit

About Bungie

Bungie is an independent, employee-owned game development studio dedicated to creating hopeful worlds that inspire passionate player communities and lifelong friendships. For almost three decades, that purpose has led to the creation of some of the most celebrated video game franchises, including Marathon, Myth, Halo, and Destiny. Today, Bungie is focused on developing the future of the Destiny universe and new worlds to come.


Article by Susan N.

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GreedFall - PS4 Review

The glorious part of fantasy is that you can tell a tale either based in reality or based off of people's imaginations. Based in a little bit of one and a lot in the other, GreedFall is a reimagining of the 1600s colonization in a world of plagues and monsters where the worst monsters are not the ones in the wild with wicked claws and poisonous fangs.

Last week I gave my first impressions of GreedFall that sees you take on the role of De Sardet, a Legate of the Congregation of Merchants whose job it is to hopefully find a cure for a disease rampaging around the mainland known as the Malchior. Having had to look it up to make certain, using an older definition, a Legate is a General or Provincial Governor in ancient Rome or their deputy. As De Sardet’s cousin is the Governor, you are basically his deputy and his voice outside of the settlement walls of New Serene where you now find yourself. Needing allies both within and outside the walls to search for clues to a cure, you’re going to have your hands busy if your tongue isn’t fast enough to diffuse a situation

Starting at the beginning and treating you to a combat tutorial for better or worse… yes I restarted in order to win as I now knew more than I did the first time... the basics for GreedFall won't change much over the next dozens of hours. What’s in place is solid enough as a base for when you actually have to draw your blade and while it doesn’t actually change over the hours even when you do get new abilities, it never feels overly stale as you can change things up with different weapons, magical abilities and new partner configurations as they join up with you.

Swords, long swords, heavy swords, hammers, flintlocks, riffles, multi barreled pistols and magical rings to sling magic, this is what makes up your close ranged and long ranged combats. Each melee weapon has a default attack with square and an alternate one with triangle. Magic rings, while ranged, fall in the same category as in a way they are more melee than ranged as they don’t have an actual ammo count that needs to be worried about. While in combat, there’s no blocking like there was in Bound by Flame, I can’t remember from the little that I’ve played of The Technomancer. Instead, you can dodge, or you can parry.

Parrying has always been a very hit and miss with me and the games that I’ve played. Timing is often everything and even a second too late, you’re dead. So I don’t bother with parrying in any Soulsborne, I just dodge out of the way which sadly deprives me of a lot of free damage. Moving on, the parrying system in GreedFall is fantastic as while timing is everything, being too slow or too fast will net you with a tang on your blades knocking you back a few steps or squarely on your backside. You don’t take damage but you are also not in a space to make an attack. Perfectly timing it will net you loads of damage and your enemy reeling from the attack which is nothing short of satisfying.

Like any of Spider’s games though, combat isn’t the main focus, the adventure is. The people you meet, the sights you’ll see, each of these is really what it’s all about. The combat as mentioned is solid but if you play your cards right, you don’t have to. This is the mark of a great developer, especially when they have said that the choice of what you do is in your hands. So there is some fighting that is going to happen, monsters in the fields, bandits in the cities, but generally, if you choose your words carefully you can disarm your opponents without ever actually drawing a weapon as they’ll realize it’s a bad idea. Does it mean that they’ll give you whatever you want? No. It just means that they won’t headlong charge you into a fight to the death.

Having these features at your back just makes exploring this vast island “enjoyable”. I say enjoyable in quotations as this is not a pleasure cruise. The mechanics make it enjoyable, the adventure itself is filled with the worst sides of mankind as it thinks that just because it is more “evolved” than some other people, that it is right. The portrayal of the native population’s suffering at the hands of the three major power factions that are on the island range from bad, to worse, to the most horrendous treatments you could think of with inquisitors hunting them down and treating them brutally to sometimes even death. The writing is well done and the overall presentation is “tasteful” as it’s not gory, but you’ll still see a fair share of dead bodies from situations that should not have happened.

And that’s where GreedFall “shines”. It doesn’t make you some super shiny beacon of light in the dark. You can be the good guy sure, but it’s not solving all of the problems. Patching things here or there will work for a bit but down the line something you fixed could have made something that much worse. The interconnectedness of everything was impressive as often seemingly unrelated things will wind up at the same point and what you need is now literally in front of you because of an otherwise unrelated side quest.

Another area where it makes things matter is who you take alongside you when out on major and side quests. Each team member that you can recruit is part of a different faction from the Coin Guard that defends the Governors, the Nauts who sail everyone across the seas, to the daughter of one of the native tribes, a clergyman and an alchemist / gunslinger. Each of these brings a different point of view and can in some cases change the outcome either because of a skill set or because of actual knowledge on a subject because of their backgrounds. Rarely will this be a fist to the face which is nice because violence isn’t always the answer even if you want it to be. Damned religious inquisiting zealots...

All in all, it takes HOURS to be able to really sink into GreedFall’s immense world, its cultures and its lore. It takes hours more to start discovering tiny details that can change entire outcomes for the future of your character’s world. Combined with a good character leveling system and gameplay mechanics, GreedFall is a solid RPG and probably Spider’s best work so far.

Game Information

Platform:
Sony PlayStation 4
Developer(s):
Spiders
Publisher(s):
Focus Home Interactive
Genre(s):
Action, Adventure, RPG
Mode(s):
Single Player
Other Platform(s):
Microsoft Xbox One, PC

Source:
Provided by Publisher

Article by Pierre-Yves

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