Monthly Archives: June 2016

VA-11 HALL-A: A Cyberpunk Bartender Tactical Espionage. . .

VALLHALLA1

VA-11 HALL-A is a rare title, and it’s out! Finally! I’ve been reading about it for a while now, and I was kindly sent a copy to check out. It reminds me a great deal of stuff like Bubblegum Crisis, Dirty Pair, and a variety of 90s anime/PC games. There is a pretty frustrating problem with being able to screenshot while in fullscreen, which frustrates me! So that means I had to browse the web for screenshots. But we have to ask ourselves: WHAT IS VA-11 HALL-A? Well, in Norse culture, when a man dies, if he was worthy, the Valkyries take you to Vallhalla, where you fight and drink for eternity. Sounds kind of awesome? However, instead, you’re a bartender in a cyberpunk dystopian style setting.

VALLHALLA2

The art and music are definitely 80s inspired, but there are lots of little things, very poignant references to other anime and pop culture moments. My personal favorite was one of the girls in the game, their nickname is “The Red Comet”, which is Char Aznable from Mobile Suit Gundam. That made me smile. Lots of adorable Shiba Inu puppies, some of them in pretty rad sunglasses, and those who wind up at the bar need a drink. It’s up to you to craft the perfect drink for them, sometimes making it a little bigger, maybe aging or blending it. You don’t always know exactly what drink they want though; sometimes they want a style of drink and you have to figure it out. Maybe they want something manly, but not cold, or heavily alcoholic but also sweet and girly. Paying attention to the drinks you can create is terribly important.

VALLHALLA3

Your goal is to get your rent paid, go shopping, and generally live your life.  It’s an adorable game, and as you ply people with drinks, they can wind up telling you some amazing, interesting, or even horrific stories about their lives and experiences. I do feel like sometimes there is a bit too much dialogue, but I enjoyed reading it anyway. It’s a pleasant visual novel with challenging and fun drinks to make. The descriptions of the drinks are cute too. I do find that setting up the jukebox provides another challenge. You don’t want to have the same types and same songs every night after all! VA-L11 HALL-A is definitely a title to look out for on Steam. Maybe there will be a video on Bottom Tier? Who knows! All I know for sure is that this game is delightful, and if you are a nostalgia junkie like me? It’s a must-have. It’s got everything I need.  Ridiculous character, references to Kamen Rider, interesting short stories for these girls and guys that wind up at the bar. I’m telling you, you need to take a look at VA-11 HALL-A!

Dragon Raja

Dragon Raja is a 3D open-world MMORPG featuring gorgeous graphics and cutting-edge technology designed specifically for mobile devices. The once-sealed Dragon Lord has returned from the dead and untold horror follows in his terrible wake. Team up with your fellow superpower-gifted humans to meet the dictator of destruction in an epic showdown for the future of humanity!

Business Model: Free-to-Play

Microtransactions: Yes, there are optional in-game purchases available.

Key Features:

See the Sights: Explore vast and varied locations modeled after real-life locations at your leisure all while engaging with NPCs and their associated quests densely packed with narrative-rich dialogues and story-altering choices.

2nd Life: Pursue and perfect only the things that make you happy whether that’s becoming a chef, battle-hardened warrior, midnight-racing champion, or social superstar! No matter what career or lifestyle you pick, your destiny is authentically yours alone and the options to achieve it out couldn’t be more plentiful.

Meet and Greet: Create unforgettable memories with other players from around the globe in thrilling instanced raids, breathtaking large-scale ground wars, and in exciting duels to the death. Going further, you’ll be able to connect with your friends and acquaintances alike with seamless social systems perfect for effortless communication no matter where you’re from or what language you speak.

Classes:

Pull off death-defying stunts as a dual-wielding Blade Master, shoot first and ask questions later as a firepower-packing Gunslinger, protect the innocent as a sweet Soul Dancer, or cull the weak as a exoskeletal-wizard Assassin.

 

LJN: Are they really the worst?

This is a screencap from “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure” the video game, on NES. By LJN.

billandted

The 80s were filled with video games! The video game boom came and we received so many classics. Titles like The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Super Mario Bros., Batman, Blaster Master, Beetlejuice, Back to the Future, X-Men. . .Wait, what were those last three!? Those aren’t classics! Who put these on my list? Those last three? Produced by LJN, one of the worst producers of video games in the 80s! If it was based on a real product, you can expect that it was fucking horrible. Sure, you can say “They made Maximum Carnage, and that was great!” But objection!

Beetlejuice

It wasn’t developed by LJN! That was when Acclaim bought them out and turned LJN into a Publisher instead! I wonder if the LJN devs became jealous that under Acclaim’s banner they created actual games! This was something covered by one of the people I respect the most in the YouTube/press industry, the fine folks at Cinemassacre, the Angry Video Game Nerd. James Rolfe may have spewed nothing but vitriol and bile from his maw as the “Nerd” character, but he’s not wrong! One of the things that drew me to his show was that he may be an asshole as a character, but he really pointed out some horrific things on the NES, my first real console. The Beetlejuice game? Apparently you’re supposed to go on a side-scrolling adventure, use attacks that don’t really do anything to kill cockroaches and shit so that you can buy “scare tactics” in order scare the Deetz family.  It had literally nothing to do with the film. Or the cartoon. But to me, the biggest horrific failures they created?

Uncanny_X-Men_-_1988_-_LJN,_Ltd.

Their X-Men games on the NES! Both of them! They may have done more, but I gave up way way before those may or may not have been created. Is it bad I’d have rather played a Commodore 64 game? Probably. It’s a top-down shit excuse of a game where you control a block of color resembling an X-Man from the 80s team. My personal favorite X-Men team. But if have to have two characters and control them with one controller. The word “controls” is not a thing I’d tack onto this game. How did Nintendo license these? The AI ally constantly gets stuck around things, or stands around doing nothing. It’s probably smarter to use a ranged Mutant for your AI ally. And WOLVERINE. I hate Wolverine as a character, but that’s another rant for another time, but they aren’t even based on the comics. And using his claws takes away his health!? Seriously? He’s a Mutant that has an insane regen/healing factor and cool claws, but why do they kill him? Jesus. LJN are pretty much the worst.

Is there someone else you hate more? Action Enterprises? Some other, more sinister company? Drop us a line with your least favorite game or publisher and why!

E3 2016 – Master X Master Revealed

By Darren Henderson (DizzyPW)

MXM_Temple_of_Fire_1

NCSoft finally pulled the curtains off Master X Master in their usual private invite only meeting room deep within the heart of E3’s Los Angeles Convention Center. While I was preoccupied with other appointments and sent JamesBl0nde and Bakerman Brad in to handle the game, I couldn’t resist missing the opportunity to get even a few minutes hands-on with the demo. So after a mad sprint halfway across the convention center, I arrived just in time to do just that… and sat down for an ARPG experience?! Yes, the game we’ve been hailing for about a year as the NCSoft edition of Heroes of the Storm had more than a unique control scheme up its sleeve to differentiate itself. There are fully fleshed out PvE missions available (20 currently) that serve as the most immersive tutorial to prepare you for online competition you could possibly ask for.

MXM_Temple_of_Fire_4

My first surprise with gameplay was to discover that the characters pulled from throughout NCSoft’s various games are not just a gimmick. Beyond the typical MOBA skill set differences, the characters’ controls feel drastically different. Some offer extreme dodge mechanics while others offer directly shields to absorb damage. This combined with the ability to select two heroes to bring into battle (thus Master X Master) makes for some dynamic possibilities in both PvE and PvP. In PvE the best way to describe it is imagine playing an MMORPG where your tank can class cycle to a healer at the drop of a hat, or your DPS can become CC masters when pressured with agro. In PvP it gets even more intense, and honestly pushes the skill cap above the typical MOBA gameplay. Your team might hard dive a squishy opponent just to have them transform into a massive tank and drag your team into the void of a full team gank. True masters of Master X Master will have to learn the ins and outs of all the roster, and recognize traps like this coming based on an enemy’s secondary hero. But… if you kill them before they can swap then its all for nought. The possibilities are going to be wild, and I imagine professional tournaments a few months after launch are going to be wild.

MXM_3v3_2

My second surprise here was the introduction of the Z axis to its ARPG gameplay. Akin to the way Paragon is adding revolutionary maps and gank options into the third person moba, Master X Master introduces elevation to the top down version. Characters can jump and utilize elevated platforms and walls to intercept incoming enemy attacks. Combined with the “twin stick” aiming nature of gameplay and you have yourself something more akin to a top down shooter than a point and click moba. Its fun, far more fun than the old school MOBAs still dominating the market. You feel more in control of your character and less helpless as you actually have a means of negating incoming damage instead of watching helplessly as your opponent right clicks and waits for his superior stats to mow you down.

MXM_3v3_5

Finally something NCSoft does so well you might think they should be embarrassed by it: fanservice. Master X Master is skin crazy right out of the gates, with many characters prepped and packing more skins for beta than existing characters in popular MOBAs have received over the course of years. You want Jin So Yun in a school girl outfit? You better believe her disgraceful tsundere self will be available at some point!

MXM_Temple_of_Fire_5

I could go on about the experience but why spoil any more than that? The alpha arrives on Friday, June 24th and alpha keys are going out across the nets. If you want it bad enough, go find yourself an access key and see it for yourself! I know I will be. Keep an eye out for DizzyPW and JamesBl0nde this weekend to join us!

Check out more about Master X Master in the link below as JamesBl0nde interviews a member of the NCSoft team at E3!

MXM-Dev-Interview-1024x576

Injustice 2

Injustice 2 pits gods against each other to see who will rise. Beat down the enemy with bone breaking hits, guard with reflexive blocks or rolls, and call forth world ending super moves all while looking exactly the way you want, available for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

War Rages: The battle amongst superheroes and mighty villains continues.

Show Me Your Moves: Devastate your opponents with catastrophic attacks fueled by a super meter.

Gear Up: Collect frequent loot drops of equipment to augment your legend.

E3 2016 – Legends of Honor Goes Mobile

By Darren Henderson (DizzyPW)

 

LegendsOfHonor_Dialogue_ChevalryTournament

An old associate of mine backed by a new company sent me an invite I surely wasn’t going to refuse at E3. Especially after seeing just how much traction our site has had with Legends of Honor in the past couple months. For those not in the know, Legends of Honor is a browser-based real-time empire build and battle medieval title from the Hamburg, Germany company – Good Game Studios. While that label on the surface isn’t super exciting, no one can argue with the sheer success the game has experienced, particularly in the US and western European countries. But why? Fabio showcased the game and I picked out a few key features I can see driving Legends of Honor ever forward.

 

LegendsOfHonor_Dialogue_UnitBoosters

Not Reinventing the Wheel, but Motorizing It
Legends of Honor is essentially the culmination of a decade of trial and error in the empire building strategy genre. The core gameplay is what you have come to expect, but the polish and freedom is in a league of its own. Visually the game is stunning. Not only are the heroes animated beautifully on the battlefield, but even the cards representing your units carry quality you’d expect from a top tier CCG, yet with a distinctly European style that is a refreshing change of pace from the Anime art saturating online gaming.

LegendsOfHonor_TheHighKingdom_WorldmapFight

But its the actually tactical real-time nature of the world map that pushes this game to the top of the trash pile of casual browser strategy games. Lords can micromanage their marching orders to outsmart their foes, set traps and ambushes, and all sorts of dastardly ploys to overcome a losing battle. Compare that to waiting 4 hours while your army marches across the map to a predetermined victory or defeat, and this feature is clearly a genre evolution. This makes even simple PvE mission runs exciting as you never know who might be lying in wait, hoping to take a piece of your empire’s pie. Considerations of terrain movement bonuses and avoiding locations that are easy to utilize for setting ambushes becomes a real concern whenever you send your troops out from your city gates. And being an actual active player and calling your troops back in full retreat can mean the difference between living to fight another day, or a full legion wipe. Plus with a huge variety of unit types with different strengths and weaknesses, and different tiers within those types, planning ahead to counter your opponent has never felt more impactful in the genre.

Legends-Of-Honor-Factions-Mobile

The faction system is another nice idea Legends of Honor has going for it. Rather than leaving guild formation open to the players who will inevitably flock to the strongest to suppress the rest of their server, Legends of Honor has 3 set factions available to join. These factions are more than simple labels, and players will not be able to join guilds from other factions, splitting the world map up into a three-way super brawl for control. Once choosing a faction, you aren’t locked in it forever. Plus incentives seem to be present to encourage members of the strongest faction to jump ship and quickly rise to the top of command of the weaker factions to keep server balance going strong. With 100k+ users active on a single server, and world map marching rendered in real-time, this game is certainly one of the most alive feeling games in the genre.

Legends_of_Honor_Castle-Mobile

Mobile Move
However solid Legends of Honor’s rendition of the genre might be, one thing is clear. No one wants to take the time to play games like this on their browser at a home PC anymore. Well I mean, no one I know. I still can’t argue with the insane player numbers currently enjoying this, can I? But Good Game isn’t resting on their laurels. At E3 they revealed their progress converting Legends of Honor to mobile, including a complete UI overhaul to compliment touch controls, simplified world map features to make the game compatible across a larger variety of devices, but otherwise nearly a 1:1 feature list from the existing browser game. With the game already soft-launched in select European countries, and a more global launch right around the corner, I imagine this game will have no problem exploding onto the iOS and Android scene as a huge portion of their existing playerbase hits the road and takes their empire on the go. Keep an eye out for further news of the US launch news in the coming weeks!

Legends_of_Honor_Worldmap-Mobile

Mighty No. Not

I can’t call it “Mighty No. 9” because it’s probably the biggest failure that Kickstarter has ever seen. Now, let me come out by saying I love Keiji Inafune. The Megaman franchise is one of my absolute favorites of all time. Robots? Explosions? Cool powers and weapons? A robot dog? So when I heard he was making his own game, in Mighty No. 9, I was hyped! Overwhelmed with hype!  But what did we get?

Mighty No 9 Gameplay Trailer

THIS.  What the hell is this? This is not the quality of art we were promised! None of this is the shit we were fucking promised! Myself and Colton were discussing this this morning. One of his biggest complaints were the stages/music. “Uninspired and Soulless” – Colton, 2016.  Several WiiU users have complained that the code they used bricked their system. HOW DOES A GAME CODE BRICK A FUCKING CONSOLE? Is that even a thing that happens? I guess so! People got sent codes for the wrong consoles, or sometimes just the DLC and not the goddamn game. Let that sink in.

3068719-screen+shot+2016-05-26+at+16.11.12

The voice acting is a disgraceful affair, the stage graphics look childish and disappointing. Not at all what I imagine anyone was hoping for. I don’t know what we got, but it sure as fuck wasn’t a game worth playing. Worth owning. I’ve played some pretty disappointing games before, but I went in knowing they were going to be awful. I don’t pick up a title from a person who basically shaped much of my childhood and expect to have them dump vomit onto me. Because that’s what happened. That’s what fucking happened. Even the developer, Takuya Aizu has gone on record saying that the trailer was “Unforgivable” and blames Deep Silver for basically destroying the game. Bottom Line: What the hell is this? This isn’t what thousands of gamers paid for.