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Yearly Archives: 2016
Worlds of Magic: Planar Conquest PS4 and XBOX ONE trailer
Worlds of Magic: Planar Conquest is a turn-based strategy game coming to PS4 and Xbox One! Pick one of eight factions and lead them to ultimate victory!
Elvenar Battle Updates
Today, Timon and Rike of the Elvenar team talk about the updates to their battle system!
Beholder Beta Impressions
Note: This is still in Beta.
When I was given a code for the game Beholder, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Judging by the email, it was developed in Russia and I know what a Beholder is. In D&D terms, a Beholder is a mystic entity with several eyestalks and one huge eye. It is able to see everything; nothing escapes its grasp. So when I saw the title, I was curious. Beholder the game is true to that ideal in some ways. You play as a man in a Russian-styled state, where the ideals of the State must be upheld at all costs. You are hired to be the landlord of a tenement building, and as you arrive with your family, the last guy to do the job was hauled away in handcuffs. I presume he’s going to be executed, or re-educated. You are given his job, and instructions from your superior. You are to keep tabs on everyone in the building, and if someone is breaking the law, you are to gather proof by entering their apartment when they are not there, and talking to the other people in the building to build your case. I say build your case, but once you have what you consider proof, the State will move in and take care of it. They really build a mood and immerse you in it.
This game was so jarring to me. It’s a combination of Papers Please! and Fallout Shelter, in all of the best ways. I have to say, it was very hard for me to play. With family that came from that kind of environment [before it got too bad, anyway. . .], the notion that I had to install cameras in peoples homes, and make sure to turn in anyone who broke the law became more and more stressful, the longer I played. You have targets to spy on, and once you find something [and you will], you must make certain they are dealt with in a timely manner. The State also calls down new ordinances that you must make certain aren’t going on, like “Possessing foreign money”, “Gambling”, and it just becomes harder and harder to do the longer it goes on. Success rewards you with money and fame, failure? You’re fined. Maybe worse. This game became stressful and almost painful for me to play but I honestly loved it. The graphics may feel a bit cartoony and shadowy, but they very realistically put together a world where nobody is safe, the State is Law and Life, and doing ones job and duty to the State is paramount. The first man I punished felt like he was really a criminal. He had no job, was cooking up drugs, and was in general surly and disrespectful. But the farther in I go, I have a feeling they’re going to be innocent people that I just put out because of these ludicrous rules.
Verdict: This game will make you question the world around you. It will force you to make decisions that are uncomfortable and hard to swallow, in the name of the State. Can you do it? I could but I really had to think about what I was doing. I loved it though. When this comes out, if you’re into that style of game, please take a look. Given my families background, it was pretty unsettling, but I appreciate that level of attention to detail and realism. You won’t be disappointed.
Xing Tian’s Mountain Charity Challenge
From September 15th-October 3rd, we’ll be some of the fine folks participating in the Xing Tian Mountain Charity Challenge. HiRez Studios invited several content creators to climb their leaderboard, where the top of the heap will send 20,000 dollars to their chosen charity. Youtubers, streamers, press were invited to this event, and MMOHuts/OnRPG were as well. They chose Bottom Tier, their video/stream team and Jason and Colton gladly picked up the gauntlet and ran with it. The charity we are playing for is Connor’s Cure, which fights pediatric cancer. Everyone who participates will be donating at least 1,000 dollars to their charity, but here’s the top three breakdown:
1st: 20,000 dollars
2nd: 10,000 dollars
3rd: 5,000 dollars
It was simply an honor to be invited to participate in this event, and the way it works is fairly simple. The winner will be determined by how far they climb and points accumulated. Depending on how many stages you survive, you earn x amount of points [+100 for completion, +10 per surviving player, +1 per second remaining on the clock]. All players are resurrected as long as one person succeeds in the stage, you get all HP/MP restored as well as all cooldowns reset. You team can pick anyone they own [except Xing Tian], and you start at level 13, 7500 gold. There are fifteen challenges, but they can appear more than once! The challenges vary and the further up the mountain you climb, the harder they will be. What sorts of things exist?
- Just The Two of Us: Vamana and Ra stand here, waiting. Once one is killed, the other enrages. Ra as an example, has 0 cooldown on his ult when Vamana dies.
- RIP The Dream: Standard fight versus Artemis, Hercules, Ra, Thor, Ymir
- Behind You: Loki is alone, and focuses whoever has the lowest health always. Everytime he vanishes, his decoy appears in several spots around the target. After they explode, he tries to Assassinate/attack them, then he rinses and repeats.
It’s very challenging, but it’s simply an honor to be a part of the action at all. You can go to the Smite Website to follow the action on their leaderboard, where we will be represented by Ragachak. No matter who wins, everyone does because of the sheer amount of money that is going to charity, so kudos to HiRez studios for the wonderful opportunity. We will be streaming our progress over at the Bottom Tier stream as well as the OnRPG Facebook Page!
Paladins Open Beta Announcement!
HiRez Studios’ Paladins is very proud to make the announcement that their game is going into Open Beta today! Paladins is a team-based shooter with strategy and strong character customization via collectible cards. These cards augment what a character already has and can be built in a variety of ways using them. It will be free-to-play on PC and for current-gen consoles. A great deal has gone into the game since it’s original Closed Beta: A deeper in-game item system, 17 champions, a third map [“Enchanted Forest”], being able to use parts of skins [RE: Gun skin, head skin, body skin], competitive Ranked mode and more! The Steam version of the game will launch with Steam Achievements as well as an special Team Fortress 2 skin for Barik of the TF2 Engineer. All you have to do is win five games with Barik and it’s yours.
Tekken Card Tournament Review
By Vincent Haoson (Ojogo)
The world of Tekken has taken on the mobile platform with Tekken Card Tournament, a card-collecting, deck based “fighting” game. Using a select set of characters from the franchise, Bandai Namco hopes to recreate the console and portable experience on mobile with this app using eTCG based gameplay mechanics.
Gameplay
Tekken Card Tournament’s core gameplay mechanic relies heavily on being able to anticipate your opponent’s moves, just like in any Tekken title. The key difference in Tekken Card Tournament is the way you input your moves and the limitations of your move list at any given time.
Just like in any card based game, you will have to draw cards at random from your created deck to key-in combos and signature attacks of your chosen character. The options you will have are highly dependent on the cards you put into your deck, which you can get from digital and physical booster packs.
The core gameplay mechanic is a modified rock, paper, scissors where you can focus, strike or block. Focusing allows you to draw cards. Striking uses the cards in your hand starting from the leftmost card to the right. Blocking on the other hand allows you to negate the first two attacks from your opponent.
Major game modes include ranked PvP and stage-based PvE. You can also “customize” your characters looks just like in the main Tekken game. This customization is mostly just for show and to share your visual swag.
Characters
The game’s current roster features 12 characters. The list includes the three main Mishima characters: Heihachi, Kazuya and Jin. You also have the more popular characters like Lili, Xiaoyu, Yoshimitsu, Hwoarang, Law, Paul, Asuka, Panda, and Nina.
The game provides you with a random starter character. The starter set comes with a full 15 card deck. As you open more packs, you can then edit the cards in your deck and even specifically create cards.
When you start off, you only have the solo character option. But when you reach level 8, you can unlock the tag option that allows you to mix it up with moves and combos just like in Tekken Tag.
Cards
Just like in a TCG, cards in Tekken Card Tournament have varying rarities. Starting from bronze, the rarity goes up to silver, gold and then SR.
One unique feature Tekken Card Tournament has compared to other eTCGs in the market (not published by Bandai Namco) is the option of purchasing physical cards for your character. Just like in Gundam Duel Company, you can use the code found on the card and register it on the game to acquire it digitally. This pretty much fulfills the collectible card game feature that Bandai seems to be doing with their IP based apps. I would’ve included a photo of the physical card like I did with my Duel Company review, but I was unable to get hold of one.
The card variety is huge, with almost every move each character has having its own card version. I love the fact that the cards, while chopped down to their most basic of moves, provide a variety of abilities and options that you can maximize. I also love how the moves are intertwined so that individual cards can build up combos that look really awesome on screen.
Combat
Battles are surprisingly complex even if Tekken Card Tournament sounds like just a simplified rock-paper-scissor game. While the options are few and the actions are restricted, the game feels like a virtual game of chicken to see who yields first, especially in the higher tiers of the game.
On the other hand, the normal single player combat is a bit more linear. The game’s map follows a predetermined set of stages that not only allows you to net in-game currency, but accomplish daily quests.
Matchmaking is pretty easily determined and the game itself tells you how it’s done. However, the game’s matchmaking doesn’t necessarily put you always on equal footing with the opponents you meet. There have been times that I’ve been faced with players who had a better set of cards and are even 3 levels higher than me. So there will be times that there’s a clear difference between those who played the game for free, and those who actually invested by either paying for premium boosters or getting lucky with the physical cards they get. So you really need to spend if you want to get to (and maintain) your top spot in the rankings.
Teamplay
Another feature in Tekken Card Tournament is the emphasis on team work, or at least the bonus you get for being part of a team. There’s a clear bonus that you can earn this way and unlike other games that have this team play included as a game feature, you are really encouraged to be part of one.
Conclusion
Overall, my experience with Tekken Card Tournament has been fun. I personally think that the game could really use more characters. But based on the response of the dev team, it’s highly unlikely we’re going to see the other characters in the roster.
I also love the fact that the game gets regular updates and the community is actively participating. With a fighting game like Tekken Card Tournament, it’s integral that there’s a vibrant community that keeps the game afloat, and this title has that player support.
My main issue with the game however is the stark difference between those who really spend a lot in real life cash and those who don’t. Level differences are also very easy to see in matchmaking. People can really snowball with their cards, especially as the higher rarity cards get unlocked. The sheer advantage is really astronomical, no matter how good you are in guessing your opponent’s movements. The game does balance this quirk with the randomness of the cards you get from each booster pack, and gives the option of just going through the campaign till you have a better deck. But if you’re looking to get to be competitive immediately, it’s going to be a difficult time for you to reach and maintain the top spot.
All in all, Tekken Card Tournament is one of the more decent IP based mobile fighting games out there. If you have the perseverance of really trudging through the early stages of the game then this is a real good game to invest time and resources into. If you’re a fan of the franchise and looking to bring that experience into your smart phone, this game is a must download for you.
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare Story Trailer
Presenting the story of Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, where Lt. Reyes takes helm of one of the last Earth warships to defend the world.
TERA Flying Dragon Mounts Trailer
TERA previews its flying dragon mounts, coming to the game on September 20 as part of the Guilded Age expansion.
Fun Games Teased at Tokyo Game Show Discussion
Tokyo Game Show is one of the absolute biggest game expos in the entire world. They do things just a little differently though: There are press days, where just press can go in and do their business, and over the weekend, the regular folks get to go. I think that’s kind of an interesting idea, but part of going to an expo or convention as press is hanging out with all the people just glad to be there, all the cosplayers, taking a break from meetings and learning new stuff by hanging out with people that love the same thing you do: Video games! But there’s a sincere drawback to Tokyo Game Show that I feel like we all know, but I’m going to bring up anyway: We get maybe a tenth of the amazing content that they show off there. We’ve been posting tons of trailers and teasers from TGS that we saw over on YouTube all week, and there are a couple I’m quite excited for. Games like:
- Final Fantasy XV: Is this even a question? Everyone knows I’m excited for this. I don’t care if the trailer was all in Japanese, no English subtitles. I don’t even care. Not even a bit. It’s gorgeous, it plays well, everything about it has made me happy so far. It’s imperative that it does well and I have no fear that it will blow up.
- Musou Stars: I love the Dynasty Warriors/Musou franchise. This one is pretty special, since it’s a pile of the famous Tecmo-Koei characters like Ryu from Ninja Gaiden. They still kick the crap out of a horde of enemies, but it’s not based on historical-fiction [though I do believe some Dynasty/Samurai characters will be there] but I love it. I fear we won’t get this one. But I hope. . .
- Nioh: Goodness. I was never into the Souls/Bloodborne style of game, but this might be the one to hook me. A badass samurai, creepy/evil Yokai/Demons. . . I just need the right story to get me into the game, and I think this might be the one. I don’t have a lot to say other than that the mechanics of the game are incredibly challenging from what I played. This isn’t in my ohmygodImustbuythis but the It looks really fun and frustrating.
- World of Final Fantasy: I thought this was going to be stupid. I love Final Fantasy, but I was convinced it was just going to be some stupid cash grab. But oh my lord, it’s so adorable, and I found myself quickly loving the chibi-style FF characters. And seeing the chibi Myst Dragon made me so sad! It’s got an original story and it’s a blend of Final Fantasy characters. It should be fun! I know I complain about Kingdom Hearts having Disney characters and FF characters and throwing them together. . . But this is just Final Fantasy so it’s different. Honest.
Those are the top things I’m excited for though! Have you guys been keeping up? If not, shame on you! Second, get out there and watch some videos and come back, let me know what you think is going to be great! Stuff we won’t see, stuff we will? I wanna know! Also shoutout to my good friend Kayla and her husband Sho, who are going to be there this weekend! I just want you to know I’m stupid jealous, and I’ll be there next year, hook or crook.












