Monthly Archives: February 2017

Hype Train: Castlevania TV Series on Netflix

Start that video at 1 Hour 4 Minutes. You will not be disappointed. Also shoutouts to The Adventures of Duane and Brando, who produced my favorite Castlevania themed music both together and solo. Also the Megas, with their band, The Belmonts. Their tracks were chilling and just damn wonderful. Click the links. Do it!

I know, calling it a “TV Series”, when it’s Netflix only is silly. But that’s not what we’re here to talk about. Instead, we’re going to bloody talk about how damn excited I am for this. Though my official words on the Castlevania TV series are “cautiously optimistic”, the more I think about it, and the more I find out about the people working on it, the more my excitement grows, until it’s an unstoppable fever pitch of madness. This is the biggest quote concerning it, the one that makes me pretty positive about a Castlevania Series. From Adi Shankar, “Breaking News: I’m producing a super violent Castlevania mini-series with my homies Fred Seibert and Kevin Kolde. It’s going to be dark, satirical, and after a decade of propaganda it will flip the vampire sub-genre on its head.” This was back in August, 2015. Though from what I understand, it’s been in talks, a Castlevania series that is, all the way back in 2005. We don’t really know anything about it, but goddamn I wish I did.

Castlevania editorial

From The Amazing Brando’s “Castlevania 3” tracks.

What series will it take place in? Will each season [if we get multiple seasons] take place in a different era? Who is going to play the titular Belmont? Which damn Belmont will we get? Simon? Trevor? One of the less known, less important ones [looking at you, Sega Genesis title]? Or what if we get. . . Alucard? Could it be based on Symphony of the Night? As the Castlevania series has gone on, we’ve gotten more and more weird [and if you ask me, unwanted] characters that stray from the Belmont line. Or if they’re Belmonts, they are not the manly, badass, chiseled jaw Vampire slayers that I’m familiar with. But it’s going to be violent, dark, satirical, and the Vampire program/show we’ve direly needed. Oh, we also know that Warren Ellis wrote the first season, so that’s good! I need a release date, I need a cast. I have a lot of needs and wants for this! Please, Adi. I beg of you. Make it dark, but kind of funny. It’s got to have something clever and snarky about the Belmont to make it really fun. Bear in mind the last time we had a Belmont on TV was Captain N: The Game Master. And that’s not the legacy we need.

What do you guys think? Excited? Have ideas/dreams of who should be cast as what? Should Colton sing the theme, “Go Go Alucard, Yeah!” for it? I’m curious what your thoughts are!

SMITE 4.2 King of the Kappa Patch Recap

Today’s SMITE Patch stream revealed Patch 4.2: King of the Kappa. This patch features new skins, changes to Clash, minor tweaks, and most importantly a new god: Kappa.

SMITE 4.2 King of the Kappa Patch Recap

New Skins:

  • Fafnir – Dreadlord
  • Nox – Queen of Hearts
  • Ah Muzen Cab – Swarm
  • Jing Wei – Mini Metal (includes new Dance emote for all Jing Wei skins)
  • Morrigan – Mastery
  • Xbalanque – Updated Mastery

Miscellaneous Changes:

  • Demonic Pact Anubis size altered to improve visibility.

Clash Map Changes:

  • Apophis Health and health per minute greatly increased.
  • Mana Buff Weakened
  • 5% less CDR, 25 less MP5.
  • Damage Buff Respawn increased by 30s.
  • Shadow of Apophis Buff weakened
  • Veil of Apophis (enhanced) weakened.
  • Phoenix power increased from 30 to 42.

Conquest Changes:

  • Added channeling FX for Titan summoning the portal.

Item Highlights (Shuriken Tree Changes):

  • 8-Pointed Shuriken Costs 200 more.
  • Wind Demon Costs 200 more.
  • Poisoned Star – Power reduced from 30-20. Costs 200 more.

God Changes:

  • Aphrodite – Tooltip matches actual fact that she shares 70% of her mana with kiss.
  • Chiron Buff – Giddyup becomes a steroid. Physical Buff for duration of charge.
  • Centaurus – Damage boosted by 30 at all levels.
  • Chronos Buff – Wheel of Time Magical Power Section boosted by 5%. Basic Attack power up 10%.
    • Accelerate movement speed increased. Stop Time damage slightly boosted.
  • Nike Nerf – To Victory nerfed by 1% in movement speed and 2% in bonus power.
    • Rend cooldown increased from 12 to 14s.
  • Skadi Buff – Permafrost – Skadi maintains speed buff for 3s after leaving permafrost.
  • Sylvanus (micro) Nerf – Punishing his early lane clear. Auto Attacks increase base magic power from 38 down to 35.
  • Tyr Nerf – Power Cleave no longer heals twice on first target hit. Ability caps at 3 heals.
  • Xing Tian Bug Fixes (slight nerfs)
    • Furious Roar was dealing 4% of target’s max hp instead of 3%
    • Sky-Cutting Axes was providing more protection than intended.
    • Whirlwind of Rage Fixed.

SMITE 4.2 King of the Kappa Patch Recap

Kuzenbo – King of the Kappa Reveal

Dev Backstory: The developers were looking at adding mythological creatures like Kappa and Tanuki, but needed a named god to introduce them. Kuzenbo is the lesser known king of kappas.

Kappas have a water bowl on the top of their head. They draw their power from it. If you bow to a kappa, they will bow back and lose the water and lose their power. This forms a key part of Kuzenbo’s kit.

Role: Guardian

  • Passive: Water Bowl – Fills up as he takes damage. For every 2% of health he gains 1% true mitigation. Fills up visually. He loses the water over time, and can lose stacks from CC displacement abilities as well (cuts stacks in half).
  • Ability 1 Nei Nei Kappa – Ricochet attack that summons the Neinei Kappa. Passes through minions and jungle camps doing damage. If it hits enemy god, it stops and spawns an ally that fights with you. Has its own HP and can tank damage.
  • Ability 2 Shellspikes – Reflects damage for duration. Also shortens the cooldown of Nei Nei Kappa based on number of hits he takes.
  • Ability 3 Sumo Slam – Charge that can take an enemy god with them, grab them, and keep running. Can turn slightly. If you hit them into a wall, they take additional damage.
  • Ultimate Watery Grave – CC immunity for duration. True omni-directional movement and movement speed increase. Water deals damage and pushes people back. Does majority of damage at activation but half damage if you hit someone after activation.

 

Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns Living World Season 3 Episode 4 Press Preview

by Andrew Skelton (Outfoxed)

 

The White Mantle makes itself known (once again!) in Kryta!  Episode four of Guild Wars 2’s Living World story has arrived, and grim tidings loom.  Like usual, I had a chance to jump into the action ahead of time to see some of the new content coming out this episode, and it was pretty interesting to say the least.  What surprises await the heroes as they fight back against the shadowy White Mantle organization this time?

Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns Living World Season 3 Episode 4 Press Preview

Well – an entirely new zone, for starters.  I am glad to see more and more unused portions of the map being given purpose, and this time it’s directly to the east of Divinity’s Reach.  Lake Doric is the setting for this story section as you struggle to fight back against the Mantle.  First off, the map itself is quite nice. The area directly outside Divinity’s Reach is suitably ravaged as befits a city under siege.  The plains outside also give way to stunning redwood forests in the northwest, which were arguably my favorite piece of scenery.  You also have the centaur canyons to the north (which are incredibly dangerous, and anyone can see and smell ambush there a mile away).

There are some cleverly hidden gems around too, for the truly explorative.  Without spoiling too much, let’s just say the hidden waterfalls were a joy to find.  The environments here in Lake Doric are spectacular, to say the least.

Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns Living World Season 3 Episode 4 Press Preview

Like with most new Living World updates that come with an all new zone to explore, you can expect brand new vistas, waypoints, points-of-interest, and repeatable hearts.  There are also a host of zone events, ranging from the destruction of Mantle weaponry, to protecting villages from occupation or reclaiming them from seizure.  There’s also a clever bit of subterfuge in one of the hearts that requires you to disguise yourself as a cultist to disrupt their organization.  You have to be careful, though, because the enemies in the area are pretty insane, and if they see you acting suspicious, well, it’s back to a waypoint for you.

Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns Living World Season 3 Episode 4 Press Preview

The centaur area was also included to help the explosive cost of leather across the game.  It’s nice to see the team addressing economic issues such as this.  Do keep in mind, this area gets harder and harder the further you get into it.  Solo players might see a measure of success at the entrance, but even our experienced group encountered insurmountable odds pretty quickly.

Overall, the new zone looks and feels pretty impressive.  It definitely is not designed for a single player to adventure in, but definitely allows for some roaming group dynamics to get the most of the experience.  Oh, and before you ask, no, we didn’t get to experience any of the new raid content being released with this update.  I don’t even have any juicy tidbits of information for you either — the staff was very professionally tight-lipped about that particular feature.

Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns Living World Season 3 Episode 4 Press Preview

All in all, there seems to be plenty to offer in this brand new chapter of the Living World story.  It’s live even as you read this piece, so if you’re interested, jump in and experience Lake Doric in all of its majesty however you want!

This Just In: E3 Going Public!

E3 Editorial

In what is the first [and maybe last] time, E3 is going to open the doors to the public! That is colossal news! Fifteen thousand tickets will be going on sale, and I have the distinct feeling that they’re going to be snatched up faster than any convention you have ever seen. Faster than Pax, Blizzcon, Comiccon, you name it. Why? Because this has never happened! E3 has always been for press, and for developers. It is a time for them to get the scoop before anyone else, and then publish it for everyone else to see. It’s definitely on my bucket list of events I want to cover. That’s going to turn it into an even bigger madhouse, lines that will last all day just to maybe see one game. But I do see why it’s happening. E3 has had flagging attendance over the past couple of years, and there are quite a few vendors/developers that probably won’t be there this year. That’s going to upset fans, but maybe they’ll see that there is a huge crowd waiting to see their games, and that will change.

I imagine developers and publishers are pulling out because it’s just not worth it for them anymore. There are other conventions and expos that give them the attention and the numbers they want. On the other side of that coin, having the public at the event will let a developer see just how badly the customer wants their product, get feedback from attendees and et cetera. And last two years there were “important people” in the consumer industry attending, like Youtube personalities, Twitch streamers, social media types, people that have a lot of influence and a large audience. Someone different from just the press. Apparently it was pretty popular with them, so now they’re going to try and bust it wide open with the regular customer. I’m certainly not saying “it will never happen again”, but to me it feels like a last ditch effort to make e3 relevant again, get those big names attending, and it is with the hope that having their gaming/electronics consumers there will do just that.

Tickets go on sale Monday, for 149 dollars a day, or 249 for a three-day pass. These will sell out almost instantaneously. You can bet on that. The event itself is June 13th, 9am PT, and tickets will get people full access to the show floor. Just click here to get yours!

Fire Emblem: Heroes Review – The Casual Friendly FE Experience

By: Ojogo

 

Fire Emblem: Heroes is the latest Fire Emblem title coming out of the big N. The game follows the story of the Askran Kingdom’s Order of Heroes as they face against the Emblian Kingdom’s machinations to destroy Kingdom of Askr. Players come in as the summoner with the ability to summon all the heroes from the various Fire Emblem titles. And using the ability, you are then tasked to help the Order to stop the total destruction of the Kingdom.

 

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Gameplay

Heroes uses the tired and quite overused gameplay mechanics found in mobile unit collecting games. The game currently has around 80+ heroes you can summon so far, spanning from the recent Fire Emblem title, Fates, and as far back as the GBA games such as the Sacred Stones. You will use orbs that you can earn going through the story mission or pay for it using cash to summon these heroes in a unique system Fire Emblem Heroes has.

You can level up heroes either through using them as part of your four-man (or woman) teams in story or arena maps, or by using their corresponding shards and exp shards. Characters of one star to four star rarity can also get their “potentials” unlocked. This basically means that characters can reach a higher rarity rating once they reach level 20 and have the corresponding ingredients to level up (hint: you need A LOT OF THEM). The rarity rating of characters caps at five and you can still level up characters past 20 for all rarities. However, 1-4 star units would have to reset back to level 1 once they are unlocked.

The Battle system is typical to the Fire Emblem franchise. There’s a grid based system that follows just like your usual battles in games. Unit positioning, team planning and on the spot adjustments are key, just like in any Fire Emblem game.

Other gameplay features include a social system where players can add you via code. Their heroes can even drop by and visit your castle as well. The castle is also upgradable. Each upgrade increases the experience points you earn per encounter. The game also has paralogues and side stories that provide low level heroes at certain moments and even leveling opportunities.

 

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Loyalty to Source Material

Fire Emblem: Heroes was made to stay faithful to the franchise and it does not disappoint. It’s not much of a stretch really since Fire Emblem was already made for portable devices. So the familiar game mechanics weren’t hard to port to the mobile platform. The game feels and sounds just like a Fire Emblem title except that they added the energy system and orbs to, of course, earn from a free-to-play game.

Even the game’s weakness and strengths chart is similar to the weapon triangle affinity system Fire Emblem titles have. However, to make things a bit simpler, it was simplified to a color specific system instead.

Characters can also learn and equip skills as they earn skill points either by combining with units or leveling up. Each character also retains most of their base hero skills in their respective titles to bring into the world of Fire Emblem Heroes.

What wasn’t retained though is the relationship system which you don’t really expect to have in a stripped-down version of a Fire Emblem title. However, the game still presents you with the more fan-servicey parts of the Fire Emblem franchise as you can stare at your units (yes, can’t believe I went there) and hear them talk. In fact, during battle your characters’ clothes get tattered if their HP reaches low enough. But of course not so tattered to be NSFW.

 

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Pricey

While Fire Emblem Heroes retains a lot of the things that made Fire Emblem titles great to a certain degree, the game is really pricey. Orbs cost a bit heftier than your usual f2p mobile game, and the bundles they have in the store are not that appealing. In a game where maximizing the gacha system requires you to spend 20 orbs per sesh, the pricing they have is not really competitive.

That is, if you’re the impatient player. While yes, Heroes does make a grab for your wallet, the game still provides opportunities for you to earn those orbs. You are rewarded with orbs as you finish maps for the first time, and log-in rewards also net you the premium currency. They are. mind you, not easy to get, but isn’t that how Fire Emblem games work anyway?

 

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Critique

Fire Emblem Heroes is a game that utilizes a lot of the game mechanics that made it a Nintendo classic franchise. I really liked how Intelligent Systems was able to strip down the whole Fire Emblem experience to focus on key features to make the game uniquely FE, but using the mobile game business model.

If there’s one thing that I can nitpick in Heroes. That would be how weak the story is. While I do have to admit that I’m no expert with the franchise myself, I can say that FE: Heroes’ story feels lacking and rushed. But then again, this isn’t really a main game so that’s to be expected.

Overall, Fire Emblem: Heroes is a game that fits right in with the mobile market today. Fans of the franchise can really look forward to spending time in the game, especially if they want to take a break from the brutal strategic planning required for the main Fire Emblem titles. Intelligent Systems was able to strike a balance in terms of respecting the old FE titles and incorporating the new ones into the roster. In fact, you can use Fire Emblem Heroes as a gateway game to the whole franchise if you want your friends to join you in the FE fandom. Heroes is forgiving enough that you can trick people not familiar to the games to try and play the main titles, and then watch them suffer as they start to discover how hard the main games are.

 

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Conclusion: Great

Fire Emblem Heroes is a game that made me enjoy mobile strategy games. It’s one of those titles that will really sit well and long in my own phone even after this review is done. There’s no higher praise I can give for a mobile title than that.