Relive the NES days with a true-to-form 8-bit platforming adventure.
Monthly Archives: October 2018
Steem Monsters
Steem Monsters is a multiplayer trading card game powered with blockchain technology allowing players to buy, sell, and trade their collection as they see fit. Dive into the chaotic world of Splinterland and master the monsters within. Available for Windows.
Features:
Buffet of Choice: Experiment with the 6 different card typings and various creature classes.
Cage to Stage: Practice your combos in the single-player campaign and show them off in the 1v1 battlegrounds.
Fight On!: Complete daily quests and climb the leaderboards for gold and glory.
Meeple Station
Meeple Station is a sci-fi themed kingdom management sim borrowing elements from the RTS and 4X genres. Build up and continuously expand out a space station while at the same time leading a group of crew mates to their fullest potential. Available for Windows, Linux, and OS X.
Features:
OSHA: Assemble a base of operations from a myriad of potential options making sure they have access to electric power and are safe for nearby crew.
Crack of the Whip: Take your time culminating power and wealth in casual mode or quickly struggle to meet time-based objectives in regular play.
Part-Time Daycare: Assign your workers to various duties and look after them to make sure they don’t meet an untimely end.
Deep Sky Derelicts Review
By Terris Harned (NWOrpheus)
When Darkest Dungeon came out I immediately fell in love. It was just the right blend of cell shaded art, steampunk, rogue-like, and pithy narrative. I also had a certain degree of hate and frustration because the game was just that damn challenging. It was a good sort of hate though. Darkest Dungeon is a game unlike anything we’d seen before or since.
Perhaps it was with thoughts of, “What would happen if we took Darkest Dungeon and spiced it up with elements of Games Workshop’s classic Space Hulk titles?” that Snowhound Games began development on their “rocketpunk” title, Deep Sky Derelicts.
In Deep Sky Derelicts you take the role of a member of a salvage team in a dystopian future where there is a wide class divide. A member of the ruling council of the upper class comes to you with an offer that he doesn’t seem to believe you will refuse. For a couple thousand years, a certain mothership has been floating around the inky blackness of space, and you are tasked with finding it. You’ve heard of the mothership, but in the way that children hear of killer robots waiting to eat them if they leave the bay doors open at night. Now this upper class snob wants you to go find it? Ahh but there’s a carrot: If you can locate the mothership, he’ll give you and your entire crew Citizenship, with a capital C, as well as enough resources to enjoy your new station in life.
So of course you assemble your squad like it’s club night, strap on your atmospherically sealed armor, and get ready to search every run down derelict in the galaxy to find clues about the location of the U.S.S. El Dorado (not the actual name of the ship.)
Character creation actually happens before you enter the game. It’s actually a system that looks similar to RimWorld or Oxygen Not Included‘s creators, though with less randomness from character to character. You get 3 troops to bring with you, and you must select a profile face for each, a class, armor color, plus a personality trait that will give them a bonus. If you don’t feel like choosing, there’s a random generation button that looks like a 6 sided die in the upper right corner. It will even randomly assign you a team name!
The most significant portion of group creation is definitely your class loadout. This is going to affect your combat and even exploration strategy for the rest of the game. The classes are: Leader, Scrapper, Bruiser, Medic, Technician and Tracker. The first major difference between the classes is how their stat priorities are allocated. There are 5 statistics: Weaponry, Tech, Medical, Scavenging, and Mental. Each of these relates to a category of card, which I’ll explain momentarily. In addition, Mental affects how much money you get from selling things and from missions, while Scavenging affects how much scavenge you obtain.
Each class also has a specific set of things they can equip. Every character gets at least one shield generator, and a weapon (or two). Some also get a tool, such as a “medical tool”. Your gear ultimately determines the cards that you actually have in your play deck. For example, weapons will give you Weaponry cards based on the type of weapon it is. A pistol might have single shot, double shot, and triple shot. A shotgun would have single shot and spread shot. A tracker’s rifle might have single shot and aimed shot. As I said before, the card types are tied to a statistic as well. So if you have a high weaponry stat, such as the Tracker or Bruiser, you’re going to do more damage with each hit. The technician’s high Tech skill will allow him to return more shield strength not only to himself, but to others when using his tech tool.
As you advance in the game, you’ll find more powerful gear as well. Swapping out this gear could do more than just give you bonus stats, it can change entire portions of your deck. Since your cards are tied almost exclusively to your gear (with one card type being tied to your class) you could lose a skill that you’re very fond of. It can make choices between pieces of gear rather difficult. Thankfully, you can also acquire mods for gear. Each piece of gear has two mod slots, which just opens up your tactical possibilities even farther, truly allowing you to fine tune your strategy. This is one thing that frankly I absolutely love about Deep Sky Derelicts.
Progression in the game also includes leveling up your characters, provided you can keep them alive that long. Each level up allows allocation of ability points. Each class, of course, has different abilities into which they can allocate and specialize. Once again, allowing immense deep customization.
Since there are only three character slots in your party, and six total classes, you’re obviously going to have some holes. I actually love that about this game, too. There’s no real uber party you can make that will be able to do everything. Any given party is going to have strengths and weaknesses, and you’re going to need to know how to play that up when it comes time to explore the derelicts.
Before we jump in the space taxi (which offers free cookies and water!) and head off to parts unknown, let’s take a little look around the station that will be our home. Aside from the taxi there are five departments: The pawn shop, where you can buy and sell various items, ill-gotten and otherwise; The research center, where you can improve various technologies, such as your scanner and your energy tanks; the hospital, where you can heal injuries from previous journeys; Station Hall, where you meet your mysterious benefactor with any hints as to the location of the mothership, and to advance the campaign; and finally The Lair, a mercenary bar where you can get missions to earn some extra scrip, or hire a crewmate to replace one that has been lost or dismissed. Again, I love the art style and aesthetic here. It doesn’t quite have that Deepest Dungeon feel, or the mechanic of leveling everything up, but it’s still a very cozy little hub.
So, you’ve got a full party of three scavengers, you’ve got a few extra energy cells, you’ve bought any upgrades from the shop or research pool you could, and now it’s time to explore. The taxi will drop you off on a procedurally generated derelict that you have no real information on. The first thing you’ll want to do is open up your PDA. It’s from this device that you actually move from room to room. You’ll also want to scan your surroundings regularly so that you know what you might be facing as you travel.
There’s no real tutorial that I’ve found in regards to what the icons mean, but it’s relatively self explanatory. A flat line means that there’s something that can be searched. A point down triangle means there’s some sort of life form you can interact with. A red tile means that whatever is there, it’s dangerous. Blue lightning bolts are a bit special. They’re areas that have power surges. Power surges can affect your combat, as well as allow you to use certain items out of combat like rescue beacons and shield chargers, and are very very important to keep track of. If you see a square with the bottom turned vertical, that’s an entry/exit point. After you’ve visited one of these rooms the first time, not only can the taxi extract you from this spot, but it can drop you off here as well. This is important because energy usage on derelicts will play a vital role in your strategy for exploration, not the least of which because recharging your energy on the station (or the taxi) costs credits.
Energy is the resource that powers your suit’s life support, your combat capabilities, and your scanner. Anything you do onboard a derelict, pretty much, is going to cost you energy. Keeping an eye on it is crucial. If it runs out, and you have energy cells in reserve, you will automatically use them. If not? You will quickly die. It’s that simple. Always be mindful of your energy as you’re exploring. You can occasionally find power plants on derelicts that will boost your energy as well. These are very welcome sites. Try using the when your energy is at least half depleted, so as not to waste them, as they are one use only.
The last thing I want to touch on, and that I really really enjoyed, is the combat. As I said earlier, you’re granted cards that represent your abilities. What does that actually mean? Well, when you enter combat, you draw cards from your deck. I’ve seen this sort of mechanic used in games before to determine what sorts of abilities you can use, but never in this style of rogue-like RPG, and I found the way Deep Sky Derelict makes use of it very enjoyable.
Each character, friend and foe, is given an initiative score. Turns progress based on this score, with each drawing at least one card, and then playing one card. This can take all of your finest laid plans and put them on their head if you don’t draw the card you need. Cards are played by clicking the card, then the target. Quite simple. The card resolves in a flashy style that is half Deepest Dungeon and half comic book, and I found it quite endearing.
What can I say? I loved this game. I loved the strategy, I loved the art, I loved the minimalist animations, I loved the rocketpunk setting, I loved it all. It’s got the right amount of challenge without making me want to curl up in a ball and sniffle (looking at you Deepest Dungeon). After you finish the campaign mode, you can even jump into the Arena for some quick battles just for fun, and see exactly how far you can progress – great for a one off session. I give Deep Sky Derelicts 4 out of 5. They didn’t break ground, but they took a lot of familiar things and applied them in a new way, and did it in such a fashion to deliver a very enjoyable experience, especially for a 20 dollar game.
A game key was provided for review purposes.
Holy Potatoes! A Spy Story?! – Teaser Trailer
Another Holy Potatoes! story? It’s more likely than you’d think. A wacky spy-agency sim game is coming to the already crazy Holy Potatoes! Universe. As the master of your own spudtastic spy headquarters, team up with Ren and Rexa to send your spies on missions, while working to uncover the truth behind the twins’ parents disappearance. As you expand your team, recruit the cream of the crop and encounter legendary pop-culture secret agents such as Jamal Bond, Zombra and Ezio de Frenzy. If that weren’t enough, you can conduct genetic splicing to transfer DNA to new spies, set up training stations, customize and upgrade your headquarters, and much more. Holy Potatoes! A Spy Story?! launches on November 7th, 2018 from Daedalic Entertainment for 14.99.
Key Features
- Manage and train the best potato spies the world has to offer
- Encounter pop culture special agent spuds
- Create new genetically modified potato spies with genetic splicing
- Meticulously plan secret missions and heists
- Customize, enhance and upgrade your spy agency
- Build crazy gadgets, vehicles, facilities and training stations
- Strategize your moves during mission planning to counter various obstacles
Hitman 2 – Sean Bean Elusive Target Reveal
How appropriate that Sean Bean, master of dying valiantly in film stars in the Elusive Target Mission “The Undying” in Hitman 2? It releases on November 20th, and you only have ten days to take down Mark Faba (Bean).
Warriors Orochi 4 – Zhao Yun Character Spotlight
Zhao Yun is #3 in the Koei Tecmo Family’s “Favorite Character” poll for Warriors Orochi! Zhao Yun zi Zilong is proof that even the worst faction (Shu) can have one of the bravest warriors.
Persona 3/5 Dancing Trailer – SEES and Phantom Thieves
Today we have a double-dose of Persona dancing trailers! Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight’s SEES trailer and Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight’s Phantom Thieves! Their amazing music and killer dance moves hit Playstation 4 and PSVR on December 4th, 2018.
Override: Mech City Brawl Unveils New Features
Override: Mech City Brawl revealed a new trailer today to show off the devastation that players can dole out to each other starting on December 4th, when it goes live. Whether solo or multiplayer, the action is non-stop and the mech design is unique and interesting. There are also a host of epic and legendary skins for players to earn and equip using the Garage feature. This trailer shows off the story campaign that has players fighting other mechs and disgusting alien invaders that infest the cityscapes and exotic locales. But each mech comes complete with its own attacks, combat abilities, and an overwhelming Ultimate Attack to get themselves out of sticky situations. If this weren’t exciting enough, up to four players can team up, each controlling a limb of a Mech, to do battle against the world in online pvp.
Override: Mech City Brawl Features:
- Explosive Battles. Take control of a gigantic mech and lay waste to entire cities as you fight other massive opponents.
- Supercharged Mechs. Pilot 12 outrageous mechs of epic, skyscraper-sized proportions, each with diverse fighting styles and unique skills.
- Real-World Locations. Destroy 3D arenas modeled after actual cities and countries, including Tokyo, Egypt, San Francisco, and Mexico.
- Multiple Game Modes. Challenge other players in local and online Versus & Co-Op modes and experience Override’s story in a single-player campaign.
- Party Co-Op. Gather 2 to 4 friends to engage in party co-op where each player is responsible for one part of a towering mech!
- The Garage. Customize your mechs in the Garage, changing their accessories and skins to create your own unique style.
Stardew Valley Official Piano Collection (Music Review)
by Jason Parker (Ragachak)
This album’s a pretty big deal to me for a few reasons. First, I adore piano collections. I have quite a few of them now, and they never get old. I remember collecting Final Fantasy piano collections years back, and I loved every one of them. The second reason being, I adored Harvest Moon. Somehow, despite enjoying that game tremendously, I have not spent any real time with Stardew Valley. Hell, I own it on at least one platform, probably more! The curse of being in games journalism, I suppose. But listening to these songs made me want to play, so I installed it and plan to make time to play, whether on stream or not. The third being that Eric Barone himself gave approval for the album (creator of Stardew Valley), and I think that’s wonderful. I have the quote below where they talk about it. This collection of Stardew Valley piano masterpieces were arranged by Matthew Bridgham and performed by Augustine Mayuga Gonzales. Materia Collective continues to blow me away with the talent they have producing this music. Also kudos to the original composer of the music. I went back to listen to the Stardew Valley OST after this, and, man. Now I really want to enjoy some soothing farming.
“Three bonus tracks were added after getting official approval from the man himself, Eric Barone (ConcernedApe),” comments arranger Matthew Bridgham. “He was so excited for this album that one night he sent us the then-unreleased music from the update. I was, of course, happy to oblige, arranging these three the same evening. But my job felt easy. Nearly every piece from Stardew fit the hands beautifully, hitting close to home.”
Winter (The Wind Can Be Still) (Track 17): Winter is my favorite season, and funny enough, this is probably my favorite track on the album. It’s slow, quiet, and really the title really works well with this style of piano playing. It starts nice and slow as if snow were gently falling outside and picks up a nice, steady deliberate pace about halfway through. It was hard to pick between Nocturne of Ice, and The Wind Can Be Still, though. Winter can be a cold, cruel, unforgiving month, and the turn of lower, harder played notes fits that role nicely. The gentle chiming of the higher notes overlaid across these lower notes is really fascinating. Even if winter is difficult and hard, much like life is, the spring is just around the corner. This song kind of felt like I would hear it in Mother 2, or maybe My Time In Portia.
Spring (Wild Horseradish Jam) (Track 4): How can I not like a song called “Wild Horseradish Jam”? As I sat here listening to this song, I realized how little I know about Stardew Valley, but I want to correct that. I wondered if this song is named for an actual type of Jam (I prefer grape jelly, but that’s me), or was a dance or something of that nature. I could see it being a dance song, but more likely one where the hero is wandering around out in nature. It definitely has that “We’re new at this but doing our best” sound. There’s a lot on the plate of the hero of Stardew Valley, I did learn that Wild Horseradish is found in the Springtime of Stardew Valley, so, huzzah! I learned something new. One of the longer songs on the album, it has a solid deliberate style, notes played firmly. The staccato here was very lovely.
Mines (Crystal Bells) (Track 9): Mines (Crystal Bells) feels like you’re down in a mine, and I appreciate that sort of attention to detail. It’s very slow, quiet, with occasional dips into louder, lower notes. And with a name like “Crystal Bells”, I imagine there’s something majestic hidden down in these mines, which coincides with the louder, higher-pitched notes utilized in the piece. All this album has done is to make me want to play Stardew Valley, which I imagine is one of the goals. Well, it worked. While the piece begins very simple and quiet, it picks up complexity and tempo a bit towards the end of the track, where I can only imagine the explorer has come to the greater depths of the mines.
This was a very fun album to review, but it was incredibly hard (as per usual) to pick a few tracks to highlight. There is 22 total on the album, and all are worth listening to. You can find this album on Bandcamp, iTunes, and Spotify, and there are also limited CD formats.
