Yearly Archives: 2018

Tower of Time Review

Written by Remko Molenaar (Proxzor)

The world of Artara is in peril, and in this story-rich dungeon it is up to you to save the world and its people from dying. As a young boy you stumbled upon a mysterious tower, and while it was always forbidden to search the unknown, this is where you met your fate. A new path towards your destiny opened, but not until you are older, when you can return to the tower once again. When the time finally comes, you go back to the tower along with an army of people, both to seek out the secrets of the tower, and to help the village you once grew up in…

What I love most about a good RPG isn’t the game play elements, or how well I can specialize my character into the right way for my playstyle. While those two features still are very important to me, a good RPG to me is something that grabs you with its story. Tower of Time does this right. When you launch the game you are met with a video of the background story of Artara, the world that was once blossoming and ruled by gods, but now in peril with its inhabitants barely holding on with the little they have left. Throughout exploring the Tower, you will find pieces of the story together with the people that join you that also have no idea of what happened to the world they were brought into. You are putting the pieces back into the puzzle and discovering what the world was long before.

This is what I value most: a story that makes you want to play more, like a book where you just can’t stop reading. Now let’s talk about the game play, which features a very unique combat system that I am still not sure if I actually like. When you are exploring the tower, you will find random groups of monsters that have their own history with the tower. Most of them are there to get rid of you, some because of their beliefs, and most because they simply they don’t know better. While I preferred to have afight on the actual map you are exploring, you engage the battle in a room, that is different for each battle. Many of them are frequently used, and the monsters, many times more than you encounter, spawn out of these portals scattered around the level and slowly come one at a time.

The layout and idea of clearing the level sometimes differs, but it mostly comes all down to the same thing: Defeat everyone and be victorious. Depending on who is in your party, you can play around with their individual skills and controls and come up with your own strategy on clearing the level, and this is what Tower of Time really hammers down to. Being fast isn’t how you clear the levels; being wise and slowing down time is what eventually helps you conquer your victories. This is where it gets a little bit tricky, since you have to control your characters, for the most part, one by one. This is mainly because each has a different role and cannot really be controlled group wise, but is also because of their unique skills. So you have to click through each character to do their commands. And while you can use the environment to your advantage, it gets a little hectic even with a simple pause function in some of the fights.

While controlling an individual character is easy, when you are in the midst of a big fight, and portals are opened all around you, it’ll get a little hard to micro manage all your characters, especially since you cannot fully pause the game, only slow down time. While I definitely think this system is very interesting, I would’ve rather had a normal pause so I could oversee the whole map a bit better, especially when in some of the fights you are pressured by time but can only see so little of what is going on. When you fail a fight, you always have the chance to try it over, or go back to your last save. Eventually you will hit a wall, multiple times, where you will find yourself needing to craft gear and level the skills of your characters.

Returning back to the city allows you to customize your characters a little better. While you can do a few things back when you are clearing the tower, most of the crafting and tools can be found in the city. Each party member is tied to a building; when you upgrade one of these buildings, the members of that specific buildings are able to get better upgrades. You have to throw a lot of coin, that can randomly be found everywhere, to both your units and these buildings. When going through the tower, you will also find random gems. These gems have their own rarity and depending on how many you have, you will be able to craft gear with them. You will also be able to find enhancements that you can put on your gear, so a lot of time has to be spent coming up with the best possible gear when you hit a wall you cannot simply climb over by trying endlessly. The same goes for skills; since your characters naturally will progress they will also earn skill points that can then be used in their own ability skill trees, which will enhance the skills in one way or another to your liking.

Conclusion: Good (3/5)

Tower of Time is a game that, because of its rich story, intrigues you to play more until you begin wanting more out of the game. While Tower of Time definitely is a very in-depth RPG, I felt like something was missing, and most of the time I was just doing the same thing for a while before something new and interesting came upon my path. The combat system is a very interesting approach that I have both come to love and hate, and the character progression also feels a bit too linear and falls short. While the game is definitely not for everyone, it proves to be a very entertaining RPG nonetheless, and definitely a game worth its price. While the game does have its unique features, over time it made me question whether or not this was done right, and after a while I didn’t really feel like the progression of the game was worth pursuing. While the story is definitely interesting, and makes you run around with a lot of questions you are hoping to get answers for, it also falls off and the game feels a bit like a pointless grind.

I like the game, it’s simple, fun and has a really good story, but for a RPG I want more. The game feels a bit too small and too linear.

Dead Cells Receives Mac/Linux Versions As Well as Mod Support

Dead Cells - Mac and Linux

Motion Twin is excited to announce that Mac and Linux versions of Dead Cells are now available today on both Steam and GoG.com. This goes alongside the 40% off Steam Summer Sale, so interested parties should grab it now.  On July 6th the game goes from 19.99 to 24.99, so the price increase is on the way. Partial Mod Support is also being added to Dead Cells, and documentation can be found in this link.

Underworld Ascendant E3 Impressions

By Noe Ponce (Inohe)

Underworld Ascendant Key Art

If Elder Scrolls and Gauntlet Legends had a baby, you’d have Underworld Ascendant. It’s the next gen sequel to Ultima Underworld and Ultima Underworld II, two games that released more than 25 years ago. In Underworld Ascendant, gamers return to the Stygian Abyss, a nightmarish underground dungeon first introduced in an even older game, Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar, back in 1985. Feel old yet? Or young?

Underworld Ascendant Gate

Players assume the role of the Avatar, a human magically transported to the Underworld. Unlike traditional RPGs, there are no predetermined classes or roles. Sticking to the roots of its predecessors, players equip the Avatar with various skills based on playstyle and preference. While diverse in their own right, the skill trees themselves remain fairly unimaginative: Your atypical trio of Combat, Stealth and Magic. The build I was playing also had my Avatar loaded up with an assortment of weapons and other items. My favorite pieces of equipment were the water arrows, which allowed me to douse any torches I came across, and the Jewel of Befuddlement. While I’m still befuddled as to what exactly it did (cwutididthar), it sure looked cool when I used it!

Underworld Ascendant Spells

Speaking of looking cool, the game is truly a sight to behold. The screenshots, while gorgeous, don’t do the actual game justice. Appropriately creepy with a disconcerting air about it, the Stygian Abyss manages to look good even at 33 years old. UA is more than just a pretty face, however. It gets in your head. Whilst exploring I kept in stealth mode, mentally preparing myself for a fight and dousing every torch I came across. It felt like an enemy could pop-up at any moment. Which, in my opinion, is how a proper dungeony dungeon should feel.

Is “dungeony” a word? It should be.

Underworld Ascendant Spectre

Unfortunately, combat in Underworld Ascendant was no near as attractive a feature. While it likely had much to do with the build I was playing, I encountered a number of issues when trying to engage a fight. A fan of stealth tactics, I tried to keep to the shadows and pick off enemies from afar with the bow. Similar to the Elder Scrolls series, there’s an eye symbol that appears while in stealth mode. If it’s closed, enemies can’t see you or you’re hidden in darkness. In contrast, when it’s open, you’re either in some kind of light or an enemy has sight of you. This feature didn’t work as advertised, however. I would snipe enemies in complete darkness but if I missed or they lived, they’d know exactly where I was. They would then begin to counter-attack despite my stealth eye symbol never opening. But as stated previously, it was likely a bug in the build I was playing. The issues didn’t stop at stealth though.

What makes combat fun in any game is how rewarding it feels. That sensation was lacking in Underworld Ascendant. The aiming mechanic, for example, spoiled a lot of my enjoyment. It seemed off somehow. I’d get into position, draw my arrow, aim for the head and…would miss. The enemies weren’t typically moving at the time either, but I’d miss my mark nonetheless. Missing would then lead to enemies attacking me despite being “hidden.” It was frustrating. What’s the point of playing the stealth game if I can’t properly pick-off foes? Swordplay was also a letdown. Whenever an enemy got up close and personal with me, I’d draw my sword and lamely hack at it until it died. Combat was just underwhelming all around.

Underworld Ascendant Abyss

Underworld Ascendant does have a unique quality that greatly impressed me, however. The 14-man team over at Otherside Entertainment designed UA to include what they call an “Improvisation Engine.” This engine encourages something else they coined as “emergent behavior.” Essentially, the devs want players to ask themselves, ‘Can I do that?’ and find out that yes, indeed they can.

Throughout the Stygian Abyss are a variety physic-based puzzles, obstacles and traps that must be addressed. Thanks to the Improvisation Engine, players can get creative with how they approach these roadblocks. Can’t reach a far away platform? You could wall run, or find another way across by busting (or burning) down that locked wooden door. Perhaps you’d consider stacking those crates laying around everywhere to form a stairway or bridge. You get the picture. There are multiple paths to success for any given situation in Underworld Ascendant. Which path you take is entirely up to you.

Underworld Ascendant Green

Remember when I mentioned Gauntlet Legends in the first sentence? Here’s why. Aside from finding hidden food throughout the Abyss for your Yellow Wizard, UA is also mission-based. Not only that, players actually receive a score screen and gain experience based on performance in various areas such as stealth and how well they used the environment. It’s an interesting concept for sure, one that definitely sets Underworld Ascendant apart from other RPGs, and why it reminds me of Gauntlet Legends so much.

I didn’t get much at E3 in terms of story or plot; only some brief statements about different factions. I suspect we’ll hear more as we near Underworld Ascendant’s September 2018 release date. But I have to be honest, the build I played didn’t feel like something that’s getting released in three or four months. I personally feel UA would greatly benefit from six more months of polish. The bones are there though. With such an epic legacy to live up to, Underworld Ascendant deserves to be great. Hopefully, Otherside Entertainment uses these next few months wisely and makes it so.

To learn more about Underworld Ascendant and its unique approach to gameplay, please visit the official website.

Funcom Launches first DLC Pack for Conan Exiles – The Imperial East Pack

Available today for PC, Xbox One and PS4, The Imperial East Pack is live in Conan Exiles! It introduces Khitai themed buildings, war paints, ornate armor and weapons, items and more, all inspired by the eastern reaches, being brought right to the Exiled Lands. 39 new building pieces, 15 new armor pieces, 25 placeables, 9 weapons, and 5 war paints await in this new DLC and is available for 9.99 on all platforms.

“We’re excited to have launched the first DLC for Conan Exiles, but DLCs are only one part of the post-launch strategy for the game,” said Funcom Creative Director, Joel Bylos. “We are also working on bug and stability fixes along with several free updates, including pets and taming, new dungeons, a new religion, and more. These are all large, game-altering updates that will be provided free to all players.”