Yearly Archives: 2018

A Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia – Blood, Sweat and Spears

Every noble is claiming to be the rightful king of Briton. But in Blood, Sweat, and Spears, the latest update to Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia really uncorks the gore, with limb chopping, beheadings, and a wealth of other violent acts. For those who own Blood & Burning for Total War: ATTILA, it’s free and available for purchase elsewhere.

Also live now via auto-update is the Allegiance Update for Thrones of Britannia. This major overhaul updates and rebalances many areas of the game based on player feedback. Introducing greater depth and granularity to politics, improved battle AI and a new system for issuing decrees, the update also heralds the new Allegiance mechanic – a system which simulates the trials facing a faction that expands to capture new territory.

Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight/Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight Teaser

Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight and Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight are on the way to Playstation 4 and Playstation Vita on December 4th, 2018, and both have remixed music and English Voice Acting. Each game has 25 remixed tractions, from fan-favorites to original tracks from Persona 3 and 5 and all-new remixes. This latest trailer highlights “Want to Be Close (ATOLS Remix) and “Last Surprise (Jazztronik Remix).

Steel Division II Shows Off New Features With In-Game Trailer

French independent studio Eugen Systems released a new trailer that shows off the in-game features for their anticipated sequel to Steel Division: Normandy 44 – Steel Division II. It is set on the Eastern Front of World War II in 1944, during Operation Bagration. The focus is on the Soviet counter-attack against the Axis forces in Byelorussia, and features brand-new turn-based Dynamic Strategic Campaigns, a new setting in the Eastern Front, and over 600 historically accurate units across 18 divisions. 25 maps will offer realistic battlefields to tackle, and an array of changes to their deck-building mechanics. It will also feature offline and online modes, such as co-op and the massive 10vs.10 multiplayer battles. Also, fans who sign-up for the Steel Division II newsletter at the official website can also look forward to receiving an exclusive cosmetic “Ace” skin at the game’s release: Marcel Albert and his deadly Yakovlev Yak-9T fighter aircraft.

Project Genesis Unveiled by 8 Circuit Studios – Space Survival with a Persistent Universe

8 Circuit Studios is a team of gaming industry veterans who are coming together to unveil Project Genesis. Project Genesis is their grand-scale deep-space survival title which is powered by the Etherum Blockchain. They plan to combine FPS gameplay and space combat, to have players piloting giant spacefaring destruction machines, as well as infiltrating the ships of their enemies, all in the pursuit of domination and victory. Project Genesis plans to be set in a persistent universe that’s a part of 8 Circuit Studios’ growing ecosystem, based on their developing Metaverse (a series of interconnected virtual worlds and experiences without boundaries). Players inhabit an A.I. that has learned it must choose between self-sacrifice to save the human race, or set out to embark on its own destiny. This AI’s quest for preservation has players setting out into the stars to defeat other pilots, secure more powerful ships and secure their own survival.

Project Genesis is going to be a perfect fit for gamers looking for an experience that combines intense first-person shooters with white-knuckle third-person space combat,” said Terry Hammer, Producer, of 8 Circuit Studios. “It’s going to be far more than just a space shooter, we are going to push the whole experience by integrating the Ethereum blockchain – allowing players the ability to carry digital assets they earn and acquire, like ships and weapons, into other games.”

Victor Vran: Overkill Edition – Nintendo Switch (Any Port In a Storm)

by Jason Parker (Ragachak)

Victor Vran Review - Lemmy

You are sorely missed, Lemmy.

Hello, Internet! I haven’t written about a Port in a while, so what better time than now? I’ve spent some time with Victor Vran: Overkill Edition on the Nintendo Switch, and it sincerely made me regret not getting to this game sooner. I’ve been posting news about Victor Vran for a while now, starting with the DLC (Fractured Worlds and Motorhead), and it really bummed me out that I missed out on this on the ground floor. It’s a snarky, exciting action-RPG with a sharp, dark look, and a pretty simple premise. It didn’t need to be complicated or ridiculous: Zagoravia is overrun with undead and evil demons and stuff, and the Queen made a call: Someone needs to come to help us get rid of these nerds! That’s where the ultra-stylish Victor Vran (who even gets to pick from several outfits to pick from) appears.  There are tons of areas to explore, you can access the DLC at any time, and it looks tremendous on the Switch. There’s no slow-down or lowering of quality for the console release.

Victor Vran Review - Killin Time

There are lots of horrific evil things to blast into pieces. Don’t worry.

Though it’s a few years old by now, there’s always going to be that fated comparison “What about Diablo 3? Is it as good as Diablo 3”? Victor Vran is definitely its own game. The biggest thing you need to have in an ARPG is solid controls and I appreciate that it’s not a twin-stick. Whatever direction you’re in is the direction you attack, and the right stick controls the camera rotation. It’s easy to cast your demonic abilities, swap weapons (since you can have two weapon types at all times), jump, swing, it’s all fluid and smooth. I also appreciate that he’s not tied to simply using a sword or a shotgun. You can wield a Scythe, a massive Hammer, of course, a badass Shotgun, he’s got undead killing options. Each has their own ability style, useful times, and of course you can equip whichever demon abilities you happen to have. So you run through areas, murder the undead/demons, collect loot, rinse and repeat. But one of the swell things is that I have yet to run out of inventory space. It’s not one of those games where you have twelve slots, everything takes up a different amount of space, and “Good luck, dork”! No, I’ve had plenty of room.

Victor Vran Review - Lloyd

Now I want to watch The Toxic Avenger…

Another interesting facet of the game is “The Voice”. There’s a snarky, annoying, sassy voice that follows you around in your head, and talks trash throughout the game (as far as I’ve been). He’s always there, but sometimes he can be useful, pointing out that there’s a secret nearby, enemies are near, or you found something cool. But most of the time, it’s just a snarky jerk who pipes up when you least want him. That said, The Voice is awesome, it’s an interesting dynamic between it and the ultra-serious grimdark Victor Vran. Speaking of voices, I also want to say that it’s wonderful that Lloyd Kaufman (of Troma Entertainment fame) is the barkeep for the Motorhead portion of the game. Supernatural elements like that are key to Victor Vran, and with that comes a series of Tarot cards that he can equip, that augment various abilities. They’re called “Destiny Cards”, also have their own rarity (like everything else in an ARPG).

Victor Vran Review - Snaggletooth

It’s occasionally hard to see Victor, but all you need to do is start murdering things and the way will be clear.

Now, there are one or two minor gripes about this otherwise very enjoyable game. I noticed in the Motorhead: Through the Ages DLC/World, occasionally if you’re idling, the music stops looping. This took me about five minutes I believe. Once the song had ended, it did not loop until I hit the next area/boss, where a new track would pick up. There was also some really odd skipping/pausing of the track on the Motorhead title screen. I couldn’t tell if it was being censored, or just pausing. It was pretty frustrating either way. I didn’t spend a lot of time on that menu except for once, but it was enough to stand out to me. The only other thing that bothered me was a gameplay mechanic of spell-casting enemies having so many homing shots. I always had plenty of ways to get health back, but it was pretty vexing to have a challenge like “Don’t get hit and kill 60 enemies), with homing fire. So I just had to target them first and fast. Since this is an ARPG, you will be doing some grinding, but at least there are cool challenges on each map to tackle, secrets to find, and rare monsters/rare loot to uncover. It’s worth doing, for sure.

The Only Card I Need: 4/5

Victor Vran Review - Grunge

The grungy, dark art style really works for Victor Vran.

So, I love Motorhead, even if I joke about them a lot. Victor Vran has a grimy, slimy, smoky look to it and I love that. These worlds are ravaged, ruined, and depressing, and it’s up to the smooth, badass, taciturn Victor Vran to show up and save the day. It controls smooth, the weapons and powers are awesome, the dialogue is well written, and the reason for doing it makes sense. You can tackle the DLC anytime you please, and I’ve sincerely enjoyed the game. I’m still making my way through the content, but it’s been an absolute joy. Having rewards when I level up, finding rare gear and secret areas, all of these things were fun. The difficulty is there, without being insane (though you can lower or raise it if you need to). Victor Vran: Overkill Edition has a look and style all its own, and if you missed out on it everywhere else and need an ARPG, this is exactly what you need.

Editor’s Note: A code was provided for this review.

Yakuza Kiwami 2 Review: There Can Be Only One

by Jason Parker (Ragachak)

Yakuza 2 Review - Majima

Majima’s back with his own story!

I hope that Yakuza Kiwami 2 continues to grow the franchise here in America, because we need the rest of the games to be remastered and brought to the West on the PS4 and Steam. Yakuza Kiwami 2 is easily the best game I have played in the franchise, with a wealth of content, quality-of-life changes, and plus, it’s the second game (in the West) where you can play as everyone’s favorite lunatic, Majima Goro! There’s also “Yakuza: Dead Souls” in Japan, but since that wasn’t released here, it doesn’t count.

But what is Kiwami 2? It’s a remaster/remake of Yakuza 2, originally released on the Playstation 2 back in 2008 (‘06 in Japan). The Ryu ga Gotoku series is one I fell in love with back in Yakuza 4 when I first did my review of it. Yakuza Kiwami 2 takes place a year after the 10 Billion Yen Incident that was the central plot point in Yakuza 1/Kiwami. Kazuma Kiryu is just trying to say his farewells to the (many) friends who died in the last game. That is a trend in Kiryu’s life: people dying, and terrible, unfortunate circumstances. War is coming to Japan in the form of powerful Yakuza families. Two dragons will clash. Ryuji Goda insists that there is no room in Japan for two Dragons, and he seeks to prove he is mightier than the Dragon of Dojima, Kazuma Kiryu.

Yakuza 2 Review - Light em Up

The Heat Actions are absolutely insane in this one.

Yakuza Kiwami 2 is pretty accessible to beginners, even if you didn’t play Kiwami 1 (but why wouldn’t you? It was wonderful). As you walk with Haruka Sawamura, who Kiryu has all but adopted, you can relive the events of the previous game, who the major players were, and what they meant to Kiryu, much like Yakuza 6 does in the beginning. Then you have the standard fighting tutorial that helps players figure out how the combat works. It’s honestly simple: You have Light Attack, Heavy Attack, Dodge, and Grapple. However there are some changes from Kiwami and 0 to be aware of; specifically, there aren’t stances to switch between. In previous games, you had a few styles: Blue (Standard fighting), Yellow (Wild Swinging Madness), Purple (Rapid, Fist of the North Star strikes) and Red (The “Dragon of Dojima” style). Now you just have your Dragon of Dojima style, and three tabs for weapons. In Kiwami 2, if you pick up a weapon before the fight is over and hit the down arrow, you’ll put it in your inventory. That means you can equip them in your menu on one of those tabs, and swing till it runs out of strikes. That tedious feature remains where you’ll have to repair or replace weapons that run out. I get it though, some of these are ridiculously strong. But if it’s a weapon, you can keep it. It’s also important to note that Komaki will be back at some point in the game to teach you more advanced techniques.

Yakuza 2 Review - Wat

With the Trouble Finder, you can find quality content like this!

You still have to unlock the unconventional Heat Actions in your Skills List on the Menu, but that leads me to one of the best features of Yakuza Kiwami 2. In past games, you have to go on a wild chase to find the “Trouble Finder” item, which alerts you to nearby Side Missions. That makes them an absolute frustrating chore unless you already have a list of them online (which does exist). Now it’s a matter of a few Purple Exp, and you can see them on the map at all times! Bless you, SEGA, this is the feature I’ve been desperate for. It’s taxing to try and review a game and experience the hilarious and awkward side-missions if you can’t find them! Now you’ll see a text box on your full map with where they’re located at. The blue text boxes are side quests you’re presently on. Speaking of the map, you can also see where the roaming packs of thugs are when they’re nearby, and if you are slow moving, you can avoid them, or if you activate a mission/quest/conversation. But why would you want to do that? Run in and do battle! Another one of the quality-of-life features comes at this point though.

Yakuza 2 Review - In-Store

This is after I put someone’s head in a microwave. And set them on fire with it.

Now if you walk into a shop or building, you don’t have a loading screen and aren’t stuck walking in slow motion. Enemies will chase you into shops and if you wreck up the place with your violent shenanigans (which will happen), they will refuse to do business with you and demand you leave. There are even achievements built around it! One of my favorite achievements is throwing someone through a window of a business (and another for Repeat Offending). Throwing is so much better in this version of the game, and as a side note, it’s very satisfying to hurl Yakuza into a river and hear that lovely, distant splash. Though you gain EXP for fights and missions, the best exp comes from eating at restaurants. Finding the right combos of foods gives bonuses, and the exp can be spent on increasing stats and learning new skills. Just remember you can’t eat but a certain amount before you either have to 1. Wait it out, or 2. Drink Appstim to reduce how full you are. There are also items to help with that digestion that you can equip. Red EXP is Strength, Blue is Agility, Yellow is Vitality, Green is Technique, and Purple is Charisma. Most of these skills are learned simply by spending points, but there are some that are hidden behind missions (RE: reading books/magazines).

Yakuza 2 Review - Cabaret

Cabaret is such a fun way to kill time and make piles of Yen.

There is so much to see in do between the towns of Kamurocho and Sotenbori, which are designed after Tokyo’s Kabukicho and Osaka’s Dotonbori/Shinsekai districts. It even has real buildings/chains/products, which is another Yakuza staple. From Don Quijote to Sushi Zanmai (which I learned about thanks to New Japan Pro Wrestling, shoutouts to Kevin Kelly), there are a bunch of true-to-life depictions in Yakuza as a whole, right down to Club SEGA and the real-life arcade games. In this one, we get one of the Virtua Fighters, Darts, UFO Catchers and my personal favorite, VIRTUAL-ON. That’s one of the mainstays of Yakuza that is not lost on Kiwami 2, the content outside of the main story. Dozens of side-stories, golf swings, trying restaurants, making friends and allies, and perhaps most important out of all of the side missions is the Cabaret. Previously, that was Majima’s gimmick, but now Kiryu finds himself running a Cabaret and participating in the “Cabaret Grand Prix”. It’s the best way to make money and has a really fascinating story to play through. It is very similar to the previous game, where you partner with local facilities, recruit new girls to help run the business, and keep the patrons happy. Grand Cabaret would be an article all on its own, and perhaps that will be an editorial in the future. But trust me, it’s the best way to make cash, and an enjoyable challenge/change of pace.

Yakuza 2 Review - Pisser

…Yup.

I’ll avoid talking about the main story, because it’s an experience that must be had first hand, but this war is going to be exciting and worrisome. There’s a new love interest, betrayal, violence, and more secrets than I know what to do with. Kiryu gets himself into the absolute most incredible situations, and though Kiryu wished to have nothing to do with the Yakuza again, it’s up to him to save the Tojo Clan. But things aren’t what they appear to be, and there just might be a third-party threat lurking in the shadows. 2006 is a wild year for Kiryu, and the storytelling is excellent. That’s one of the reasons I love the incredibly wacky side-missions because the main story for Yakuza can be pretty damn dark; it’s a nice palate cleanser. Not to mention that Yakuza Kiwami 2 has a brand new scenario built around Goro Majima to continue the threads that were woven by Yakuza 0. Some of my favorite side-missions: The Potty Mini-Game (Yes, that’s real), Rebuilding Sunshine (the Orphanage Kiryu’s from/helps), In the Name of Art (being roped into weird, erotic photographs), and We’re All In This Together (Helping some students nail an interview for work). This is just a taste of them. There are about 76 substories, each 100% worth playing through.

 

Yakuza 2 Review - MASAHIRO CHONO

Also guest-starring Japanese Pro Wrestling legends like MASAHIRO CHONO AND RIKI CHOSHU.

Kiryu: Why me? 4.5/5 (Great)

Yakuza Kiwami 2 being built on the Dragon Engine was a solid idea. The animations and character designs are even better than they were in Yakuza 6. SEGA’s attention to detail in the world around them is commendable, and one of the things I love is that playing these games makes me feel like I’ve actually been to these areas. They’re more alive than ever before, with traffic, more people wandering around and talking, and instead of people surrounding you for a fight, you aren’t restricted to that tiny space. You can throw people around, decide you aren’t up for a fight and run away, or toss them through a window. Or bash them into a parked car. Combat is smooth and fluid, the soundtrack is fantastic, the localization is sharp. You can even have local people help you in a fight if you allied up with them through missions.

Yakuza 2 Review - Clack Clack

Never bring a gun to a Kiryu-fight.

There’s still plenty I haven’t even talked about, like how Clan Creator is back, and instead of New Japan current stars, it features some of the greatest legends in Japanese Wrestling history. The Yakuza franchise is going strong and is one of the only sandbox games that I can stick to until the end. The areas are not big, but like I’ve said before, Yakuza does so much with such a small amount of real-estate. Every single square inch of these towns is worth exploring. The people of Kamurocho and Sotenbori need Kiryu, and he’ll leave it a better place than he found it. Even if you missed out on 0 and Kiwami, this is a terrific place to leap into. The action starts up almost immediately.

Medieval Engineers – Update 0.6.4 Information

Medieval history is rife with conflict and war. It’s with this in mind, that combat has been a part of the Medieval Engineers plan. This latest update, it’s to create combat mechanics that are more intense and exciting for players to enjoy. They will receive further polish in the future, with particle effects and decals. This is not all that changed though: server admin can now set up remote API to monitor servers similar to Space Engineers, chat logging and offline chat to keep up with players. Modders also saw some new features, which we’ll list below. They had a few core ideas they wanted to express about this combat system also:

Combat shouldn’t take away from engineering.” 
This is the primary idea that is reinforced by all of the other ideas. We see engineering as the core of our gameplay because it’s what makes engineers games different from similar games.

“Combat should be easy to learn.” 
There shouldn’t be new controls, purposefully difficult timings, or combination moves to make fighting harder than it has to be. You should understand it well enough after only a few minutes of practice.

“Combat should rely mostly on skill to win.” 
Winning should always be possible if you are more skilled than your opponent.

“Combat should be short.” 
You shouldn’t have to spend a lot of time on combat if you don’t want to.

The only bonuses you take into combat is better gear and more health, that’s it. It’s based on attacking and blocking but enhanced to offer a variety of attacks and blocks. Each character has three zones that can be attacked and defended, which creates a directional approach to combat. Combat gives you an additional adrenaline effect. When you are fighting you will hear your heart beating and your vision will narrow. At the same time, your attacks and blocks will become faster than usual. The part of combat that makes zones possible is target-locking. This is a ‘soft lock’, meaning that you can still aim attacks and blocks while you are locked.

List of New Features:

  • New combat system
  • Resources rebalanced for faster gathering and building
  • HUD improvements for chat and readability
  • Toolbar behavior improvements

For Modders:

  • Updated subpart system
  • New biome definition format
  • New chat system with moddable channels
  • New entity effects

For Server Admins:

  • Message of the Day
  • Chat logging
  • Remote API and VRage Remote Client