Monthly Archives: August 2019

Shortest Trip to Earth Reveals August Launch

After more than five years in development, Interactive Fate and Iceberg Interactive are excited to announce that Shortest Trip to Earth launches in August. August 15th, 2019 is the big day, and it follows the successful Early Access launch. Shortest Trip to Earth is a spaceship simulator that focuses on exploration, ship management, and tactical battle. The story follows a space captain that is traveling home at the end of an intergalactic war. Each ship in Shortest Trip to Earth has an armed crew, nuclear missiles, and of course, a cat.

Warhammer Vermintide 2: Winds of Magic Pre-Orders Begin

Fatshark announced today that the latest expansion for Warhammer: Vermintide 2, called “Winds of Magic” will arrive on August 13th. Pre-orders have begun, and those who do receive instant access to the beta, until the release of August 13th. This first expansion adds a new enemy faction to the game, as a meteor crashes down into the Reikland. Beastmen rush to the epicenter to claim it as a Herdstone, and this has to be stopped at all costs.

Vermintide 2 continues to grow, and challenge the players in new ways. The Winds of Magic expansion will introduce a new enemy, the Beastmen, as well as new game mode, weapons, and leaderboards.” says Martin Wahlund, CEO Fatshark. “We can’t wait to see how we rank up against the players on the leaderboards. Or maybe not?

Winds of Magic features:

  • Beastmen – The New Enemy
  • Dark Omens – New Level
  • Winds – New Game Mode
  • Raised Level Cap
  • New Talents
  • New weapons for all heroes
  • New Difficulty
  • Leaderboards

Final Fantasy IX “Eidolon” Album Review

by Jason Parker (Ragachak)

Eidolon FFIX Review

Eidolon: Music from Final Fantasy IX had to be an absolutely massive undertaking. This is, after all, a 63-track arrangement that pages homage to Nobuo Uematsu’s work in Final Fantasy IX. It’s not just one style of music, either. The Final Battle is a big band jazz number, Roses of May is more like a rock opera, and A Place to Call Home is more like a renaissance-themed arrangement. There are so many different styles, and a wealth of artists, such as the Triforce Quartet, Videri String Quartet, and StringPlayerGamer. There are video game composers who also took part, such as John Robert Matz (For the King) and Robby Duguay (Fossil Hunters). I love Final Fantasy IX, and despite there being several things about the game that makes me want to gnash my teeth in anger, what it did do right was character development and growth. Every character was terrific, and a great many of the bad guys, you actually hated them (or feel sorry for them in some cases). The game asks important questions, and none of the main cast are bland, two-dimensional characters who only exist to project onto (Looking at you, Final Fantasy XII).

“We thought the next Final Fantasy cover album from Materia Collective was long overdue, and we both have a big love for the Final Fantasy IX soundtrack,” comment album producers Emily McMillan and Joe Chen. “As the game focuses so much on character development and connections, we wanted to celebrate those ideas with a theme of collaboration. Each track on EIDOLON is the work of multiple Materia Collective artists working together to develop their interpretations of the classic music of Final Fantasy IX.”

There is no way I can cover all 63 tracks on this album, but I do feel like every single one is worth mentioning. I’ve had this album on my phone for when I’m driving around, blasting it through my stereo, when I’m writing in the morning, or when I’m relaxing, playing Magic: The Gathering Arena. Though my favorites, personally tend to be songs with vocals, because they’re just spellbinding. I do want to point out something that made me laugh. Vamo’Alla Flamenco: A Song to Impress Nobles uses the line at the end, “100 nobles were watching; 100 were impressed” and that’s how I know this is a work of fiction! Come on, you know it went more like “63, 80, 72, 90, 47, 90, 92, 96. . .” but maybe that’s just my experience. It was a nice touch to the song though. I also genuinely loved all four scenes of I Want to Be Your Canary at the end – because that was one of the best parts of this game, having its own damn opera/play.

Eidolon: Music From Final Fantasy IX can be found at all Storefronts. It comes very highly recommended from me.

1. Melodies of Life (Sauraen, Tavian St. James, Triforce Quartet):  While every song on this album is amazing, the best song in the entire game Final Fantasy IX is Melodies of Life, and that’s just how it goes. I don’t make the rules. Tavian St. James does a fantastic job of bringing the lyrics of such timeless Final Fantasy song to life, and it’s certainly one of my favorites of the entire franchise. The Triforce Quartet is excellent as well, and I believe this is my first time being exposed to them. They’re definitely on my must-listen to list. Sauraen’s arrangement of the song is delightful, and this group perfectly captures the emotion in Melodies of Life, which sounds equal parts hopeful and sorrowful. It easily stands up against other arrangements (such as the Distant Worlds album). God, this song was so damn sad but still beautiful. If you buy this album for no other song, make it this one.

2. Court Jesters (Jester Musician, Reyeverie): God, I hate these little bastards. Those creepy, murdering court jesters from Final Fantasy IX. Do you know what this version of the song reminded me of? A Tim Burton movie, and that’s in no way a knock. It sounds like the music you’d get for a creepy advisor or henchman in a big-budget movie. We go from beautiful and haunting, to creepy and unsettling with this one. The transitions, shifting from the click-clack of wooden blocks to represent sneaking, to having the music swell with a percussion and woodwinds? It’s perfect. They easily capture the essence of those damn Jesters, Thorn and Zorn. I hated how they spoke, I hated every dealing with them. But their music was fitting, and Squaresoft kept true to their clown-style characters being unsettling, bordering on murderous and psychotic.

3. Black Mages at the Black Mage Village (Robby Duguay, Sean Schafianski): The Black Mage Village was really something special in the Final Fantasy franchise. The Black Mages aren’t real, they are puppets, manufactured creatures. Seeing Black Mages trying to actually live was a really fascinating thing. They’re also deadly and powerful though! Sean Schafianski and Robby Duguay do a great job of working together to produce a more metal/rock sound for the Village of Black Mages. But it’s paired with what sounded like a harpsichord to me, which was a nice counterpoint to the awesome guitar shredding. To me, it added the whimsy and fascination that came with the original song, so it was really an enjoyable listen overall.

4. THE ROSE OF MAY: A Rock Opera (Brian Diamond, James C. Hoffman, SonikBuster): THE ROSE OF MAY: A Rock Opera reminded me a great deal of the OCR rendition of Final Fantasy VI’s and that may be the highest compliment I can give. SonikBuster is a part of so many remixes/renditions that I count among my favorites, and this is no exception. Their vocal work is just breathtaking. Plus, who doesn’t love a good rock opera? Not anyone that I want to call a friend. Memories of Life might be my favorite song in Final Fantasy IX but The Rose of May is my favorite song on this album if I had to pick one. The rolling drums, stringed instruments, and powerful guitar paired perfectly with the lyrics and spoken word of THE ROSE OF MAY.

5. The Final Battle (ConSoul, Thomas Kresge): Most “Final Battle” songs seem to get the heavy metal treatment, but Final Fantasy IX’s The Final Battle track gets something different, and honestly pretty amazing. Instead, it’s a Jazz/Big Band feel, and it’s pretty unique among the various songs I’ve listened to over the years here. Part of it is for me, that the Final Battle in Final Fantasy IX wasn’t really that intimidating, so having this song sort of ties it together with how I felt about it. It’s not intimidating, but it is thrilling and exciting. It gets your heel tapping, and the blood pumping. Now all I can see in my head are Final Fantasy characters doing swing dancing or something, and with the IX cast, that’s a hilarious mental image. There aren’t enough Big Band Final Fantasy tracks. I’ve heard some, but there simply aren’t enough. The Final Battle stands out among the rest, and is a great one to listen to, without a doubt.

Omega Zodiac Launches on R2 Games Website

In R2 Games Omega Zodiac, the Goddess Athena has been regarded as a pinnacle for wisdom and justice throughout the world. With that peace broken, she’s the only one who can set things right. However, Athena is weakened so she now needs the assistance of three mighty warriors to prevent the end of the world. In Omega Zodiac, players control a knight, mage or archer, and follow a “Gold Sacred Sets” system. This has them collecting the souls of various constellations and challenge the dangerous Sacred Set Dungeons. This is the only way to acquire sacred armor and grow in power.

Auto-move and auto-battle are available for players that prefer to use these features. In addition, there are PVP and PVE arenas, and battlegrounds to take part in, to see just who is the strongest among the stars. A guild support system is also in the game, to work together with other players. A link to the game can be found here.

“We’re incredibly proud of Omega Zodiac’s art style. The combination of 2D and 3D visuals is unmatched in browser-based MMORPGs,” says the Omega Zodiac team. “We hope players will enjoy battling alongside ancient mythological figures, defeating monsters and beasts, and getting their hands on those epic Gold Sacred Sets!”

Key Features:

⦁ Fight with 9 different combo skills against a variety of enemies.
⦁ Collect star maps and activate Gold Sacred Sets for sacred weapons and enchantments.
⦁ Refine your character’s 5 unique skills with constellations.
⦁ Explore challenging Sacred Set dungeons.
⦁ Engage with the community through guild features, guild cross-battles, and cross-server battles.
⦁ Enjoy single and multiplayer gameplay with PvP and PvE arenas, competitive battlegrounds, and a guild support system.
⦁ Challenge dozens of mighty bosses and hostile Gold Fighters.
⦁ Feast your eyes on Omega Zodiac’s beautiful 2D and 3D graphics and artwork.

Tekken 7 – Season Pass 3 Reveal

Harada trolled the audience last night with a variety of gags and jokes, but turns out, Tekken 7 wasn’t going to be left out! They did tease something related to Metal Gear, but that was only done in the venue, not in the stream. So perhaps Solid Snake is coming to the game. We did get confirmation of two characters though: Zafina the Spiritual Warrior, and a new character, Leroy Smith. He looks to be an amazing kung-fu style character and has an amazing look. They’ll both be available this year. Zafina drops in September, and Leroy Smith debuts this winter.

Soulcalibur VI – Cassandra Reveal / Season Pass 2 Reveal

Soulcalibur didn’t want to be left out on the new character front, and one of them hits the battleground of souls and swords today: Fan-favorite Cassandra! The Warring Maiden joins Sophitia in Soulcalibur today and is available in the Season Pass. She’s on all platforms the game is on.

In addition, Season Pass 2 was revealed, and a huge announcement was that there will be a crossover with SNK’s Samurai Showdown. Soulcalibur has a long history of guest characters, and we have our first in Soulcalibur VI, with Haohmaru from Samurai Showdown. Season 2 will have four new characters and 4 Creation Packs to pick up.

Guilty Gear EVO Announcement

We don’t really know much about this one, only that it looks absolutely gorgeous so far, and it’s coming in 2020. This is not a remake, an addition, or an expansion. Instead, we’re getting a brand-new Guilty Gear title, and we know it will without a doubt be incredible as Arcsysworks work to be the kings of 2D fighters.