Yearly Archives: 2019

Echo of Soul

Echo of Soul is a 3D fantasy MMORPG featuring thousands of hours of PvP, PvE, and solo or co-op dungeoneering. As the eternal soulkeeper of the planet, it’s up to you to combat the Giant King’s contamination and save all of creation from its curse.

Business Model: Free-to-Play

Microtransactions: Yes, there are optional in-game purchases available.

Key Features:

Harken Back: Enjoy a smooth and easy to control combat system inspired by the classics of the genre.

Victory Achieved: Customize your character by collecting enemy’s souls and drawing them into your being entirely.

It’s Up to Us: There is no dedicated healer! You must DPS or Tank, and keeping each member alive is the entire party’s responsibility!

Classes:
Experiment with a varied selection of classes including the protective Paladin, nefarious Warlock, cunning Sorceress, back-stabbing Rogue, fleet-footed Archer, stalwart Guardian, and raging Warrior.

Duck Game

Duck Game is a 2D action platformer featuring fast-paced gun battles. Experience the thrilling far off year of 1984, a special time where ducks were free to fight amongst each other for all of the glory they could attain.

Business Model: Buy-to-Play

Microtransactions: No

Key Features:

Looking Fly: Customize your duck with a wide variety of entertaining accessories.

Opening Up Options: Take on other players in local and online multiplayer, or tackle a series of challenges in the singleplayer mode.

Instant Knockout: One hit is all it takes to down both enemies and yourself. The hectic combat will keep players laughing, shouting, and strategizing against each other.

Easy Pick Up: The simple control scheme is effortless to learn, but rewards skilled play just as well.

From Me To You: Players can create their own levels and show them off to their friends.

Unreal Tournament

Unreal Tournament is a competitive multiplayer first-person shooter building on the original title’s landmark gameplay with the power of Unreal Engine 4.

Business Model: Unknown

Microtransactions: Unknown

Key Features:

Back to Basics: Fan-favorite game modes including 1v1 Duel, goal scoring Bombing Run, objective trading Assault, Free-for-All, core destroying Warfare, base race Capture the Flag, and classic Team Deathmatch are all expected to make a triumphant return.

Glory to the Victor: Sprint across hand-crafted maps picking up increasingly powerful weaponry and engaging in break-neck paced gunfights where champions are born from the chaos.

Heroes Charge

Heroes Charge is a 2D tactics adventure RPG featuring comprehensive hero-collecting across single-player, co-op, and multiplayer game modes.

Business Model: Free-to-Play

Microtransactions: Yes, there are optional in-game purchases available.

Key Features:

Pieces of the Puzzle: Mix and match from dozens of potential champ choices ranging from the tanky frontliner to the ranged DPS of archers and mages.

Open Oyster: Traverse through the mystical land of Kron where rare new characters await your arrival.

Stat Get: Raise your battle power by developing and upgrading a diverse selection of skills and equipment.

Battle Buddy: Go it solo or bring a friend along to tackle challenging dungeons together. Get good enough and you might even be able to beat out other guilds for elite prizes.

Calling All Competitors: Develop a strong, well-synergized team and take it to the global stage inside the PVP arena.

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night Review (PC)

by Jason Parker (Ragachak)

 

“What is a man? A miserable little pile of pachinko machines!” – someone at Konami, likely.

Seriously, Konami has just made mistake after mistake over the years, and I’m going to add “Not having Bloodstained in their library” as one of them. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is an Igavania (roguelite/exploration ARPG) by the creator of the Castlevania franchise himself, Koji Igarashi. It saw setback after setback, and there was a lot of fear that it would wind up like Mighty No. 9: which is to say an utter, soul-crushing disappointment. Those fears were ultimately unfounded, because their team did it all right, and it’s easily the best Iga/Metroidvania I’ve played this year.

But what is an Iga/Metroidvania? It combines the styles of Metroid and Castlevania into one place. You have a huge map, tons of power-ups to find, and a story that goes in order, but you have to figure out how to get from one story point to the next. It doesn’t hold your hand or show you the way. The best example of this is Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, and there are plenty of loving tributes to his earlier creation, without it feeling like SOTN Jr.

The tutorial area for Bloodstained is nice and brief. You learn a few things, without having your hand held other than to introduce the Shard system, which is the major power system for the whole of this game. As you’ll find in my companion piece, found here (New Players tips for Bloodstained), every Demon in the game has a Shard attached to them, and killing them has a chance to drop whatever shard they have. This is separate from their loot table as well. You have a set of Shards to equip, each paired to a color. The more you have of them (up to 9), the stronger they are, and you can also enhance them with a separate level, using crafting materials that drop from enemies. That sounds a little complicated, but once you’ve done it once or twice, it’s very clear how it all works. One of the biggest pieces of advice I have is if you have a shard you actively use, POWER IT UP.

  • Conjure (Red) – These are treated like magical spells. The button press shoots the ability.
  • Manipulative (Blue) – These manipulate you or the world around you. Defensive barriers, transformation, and healing.
  • Directional (Purple) – These are skills that you aim with the right stick, and fire with a button press. Some of these are movement based, but most are offensive, with the odd defensive thrown in.
  • Enchant (Yellow) – These are passive abilities. The best part about them is capping them at level 9 turns them into a White Shard, which is automatically active at all times, unless you disable them.
  • Familiar (Green) – These are spirits or demons that hang out with you and fight. Some have healing abilities, but most are very offensively oriented. It takes a while for them to come online, but they’re fierce when they do.

The actual gameplay is pretty standard Metroidvania fair. You have a primary objective, where the game does nothing to tell you exactly where to go. At best, you get cryptic hints teasing somewhere you haven’t been or where you missed something. When all else fails, look in an area for a boss you haven’t killed, because most of the major bosses give you some kind of movement power that you’ll need to progress with. There are also the green teleporter rooms (marked in the game with beautiful stained glass windows). This is your primary method of getting around in a hurry, so you’ll want to find the one for every area (except Den of Behemoths). Instead of using spells that have hidden button commands, like in SOTN, most of the weapons in the game have a special technique. You can learn these by doing them, or by reading every bookshelf in the castle. These bookshelves always stand out, and either has lore or a cool technique in them.

The actual gameplay is easy to get into though – the controls are standard fare for a platforming side-scroller, and they are solid. The only problem I had was my fault. It wasn’t clear to me that with one of the Directional Powers, I needed to press a trigger button after lining up the shot, and spent close to an afternoon trying to figure out what I did wrong. There are minor issues with hit detection it seems though – that’s my only complaint in terms of the controls. This hit detection only really seems to apply to lanterns/lamps, which you break open for money/mana. Some weapons just whiff right by unless you are 100% spot on. It’s not a deal breaker, but it can be a little vexing to turn around and swing again. When I’m actively breaking lamps, I tend to use the Spiked Breastplate, so I can just jump into them. This is a very exploration heavy game though, and the only way to know where to go, other than Google, is through exploration and reading hints. The NPCs won’t tell you a hint twice. So if nothing else, take a screenshot so you can reference something again.

There aren’t any real mini-games in Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night. It’s all action, all the time, unless you count the side-quests. There are a few NPCs in the main town that ask for your help – finding mementos for the townspeople, cooking dishes for an older woman, and getting revenge by murdering demons. You have to find the demons yourself, and the cooking side-quests do not tell you what the food IS. You have to guess, or rather, look at the icon for it, then go back to Johannes, and look through the recipes you’ve unlocked. Johannes is the NPC that cooks, crafts items, and enhances shards. Dominique is the other merchant-style character: she buys your shards, sells you items, and buys your items. I said this in my companion article, but do NOT sell your shards to her unless you absolutely are desperate for cash. These side-quests take up a few hours of gameplay at best and are 100% worth doing. The items you get for them are all very high-power. The final memento quest item, for example, increases your chances of getting Shards (Solomon’s Ring). So, while there aren’t tons of side-quests, there are more than enough secrets, optional bosses, secret bosses, and one paid DLC boss – Iga himself! However, this was free for backers of a certain level, but they decided to sell it to everyone else, so they don’t miss out. That fight felt like a souped-up Dracula (SOTN). Which does lead me to one of my only serious complaints.

The actual story is different from Symphony of the Night, but it still had that same Castlevania feel to it. I know there were lots of tributes to the previous games he created, but other than a spoiler point I can’t talk about, and the magical MacGuffins (Shards), the story did not blow me away. To be fair though, story has never been the major talking point of an Igavania. Several points surprised me, but the story did not blow my mind. But you know what did? Everything else. Visually, this game is a treat, and the soundtrack was absolutely damn gorgeous. The gameplay, exploration, and challenging boss fights (at least in the beginning) made me incredibly happy. The longer the game went on, the easier the bosses got though, except for one recurring boss.

The optional bosses were overwhelmingly easy, and even Iga himself, I demolished with superior firepower. Those minor qualms aside, it’s still a fun game. I don’t hate the story, mind. I’m hoping the future DLC will expand on this already massive area, and include more background to these characters though. Speaking of difficulty though, the difficulty curve is incredibly weird for Bloodstained. I died more times in random fights out in the world than I did to bosses. For much of the game, I had virtually no defense and was taking tons of damage from the simplest of encounters. Save Points do full restore you, but they are few and far between in the most critical of times. It was a little cliche, but I can’t go into details without spoiling much of it. I will say that while the story didn’t blow me away, it was still enjoyable. I didn’t get tired of reading/listening to any of it.

Caution: This is the optional Iga fight in its entirety.

It Was Worth The Wait: 4.5/5 (Great)

Iga delivered when Bloodstained was released. Even the parts that frustrated me, made my blood boil with anger, or felt unwinnable (they were). It was always a matter of learning a pattern, or going back to level grind or try a new set of Shards. There’s plenty of replay value was well, with NG+, two extra difficulties (with more of them on the way), and there will be another character to play. That’s without mentioning there will be online/offline co-op for Bloodstained. Iga stated there will be 12 free DLC content drops for Bloodstained, so there is going to be plenty of different ways to play and approach this game. There are different builds, weapon styles, and approaches to Bloodstained, and there really isn’t a wrong way. Bloodstained is virtually all I’ve played for days, and I’ve sincerely loved every minute of it. The “Inverted” movement pattern does make me a bit ill after a while, and I still have yet to unlock the final movement power, but I’m just bad at the stupid race to unlock it. Bloodstained was unequivocally worth the wait. It’s a beautiful experience, with plenty of challenge and tons of secrets to uncover.

Thank you, Iga. Bloodstained is a masterpiece in a genre you made famous. It easily tops every other Igavania/Metroidvania I’ve experienced so far.

A game key was provided for review purposes.

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night Screenshots

Planet Zoo

Planet Zoo is a zoo management simulation from the makers of Planet Coaster and Zoo Tycoon. Manage a modern zoo, working on conservation efforts while offering an entertaining experience for your guests and a safe habitat for your animals.

Business Model: Retail

Microtransactions: Unknown

Key Features:

Detailed Animal Management and Conservation: Each animal species has been carefully researched and designed to have unique needs and behaviors. Complete research to better tend your animals and even release new generations into the wild.

Extensive Creative Tools: Use terraforming, landscaping, and building tools to create your own distinct zoo piece by piece.

Steam Workshop Support: The Planet Zoo community can utilize Steam Workshop to share their own creations and modifications to present endless replayability and customization.

 

The Cycle Giveaway: Weekend Playtest Keys (Epic Game Store)

We’ve once again partnered with Yager, developers of The Cycle, to bring you a new batch of weekend playtest codes on the Epic Game Store!

The Cycle is a competitive quester shooter. On Fortuna III you compete against other Prospectors, or collaborate with them, to complete as many contracts as possible. The only problem is, the planet is hostile in more ways than one. Alien wildlife tends to want to rip your face off. Rival Prospectors are at best untrustworthy and at worst highly murderous. And if that’s not bad enough, there’s The Cycle itself… a planetary metamorphosis which, if you don’t make it to the evac in time, will absolutely ensure the end of you. Will you get rich, or get dead? Your skill decides.


Code Includes:

The code includes access to all alpha and closed beta events, including playtest weekends. Additionally, for helping test the game, you’ll get access to a special Alpha Supporters outfit!

Redemption:

To redeem the key, log into your Epic games store launcher. In the lower left corner click on your user name, and then click where it says “Redeem Code”. Simply paste the key into the page and click the redeem button! Notice: If the game does not appear in your library, try restarting the Epic games launcher. If you have additional difficulties, ask for assistance in The Cycle’s official Discord: https://discordapp.com/invite/thecycle Also, make sure to sign up for the newsletter at https://thecycle.game/

This Weekend’s Play Test:

  • Starts this Friday, June 28st, at 3 PM CEST (9 AM EST) (Converter)
  • Planned to be live until Monday, July 1st, at 9AM CEST (3 AM EST) (Converter)

 

Ashen Review

By Terris Harned (NWOrpheus)

As a gamer, I feel very fortunate to be alive in the times we live in. My Steam library has 242 games in it (that are visible; some others I’ve permanently hidden for one reason or another). There are games in virtual reality, and in alternate reality for my cell phone. There are survival games, and FPS games, and BR games, and MMORPG games. There are games that I like, and there are some that I know are just not for me.

And that’s okay.

Let me just say that again for emphasis: There are some games that I don’t like, and that’s okay. Not everything is about me. There could be any number of reasons why a particular game doesn’t appeal to me personally, from art aesthetic to the game’s particular sense of humor. It could be gameplay, difficulty, control style, or any combination of these things. Be that as it may, I can still appreciate when a game is well put together.

Potential spoilers I guess? Even though this is just how the game opens. I actually loved this cinematic, and watched it again the second time I started a game.

Ashen is not for me. I did not personally enjoy my time playing it, but I can appreciate it as the work of art that it is. The story and dialogue are elegantly written and conveyed, and what I suspect are some interesting undertones further along than I was able to make it probably exist. One can absolutely sense that the game is put together well, and that a good deal of thought went into it.

I personally just did not enjoy playing it. The reason being, it’s just too damned hard for my tastes. I never played Dark Souls, but I have watched it played on Twitch, and it’s clear that the developers for Ashen, New Zealand based Aurora 44 Games, got a good deal of inspiration from the Dark Souls franchise. If you’re a fan of that series, chances are that Ashen will tickle your fancy as well.

Let’s take a minute to go over some of the features. You are allowed a certain amount of customization of your character, but given the minimalist aesthetic of Ashen, which again, I do appreciate, your choices are somewhat limited. You can change your hairstyle, hair color, skin color, and facial hair. What I really found enlightened for this character creation was that there is no male or female choice, but rather masculine and feminine shaped bodies, which had only slight differences. Additionally you can select any hair, or facial hair, for either body type.


After you have done the character creation, you’ll play through a brief tutorial. In my opinion, far too brief. If you’re going to make a game with incredibly punishing combat, it seems to me it would be better to give people the tools they need to succeed in that combat, rather than just throwing them into the deep end.

Additionally, nowhere on the store page or when loading the game did I see mention of a controller being the preferred method for gameplay. I found this out only when speaking with a friend who was one of the writers for the game. This was incredibly frustrating to me, because while attempting to play on the keyboard I spent approximately two hours dying repeatedly, unable to advance beyond the first quest.

Each time I would die, I would get sent back to the starting area with less resources than I had before, making failure extremely punishing. In most games, if you die, you go back to a save point, and the world state is reset to how it was before. In Ashen, you go back to a save point, all enemies respawn, but items that you pick up and use, such as curatives, are now gone for good. Granted, anything you picked up along the way you do still have, but I still did not find this to be a system that I like. Especially because, again, the combat system is designed to be prohibitively difficult.

One thing I learned, although it felt a bit like cheating, was that your AI companion (who can be replaced by another player at any time, whether you will it or not, apparently) is a great tank, and generally a better fighter than you’ll ever be. The most effective way to handle combat was thus to let him run in and take hits, then to come and clean up. This is especially true against groups of enemies. It also seems that the companion has unlimited healing potions, which you most certainly do not.

Jorkell is a good dude, and usually I can tell if he’s an AI or not. Usually.

Your companion can also revive you if you’re taken down to zero health, but I think there’s a cooldown on that ability. He revived me one time during battle, but then when I fell again shortly after, even though he was victorious, he made no move to bring me back. Likewise, when my companion fell in battle during a boss fight I was able to help him up once, but not a second time.

Unfortunately, I’m just not good at this type of game, and when it comes to a review with a deadline, I just don’t have the time to get good, either. As I understand it, people put hundreds of hours into Dark Souls type games to get good, and more power to them. In my case, however, it means that there are likely features that I won’t get to experience.

I did manage to get the first little village, Vagrant’s Rest, set up, and even managed to recruit a couple NPCs to stay there and help our cause. I did also manage to find some parts of items whose descriptions suggest that crafting is an aspect of the game, but didn’t get far enough to experience doing any crafting myself.

Obviously, gaming is part of my job. However, I judge it as a hobby and a passion. It’s something that I want to enjoy in my downtime, and not obsess over or feel as though it is work. I enjoy a game with a good thinking challenge, and sometimes even the skill required to get good at a shooter.

That’s just me, though. If the Dark Souls style challenge of dying over and over and over and over and over and over again is your thing, then by all means, pick up Ashen. Maybe you got good at the DS franchise games and are looking for something similar, but outside that scope. Then Ashen would be a better fit for you, than it was for me. Despite this, I still give the game a solid 4 out of 5, because it is designed and executed well, for what it is.