Code Vein teases an enemy in their latest teaser. Are you ready for the “Successor of the Ribcage”, and whatever they bring to the fight?
Yearly Archives: 2019
Utawarerumono: ZAN Reveals Release Date
Utawarerumono: ZAN released a new trailer today, and with it comes the reveal that it will hit Playstation 4 on September 10th, 2019. Today’s trailer shows off the action-packed gameplay, where players arm their characters with a variety of equipment, tackle free missions, acquire Military medals, and group up for online action.
Terraria Now Available on Nintendo Switch
505 Games partnered with Re-Logic and Pipeworks Studio to bring 2D action-adventure game Terraria to the Nintendo Switch. It releases on the Nintendo eShop digitally today, and retail for a physical edition later in the Summer. It is available for 29.99 and is filled with popular features and content from the 1.3 PC/console update, and is also enhanced for the Nintendo Switch.
“We are extremely proud of what we have achieved with our partners at Re-Logic in creating and sharing a sleeper hit that has blossomed into a global community with more than 27 million copies sold to date,” said 505 Games Senior Brand Director John Merchant. “With the launch of Terraria for Nintendo Switch, the doors will open to an even larger audience of players, offering the most flexible way to play this wondrous sandbox-style adventure at home or on-the-go.”
Nintendo Switch Terraria Features:
- Touch screen support to quickly navigate inventory and add more finesse in building, digging and combat (two joy-con controllers required per player)
- Up to 8-player online play (Nintendo Switch Online subscription required)
- Over 300 enemies to combat, defeat, and plunder for loot
- Over 20 Bosses and Events to truly test the player’s skills
- Endgame Celestial Invasion Event and the Moonlord final boss encounter
- Over 20 Biomes and Mini-Biomes to explore, both above and underground – from lush forests to barren deserts to dungeons, the underworld, and even the terrifying Corruption await!
- New Expert Mode designed to provide new challenges for even the most seasoned Terraria veterans – with the promise of greater rewards
- Updated crafting with multiple added item options
- Over 20 NPCs to discover, each providing their own benefits and unique style
- More than 800 new items to discover – bringing the total item count to more than 3500!
- In-depth building options that are easy to learn, but allow for amazing feats of architecture in the hands of a master
Portal Knights Releases Biggest Update Ever
A massive update hits Portal Knights today, for Steam and Xbox One (tomorrow, June 28th for PS4). The Nintendo Switch edition of this update will come later on in the summer. There’s a paid DLC update and a free update for everyone. The paid DLC is “Elves, Rogues and Rifts”, which will offer never-before-seen content. Players who purchase the DLC can invite their friends to explore the content as well, so they can preview it.
- A new Elvish race! Play as an Elf, complete with new customizable ears, Elvish hairstyles, skin tones, and more!
- A new Rogue class! Play as a Rogue and explore new talents like stealth and backstabbing, along with dozens of new, craftable weapons and armor.
- The Roguelite Rifts! Extensive dungeons that are randomly generated upon entry – home to devious traps and puzzles. Time in the Rifts is limited, and they require absolute mastery to obtain the best loot! Players can explore them with friends for their best shot at survival.
- The Elvish City and Rogue’s Guild. Brand new environments packed with quests and political intrigue.
There is also a free update for PC and console players, known as the “Questing Update”. This update contains the following improvements and changes:
- The Mage’s Guild! A new quest city full of characters and Elysian lore.
- Dungeon creation! For the first time, Creative Mode players will be able to place monsters and create traps and puzzles with new logic blocks, buttons, pressure plates, and more.
- Public multiplayer games and user permissions. PC and PS4 players can now choose to host or join public multiplayer games that will be visible to all players – not just friends. To help protect your buildings and treasure, hosts will be able to set user permissions.
- New Quest Log. Players can keep track of their quests as they travel from island to island and can choose which ones to track.
- Much, much more! Hundreds of quality of life updates, bug fixes, performance optimizations, and other surprises.
Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout Reveals Western Release Date
Koei Tecmo dropped some pretty major news this week – the 21st Atelier series officially has a Western Release date: It’s coming in October. Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout comes to the Nintendo Switch, Playstation 4 and PC on October 29th, 2019. This begins a new story arc in the Atelier series and follows the teenage tomboy Ryza, who wants to leave behind a mundane village life. While searching out adventure, she encounters an elderly magician who teaches her the ways of alchemy. This will lead to a quest to save her hometown from deadly darkness that threatens to engulf it whole.
n order to showcase the vibrant environments surrounding Ryza, GUST Studios instituted more realistic shadows; giving birth to a world that feels more expansive and filled with life. In addition, the fantastical depictions of the game’s colorful characters continue – pushing the series forward with a mix of both new and familiar visual sparkle. Atelier Ryza also adds an evolved synthesis program to enable alchemists to have a better visual understanding of the effects of synthesis.
Additionally, the system allows everyone to not only enjoy the experience of developing recipes, but the ability to use the innovative creation system to gather items in the field using various tools — different tools uncover different items at the same location — before crafting unique items never before seen in the series.
Ragachak’s Best Optional Characters in RPGs
by Jason Parker (Ragachak)
A while back, I covered the most useless/disappointing optional characters, but it occurred to me I haven’t talked about my personal favorites – the most busted, the most overpowered, the ones that frankly, just looked the coolest. This winds up being a very difficult list to draw up because there are games like Suikoden, Ogre Battle, and Chrono Cross that just have tons of units/characters you might never see without having a guide first. This is a list of characters that are quite powerful, but you do not have to get them to complete the game. Whether you opt to kill them, or simply never seek them out in the first place, these are just a few of my personal favorite characters that are not required to beat some classic RPGs. Since these are all fantastic, they are in no particular order. I also skipped over generic classes in RPGs, otherwise, Sage would be represented from Dragon Quest 3. Star Ocean 2 had some pretty awesome hidden characters, so there are plenty of other picks.
What are your favorite optional/badass hidden characters? Let me know below!
T.G. Cid (Cidolfus Orleandeau – FF Tactics): Could I have a list of busted characters without including the Thunder God? Of course not. He’s easily the most ridiculous character in Final Fantasy Tactics. He has one of the best unique sprites, and as a Sword Saint, he can utilize almost every Sword Strike in the game. Want to run Holy Knight and Dark Knight at the same time? Just grab Cid! Combining him with the Excalibur sword is a recipe for disaster for any opponent. Sword Saint also has the second best stat gains in the game, and you can even give him an awesome secondary job if you need (not that he actually needs it). T.G. Cid trivializes any fight he’s involved in after you recruit you, but you definitely don’t have to. I know a lot of people who don’t, because he just makes the game too easy. He’s got a sword strike for just about any occasion, and he’s tough as a two-dollar steak.
Bleu/Deis (Breath of Fire 1 & 2): Bleu is an ancient naga sorceress, that you can unlock in Breath of Fire 1 and 2. It’s the same character across both games as far as I’m aware, but her magical powers are second-to-none in both games. She has access to virtually all attack magic, and in Breath of Fire 2, her “Shed” special can leave her alive when everyone else has perished. In casual runs, I’ve had fights where it came down to Bleu using Attack -> Shed -> Attack -> Shed, just to wear someone down when I was out of MP. Shed restores her HP to full and clears away all negative status effects. Nina in Breath of Fire 2 is an okay spellcaster, and her power can be bolstered with using the Shaman combinations, Bleu is a powerhouse on her own – she doesn’t need Shaman powers! She’s actually not able to utilize them at all! There isn’t a caster that matches her might in BoF 2.
Vincent (Final Fantasy VII): Final Fantasy VII had two optional characters, as far as I can think – Yuffie and Vincent. You pretty much just stumble onto Vincent, but you can avoid him if that’s what you want to do. Yuffie can do some pretty awesome damage in the late game, but Vincent, his shotguns and transformations just felt way more badass, right out of the gate. He looked cool, had a grimdark, edgy backstory, and he transformed! Vincent was how I unlocked every single Arena prize back in my first playthroughs. When his transformations didn’t do it, him using Quad-Summon Hades definitely did. Vincent’s mostly on the list because I liked using him more than Yuffie. He felt more useful to the squad, and always dealt plenty of damage. You can’t control his transformations, but they were always awesome to use.
Magus (Chrono Trigger): When I first played through Chrono Trigger, I recall distinctly how I felt when Magus asked if I wanted to fight him. Thinking pragmatically, I had just lost Chrono, who was the strongest character in my party. Did I want to fight a superboss again? That’s a negative, Ghost Rider. When I first fought Magus, he beat my ass over and over again. I was not keen on fighting him. So, that’s how I learned he could join my party! If you defeat him, Frog is a human again in the end credits, but that doesn’t affect me now. Magus has access to all three styles of elemental magic, plus dark magic. So he can Lightning/Ice/Fire 2, plus all of his own busted spells. If that’s not enough, there’s a trick you can utilize with him to make many boss fights incredibly trivial, with his end-game gear. Get him hasted, kill off your other two party members, and with that+berserk, he absolutely melts many bosses by hitting for 2k+. He’s also a part of the Omega Flare triple tech, which is amazing in a casual playthrough.
Reborn: The Mark of The Blood
Reborn: The Mark of the Blood is a sci-fi JRPG from Team Exodus, made in the Unreal Engine.
Business Model: Retail
Microtransactions: Unknown
Key Features:
Moral Choices: A story that branches out to two different storylines depending on the choices you make.
Futuristic Game Environment: A unique lighting and game environment to provide a distinct and memorable atmosphere.
Advanced Combat: Characters can utilize their own body to punch, kick, and cripple their opponent, or utilize a variety of weapons – with over 200 moves that can be chained together in a combat system.
Exodus
Exodus
Reborn: The Mark Of The Blood Reveal Teaser
The Exodus team presents Reborn: The Mark of Blood, a sci-fi JRPG built in the Unreal Engine.
Project Nimbus: Complete Edition Comes to PC
GameTomo’s Project Nimbus: Complete Edition is now available as of today on Steam, bringing high-flying mecha combat action to the PC. The game has been available in its initial Kickstarter form since 2017, but now PC users can own a remastered version that was on the Nintendo Switch and PS4.
This version contains special enhancements for PC gamers, including mouse, keyboard and gamepad support, detailed visual settings, support for Ultrawide 4K resolution monitors and uncapped framerate, and new Steam achievements. The new WARFRONT mode will also elaborate on the formulas already in the game, by adding multiple objectives and missions to the survival gameplay. In Project Nimbus, three factions fight for control over resources using Battle Frames, which are mighty combat suits with a diverse array of weapons.
“Nimbus fans on PC have wanted to play this new remastered version for a long time, and we’re very happy to bring it to them. We’ve worked closely with original developers GameCrafterTeam to make sure previous buyers get the old and new game on Steam just as they wanted it!” said Reece Scott, CEO of GameTomo.




