It’s said that those who succumb to infidelity are cursed. As they sleep, they’re drawn into a nightmare realm where they are forced to climb a treacherous tower of blocks, all while being chased by bloodthirsty demons. If they die here, they die in real life. This is where Vincent finds himself, and the only way he can avoid this terrifying fate is to climb his way out of it. Catherine: Full Body can now be pre-ordered on the PSN Store ahead of the September 3rd, 2019 launch. All pre-orders on the digital storefront give an exclusive static theme featuring Rin, Catherine, and Katherine, downloadable upon ordering.
Catherine: Full Body Features:
A Full-Bodied Remaster: The captivating tale of 2011’s award-winning Catherine returns in Catherine: Full Body – bigger and better than before. Improved visuals and gameplay, brand-new music, enhanced multiplayer options, and much more await in this enticing new package.
From a Love Triangle to a Love Square: Explore brand-new branching story paths centering around the arrival of the mysterious amnesiac, Rin. Dozens of new cutscenes and animated cinematics have been added to delve even deeper into Vincent’s complicated present life, as well as his past.
Puzzling Puzzles – If You Desire: Looking for a challenge? Catherine: Full Body contains over 500 puzzles, over twice that of the original game! Additionally, ‘Remix Mode’ adds complex linked blocks to once-familiar levels, requiring new techniques and strategies to conquer them.
It’s Not Cheating: Just looking to enjoy the story? ‘Safety Mode’ gives players the option to skip any puzzle, letting you sit back and enjoy Vincent’s tragic tale.
Funcom released some new footage today for their upcoming RTS, Conan Unconquered, which is coming to PC on May 30th, 2019. This real-time survival strategy title is also the first-ever strategy game set in the world of Conan the Barbarian. This will also let players play the game in co-op, working together to build a fortified base and defend against forces that wish to destroy them. The two players working together to fight back the attacking hordes are Petroglyph Designer Renato Orellana and Funcom Community Manager Jens Erik Vaaler.
Just Cause 4 has a new update, the first part of the “Dare Devils, Demons and Danger Expansion Pass” – Dare Devils of Destruction! It has a new island, three new factions, and three new vehicle-based challenge modes. These will take place across 15 high-octane missions.
Palm Pioneer, a Chinese indie developer team have released a new pixel-art cyberpunk adventure game on Steam today, Tales of the Neon Sea. It uses a cyberpunk neo-noir detective style of storytelling and art style and is priced at 16.99. This includes a 10% off discount for the launch and also supports English, Chinese, German and Spanish languages. Japanese and French will be added in the next update. ‘
In the near future, humans and AI robots rely on each other for survival, despite constantly growing tension between the two. The protagonist is a former veteran police detective, now retired after years of disillusionment. He spends his days intoxicated, accepting random jobs as a private investigator to make ends meet. But this neon sea is immense, and our hero gets entangled in a murder case, which holds the key to tracking down a truly monster killer.
Features:
Fascinating Story – Investigate the murder scene, examine the evidence, and use your powers of deduction to solve the case piece by piece. Once the mist is cleared, will you see the truth or uncover an even bigger mystery?
Old School Pixel-art and Detailed Environmental Design – Explore an evocative cyberpunk world brought to life by incredibly detailed pixel-art. Immerse yourself in a vision of a future that can’t let go of the past.
Rich and Varied Puzzle Design – Puzzles that will challenge your sense of logic, observation and patience! Combining narrative and environmental elements, and designed to augment your journey into this weird and vibrant world.
Play as a Cat? Of Course! – Step into the shoes, or furry paws, of William! As small black street cat, William can reach areas that humans and robots simply cannot, and often finds himself in the right place at the right time!
An epic story set in Ivalice hits the Xbox One and Nintendo Switch today: Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age! This edition of the game has all-new features and remastered graphics not seen on either console to date. This version will let players use the modern or classic editions of the soundtrack, trial mode, and various enhancements. The License Reset Function can be done by talking to Clan Centurio’s Montblanc in Rabanastre, so players can switch their jobs, customizing as they need.
There are also additional Gambit Sets that can be used, offering more customization for the party AI. If that wasn’t enough, there’s an improved New Game+, where players can start at level 90, and carry over some of the items, weapons, and magic obtained in previous playthroughs. The Xbox One X edition also plays in 60fps. This edition is available digital and physical for both consoles.
A free DLC update is coming today for Power Rangers: Battle For the Grid, and will introduce many player-requested elements to the game. A new Story Mode is arriving, by acclaimed writer Kyle Higgins, as well as new characters and more. Kyle Higgins wrote Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Shattered Grid, Nightwing and Batman: Gates of Gotham. This also features new artwork from Eisner Award-winning Dan Mora (Go Go Power Rangers, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Klaus). Players will experience a re-imagined version of the Shattered Grid storyline of the Boom! Studios’ Power Rangers comic series. When Lord Drakkon, an evil alternate version of Tommy Oliver, sets off a massive campaign across time and space to destroy all Power Rangers, they must band together and fight back, before all of existence falls to his armies.
The new content includes story and combat voiceovers performed by original Power Rangers cast members, including Jason David Frank (Tommy Oliver), Austin St. John (Jason Lee Scott), David J. Fielding (Zordon), Kerrigan Mahan (Goldar) and Meghan “Strawburry17” Camarena (Kimberly). There are also four new battle arenas: Corinth and Planet Earth: Cenozoic Era (Selectable) and a few new non-selectable story mode only areas. Those are Command Center (Malfunctioning), and Lord Drakkon’s Throne Room (Flashback).
Finally, there are three new characters enter the world of Battle for the Grid:
Dragon Armor Trini: When the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers were viciously attacked by the Black Dragon, a powerful Zord from another dimension with the capability to warp Ranger powers, they were in for the fight of their lives. After he was defeated, Trini was able to refashion the Zord into a powerful suit of enhanced armor.
Udonna: Udonna is a powerful sorceress who trains the Mystic Force Power Rangers in the art of magic. As the Mystic Force White Ranger, this accomplished sorceress uses the power of snow to freeze evil.
Cenozoic Blue Ranger: The Cenozoic Blue Ranger was a loyal and powerful soldier who served with Zordon, the original Red Ranger. Eons after his tragic demise at the hands of the traitorous Green Ranger Rita Repulsa, his Power Coin was found by a teenager named Billy Cranston, who then took on the Blue Ranger mantle.
Fell Seal: Arbiter’s Mark hits console and PC today, officially leaving behind the Early Access phase of development. That launch happened in August 2018 and has undergone significant changes and improvements since. Fell Seal: Arbiter’s Mark brings players to the world of Teora, a land that was once ravaged by a terrifying beast. It features secret characters, optional content and more as you play as an Arbiter named Kyrie. There are centuries-old secrets awaiting that could shake the Arbiters to their core. It’s up to the Arbiters to keep the peace, but can they after this?
Key Features:
Experience an epic and mature story, unfolding through over 40 story encounters and topped with challenging end-game content.
Classic tactical combat battles, with rugged terrain and elevation, taking place on beautiful hand-drawn environments.
A deep and complex class system with over 30 classes and 300 abilities lets you truly customize every one of your characters through the selection of their class, sub-class and passives. Carefully craft the character you envision, be it a versatile generalist, a dedicated spell-caster or a mighty foe-crushing specialist!
Customize your troops’ appearance your way, by selecting their portrait, outfit, colors and overall visuals from a wide selection.
Equip your army with over 240 pieces of equipment, either purchased, gathered from fallen enemies or created from crafting.
Fell Seal: Arbiter’s Mark is out today on Steam (W
ARMA 3 has new third-party content arriving today, with Creator DLC: Global Mobilization – Cold War Germany. This takes Arma back to the 1980s and sends players to northern Germany. 42 new vehicles and vehicle variants, 21 new weapons, and plenty of character assets await. This DLC also features a 10-mission singleplayer campaign and 17 multiplayer scenarios.
Spectre is the latest Multiplayer Specialist arriving in the next update for Call of Duty: Black Ops 4: Operation Spectre Rising. This also adds the Wetworks Map Update, which has transformed. After an explosion at the Hydro Dam, this map has changed in incredible ways. There are of course, new weapons to unlock, Zombie Gauntlets to tackle and more.
Well, what can I say? If you played and enjoyed Final Fantasy Tactics, or Tactics Ogre, or any other grid based 2.5 turn based fantasy game, then you’re liable to enjoy Fell Seal: Arbiter’s Mark (Fell Seal henceforth). It’s definitely got all the inspiration from those classic titles that you could want, plus a nice pile of newer features and updated graphics that make it feel like a modern game, and not a desperate clinging to past glories.
Ooooh, when did Anadine learn the Burn skill?
The story of Fell Seal revolves around an arbiter named Kyrie and her friends. Arbiters in the game’s world, Teora, are entities who serve the council of immortals as dispensers of justice. They are judge, jury, and executioner, if need be. Which leads to a couple of head-scratches with the story overall that feel a bit lacking. There’s also some dialogue that doesn’t seem to fit in one place, but that’s just my personal view. That being said, I do feel that the story is engrossing, and a compelling reason to play. It definitely drives the game, and that’s the important thing.
Fell Seal’s gameplay is no joke. It’s a very challenging game, and at times I have to grumble a bit at the reasons why it proved challenging. It seems like almost every story battle you begin downhill from the opponent, in an extreme way, which automatically puts you at a tactical disadvantage. Your path is also often barred by gaps, water, or other obstacles, while the opponents have plenty of space to maneuver and set up the field.
One of many examples of story missions where your greatest challenge is difficult/annoying terrain.
My recommendation in coping with the difficulty is, frankly, to make your first playthrough on beginner. Even if you’ve played the Final Fantasy Tactics games, Fell Seal has a number of systems, weapons, character classes, secrets, and a variety of other things to discover that are going to make you want to just have a nice story based run through your first go, then you can focus on the minutiae after.
One part of gameplay that I really do appreciate is the multitude and diversity of classes available. As you progress through the game, some classes are obtained by unlocking skills in a certain class’ skill tree. For example, to unlock Knight, you have to learn a certain number of skills from the Mercenary class. Other classes might require you to reach a certain point in the story. These classes are generally character specific, and it would be spoilery for me to tell you anything about them, but when you do get them they’re pretty exciting. Finally, you can unlock classes by crafting badges. This includes some of the most powerful and interesting classes in the game, so definitely keep your eyes out!
A little preview of how the class ring works. Again, players of Final Fantasy Tactics may find themselves on familiar ground here.
The crafting system is another great feature that I don’t personally remember from any of the previous tactics games. There are a variety of ways to procure ingredients: direct drops from defeating monsters, certain special nodes in adventure maps (these are reset each time you do a mission or patrol on that map, so they can be ‘farmed’), and some special or more rare ingredients can be obtained by certain class skills, such as the Scoundrel’s “steal component” ability, or the Ranger’s “collect pelt”. Crafting lets you do a number of things, from the class badges I mentioned, to upgrading or creating new items for use during battle.
I also really enjoyed how item usage worked in Fell Seal. You never actually have to spend money on your items. You have a set number of things you bring with you into battle each map. If you use them, they are simply replenished at the start of the next battle. Some items can only be used after first crafting them, and some can be upgraded to have better effects, or more uses. Thieves can also steal items from the opponent’s team, if they have any (typically humanoids are more likely to have items than monsters or animals), and then your team can use these items. Finally, there’s a couple classes that specialize in item use: the Peddler can use items to greater effect, as a passive skill, while the Gadgeteer gains the ability to use special gadgets that only they are able to use.
The skill system is also great, and is more closely remnant of Final Fantasy Tactics, in that you can equip a secondary skill in addition to the skill of the class you’re active in. So, if you’re inclined, you can have a wizard/mender, a knight/scoundrel, or any other combination. And there are a LOT of classes. Each class also has in their tree two passive and at least one counter skill. As you unlock them, the passives will be automatically equipped as long as you are playing as that class. Additionally, you can equip two passives and one counter from any class at all, provided you’ve learned it.
Learning skills is done using an AP (ability point) system. AP are rewarded after every battle, and every character receives a lesser slice of AP from every class that participated in the battle, even if they have not yet unlocked that class (though they must unlock it to spend them). Additionally, even units that do not participate in the battle receive a small chunk of AP, so even if your unit is injured, they can still grow.
Injuries happen to all but the main character if they’re “knocked out” in the battle. People only really die if the entire party is wiped out. If a character is injured they will have reduced stats for the next battle. Injuries are also cumulative, and if you revive a unit during battle and they’re knocked down again, they can accrue more than one in a single go. Just something to watch out for.
The ashes of a phoenix can bring a character back into a fight, but be careful they’re not in immediate danger when doing so!
Aside from the “all battles uphill” thing I mentioned earlier, my next biggest peeve is that you can’t actually save a match during battle. The head dev over at 6 Eyes Studio, the folks who created Fell Seal, has said that they want to implement this feature, but that it’s more complicated than saving on the map, and that hopefully it’ll be added in a post launch patch. Unfortunately, there’s a high risk of corrupted save files if the save state code isn’t up to snuff, so they want to make sure they get it right before it goes in. Commendable, yes, but still a minor frustration.
I also kind of wish you could change the outfits of the story characters. It’s not a major deal, it’s just that there are so many great customization options for non-story characters, that I want to be able to customize them all! You can default to having the non-story units wear clothing that fits their jobs, if you so desire. On the other hand, I tend more towards trying to make their outfits match their portraits, and their portraits match what I have in mind for them in regards to classes and role. That being said, the art in the game is all amazing, in its originality and style.
If you’re happy and you know it, cast Fire II!!
And, really, that’s something that Fell Seal has going for it in spades: originality and style. It’s an entirely original and well designed world, with a criminal justice system behind the story, and a good bit of lore. Even the spell animations aren’t always just a clone of other games. The water II skill, for example, creates blades of water that then slice through your enemies. Fire II is two clapping flaming hands. I really appreciate these special touches that the folks over at 6 Eyes put into the game, and I really can’t wait to finish my beginner play through, so I can go back to the start and try the next difficulty up.
I give Fell Seal: Arbiter’s Mark 4 out of 5 council votes in the affirmative.
Note: A game key was provided for review purposes.
