A Mayan God threatens to rain down destructive vengeance in this latest adventure in the Season Pass for Shadow of the Tomb Raider. To protect villagers from the aggression of Trinity, Lara Croft must hunt mercenaries, face the towering wrath of a volcanic new challenge tomb, and survive the lethal surprise concealed within.
Panache Digital Games and Private Division have begun a new video series for the upcoming Ancestors: The Human Kind Odyssey. In the first of three videos, they teach core survival skills and a handful of the threats you’ll come across in Neogene Africa, 10 million years ago, in order to survive human evolution.
Formula Fusion from R8 Games is being rebranded as Pacer, to reflect the sheer speed conveyed in the 4k-enabled 60 FPS futuristic racer. It will still be a futuristic anti-gravity combat racing title, but has a fresh new name to go with its impending release. At launch it will have five customizable craft and 14 tracks to race upon and will feel like a tribute to the anti-gravity racers that made their mark in the 1990s.
“This change in gear really does mark the next stage in Pacer’s progress,” offers Steve Iles, Senior Producer. “The game has changed significantly with a ground up re-coding of the core gameplay systems and inclusion of a wealth of new content. We’ve got some big plans for 2019 and we felt that we needed to reflect that with a name that more accurately captured the spirit of the game.”
Iles added, “For gamers who have been on board ever since we first announced the original game in 2015, this evolution is representative of our ambition to deliver more of what they love. Pacer is the realization of our original vision, but bigger and bolder.”
505 Games and Fatshark Games announced a partnership that will bring their hit game Warhammer: Vermintide 2 to physical retail outlets for the Playstation 4 and Xbox One in June. This release is coming on June 11th, 2019, and will include both previously released DLCs (Shadows over Bogenhafen and Back to Ubersreik) as well as premium tailored content. This includes Heroic Deeds, character skins, a portrait frame, and the Sigmar Keep Statue. It will retail for £39.99/€49.99/$49.99.
by Ragachak (Jason Parker)
It begins with this unassuming walk in the snow.
Final Fantasy VI is on just about every list of “Best RPGs of All Time” and with good reason. When I went from Final Fantasy 3/6 to Final Fantasy VII, in a way, I felt cheated. The 16-bit graphics felt too good for the SNES. I had no idea how they created such striking visuals and audio, then to go to the Playstation and its polygon graphics? There were things I liked, sure, but I was much happier with Final Fantasy VI. I did not wind up owning FFVI until much later, but thanks to having friends who owned it, I got to experience this treasure around the time it released initially in America. So what makes this game so treasured? What did it do to shake up RPGs? It’s my opinion that while FFVII did a great deal to make RPGs mainstream, FFVI was the superior RPG in just about every way. From storytelling to character growth, let’s talk about what made FFVI such a great game.
Kefka’s just vile. He’s probably the the posterboy for Chaotic Evil.
Do you know what popular trope I could do with less of? The sympathetic villain. People feel some measure of sympathy for Sephiroth, that he’s a product of his environment or circumstances. But Hojo? He’s an irredeemable jackass. He’s cruel, uncaring, and just does whatever benefits him. That’s why he should have been the final encounter. So let’s talk about FFVI’s villains. The Empire of Gestahl has people in it that are not evil, but the people at the top of the food chain? Manipulative and vile, down to their bone marrow. Gestahl’s empire reminds me of certain nations in our own history, but that’s another article for another time. The final boss, Kefka Palazzo has no traits that make him worthy of redemption. He doesn’t surround himself in lieutenants that listen to him, or could make him a likable character – just monsters. He rearranged the geography of the world forever – on a whim! He demolished towns because they didn’t worship him enough, and poisoned the town of Doma because “Well, it’s war”!
It’s a trap!
Generals Leo and Celes were in the same faction but were not evil. General Leo winds up murdered at Kefka’s hands, and Celes was put in jail, likely to be executed before Locke Cole showed up. When Emperor Gestahl, who was also a conniving weasel, thinks Kefka went too far? He tried to kill the clown but failed. Kefka was one step ahead, knowing that Gestahl would try something. So he threw the Emperor to his death, from the floating continent. There is not a single moment of interaction in the game that makes you think “Well, Kefka might not be so bad. . . ” He’s perverse and horrific, and absolutely must be defeated, so that the world could finally know peace. He has a cult that basks in his deeds, which is also terrible. That’s also arguably the hardest (if not most tedious) part of the entire game. If you do not have magic, you cannot enter the Cult of Kefka tower. Even when you defeat Kefka in the end, he still wins. Magic is all but gone from the world, the landscape is shaped in his image, and families are torn to pieces from his wrath. But all is not all grim, because there’s still hope. That’s the crux of act two: Finding Hope. People will rebuild, and make new stories for themselves. Kefka wins in act one by destroying the world, and in act two by leaving his indeliable mark, but people will move on. That’s beautiful, friends.
The gang’s all here. The second act is all about hope. What do these people have to live for?
So, the villains were great in Final Fantasy VI, but what about your main character? Who “is” the main character of Final Fantasy VI, anyway? An argument can be made for several members of the cast – Terra, the half human/esper, enslaved by the Empire, coming to grips with who she is, and what her purpose is in life. Celes, the former Imperial General, imbued with Magical Powers. Locke Cole, a misunderstood thief (treasure hunter), searching for a way to bring his love back to life, while also trying to find a measure of happiness and peace for himself. Cyan, the man without a kingdom. All of Doma was slaughtered by Kefka, so now he has to move on. Every character in the game, except Gogo, Umaro, and Mog are deep and intricate characters, worthy of being the star. Well, maybe not Relm. She’s still interesting though. Final Fantasy IV had a clearly defined hero: Cecil Harvey. Final Fantasy VII? Cloud Strife.
Missing: Half-Esper, wanted for “crimes”.
I think the hero of Final Fantasy VI is whomever’s story resonates with you the most. In the second act of the game, when you’re recruiting everyone again, only four characters are required to get the game going again. Celes, Sabin, Edgar, and Setzer. Once you have them and an airship, the world is your oyster. Terra’s off in Mobliz, taking care of the kids whose parents were murdered. Strago? He’s got amnesia/in some kind of trance at the Cult of Kefka tower. Shadow is who knows where, and Cyan’s up in the mountains of Zozo, writing love letters to a woman who has no idea her love is really dead. Who matters to you? What story compels you to keep playing? What purpose do you have in life? Final Fantasy VI had something for just about everyone. You don’t have to pick everyone up (and Shadow can be lost forever), but it’s advisable to.
And here’s where it ends – a battle with a cruel god. A cruel…angel, if you will.
Final Fantasy VI’s cast grows as the game does. You learn about the lows and highs of their lives. They have depth, you wind up caring about a vast majority of the cast. There are tons of hidden scenes too. Not hidden deep, but tucked away to reward your exploration. Shadow’s backstory is revealed through sleeping at inns, through dreams. Setzer’s tragic backstory is shown off in Daryl’s Tomb. There’s mystery, drama, tragedy, comedy. FFVI really had it all. Nobuo Uematsu created what could be a once-in-a-lifetime soundtrack as well. Dancing Mad is a 9/10 minute track that perfectly encapsulates the madness of Kefka, without redeeming him, without humanizing him. But it’s incredible to listen to, from the organs to the chorus incoherently chanting for the Mad God, Kefka. There’s a reason this is one of the first Final Fantasy games I recommend people. It’s easy to get into, the Esper system is fairly balanced and lets you make the characters whatever you want them to be, and there’s no “right” party to use (outside of required parties in the first act). It’s a classic in every sense of the word, and whether you’ve played it or not, you should sit down with it again.
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by Jason Parker (Ragachak)
The last foray for me into Galak-Z really left me with a sour taste in my mouth. I liked the concept of an outer-space roguelike, especially with that sweet anime feel, and 80s spaceship action gameplay. It was a game that could have knocked it all out of the park, but sadly, it had the crux of pay-to-win (or at the very least pay-to-go-faster) around its proverbial neck. There was so much about it that I found charming but just could not sign off on it in the end. Galak-Z: The Void: Deluxe Edition fixes that by taking away all of that cash shop silliness, putting a regular, reasonable price tag on it, and shaking up the premise of the game. Now it’s still a rogue-lite, is still a physics-based space shooter, and still has the characters I enjoyed in the previous game, but it has a more coherent story and again – no pay-to-win cash shop!
PEW PEW!
Galak-Z: The Void has a brutal, unforgiving difficulty curve. This is a game that will hold your game through the tutorial, but as soon as that’s over, it pushes you out of the airlock and into the dead of space. I like that, though! It has what I’ve always called “Nintendo Difficulty”. Practice and work will help you get better at this game, but if you can’t get a handle on the controls, you won’t make it past the second episode. The game has two modes, a more relaxed (but still brutal) mode called “Arcade Mode”, the more difficult “Rogue” Mode, and then the endless, brutal, hardcore “Void” Mode, which also features a global leaderboard. Arcade Mode has a save checkpoint after every mission, whereas Rogue Mode has a checkpoint after every Season (Five Episodes/Stages). If you die in Rogue Mode, which I’d argue is the main mode of the game, you start back at the beginning. You can pick up upgrades during an episode, from a shop or simply in a container that you detonate with laser fire, but this isn’t always enough.
It’s important to upgrade. You never know when you’ll be on your last mission.
As you play through missions, you’ll acquire Salvage, as well as special Coins that can also be turned in for Salvage. You can use this Salvage to purchase upgrades for your poor, weak Galak spaceship. And yes, it’s weak. More often than not you’ll have no missiles, and a weak laser, desperately pushing forward as best as you can. Most of the power-ups you purchase have to be equipped before you launch, but some are automatic (the game will tell you if it is). You’ll cycle through a list of upgrades, which definitely had an R-Type feel to it, and blast off! Galak-Z has a twin-stick feel to it, though, you aim with a stick and shoot with a button. Your thrusters are on the R/L Triggers, and the other R button is your booster. You need to be careful though because careless boosting and shooting will alert nearby alien life or enemy ships. Fortunately, you can see the enemy range of fire (indicated by a cone in front of them), but I found that if I can loop around them and hit the thrusters, I can just fire free on a lot of them and push them around the map. The controls are tight, but you do float about a bit after releasing thrusters, but that’s why you can hold both buttons (forward/backward thruster) to brake.
Those spiky outcroppings? Yeah, those hurt.
It’s also key to use the flora/fauna around you – there are creatures out in space that doesn’t like anything, and they will attack you or the enemy ships. You can knock them into flora that will slow or halt them, or bounce them into asteroids/walls and bully them, with some practice. The stages are procedurally generated, and though some of the stage names/missions will feel similar, the maps should not. This is a hardcore game and has that difficulty to go with it. Fortunately, if you don’t feel like that’s for you, but still want to practice the game and enjoy its story, there’s Arcade Mode. I’m not going to judge you for that. That’s something that gets talked about a lot right now, “Should hardcore games have easier modes for beginners”, and I emphatically say yes. There are people that want to buy these games and get into them, but the barrier for entry is not very kind, and the community for games like this tends to just say “lol git gud”, instead of being helpful. I think Arcade Mode, while it’s still hard, is a good way to get into this game if you think it looks neat, but aren’t looking to get your pants yanked around your ankles, and your teeth knocked out.
Die, Die, Die My Darlin’: 4/5
You’ll probably see a lot of this.
This is what I was hoping the last Galak-Z game would be! I did have some very minor lag/slowdown on my first attempt to play this game, but it stopped after a time or two. The load times are also a little rough, but other than that, I really like Galak-Z has on offer. It’s brutal and unforgiving in its difficulty, but that’s exactly what I expect in a Rogue-like/lite. If this is your cup of tea, I highly recommend it for a challenge. The writing is sound, and I really like the anime/Saturday Morning Cartoon feel of the game. Each episode/stage begins by showing the episode title and the writer, which also made me think of my childhood in front of the TV. The upgrades to your ship all feel sound, and while I spend more time starting over than I’m willing to admit, for 15 bucks, Galak-Z: The Void: Definitive Edition is definitely a must-purchase for lovers of Roguelikes and outer space. The addition of the PS4’s Arcade Mode is also going to help newcomers to this style of game too. Sure, you’ll still get blown up a lot, but it’s a lot more forgiving. I love the look and feel of this game, and no matter how bad I am at it, I still find myself coming back, and playing a stage or two, and not feeling miserable when I lose. Instead, I slowly get better. That’s the way it should be.
Stranger Things 3 lets players explore the world of the Netflix original, which is coming to Playstation 4 on July 4th, 2019.
ArcSys Works has a Kill La Kill fighter in the works, which arrives on July 25th, 2019. This trailer shows off the fundamental gameplay mechanics of the game, and also serves as an introduction to the game modes.
Borderlands 3 has a release date, and it’s not as far away as you’d think – September 13th, 2019! Tune in on their site on May 1st for the first hands-on of Borderlands 3! Get ready, Vault Hunters! Danger, explosions, and billions of guns are coming.