YouTube Video Games Blog – Indie, Switch 2, and More
Back in Time
Author: Chris Wheatley
Writer for Nitchigamer, Raging Gazebo and LunaWolf Gaming, an avid gamer, he'll put together an article to keep the reader engaged, informed and moderately happy for a solid 4 minutes. That my friend, is no easy feat.
The sequel to the South Park RPG, – The Fractured But Whole – is now right around the corner. The new title promises to deliver a ton of content on the base game itself, but the team over at Ubisoft are relentlessly teasing with the unveiling of future DLC releases – all of which will be available separately, or in the South Park Season Pass.
New costume packs, challenges, in-game helpful buddies and brand new stories to follow are all on the horizon after the game’s official release. Here are the takeaways of what the Season Pass will include:
Takeaways:
Relics of Zaron – This costume pack is included as a free Day One update for all Season Pass owners once the game releases on October 17th. The beloved character Towelie will also be released as a helpful in-game buddy on October 24th.
The Danger Deck DLC – Enter Doctor Timothy’s Danger Deck for the ultimate challenge in combat. Unlock new and exclusive costumes and artefacts only found in the Danger Deck DLC, releasing December 2017.
From Dusk til Casa Bonita DLC – Introducing an all-new story, team up with the Coon and Mysterion and infiltrate Casa Bonita. Fend off against the demonic presence and unravel the mysteries of the new storyline releasing in 2018.
Bring the Crunch DLC – Yet another storyline DLC, not much info has been released at this point, but we do know a new class of superhero will be introduced. This DLC will be releasing in 2018 as well.
Along with the standard edition and the separate Season Pass available for purchase, players may also receive all of the downloadable content within the Gold Edition, which is available for pre-purchase now.
Look for South Park: The Fractured But Whole releasing for the Xbox One, PS4 and PC on October 17th. Be sure to take advantage of the Season Pass and the additional content coming through future DLC releases.
The 2D platformer has become something so popular, so uniformed that keeping track of all the forthcoming releases seems to be more of a chore than it’s worth. Thankfully, there are developers out there keeping the quick-paced genre from losing its edge, tenacity and flavour. Super Lumi Live sticks it to the die-hards of modern platformers and leaves an addicting, lip-biting good time in the depths of a super-sleek neon world filled with deadly hurdles and platforming innovations.
Levels Loaded with Challenges
Running through the neon ripped levels, your little blue blob runs, leaps and double jumps their way from one thumb-bruising level to the next. Dodging a slew of obstacles ranging from bobbing spike-beds to shifting platforms, Super Lumi Live does an excellent job of giving the player control. With the absence of the frustrating “slide” annoyance found in many platformers, your blob almost satisfyingly sticks to the ground upon landing from every jump. This is an immensely helpful asset, found in an otherwise tedious and challenging platformer.
Various platforming mechanics are littered across the entirety of Super Lumi Live.
Levels are divided into themed Seasons, with every season containing a handful of numbered levels increasing in difficulty the further you progress. Levels are required to be completed in order to move on to the next. Some also require a specific amount of points to collect throughout the levels in order to unlock. Returning to previous levels and reaching for a higher total of points will provide the player with enough credit to continue forward. The last stage in each season serves as a Boss stage. With a heightened number of difficult obstacles, a lengthier run through and specific techniques to complete the end of the season.
Excellent & Precise Handling
As mentioned above, Super Lumi Live handles with excellent, precise maneuvers, leaving little frustrations with the controls themselves. Those frustrations are found in the level designs to purposely throw players off with unexpected obstacles and dangerous encounters. Whether it’s block dissolving upon touching them, assaulting cannons relentlessly firing upon your helpless blob, deadly ground saws or shifting platforms taking you to an untimely demise if not paying close enough attention, the game is plenty full of quick-acting annoyances to keep the player humble.
Levels are unlocked by either completing levels or acquiring the appropriate amount of points in each stage.
Throughout the levels are dozens of white points – placed in similar fashion to coins/rings in other popular platformers. The rare golden points are often found in hard to reach areas, making for a tedious playthrough for the gaming completionists. Your total number of points of both white and gold are tallied and kept in a score-style fashion at the stage select screen. Newer levels appear as you make your way through the game, and many are designed to be unlocked after the player has accumulated a total number of each color of point. The common numbered stages are unlocked with accordance to the white, while the gold points unlock tricky bonus style stages, not required to complete to move forward in the game.
Conclusion
Super Lumi Live is presented in a unique retro, neon stylized fashion with a modern platforming approach to gameplay. Providing a quality platforming experience, the challenge will turn many casual players off. The levels never feel unfair in any way, but many stages will leave you wondering if you have the knack to stick with it. Not to flush out the satisfying controls and mechanics of the platformer, the game truly shines in this aspect.
Many challenges stand in the way of grabbing that hard-to-reach golden point.
For a quick platforming experience to help bring the hard-core gamer back down to Earth and further question your abilities, Super Lumi Live is that type of hard-hitting title. Falling in line with the “quick to learn, a lifetime to master” areas of gaming, Super Lumi Live precisely maneuvers like a dream, but seems happily stranded in a hellish world of frustrating obstacles and platforming hindrances.
Find the quick-action platforming title, Super Lumi Live, available on Steam for the PC.
In the midst of a racing sim releasing frenzy between the biggest names in the genre, Sony’s – Gran Turismo Sport – is closing out the major release trio coming this October 17th (18th EU). Until then, players and fans are urged to check out the upcoming demo release to help sway the players on the long-awaited title.
This new 4-day demo will run from October 9th – 12th with the option to pre-download the demo starting on October 7th. For four days, players will get the chance to earn in-game credits and experience leading up to the arrival of Polyphony Digital’s current gen debut, all transferable to the real game once released.
3 Demo Modes Available
The demo is packed with multiple modes to get a hold of like Arcade, Campaign and the new Sport mode. Also coming with limited look in the demo are the all-new Scapes Photography mode, and the for the first time in GT history, a custom livery editor. Finally, racing fans can feel like they’re actually competing big-name sponsor races like so many of the other racing-sims available.
Get started early on your professional racing career with the Gran Turismo Sport demo headed to the PS Store.
Arcade mode provides racers with their choice of race settings, a huge selection of cars, tracks and race styles. In the demo, only three courses are available, but stretch across the diversity of GT Sport. Jump right into the action and get a solid glimpse of GT Sport’s racing features.
In Campaign mode, fans of the series will waste no time jumping head first into their heated career as a professional racer. Increase your experience, currency and vehicle total by winning various challenges, race events and Daily Workout tactics throughout the pro career.
In the brand-new Sport mode, take on tight trial runs in solo qualifying rounds. Then take on the competition in fairly matched vehicles in heated all-out race. Prove you’ve got what it takes to tackle the tough courses at unforgiving speeds to mark the fastest time possible.
Catch a sneak preview of Gran Turismo Sport with the upcoming demo. Arriving for a short 4-day span from October 9th-12th, get your pre-download from the Playstation Store starting October 7th. Get your engines primed for the official release on October 18th (17th NA).
Racing simulation titles take an eager-to-win mindset and meticulously combines the precision and patience of careful maneuvering with high-speeds set on expertly crafted courses. In Slightly Mad’s sequel to their top-notch racing franchise, Project Cars 2 takes these very features and increases the magnitude of competition. Not by adding an increased difficulty on driving and control, but the excellent use of dynamic weather elements and various changes in the course throughout the duration of the race, leaving an attention to detail left out of almost every simulation racer to date.
Up-to-date Racing Mechanics
Firing on all cylinders, Project Cars 2 brings a true racing experience on the current gen systems. The default settings take away any type of racing assists, traction and stability control – leaving a swift, challenging and gorgeously designed racer. With a clear point of official racing rules, regulations and professionalism, cautious navigation plays an important role in the leading to a podium finish.
Every racing event, including the novice go-kart races, provide difficult elements and challenges all across the board.
With a variety of different race modes to explore, you’re offered many different solutions to scratch that racing itch. In the solo mode, you’re able to customize your race in virtually any manner possible. Creating your ideal race, set on the course you desire, blazing through one of the many licensed machines found in the impressive roster of Project Cars 2. Common changes like lap numbers, race limit and number of racers are obvious inclusions, but the weather dynamics is where things really get interesting.
Dynamic Weather & LiveTrack 3.0
Changing the weather throughout the course of a race provides a heart-stopping thrill outside of the heated competition and challenging tracks. Adding severe rainfall, dense fog or heavy snow accumulation demands more attention to your racing. As rain puddles develop, fog blinds the next hairpin turn, or piling snow no longer makes your previous racing line accessible, thinking on the dime and adjusting your strategy to conquer the ever-changing weather becomes the only viable option to staying ahead of the herd.
The dynamic weather and excellent use of the LiveTrack 3.0 system keeps racers from feeling too comfortable during long race sessions.
Racing around sharp corners and switch-back driving behind the wheel of a Formula One style racer, or gliding around S-curves in the off-road rally events show off outstanding physics in this modern-day racer. The lighting from sun-up to sun-down colors the lively courses and decorated racecars superbly. Dirt or snow pulled onto the track from cars sliding off-road throughout a lengthy race. Aggressive drivers smashing the throttle to the floor-board waiting eagerly for the smallest chance to take your position. As tires wear, fuel depletes and the mental awareness begins to drain, every turn on the horizon becomes a an exhausting, yet thrilling ritual. As more enduring races take hold, these increasing instances create exhilarating races.
180+ Racing Machines to Conquer
Of course, the difference in dominating the demanding weather and detailed courses could very well rest in one of the 180+ racing machines available. All with intricate details in aesthetics, handling and proper motor sounds; the roster of high-quality vehicles found in Project Cars 2 is next to a perfect list of proper machines. Though you may notice a few left out of the mix (180 is nowhere close to the total amount of excellent racing machines available throughout the generations of racing), the selection that is available brings many different styles of Motorsports to the table.
A wide selection of powerful racing machines are available right from the beginning, ranging from dirt wrestling rally cars to street gripping Indy cars.
Across the board of the Career mode, you’ll find yourself entering tons of championships and invitationals. From novice style go-karts to full throttle Indy cars – and everything in between – Project Cars 2 takes the player through the difficulties of modern Motorsports. The races are there to bring a true sense of competition by providing strategic cornering and acceleration, with a fleet of aggressive professional racers. Not only specified for hard-core racers, there’s a variety of sliders and options to help increase the odds for even the most amateur racers.
Customize to Your Liking
Decreasing lap numbers, giving yourself a boost with stability and traction control turned on, braking and steering assists, as well as the useful feature to decrease the AI difficulty and aggression; while you may not receive the full “racing sim” experience by tweaking these options, it does help ease the frustrations of the professional racing environment. Though designed as a simulated racer, players can easily use a casual approach to Project Cars 2 with the healthy dose of difficulty settings found in the Options menu.
Much like the custom race settings, in the multiplayer modes, you are able to host a number of events with anywhere up to 32 players in a race. A vast amount of customization is available, changing the class of vehicles, the weather and weather patterns, the track and how many laps, on to of tons of other settings. Championships, tournaments and other eSports focused events litter the lobbies creating a true sense of competition available to those outside of the AI challenges.
Players are free to customize many different race options to give a truly unique racing experience not found in most other racers.
Conclusion
Project Cars 2 adopts the formula that brought Slightly Mad into the arms of car lovers everywhere. By pushing the focus on a broader selection of Motorsports, powerful cars and ambitious courses effected by a wide range of weather patterns and settings, the new generation of racing just became deeper than ever. While the car list doesn’t stretch beyond the limits of previous racing simulators who have featured close to a thousand different racing machines – Project Cars 2 does offer a broad selection, nonetheless, respectfully dipping into the wide array of each motor sport featured throughout the Career Mode.
With tons of customizing options, difficulty settings, a moderate selection of racing modes and online competition, and the aforementioned vehicle selection, Slightly Mad’s enhanced sequel is exactly that. An impressively polished adaption to the franchise, adding exciting events like Rallycross, Indy Racing and high-speed oval courses, with a mix of randomized weather occurrences properly keeps the series right on track for continued success.
Antiquia Lost shows off its deep roots from the early years of the Final Fantasy saga, but deep down the game sits quietly with a mold of its own identity. Powerful and heroic characters mixed with emotionally charming plot lines and dialogue, Antiquia Lost brings a surprise nostalgic experience to the broad circle of traditional RPG titles.
Deep Roots
Starting the game in the small town of Crysta Village, you take control of Bine – a red-haired demon hunter engaged in the beginnings of a warm and exciting adventure. With the help of his mysterious power and newly acquired friends, you’ll dive deep into the fantasy world full of intriguing towns and villages, dungeons, as well as plenty of turn-based battles along the way.
Bine and his cast of powerful allies are full of interesting and eventful dialogue moments in the charming story.
Lunaria and Safira hail from the goo-like people of the Ruta tribe, Jade – an elder of the cat-like species from the Eeth tribe and the protagonist Bine is home to the Fai tribe. Each represents one of the three elements being Earth, Fire and Water. The peaceful tribe lives in harmony with one another in the vibrant world of Antiquia Lost, until important figures from all over the lands begin to disappear. Venturing to the Capital City with your trusted group of friends, you’ll begin to uncover the truth behind the mysterious disappearances that are taking place.
The battle system is set up in a traditional turn-based RPG format, only now with a few enhancements and quirks that help keep the game original. Each character in your party is capable of common physical attacks with whatever weapon is equipped, and of course various magic spells ranging from fire attacks, healing water abilities to ancient powers and the unique Brave Arts ability. Random enemy encounters occur throughout the sprawling world map, rewarding the player with experience points, useful items and equipment and tasty gems which act as Lunaria’s special method of leveling up.
Many different physical and magical abilities are crucial in defeating the monsters found throughout the world.
New or Robust?
The storyline in Antiquia Lost doesn’t offer anything new or robust coming out of the stale isometric RPG genre, but creates a wonderful cast of friends and dialogue to keep fans of cheesy narrative lines and fantasy tales playing throughout the campaign. Talking with your party members during down time in between quests will give you the opportunity to either boost your status with each individual – or lose trust – based on the response you choose in dialogue selection areas. Paying attention to each ally’s personality will give subtle hints as to which direction to take the conversations.
Traveling from town-to-town, each small village has a number of villagers, some with additional side quests to add to the playability. Traversing back through previous areas in search of a lost item, piece of equipment or even a stray sheep, more often will result in ending these side quests with a powerful demon fight to cap off your short journey. Once you’ve fully explored the current village or dungeon to your desire, the option to move along with the story remains in your trusty quest log for quick ease of use.
As your party members battle their way through waves of enemies, gaining vital experience and gems to help build the power of their abilities and other attributes, enemy encounters become increasingly more difficult, featuring various forms of every monsters. Color-coded by specific strengths and weaknesses, some monsters require unique weapons to be defeated, while others just require more persistence and strength.
Boss battles require careful strategy and powerful skills to defeat the monstrous enemies.
Antiquia Lost Review
Using your attacks and defenses to your advantage is crucial, such as strategically using multiple-hit skills to strike down every enemy in specific rows and columns. These techniques prove useful against large mobs of enemies that out-number your party.
A large variety of supporting items are also present, curing status ailments, healing items and various fruits to help boost important stats in your characters. These fruits can be grown in potted soil kept in your inventory. After obtaining seeds labeled for specific skills – i.e. strength, vitality, speed, attack , defense etc. – as well as other rare items, you’ll plant them in one of the desired planting pots located in the inventory menu. After the timer ticks down, the fruits are ready to be harvested and saved for a time in need to help sway the tide of battle in your favor.
Bloody Zombies arrives in slick, fist-throwing action in the hopes of pummeling the walking dead, and in brutal fashion at that. Prepare yourself because Bloody Zombies brings a classic arcade feel with intense and challenging combat action.
Taking the player to London in the middle of a zombie outbreak, you’ll control one of four playable characters in a lineup of misfit brawlers. Each character has their own unique appearance and combo techniques, while each player’s profile contains the collected skills and abilities adaptable to each character. Designed as a true co-op experience, Bloody Zombies provides much less of a frustrating experience when all four slots are occupied with zombie brawling survivors.
Each character has a combination of unique combos and shared special attacks to fend off the zombie nightmare.
I entered Bloody Zombies with the expectations of a traditional 2D beat em’ up adventure – with the new technology craze that is VR. If any genre of video game will adapt to virtual reality technology, a 2D side-scrolling brawler would be behind quite a few other choices… But that’s exactly where Bloody Zombies stands out among the rest. What lies ahead in this challenging co-op brawler are tough waves of diverse enemies and tons of unique skills, weapons and level designs; all of which add to the addictive, bloody experience.
The combat featured throughout the game focuses on technical combos and special moves requiring button inputs commonly found in many of the best fighting games today. With four different combinations of button inputs, each skill comes in one of four colour-coded combinations related to each combo set. Each player is then able to equip one skill each from a selection of the four coloured skills, which are either dropped by enemies, found by smashing random objects in the levels or purchased from the store, discovered in different locations of the game.
Using the VR headset in Bloody Zombies, the player is able to reveal secrets scattered across the game – like deadly ambushes that lie ahead.
There’s a tutorial level to help better acquaint you with the simple but brutal combat mechanics found in Bloody Zombies. Though it serves its purpose on instructing you with the basics, it may take the player a while to realize the importance of unique fighting styles that aren’t as common in other popular brawlers. Juggling enemies with fast uppercuts and flying kicks, completing quick combo moves while stringing together special abilities and making good use of the jump and roll dodge abilities are all vital in surviving well-past the first boss.
If playing with a VR player – they’re able to scan the level ahead for traps, secret chests, and most importantly the wide field of vision for the overwhelming groups of enemies that wait ahead, as well as a broader view of the playing area. The 2D plane is sometimes tricky to observe where exactly your character is standing, making it easy to consistently miss landing punches and kicks on your target. Though frustrating at first, it won’t take long to build up a better understanding of the level’s dynamics, as well as having VR players to help guide the team through the level more thoroughly.
Playing in co-op has exceptional benefits when fighting off massive hordes of undead.
As mentioned before, Bloody Zombies is a true co-op experience. Braving the dreaded streets of London alone won’t last long for the average player, as more powerful undead enemies and bosses appear as you proceed further into the game. Gathering a team will no doubt add health to the waves that await you, but a group of solid zombie slayers will undoubtedly bring a much more bearable experience to the combative mayhem. Fending off multiple ogre-like zombies, obese exploding walkers, spike-chucking monsters and a wide range of other deadly enemies proves overwhelming when attempting a solo run.
The Nintendo Switch has been around for a few months now and there have been some big games to drop on the popular hybrid console. With the new Zelda on the shelves and making history, and a new Mario Kart addiction created, what’s next for the Switch? We’ll take a look at some of the more popular and upcoming Nintendo Switch games we’re hoping to see by the end of 2017.
Super Mario Odyssey
Release Date: October 27th
The new Big N console has had a successful launch and with it came one of the company’s most praised games, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Soon after, the face of the company made his appearance in his newest kart racer classic, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. So now, the gaming world is anxiously awaiting the release of the next actual adventurer from the Italian plumber franchise, Super Mario Odyssey.
The entire Nintendo realm is pulsating with impatience to get their eager paws on this huge Mario sandbox-style game. Levels themed from re-vamped classic Mario-like worlds to life-like cities and jungles, Super Mario Odyssey looks to introduce the Mario franchise to the next layer of 3D platforming greatness. Look for this one to come out at the tail end of 2017 during the holiday season.
Splatoon 2
Release Date: Out
Third-person shooters are in rare form in the realm of the Nintendo Switch but Splatoon 2 brings just that, and in cartoony, Nintendo fashion. The sequel to the hit Wii U title brings back multiplayer fun in this team-based shooter. Use your Inklings to alternate between humanoid form to shoot coloured ink at opponents and accomplish objectives, and squid form to swim through ink, replenishing your ink ammunition.
Splatoon 2 will bring much more multiplayer fun to the list of Nintendo Switch titles providing exactly that. With team-based strategy and a lively story mode, again featuring the Squid Sisters, this is sure to fill homes with non-stop ink-shooting action.
Arms
Release Date: Out
Arms brings whacky, stretching, flailing boxing to Nintendo’s hybrid console. Taking a route away from the serious boxing games with complex button combos and precise movements, Arms pins you one-on-one between two fighters equipped with incredibly stretchable boxing gloves. Jumping, punching and dodging across the 3D boxing arena gives you more to think about when facing off against your prestigious foe.
The first real experience with the Joy-Con motion controls, Arms provides a loose, fluid swinging motion, unlike tight, exact jabs in your more realistic fighters. Punches floating across the screen, giving you the option to fight any way you choose, Arms looks to be a perfect fit to utilize the Switch’s motion-controls.
Xenoblade Chronicles 2
Release Date: December 1st
The sequel to the critically acclaimed Xenoblade Chronicles will be hitting Switch consoles everywhere sometime this year (we think!). Off on a journey in an open-world adventure/RPG, your character embarks to search the lands for “Elysium”. Unsure of “what” or “who” Elysium might be, all we can do is wait for more on this fantastic JRPG.
Nintendo’s E3 conference will be a solid one to watch this year, as we can expect many of these games to be featured, especially the new Xenoblade title. After the success, the first title saw on the Wii, expect die-hard fans and newcomers alike to be waiting restlessly for this one.
Shakedown Hawaii
Release Date: Q4 2017
The successor to the 16-bit classic Retro City Rampage is coming to consoles this year and it’s called Shakedown Hawaii. This open world gunner will have you shooting down enemies and running past rows of bullets in old-school fashion. In the tropical setting of Hawaii, you’ll not only run and gun, but take the wheel on the streets of the Aloha state. With flashbacks of the old Grand Theft Auto style games on the original PlayStation, Shakedown looks to reignite that classic sandbox feel.
With loads of powerful weapons and a huge open world to discover, smash your way through the destructible environment while constructing your empire in Shakedown Hawaii.
RIME
Release Date: November 14th NA / Europe November 17th
Beautiful 3D puzzle-adventure games give players a rewarding journey in vast, mysterious settings. Games like The Last Guardian or Ico (Team Ico) use vague dialogue and rich settings to unfold emotional stories in a gorgeous, fantasy world. RIME creates settings like these other titles but in a cartoon-like fashion, and with the help of an adorable, friendly fox.
Use puzzles to progress through the story and find the truth behind the mysteries that surround RIME with the help of your friendly fox. This indie release will see a Switch release, hopefully coming sooner rather than later!
Fire Emblem Warriors
Release Date: October 20th
Hack ‘n’ slash games offer loads of addictive fun, and the Fire Emblem series has adopted this play style beautifully. With four confirmed players – two originals and two Fire Emblem classics – the next Switch/3DS title in the series is starting to open up about its details. Chrom makes his return from Fire Emblem Awakening (2012) as the prince of The Halidom of Ylisse. Going back to the original Fire Emblem, the protagonist Marth is also confirmed for Fire Emblem Warriors.
The Fire Emblem games always give dedicated gamers the option to grind with hundreds of hours of gameplay. Bringing this game to the Switch and having the ability to take it on the go sends chills down every action-RPG player’s restless spine.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Release Date: November 17th
Ok, so this game may be over 5 years old and yes, most of us are tired of hearing about Skyrim and the ‘Dragonborn’, but with all that aside, this game still provides gamers with a long, immersive adventure with a huge map begging to be discovered. Dry plains and giant camps, rushing rivers surrounded by sprawling trees and snowy mountain trails will look gorgeous on the Nintendo Switch, and stand equally impressive next to the hit Zelda launch title.
Bringing Bethesda’s critically acclaimed RPG to the Switch console will not only finally give Nintendo fans the ‘Skyrim’ experience, but for the first time ever, you will have the mobile Dragonborn RPG wherever you go. With the impressive HD graphics on the Switch, the Elder Scrolls port should stand up pretty solidly, at least compared to the original console release of the previous generation. Your Dragonborn adventure begins this Fall 2017.
While this is just a few games on the huge list of titles coming to the Switch this year, 2018 doesn’t seem to be letting up either. As the months pass by the games will release and we’ll see just how Nintendo’s new, big hybrid console stacks up against its competitors.
Let us know which Switch games you’re looking forward to in the comments below!
Many Assassin’s Creed players have come up with countless complaints and adverse opinions regarding one of video game’s most notable franchises. One problem that seems to return every major release – and almost always overlooked – is the responsiveness of the AI, frustrating combat mechanics and the static mission system. Since the showing and official reveal at E3, many new surprises are floating about regarding the new additions in Assassin’s Creed: Origins.
What’s New?
In the sprawling and beautifully crafted open-worlds of the AC universe, Origins is looking to stir things up by adding – and taking away – a few various assets. First, the addition of lively and engaging non-playable characters is a huge step in keeping the world “alive”. In an interview with Kotaku, AC: Origin’s game director, Ashraf Ismail, states many new changes in the game’s AI will be making an appearance in Origins.
In previous entries into the series, the NPCs found throughout the game always seemed stale and puppet-like. Following this standard route day-in, day-out gives the supposed ‘lively’ and ‘open-world’ an artificial feel and flavour to it. In Origins, non-playable AI characters will no longer follow their designated path to the same location that’s programmed into the game and will live standard routine days full of work, eating, using the restroom, doing errands and of course, a good night’s rest – sound familiar? Animals, as well as human NPCs, will fill out the vast and populated world of ancient Egypt – the aim is to bring more life to the AC universe than any previous entry to date.
Life in Origins surrounds Bayek with the new engaging AI system – making the world around you feel more alive.
An example given by Ismail describes a mission where Bayek must locate a target by discovering small details about this person’s day-to-day life. From dusk until dawn the non-playable characters and open-world population will seamlessly live a routine and busy schedule to help keep the player engaged. The target will not always be ready and waiting for your arrival, instead leaving the option up to the player on how they want to tackle this. This new system also brings a unique day/night advancement button, allowing Bayek to fast-forward the days and nights with the hold of the R3 (or right stick) button. Waiting for the perfect time when the target’s schedule shows a bleak sign of isolation for a stealth kill, or perhaps striking when Bayek’s target is distracted by the entertaining world around them may prove quicker for the less patient assassins.
Realistic Combat
The combat featured throughout the series has been re-worked and re-imagined in almost every release since the original. Some mechanics worked wonders, while others seemed to take a few gradual steps backwards. In Origins, the combat system has taken on a new identity with a much more realistic approach, negating the “tethered” combat style in more recent releases.
The combat in Origins has been overhauled, but that doesn’t mean stealth still isn’t the best method of survival.
The enemies will no longer graciously pair-up with the player for an un-realistic battle, nor will enemies need to be targeted for an effective hit, but now every opponent (and Bayek) is open to the new “hitbox” style combat system. “In laymanās terms, you swing your weapon, if somebodyās there, theyāre getting hit,” states Ismail. Carefully executed skills and combat moves will be required to avoid any open-air misses, in-turn leaving the player wide-open for an attack.
There’s A New Sidequest System
Adding to the quest system from previous iterations, Origins – for the first time in AC history – will feature a large sidequest system, following suit from the many sandbox-RPGs that have emerged since AC set its foundation. Bringing hundreds of stories captured throughout the times of Ancient Egypt, Bayek will become intertwined with tons of sidequests, giving Origins a true RPG feel in terms of sheer content. Hundreds of hidden secrets and unique surprises may also be discovered throughout the enormous open world of Egypt, leaving a huge amount of playability at the core of this new AC title.
An entire city is filled with new acquaintances and partners waiting for Bayek’s skills.
Assassin’s Creed: Origins is shaping up to be a much-needed release in a rather stale franchise then; the fans urged the developers to correct major flaws and bring something desired to the ever-expanding table. After taking their first year off of consecutive AC releases since the original, Ubisoft has fans eagerly awaiting the next instalment in the highly acclaimed series. Taking that break may well have paid off.
Stick with D-pad Joy for more updates on Assassin’s Creed: Origins, as well as other upcoming titles for your favourite gaming systems.
In the collective world of racing titles amongst the indie game community, the anti-gravity racer provides some of the most thrilling experiences around. Astral Traveler – the sophomore release to Dragon Slumber’s debut title, Arelite Core – combines a hectic and precise racer with intuitive platforming and arcade-like shooting.
Breakneck Speeds
In control of a highly tuned, fast-paced race craft, you begin your racing journey by entering the first of five Nebula areas, each containing a distinct list of racing sectors to complete. As you speed through tube-like courses at breakneck speeds, different obstacles and pulsar spheres lie scattered across the track.
Blue Pulsar Spheres are scattered throughout courses providing fuel and sudden bursts of speed.
As you race throughout the different Nebulas the courses grow significantly more challenging. Enemy aircraft float ahead of your location firing away, taking damage from your constantly depleting fuel gauge. Speeding forward using your thrusters, smashing into walls and objects or taking damage from enemy ships will all take chunks of your racing craft’s fuel away. Once your fuel is completely depleted, your craft will combust – therefore ending your current run.
Adding onto to your remaining fuel gauge is possible and Astral Traveler is sure to provide the player with plenty of opportunities to do so. When launching through the levels, the anti-gravity mechanics allows you to leap and twist your craft around the tube-like course discovering blue pulsar spheres which can be blasted in fuel points using your laser cannon. Also, destroying the various waves of enemies results in fuel points which can give the player more incentive to fire away at those pesky opponent ships.
The rotating level designs put your quick thinking to the test.
Enemies, The Least Of Your Problems
Aside from providing fuel/health for your racer, the blue spheres found sporadically throughout the levels may also be used for quick bursts of speed. Using the Phase technique, you’re able to gain a sudden energy boost by quickly pressing the appropriate input right before contact with the pulsar sphere. Some enemies have protective shielding and require this ability to reflect projectiles back in their direction.
Enemies are only half of the equation when it comes to derailing your current run. Many dead-ends, lava pools, rock walls and other unfortunate ways to meet your end appear excessively throughout the campaign. This gives a true platforming feel, guiding the player to continuously leap from one ledge to the next, constantly rotating around the course. The fleeting soundtrack, hectic gameplay and overwhelming odds create a futuristic racer full of heart-racing moments and tremendously relieving finishes.
Level themes take you through an assortment of varying Nebulas across space.
Making your way through the game becomes increasingly more difficult as the levels begin to increase in length. On top of this, more advanced obstacles and manoeuvres begin to make an appearance, giving a slight difficulty curve to your Astral experience. Kindly enough, many of the longer levels feature checkpoints about midway through the course, graciously negating any particularly frustrating areas commonly found throughout the game.
Astral Traveler combines skilled racing reflexes with the action of a third-person shooter and outlined with the timing of a challenging platformer. With tons of courses to choose from, high-octane speeds, attention-demanding action, along with an addictive light-speed experience, the game delivers.
With one of the most popular racing series ever to grace the video game community, Polyphony Digital’s Gran Turismo Sport is quickly approaching its long-awaited finishing stretch. Set to release next month, on October 18th (17th in NA), die-hard fans will have more options to deck out there gaming centre in stylish GT fashion.
Gran Turismo Special Edition PS4 Console
The recently announced Gran Turismo Special Edition PS4 Console will be releasing alongside the game, and with it comes a polished new look paired with a unique official Gran Turismo controller, among other amenities. Along with the silver PS4 marked with the traditional GT logo and the super-sleek DualShock PS4 controller coloured to match the silver features with a matching GT logo on the touchpad, the console bundle comes with a Day One Edition of Sport. Also gracing the console are actual rounded, flat-surfaced power and disc eject buttons, tossing aside the awkward buttons found on the consoles available now.
The Day One Edition comes packed with tons of extra features, starting off with a whopping 250,000 in-game credits to help make sure you get started on the right track. Other extras include a sticker pack for the new livery system, a slick chrome racing helmet and 60 avatars for your PS4 profile.
The console is available in a variety of different styles, as well as the option for a Jet Black edition for those not fond of silver. The standard models come in both 500GB and 1TB hard drive selections and a special 1TB model with an extra Jet Black analogue controller. The Pro edition can be purchased either in Jet Black or the new stunning silver. The new stylized analogue controllers will also be available via bundles with the game itself.
All that’s left now is to anxiously await the exciting release of what is sure to be one of this year’s top Sony titles, as well as one of the best looking VR titles to date.
Gran Turismo Sport will be racing to the finish line on October 17th in NA and on the 18th in EU.
Mega Cat Studios has been hard at work building a collection of retro cartridge titles to add to your dusty library of classics. Bringing back the true nature of traditional pixellated gaming, these developers are hoping to grab the attention of the old-school ‘fanboys’ of yesteryear; while reeling in the newcomers who have grown to love the classic retro mechanics found in countless indie titles to date.
I recently had the opportunity to play through a couple of titles from the Mega Cat collection, the first being the arcade sporting competition – Log Jammers; followed by the beat em’ up martial arts adventure – Almost Hero. Along with the games, customers have the option to receive the full package including the cartridge game, the game manual and art box for safe keeping. Just like the early days of living room consoles, the instruction manual proves helpful when the ever-present question of “how do I?” sets in, while the box provides important storing to keep the dust and other particles from damaging your expensive retro title.
Log Jammers
Log Jammers is a fast-paced arcade sporting title unlike any other in the NES sports game collection. Choosing between six creatively named and unique athletes, you’ll compete in a simple sporting event which includes chucking wood-cutting axes into one another’s goal. After 3 sets played to 12 have been won, the match is over. Though the rules are simple, plenty of arcade like power-ups drift across the playing field, to further enhance the gameplay.
There’s not much to Log Jammers, and while simple and to the point, it’s easy to spend countless hours on this title, either playing against AI or running your own tournaments with friends in 2-player mode. If audacious enough to pull through the single player tournament, the final big-bearded lumberjack contestant should prove a difficult challenge for any hard-core sporting competitor. Either way, this new retro cartridge title is well worth the time digging up your old Nintendo hardware.
Almost Hero
In Almost Hero players will fight off evildoers and bring back the rather specific and long-lost art of Bonsai Tree decorating. With a loose and humorous narrative, this entertaining martial arts style action side-scroller is packed with challenging bosses and enemies, as well as clever nods to legendary throwback gaming icons.
Through 5 levels where waves of enemies are set to stand in your way, it’s your role to help the creative Master Chow Khan retrieve his bonsai seeds from the vile antagonist – McRibs. Various bosses and themes poking at different themes across the gaming universe, light dustings of TMNT, Pokemon or Super Mario are found throughout the addictive title.
Making your way through brutal dungeons, coin and loot are collected to help aid you along your journey. By returning to Master Khan, you are able to purchase different health items which you may only carry one, as well as different character enhancements, like the traditional ‘speed shoes’ – giving your character improved speed and quickness. Anything and everything proves useful when challenged by the powerful villain, McRibs, and his quirky henchman. Almost Hero is a short and sweet adventure title, leaving a sense of nostalgia and familiarity borrowed from other arcade beat em’ ups from the NES era.
Mega Cat Studios has a long list of more retro based titles on the way, and even a handful more set to release in 2017. Keep updated with D-pad Joy as we bring you more news and reviews on the yet to be released cartridge titles from the up and coming indie developers, Mega Cat Studios.
Retro indie titles are a dime a dozen nowadays, and Steam is the hub of almost all of them, releasing thousands of titles annually, many of which follow themes from past video game history. PC game developer – Joan Ginard Mateo from the one-man studio, Indie Brain – has created the next Zelda-esque title, leaving vague memories of nostalgic adventure and familiar gaming mechanics found throughout Scarlett’s Dungeon.
Once awake, Scarlett leaves her home to find her parents.
Equipped with your sword, Dash ability, money bag and infinite escape ladder, you’ll head below to the dungeon area filled with monstrous robots that await ahead. A basic sword swipe and the helpful dash skill is all Scarlett needs to fend off the terror that awaits her beloved family. After receiving the necessary items from the kind townsfolk, you’re set to journey forth into the treacherous dungeons that lie below.
Many imaginative monsters are found throughout the randomly generated dungeons.
In Zelda-like style, the player proceeds to run around procedurally generated, maze-like dungeons, fighting off unique monsters while gathering valuable coin to help increase your weaponry. The gameplay – much like the storyline – is simple. Swift strikes from your sword, a very helpful dash ability to get you out of hairy situations and a levelling up system which essentially only adds to your strength and a dash of health upon gaining a new level.
Keeping your trusty Infinity Rope, you’re able to return to town while traversing any part of the dungeon, except of course, for the boss rooms. When in town and your coin bag is nice and full, you are able to purchase a new sword, ability or health items to help prepare yourself for the increasing dangers in the dungeons. This proves crucial as the game continues because every time you perish you restart from the beginning of whatever floor you died on; with the same amount of health you had when you originally entered the floor. This is especially dangerous when entering boss areas with extremely low health, since returning to town – or even previous floors for that matter – are not available when facing bosses.
The bosses have different approaches for defeating them.
Every fifth floor a boss appears – and by doing the simple math – the final boss is waiting on floor 15. There are only 2 bosses to fight through before the end… Keep in mind this title was created by one solo college student, working through the trials of developing their first title. Though short and quirky in its own right, the action of dash-dodging and sword-swinging against diverse enemies creates enough of a challenge to keep most gamers entertained, even if it’s only for a short session.
Scarlett’s Dungeon Review: The Bottom Line
There’s not much in store for story and gameplay in Scarlett’s Dungeon – and what is there bares major resemblances to our beloved Hylian hero. Still, there’s a certain quality of simple comfort for a game that lasts all of an hour (or more if you explore every dungeon to the last pixel). If you’re looking for a quick fix of old school Zelda-like action, pick up Scarlett’s Dungeon on PC. It’s out this September 2017.
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