Don’t be surprised, Chloe, if one day I’m just out of here.
It is time to return to Arcadia Bay for the second episode of Life Is Strange: Before The Storm. It’s been approximately two months since the first episode was released, and I’m glad it didn’t take any longer because the first episode left off at a very tense place.
We know more about Chloe, Rachel, and their relationship – and I’m excited to see where their story is headed, and what crossroads they encounter. In the first episode, Chloe and Rachel ditched school and, long story short, they started a forest fire. Now, we see the ramifications of that, as the new episode starts out at the principal’s office.
My actions in the game got me expelled from Blackwell, but I don’t think you actually have a choice regarding that since we already know from the first game that Chloe had been expelled. Luckily, the principal doesn’t know about the forest fire, otherwise, their fates would have had a very different story.
Chloe, The Exit Wounder.
The new episode is called Brave New World, and that is exactly what Chloe has to adapt to. Along with getting expelled from school, she has to deal with a difficult family situation; the wrath of her mother Joyce and her demeaning stepfather David. Joyce doesn’t know what to do about having a rebelling teenager as a daughter and looks to David for help. Much to Chloe’s despair, he has made the decision to move in. As a result, she drifts even further away.
It’s no secret that our protagonist is leading a challenging life. She repeatedly shows the willingness to sacrifice so much, just in order to feel. Even though Chloe is in many ways the victim here, it is important to note that Chloe continually fails to see that there is actually a world that evolves and exists outside her own. But no, being Chloe isn’t easy. Not at all. Her repeated dreams about her father show how she is still unconsciously dealing with the trauma of losing him. And her dreams are getting more and more messed up.
Rachel has the main role in The Tempest, a play set up by Blackwell’s students.
On a random note; remember Frank’s dog Pompidou? We get to meet him again! AS A PUPPY! Some quality story-elements right there, folks. However, as a natural yet unfortunate consequence of meeting Pompidou the Puppy, we also have to deal with his d-bag of an owner, Frank.
Being a drug dealer, and messing around with the wrong people, we know that when Frank contacts Chloe, it’s never good news. And this time around is no different. Because Chloe owes him money, she is forced to run some errands for him, which could get her into serious trouble. And it does.
I also want to report that Victoria is still a b- … stupid girl. Teenagers will do whatever it takes to get what they want, and that is shown when the students of Blackwell are setting up a play called The Tempest. However, we end up watching it in a not-so-regular way… because something unpredictable always happens.
Sera, the woman Rachel’s dad is having an affair with, is an ominously recurring figure, and we learn what her role is in Brave New World. A huge secret, which I was not at all expecting, is revealed at the end – it blew my mind. Boom-boom style.
There is one thing Chloe is particularly good at, and that is speaking her mind. Or in this case, drawing it.
And also, the menu has changed yet again. After the first episode, the forest (which is the background of the menu) was engulfed in flames. After the second episode, the flame has died out, and we see the aftermath of the forest fire. Almost like a calm Before The Storm. Get it?
In all seriousness, though, things are taking off in Arcadia Bay. This is a story about teenagers slipping from the surface, and how they manage – or don’t – to get back up. The dialogue is still cringe-worthy, yet I am still loving it. And the soundtrack… amazing and on point. As always.
I’m very excited for the last episode, yet I am dreading to see the end of it… I am not ready to say goodbye just yet. I feel empty after this episode. I don’t know what to feel, everything is so scrambled and messed up. I’m intrigued, however, and I’m expecting that the game will mess around with my feelings, even more, when the last episode arrives, with as ominous a title as Hell is Empty.
We get to see the many masks that people put up, so they don’t have to deal with the confrontation of their problems. There’s a life lesson to be taken from this: don’t be so quick to judge other people. Everybody’s got some kind of baggage.
A music action-adventure set in the recesses of the human mind.
This is how Bedtime Digital Games describe their new game Figment: if you are familiar with Back to Bed, an adorable puzzle game about guiding a sleepwalking man safely back to his bed, you will quickly see the resemblance. (If the title of the game sounded familiar, you probably remember Chris’ preview here).
The first thing that hits you when entering the game is its gorgeous hand-drawn art style, which was one of the most prominent qualities of its predecessor as well. Starting with a pretty little house, we meet our protagonist Dusty, a careless and pessimistic character, who doesn’t care much for anybody or anything. His companion, the bird Piper, works as great opposition to him – cheery, optimistic, and creating bad puns all day long. Well, perhaps some of them are clever, I guess.
Dusty’s scrapbook is stolen by a dark, sullen creature – and we learn later it’s a manifestation of a nightmare. Dusty’s mind is set on getting it back, no matter the cost, and Piper chirps that “something is wrong with the mind,” and that we need to fix it; as a kind of foreboding to what this whole ordeal is about. And so the story begins, as we venture into the imaginations of the mind.
The puzzles are interesting, and luckily for me, not too hard.
The game uses some interesting terminology; some of which might seem familiar, but on a very different subject than video games; neurology. Collect endorphins so that the “brain will turn back into yourself again in no time,” pulling you out of whatever it is that’s holding you down. Killing nightmares are a way to release these endorphins – which makes perfect sense since endorphins are basically the stuff that makes you happy. One can also collect endurance neurons, which is basically health points. The game also creates new words such as the “remembrane” – which is a ball of light that represents forgotten memories. They can be collected throughout the game and are also a part of restoring your mind.
The terminology is there for a reason; as the game world itself is a manifestation of the brain, Dusty and Piper has to traverse through the different parts of the brain in order to fight the different nightmares. The right side of the brain is the creative side, and the scenery adjusts accordingly, with instruments decorated as flowers, creating an absurd yet playful atmosphere. The logical part of the brain, on the other hand, is filled with cogs and clocks, with darker colours. There are really interesting concepts concerning the brain that make it into the game, such as the “train of thoughts” which is an object used to solve some of the puzzles in the logical part of the brain. Very well done by the developers – very clever indeed!
This specific puzzle… I was stuck on it for quite some time. *sigh*
The puzzles get more extensive as you proceed in the game, meaning you need to look around everywhere, backtracking and so on. Some of the puzzles that look dimensional like this remind me of the indie game Monument Valley. However, the puzzles are not too hard, which I liked. I am a fan of progress in games and appreciate not having to be stuck on a puzzle for a longer period of time.
The majority of the game is about solving puzzles, but there’s also a bit about battling enemies or so-called nightmares. In terms of gameplay, Figment shows how the hack ‘n’ slash element can be implemented into a relaxing game successfully. It is simple and straightforward – and patience is key when it comes to defeating your enemies. The nightmares come in the form of human fears, such as disease, spiders, etc, which is interesting, because they are both rational and irrational fears – applying to both parts of the brain!
The loading screen is a map of your progress, which is pretty handy. And it is gorgeous-looking too. The universe actually reminds me of the painter Salvador Dali and his painting “The Persistence of Memory.” Do you see the resemblance?
It is clear that Figment is a game that focuses on its musical prowess. And with good reason, too. I loved the sound design in this title. The music changes depending on where you are in the brain and which nightmare you are fighting. The instruments that play in the soundtrack are blended into the scenery in a very beautiful way, and one can clearly see how essential music is to the ethos of this game. It gets better: during the boss encounters they sing songs to you – about what they are, and why they are frightening. The songs are catchy and fun – I really enjoyed them for this reason alone.
Figment offers a unique soundtrack, with specially designed songs – if there ever exists a vinyl of the music, be sure to send it my way, okay? Just sayin’.
Though the game doesn’t contain that much action, it sure is a fantastic adventure game. The levels are imaginative, and gorgeous in an absurd kind of way. Moreover, the way Figment chooses to deal with the distress of the mind is fascinating, and very well done.
As of this moment, the game is only available on Mac, PC, and Linux. Hopefully, it will be available on Xbox, PS4 and Switch soon, because more people definitely need to play this.
The Gran Turismo series has always left racing fans feeling accomplished, trained and ready to tackle the toughest racing courses known to man. The enormous selection of cars and daunting content featured in the series’ Career mode were both namesakes in the long-running racing franchise. With Gran Turismo Sport, the series does away with both, leaving long-time fans a bit sceptical to the change. However, Polyphony Digital manages to create something the genre desperately needs to stay competitive and does so with astounding visuals and sounds, ambitious online competition and a campaign mode geared toward making every player a better, more sound racer.
Taking the racing genre to new heights in online competition
If you’ve played through the beta last week, the layout of GT Sport should look familiar. Opened with a beautiful shot of one of the 160+ racing machines featured in Sport, the options on where to first go seem limitless. With various racing modes like Arcade, Campaign and the online hub of competitive racing – Sport, the best way to tackle this daunting racer is to hone your skills on the track. Campaign mode allows you to do exactly that, tasking you with various driving tactics like conquering S-curves, to full lap time trials.
Without question, GT Sport is easily one of the most breathtaking titles to grace the current generation of video games.
The absence of favourite modes blinded by the glimmer of gorgeous visuals
One thing many fans of the GT series will notice almost immediately is the absence of the traditional career path. While I felt extremely disappointed by this initially, I collected my thoughts, took a few deep breaths and continued forward. The game alone looks and sounds like no other Gran Turismo in the series, which was enough to push me reluctantly further into the game. The exhausts growl, engines rumble and the turbo hiss all breathe fresh life into the series; which before shoved otherwise stale and recycled sounds of below standard racing motors.
The level of detail found in every car featured in Sport is astounding and, above all, quite appetizing to the eye. The shimmer and gloss, the detail when racing in the cockpit view (which is by far the best looking cockpit camera view I’ve seen in any racing game to date) and liveliness of every course immerses the player into every race. The shadows that graze across the road follow the cars effortlessly as you patiently bend and curve around the course. The details and sharpness of Sport are quite possibly above all other racing games, however, there still lie a few hiccups in the overall production and appearance in the gorgeous racing title.
The courses in GT Sport are lively and beautifully rendered for some of the best racing experiences on current gen consoles.
Dynamic weather – something us racing fans have seen a lot of over the past couple of weeks in other new releases – is missing from the formula altogether. The challenge that comes about from slippery and icy courses or dirt stirred up from off-track racers found in other racing sims, which have recently hit the market, is nowhere to be found in GT Sport. The day-to-night cycles which help add a sense of time and endurance to longer races remain untouched in the Gran Turismo series, which easily could have helped push the latest instalment with even more challenges to conquer for the racer.
Making strides in providing enjoyable online races
That being said, this still doesn’t shred the fact that Gran Turismo provides a true racing experience at a high level of competition. In Sport mode, players are free to enter and participate in online races. From daily challenges to legitimate championships, Sport is (obviously) the centrepiece of what this release tries to narrow in on. However, before entering the ring of professional and dignified racing amongst the eager grid of online racers, the player is forced to complete the Racing Etiquette class for proper racing guidelines on how to – more or less – not race like an ass.
The ‘class’ is simply two instructional videos highlighting what counts as proper racing manoeuvres, and what makes you look like the king of all things awful in the world of online gaming. Bumping other racers in the back, boxing racers out around turns, blocking other racers from passing, cutting corners to gain ground; there are tons of rules to follow in the world of competitive online racing in GT Sport, but they do in fact help to make a much more enjoyable experience when diving in online.
Boxing out, blocking cars, ramming other racers, as well as a litany of other misbehaviours will not be tolerated in the competitive ring of online racing in GT Sport.
If stuck with a penalty, the driver is then instructed to slow down for a set amount of time. While the cars are ‘in the penalty’ they appear as a ghost car to help alleviate any further burdens for other racers. If the driver fails to follow the penalties, they seconds begin to add up throughout the length of the race, and the total is then tallied to their overall time; in turn losing a few spots in the final standings. However, if one racer spins out or smashes into a barrier/wall by an unfair racer, there’s not much help to retain the position you previously held. Sure the disobedient racer was punished, but that has little effect on the innocent racer at hand.
Drivers are separated by driver rankings and sportsmanship rankings in online competitions. The driver ranking shows off how fast you are and comes in a rank from S-A-B-C-D-E, with an S ranking as the best possible outcome. The sportsmanship ranking keeps track of your penalties and overall etiquette form, helping to place racers in evenly matched competitions. The proper racers earn better rankings, increasing their score and rank higher amongst the competition rankings.
Though missing the Career mode, there is still tons of content in GT Sport
Throughout Sport mode, there are a handful of options to choose from, most of which are unavailable at this time. The Daily Races is the only option to dive into right now, but once the online championships begin, there are three other events to partake in. For now, Daily Races will do as it helps to build DR and SR points in your driver’s profile. Each day three different courses are available with a broad range of vehicle classes to choose from. Giving players an evenly matched group of racing machines, players are able to enter the race and begin qualifying rounds. Again, there isn’t much to Sport mode right now, but the promise of taking your online racing career further is inching closer with the approach of competitive championships at stake.
The Campaign mode is where players go to learn the basics, and eventually graduate to more difficult challenges. Like other entries in the series, there are loads of tests taking the player through acceleration/braking, tackling s-curves, out-in-out manoeuvres, as well as tons of other useful skills to help build a better racer.
Oval courses, street and popular circuit courses, as well as the beloved rally tracks all make their appearance in GT Sport.
Accomplishing all tests with a bronze time or better will reward the player with a car at random. Aside from the new vehicle upgrade, the knowledge of how to conquer turns and other difficult manoeuvres are enough to help push the player a little further into the depths of the multiplayer experience.
Mission Challenge and Circuit Experience are the other two events found in Campaign mode. Mission Challenge gives players difficult situations usually involving the player behind a handful of spots on a specific sector in a course and urged to place the highest position possible before the finish line. Circuit Experience acts as a practice session for every sector, or an entire lap, in every course, with a gold, silver and bronze time to beat. There are tons of challenges and courses to conquer, of which does help to give some of the playability the traditional career mode provided in previous entries.
In Arcade mode, players will finally have the chance to get down and dirty with AI racers in actual full-scale races. Fans of career mode in the other GT games may find themselves hashing out races here, as it provides the closest familiarity to the missing career mode. The course and car selection may be the smallest ever featured in a Gran Turismo title, but the thrill of competing in this expertly handled racer is well worth the downsizing.
Other modes offered in the game are Brand Central, which is the manufacturing market for all of the cars in the game – where players purchase the cars of their dreams, Scapes which is the shiny and spectacular photo mode and the all-new livery editor. Buying your dream car to take on the road, placing it in gorgeous, jaw-dropping settings, or perhaps covering it with custom wraps and liveries to help personalize your ride, all give Sport a casual approach when the heat of the racing grid is too much to handle. The views and scenery in Scapes present a truly remarkable image, some even looking near identical to real-life photos.
Scapes mode gives players chance to place their dream car into a gorgeous scenic setting and snap the perfect photo.
Throughout Gran Turismo Sport players will race, crash, learn, and occasionally win; all in repeating order. With a strong emphasis on multiplayer racing, and an even stronger swinging hammer crashing down on racing etiquette, I can honestly say my reluctance has subsided almost entirely to the eSports approach. Earning points for your overall driver ranking and sportsmanship ranking, players are easily matched for a better quality of racing.
Find Polyphony Digital’s latest entry in the popular racing series – [amazon_textlink asin=’B00ZG1SVA4′ text=’Gran Turismo Sport’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’geali01-21′ marketplace=’UK’ link_id=’351cec9e-b40a-11e7-a8a4-63dad7f5c6da’] – out now for the PS4.
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.
Cuphead takes a classic tale of moral propaganda and turns it into a romp through 1930s era animation that will both delight and challenge in equal turns. The tale follows the titular Cuphead and his unfortunate brother, Mugman, who are enjoying a good time at the Devil’s Casino until one misguided roll of the dice ends with a contract on their souls. But, the Devil tells the now damned duo they might be able to get out of their contracts if they can collect on other souls before their time is up. You can choose to play alone as Cuphead, or bring along a friend to aid you as Mugman during your treacherous journey.
A World Brimming with Bosses
The layout of worlds in Cuphead is fairly simple. You can select from a few run-and-gun levels, or pick form a plethora of battles with devious baddies whose soul contracts you now need to collect. Defeating bosses opens up new sections of each world and eventually allows you to move on to the next. Sounds simple enough, but this dance with the Devil is anything but slow and steady.
On a difficulty scale from Mega Man to Dark Souls, Cuphead hits much closer to the former. To succeed, practice and determination are key because death is practically guaranteed, but difficulty lands a little south of rage quitting. That isn’t to say boss battles don’t offer a very real challenge, but I rarely felt that I wasn’t able to make some progress with each run. It was this keen balance of punishment and progress that kept me aching to try again even after multiple failures. If you fail to complete a fight or stage, the game presents you with a meter showing how close you were to your goal. Depending on how you are doing, this can be both an encouragement or an indicator that it might be time to take a short break before another attempt.
Each boss has multiple attack stages, with an additional stage added if the game is played on Regular difficulty. However, the battles in Cuphead are dynamic enough that players cannot win simply through rote memorization. For example, in some cases, a boss can have varied versions of one attack stage. A particular battle involved a stage where the boss transformed into a zodiac character. I died before completing that stage and the next time around she transformed into a different member of the zodiac, catching me off guard with new attacks. Often, though, bosses follow a set of transformations that can be memorized, though getting through them is anything but simple even with some foreknowledge. Attack patterns can change within stages, and you often find yourself needing to battle against numerous peripheral attacks while at the same time avoiding main attacks from the baddie itself.
Boss battles are truly a sight to behold and a challenge even for a seasoned platform/run-and-gun aficionado. This is partly due to the intensity of the fights. During one encounter, I had to avoid a train while also dodging glowing horseshoe attacks from a clown riding on a donkey held up by a string. Sounds crazy, but aside from the spot-on 1930s visual aesthetic, Cuphead also solidly replicates the sheer bizarreness of the cartoons of that bygone era. I fought frogs that turned into a slot machine pitching coins at me, and a woman who became an airplane that became a terrifying version of the moon. And that is only a small, incomplete sampling. Somehow, it works. I never questioned the wacky and often unpredictable directions boss battles would go. The whole world is bright and bouncing, sometimes sharp and sinister, life and movement that I can only describe as what Jazz music must look like if animated.
An Arsenal of Abilities & Upgrades
During the course of your battles you will earn coins that allow you to purchase different types of shots that can be equipped during battle. You can even equip two different shots and toggle between them. Each comes with both a plus as well as a minor downside. For example, one shot gives a wider bullet spread and allows you to aim backward, but offers only average damage unless used while aiming behind you. Another allows greater damage but requires more precision. You can also purchase charms that can be equipped as add-on effects or life extenders. For example, early on I purchased a heart that gave me an additional hit point. It, however, also slightly lowered my attack power. The extra hit point saved me more than once, so the slightly lowered attack was worth the price.
The most important move in Cuphead’s arsenal, though, is the Parry. This allows you to jump off of pink-colored objects that appear throughout a level or boss fight. During battle, this allows for more dynamic movement, but it also charges up your Super Meter which, when full, allows you to discharge a number of powerful attacks.
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.
Samurai Riot was released on the 13th September and is a 2D cooperative Beat’em up/Arcade game made by Wako Factory.
The story revolves around a Civil War – our role is to contribute to it ending. Torn between doing their duty and doing what is right, you have to fight your way through different levels and a boss fight at the end of each one. There is a fight between clans, and you will eventually have to pick a side. Will you stay loyal to your duties, or will you do what is right?
It’s Civil War Co-op
Making choices and encountering moral dilemmas leads to several possible endings of the game. Choose between playing as Sukane or Tsurumaru, two warriors with different traits, personalities, and a highly detailed story behind each character!
With really charming graphics, Samurai Riot offers an anime art style with beautiful scenery from Asian culture. The music is a mix of gorgeous traditional Asian music (if you’ve ever played Tengami, you can draw a reference to that) and combines it with elements of modern popular music so that it creates a certain kind of pace to your fighting, which is nice.
The cooperative system is interesting: you can combine characters’ attacks, creating the ultimate move; which can be used when filling out a shared cooperation gauge. It looks really cool and makes you feel like a total badass… So co-op actually requires working together, and not just playing on the same screen. That being said, when you have those abilities that need a charge-up, it would be nice if there was some sort of indicator, showing the range of the attack and the strength of it. That would help when planning your next move.
Waaaaa, hiiiiiiyaaaaah! *continuous kung fu sounds*
Multiplayer Woes
Considering that the multiplayer function is the most prominent feature of the game, it is weird, then, that the biggest problem I had with the game was actually setting it up. When I clicked to join as player two, I would start controlling the profile of the first player. After much frustration, we finally managed to enter the game as two separate players.
You can play co-op and make team-based choices, or you can fight against your partner Tekken-style. Even though it is mainly a cooperative game, the single-player version worked just fine. However, the lack of save slots was unfortunate. I could only have one save file at a time, which was inconvenient when I wanted to play by myself but have another save file where I could play with a friend. As the gameplay was highly interesting, the game controls were at times unresponsive, and when playing with another person, the controls on the keyboards became misplaced (ESDF instead of WASD) for some reason. Which was weird, considering the other player was playing on an Xbox controller.
The decisions we make throughout the game are moral questions which have consequences in the final outcome. According to the developers, there are 8 different endings to the game! With this, we can surely establish the replay-value that Samurai Riot has. The need to see every possible ending should work as a great motivator for replaying the game. As if that weren’t enough, the game also offers so-called “fighting schools”: where the more you play, the more you collect points to unlock different fighting schools to get more abilities and improvements for your character.
Fighting back to back makes you feel unbeatable.
Different Styles Of Gameplay
Multiplayer and single player each demand different styles of gameplay, which creates an interesting diversity. The boss encounters aren’t as good as they have the potential to be – they don’t require a certain tactic to take down, they simply have more health. Using the characters’ individual abilities to take down the boss would be more fun than just the regular old moves. Some of the units also started to annoy me – the red ranged units specifically. Fighting melee units while these were standing there, knocking me down each time, was annoying, to say the least.
The developers pride themselves on the game being one you can speedrun. But when said problems appear, and my character takes several seconds to get back up when knocked down, it makes my patience wear thin. I will give the game the benefit of the doubt that there is definitely a way of getting good, and that most of my complaints might be debunked if I were good at these types of games.
The dialogue is a little bit cliché, and considering how many samurai/ninja/kung fu games there are out on the market, I wish it stood out a little more. Yeah, “I’m gonna fight for my honour”, and all that jazz.
Samurai Riot is a very pretty game though, with a really interesting take on cooperative beat’em up gameplay. It has high entertainment value and makes the player feel like Jackie Chan at times.
What’s with that fat racoon stealing all my food, though?
The Monster Hunter series has become known for its emphasis on lengthy, challenging battles against enormous monsters, often with a steep learning curve. It is this reputation that has deterred some players from getting involved with the series, despite offering hugely rewarding payoffs. Capcom seems to want to remedy this issue with the latest JRPG spin-off, Monster Hunter Stories. As the name suggests, this instalment is story-driven, featuring turn-based combat, Pokémon-esque monster collecting and a more colourful world to explore. Whether you are a Monster Hunter veteran or a newbie to RPGs, Stories has a lot to offer and is a pleasure to play.
First and foremost, it must be said how beautiful this game looks. The art style looks fantastic on the 3DS and really brings the world to life. Unlike previous instalments, Stories opts for a more cartoony aesthetic and this really works in the game’s favour. Every location is brimming with colour, the character/monster models are full of detail and everything is well-animated. Stories also features some of the nicest looking cutscenes I have seen from the system. It is a huge shame, therefore, that the game is plagued with performance issues (particularly on older hardware). Characters frequently pop-in whilst in towns and older 3DS users will notice significant frame drops. This is not so much as an issue for New 3DS owners, even running at 60fps in some enclosed areas, but is still worth noting.
Why A Silent Protagonist?
The story is, for the most part, well told and whilst it may not have the most original narrative, the vibrant characters keep things appealing. Navirou, your Felyne companion, is particularly good, often making quips or puns that offer a decent laugh. This light-hearted approach gels nicely with the art style and is the right direction for this spin-off. You take the role of a customisable avatar and aside from a few nods or facial expressions, you let Navirou do the talking. It is unclear as to why the avatar remains silent (as the language spoken in the game is a mixture of Japanese phrases and gibberish) and would have only required two extra voice actors. It is not a significant issue but some may be off put by the silent protagonist.
Ahoy, Turn-Based Combat
As stated, Stories uses a turn-based combat system that revolves around a rock-paper-scissors style triangle in which Power trumps Technique, Technique trumps Speed and Speed trumps Power. On face value, the combat may not seem to have much depth but once you start collecting new skills (some that align with Power, Technique of Speed) and monsters, it reveals a fun and hugely satisfying battle system. Your monsters (or Monsties as they are called) can be switched mid-battle to give you an advantage over the enemies, as each monster has their own tendencies on the attack triangle.
Alongside these tendencies, each monster has their own elemental strengths and weakness that must be taken into consideration. What may seem odd to Pokémon fans is that you do not control your Monsties directly, they choose their own moves. However, you can order them to do skills at the expense of your kinship gauge (a bar that fills up as you battle, more so if you cooperate with your Monsties well).
Head-To-Head Battles
The attack triangle really comes into play when the player engages in Head-to-Head attacks, where you or your Monstie directly engage with your enemy. Knowing your opponent’s tendencies aids in winning these attacks, for example, attacking a Barroth (whose tendency is Speed) with a Technique attack will be more likely to succeed. That said, monsters can switch up their attacks and will not simply follow their tendency blindly. It is up to the player, therefore, to analyse the monsters and their patterns to ensure they succeed in Head-to-Head battles.
Winning in these battles will result in more damage and will help fill the kinship gauge. This gauge can also be filled by Double Attacks (where you and your Monstie combine your attack power by attacking the same monster against their respective triangle weakness). Once you have filled the meter, you are able to ride your monster and unleash devastating moves on your enemies, once again made more powerful by winning Head-to-Head attacks. It is safe to say that the combat system is full of variety and should keep most entertained throughout the journey.
Exploring The World
Stories features many familiar elements from previous Monster Hunter titles including monster varieties, the combination system and sound effects. It is a wonderful way of allowing the game to stand on its own two feet whilst staying true to its roots. This time around the areas you visit are more open to exploration with obstacles that can only be overcome with certain monster skills, for instance, the Velocidrome can jump over wide spaces, allowing you to find secrets in otherwise inaccessible places. Exploring these vast areas is a blast and there is an undeniable charm to discovering new locations and monster dens (where you can find eggs that hatch into your Monstie collection).
Monster Hunter Stories is a fantastic experience that successfully incorporates the world of Monster Hunter into a JRPG without relying upon it too heavily.
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.
Let’s address the elephant in the room shall we; Uncharted: The Lost Legacy doesn’t suck, and yes, Naughty Dog has found a way to make Uncharted work without Nathan Drake. By rights, I could leave the review there. On that basis, you’ll either be sold and rush out to buy it, or refuse to believe that life can go on without Drake.
If you fall into the latter camp, it would be a real shame if you missed out on this, as it is another spectacle and one that needs to be seen to be believed. Is it the best yet? Not quite, but it nestles in perfectly with the rest of its brethren.
If It Ain’t Broke…
If you didn’t have your glasses on or your contact lenses in and played The Lost Legacy, you could be forgiven for thinking that you were playing as Drake. This is both its shining success and also its main drawback; it doesn’t deliver anything new but what it does is just perfect. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it certainly comes into play here, but if you were being overly critical you could say it would be nice to see some new touches here.
The Lost Legacy sees Chloe Frazer and Nadine Ross join forces in India to recover the long-lost tusk of Ganesh. The problem being that India is in the midst of civil war and, needless to say, the tusk is already being sought by the leader of the revolt Asav. He isn’t too happy with your attempts to beat him to the punch and his goons are all too happy to see you fail in your efforts. You begin your adventure by trying to evade detection by sneaking through alleys in the war-torn parts of town, shortly before things take a turn for the worst.
Once you’ve broken free of the shanties and backstreets, you open up a jaw-dropping open segment in which you can go about your exploring business as you like. I don’t have a PS4 Pro or a 4K TV for that matter, but even in standard HD you can’t help but think there’s life left in the ol’ PS4 yet. As is the trend these days, there’s a photo mode, which you’ll be using. A lot. The vistas really are something else.
More Of The Same
As previously mentioned, The Lost Legacy is more of the same when it comes to the fundamentals. You run, jump, swing, climb and crawl through the world with some devilish puzzles thrown in for good measure. It’s more of the same for sure, but when the same is this good, is that really a bad thing? The controls are tight, the shooting is accurate and satisfying whilst the script and storytelling are on point as ever. It might surprise many but Chloe and Nadine really do make a great duo, their connection and wit shining through as they bounce off one another throughout.
Intended to be DLC initially, The Lost Legacy doesn’t overstay its welcome and lasts around the 10-hour mark. Considering that most full-price games last around this time, a lower price point makes this title an absolute steal. It’s also a promising glimpse into the future for the series that, should Naughty Dog keep it alive, life without Drake is good and it can go on.
What The Future Holds
There’s more than just the main string of quests and storyline for your delectation too with hidden treasures and paths to discover (not to mention a hidden area filled with monkeys) then there’s the multiplayer too. You’re granted access to the same modes which were available in Uncharted 4 including a horde-style survival mode which provides you with a great variety of thrills and spills.
Whether or not it gets considered for Game of the Year is yet to be seen, but it should be – it will certainly be one of my favourite titles of 2017. Considering the year we’re having too, that’s no small feat. It’s fantastic to see that Uncharted may have a future, without Drake, and long may it continue, maybe with a full-blown sequel eventually. In the meantime though, Lost Legacy is a must-play and is a perfect stop-gap to tide us over until we know what the future holds.
