The Legend of Heros: Trails of Cold Steel II review – Class Reunion
Platform: Playstation 3, Playstation Vita (version played)
Developer: Falcom
Publisher: XSEED Games
ESRB Rating: T
Thank You XSEED for providing a review copy of this game.
A few years ago, Studio Falcom asked Sony if they were to ever produce game carts that would hold more data than the usual 4GB carts for the Vita. Sony in response told them to use two 4GB carts in response. In theory, that’s what led to how Trails of Cold Steel and Trails of Cold Steel II came to be. In Trails of Cold Steel, the game abruptly cuts to where everything that could potentially goes wrong, well, went wrong. Trails of Cold Steel II is a direct continuation of the original game as it picks up right where the first game left off. It is absolutely imperative that you play the original game to start playing this game. The game gives the player a pretty competent backstory that the player can view at any time, but it would be beneficial to play the first game.
Yomawari: Night Alone Review – You Are (Not) Alone
Developer:Nippon Ichi Software
Publisher:NISA
Platform: PS Vita/PC
ESRB Rating:T
Thank You NISA for Providing a Review Copy
It’s October meaning it’s time for the Halloween craze to begin again. As such, it would be appropriate to look into the horror genre which brings us to Yomawari: Night Alone. You play as a little girl who takes her dog, Poro out for a walk. On the way back home, Poro unfortunately gets away from you. Leave it to your big sister of course to go out and look for Poro for you. Hours pass by and for some reason neither Poro nor your sister has returned home… Did something happen to them? Are they okay? With these thoughts in mind, you yourself decide to out and look for them.
Adam Wolfe – Episode 1 (Steam) Review
Adam Wolfe Episode 1
Platform:PC
Release Date: 10/7/16
Developer: Mad Head Games
A Review Copy Was Provided
MSRP: 5.99
Adam Wolfe is an interesting twist on the classic mystery game. It kind of feels like the visual-novel version of a mystery game.
As the player, you’re acting as Adam Wolfe, paranormal investigator. As someone who watches anime with paranormal investigators, I’ve become used to they themselves having some sort of non-human ability, like discolored eyes that can see the dead, or inhuman strength. Adam Wolfe is none of these. He’s just another normal human; a guy with a gun and guts. His single-minded drive to discover the truth about his missing sister pushes him to not only face but also confront the paranormal as he probes the mysteries he’s gotten caught up in. I was quite happy to discover this – that the game so readily accepted the paranormal, but didn’t insist the protagonist be paranormal as well. It makes the game that much more interesting to be taking on problems as your every-day detective.
Meeting Adam Wolfe.
The fact the game actively involves paranormal elements was interesting. I’ve found that with mystery games, the investigations usually lead to a “logical, scientific explanation” to explain away any strange occurrences. Adam Wolfe, on the other hand, not only embraces the idea of legitimate paranormal elements, but uses them to drive the plot forward. At the first introduction to the game’s paranormal mysteries, I confess I was kind of afraid things would take a cheesy turn. After all, if the strange occurrences aren’t given enough background or explanation, they can be hard to take seriously, which makes things feel comical instead of foreboding. Adam Wolfe didn’t fall into this rut, in my opinion. The paranormal elements were backed up by beliefs held by various world cultures about spirits and spirituality – this made the story feel more real and believable.
As for the gameplay itself, I thought it was an interesting combination of elements from point-and-click, hidden object, and puzzle-based mystery games. In some cases, the game feels like a point-and-click, where you simply have to investigate your surroundings or choose what action to take (for example, choosing to go left or straight through when your path splits). However, during those investigations you’ll often find yourself faced with a hidden object search or a puzzle. The hidden object searches are actually done with a story – as Wolfe talks, you’ll have to find the item he’s talking about, which somehow feels a lot more fun than the typical check-off-the-list-items format. The puzzles are interesting. The first few seemed easy, but some of the later ones were more challenging, and thus more fun. However, the variety was awesome. Having the same type of puzzle over and over gets monotonous so Adam Wolfe’s range of puzzles, in both skill and type, made things much more enjoyable.
A mysterious “gift” left for you.
I have only a few minor complaints about the game (based solely on the first chapter). Firstly, the animation of the characters talking really bothered me – it just looks strange as their eyes and nose don’t move naturally with their mouth while speaking. However, that aside, the rest of the animation is really well done for a game in its price range. Not just the animation, but the art in general, as well as the voice-acting. Another thing that bothered me was both the amount of clicking I had to do to progress through story portions – while initially the idea of clicking various elements on the screen to start the next part of the story was fun, it got to be a bit frustrating later, as I couldn’t just put the mouse off to the side and listen to the story segment. Finally, the controls seemed a bit too nitpicky at times. I can’t list specific examples, because spoilers, but in a few cases I’d be clicking on an object, just not on the right spot on an object. This got a little frustrating as it led to some false assumptions that I was targeting the wrong item, not just the wrong place on the right item.
Overall, I did enjoy the first chapter of this game as visual novel-style mystery game. I wish there was a little bit more background story/explanation given as to the events before where you begin playing. I’d also love less clicking and slightly more forgiving selections (would have saved me clicking in numerous spots on the same object to find the right spot). However, things like the art and puzzle variety distract from that. Not to mention, the game’s got a unique concept so far and I confess I’m totally curious to figure out the overarching mystery about Wolfe’s sister and the events tied into her disappearance. I’ll definitely be buying the other chapters to finish the game and solve the mystery!
7.25/10
+ Unique gameplay
+ Puzzle/challenge variety
+ Beautiful art
– LOTS of clicking
– Some finicky controls/targeting
Superdimension Neptune vs. SEGA Hard Girls Review
Superdimension Neptune vs. SEGA Hard Girls
Developers:Compile Heart/SEGA
Publisher: Idea Factory International
ESRB Rating: T
MSRP:$39.99
Release Date:October 18, 2016
Superdimension Neptune vs. SEGA Hard Girls is the latest spin-off in the Hyperdimension Neptunia series. This time at the helm it’s everyone’s favorite Planeptune Guild leader IF. However, instead of running the quest guild at the Baslicon, she’s a wandering adventurer traveling the Wasteland of her homeworld, turning up wherever there may be treasure or adventure. At the start, I believed IF was a perfect protagonist for this kind of game, and I was not disappointed in how well she fit into the game’s overall story.
MegaTagmension Blanc+Neptune Vs. Zombies PC Review
MegaTagmension Blanc +Neptune Vs. Zombies
Developer:Compile Heart
Publisher Idea Factory International
Release Date: October 3, 2016
ESRB Rating: T
Thank You Idea Factory International for Providing a Review Copy
MegaTagmension Blanc+Neptune Vs. Zombies originally released on the PS Vita back in May. I found the game to be quite enjoyable, but felt it was held back due to the limitations of the PS Vita. Recently, Idea Factory International has released a PC version of this game, which begs the question: does the limitless potential of the PC help negate some of the original game’s flaws? Let’s take a look.
Paper Mario Color Splash Review-Splash Hit or Dud?
Paper Mario Color Splash
Developer: Intelligent Systems
Publisher: Nintendo of America
ESRB Rating: E
Release Date: October 7th, 2016
MSRP:$59.99
Paper Mario: Color Splash has to be one of the most controversial games releasing this year due to the continuation of the formula its predecessor, “Paper Mario: Sticker Star” started. Did this game do enough to improve upon what Sticker Star did?
XSEED Announces Story of Seasons and Rune Factory 4 Sales and Trio of Towns Update
Today XSEED has announced that Story of Seasons has surpassed 150,000 copies in North America. Similarly, Rune Factory 4 has surpassed the 200,000 landmark in North America. As a way to commemorate the event, both titles have been lowered in price to $29.99
Along with this announcement XSEED, has revealed the pre-order bonus for Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns. A capybara plushie that’s about 3.5 inches tall.
“We feel incredibly fortunate to have such an amazing fan base for these games,” said Ken Berry, Executive Vice President of Marvelous USA. “The sales figures speak volumes as to how much fan support can affect what games we can bring to North America. We hope the long-awaited price drops will introduce the games to a new audience, gearing them up for the release of STORY OF SEASONS: Trio of Towns in early 2017.”
Sonic Boom Fire and Ice Review-Boom or Bust?
Sonic Boom Fire and Ice
Developer:Sanzaru Games
Publisher:SEGA
ESRB Rating: E
MSRP:$39.99
Thank you SEGA for providing a review copy of this game.
“Sonic Boom: Fire and Ice” is the latest entry in the Sonic the Hedgehog sub series Sonic Boom. It is also the follow up sequel to last year’s standalone game Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal. In this game, Sonic and Friends must get to the bottom of why the area’s weather is going through strange cycles, and it seems like Eggman is behind it all once again.
Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse Review – Another One
ESRB Rating: M
Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse is in a sense a sequel to the original Shin Megami Tensei IV. It’s in a sense because it’s an alternative take on the neutral path in IV where Flynn decides to take on both Lucifer and Merkabah only for a third faction to come into play – the Divine Powers. They declare that everything will destroyed by the next full moon for the sake of humanities salvation. The difference doesn’t stop there either, in this game you don’t play as humanities Liberator Flynn. Instead you play as a hunter apprentice named Nanashi. On the road to becoming a real hunter, you die only to be revived by a demon by the name of Dagda. In exchange foryour life, Dagda wants you to become his Godslayer since Angels and Demons can only seal each other away.
Check out GameXplain’s Complete Analysis of The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild
While the Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild may still be several months out, that hasn’t stopped the crew at GameXplain to comb over every single detail we have gotten about the game since E3. Get yourself a snack and check out this over two hour long analysis of The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild. The analysis combs through everything that was shown off at E3, to the mini trailers Nintendo has posted on their Facebook.
The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild launches on Wii U and NX Q1 2017
The Gaming Gamma 