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milesonthenet · 1 year ago

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Kingdom Hearts: A bizarre Disney experiment that took off.

Welcome to the House of Milesverse, and today we will be discussing a truly bizarre series. I promise that I'll try to keep it Simple & Clean when it comes to discussing it. Today's topic is Kingdom Hearts, the iconic Disney-Final Fantasy crossover that you've probably heard of.

This is in late honor of the franchise, in fact. March 28th celebrates the 22nd Anniversary of the first Kingdom Hearts game. That is 22 years since Kingdom Hearts' inception.

What IS Kingdom Hearts?

The Process:

Years ago, the early seeds of Kingdom Hearts were laid in a game idea. Square Enix (Square at the time) wanted to make a 3D game similar to Mario 64. However, they could not figure out an idea on who would represent the series. They believed that only characters from Disney could potentially rival Mario in popularity.

That led to a chance encounter between former game producer Shinji Hashimoto and a Disney Executive. Square as it turned out, operated in the same japanese office building as Disney did. From there, Hashimoto pitched the idea to Disney directly, and it was smooth sailings from then on.

Development soon began in 2000 with character designer Tetsuya Nomura providing the 'look' of many characters in the game. Initially, Disney wanted Donald Duck to be the main protagonist for the game. Square on the other hand argued for Mickey Mouse to be playable.

Instead, a compromise was made, and an original character was created. Sora is the main protagonist of the Kingdom Hearts series and wielder of the keyblade. He's recognizable to many people who aren't as familiar with the games.

A fun fact about Kingdom Hearts is its use of Final Fantasy characters. These characters were quite a shocker expected back then. In fact, their appearance was deliberately kept a secret to entice fans.

Success & More:

The first game, Kingdom Hearts 1, was released in 2002. It was a commercial success, and it quickly paved the way for a sequel. As of 2022, the game has sold well over 36 million copies worldwide.

Tetsuya Nomura himself was unsure if there would be room for a sequel. He still snuck in a secret trailer scene in the game for fans. Soon enough, plans for a sequel were made after Kingdom Hearts 1, and other games quickly followed. Chain of Memories, for example, was released in 2003, and directly follows the story from the first game.

Since then, Kingdom Hearts is up to its 13th installment. It has spawned a massive following worldwide. The series just perfectly captures the Disney magic that many people had in their childhood. More than that, it also offers something fun for the Final Fantasy fans.

In 2021, Sora would finally join Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as its last DLC fighter. In addition, it was revealed that Sora is the most highly requested fighter to ever appear in the Smash Bros series. It's quite a testament to his character, and how popular he is.

In 2022, Kingdom Hearts IV was announced for the next generation of consoles. It is a sequel to Kingdom Hearts 3, which acted as an ending to numerous old storylines. Kingdom Hearts IV sets the stage for a new story, pitting Sora and his friends against the 'Lost Masters'.

Voice Actors who have worked on Kingdom Hearts:

Kingdom Hearts has boasted many actors over its installments. You would be surprised to see who's been in the series.

The main character Sora is voiced by Haley Joel Osment. Osment played in the Sixth Sense as Cole Sear, a psychic child. You'd know him from the iconic film line, "I see dead people".

The main antagonist Xehanort is voiced by at least three actors.

Leonard Nimoy (Spock from Star Trek)

Rutger Hauer (Roy Batty from Blade Runner)

Christopher Lloyd (Doctor Brown from Back To The Future)

Opposite of Xehanort is Eraqus, who is played by Mark Hamill. He's Luke Skywalker and the iconic voice of The Joker in numerous Batman media. Nimoy and Hamill in a way also represents the Star Trek Vs. Star Wars debate that's pervaded fandoms for so long.

The character Roxas is Sora's 'nobody', essentially his other half. He and Ventus, the character he's modeled after, share the same voice. They are both voiced by Jesse McCartney, a famed popstar in the 2000s. Jesse McCartney would also do the voice for Robin in Young Justice, and later, as Nightwing.

Ansem the Wise, later known as DiZ, is another supporting character in the franchise. Christopher Lee is well-known as Dracula, Saruman, and Count Dooku. After his unfortunate passing, Lee was replaced by Corey Burton.

Hayden Panettiere was the initial voice for Sora's close friend, Kairi. She played Kirby Reed in both Scream 4 and Scream 6. She also played Juliette Barnes in Nashville, and Claire Bennet in Heroes.

Hayden would later be replaced by Alyson Stoner in future installments. Alyson Stoner played Caitlyn in Camp Rock and it's sequel. She was also Isabella Garcia in the popular Disney series, Phineas and Ferb.

The main antagonist of the first game was Ansem, Xehanort's Heartless. Ansem was at first voiced by Billy Zane for the first game. Billy Zane was also the main antagonist of Titanic, aka Caledon Hockley.

In later games, Zane would be replaced by Richard Epcar. Richard Epcar is notable as the voice of Raiden from Mortal Kombat, and Daisuke Jigen from Lupin the 3rd. He's also the voice of Joseph Joestar's older self in later seasons.

All of this is further compounded by the Disney worlds. Kingdom Hearts gets numerous old actors back to reprise their roles. For example, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy all retain their current voice actors.

Overall, Kingdom Hearts has a well-crafted cast of voice actors. Numerous notable names have come to play characters in the series. I think that on its own is another impressive fact to add to the series.

The Story (And why it's not as confusing as you think):

What makes it so confusing?

Kingdom Hearts is renowned across online fandom platforms for its plotline. Almost anything about it is guaranteed to create confusion in fans. It's hard enough having to keep up with how many people are just different iterations of other characters. Fans have coined the phrase "Everyone is Sora/Xehanort." for a reason.

In reality, the story itself is not 'confusing' at first glance. It all relies on making sure you play the games in order. Kingdom Hearts' greatest flaw is when people overthink it to the extreme.

There are a lot of people who would prefer to skip to the most recent game. However, that creates its own net of issues. When you don't play the games in order, you end up confused by certain plot elements.

To fully comprehend the bigger picture, you need to accept a few things about the series as well. For example, keyblades are inherently magical weapons. They possess a degree of sentience and can open or lock any door. Only someone strong of heart can wield a keyblade.

Overall, Kingdom Hearts is not a confusing series to get into. It's just a lot to look at. This leads to the games overwhelming people who try to take in every single detail.

Why it works:

The love for Kingdom Hearts is phenomenal. After its release, it quickly gained praise as a best-selling hit under Disney. Much of this praise is given to the story, and characters. Even more praise is added to its scene-stealing music.

Its blending of Disney and RPG tones is also enjoyed by the audience. This is something that you would not expect to work, but it does. Kingdom Hearts itself is a perfect balance of Square Enix's usual flavor, combined with the childhood Disney magic that you are familiar with.

Kingdom Hearts' accuracy toward Disney also works when looking at the films. Fan-Favorite locations in the game are pulled from Disney's various films. They are almost perfectly replicated in Kingdom Hearts' own animation. It is a testament and love letter to the franchise's cartoonish roots.

Kingdom Hearts is something that at first glance, you think would not work. It's effectively a bizarre fusion between two things that have nothing in common. However, the developers behind the scenes do their part in making sure that the game balances it. Everything has a purpose, and nothing feels out of place.

Conclusion:

Kingdom Hearts is an interesting topic to bring up in terms of video games. It's attracted a lot of confusion and shock from newcomers. However, I believe that this zaniness does its part. It is meant to be shocking, and as a series, it does that well.

There's something fun about how the series presents itself. Kingdom Hearts does not take itself seriously. Yet, there's no harm coming from that effect. This only accentuates its deep connections to the Disney franchise.

I think Kingdom Hearts is a fun series that has a lot of heart. I wanted to play the games myself as a kid after seeing how cool they were. I finally had the chance to buy them last year. It was perfect being able to relish every moment in playing them. I would recommend you pick up the game yourself.

What's NEXT?

Remember when I said that I was doing a review of Transformers: Earthspark? I still am. I pushed it back in favor of other topics, but it is still happening.

We'll also talk about X-Men '97 and discuss some other things. Moon Girl season 2 will also be another topic sometime this year. I hope you really enjoyed this one, by the way. If you have any questions or suggestions, please send them my way.

#milesverse #kingdom hearts #kh #disney movies #disney animation #square enix

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virtualangelarchive · 3 months ago

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Ideas and Predictions for a (Hypothetical) New Smash Bros. Entry

Continuing from the last post I made about my predictions for the impending Nintendo Direct 2 on April 2nd, I realized that I also have a lot of thoughts and ideas about the possibility of a new Smash Bros. game.

Before prefacing this post with my predictions, I wanted to begin by saying that this will include potential concepts and ideas regarding: the roster and whether or not cuts will happen, single player campaign(s) and story/adventure mode, (replayable) events, and other miscellaneous modes/games/features.

Without further ado:

(1) In General

This game may or may not be the secret Bandai Namco and Studio 2 + Studio S project

If this game were to be teased during the April NS2 Direct or the Direct afterwards, then I am anticipating that it will release in either 2026 or 2027 (at the latest)

Pre-release promotions will begin with a CG movie teaser or a quick announcement that it is currently in development; trailers for base-game newcomers will roll out shortly after the game is fully revealed to the public

The final launch game will go for sell at around $60 or more (similar to Smash Ultimate); DLC packs (if any) will go for around $10 per new fighter, or $50 per each Fighters Pass season

(2) The Roster

Roster cuts will have to be made, so that it would allow for the developers to further flesh out the game; however, there won't be that MANY cuts, and I am expecting the base roster (w/o newcomers) to be at around 50 fighters (similar to Sm4sh's roster)

The N64 Original 12 will gain "immunity" from roster cuts

Speaking of third party representatives, the company that might be more stingy than Disney in terms of licensing deals is Square Enix (this means that Cloud, Hero, Sephiroth, and to a tiny extent, Sora(?) might be cut from the roster in entirely if negotiations fall through)

Sonic may genuinely be the only third-party that may be kept due to his own "can't go back" status, compared to other third-party reps

Some echoes (i.e. Daisy, Ken, etc.) will be brought back and de-cloned

Several characters will have moveset and optimization overhauls (mainly Ganondorf and Sonic); other characters (i.e. Olimar, Villagers and Inklings, etc.) will be repurposed and/or reworked in order to reflect the most recent games from their franchises (i.e. Pikmin 4, ACNH, Splatoon 3, etc.)

Multiple characters will be either getting Final Smash reworks or entirely-new Final Smashes in general; transformation Final Smashes will return alongside cinematic Final Smashes

More base-game newcomers will be introduced than the ones (EXCLUDING echoes) that were revealed in Ultimate; I am aiming for around 10 or so newcomers (including mostly first or second party newcomers)

Alear is 100% going to be in this new Smash game, no doubt

One of the base-game newcomers will most likely comes from an online MMORPG game franchise, further branching out the grand scope of video games in general; as for now, I am stuck on which character would be fit for this roster

At last.... Waluigi will get his chance of becoming a Smash fighter

So far, this is my idea of a fan-made roster for this new Smash game:

(3) Speaking of DLC...

A similar system to Smash Ultimate's Fighters Pass system will be rolled out; each new fighter will come with a new stage, trophies/stickers/spirits (or whatever else is to come in the future), and music

This system will consist of at least two (or more 👀) new Fighters Pass rollouts after the base-game launch window, each with six characters (three returning veterans and three newcomers)

(4) Single Player Campaign and Adventure Mode

With a smaller roster, a more fleshed out adventure mode campaign (similar to Subspace Emissary) will be revealed; this mode's plot will be mainly focused on the Original 12 fighters

Speaking of adventure mode...

Cue this picture!

There is hope that cutscenes (particularly CG movie-like sequences) will be added to this adventure mode; although it is (unfortunately) likely that they'll be leaked or datamined before the game's release

The plot may be more of a "good vs. bad" conflict between our heroes and the big bad bosses (plus minions and other neutral parties); Mario vs. Bowser, Link vs. Ganondorf, Samus vs. Ridley, Kirby vs. Dark Matter, Sonic vs. Dr. Eggman, and so on

Several sub-plots within the Original 12 will also go on as the story progresses (for example, consider something about Luigi overcoming his fears and doubts)

Voice-acting!

(5) Online Functionality

Rollback netcode should be implemented in this new game's online services, in order to assure the game runs more smoothly than in Ultimate and prevents delays in connection

Global Smash Power (GSP) may be replaced with a new (and better!) online ranking system that (1) better considers player scores and (2) improves in detecting cheating (or invalid data)

Improvements and/or reworks for Quickplay

(6) Single Player Modes and Other Features

Break the Targets and/or Board the Platforms may be brought back, especially with a roster that is smaller and more fleshed out

All-Star Smash will either be reverted back to All-Star Mode (with rest areas and healing items, distinct stages, and everything else) or will be reworked in entirely

Classic Mode will be similar to what it looked like in Ultimate (unique paths per character)

Event matches will also be brought back

This is a BIG wish of mines, but Smash Run (from Smash for Nintendo 3DS) should be brought back and expanded from its original vision

Training Mode will be reworked to some extent (including new features)

Features such as the Vault, Gallery, My Music, Tips and Guides, and Movies will be brought back; Movies will not just consist of cutscenes from the adventure mode, but it will also contain CG movie trailers for newcomer reveals (similar to Sm4sh's Movies mode)

The video editing feature for Replay Data will be reworked; more features will be introduced to make the editing process easier and more exciting

Trophies will be brought back, and with descriptions (as it once was...)

Custom movesets (from Sm4sh) for general Smash fighters might make a comeback?

Mii Fighter customization will be expanded to include four new classifications (brawler, swordfighter, gunner, and magician/mage), more costumes and hats, custom movesets, and more; speaking of Mii Fighters, they will be combined back into one slot (Mii)

(7) Multiplayer Modes

Custom/Special Smash will come back with more conditions and creative customizations to rulesets

Online multiplayer modes will be expanded on scope (similar to For Fun and For Glory on Sm4sh); these modes are also dependent on whether someone is subscribed to NSO services

Improvements for Local Wireless services

Smashdown and Squad Strike will (potentially?) be brought back, or will be reworked to bigger and better multiplayer modes

(8) Other Things

Characters like Donkey Kong and Bowser are given back their ACTUAL voices instead of having to rely on creature noises (Takashi Nagasako and Kenny James respectively)

I'm calling it now, but Michele Knotz will be revealed to voice Jigglypuff (like in the TPCi-dubbed Pokémon anime) in this new Smash game

Other characters may be re-cast (i.e. Mario, Luigi, Wario and Waluigi being voiced by Kevin Z. Afghani in light of Charles Martinet stepping down from those roles)

Expansion on menu customization (themes, music, UI layout, etc.)

Smash Ultimate will be confirmed to be backwards-compatible for the Switch 2; players will still be able to play Ultimate by the time of the NS2's launch window (think, better graphics, hardware specs, the possibility of a new Fighters Pass, etc.)

Generally, this game has the potential to become a "soft" reboot for the franchise; complete with a fresh coat of paint and new theming (to set it apart from Smash Ultimate)

#nintendo #nintendo switch #nintendo switch 2 #super smash bros #smash 6 #smash bros roster #predictions #long post

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bryan360 · 4 years ago

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My reactions through my Nintendo E3 2021’s highlight picks

Hey guys! You know me from what been checking on E3 announcement last week. I even did my other posts to mention it of 🐰Mario + Rabbits sequel game and 🏁🏎Forza Horizon 5 as my interests picks.

June. 13th, 2021 - Link Here

June. 14th, 2021 - Link Here #2

Now it's finally time that I can talk through Nintendo E3 2021's announcement of games and content; after reveals back in June 15th that I should've bring this sooner, but due to working on my other tasks that I'm gonna save it til today. Hoping that I had time for free time to explain of what I feel for Nintendo E3 2021 Direct reveal for this month of June; especially which one that I finding most interested so I could added through my wishlist on eShop app. So today, here's my interesting picks for Nintendo E3 reveal this year; whether you agreed or disagree of how it goes when you suggest other was. I know if everyone so close to look forward the Switch Pro reveal, but it seems that it didn't happen anytime soon. Anyways, now get into my picks that I screenshot and edited through last week's Nintendo Direct I've managed.

First top left - ✊😈Kazuya Mishima joining Super Smash Bros Ultimate

First off, I knew that there will be at least one Super Smash Bros DLC Fighter reveal; before saving the last one for coming months this year soon. What's really unexpected to see though is a second Bandai Namco fighter after 👻PAC-MAN, but sadly its not Lloyd that if everyone hoping he would've upgraded from a Mii Costume to a true fighter yet. (Like we ever getting another sword fighter once again. 😒) No, it was actually ✊😈Kazuya Mishima from the Tekken series. My reaction was caught my attention since it started when he carrying Ganondorf to the lava pit and so does other fighters that is really dark. Except for Kirby that thankfully knows how to get away, but still. If I remember his origin through reading wiki site though, at time he used to be good until his father Heihachi sees him as his weakness. Later when Heihachi kills one of the family members that Kazuya been fond of and being thrown by his father in the cliff until he eventually climbs back up when his devil gene activates. Ever since then, Kazuya is now antagonist for the recent Tekken games so far and seeing him to match fight against Smash was an unexpected sight. I remember the time after hearing Masahiro Sakurai's interview where he consider Heihachi to be playable for Smash 4, but pass over due to implement his moveset to be difficult. But here we are seeing for Kazuya instead that it really sure takes time to deliver. After his moveset through his reveal could be challenging to work it out on command. Let's just wait to figure out once Sakurai will finally bring us his next presentation next week, but for now knowing this Tekken fighter joining Smash was a unique idea that Sakurai managed to work it out.

Second top right - 🌟Mario Party Super Stars

How about that when where seeing the next Mario Party game brings us? Despite the recent 2018 Super Mario Party, this will be the twelfth installment to be heading Nintendo Switch this year's 🎃October 2021; this time having 100 remastered minigames like I've seen them before on previous Mario Party games. My reaction was good to see how it continues on, but sure miss that time I remember from my childhood for the original first Mario Party game on the N64 console. So what's get me attention is the recognized boards such as 👑🎂Peach's Birthday Cake makes a comeback! It looks the way that I remember from playing the N64 game when the layouts off frosting goodness and the song to match as well. It was really something when it comes from Nintendo and their past N64 games I have memories fond of. 🙂👍🏼

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I give this Nintendo a good move when trying to bring back Mario Party again as a E3 reveal, but maybe just maybe if it will be this good from previous Mario Party games in terms of selling copies. Who knows? *Shrug*

Third middle left - Metroid Dread

However, if you really looking forward a new Nintendo game coming to October 2021 early is a most recognized franchise making a return....meanwhile Metroid Prime 4 is still in development. At least knowing this game can take us time before the fourth prime game can be finished, but man that everyone went crazy after the reveal of Metroid Dread! It the return of 2D Metroid game in action after the success of Samus Return for 3DS back in September 2017. My reaction was surprised and impressive for the looks and feels about this game's tone; especially the haunting part where the robot named "EMMI" (but don't be confused with the word Emmy as an Emmy Award like if would funny. 😅) trying to catch up with Samus and it's game over....😵 I think I could add this into my wishlist and it would be the first time I'll be owning this Metroid game for my Switch system. Fact: Metroid Dread was originally plan as a Nintendo DS title way back in mid 2000s, but sadly being cancelled due to technical limitations.

Fourth middle right - 💣WarioWare Get It Together

I was hoping if Warioware could come back for the lastest Switch system and they finally called. However, this game will take a different approach than doing minigames of yourself, but with your characters do it for you. For this latest Warioware game of picking noses, it'll be having one of the characters such as Wario, Mona, Jimmy T, 9-Volt, and others to do on all minigames with their strengths and skills they can managed. My reaction was pretty good knowing that Nintendo is making this a unique idea than doing a same microgame gameplay style from previous ones, but in a fun way. Cross my fingers if I'll be saving this as a digital download version. Like that time I actually got "Warioware Touched!" for my 2DS/3DS handheld system back in April 2016, but sadly lost it of deletion unfortunately....😧 Link Here #3

Fifth middle bottom - Game & Watch The Legend of Zelda

And finally is something that we're hoping to expect during almost halftime of their E3 direct reveal. Knowing this year is The Legend of Zelda 35th Anniversary, you probably hoping they can bring something to celebrate one of the most recognized series run. While it was shocking to know they won't be having plans to do; even for me that I finding baffling for Nintendo would do this. At least they wanted to make up for it by having to released the HD remastered version of Skyward Sword coming next month and giving us a second look for the upcoming Breath of the Wild sequel until it'll be released next year....eventually. What's my pick though is the Game & Watch version for The Legend of Zelda; the same thing of what it made for Super Mario and during its 35th Anniversary run last year. For this next one will have 3 related Zelda games: 1987 original, Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link, The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, and a special Game and Watch version of Vermin, but playing as Link as he trying to clobbered the octoroks instead of moles. Looks like it'll be a different take from what the Super Mario version have, but hoping it won't be the limited edition once maybe I could get one of those a try. So for my reaction was pretty alright. 🙂👍🏼

Overall:

Man that is the list for my interests picks I gotten, but after watching Nintendo E3 Direct for this year sure worth it at the end. It was very impressive direct despite of absent games not being showed like Bayonette 3 or Metroid Prime 4, but with other announcements such as Metroid Dread and Mario Party Super Stars does give us something for the win.

What did you think about this list of my interesting picks for Nintendo E3, though? Give yourself some likes and reblogs for this post I bring. Anyways, I'm just gonna check on my P-Pal's secret art trade part for me that I should've done it early. Sorry about making this post that I took hours to finished, @murumokirby360

#screenshots #edited #youtube #video #e3 2021 #nintendo #nintendo e3 2021 #kazuya #kazuya mishima #tekken #super smash bros ultimate #mario party superstars #metroid dread #warioware get it together #the legend of zelda #game and watch #june 2021 #june 24th 2021

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keyogrey-blog · 6 years ago

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Nintendo E3 Summary and Review

Being one of the Big 3 gaming companies, it was expected that Nintendo would have a lot to show at this years E, and they did not disappoint. Ranging from Smash Bros. to Animal Crossing, Nintendo had an incredibly good showing this year, and I’m going to walk through the games shown through the direct, and featured on Treehouse Live.

Starting in chronological order is one of two DLC character reveals for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. A character that is more popular in Japan than in the west, The Hero from Dragon Quest makes it into smash as DLC Fighter 2 (3 if you include Piranha Plant). Before the reveal many people thought that Erdick, the playable character in Dragon Quest III, would be put in. However Erdick is just a title in the Dragon Quest games, not a name, so Nintendo decided to include Dragon Quest III, IV, VIII, and XI as alternate skins for the character. The character will simply be known as “The Hero” and wields a sword and shield like Link, but also focuses on magic, with the character trailer showing a MP bar and spell selection screen. The Hero will no doubt work in a similar fashion to the other “limit” characters in smash (Cloud and Joker). The Hero is slated to be released Summer 2019, so we can expect more gameplay and news in the coming months.

Astral Chain was shown after, with the trailer focusing more on story than gameplay, though a gameplay demo was shown during Treehouse Live after the E3 Direct. Astral Chain is a JRPG title that focuses on two police force members that are part of the special task force Neuron. Neuron’s purpose is to fend off extra-dimensional beings known as Chimeras. To do this, a device was developed to capture Chimeras and turn them into Legions, beings that fight with the main characters. Gameplay is real time action style, similar to Xenoblade 2, with Chimeras functioning similarly to how Blades from Xenoblade 2 work. Outside of battle Legions can be used to break up civilian violence, track down Chimeras, clean up “Red Matter” which seems to be a collectible, and close extra dimensional portals. Multiple different Legions can be used and swapped, each with its own play style and skills. This game has a lot of potential, and I’ll be sure to keep an eye out. Astral Chain in set to release on August 30th, 2019.

Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield were shown off heavily as one of the main draws of Nintendo’s show this year, and rightly so. The newest entry to the series is coming to Nintendo Switch and it looks beautiful. The art style of the game is following that of recent trends shown in Ultra Sun and Moon and Let’s Go! Pikachu and Eevee, which is to be expected. New features like Dynamax, a system where Pokemon can grow to gargantuan size was displayed, new Pokemon were unveiled, and the Wild Area was featured heavily. The Wild Area will be taking the place of Routes it seems, with different biome’s and weather conditions. Interestingly, the game as a whole seems to have more focus on open world, allowing the player to move the camera themselves, and providing them with ways to traverse the environment without the use of HM’s, a system that was replaced in Pokemon Sun and Moon. The Wild Area also spawns different Pokemon depending on weather conditions and time of day, and even allows Pokemon to be in the overworld with the player, which makes the game feel a bit more populated. The old gym system seems to be making its return as well, after a brief departure in the Alola region. Two gym leaders, Milo and Nessa, have been revealed, with the predictable types of Grass and Water respectively. The champion has also been revealed, although all we know is his name is Leon, he’s undefeated, and he has a Charizard. Surprisingly, the evil “team” has not been revealed, though we can safely assume they exist, as there has been one in every Pokémon game prior. The legendary Pokemon, Zamanestra and Zacian, were shown off before E3, but it's still worth mentioning that they play into the overall plot of the game, as was stated in the Pokemon Direct earlier this month. Pokemon Sword and Shield will release worldwide on November 15th, 2019.

Another large franchise is also receiving a new entry on the Switch. Fire Emblem Three Houses brings the franchise back to consoles this year. While most of the information regarding this game was given during a previous Nintendo Direct, the new trailer shown at E3 points towards some sort of time shenanigans. This is shown through character appearance rather than gameplay. Interestingly, the trailer dropped at E3 takes place after the gameplay shown in previous directs, and while I love to speculate about games, feel it’s better to let the game give us the answers. Fire Emblem: Three Houses will release for Nintendo Switch on July 26th, 2019.

Nintendo spent a large amount of time talking about Luigi’s Mansion 3, even bringing out new President of Nintendo of America Doug Bowser to introduce it in the Direct. The first game spawned a decent following and good reviews, so it makes sense to keep a beloved franchise going. This time around Luigi and company go to a haunted, multistory, architecturally impossible hotel. The game follows Luigi going through the hotel looking for Mario, Peach, and Toad. With a new game comes new features, and this one is no exception. Luigi has a new Poltergust that has the ability to push and pull ghosts, attach a plunger to an object and move it, use an air burst to stun enemies and elevate Luigi, and bash ghosts on the floor Hulk style. Gooigi is a new feature that allows the player to take control of a Luigi who is made of, you guessed it, goo. This version of Luigi is able to walk through spikes, metal bars, and more that normal Luigi is unable to do. What’s more, Gooigi can be taken control of by a second player, allowing local multiplayer. Another new feature is the Scare Scraper, a floor progression based mode that allows up to 8 people to play together and fight through the different floors. Luigi’s Mansion 3 releases for the Nintendo Switch sometime this year.

Some other things that Nintendo showed off was the third party support coming to Switch. Titles like Ni-No Kuni, Witcher 3, and Dragon Quest XI were revealed. This change in ideology from Nintendo is welcomed, as the only reason to own a Nintendo console in the past was for exclusives. With this support, Nintendo may finally be able to compete with Microsoft and Sony directly again.

The beloved Animal Crossing series is getting its next installment with Animal Crossing: New Horizons. New Horizons lets the player live on an island, complete with beaches, NPC’s and of course, absurd loans from Tom Nook. Players are able to craft their own furniture and equipment like axes and fishing rods, as well as place furniture outdoors. Horizons seems to focus on player freedom more than anything, with the ability to create roads to form villages, or place houses on the beach for that scenic life. Additionally, local multiplayer is supported, with up to four people per console, while online eight player as well. In local multiplayer, one player is designated the “leader”. This player seems to be the only one capable of interacting with crafting benches and NPC’s, while other players are able to perform actions like fishing, digging, and wood gathering. The release date for Animal Crossing: New Horizons is March 20th, 2020.

Finally, the remade Link’s Awakening was the last game revealed for the E3 Nintendo Direct. The game looks incredible, using an art style that looks like clay models. The full game is in tact, and features like the Color Dungeon are also returning. For some reason Dampe from Ocarina of Time is in the game, running a feature called Chamber Dungeons. Chamber Dungeons are player made dungeons created using a tile selection system. The dungeons can be completed by the creator or by other players. The clear time is recorded each time, and the best clear time is displayed. These dungeons can also have multiple floors, and contain items that help in the base game, like fairy bottles. It is unclear if the bosses of these dungeons are chosen at random each time or if the creator can choose which boss waits at the end, but either way this feature is a unique one for a Zelda title, which is always welcome. Link’s Awakening is arriving on Nintendo Switch on September 20th, 2019.

The last 2 things Nintendo showed in their Direct were trailers. I’m going to start with the second DLC character reveal for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. After years of begging and speculating, the Western Smash Bros. players got their wish: Banjo and Kazooie have finally joined the fight. With a happy-go-lucky feel, these characters are welcome additions to the staggering roster of Smash. This addition means there are now four Rare characters in Smash, with King K. Rool, Diddy Kong, and Donkey Kong all having been in Donkey Kong Country. We can expect to see the Bear-Bird combo sometime in Fall 2019.

The final announcement made from the Nintendo Direct is one not many-if any- people were expecting. It’s no secret that Breath of The Wild was one of the best games of 2018, as well as one of the best games in the Zelda Franchise. The game seemed to leave a lasting impact as on Nintendo as well, as they announced that a direct sequel to Breath of The Wild is currently in development. Direct sequels aren’t commonplace in the Zelda series, which is why this particular announcement shocked me. Who’s the villain? What’s the plot? Do I still retain the fancy powers of the champions? The Master Sword? There are a lot of questions that won’t be answered for some time, but one thing has been said. During an interview with IGN, Zelda director and producer Eiji Aonuma stated that "The new Breath of the Wild or the sequel to it, it’s not necessarily going to be related to Majora’s mask or inspired by it... What we showed you currently is a little darker,".

I eagerly look forward to how much darker Zelda is going to get.

Overall Nintendo had a VERY strong conference this year. Titles like Pokemon and Fire Emblem were expected to be present and showed heavily, but some sleeper titles also made their name known. Astral Chain looks promising in its gameplay and premise, Luigi’s mansion looks to be a very whimsical puzzle/action game, and the third party games coming to Switch will expand a bigger audience to the incredible games on the market.

Keep a lookout for more pieces like this in the future! Next up is Square Enix!

-Nick Owens

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zeldauniverse · 7 years ago

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Last week, in a tiny hidden bar typical of Melbourne’s inner east, Nintendo gave us hands-on time with Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Nintendo Australia had hoped to get us in front of a newer build of the game (we would have loved to try King K. Rool and Simon Belmont!); however, the build was identical to the one we played at E3 some two and a bit months ago. However, where our time with the game at E3 was rushed and hectic, this time we had a solid two hours in a laid back environment which allowed us to get comfortable and explore more of what it had to offer.

And what a difference that makes to perspective.

To sum things up, we had a smashing good time, and we’re now more excited than ever to add Smash Ultimate into our gaming libraries. Our Publications Director David Johnson and Special Projects Director Shona Johnson were at the event. Here are a few of our thoughts on the game:

Shona Johnson, Special Projects Director

As a long-time Smash player — I’ve been with the series since the Nintendo 64 — playing Ultimate with a big group over food and drink was instantly familiar, taking me back to happy times when I played Melee for hours on end with friends or, more recently, Smash Wii U parties. Although it’s been a while since I last fired up a game of Smash, and I haven’t played since the demo at E3, my Smash instincts and muscle memory kicked in, throwing me into that wonderfully chaotic place where some of my favorite characters are beating each other up.

At E3 there were a limited number of play slots available (strictly one per person), and I signed up to play it competitively, which meant that part of my attention was given to attempting to win, meaning I played it safe with characters I knew well, in addition to checking out what was new and different. Fortunately, towards the end of the second day of E3, the lines died down to the point where the wait wasn’t hideous, so I was able to get in a few rounds of fun play where I could at least try out some of the new characters. I had fun and walked away from E3 feeling incredibly impressed by the game’s polish, but spending two hours with the demo gave me a chance to try out a lot more and really get a feel for the gameplay.

The demo for Smash Ultimate had 23 out of the game’s 103 stages to select from.

Also 30 characters of the roster were present, but a few classic fighters were held back.

Matches were limited to two-minute free-for-alls with up to four players playing solo or in teams. Items were on, and we couldn’t change any of the settings. A roster of 30 characters was available, and we could choose from 23 stages. I was able to play most of the characters and stages available. The event had multiple stations, most of which had Pro controllers, but a couple had GameCube controllers. It’s nice to see the GameCube controllers being carried through, as many Smash veterans are familiar with these, and, at the end of the day, each player will be able to set up their preferred controller configuration.

Existing characters feel familiar, and most of the changes to their moves are subtle if any have been made at all. Most of them appeared to be fairly well balanced, although it’s hard to say given that I was swapping characters a lot and playing against people of varying skill levels. Ridley and the Inkling were the new characters in the demo, and both had their own unique movesets that took some time to get used to (and honestly, I didn’t play them enough to get used to them). Ridley is slow and heavy, and I struggled with him a bit because I struggle with that sort of character more in general, and I found that the pace of the gameplay made it hard to spend time effectively splattering paint over everyone as the Inkling. That said, in one match while playing a different character I kept getting trapped in paint by another Inkling which was somewhat annoying for me but great for them I imagine!

The list of stages we had to choose from included both new and returning ones. A big difference in Ultimate is that players choose the stage before choosing characters, with the idea that players can choose a character to suit a stage, although that never really crossed my mind because it’s something I’ve never considered before; for me, it’s more the stages in general that I love or hate rather than playing on them with specific characters. And at this event, I was much more in the mindset of wanting to see everything and try it all out, so I never even thought about the stage while I was selecting my character.

All of the stages look amazing. Of the new ones, the Great Plateau Tower from Breath of the Wild is a fairly small one where the roof collapses in occasionally, and surprisingly this isn’t a hazard; it just looks cool. Moray Towers is the new Splatoon stage, and it’s a series of sloping levels stacked vertically above each other. I found this one hard to fight on because players were more spread out and on different levels which made it hard to land hits. I imagine this will be better suited to people who like slightly slower gameplay and having more chances to recover, or it might be more fun with eight players. Conversely, I cannot imagine how chaotic eight-player Smash is going to be on the Great Plateau Tower!

In Ultimate, having items turned on didn’t feel quite as chaotic as they have in past games, and I think they’ve been nerfed a fair bit. The once-almighty hammer — I got one and the guy next to me said “uh oh” as soon as he heard the music — didn’t produce the KOs or near-KOs I would have expected in the past. Likewise, Smash Balls didn’t always guarantee KOs like that did in Smash Wii U/3DS. They’re also harder to grab, although they also sometimes just land on the ground and stay still; the first time this happened we were all wary of the Fake Smash Balls and ran away from it until someone hesitantly kicked it and realized it was a real one!

I felt that I had to be very accurate when landing blows and dodging. It should lend to a technical playstyle that will suit competitive players and those who play for fun.

Overall, the gameplay feels faster and more precise. Thankfully there’s no Brawl-style random slipping and tripping, and I felt that I had to be very accurate when landing blows and dodging. Fast characters like Fox and Sonic covered ground incredibly quickly, and some of the heavier characters like Donkey Kong felt more agile. If you’re not paying attention, you can be sent flying off screen and not realize where you are at first! It should lend to a technical playstyle that will suit both competitive players as well as those who play for fun (because the core concept of Super Smash Bros. is fun).

Two hours of the one style of match flew by, so I can only imagine how many hours I’m going to get out of the game playing with different modes and rules. And that’s before I even consider any possible single-player modes, which I hope there will be for the times when I take my Switch with me on the go by myself. I didn’t want my time with Ultimate to end, and now more than ever I eagerly await December when I can get the full version into my hands.

David Johnson, Publications Director

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has all the potential to be the best Smash Bros. game to date. Thus far, everything Nintendo has shown oozes with that careful attention to detail that Nintendo is simply known for. While we don’t know all of its secrets yet — there’s this maybe “Spirits” mode on the main menu that we know nothing about that may be a major single-player component to the game(?) — I can’t help but be extremely excited for the series to make its way to the Switch.

How can I describe Ultimate? Well, the short answer is that it feels very much like Smash Bros. More specifically, it feels a lot like Melee, though admittedly I haven’t pulled out my GameCube to play it in quite some time. While there is a good dose of beautiful chaos in the game caused by items, assist trophies, and Poké Balls, it’s all a manageable sort of chaos. It just feels good to dart into piles of characters, take some pot shots (or get hit trying!), and then escape to go at it again.

At the event, they had a couple of stations with GameCube controllers set up, but I figured I would give the Switch Pro Controllers one more fair go, even though the default control scheme of every controller since the GameCube has made me want to cry. And while I still wasn’t 100% in love with the Pro Controller’s default setup, I did find myself hating it a lot less. But I still will either be using a GameCube controller or resorting to making a custom controller configuration for me when the game comes out.

Because we had two solid hours with the game, I went and truly experimented with characters both familiar and unfamiliar as well as played practically every stage that was on display. For the characters I was familiar with, I found the differences between the Ultimate fighters and their earlier incarnations rather subtle, though Marth especially seemed incredibly floaty, much more so than he was in Melee. (That said, I chalk this up as a good thing!) For characters I was unfamiliar with — Ridley, Inkling, and the host of DLC characters from Smash 4, they all felt incredibly unique from the cast of old, and that’s hugely refreshing. That said, the fact that many of the characters are becoming Echo Fighters (thus with the official salute that they’re “the same character” as some other), makes me happy; finally, we can hope to see so many characters truly become unique entities rather than carbon copies of one another.

And the stages were mostly fantastic. They look utterly fantastic, and they set the stage for a visually impressive game. And none of them felt like they detracted too much from the overall premise of the game: dominating over all your friends. That said, I still utterly despise the Mega Man stage brought forward from Smash 4, though I’m extremely relieved that not only can we trigger each stage’s Ω (omega) form but also simply play with the stages as is sans their various stage hazards. Finally, we can play the Dr. Wily stage without the Yellow Devil ruining an otherwise fun game.

The Smash Balls’ effectiveness has been nerfed quite a bit. In order to counterbalance that, the Assist Trophies seem much more powerful.

As far as the items go, there were only two major differences I’ve noticed in playing the game. First and foremost, the Smash Balls’ effectiveness has been nerfed quite a bit. Since Brawl, while it’s always been possible to survive a Final Smash, it was exceedingly unlikely. However, now the survivability has been greatly upped as the Final Smashes aren’t really so “final” any longer. Perhaps this is done in order to keep it in line with how short many of the moves have been made or just to allow them to not disrupt gameplay as much, but it really makes it feel much more balanced as a whole. (That said, the Smash Balls seemed extremely difficult to even get to as they moved far quicker than before!)

In order to counterbalance that, the Assist Trophies seem much more powerful. In previous games, Assist Trophies generally remained on-screen for no more than a few seconds at most. Now, many Assist Trophies have been modified to become temporary allies on the stage, giving you a not insignificant advantage. While the Assist Trophies are able to be defeated and don’t dish out overwhelming damage in one go, they possibly will be one of the more contentious design decisions for Smash Ultimate.

The gravity well item popped up quite a bit in the game, and its effects can be felt everywhere.

Thematically, Ultimate is full of so many little subtle details that show just how much Sakurai and his team love Nintendo and its entire legacy. The subtle changes to Link to bring about his Breath of the Wild form are carefully balanced by pushing Princess Zelda and Ganondorf to other parts of the timeline to showcase the breadth of the Zelda series. The fact that the Echo Fighters now exist allow for a greater depth of exploration into the various franchises without providing an overwhelming feeling of sameness permeating everything, such as when Dark Pit was announced as a separate character in Smash 4.

Outside of my hands-on experience, what I think impresses me the most about Ultimate is just how much variety there can be inside the ordinary Smash experience. Sure, there are tournaments and oodles of other features and modes, but having well over 60 characters to choose from and over 100 stages to fight on will give so many permutations of fighting that it’ll be impossible to play them all. Whenever I’m smashing it up with friends, there always comes to that point in the evening when I stray away from the characters I’m familiar with and start playing the characters I’m either terrible with or simply don’t play as much, and Ultimate will ensure that I’m always wanting to experiment and try another character again and again beyond that.

December 7 cannot come fast enough. Smash Ultimate, I’m desperately waiting for you.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate will be released on December 7 for Nintendo Switch. Thank you to Nintendo Australia for inviting us to come and Smash!

Two hours with Super Smash Bros. Ultimate this might just be the best Smash so far Last week, in a tiny hidden bar typical of Melbourne’s inner east, Nintendo gave us hands-on time with

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ask-the-phan-site · 7 years ago

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Phan Cam: The Fight Before Christmas (Part 1)

>Shibuya. On Central Street, a young boy wonders off from the pharmacy out of boredom.

Finally! Some time to myself without my parents breathing down my neck.

>He looked around to find something to help him kill the boredom. Then, he noticed someone... A certain king we all know.

Can’t believe I had to come all the way here to Shibuya to play Gun About. I really hope they finish renovations soon. Who even does this at this time of year?

Young Boy: Hey, Shinya!

Shinya: Oh, hey, Yuta! What are you doing here so late? I thought your mom didn’t like that.

Yuta: She and Ryuichi are in the pharmacy buying Grandpa’s medicine. He has prescription so they’ll be awhile. So I thought I’d sneak off, maybe get something from the convenience store.

Shinya: Do you even have the money?

>Hearing this, Yuta’s jaw dropped.

Yuta: Shoot! I forgot, Mom’s says I’m not old enough to have my own money. So what about you? Don’t you usually go to the arcade in Akihabara?

Shinya: The owner closed it down for renovations. He’s thinking of adding a second floor to put in a gamer’s cafe and use the other higher floors to rent apartments.

Yuta: Couldn’t you just play Gun About at home?

Shinya: We don’t have the Internet and my mom doesn’t really like that game. So I have to come all the way here which is taking a heavy toll on my wallet. Just hope I can make it back before dinner. By the way, how are things. Especially with...

Yuta: With my condition? Well, it’s still pretty much the same. I can’t feel pain, shouldn’t that mean I’m like invincible? Why can’t my mom see that?

I’m not sure if I’m the right person to tell you that, Yuta.

>Just then, they noticed something. Someone going into an alley next to the karaoke place.

Shinya: I know that guy. And who’s the lady with him?

Yuta: Doesn’t that go to that place where they sell model guns? Joe said I shouldn't go in there.

Shinya: But if he’s going to be there, I’m sure it will be alright. Wanna see what they’re up to?

Yuta: Well, as long as I get back before my parents notice I'm gone.

>The two boys followed into the alley... Not knowing they were being followed as well.

???: Little kids shouldn’t be going into an alley at night. I better follow them before Yuta worries Setsuko and Ryuichi.

>The managed to sneak inside.

Welcome back. Come to sell me something else weird? ... You’re even dressed weird.

The high schools in the city are having an event. I know I transferred out of Shujin, but my friends needed help and I said I would. We were hoping to go there after we talk with you.

Same here. I know me and my friend just graduated, but we just couldn't let them do this on their own.

What is it you wanted to talk about?

Makoto: Well, you know about that tournament Ren was invited to?

Kaoru: You mean Smash Bros.? Yes... Actually, shouldn’t you be there now?

I already did. The things about the Smash Universe is... Time is irrelevant.

Makoto: Since Smash Bros. consists of characters from other video game series, Nintendo needed a space were they can be together without disrupting the story of their games. And that’s when they made Smash Bros.

Kaoru: Amazing. But how did you get an invitation?

Ren: Sonic the Hedgehog.

Iwai: You mean your last heist?

Ren: Yes. Sneaky McBatty (Rouge the Bat) let is slip to Sonic that we’re the Phantom Thieves. Thankfully, he, the Thorndykes, and their friends decided to keep it a secret, but Sonic got the idea to invite me to be in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate... As DLC, of course.

Iwai: I see. But what does this have have to do with us?

Ren: After I did that, our first admin had the idea to sign me up for that fighting tournament that takes place every year here in Tokyo.

Iwai: You mean the Fight Before Christmas? I guess that means you’re here for the rule book.

Makoto: I’m entering as well. My former aikido instructor was going to enter due to bills piling up at the dojo and the prize money should be able to pay them off until he can find something, but the maximum age to enter is 59 and he’s 62. However, when he diced to find someone to take his place, I was the first one who came to mind.

Kaoru: Really? You must be really good at aikido to be chosen. Actually, I’ve always thought of taking up the martial arts... For sports.

Heh! That’s what I thought.

Kaoru: And what about you, Ren kun?

Ren: Like I said, Mishima thought it would be good for the Phandom if the leader of the Phantom Thieves was in the tournament and would get us more requests and, in light of the holidays, gifts.

Kaoru: That must be rough.

Yuta: (whisper) Why are they talking about the Phantom Thieves?

Shinya: (also whispering) Well, I’m not suppose to say anything, but...

Look, can you keep a secret?

>Yuta nods his head. So Shinya leans in close and whispers in his ear.

Shinya: ...

Yuta: ARE YOU SERIOUS!? YOU’RE FRIENDS WITH THE PHANTOM THIEVES!?

SHUSH! They’ll hear us!

>Too late. We notice them where they were hiding.

Shinya kun?

Kaoru: Holy smoke! The King of Akihabara! ... And I wish I had a cut-in to show my expression. And why is Yuta Koshu with you?

Yuta: Huh? You know about me?

Kaoru: Who in Shibuya hasn’t heard of you? ... Because of him.

>Kaoru was pointing to the door which was open and someone came in. Yuta was sure he had been busted... Until he saw who it was.

Yuta: Oh good. It’s just you. I was sure Mom and Ryuichi was here.

But I don’t think you’ll be out of trouble just yet.

Yuta: Why’s that?

???????: Because just as Joe followed you, we followed Joe.

>As this Joe person comes in... Two more followed.

(sighs) If we get anymore people here this place will either become a suburb or have people thinking there’s a sale going on.

Sorry. We just took our eyes off of him for just a minuet and he was gone.

Yuta: I’m sorry. I just met Shinya and we got curious about one of his friends.

Well, as long as you didn’t get hurt or did anything dangerous, I’ll forgive you this once. Just don’t scare us like that again. My heart almost dropped when we turned around and you weren’t there.

Iwai: Just goes to show you that you gotta keep a real close eye on the younger ones. Especially when you’re out in the city at night.

Yuta: (a bit offended) Hey! I’ll have you know I just turned 8.

Joe: Anyway, I guess you know about me too.

I also know about you as well, Joe Akamine. As well as you both, Ryuichi and Setsuko Suzuki.

Ren: Can you explain, please?

Makoto: Joe and Ryuichi are well known in the boxing world. Joe is one of the few expected to become the next Joe Yabuki. As for Ryuichi, he was in the prime of his boxing career but was forced into early retirement due to complications with his vision.

Ryuichi: I don’t think we need to talk about that. But there were a few good things that came out of it.

Setsuko: That’s true.

Shinya: You two are married, right? Yuta told me.

Yuta: That’s right. Ryuichi’s my step-dad now. Even though he can’t box anymore, I still think he’s great. Almost as much as Joe.

Ryuichi: (playfully offended) Aww, thanks.

>We couldn’t help but laugh.

Setsuko: Now hold on. Yuta, event though I’ve forgiven you, I’m still upset. Just wandering off on your own. And at night, no less. And you went into a gun shop.

Iwai: I can assure you, ma’am, these are just models. They only shoot pellets.

Setsuko: I see.

Joe: By the way, I also overheard you guys talking about the Fight Before Christmas.

Makoto: You know about it too, Joe san? I take it you’re also entering.

Ryuichi: Really? That’s what you wanted to talk about?

Joe: Well, Mr. Takizawa normally enters in the tournament, but as of last month, he turned 60 and has been declared too old to enter. But he asked me to enter in his place. He just told me this morning and I was going to tell you tonight.

Kaoru: Really? Do they allow boxers? She just said she practices aikido.

Iwai: Well, Kaoru, the Fight Before Christmas is a bit like the Street Fighter Tournament. All forms of fighting are welcome.

Kaoru: I see. They’re not very organized about this, are they? But why does Mr. Takizawa enter the tournament? Does he need the money?

Joe: No, he doesn’t do this for the money. He’s trying to become the next FBC Champion. But he said I can still get the money if I want.

Kaoru: Really? How much is the prize money?

Iwai: ¥900,000. ($7983)

Kaoru: (surprised) For real!? And I thought the money you won in the lottery was a lot.

Ren: You won the lottery, Iwai san?

Kaoru: We’ll explain another time.

Yuta: Joe, you’ve got to enter it. I know you can become the next Champ.

Joe: Well, if it means Mr. Takizawa would have his dream of the currant Champ being defeated, I guess.

Yuta: Yes!

Joe: So, where do I sign up?

Iwai: Normally, you can sign online...

But from what I've heard, a lot of people want to sign up in person at the TV station in Akasaka Mitsuke. Mostly because of one of the co-commentators.

Ryuichi: Why? Is it someone famous?

Iwai: You could say that... If you like girls based on edible meats.

Kaoru: You mean it’s... Her?

Joe: If it is, I guess we should get going.

Iwai: I don’t think you can go right now. The place is probably packed by now. But don’t worry, registrations will be open for a while, so you might have time.

Makoto: That’s probably good. We don’t have time today anyway.

Ryuichi: How come?

>Suddenly, the door opened again.

‘Bout time we found you guys! We’ve been waiting almost 20 minutes.

We thought you probably got held up for some reason.

>Joe, Ryuichi, and Setsuko just started at Ryuji, Yusuke, and Haru about what they were wearing.

Is something wrong?

Ren: I’ll explain later. Right now, we better go. Everyone’s waiting.

>With that, we leave and Iwai closes the shop for the night... And just when all was quiet...

Interesting...

>Sho notices Ryuichi walking off. Seeing him, Shoe makes a look of disgust.

#phantom thieves cam #christmas

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terryblount · 7 years ago

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Here’s All The Game Announcements At The Game Awards 2018

The Game Awards 2018 promised over 10 new game announcements happening while they dole out the glamorous awards. And it certainly did not disappoint. Just like what we did last year, here’s a rundown of all the big game announcements that happened during the show.

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Sayonora Wild Hearts

A Pop Album Video Game. Published by Annapurna Interactive and developed by Simogo. This team specialises in making mobile games, including Device 6.

This time, Sayonara Wild Hearts will be out on Nintendo Switch.

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Journey To The Savage Planet

By 505 Games and developers Typhoon Studios. Alex Hutchison, director of Assassin’s Creed III and Far Cry 4, is part of the team. Not a battle royale. Not a survival game. But an adventure game.

Solve the mystery of the savage planet. More info will be revealed next year.

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The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe, Out On Consoles

2013’s narrative-driven comedy that throws you off every moment and, will be out on consoles. Now with new content and new endings.

It is also coming to PC.

A little teaser trailer pic.twitter.com/VfC0IAN3uz

— Among Trees (@AmongTreesGame) December 7, 2018

Among Trees

By Fjrd Interactive, it is a beautiful looking first-person adventure, coming to Steam Early Access in 2019.

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Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order

The sequel to the Diablo-style action game is coming to Nintendo Switch. Featuring many of your favourite characters from the Marvel universe, including the X-Men.

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Rocket League New DLC: McLaren 570S Car Pack

A real car as DLC in Rocket League! McLaren has been flirting with gaming for some time and this is further commitment that they are seriously courting us gamers to like the Woking-based automotive company.

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Far Cry New Dawn

Developed by Ubisoft Montreal, it’s post-apocalypse Far Cry 5, set in the same map of Hope County.

Featuring more crazy weapons, beaten up vehicles, a very pinkish hue and two new leading ladies. It’s coming out on February 15th and hinted that it’s following a timeline set up by events of Far Cry 5.

Hades

A new game by Supergiant Games, creator of Bastion, Transistor and Pyre. Looks like it plays more like the combat-oriented of the earlier two games married with the visual-novel artstyle in Pyre. It is also a rougelike.

Hades is available now on Early Access at the Epic Games Store.

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Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey

New, actual gameplay of Patrice Désilets’ Panache Digital Games. The creative director of Assassin’s Creed Games takes you on a singleplayer open world adventure through the times. Starting as a monkey and into the early parts of civilizations somewhere in Africa.

Ancestors is set for release sometime in 2019.

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Scavengers

Developed by new studio Midwinter. Powered by SpatialOS, the first tease shows a cold, frozen wilderness. Described as a multiplayer ‘co-opetition’, sign-ups are open at the official website here.

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Dead By Daylight Darkness Among Us DLC

The asymmetric horror multiplayer game is getting another DLC. And boy does this game have a lot of DLC.

Also, the game is getting dedicated servers by Summer 2019.

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New Anthem Trailer

A new trailer for Anthem, EA and Bioware’s upcoming looter-shooter. Here’s more plot and world-building for this new IP.

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Crash Team Racing

The remaster of is introduced by the iconic man in the Crash Bandicoot suit. This is the same treatment as the previous Crash and Spyro remasters/remakes. The same game you know and love but built from the ground up with the latest tech. Beenox is handling the development.

It will be out in June 2019.

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The Outer Worlds

The new game and universe by Obsidian and Private Division. It is a single-player first-person sci-fi RPG. It features an old-timey aesthetic in space played in the first person. A hint of Borderlands, but more gritty and you can make meaningful story decisions, hopefully.

This is the game the original creators of Fallout that joined Obsidian a few years ago, Tim Cain and Leonard Boyarsky, worked on. It will be out in 2019 for the PS4, PC and Xbox One.

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Dauntless On PS4, Xbox One and Epic Games Store

First announced at the Game Awards, the Monster Hunter-style action RPG will be coming to the PS4 and Xbox One.

For PC, aside from its own launcher, it will also be available through the Epic Games Store.

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The Last Campfire

Hello. From the creators of Joe Danger and No Man’s Sky, Hello Games’ next title is a very surprising one. It is described as “a story of a lost ember trapped in a puzzling place, searching for meaning and a way home”.

A calming looking adventure game.

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New Winter Map for PUBG

New map Vikendi has been revealed. The map is smaller than the usual maps but larger than its small map Sanhok.

New weapons, new vehicles including a snowmobile and snow. Snow will play a part on strategy as it leaves tracks.

The map is now available on PC Test servers and are on its way to Xbox One and PS4, soon.

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Atlas

New game by the developers of Ark:Survival Evolved. A world of pirates, knights and cowboys? and magic? Every fantasy trope collides in this open world survival MMO, with 40,000 concurrent players.

It will be out on PC via Steam on December 14th, with a release on Xbox One via the Preview Program coming soon.

"I suspect you have questions…" #TheDreadWolfRises pic.twitter.com/oT7L6LOFKA

— BioWare (@bioware) December 7, 2018

New Dragon Age Teased

A new Dragon Age game has been announced. While it’s an open secret one is existed, it’s good to finally have it properly revealed.

Though no name has been attached to it yet, but the tease suggests the next game will continue directly after the end of its last game, Dragon Age: Inquisition.

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The Pathless

From the creators of Abzu comes a new adventure game, featuring fantastical ruins, forests, flaming mythical beasts, an eagle and archery.

It will be released on PS4 and PC via Epic Games Store.

Stranger Things 3: The Game from @BonusXP is coming to all platforms. Hold onto your quarters. #TheGameAwards pic.twitter.com/m00x1nGeFy

— NX (@NXOnNetflix) December 7, 2018

Stranger Things 3 The Game

Developed by BonusXP, the same developers that did Stranger Things The Game. Now it’s in a 16-bit style aesthetic instead of 8-bit and will follow along the adventures that will happen in Season 3 of the Netflix show.

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Mortal Kombat 11

While Ed Boon was presenting an award, it cuts to the announcement of Mortal Kombat 11. It is a CG trailer but the game will feature a new graphics engine and Custom Character Variations.

A full reveal for the community is set to happen on January 17th with a full release on April 23rd for the PS4, PC, Xbox One and Switch.

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Psychonauts 2

A new trailer for the long-in-development platformer Psychonauts 2.The trailer details the setup for our hero Razputin’s next mission.

It is still set for release sometime in 2019.

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Demo May Cry Coming First to Xbox One

The demo for Devil May Cry 5, which we are dubbing as Demo May Cry, will be out on Xbox One December 7th. This is the Nero demo as seen playable at various events this year.

Alongside that is a new trailer, including a glimpse of how V, the third playable character.

Fortnite

The world of Fortnite literally changed with the introduction of The Block where the coolest content from the game will be featured. Goodbye Risky Reels. For now.

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Rage 2

A wild new trailer for Rage 2 dropped. Featuring more of the wacky post-apocalypse open world.

There are no words! Joker from Persona 5 in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate!? Wow! #TheGameAwards pic.twitter.com/uga2qxQluT

— The Game Awards (@thegameawards) December 7, 2018

Persona 5’s Joker In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

For real?!?! It’s real! The Persona 5 protagonist is the coming to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, the first of five as announced earlier. All DLC characters will be new to Smash and will be of this sort of wild pick.

Lookin’ cool, Joker!

For the list of award winners for The Game Awards can be found here.

Here’s All The Game Announcements At The Game Awards 2018 published first on https://touchgen.tumblr.com/

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burnouts3s3 · 7 years ago

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My Hero One’s Justice, a review

(Disclaimer: The following is a non-profit unprofessional blog post written by an unprofessional blog poster. All purported facts and statement are little more than the subjective, biased opinion of said blog poster. In other words, don’t take anything I say too seriously. Just the facts 'Cause you're in a Hurry! Publisher: Bandai Namco Developer: Byking Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP): 59.99 USD How much I paid: 59.99 USD Rated: T for Language, Mild Blood, Mild Suggestive Themes, Violence How long I played: 6 Hours switching between various gameplay modes such as Story mode, Mission Mode and online mode. Microtransactions: The character of Endeavor being unlocked early for those who pre-ordered the game. Addtional missions for Deku and Endeavor priced at 1.99 USD Each. DRM: None but requires 3rd Party EULA to play. Dual Audio: No. Only the Japanese Audio with subtitles is available. Roster: 20 Characters in the base game. 3 additional characters as DLC. Stages: 11 What I played on: PC Controller Support: Yes. My Rock Candy Xbox 360 controller was compatible with the game. Performance Issues: The game ran smoothly for the most part but, by default, had options such as Anti-aliasing and V-Sync turned off for some reason. With a lack of options to tweek the graphics, I noticed multiple drops in framerate going from 60 to the mid 50’s and at worst, the mid 20’s and 30’s. One instance of the game momentarily freezing before resuming combat. Modes: Story mode, Mission Mode (an RPG like mode where in you level up certain characters and have to replenish health between fights), Arcade Mode (where in you pick a character and fight 6 AI opponents of increasing difficulty), Local Battle and Online Battle. My Personal Biases: I’m… neutral on My Hero Academia. While I think it has a lot of potential, I’m not certain whether it’ll transcend the trappings of the Battle Shounen Genre or simply be content with having death battle after death battle. Hopefully it won’t crap the bed like Bleach did. My Verdict: Rather than a complete game, My Hero One’s Justice feels like a 60 dollar tech demo meant to squeeze money out of early adopters. With an already dumbed down fighting system, the lack of not only single player content and an anemic roster might put off even the most devoted fans. Get it on sale. My Hero One’s Justice, a review

My Hero Academia seems to be the latest darling from Shounen Jump and Viz Media. A hit sales smash, the franchise has already spawn its own anime adaptation, a movie that did pretty well and, at long last, its own video game adaptation. Just as well, the series also has been dubbed by Funimation, can be viewed on Crunchyroll and is running on Cartoon Network’s Toonami block. Looking to be another Naruto, can My Hero Academia succeed in its game, My Hero One’s Justice? Let’s find out! In My Hero One’s Justice, you play as various characters found in My Hero Academia. There, you can relive events from the manga and anime, such as the UA tournament as well as the climatic battles such as All Might’s battle against All For One. For those wondering, the game mostly covers the story from the UA tournament to All Might’s final battle with All For One. Byking, the developer, animated very few of the game’s cutscenes, instead using comic panels with still shots from the anime to show the story scenes. Even the localizer, Funimation, did not dub an English track for the game (while they have done so for other Funimation properties such as Dragonball FighterZ). All these signs point to a game that was rushed out to gage how much BnHA fans would pay. (All the more suspicious as the game, stateside, was released on the same day as Red Dead Redemption 2, guaranteeing lackluster sales. Between this game and Black Clover: Quartet Knights, one has to wonder if Bandai Namco of America is attempting to sabotage its anime adaptations). The lack of presentation is most evident in the game’s story mode. Never mind the fact that the Story Mode isn’t long enough to last the weekend, I’m astonished that a game this bare bones was priced at 60 USD. To stretch out Story mode, the game offers battles on the Heroes perspective, the villains perspective and finally, the UA tournament where the students battle one another. By playing the various modes, you can unlock customization items such as different costumes to put on the characters, banners to put on the game’s profiles and coins, an in-game currency to help you unlock other items in the store. Certain items can only become available by fulfilling secret conditions in Story Mode, such as defeating an opponent with a Plus Ultra. Combat is arranged by having one character face off another and attempt to either lower the other’s health to zero or ring them out (for select stages). Characters have a basic attack button, a grab, a ranged attack, a power attack which allows them to continue fighting even after receiving damage and dash attacks. Dealing or receiving damage will fill up the stamina bar and allow characters to use a Plus Ultra, a cinematic special attack that deals extra damage. You can variate between a Level 1 Plus Ultra, a more powerful Level 2 Plus Ultra or deal maximum damage with a Level 3 Plus Ultra. You have the ability to select ‘sidekicks’, support characters that will assist you in combat when summoned. Different sidekicks have different effects. For example, having Iida as a sidekick will having him call down and deal a throw while calling Uraraka as a side kick will have her touch the opponent and suspend them in mid-air. While the game’s controls are competent, they’re also very shallow offering very little variety amongst its playable characters. Even with certain characters having unique status effects (i.e. Todoroki can momentarily freeze his opponents with his attacks or burn them causing minor damage over time) there’s too little variety and too few characters. It’d be one thing if the game had a create-a-character mode or a deep combat system like in Soul Caliber VI. There’s just too little content here even for a ‘style over substance’ arena fighter like in the Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm games. Add to that the inability to switch between your sidekicks and a limited roster, the game feels more like a tech demo than a full priced game. CAVEAT: Look, I’m not trying to beat a game down here. For something I paid 60 bucks for, I expected more. Even compared to the Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm games, there’s not only items lacking in the visual department but also the gameplay department as well. With several characters excluded and other characters (such as an alternate mode of Deku and Endeavor for those who didn’t pre-order the game), locked behind a paywall, I can’t really recommend this game at full price. With good games such as Soul Caliber VI, I struggle with the rating because there’s decent content undercut by bad publisher tactics. With mediocre games like My Hero One’s Justice, I can have a clear conscience telling you to wait for a sale. Don’t worry; the inevitable sequel will be worth the money. Verdict: Deep Sale or Rental.

#my hero one's justice #bnha #boku no hero academia #my hero academia #all might #deku #midoriya izuku #izuku #midoriya #funimation #bandai namco #bamco #reviews #gamergate

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aion-rsa · 4 years ago

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Link Tank: How Sora Joined Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

The creator of Super Smash Bros. explains how Kingdom Heart’s Sora came to be the latest character in the video game’s roster.

“As announced earlier this month, Sora became Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s final DLC character. But how did Sora, Keyblade and all, end up in Smash Bros.? In his latest Weekly Famitsu column, creator Masahiro Sakurai explains just that. Sakurai noted how Sora was the number one choice among players for a new character. The Kingdom Hearts character seems like such an obvious choice, too—especially because the character’s name is the same as Sakurai’s company.”

Read more at Mental Floss

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The post Link Tank: How Sora Joined Super Smash Bros. Ultimate appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3C5c75F

#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

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garrettsthings · 7 years ago

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Garrett’s Reaction to Nintendo’s E3 2018 Presentation

Hello friends! I’ve made no secret about how hyped I was for Nintendo’s E3 presentation this year and so I’ve decided to write down my reactions to each of the games featured. So here we go:

Daemon X Machina: I’m actually really excited for this. I was never super into the Armored Core games (I’m not sure why since I have an unhealthy love for giant robots), but I think this looks rad. It’s like if Armored Core (yes I know people from that are working on this) was given to Platinum (yes I know nobody from that are working on this). I can’t wait!

Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna ~ The Golden Country: This looks cool, but I still need to beat Xenoblade Chronicles 2. But as a side note, Nintendo why do you hate the English dub of this game so much? It’s nowhere close to the worst English voice acting you’ve ever done. Do you remember Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn? Do you remember “To wing brothers! Keep up if you can!”? Because I do! And Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is NOT that bad.

Pokemon Let’s Go Pikachu and Eevee: Don’t get me wrong, I’m looking forward to getting the Eevee version but aside from the news about Mew being included in the Pokeball plus, we didn’t learn anything we didn’t already know about these games. This video just served to remind us that the games still existed. Guys, I don’t want to make this whole post be negative, but if you’re going to show us a video for a game we already knew about, it better end with Spider-Man getting beat up by the Sinister Six!

Super Mario Party: I haven’t played a Mario Party game in a very long time (unless the top 100 minigames one counts) but this does look cool. The tank game that requires two Switches makes me nervous as a single player gamer though.

Fire Emblem Three Houses: Okay, here we go! THIS is what I came for! While we’re not given much in the way of story or explanation, the game looks great! Having a player avatar (though I hope he or she is not a silent protagonist) is always welcome, and the having an army at your back had my jaw on the floor. Not to mention, we finally get a female Lord (ten bucks says that’s not her class) who can use axes! I’m just praying the game doesn’t move too far away from the best parts of the last two games. I want my supports and romances!

Fortnite: I have no interest in this game, but I’m happy for the people who were asking for this. Who knows, I might even give it a try. It’s not like it’ll cost me anything.

Indie Games: I’m not super into indie games so I was pretty meh on this segment. I will say that watching the Treehouse play Overcooked 2 later was a lot of fun though.

Octopath Traveler: Dude I LOVED the demo for this game and now you’re telling me there’s another one coming out IN TWO DAYS!? I don’t know what I did to make the developers of this game like me so much, but clearly I need to figure out what it is and then just do it constantly.

Starlink Battle For Atlas: I literally heard about this game for the first time yesterday. I have no idea what it is or what it’s about aside from space battles, but I love me some Star Fox and that’s enough to intrigue me into looking closer.

Arena of Valor: This is another game I’ve never heard of until now. Looks very Diablo-esque which is fine, but not my thing.

Minecraft: I could have sworn this was out for the Switch already. Oh well. Again, not my thing, but I’m happy for those who do like it.

Sushi Striker: Played the demo and I absolutely loved it. I pre-ordered it on May 26 and I’m still waiting for it to start shipping. The things I do for free shipping I tell you...

Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle Donkey Kong DLC: Yet another game I just realized I need to play more before I get some really cool looking DLC for it, lol.

Pixark: See my reaction to Minecraft above.

Just Dance 2019: ... reeeeeeally not my thing.

Dragonball Fighterz: I’m not a big fighting game fan, but once again, I know there were people waiting for this game to come to Switch and I’m happy for them.

Splatoon 2 Octoling DLC: As someone who loves the lore of Splatoon, this DLC has me tempted to actually get Splatoon 2 while I still don’t need to pay to play online.

Captain Toad Treasure Tracker: Ooooh.. I LOVE Captain Toad. I might need to get this one. Maybe the 3DS version. I prefer that console for games that rely heavily on touch controls.

Crash Bandicoot: Blah blah blah not my thing, blah blah happy for those who like it.

Ninjala: Um... what is this glorious looking thing, and why am I only learning about it now?

Carcassonne: *puts on glasses and gestures to this game as if it were a butterfly* Is this Settlers of Catan?

The rest of this montage except TWEWY and Mario Tennis: I’ll just save us all some time. None of these are my things, but if they are yours, congratulations.

TWEWY: Oh you better believe I’m getting this! I just hope it doesn’t force us into using touch controls.

Mario Tennis: I liked the demo but I didn’t love it (translation: I got my ass kicked online and I’m still sulking). I don’t know if I’ll get the game.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: I’m only a casual fan of Smash, but I can certainly understand the hype for this game. Even I’m salivating at that Ridley trailer. Still, we didn’t need Sakurai to walk us through every single character. That chewed up a lot of time that could have been used for something else.

Overall, while I felt this presentation was the weakest of the big three this year. I still enjoyed it. While I’m disappointed there was no Bayonetta 3 or Metroid Prime 4, we still got plenty of good stuff. Honestly, Fire Emblem was all I needed and I got it. And let’s not forget, Nintendo has a history of announcing new stuff in the days following its E3 Direct. I wouldn’t be surprised if we got a weird and wonderful little new IP announced either tomorrow or Thursday.

What did you think of Nintendo’s presentation? Sound off in replies or by reblogging.

#Nintendo #Nintendo E3 #Nintendo E3 2018 #E3 2018 #Reactions #Fire Emblem Three Houses #Fire Emblem Switch

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enterinit · 5 years ago

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New Xbox One Games for May 26 to 29

New Xbox One Games for May 26 to 29.

Minecraft Dungeons – May 26

Fight your way through an all-new action-adventure game, inspired by classic dungeon crawlers and set in the Minecraft universe! Brave the dungeons alone, or team up with friends! Up to four players can battle together through action-packed, treasure-stuffed, wildly varied levels – all in an epic quest to save the villagers and take down the evil Arch-Illager! Discover a trove of powerful new weapons and items that will help you defeat ruthless swarms of new-and-nasty mobs. Fight or flee through canyons, swamps and – of course – mines! Any adventurer brave or foolish enough to explore this blocky and beautiful world will need to come prepared. So quickly, gear up! Dungeon Creeper! Battle new-and-nasty mobs in this all-new action-adventure, inspired by classic dungeon crawlers. Multiplayer! Up to four players can team up and fight together in co-op mode. Power Up! Unlock dozens of unique items and weapon enchantments for devastating special attacks. Options! Personalize your character, then fight up-close and personal with melee swings, hang back with ranged attacks, or tank your way through swarms of mobs, shielded by heavy armour! Epicness! Explore treasure-stuffed levels in a quest to take down the evil Arch-Illager! https://youtu.be/mJczpIdONjs

Age of Wonders: Planetfall – Invasions (DLC) – May 26

In the stardust and disunity of the collapsed Star Union, an insidious new race of conquerors has come to lay claim to the galaxy. Deploy and destroy as the merciless Shakarn, a vicious race of conniving lizardmen with holographic disguises ready to deceive, disrupt, and disintegrate the last strongholds of human power.

Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath – May 26

Aftermath features a brand-new cinematic story centered around trust and deceit. Fire God Liu Kang, the new keeper of time and protector of Earthrealm, looks to secure the future he envisions. To do so, he is forced to enlist the help of some unlikely allies and familiar foes. Players will have to decide who they can trust and who they must defeat with fate on the line.

Many Faces: Console Edition – May 27

Retro arcade shooting lives again! Make the Many Face King pay for waking you from your beauty sleep! Many Faces is a multi-directional shooter inspired by arcade classics, combining single-screen action with randomized stages that will constantly keep you on your toes. Customize your character’s weapon and abilities as you go, further guaranteeing that no two runs will ever be the same. Features: Take on 50+ randomized levels, 17 in each playthrough.Dodge hazards to stay in the fight!Fight more than a dozen enemy face types, each with unique movement and attack patterns.Overcome 7 challenging bosses in unpredictable order.Wear hats to gain unique abilities or gun modifications.Get pumped with a varied and nostalgic 8-bit soundtrack!

Castle Pals – May 27

One night, Kylee and Owen stumbled upon creepy Castle Pookapick and decide to uncover its secrets! Nothing could possibly go wrong, could it? Play as two different characters! Punch your way through enemies with Kylee and fly above your enemies while avoiding traps as Owen! Earn optional gold medals by completing levels from start to finish faster than the posted time for each level. Can you collect them all? Features include: Guide the Pals through 40 action packed levels!Smash bad guys with Kylee's powerful attacks!Float around and explore using Owen's propeller hat!Battle fearsome bosses!Cute retro art and music!

Genetic Disaster – May 29

1/ Play alone or grab some friends 2/ Pick a character and his mutations 3/ Fight your way out of the mad mansion! Each of the 12 levels are procedurally generated for more variety and replay value. Hordes of enemies are waiting for you but keep an eye on your environment, it’s dangerous and will adapt to your progress. Upgrade your hero to build your own gameplay style and combine different ones to create the perfect team if you play with friends. Do you need a tank or a berserker? Make it happen! Don’t feel like cooperating? A special PvP arena is also available: “Stool Wars” let 2 to 4 players fight against each other. No guns, only stools, explosive barrels and boost. Perfect to have a blast and settle scores. The game’s motto: “Cooperate, but not too much!” Features: Solo or Multiplayer PvP or Coop (up to 4 players)Procedurally generated levels for unique playthroughsVibrant and original hand painted art styleOver 75 powerful and crazy weaponsLots of enemies to destroy and dangers/traps to avoid4 unique characters with special abilitiesOver 50 mutations to upgrade your heroAn extra Player vs Player mode (2 to 4 players)

Those Who Remain – May 28

As the lights go out, the embers of darkness are stoked in the sleepy town of Dormont. Confront uncomfortable horrors, keep your sanity in check and survive the night in this story-driven first-person psychological-thriller. DARKNESS HAS EYES - Navigate the encroaching darkness and clear paths through the mysteries of Dormont. To survive, you’ll need to stay in the light by any means.WORLDS TORN APART - Explore two strangely interconnected dimensions and solve puzzles to unlock the mysteries held within the dark.CONSCIENCE OF CHOICE – Choose to condemn or reprieve the lost souls of Dormont and their cursed trove of secrets.SAVOUR YOUR SANITY – Discover an up-close psychological thriller that delves deep into the human psyche.UNIQUE ATMOSPHERIC HORROR – Immerse yourself in a tense atmospheric adventure inspired by classic supernatural film and TV series. https://youtu.be/XvzrpwyaEmE

Shantae and the Seven Sirens – May 28

Shantae is back in an all-new tropical adventure! In her fifth outing, the Half-Genie hero gains new Fusion Magic abilities to explore a vast sunken city, makes new Half-Genie friends, and battles the Seven Sirens in her biggest, most thrilling quest yet! Featuring multiple towns and more labyrinths than ever before, an awesome aquatic journey full of danger and discovery awaits! Key Features: -Traverse an expansive, interconnected world above and below the sea! -Use Fusion Magic to change instantly between new creature forms! -Belly dance to activate machinery, restore health, and more! -Collect and power up with Monster Cards! -Enjoy minigames, acquire magic and items, and uncover secrets! -Gorgeously animated TV-style cutscenes! -All-new characters and returning favorites like Rottytops, Sky, Bolo, and the nefarious pirate Risky Boots!

Atomicrops – May 28

You own the last farm in the post-apocalypse wasteland, inherited from your late grandfather’s will mere moments before the surrounding countryside gets vaporized in a nuclear blast. Now as the only source of food for the local town, and constantly under threat from the local mutant wildlife, you do as any self-respecting farmer would: Farm. Marry. Kill. Atomicrops is an action roguelite farming simulator. Armed with your hoe, a watering pail, and a fully automatic weapon, you must grow ultra-GMO crops to feed the local town… and make a hefty profit. Defend your land from the mutant pests and bandits that invade nightly to ravage your fields. Court and wed townsfolk to fight and farm by your side. Gather upgrades to increase yields, profit and power. Befriend the local wildlife to help with the chores. KEY FEATURES FARM. Grow mutant crops and reap a bountiful harvest to sustain humanity… and make a huge profit. MARRY. Woo and marry a kindred spirit from the local town to fight and farm alongside you. KILL. Fight off hungry, post-nuclear pests at night. Hunt and forage in dangerous biomes for seeds and loot during the day. Turn your enemies into fertilizer to increase the quality of your crops. UPGRADE. Explore the far reaches of the biomes to find useful relics of farms long past. Discover rusty farm equipment, antique gardening tools, and tomes of how-to garden guides to increase your farming power. Spend your money in town to upgrade your gun and abilities. Permanently upgrade your farmhouse for bonuses that persist across playthroughs. BEFRIEND. Recruit an entourage of pig pals, chicken chums and cow colleagues to automate farming tasks. Cultivating atomicrops is a tough job, you'll need all the help you can get. Adopt a variety of bizarre cats to live on your farmstead. COMPETE. Advance through the more challenging years to unlock score multipliers and secure your place among the leaderboards of champion farmers.

Indiecalypse – May 29

Three stories, three outcasts, three nerds… and a single destiny: to make the best video game ever. Indiecalypse depicts the crude reality of indie game developers and their struggles to get their shit together when it comes to releasing a video game. Three misfits team up to design and produce their own indie game, finding themselves in a path of chaos, self-destruction and resentment. But there’s also space for crude humor, pop culture references, gratuitous and non-gratuitous violence… and fear. Fear of the dozens of lawsuits for copyright infringement, obscenity and profanity we’ll have to face if the game is finally published. Not everything is what it seems in Indiecalypse, and we know for sure that no one will be left indifferent after playing it. Features: The definitive Indie Developer ExperienceMore than 20 mini-games, most of them inspired by well-know indie gamesDifferent playable characters: Jack, Ethan & VioletDark Humor

Ultimate Fishing Simulator – May 29

Ultimate Fishing Simulator is a comprehensive fishing simulator which allows using various techniques, in different places around the world and most importantly, you don’t need a permanent connection to the Internet for it. If you are bored of waiting for fish to take and falling asleep in front of the computer, this means that you have played a bad game! In the Ultimate Fishing Simulator, this will never happen. Select the appropriate equipment and bait, cast your line and wait for a bite. Success is guaranteed. In addition to traditional fishing techniques, in Ultimate Fishing Simulator you’ll also find a winter map where you will be able to go ice fishing! Buy an auger at the store, find a suitable location and drill an air hole. But not too small, so that you can remove the fish. There are two modes of difficulties in the Ultimate Fishing Simulator, thanks to which there is something for everyone. Normal Mode allows you to enjoy the game in all its glory. In normal mode, all the features in the game are included. Realistic Mode requires more patience and efficiency from the player. Fish will be biting less and will fight longer. Some of the game features in this mode are disabled, such as the underwater camera. Every fisherman likes to admire his trophies. Some release their fish, other stuff and hang them on their walls. In Ultimate Fishing Simulator you can exactly do the same! Decide what you want to do with the fish you catch. Sell? Release? Stuff? The choice is yours.

Georifters – May 29

The ground is your weapon in the fast paced battle arena of Georifters. Team up with or against your friends to punch portals, twist tunnels, flip lasers, and steal the ground from under each other using a unique arsenal of weapons and abilities in this ground busting adventure. Steal the ground right from under your enemies! or yourself! In “Georifters” you can spin walls, twist tunnels, crush critters, battle against the ground or with it! It can be your tool or a weapon you use to smash others in a series of fast paced ground busting arenas. Choose from a variety of heroes Dress them up (or down) and combine outfits to look fabulous on your way to victory. Duel it out in a variety of exhilarating multiplayer modes Up to four friends or strangers can show off their skills as they go head to head at full speed, battling for victory, for honor - and of course bragging rights. More thinker than a fighter? No worries! Try some precision ground manipulation in co-op, against a friend, against an enemy, or a friend who is your enemy, or if you don’t have any friends or enemies (good for you!) you can go lone wolf in the story mode. Bust your way through 7 fantastical worlds 30+ levels, 300+ stages, each based on a unique theme.

Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling – May 29

Small Heroes, Big Adventure! Bug Fables is an adventure RPG following three heroes, Vi, Kabbu, and Leif, as they embark on an epic quest in Bugaria in search of treasure and immortality! The game combines colorful platforming with the heroes' unique abilities as they explore a wide variety of areas in the kingdom. Battles are turn-based and make use of action commands that can enhance attacks. Hidden within the foliage of nature lies a small but prosperous continent - Bugaria. Insects from all over the world travel to it in search of the treasure scattered across it. The most sought after of these relics is The Everlasting Sapling! Eating just one of its leaves can grant even immortality! In search of this ancient artifact, a brave team of explorers - Vi, Kabbu, and Leif - will travel across many different environments. In order to do so, they must work together to clear puzzles, defeat strong enemies and help the general bug populace!

Little Misfortune – May 29

Little Misfortune is an interactive story, focused on exploration and characters, both sweet and dark, where your choices have consequences. Starring Misfortune Ramirez Hernandez, an imaginative 8-year-old, who seeks the prize of Eternal Happiness, as a gift to her Mommy. Led by her new friend, Mr. Voice, they venture into the woods, where mysteries are unraveled and a little bit of bad luck unfolds. Sharing the same universe with the cult video game Fran Bow, created by the visionary dev-duo Killmonday Games. Features: You may pet a doggy, a fishy, a wolfie, the Kraken, the kitty and the foxy.Visit a pet cemetery with a shovel.Now with real human voices: Hear Misfortune say some pretty cute things!Missing children.There's a monster!Fall in love.Commit petty crimes.Original art by Natalia Martinsson.Original soundtrack by Isak Martinsson. https://youtu.be/iWAYJJyHuO4

The Last Scape – May 29

Glide through a vast, open-world, alpine scape in the search of an answer as to why this is your only memory. For the first time ever in a game, LIDAR laser scan data is used in its raw point cloud form, rendering millions of points in real-time from a dataset of more than one billion 3D points that accurately depict the real world. Featuring Smart Delivery, get it now and play it on the next gen at no extra cost! Xbox X enhanced: Higher resolutionDouble density of 3D pointsHigher sky cloud qualityHigher draw distance Features: Volumetric sky cloudsLIDAR scan point cloudsLive recorded sound trackRelaxingOne of a kind Read the full article

#Games #XboxOne

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robdwebster · 6 years ago

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Stuff of the year, 2018

"Mum, look! He's shitting out the thing again!"

Game of the year:

Two Point Hospital

Celeste

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

I dragged my feet on a lot of cool games this year. I didn't play Smash Bros. until the last week of the year, and got round to Celeste on NYD 2019! Smash is an unremarkable triumph - it is exactly the game I expected, but it's so good and there's so much of it that it was easily the best Switch game this year. Celeste is more interesting; brutal, but kind to the player, with a cracking soundtrack and some magical design. It gains a lot of points for being about something - that punishing difficulty makes you feel like you’re really climbing a mountain, and the frank way it discusses mental health is really phenomenal.

But Two Point Hospital - man! Like Sonic Mania last year, Two Point Hospital is a spiritual sequel to one of my favourite childhood games. Unlike Sonic Mania, it's not perfectly realised. I'm still not a big fan of the art-style, and there were some genuine balance / difficulty issues at launch affecting things like queue length and patient AI. That said, this game has had a ludicrous half life. I love the challenge, I love the mechanics, I love that it's easy to pick up but tricky to master. I love its tone, I love its sense of humour, and some 140 hours in I still don't feel like I'm done enjoying it. Just wonderful.

Other games I liked: Bomb Chicken, Donut County, Fallout 76, Graveyard Keeper, Jackbox Party Pack 5, Nintendo Labo, Pokémon Let's Go!

Album of the year:

youtube

Gorillaz - The Now Now

Muse - Simulation Theory

Gesu no Kiwami Otome - Suki nara Towanai

Hey! A year where I loved more than three albums!

It's nice to have a new band in the top three; I'd never heard of Gesu no Kiwami Otome before this year, but their new album is great. It's even nicer that Muse's long-awaited new album is actually good! I pre-ordered it reluctantly, fully expecting it to be mediocre, but Simulation Theory is a dorky, retro joy. Best of all is that Gorillaz have released two albums-of-the-year in a row! The Now Now was a chilled out treat, the perfect record for a lazy summer evening. Or a winter evening. Or whenever, really. Just play it. It’s grand.

Other albums I liked: A Perfect Circle - Eat the Elephant, Kero Kero Bonito - Time 'n' Place, Polkadot Stingray - Ichidaiji

TV of the year:

James Acaster: Repertoire

Orange is the New Black

Aggretsuko

This year has been ridiculous for brilliant television, and there is so much that it's killing me not to include. Last year's winner Taskmaster aired one of its best ever series, but a more uneven run at the start of the year plus stiff competition kept it out of the top three. King of Bots is Chinese Robot Wars, it is berserk, and it has an even more berserk spin-off show - both of which I’ve omitted!

But, three shows that nailed it. Aggretsuko, with its charming characters and acerbic office satire. Orange is the New Black, which has no business being in such rude health after six seasons. James Acaster's four (four!) interlinked stand-up specials. Hard-earned!

Other shows I liked: Bojack Horseman, Derren Brown: The Jump, Disenchantment, Hilda, Inside No. 9, King of Bots, Taskmaster, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, The Horne Section Television Programme, The Mash Report, This is Fighting Robots, Who is America

Film of the year:

The Shape of Water

Isle of Dogs

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

I'm usually a bit sniffy about Oscar nominees - I always expect them to be worthy snorefests about how tragic life is. Maybe my tastes are changing, maybe I misjudged them - or maybe this year just happened to be a belter, but last year's Best Picture nominees were superb! I watched four out of the nine, and am gutted to have missed two more. Two of them were released this year in the UK, and are therefore eligible for this blog: The Shape of Water, which is beautiful, romantic, and turns the cold war into a romantic fantasy without sanding off its rough edges, and the morally grey but socially conscious Three Billboards.

Meanwhile, Isle of Dogs wasn’t nominated for any awards, but it was about some nice dogs, so that’s still good for second place.

Other films I liked: Mary and the Witch's Flower, Ready Player One

Podcasts of the year:

FiveThirtyEight Politics

Reply All

Whatever Happened to Pizza at McDonalds?

Temptation is to try and make these lists different every year, but when Reply All and FiveThirtyEight keep nailing it, what else can you do? Reply All did have a slightly more muted year, mostly due to behind-the-scenes stuff, but earns its placement with The Snapchat Thief alone.

The sole newcomer in this list is Whatever Happened to Pizza at McDonalds, an investigative journalism programme (or IJP) that isn't afraid to ask the big questions. Mainly, whatever happened to pizza at McDonalds?

Other podcasts I liked: Adam Buxton Podcast, All Killa No Filla, Everything is Alive, Hello Internet, Kermode & Mayo Film Review, Lovett or Leave It, My Dad Wrote a Porno, Oh No! Ross and Carrie, Off Menu, Pod Save America, Richard Herring's Leicester Square Theatre Podcast, Secret Dinosaur Cult, So You Think You're Smart, The Horne Section Podcast

Gig of the year:

youtube

Gein's Family Giftshop, vol. III

I only went to a couple of gigs this year - all of which were good, but I wanted to give Gein's Family Giftshop a special mention.

GFG were already my favourite live comedy act - they perform as a three-person sketch group, a sublime blend of the crude, the audacious and nihilistic. They are fucking phenomenal; I've linked to one of their YouTube sketches above but it's only a tenth as good as the live show.

Anyway, when they played in Bristol, their third member had tonsillitis. Rather than cancel the show, Kath and Ed performed the whole show on their own, and stormed it! Live shows are always best when they feel spontaneous - the danger of knowing anything could go wrong (and to an extent already had!) adds an electricity to a room. Watching it all go right is even better! I laughed so much - one of those events where you just had to be there, and I'm so chuffed that I was.

Stuff of yesteryear:

Gesu no Kiwami Otome - Odorenai nara, Gesu ni Natte Shimae yo (album)

Arrival (film)

Nier: Automata (video game)

My annual category for “stuff that wasn’t released this year but I enjoyed checking out.” Nier: Automata was the right kind of ludicrous - full of batshit ideas. Arrival was a more low-key brand of batshit, but still incredibly inventive and oddly optimistic - one of those films where you emerge from the cinema and the world feels a little bit different.

But only one of these moved me to blog. Click here to read me very excitedly discovering Gesu no Kiwami Otome, back in May. The listed EP is the best, but you can’t go wrong anywhere.

Other parties I enjoyed arriving late to:

Games: Bayonetta 2, Cities: Skylines, DmC: Devil May Cry, Dishonored 2, Life is Strange: Before the Storm, Overcooked, Superhot

Books: Everybody Lies, So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed, The Humans, The Signal and the Noise

Films: Ex Machina, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, Kubo and the Two Strings

Bands: Polkadot Stingray

Single of the year:

youtube

Gorillaz - Tranz

Muse - Pressure

Gesu no Kiwami Otome - Onna wa Kawaru

I don’t really like this category because there’s a lot of crossover with album of the year, but it’s a pretext to post the Pressure music video, so... shrug!

It also means I can give Dream Theater and The Constellations honourable mentions even though they didn’t release full albums this year. Well done Dream Theater and The Constellations. I liked your nice songs.

Other songs I liked: Dream Theater - Untethered Angel, Kero Kero Bonito - Make Believe, Kero Kero Bonito - Dreams of Oneonta

DLC of the year:

Octo Expansion

Bigfoot

Sonic Mania Plus

Considering it's been my favourite home console franchise since the day it was released, I have given Splatoon short shrift in end-of-year roundups, picking Fallout 4 as my number one game in 2015 and Sonic Mania in 2017.

I don't regret either of those picks, but I'm delighted that Splatoon finally gets to run away with a number one placing this year. The Octo Expansion is incredible value for money, a more-is-more single player campaign with playable octolings at the end - the team nailed it. Phenomenal stuff.

Person of the year:

I did this last year, right? But everyone’s been so terrible this year!

Who did I choose last year? Rilakkuma? Fine - keep the crown, RK. No public figure has been better than a lazy cartoon bear. It’s yours indefinitely, until the world gets good again.

0 notes

onion-souls · 8 years ago

Text

Dark Souls III: The Ringed City

Discussion of the Dark Souls III DLC after the break.

The Ringed City is the last bit of Dark Souls content ever until From Soft needs money in a decade. It takes you to the Dredge Heap, a conglomerate of ancient castles compressed together at World's End, different eras warped around each other and rising from a vertical plane in a very Inception-y way.

The first section of the game is a mad run across cliffs as angels blast you with artillery. This is the entire first few hours of this game of punishing medieval combat. Running from lasers shot at you by angels, just to reinforce the theme that God hates you. Eventually you do get to kill them, if you figure out their weakness - their synchronized maggot-men- and their hiding places. Though its requires some dumb luck or tight exploration while running from your life from angelic artillery strikes on narrow tree branches. It's as though you're Disney's Tarzan but also at the Battle of Verdun. This is the part of the game where fall damage is a thing again, right in time for skilled jumping puzzles. Yay.

The revelation that this section is in fact Earthen Peak from DSII sounds like a cool call back but really doesn't add anything to the experience other than a few windmill visuals and an encounter with a cute pyromancer girl. You get to pick up the outfit of one of her sorceress sisters, who, in a bit of environmental storytelling, must have slowly stripped across an entire swamp for the entertainment of headless giants and parasects. This is one of two swamps in the DLC: the swamp of the Ringed City, which doesn't cause poison build up, a series first, and this swamp, which does cause poison build up, a series 37th. I am rather baffled by this use of Earthen Peak, the only real callback to DSII in the DLC; it doesn't take advantage of some of Earthen Peaks' unique medusa boss or strange interior vs. exterior verticality. In a Dredge Heap composed of random castles smashed together, Drangleic Castle or the Iron Keep feel like a better choice, especially since the Harald Warriors look more like Drangelic Castle's golems and DSII-style giants. In any case, at the end of this section is the barely recognizable remains of Dark Souls I's Firelink Shrine, inhabited by yet another Last of Demonkind, a pair of demons that are not particularly hard, which means that they are obviously going to pull some fusion dance bullshit when you kill them. They do, and Wall-Eye into what seems to be the Demon Prince that Prince Lorien fucked up.

Killing the Demon Prince leads you to the eponymous Ringed City, a crumbling ruin of desolate beauty with a welcoming crew of invincible ghost archers controlled by a giant summoner guy, like the fifth type of distinct giant race in the series. After an hour of running towards a small door beneath the summoner, I realized that I needed to jump off the side of the ring and go around the side. This DLC has a running theme of stealth, running, and evasion of enemies rather than direct confrontation that only really compares to the Nightmare of Mensis from Bloodborne or the Tower Knight's level.

This leads to the second swamp, a Floridian nightmare of giant summoners, powerful, headless giants, turtle-backed clerics, and locust-men evangelists. This latter group are the most interesting, a race of locusts with humanoid faces developed by the Abyss to teach humans the wonders and comforts of Darkness, often preaching sermons that obliquely reference characters from the previous games; one tale is clearly a distorted condemnation of the Darkmoon Knightess' fear of the humanity writhing within her. The vast majority of them seem to have degenerated into mindless maneaters, but that happens to pretty much every group in Souls games. This is the strongest hint yet that the Abyss has an intelligence or collection of intelligent operators behind its spread, rather than existing as a mindless metaphysical presence or force of natural entropy and corruption.

The Ringed City, especially this section, just spits +3 Rings at you, which is cute, awesome, and totally undermines the NG+ rewards.

Outside of the swamp comes the original Souls game “RUN FOR YOUR LIFE” scene, a dragon flaming down a narrow passageway. Ah, good times. You then run into what might be part of the Catacombs from Dark Souls I, although that was already where you awoke at the beginning of DSIII. This part is fairly brief and easy, and you get to face the dragon again and knock him off the ledge. This does not reward souls, a warning sign for later.

Within a castle, there is an elevator with a small cubby hole that you can dive into in order to access an entire area and secret boss, a hilariously common trope in Dark Souls found literally nowhere else in human experience. Here is Deatheater Mildred or whatever, and he is yet another Definitely Final Last of the Dragons. He is basically the Ancient Dragon 2.0, and one of those bosses with enough RNG and HP involved that you eventually just get kind of sick of it; the best Dark Souls bosses are interesting and challenging, not repetitive slogs, hard for the sake of hard.

Eventually, you can make your way to another giant summoner who defends a lady name Feanore or whatever on behalf of a king. This is the Old Monk fight, and like the Old Monk fight, has a lot of bullshit added to make the experience awful, namely a souped-up painted world guardian who spawns periodically. Why is this the DLC with the painted world guardian and not the Painted World DLC? Fuck you. After six to twelve times getting lag-stabbed by a 12-year-old sociopath named VegitaCumies88, you get to encounter a sad waifu holding an egg, in what might be a reference to the shape of the Transposing Kiln or to the movie Angel's Egg. Feanore here is Yet Another Last of the Gods, Gwyn's daughter. And yes, Gwyn had a daughter whose fate is now permanently unknown, and was a beautiful tall lady tied to illusions maintaining a world, but whatever, here's a new chick for no reasons. But anyway, you put your hand in the big lady's hole and she, and the world she was sustaining, decay away.

The area outside her keep is now at ground level, and lone and level sands stretching far away. In one corner, you may get invaded by a lady named Sheila or whatever, a knightess who claims to have been the daughter of the Duke and apparently a friend of Darkeater, showing that after the success of Crossbreed Priscilla, the dragons wasted aeons producing nothing but Worst Girls. Looking at you, Shannalotte. Worst Girl Shiela tries to make us feel bad about destroying the Ringed City, but considering that the nicest person you met in the city was a maneating locust preacher, its hard to feel to bent out of shape about it. She comes at you with a cool lightning bow miracle that probably sucks in PC hands like everything and a bludgeoning weapon that is AN ANCIENT, STILL-LIVING PYGMY KING NAILED TO A CROSS. Fucking metal.

The Duke here is almost certainly Seathe the Scaleless (I mean, the Duke Tseldora had nothing to do with the Age of the Gods). I feel like all these individuals with direct ties to the Age of the Gods from DSI undermines the theme of loss, decay, and forgetfulness. I actually prefer DSII's loss of much of human history, with most nations being fogotten. It made it all sadder.

Then you wander over to the other corner of the desert and it's our friend Gael, the entry point and summons from Ashes of Ariandel. Kind of a cool revelation, but it really would have worked better if he was a character in the base game. Gael, at this point, still works; it just lacks the resonance of, say, if it had been someone you worked with on the scale of Hawkwood or Siegward. Gael belongs to the standard twirly big armored guy boss style, with a bit too much bullshit damage to feel particularly fun; this has been a big problem with Dark Souls III design for me. They increased the speed and aggression of bosses, more in line with Bloodborne, but did not give the PCs the agility of the Good Hunter to react with it. I do like that he is the ultimate Guts reference in the series, with the big sword, swirly Berserk armor cape, and the stunning crossbow volleys.

Speaking of character revelations, Lapp's questline is fun, has a great twist that works – even if it is predictable given the voice actor and his lines- and ties up the series pretty well. It might not make sense to some people given a character present in the main game, but time is convoluted ect. Too bad it relies on a really strange bit of adventure-game logic unseen in the Dark Souls series. It was cute.

All in all, the Ringed City was a decent bit of DLC. It had multiple bosses, interesting locations, and at least felt like it was contributing something to DSIII's story – namely, the weird idea that the Dark Soul is still intact in the bottom of a Ring City ruled by “Pygmy Kings.” It's a shame that we never really get to interact with any of them other than a single crawling hollow.

However, Dark Souls III's expansions do not have the essential quality to them that all other Souls Series expansions do; Artorias of the Abyss and the Old Hunters are both key to understanding their main games, have beautiful scenery, and a disproportionate share of the interesting bosses of their titles (and, in the case of the Old Hunters, some much needed weapon options). Hell, in terms of design legacy, Artorias and Manus may be the single most influential bosses in the series. Dark Souls III's Crown Trilogy was not only staggeringly large, these entries were far better than the base game in every respect, from level design to memorable moments (falling into the Old Chaos after trudging through hours of ice and snow; the Brume Tower's eerie, whispering fragments of their Queen; the arrival of Sinh). Even thematically, the Crown's Trilogy's emphasis on lost monarchies, corrupting queens, and time travel through Drangleic's past handled the themes of DSII in a way that the main game completely botched; if I could remix the game, I'd start with the early quest to mercy killing King Vendrick before talking to his spectre and traveling into the past to collect the crowns; the only thing I would tweak is the difficulty scale. That's far more interesting than re-finding the lord souls and killing less cool versions of Nito, Gwyn, and Seathe (though I have to admit that the Lost Bastille was awesome – a prison for one repentant individual is such a cool idea, and I like that it's just one old lady with a sword).

In light of that, the Ashes of Ariandel and the Ringed City are found wanting. Their bosses probably won't linger on in memory for anything other than their frustrating difficulty; it's hard to find a justification for Friede's anime power-ups that make her surpass gods and ancient warriors in lasting power. She just kind of becomes a Lord of Cinder and an Abyss Champion because she's the final boss of the DLC. The other boss from Ashes, which I can't even remember the name of, was so uninteresting that I stopped going after him; he's just another armor and sword guy with a shitty Sif. The bosses that do work are also retreads – Ornstein & Smough Demons, Scythe Ornstein and Crough, the Old Monk II: Even Older, and Super-Artorias Gael. I don't feel like this content is essential to understanding the main game's story either; what we experience here is essentially the Tale of Gael. And it is cool; I like Gael the Slave Knight, compelled to sacrifice his sanity to help his Lady Painter recreate their world. And this would have felt like a great part of Dark Souls lore, but not its conclusion. There are a lot of mysteries and bits of lore still left unexplored, so this felt like a minor let down.

29 notes · View notes

recentanimenews · 6 years ago

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Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Knocks out Competition at the Japan Game Awards 2019

The Japan Game Awards were given out over the Tokyo Game Show 2019 weekend, celebrating the best of video games from the last year of the Heisei Period from a Japanese perspective.

Over the 4 days, different awards and categories are given out to the best of the best; including the “Games of the Year Division”, the “Game Designers Award”, the “The Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Award” – a Japanese government sponsored award “that recognizes an individual or organization that has made a great contribution to the growth and development of the Japanese computer entertainment software industry” –, and the “Future Division” – an award voted on by attendees at Tokyo Game Show who played unreleased games.

Nintendo with Super Smash Bros. Ultimate dominated the award show winning 4 of the 5 “Game of the Year Division” awards and the “The Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Award.” Nintendo Labo was also given the Special Award from the “Game of the Year Division” for finding “new way(s) to enjoy games using hardware features.”

The only game to win a “Game of the Year Division” award that wasn’t from Nintendo was Red Dead Redemption 2 in the Global Award Foreign Product category. A press release from Japan Game Awards said the game “received overwhelming support from fans globally who had waited for its release and was selected for this award.”

From the “Game of the Year Division”, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate won the The Grand Award, The Best Sales Award, and the Global Award Japanese Product – for selling 12 million copies in one month and combining most of gaming's history into one game. The game was also given an Award for Excellence alongside 10 other titles, including: KINGDOM HEARTS III, Marvel’s Spider-Man, JUDGMENT, and others.

https://t.co/CxEw9II4gq 日本ゲーム大賞2019 年間作品部門大賞 #スマブラSP 桜井政博さん「あくまで手前個人の話で大変申し訳ないんですけれども言わせていただくと大乱闘スマッシュブラザーズをSwitchで作るというのは故・岩田社長…岩田さんが私に投げたさいごのミッションだったりするんですね」 pic.twitter.com/LW6QzNzg6H

— naruki (@naetoru60) September 12, 2019

Masahiro Sakurai, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate game director, accepted the award on behalf of his team at Sora Ltd and Nintendo. In his speech, he spoke about the lack of non-video game characters appearing in Super Smash Bros. by re-affirming that characters like Goku (from Dragon Ball Super) and Iron Man (from Marvel Comics) won’t be used for the game.

Sakurai also told a story about the late Satoru Iwata. Sakurai said that Super Smash Bros. Ultimate for Nintendo Switch “was the last mission (Nintendo) President Iwata gave to me” and that Sakurai “will continue to work hard on all the DLC characters.” When probed by the presenters on who the other DLC characters might be, Sakurai just replied “spoilers.”

Attendees during the 4 days - two business days and two public days – got to vote on the unreleased games they’re most excited for from the show floor for the “Future Division” of the Japan Game Awards. Of all the games from Tokyo Game Show, 11 titles won a slot for the division:

13 SENTINELS:AEGIS RIM

Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout

Cyberpunk 2077

DEATH STRANDING

DRAGON QUEST XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age – Definitive Edition

FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE

New Sakura Wars

Nioh 2

PERSONA 5 THE ROYAL

PROJECT RESISTANCE

YAKUZA 7

Consequently, these were also some of the games with the biggest presence on the Tokyo Game Show floor.

Source: Japan Game Awards Press Releases

----

Daryl Harding is a Japan Correspondent for Crunchyroll News. He also runs the YouTube channel about Japan stuff called TheDoctorDazza, tweets at @DoctorDazza and posts photo of his travels on Instagram.

By: [email protected]

#Anime #News #Latest in Anime News by Crunchyroll!

0 notes

allcheatscodes · 8 years ago

Text

saints row iv xbox 360

http://allcheatscodes.com/saints-row-iv-xbox-360/

saints row iv xbox 360

Saints Row 4 cheats & more for Xbox 360 (X360)

Cheats

Unlockables

Hints

Easter Eggs

Glitches

Guides

Achievements

Get the updated and latest Saints Row IV cheats, unlockables, codes, hints, Easter eggs, glitches, tricks, tips, hacks, downloads, achievements, guides, FAQs, walkthroughs, and more for Xbox 360 (X360). AllCheatsCodes.com has all the codes you need to win every game you play!

Use the links above or scroll down to see all the Xbox 360 cheats we have available for Saints Row IV.

Check PC cheats for this game

Check PlayStation 3 cheats for this game

Official Title: Saints Row IV

Genre: Adventure, First-Person Adventure

Developer: Volition

Publisher: Deep Silver

ESRB Rating: Mature

Release Date: August 20, 2013

Hints

Currently we have no tips for Saints Row IV yet. If you have any unlockables please feel free to submit. We will include them in the next post update and help the fellow gamers. Remeber to mention game name while submiting new codes.

Cheats

Vehicle Codes

AB Destroyer : givedestroyer

Alien Hover Car : givehovercar

Alien Hover Tank : givehovertank

Alien Jet Bike : givetrouble

Alien UFO : giveufo

Attrazione : giveattrazione

Crib Ship : givecribship

Crusader : givecrusader

Crusader (Cyrus Temple Version) : givecrusadercyrus

Crusader (Saints Version) : givecrusadersaints

Eagle : giveeagle

Eagle (M16 Version) : giveeaglem16

Eagle (SWAT Version) : giveeagleswat

Gunslinger : givegunslinger

Gunslinger (Police Version) : givegunslingerpolice

Key : givekey

Lightning : givelightning

Monster Truck : givemonster

Oppressor : giveoppressor

Oppressor (Angel de la Muerte Version) : giveoppressorangel

Oppressor (Police Version) : giveoppressorpolice

Pony Cart : givepony

Recursor (Green) : giverecursorgreen

Recursor (Purple) : giverecursorpurple

Recursor (Red) : giverecursorred

Relic : giverelic

Snipes 57 : givesnipes

Snipes 57 (Killbane Version) : givekillbanejet

Stiletto : givestiletto

Thompson : givethompson

Tornado (Assault Version) : givetornadoassault

Tornado (Morning Star Version) : givetornadomorningstar

Tornado (NG Version) : givetornadong

Tornado (Police Version) : givetornadopolice

Tornado (Saints Version) : givetornadosaints

Turret : giveturret

Turret HS : giveturreths

Verminator : give verminator

VTOL : givevtol

VTOL (Cyrus Temple Version) : givevtolcyrus

VTOL (Saints Version) : givevtolsaints

Vulture : givevulture

Vulture (Morning Star Version) : givevulturemorningstar

Vulture (Saints Version) : givevulturesaints

Vulture (Spotlight Version) : givevulturespotlight

Whitehouse Turret : giveturretwh

Woodpecker : givewoodpecker

Woodpecker (Luchadore Version) : givewoodpeckerluchadore

Player Cheats

All Unlockables : unlockitall

Clear Notoriety : goodygoody

Disable All Superpowers : nosuperpowers

Disable Super Movement : nosupermove

Disable Wardens : nowardens

Give a Set of Weapons : letsrock

Give Cash ($100,000) : cheese

Instant Warden Notoriety : instantwarden

No Vehicle Damage : vroom

Repair Current Vehicle : repaircar

Unlock “Blast” Superpower : superblast

Unlock “Buff” Superpower : superbuff

Unlock “Death from Above” Superpower : superdfa

Unlock “Stomp” Superpower : superstomp

Unlock “Super Saints” Superpower : supersaints

Unlock “Super Sprint” Superpower : runfast

Unlock “Telekenesis” Superpower : supertk

Hub Cheat Codes Effects List

cheese : $100k instant cash in your pocket (can be used multiple times)

fryhole : All of the dead bodies lying around start to raise up into the air

goodygoody : Removes the Notoriety from you at any time

letsrock : Gives you a full load-out of randomized weapons

runfast : Your super-sprint doesn’t exhaust your Stamina

superblast : Super Blast is unlocked

superbuff : Buff is unlocked

superdfa : Death from Above is unlocked

superstomp : Stomp is unlocked

supertk : Telekinesis unlocked

unlockitall : Access is granted to all unlockables

vroom : Indestructible cars

World Chaning Cheats

ASCII Mode : ascii

Big Head Mode : bigheadmode

Disable Glitch FX : noglitchcity

Drunk Pedestrians : dui

Evil Cars : evilcars

Fast-Forward : fastforward

Giant Player : imhuge

Heaven-Bound : fryhole

Hide HUD : hidehud

Insane City : insanecity

Low Gravity : gravitykills

Mascot Pedestrians : mascot

Pimps and Hos Pedestrians : hohoho

Player Pratfalls : ragdoll

Smash Vehicles Easily : isquishyou

Super Explosions : bigbadaboom

Tiny Player : ittybitty

Cheat Mode

While you’re playing the game, open your phone (press the “BACK” button), and thengo to EXTRAS. Select CHEATS and then ADD CHEAT. You can then enter variouscheats!

NOTE!!!! You will disable autosave and achievements when you turn on cheat mode.

Unlockables

Currently we have no unlockables for Saints Row IV yet. If you have any unlockables please feel free to submit. We will include them in the next post update and help the fellow gamers. Remeber to mention game name while submiting new codes.

Easter eggs

Currently we have no easter eggs for Saints Row IV yet. If you have any unlockables please feel free to submit. We will include them in the next post update and help the fellow gamers. Remeber to mention game name while submiting new codes.

Glitches

Currently we have no glitches for Saints Row IV yet. If you have any unlockables please feel free to submit. We will include them in the next post update and help the fellow gamers. Remeber to mention game name while submiting new codes.

Guides

Currently no guide available.

Achievements

DLC Achievements: Enter The Dominatrix

All Too Easy – Kill Zinyak in less than 5 minutes in ‘Save the Planet’. – 10

Bow to the Boss! – Kill the Dominatrix in ‘Escape the Dominatrix’. – 15

Friend of the Raptors – Complete all five missions. – 20

Health Inspector – Destroy all the green polyps inside Paul in ‘Pop His Top’. – 10

Hello Little Friend – Get 250 kills with the Minigun. – 5

Indomitable – Complete ‘Meet the Dominatrix’ without dying. – 10

OMGWTFBBQ – Get 100 kills with the Flamethrower. – 5

Rigging the Race – Destroy all the rival pony carts in ‘At the Races’. – 10

Ultimate Hot Potato – Get 100 kills with the Grenade Launcher. – 5

Walking the Dinosaur (secret) – Spent 30 minutes with Chicken Ned’s prehistoric ancestor. – 10

Achievement List

A Real Cluster. – Found 100% of all Data Clusters. – 30

About Time! – Completed ‘Welcome Back’ and got the gang back together at last. – 30

Actor-Turned-Politician – Completed Keith David’s Quests. – 25

And I Ran. – Super Sprinted for 250,000 meters. – 10

Back in the Day – Spent some quality time with your homies from back in the day. – 10

Benjamin [CENSORED] King – Completed Ben’s Quests, Loyalty Mission, and Romance. – 25

Betrayed – Completed ‘All Hands On Deck’, as if you needed another reason to want to perforate Zinyak. – 30

Better This Way – Customized the style of all the weapons on your radial and hit the Simulation with style. – 10

Blast from the Past – Completed ‘A Game of Clones’ and defeated shades of the past. – 20

Bouncin’ with an Old Friend (secret) – Completed Gat’s Quests, Loyalty Mission, and Romance. – 25

Bringin’ the Heat – Killed 100 Aliens using the Fire Buff Super Power. – 10

Chill Out – Froze and Shatter Killed 100 Aliens with the Freeze Blast Super Power. – 10

Destroyer-In-Chief – Completed ‘The Saints Wing’ and fought the alien invasion as Commander-In-Chief. – 10

Didn’t Need to See Him Naked – Completed ‘Matt’s Back’ and rescued Matt in the real world. – 20

Don’t Look Down – Airborne during Super Jumps for a combined 10 minutes of gameplay. – 10

Don’t Panic – Completed ‘The Real World’ and escaped the simulation. Now what? – 30

Elementary – Customized the elements of all four superpowers. Now you’re playing with powers! – 10

Epic Jump Quest – Completed the epic jump quest between the tops of the Three Count and the Nuke Plant. Amazing! – 10

Experimental Tech – Killed 25 enemies with each of the best toys. – 20

First of Many – Bought your first Upgrade, now you have the action Kung Fu grip! – 10

Fist Meet Ground – Killed 100 Aliens with the Death From Above Super Power. – 10

Fourth and Forty – Played Saints Row IV for 40+ hours. Pour one out for your homies! – 40

Ghost in the Machine – Completed ‘Power Up CID’ and hacked your own CID. – 20

Half Way Home – Completed half of all open world gameplay, let’s finish the fight. – 25

Here! Catch! – Killed 100 Aliens with the Telekinesis Super Power. – 10

How It Should Be – Completed all open world gameplay, Simulated Steelport is yours! – 40

I Am Become Death – Killed 1000 Aliens with any combination of Super Powers. – 30

Imperator – Completed ‘Grand Finale’ and ruled the universe with terrible majesty. – 40

Keymaster – Completed ‘Batteries Not Included’. Now you’re ready to bring down the Simulation. – 30

Machine Man – Completed CID’s Quests and Romance. – 25

Maximum Stopping Power – Completely upgraded one of your weapons. They can’t repel firepower of this magnitude! – 20

On Her Saint’s Secret Service – Completed Asha’s Quests, Loyalty Mission, and Romance. – 25

Ooo A Piece of Candy! – Found 100 Data Clusters in virtual Steelport. There are so many more… – 10

Paranormal Bromance – Completed Matt’s Quests, Loyalty Mission, and Romance. – 25

Poodle Skirt – Completed ‘Hello Teacup’ and saved Kinzie from a fate worse than death. – 30

Pounding the Pavement – Killed 150 Aliens with the Stomp Super Power. – 10

Saintified – Created and shared a character online, you’re a part of the Saints Row community now! – 10

Saints & Sensibility – Completed ‘Grand Finale’ with the full help of your homies. – 30

Switch Hitter – You were an equal-opportunity offender. – 10

The Challenge King – Completed all Challenges. – 30

The Face of the Saints – Completed Pierce’s Quests, Loyalty Mission, and Romance. – 25

The Full Kinzie – Completed Kinzie’s Quests, Loyalty Mission, and Romance. – 25

The Two Shaundis – Completed Shaundi’s Quests, Loyalty Mission, and Romance. – 25

The Whole Story – Found all Audio Logs. – 20

There Is No Pancakes – Completed ‘A Pleasant Day’ and ruined your first virtual prison. – 10

Where’s My Cape? – Purchased all Super Power upgrades. Super Excellent! – 20

Woah. – Arrived in the Main Simulation and got some Super Powers. – 20

You Chose. Poorly (secret) – Surrendered to the Simulation in the end. – 10

Zero Saints Thirty (secret) – Completed ‘Zero Saints Thirty’ and won the adulation of America. – 10

Zoo Keeper – Killed 25 Wardens. The inmates are running wild. – 10

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