There’s no secret that Square Enix had a lot riding on Final Fantasy XV before it launched. It was a game that premiered as a successor to Final Fantasy XII under its elusive named Final Fantasy XIII -Versus- when it first hit the press. For over fifteen years fans patiently waited for their new experience, which was met with some opposition as it took on the Kingdom Hearts approach to gameplay and the Final Fantasy story telling elements.
When looking at DONTNOD Entertainments past in what game they’ve developed, you wouldn’t expect them to deter from stories that drove deep, pushed players to explore the world around them, and invest themselves in the stories they play. This was the case for fans of Life is Strange who found their hearts skipping beats between each episode or Remember Me fans who still beg for more.
Every month PlayStation 4 fans begin the debate on what game they will see. Whether it’s titles like the smash hit Killing Floor 2 by Tripwire Interactive, Tales from the Borderlands by Telltale games, or simply games such as the upcoming PlayStation Plus games we’ll be seeing in July. Continue reading
Pros:
+Authentically creepy killers that feel original and unique
+First person as a killer and third as a survivor offers unique balancing to the game
+Each killer has their own abilities and perks allowing for differentiated gameplay
+The addition of Michael Meyers brings home that horror film feel for the game
Cons:
-Small framerate issues even while on a PlayStation 4 Pro with boost mode enabled
-Queue times for matches can be somewhat painful. Some have exceeded ten minutes as a killer.
-Survivors can’t fight back against the killer.
Dead by Daylight Trapper Concept Art | Courtesy: Behaviour Interactive
When Turtle Rock Studio’s first launched Evolve there was no doubt they’d landed on something unforeseen. Never had a developer, a publisher, or anyone made a game where four players would try to survive a fight against a monster. It was a trend that quickly became grasped upon by developer Behavior Interactive when their smash-hit horror survival PvP title Dead by Daylight premiered on Steam.
Since the debut of Dead by Daylight it has been the predecessor to other cloned games and even by a high-profiled rival under the name of Friday the 13th: The Game. It’s a game that isn’t shy about being one of the most-played titles on Twitch since the second half of 2016. It’s a game that has also now become one of the hottest titles to own on both Xbox One and PlayStation 4. Thanks to Behavior for letting us get our Killer’s gloves dirty, we’ve finally had a chance to sit down, and hammer out over 172 matches worth as the killer and a rough 50 as survivors.
With Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood finally coming out into the wild. It’s time for us to get down to business. While we did do a tutorial for the Samurai job, it’s time for us to take a look at the Red Mage. So what do you need to know? Lets take a look.
Still have questions? Feel free to drop a few below and we’ll help you out!
About the Writer:
Dustin is our native console gamer, PlayStation and Nintendo reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the boarders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPG’s, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. His elitist attitude gives him direction, want, and a need for the hardest difficulties in games, which is fun to watch, and hilarity at its finest. You can find him over on Twitter, Google+, and or you can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.
Friday the 13th: The Game has been leaving fans craving more than just Camp Crystal Lake. Instead it’s a game that has left fans scratching at the cabin walls for something entirely new, something bigger, and even meaner. That’s where Behavior Interactive comes in with their newly released game Dead by Daylight, which has taken fans by storm and has sent them chasing after each other in order to survive.
If that hasn’t left you craving the need more for slashers, then the idea of Michael Meyers, one of the faces of horror, will certainly do so for a cool $24.99 for the retail version of the game and the free DLC. If you are one to wonder, yes – yes this is the same game that was released on Steam last year and hasn’t been made available to the public on consoles till this past Tuesday.
By now you’ve probably heard the name Fortnite floating around since the Video Game Awards in 2011. It’s a game that has been hidden behind a veil of obscurity that hasn’t been pierced until developer and publisher Epic Games has finally lifted away from the game. A veil that was needed to be lifted and one that has left fans of building games reeling with excitement due to its unique approach to cooperative survival building games.
Beginning Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood can be a bit of a headspin. So in order to keep that from happening, you can check out our beginner guide to the new job down below.
About the Writer:
Dustin is our native console gamer, PlayStation and Nintendo reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the boarders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPG’s, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. His elitist attitude gives him direction, want, and a need for the hardest difficulties in games, which is fun to watch, and hilarity at its finest. You can find him over on Twitter, Google+, and or you can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.
Pros:
+Amazingly well done visuals and music that serves up an enjoyable experience for any otaku.
+Dialogue is hilarious and often-times very well done.
+Animations run smooth on both the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita
Cons:
-Combat is repetitious and a nuance after 20+ hours
-Enemy designs in dungeons are over-used and lacking diversity
-Dungeons could have used more diversity and difficulty between each of them
When it comes to looking for things to do outside of Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and Marvel Heroes Omega; my time has been delicately consumed by games such as Persona 5. With the review period of games having come down to a slow down, it was now time for me to begin looking through before setting my eyes upon the review code for Akiba’s Beat. A game that would set forth to be the spiritual successor to Akiba’s Trip.
Over the past few weeks I’ve found myself throwing down a few good brawls as I decided to take a stroll through one of Japan’s most famous locations for anime, games, electronics, and all things fun. What I did find? My ability to strip down my enemies are now long gone. My determination to smack some punk upside the head with a computer keyboard has been taken away. My ability to even romance my characters best friend had been taken away. Instead I’ve even found my weapons had been taken away and stripped down to basic things.
This does not go without saying that Japan and its culture are wonderful. Both pieces of it are absolutely mesmerizing to folks like myself. We often find ourselves daydreaming about being that otaku is salivating at the very sight of giant mechs, games for miles, and more anime than you could imagine. We dream of the day we can get our hands on the figurines hidden behind glass panels. Such reasons are the reason us geeks are quick to admire games such as Akiba’s Beat since we get to live out our digital dream to some form by running through Japan’s neon light filled district as protagonist Asahi Tachibana, a kid who has dropped out of college and has become a self-professed NEET (Not in Educaton, Employment or Training).
Pros:
+Very heavy narrative discussing the Sanada Clan
+Combat scenarios outside of the classic maps is a blast
+Voice acting, as always, is superb
Cons:
-Lackluster performance on standard PlayStation 4’s while in heavy combat scenarios
-Combat mechanics are growing repetitious and dated
-Needs redesigned maps, combat scenarios, and graphics engines.
If you’re a Japanese history buff or a fan of Samurai Warriors, there’s no doubt that you have read into the events of the samurai Masayuki Sanada as well as his sons. It’s a record in history that fills in much of Japan’s Warring States period and it’s a story that comes embalmed by triumph, tragedy, and a legacy that will be shared for ages. It’s a tale that has been delicately woven in and out of the franchise for over a decade and a half. It’s a story that publisher Koei Tecmo and developer Omega Force have been proud to share time and time again. It’s also a very element that has been criticized by both fans and the rest of the gaming industry for being repetitious as ever for the Warriors franchise. A franchise that has been been stated to suffer from a lack of innovation, one that has failed to mold itself into new and creative ways.
Luckily for Koei Tecmo and Omega Force, they’ve proved me wrong. They proved me wrong on the assumptions that I would once more pick up a controller and be sucked into the repetitious nature of hacking, slashing, and running my way through pre-scripted battlefields. That I would once more find myself drilling meaningless and repetitious combat scenarios into my own head. Again, and again, and again – I was proven wrong with Samurai Warriors: Spirit of Sanada. It wasn’t until I reached a little over the halfway mark towards the three quarters way through mark would I find myself sure that their risk didn’t outweigh the reward.
