So beginning Warframe can be a lot to take in. It can be overwhelming at first, but you know what? We got that covered for you with our latest video.
Got questions? Feel free to let us know!
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.
Classic Lara is Playable in Rise of the Tomb Raider: 20 Year Celebration
Known for her prowess in scaling cliff sides, ancient ruins, and her capabilities as an archaeologist have become known around the world over her 20 year reign. Lara Croft has become one of the most iconic heroines in the history of gaming and one that proceeds to remain so even today. To celebrate the 20 year anniversary – Rise of the Tomb Raider: 20th Celebration has officially been announced for PlayStation 4 on Oct. 11th, 2016. This new version of Rise of the Tomb Raider features a completely new story chapter named “Blood Ties”. The game will also feature a new co-op Endurance gameplay mode, PlayStation VR will be supported for “Blood Ties”. The title will include all previously released DLC, more outfits, weapons, and Expedition Cards for players to find. A Limited Edition has been announced and will feature a Limited Edition art book.
The newly announced Rise of the Tomb Raider: 20 Year Celebration will also be available for PC and Xbox One. Own the season pass? Square Enix has announced that all PC and Xbox One Season Pass owners will get the content for free, but with the exception of VR support. Moving Forward the Season Pass will be updated with new content that is upcoming. As for the PlayStation 4 version? All the content will be included with this versions upcoming release on launch. So there will be no need for fans to download post-release DLC at this time,.
“The studio is celebrating with all Tomb Raider® fans, thanking them for being on Lara’s 20 year journey with us,” said Scot Amos, co-Head of Studio at Crystal Dynamics. “The team has packed in surprises, new story, and the top-requested special features into this 20 Year Celebration edition.”
For a bit of background on the DLC “Blood Ties,” Square Enix has released a bit of background about the new story more, which takes place in the famed Croft Manor. In this new story mode, Lara Croft must fight against a zombie invasion in “Lara’s Nightmare”. This story gets underway with Lara’s uncle contesting for ownership of the Manor, and forces Lara to explore the estate in order to find the proof that she is the rightful heir. As she fights for the proof of the mansion, players must fight swarms of zombies as she attempts to hold onto her birthright and father’s secrets for good. Want to replay the mission to find all the secrets? You can re-test Lara’s zombie-killing skills in the “Lara’s Nightmare” mode, which forces her to fight her way through the haunted Croft manor in order to rid it of the evil presence holding onto it. This can all be done in support with the PlayStation VR so that players can explore and unlock the mysteries of Croft Manor in first person.
“This year we celebrate 20 years of the iconic Lara Croft,” said Ron Rosenberg, co-Head of Studio at Crystal Dynamics. “This provided the perfect opportunity for us to deliver a new Tomb Raider experience. With the addition of PlayStation VR support, you can play the world through Lara’s eyes for the first time in franchise history.”
With all the new content, Square Enix has also announced that the game will come with a first-time experience for the franchise: a new online co-op expansion. The Endurance Mode will allow fans to raid tombs in the games brutal wilderness together.This mode will allow two players to team up in order to survive the harsh elements by day while fighting off against enemies by night. Players will gather fuel for fire, food to restore health, and even more as all resources will be hunted, collected, and or crafted. All of this will be recorded on the leaderboards for players to show off their longest survival run.
Additionally, in partnership with long-time partner Nixxes Software, the development team also created a numerous about of new additions in order to celebrate Tomb Raider over the years. This includes a re-envisioned version of Lara’s cold-weather outfit and the Hailstorm pistol from “Tomb Raider III”. Also, classic character models of Lara will be available for play when the game launches, including classic Lara from 1996. With the request of fans, the game will have an “Extreme Survivor” setting, which causes the game to get even more difficult, brutal, and will test players with their skills as all checkpoints will be removed from the game. This means saving is only available for those with campfires being lit – if you have the resources.
Square Enix, in order to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of Lara Croft, has also announced a new “Scavenger Hunt Promotion” that will launch and allow fans to use their wits and skill to obtain some awesome prices. The Scavenger Hunt is a website for PC and Mobil, which allows fans to enjoy a photo, trivia, and social media challenges every week. Accomplishing these will allow fans to earn points to unlock in Rise of the Tomb Raider’s Expedition Cards. Players can also earn sweepstake entries for prices such as ATV’s, Rise of the Tomb Raider skinned PS4 consoles, and an epic grand prize that’ll take fans to the Artic for an adventure. Players can Pre-order today exclusively at GameStop’s int he United States and participating retailers in Canada to gain entry into the experience.
Rise of the Tomb Raider, currently available for Xbox One, Xbox 360 and PC, is one of the most celebrated games of the past year. The game was nominated for more than 75 awards, winning 27. Rise of the Tomb Raider was also nominated for nine DICE Awards, more than any other title in 2015.
For more information on Rise of the Tomb Raider: 20 Year Celebration, please visit the official website and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
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:
+Short ball possession duration offers up team work via passing +Inability to use abilities enforces players to work together to keep the team from scoring +The arena is fairly well sized allowing for a fun 8 to 10 minute match
Cons:
–Minor ball delay when passing or shooting goals –Decent players can easily stop an entire team
Warframe has been changing for many years. It has evolved past a game that was simply about going in and out of Dojo’s and missions in order to operate functionally. It has surpassed the boundaries that gave it a minimal story only to create a phenomenal story that has captivated fans from around the world. It has broken hearts, caused tears, and even created a few moments of laughter within its own story. It has even caused players to hate certain villains, and rightfully so. The evolution of story telling has also caused us to understand order and balance within the universe.
Among these designs, we’ve gotten to know our Tenno, ourselves through a fictional universe, but we have also gotten to fight against our fellow Tenno for training purposes via Conclave. Since its launch two weeks ago for Xbox One and PlayStation 4 while PC has had it for a few weeks more than the console, but that’s alright! The console version lives up to expectations just as it did on PC.
The idea behind Lunaro is rather close to several sports you may already know: Rugby, soccer, football, basketball, and a little bit of martial arts – because nothing says “HELLO!” like a swift kick to the jaw then stealing the ball. The objective to the game? Get the ball into the enemies goal point and win. The team with the most points between Sun and Moon will win the game. Much as expected, the game has two halves, and they take place over roughly ten minutes, which is nicely paced due to how fast paced the action can get.
Controls are simple, all normal movement schemes remain in place for all intents and purposes of the game. The only difference? Depending on your controller (since PlayStation 4 is our primary console for reviews, we’ll be going with their button scheme if using legacy where the touchpad is enabled) L2 is to help focus on the ball so you can intercept/block/catch while L1 remains to duck/slide/slide-jump. However, doing a slide-jump with the ball in-hand does make the carrier drop it in order to provide fairness for the sake of the game. In turn normal jumping and sliding remain fully usable by the ball carrier who can pass and or otherwise launch the ball towards the enemy teams goal.
To throw or pass players can combine L2 and R2 to launch the ball even further whether they are sliding or running up-right. Doing so will allow for more range, a stronger pass, and a chance to get the ball where it’s needed to go. All-the-while making opposing players work even harder to obtain the ball. Except for when you score where they get instant grabs on the ball (much like basketball) and force you to move to the halfway point before being able to go on the offensive.
While the basis of the game is short, it runs smoothly, and carries on a solid concept of what it is like to have sports in an ever-growing universe. The downsides are is the minor lag that tends to happen, which makes the ball slightly hard to track, and give those players that have mastered Lunaro a winning chance to one-man an entire match. Want to be the Kevin Durant or Michael Jordan of Lunaro? Your chance is here if you decide to take it. Lunaro is rewarding in the essence that it does provide a chance at Conclave mods and even Conclave reputation for those needing it.
All-in-all? Lunaro is a highly enjoyable game that may attract those who found a love for games like Rocket League if they decide to give it a chance. If you aren’t hooked on this Conclave mode? You surely will be if you decide to dive into it for a few hours.
Our review is based on the free-to-play game with all current updates installed. For information about our ethics policy please clickhere.
Final Score: 8 out of 10
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.
Conventions aren’t anything new. You’ve probably been to a few of them, you’ve even seen the awesome news that comes from them, but what happens when the master minds behind Warframe get their own show? A soldout success. Having taken place in London, Ontario – Tennocon 2016 brought in over 1,100 players from around the world in order to celebrate Warframe on July 9th, 2016.
Remaining as a free and devoted to game by developer Digital Extremes – Warframe is a free-to-play smash hit from the independent developer and sole publisher of the title. With the first-of-its-kind event, Digital Extremes brought forth their players, nicknamed the Tenno; they offered up activities, panels, tournaments, and even the opportunity for the games dedicated community to meet with one another as well as the developers.
Earlier this year, the company pledged to donate 100% of all ticket sales for TennoCon to go to their charitable partner, Outward Bound Canada, which supports the program for at-risk youth, women survivors of violence, and military civilians that are transition from being in service to civilian life. Today, Digital Extemes is proud to announce together that they raised over $74,000 CAD in ticket sells to the charity.
“I’m not often speechless but there are no words I can say that captures the excitement and emotion felt when meeting so many fans today in person,” said Steve Sinclair, creative director at Digital Extremes. “It was an incredible experience for me and the entire Warframe development team to see how games — our game — can bring people together in such a positive way. Our community is second to none and they proved it by making our first TennoCon a huge success not only by attending but also by raising a significant amount of money for a very good cause.”
The event was brought to a close with a special edition of Warframe’s well known TennoLive show, which streamed live on Twitch.tv, which game Tenno an exclusive-first-look at some of the upcoming content, which included a new “The War Within Teaser”, which can be seen below.
As a final installment of the current three-part-update that has bee nunder way sarting with the release of the games already quite enjoyable sports mode, Lunaro, in June, The Specters of the Rail Last Week, and the first-look of War Within, which features Conclave Master and Operator Teshin. Console players can expect to see the content shortly after the PC debut of it.
Additionally, Tenno at the event got to see the debut of the new warframe Titania. Lead by Design Director Scott McGregor – he explained the plans for the upcoming designs as well as ability for the warframe that is currently in-the-works. Among these highlights is the explanation behind the suits ability to shrink down to 1/10th of the suits normal size, which allows players to navigate levels in archwing mode while attacking enemies with swarms of Titania’s powerful and destructive butterfly minions. Just note that not all of this is not final and is subject to change.
While there the 100 Days of Warframe teaser was revealed, which is being done with a partnership with Paul Otaking77077 and the the people at mashed. 100 Days of Warframe will be an action-packed short that pays an homage to the original awakening of the Tenno when Warframe launched. You can expect more about this later this summer when we receive the news. If you missed TennoCon 2016, you can check out the complete archive of TennoLive on the official YouTube Channel for Warframe.
Warframe is free-to-play on PlayStation Network for PlayStation 4, Xbox One through the Xbox Marketplace, and for PC on www.warframe.com. Make sure to check them out on Twitter and Instagram also.
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.
It’s been a long journey that has taken my Tenno across the solar system. She has traveled across the vast and sprawling landscapes of Saturn to the harsh and venomous climates of Venus. She has fought unimaginable threats of an old world to an enemy long forgotten in order to attempt keeping peace in the solar system. She has tested her skill against her own fellow Tenno and proven her loyalty to the Lotus. In her free time away from fighting threats to the universe to keep balance, she has now taken on a sport once forgotten in time titled “Lunaro” where she has shown her prowess and agility outside of combat.
Truth is, Warframe is not just a game, but a living and breathing entity.
Warframe – developed and published by Digital Extremes – has proven that the game has more than what it takes to market itself as a triple A title. The title itself has received multiple updates that have pushed story, new exploration, weapons, time-based exclusive items for players, and even new innovations to gameplay performance as well as tweaks to mechanics already in place. Truth is? Warframe is not just a game, but a living and breathing entity. It has changed itself in ways to better perform as well as keep fans interested as the years go on. It has also changed the way I look at playing games such as Call of Duty, which receives constant content drops, but at the cost of personal time, money, and grinding. Something Warframe players are well adapted to thanks to the in-game store that uses real-money currency called “Platinum”.
If you’ve played games like Smite, you are used to the word “Gems,” if you’ve played Grand Theft Auto V it’s the equivalent to the in-game cash cards you’ll purchase for GTA Online. The difference here? Almost everything in Warframe is virtually ready thanks to how developer Digital Extremes has made the game accessible for fans on both ends of the spectrum; paying and non-paying. Thanks to their approach to how the monetary system works, over 98% of Warframes content is free thanks to how Digital Extemes worked their virtual market. With exclusive Renown Packs launching on both PlayStation 4 and Xbox One; it’s not surprising when players get a chance to dash across their screens to equip their new gear they just purchased. Let alone does this help fuel the in-game economy, Digital Extemes has made the game more widely accessible than any other title to the current date.
Warframe doesn’t just offer up massive content updates that feature new warframes, weapons, attachment, appearance items, mods, etc – the game is virtually a gamers wet-dream thanks to their approach. With a public trade system, Warframe has allowed for a mass market of in-game purchasing to become possible. Here is where the game surely makes most of its money as players will dive into the platinum portion of the store to, buy a few platinum, and purchase the latest frames and mods needed. You might be asking though, what does this have to do with this game being a triple A title even though it’s free?
Th answer lies deep within Warframes very core, which varies itself as game that can be competitive, it can be cooperative, and even the constant bit of content that is released through the games major updates. These updates will only be getting bigger with the upcoming major update titled “The War Within” in the games 19th update, which will continue our current story arch from Second Dream. If anything from the trailers above and below show us anything? Warframe seeks to take the industry by storm as the first big triple a free-to-play title since its launch and even inception.
For players that have been playing on both console and PC – the game has seen itself grow in multitudes of ways to fit players from all walks of gaming preferences whether it’s competitive, cooperative or even sports. As one of the major new additions to the Conclave function of the game Warframe has now sought to attract players with its own take on a mix of sports such as basketball, soccer, and even football with its own custom sport “Lunaro” (review for the Lunaro content coming soon).
In short, Lunaro may remind fans of multiple sports to be exact – but this one sticks unique to its own. With a ball being at its core, a goal, and the need for fans to stop each other from scoring – it’s a huge twist on the earlier mentioned sports. This is only a small example of how the game has been evolving in the past and continues to do so with each passing day.
If Warframe proves anything? It’s that the title will be heading into an entirely new territory when Update 19 launches in the upcoming days. For more information about update and its future, please feel free to visit the Official Warframe Website.
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.
So you’ve managed to sprawl your way through the Cyberpunk RPG series Shadowrun from the sprawling streets of Seattle to the neon lit districts of Hong Kong. Parting ways from these standings, the critically acclaimed studio Harebrained Schemes has decided to take us into a labyrinth of death in their newest title Necropolis.
The award winning title has officially released on PC’s via Steam. As a permadeath 3D action roguelike title, Necropolis seeks to pop itself to life with off-the-wall humour, beautiful eye-candy art styles, diabolical traps, and even a plae filled with creatures seeking your ultimate demise. Think you can do it alone? If not it’s fun for those who want to seek an adventure together with an easy drop-in and drop-out 4-person cooperative multiplayer campaign. Why? So you don’t have to go to the grave alone.
Much like the famed franchises that punish players with perma-death such as the hardcore modes from Diablo and Torchlight – Necropolis seeks to do the same as players move across a magical and living dungeon. As players fight deeper within it, the dangers grow even more gruesome. Ready to die? If not, prepare to die quite a bit while hunting down loot and moving through the randomly populated and created dungeons.
“We’re really excited that folks can finally get their hands on NECROPOLIS.” said Jordan Weisman, Chief Creative Officer of Harebrained Schemes. “It’s a shining example of why we named this place Harebrained Schemes in the first place – we follow our passion – and the minute the team pitched this game, we knew we had to make it.”
BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment America, Inc. will be publishing the console versions of NECROPOLISlater this summer. Stay tuned for our upcoming review.
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.
So you’ve probably been sitting at your chair wrapping and unwrapping your knuckles for days. You’ve been ready for the next King of Fighters tournament. You’ve also been wondering when it gets underway, right? Fear not – for today ATLUS has announced when you finally get to crack your knuckles against some jaws. However, before we get to that, you can also now pre-order the digital version on the PlayStation Storestarting now.
Those who pre-order the digital version do get some awesome goodies for their game such as the Nightmare Geese and Classic Kyo DLC costumes as well as a Dynamic KoF XIV PS4 theme for free of charge. Below you can watch Nightmare Geese rain down some of his purple-painted themed pain on his enemies, sounds better than your wrapped up knuckles, right? Right, thought so.
If that wasn’t enough for you, those of you attending EVO 2016 in LA, California will get a special treat. SNK’s title The King of Fighters XIV will be at the ATLUS booth this year throughout the duration of the show. There players will get to see the newly improved tighter controls, improved combo’s as well as MAX Mode mechanics. Also, you’ll get to see the game in its first-ever 3D graphics. Sounds good right? Not good enough? We thought so, so Atlus provided us with a bit of information abou their side-tournament that’ll be going on throughout Saturday of the EVO show. So check out what you can win – oh and sign ups are completely free. Just make sure that you are ready to win some cold hard cash. Note that it will be mailed to winners due to security purposes. Y’know, getting into a brawl and all over it probably isn’t the best.
1st place prize: $1,400 2nd place prize: $700 3rd place prize: $350
Let alone is there a chance to win some cash, there will be key developers from SNK there to do autographs and show off some awesome panels.
FRIDAY, JULY 15 All Day: THE KING OF FIGHTERS XIV Freeplay and Tournament Practice Stations
SATURDAY, JULY 16 All Day: THE KING OF FIGHTERS XIV Freeplay Stations 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM: SNK Developers Panel 1:00 PM – 1:30 PM: SNK Developers Autograph Session 2:00 PM: Side Tournament (ATLUS Booth) Matches Begin TBD: Special Exhibition Match TBD: Side Tournament Top 8
THE KING OF FIGHTERS XIV Freeplay and Tournament Practice Stations SATURDAY, JULY 16
All Day: THE KING OF FIGHTERS XIV Freeplay Stations 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM: SNK Developers Panel 1:00 PM – 1:30 PM: SNK Developers Autograph Session 2:00 PM: Side Tournament (ATLUS Booth) Matches Begin TBD: Special Exhibition Match TBD: Side Tournament Top 8
Here are the top-line refinements for THE KING OF FIGHTERS XIV:
3D Evolution: All 50 fighters, movesets and more are rendered in full 3D graphics that preserves the essence of KOF’s visual style but updates it with a whole new dimension.
The Best Refinement since KOF ’98: Through extensive playtesting and balancing, the controls have been streamlined, and the Combo and Max Mode mechanics have been overhauled to create the most competitive fighter in SNK’s history.
The KOF Saga Continues: There’s a robust single-player storyline where several years have passed since the previous KOF tournament. Now a worldwide business, the global KOF will decide who is the strongest as both individuals and companies with their own ambitions have come to compete. Players compete against CPU-controlled opponents to unlock the storyline.
The Best Roster Yet: There are 50 fighters total, with 31 returning from previous entries into the KOF series, and 19 brand new characters. All 50 characters will be available at the game’s launch.
Revamped Online Experience:THE KING OF FIGHTERS XIVhas devoted a lot of development time to improving the game’s netcode for vastly improved online gameplay. KOF XIV uses the PS4’s online architecture to have a whole host of online conveniences, from spectating to saving replay/battle data, and having a single online KOF XIV profile to connect with friends.
If that’s not enough content for you, guess what? We’re sure the $59.99 USD price tag might be enough for those wanting the launch day editions that will have the SteelBook case starting Aug. 23rd, 2016 exclusively on PlayStation Network. Oh, and that Classic Kyo Costume that you heard about? It’ll be free for the first week.
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: +Lane based combat is fun, exciting, and fresh with its Strategy RPG take
+Amazingly beautiful art style that’s quite enjoyable and easy on the eyes
+An amazingly nice and settling score that is quite enjoyable
+Character classes feel unique and fresh
+Customization options were quite plentiful and unique
Cons:
-Voice acting is ‘meh’ at best.
-Story feels as if it drags on versus being enjoyable
Review Summary: Grand Kingdom is an enjoyable adventure that takes players across a world that is at constant war. Bringing in high-risk with high-reward turnarounds. The game enthusiastic brings in a new and unique form of turn based combat and strategy elements. The title is a hidden treat for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita owners.
Take a look at any game on the shelves right now and you are probably going to run in on a rather familiar take on the same elements. It’s a trend the industry has grown used to. We’re seeing plenty of game clones when it comes to titles like Call of Duty, Battlefield, Minecraft (anyone else sick of builder games?), and even Pokemon titles. There’s zillion’s of spin-off titles that follow them. However, what happens when a game such as Grand Kingdom comes in and offers a unique twist on the strategy and RPG like elements.
Adding in traditions of the renowned Strategy RPG genre, Grand Kingdom comes in unexpected in every form of its elements that offers up for fans to enjoy. The game is a rather nice treat for PlayStation Vita and PlayStation 4 owners. Getting our hands on the Beta that was sent out not long ago, we got some early impressions in on it, ones that taught us the game takes on the elements of your traditional JRPG while trading out some ideals from strategy titles. If that doesn’t sound familiar, then you are getting ready for a rather large, but enjoyable time sink for gamers.
If one were to want to get in on the games rather confusing story, it’s easy to break down. The world the title takes place in is a constant war, one that is filled with small militaries trying to fight off groups of mercenaries. Taking its approach as an anime-like title, Grand Kingdom’s turns into a hunt for constant money for our protagonists. The story? It’s too easy to pick apart thanks to its traditional anime-like style where players can face palm rather quickly so that they may be able to work towards a possibility of diplomacy. Unfortunately this takes away from any hope at a rather climatic story, one that brings in the tragic nature of this games visionary world of war or even the ideals of loss and damages war can cause.
Neglecting on these facts, Grand Kingdom is a rather enjoyable form of gameplay mechanics as war remains endless as ever. While there are plenty of characters that may seem rather integral to the world, there’s always the consistent threats of “kicking the enemies ass” as players take to each chapter. If it makes any sense, the whole war isn’t as serious as the game would have you believe in the long run. Sad, huh? The real part of the game that draws eyes isn’t the games lacking story, but the games rather intuitive combat design that takes on old RPG elements, and strategy elements.
Turning away from the games story that can quite easily be ignored, the mechanics, customizations, and even a fresh breath of air in a known genre. If you are a fan of board games, Grand Kingdom takes on a unique spin of a table top game as players will move their pawn across the battlefield that is set before them. Doing so will bring characters into combat randomly or with pre-place enemies if players don’t fall into traps or treasures. Nothing welcomes a player into a tile-set like watching a character getting themselves blown into smithereens by an enemy cannon.
When merging into combat, Grand Kingdom begins to truly shine as players will find themselves given three lanes that their team will be placed on. These lanes represent rows in which both friendlies and enemies will be placed upon as they duke it out to win. Given a set amount of “action” points, players will find themselves scurrying across battlefields while attempting to beat enemies into the ground. However, it’s not as simple as it sounds. Using characters like the archer, players will find themselves given chances to use certain abilities such as the games archer class using an ability like “Longshot” where the character will nail a single enemy. While classes such as the arcanist can send lightning bolts and fireballs across the lane. The downside? These attacks can actually harm friendly members if they are in the way of their caster.
While combat may seem rather linear with characters such as the arcanist, Shamans, Witch, and even the Dragon Mage offer varied combat – Grand Kingdom is fresh as players will find themselves with plenty to do across the entirety of the game. Thanks to the familiar art styles of Chiz Hashii that brings in beautiful details and character animations, the game offers screen-filled popping life to the entire game while character portraits also remain rather alive as well as animated. This is easily accented with some of the best music you’ll hear within the game, something that was brought to life with Odin Sphere Leifthrasirs composer – Mitshuiro Kaneda. Now if only the actors could have put as much love into the game as the composer and artist did.
Overall, Grand Kingdom is a game that offers a fresh breath of air for players that decide to give this game a chance. This will definitely be a game for PlayStation Vita and PlayStation 4 owners to get their hands on if they give it the chance.
Our review is based on a copy provided to us by the games publisher. For information about our ethics policy please clickhere.
Final Score: 7 out of 10
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.
With some of the largest hits coming to the shelves this year and early next; Deep Silver, SEGA of America, and Atlus U.S.A., Inc. have announced that they will be working together in order to publish multiple ATLUS and SEGA titles on consoles as well as handhelds across the European and PAL territories.
“We are delighted to have signed this publishing partnership and look forward to using all our pan-European publishing network to maximize the potential of the ATLUS and SEGA games” said Dr. Klemens Kundratitz, CEO of Koch Media/Deep Silver.
“In entering this partnership with Deep Silver, I am truly delighted we will be able to release our titles in the European regions,” said Naoto Hiraoka, CEO, Atlus U.S.A., Inc., and senior vice president of publishing, Sega of America, Inc. “Not only does the deal span multiple titles, but Deep Silver has a strong presence in European and PAL retailers. They have a strong passion for being able to deliver physical games to our fans in those territories, which we hold in high regard.”
Stay tuned as we will bring you some more news based on these upcoming titles when they come up closer to their release as well as to this partnering deal.
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.
If you’re one for a challenge, Trials is a series that’s great for that, and Ubisoft isn’t shying away from this knowledge. Today Ubisoft has announced that they want to allow their community to win a copy of Trials of the Blood Dragon on Windows PC. Starting on July 22nd, they want to allow PC players to download the demo of the full game and eventually challenge their way through it with 15 faults or less, which will allow them to be rewarded with a full copy of the game. This means that players will also be competing against one another through the global leaderboards to see who can with with the fewest faults.
In the fullversion of Trials of the Blood Dragon, players will challenge each other across 30 missions that span across different worlds, allow uses of different gravity-defying vehicles, tools, and more as they compete for the title of being the best across each map. Additionally, players will be able to enjoy the game’s soundtrack that was composed by Power Glove.
Trials of the Blood Dragon is a follow up to the critically acclaimed series. It is available for download on the worldwide on Xbox One, Windows PC, and PlayStation 4.
Trials of the Blood Dragon, the follow-up to the successful Trials series, is available for download worldwide on Xbox One, PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system and Windows PC.
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.
