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Hands-On Preview: The Elder Scrolls Online – Summerset Isles Expansion

Posted on May 23, 2018 by Rae Michelle Richards

The total playable area of Tamriel grows larger with the early access release of the Summer Set Isle expansion for The Elder Scrolls Online. Bethesda provided me with a closed beta code which allowed me to venture onto the once closed island belonging to the High Elves. Join me for tales of adventuring and exploration through my first couple hours within this seemingly tranquil island paradise.

As my adventures in Summerset were taking place on a closed testing server I wasn’t able to bring my existing level 45 Nightblade over from the North American region. No access to all of my gold? I can’t use my awesome wolf mount? – these are the thoughts that raced through my mind when presented with the character creation screen but there was an unintended upside to all of this – it allowed me to see how the new player experience differs on the Summerset Isles when compared to the base game or the Morrowind Chapters. 

I quickly drew up a Templar Breton named Melissa Winterhold (haha yeah, I know – I’m REAAAL inventive taking a last name from a settlement in Skyrim. It’s not cannon but *shrug*) and I was on my way to the brand new tutorial area – trapped inside the mind of a horrifying creature! I found myself quickly and organically going from one key gameplay mechanic tutorial to the next. This hazy purple dreamscape does provide waypoint markers for new players but for the most part they are unnecessary. During the tutorial ESO guides you throw using basic spells (if you know any – or abilities in their place) and picking up several pieces of gear before slaying a couple of rooms of ethereal magic spiders. All of this culminates in a final showdown with a larger spider which acts as a sort of medium difficulty single add to test new players against. As I hear a distance voice calling out for me the screen fades to white. One strong criticism I have of the new player experience found in Summerset Isles isn’t found within its writing, mechanics or presentation but the choice of enemy. For someone with arachnophobia this tutorial would be completely unplayable and terrifying – they really could have chosen a better selection of enemies than a large number of arachnids. 

 

Once back in the ‘real world’ Oriandra from the Psijic Order (Summerset Isles brand new class) explained that she was already in the neighbourhood (relatively speaking) and once she felt a dark / powerful presence she had to investigate. Members of the Psijic order once served the rulers of Tamriel’s larger provinces before splitting off some time ago. It is also revealed that the order is several centuries – so old that they consider the well-established Mages Guild to be nothing short of a nascent upstart in comparison.  My interaction with Oriandra did not make Melissa a member of their order but it did leave one lasting impression – the Psijic Order deal in very powerful Magick and even they are not strong enough to deal with the dark power of this expansion’s big bad, K’Tora. 

Now that Melissa had most of her starting gear, a few skill points spent on both an offensive spell, a slow spell and a self heal it was time to embark on my first story quest in Summer Set – The Queens Decree. Queen Ayrenn, who some players might remember from her quest chain in Auridon, has decreed that the island of Summerset is now open to the public. It’s not just sell swords, adventurers and thrill seekers who can come partake in the majesty of the isle but also commoners like the many farmers, blacksmiths and others who populate the world of Tamriel. (Side Note: a lot of ‘high fantasy’ uses the trope of regents or nobles as an authority figure that task players with quests. In my opinion, it’s played out and tiresome. Seriously do the people of Tamriel really need to elevate royalty? There’s more commoners than royals #CommunistRevolutionInTamrielNow… seriously). Anyways, there’s a whole host of monstrous beasts that roam the isles and it’s not such a safe place. 

Next up on my quest… to heh, continue the Queen’s Decree quest was a quick meeting with Razum-Dar who some veteran players may remember from the Auridon Quest Chain among others. As an agent of the Queen’s intelligence service Raz always seems to find himself in the thick of things despite his assertions that he is a “simple Khajiit”. Raz informs me that he has seen a pearl that was able to call out to the monstrous wildlife and that rumors about its existence have made their way up the kingdom’s chain of command. Tasking me with gauging the mood of the nearby settlement of Shimmerene, Raz bids me farewell and goes about his other business. 

Ignoring the pleas of the rather determined cat, I decided to put my quest on hold and travel down the eastern shore of Summerset for the next hour or so. I wanted to get a feel for what new ravenous wildlife Zennimax Online had cooked up for players with this expansion. To my surprise and delight, it’s not more spiders or simple re-colors of existing mobs either. Scaled deer like mammals called Indrik’s charge head first into Melissa’s shield. Large crocodile-like reptiles called Welwua swim freely throughout the many eastern lakes and rivers of Summerset. Lastly the fire-breathing Salamanders with their glowing black and yellow bodies stood out to me because of the sheer challenge that they posed. Get two of them together and you’ve got yourself a barbecue… of pain. 

There is so much content to be found within The Elder Scrolls Online: Summerset Isles that I couldn’t possibly convey in a single post. Expansions often bring injections of new content, refreshes of older content and a brand new storyline and from what I’ve played so far Summerset Isles ticks off all of these boxes with ease.

Now that Early Access has begun on the retail servers there are so many things to explore – Joining the Psijic Order and completing that quest-line, explore the 7 public Delves, trying to find all of the Abyssal Geysers (which replace the previous Dolmans in this expansion) and of course – learning the new crafting style. 

With so much to do, expect further blog-style diary entries in the near future. 

Bethesda Public Relations provided a preview / review copy of The Elder Scrolls Online: Summerset Isles for editorial purposes. It is valued at $39.99 USD. 

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Shadow of the Tomb Raider Preview PT 2: Every Beginning Has An End

Posted on May 2, 2018 by Rae Michelle Richards

This is Part 2 of my comprehensive preview of the upcoming Shadow of the Tomb Raider based upon an hour long play session and interviews at last week’s Shadow of the Tomb Raider reveal event. Square Enix USA covered my travel expenses and accommodations to attend the event. If you missed my breakdown on how Shadow of the Tomb Raider is evolving the established Tomb Raider formula – check it out here.

Later this week and early next week I’ll be publishing a pair of video interviews with a Gameplay Systems Designer and Producer from the game.

Debut Trailer

SotTR’s First Hour

Spoiler Warning: The following hands-on preview discusses the ending of Rise of the Tomb Raider and how it affects Lara’s motivation towards the villans in Shadow of the Tomb Raider. Both the events of RotR’s ending and the identity of SotTR’s villans are discussed at length. Several names and events have been blacked out to help readers avoid spoilers.

I got the chance to go hands-on for Shadow of the Tomb Raider’s beginning hour during the reveal event in Montreal, Quebec last week. My play session kicked off approximately 15 minutes into SotTR’s campaign I was told by one of the developers at the event. Lara alongside Jonah – who players of Rise of the Tomb Raider should recognize – find themselves hunting down a set of Mayan relics before the Trinity Organization can get their hands both the Box and Silver Key of Ixel Chel.

Legends say that by using the mystical power contained within the Box in combination with the Key, the holder of both Relics can reshape the world. This transformation takes the shape of a powerful world shattering Earthquake, a massive volcanic eruption and a drowning Tsunami. While Trinity’s intentions with these devastating powerful forces is not made entirely clear – surely they will kill a lot of the Earth’s population in doing so.

Avoiding an apocalyptic scenario isn’t the only thing at stake for Lara Croft in this third entry of the rebooted franchise. Given how Rise of the Tomb Raider ended – after Lara spending the entirety of RotR processing the suppressed memory of her father’s suicide, it is revealed that the Trinity Organization orchestrated his death – there is a personal factor driving Lara’s determination to see things through to their conclusion. SotTR’s antagonist, Dr. Dominguez who heads up Trinity will pose an equal intellectual, as well as physical challenge, to both Lara and Jonah this time around. Perhaps it is Crystal Dynamics / Edios Montreal’s intention to have the player question whose approach to averting the Mayan apocalypse is best? – if a disastrous power is going to be unleashed upon the world should it be used in a way that allows some of humanity to live?

My demo began with Lara and Jonah arriving at a South American festival that gave off a vibe similar to that of Dia de Muertos with banners, fireworks and attendees sporting skeleton face paint. To hide her identity Lara dons a hooded poncho and a partial Skull Mask that, to be honest, looked absolutely amazing on her! Our heroes must stay hidden from Trinity security forces all while gaining access to one of the organization’s Dig Sites in order to find out where the Key of IX Chel is located. As Jonah distracts armed men by approaching them and asking about an on-going party, I guided Lara through the city streets, which acted as a basic movement tutorial.

Things opened up as I progressed through the Dig Site, with SotTR prompting me about the basics of stealth – hiding in bushes, watching enemy alert statuses – as well as a basic primer on how to run and gun my way through a given situation. Hiding in the lush South American brush and striking guards from close quarters is just as exhilarating as it sounds. Towards the Dig Site’s conclusion I decided to change my approach and use the small sub-machine gun that Lara came equipped with to dispatch the remaining patrols.

Gameplay seamlessly shifted things to the first real Tomb of Shadow’s first hour – “Hunter’s Moon” – which saw me utilizing Lara’s climbing expertise to effortlessly climb and repel Lara into the once hidden temple belonging to Ix Chel (when I wasn’t missing the button prompt to connect two jumps together and falling to my death). Rope Arrows from the previous two titles where key to solving a quite ingenious puzzle involving an abandoned mine cart and a wench. Without giving away the solution, after solving the mine cart puzzle and another clever puzzle involving large weights Lara finally had one of the two coveted Mayan artifacts in her possession.

This is where things went from standard action movie fare – as seen in the previous two titles – to nearly world shattering. A ginormous tidal wave quickly engulfs the cavernous tomb and sweeps Lara out and onto the city streets. What follows is an almost indescribable amount of devastation as the large wave carries Lara, innocent pedestrians, cars and anything not firmly cemented into a foundation along with it.

As the water subsides and Lara rejoins Jonnah for the first time since the opening minutes of the demo she surveys the sheer damage the tidal wave has unleashed. Suddenly the roaring blades of a helicopter come from behind and within an instant the duo are face to face with Dr. Dominquez who promptly swipes the dagger of Ix Chel from Lara’s possession without a grandiose speech or monologue – RoTR’s Konstantine, he is not.

It is here in the closing seconds of SotTR’s first hour that the impact of all of this destruction catches up with Lara. I could see the anguish and guilt stricken across her face as she begins to plead with Jonah to go on to the next dig site and capture the box before Trinity can. It is here the Jonah snaps back at Lara in quite an unexpected fashion – essentially saying “Not everything is about you Lara, you want to act on a myth and a scrap of information when the people HERE need us. We can make a difference here.” With just a few short sentences he bring’s Lara’s attention back to devastation caused by the removal of the Key and away from her larger quest – reminding her of the human cost that can come when the stakes are this high.

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Shadow of the Tomb Raider Preview: Redefining Gameplay

Posted on April 27, 2018 by Rae Michelle Richards

This preview focusing on Shadow of the Tomb Raider’s gameplay systems and their evolution between games is part one of a two part hands-on preview. A second part focusing on the plat revealed thus far, trailer and hands-on demo gameplay will be posted later on today. Square Enix covered accommodations and travel for me to attend the Shadow of the Tomb Raider reveal event.

For the past half decade the Tomb Raider franchise has enjoyed a huge surge in popularity and fan interest since Crystal Dynamics / Edios Montreal successfully revitalized the series with their 2013’s origin story. With two adventures behind her, Lara Croft is about to become “who she was meant to be”, according to the game’s Creative Director, in the newly revealed third entry in the reboot trilogy- Shadow of the Tomb Raider. Square Enix invited me out to Montreal Quebec this past week in order to be one of the first people in the world to to go hands-on with Shadow of the Tomb Raider.

The Creative Director for Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Daniel Chayer, mentioned that the journey to craft the pinnacle of Lara’s development actually began during the early days of development for Tomb Raider (2013). Developers at Crystal Dynamics and Edios Montreal knew that they wanted Lara to be a strong and relateable protagonist. They envisioned who she would be at the end of her journey and worked backwards from that point.

Daniel walked through how Lara as a character has developed throughout the trilogy of games. In Tomb Raider (2013) Lara was thrust into an uncertain environment – all the while was still unaware of the skills that she could hone or the path that destiny would lay out before her. During the events of Rise of the Tomb Raider, players saw first hand how much she has grown – while guiding her through her first tomb expedition and exploring the deeply hidden secrets hidden within her subconscious. Watching Lara Croft develop as a character and grow between titles has been a key element for the developers at Crystal Dynamics / Eidos Montreal and to achieve this goal successfully Lara Croft must be as relatable and real as possible.

Character development isn’t aspect of Tomb Raider that has changed and grown from title to title. Gameplay mechanics, systems and even the core design “pillars” the underpin the creative philosophy behind each game must also grow and adapt from iteration to iteration. From a high concept perspective the gameplay of the rebooted Tomb Raider franchise can be boiled down to combat, traversal and resourcefulness. When looking to expand upon these pillars Crystal Dynamics and Edios Montreal put a special focus on the environments. It is their belief that the environments in Shadow of the Tomb Raider play a vital role in bringing Lara Croft as a character to life – the more realistic the environments are, the more relatable Lara is.

To facilitate the creation of even more treacherous and sequestered tombs for our heroine to explore the developers have expanded upon the “traversal” pillar with the creation of “terrifying vistas”. In Shadow of the Tomb Raider literally everything within a tomb is out to kill Lara, Chayer explained during his presentation. Developers asked themselves the question – “what makes tombs terrifying?” and apparently the answer to this question is to have Lara explore the deep series of caverns burred within South America that extend under the sea. Players took their first literal footsteps down below with Lara as she went spelunking into the tombs of Rise and will have to overcome challenges that eclipse anything seen thus far in the franchise.

Above: The weapon upgrade screen from Rise of the Tomb Raider (2016)

Utilizing resources to expand Lara’s arsenal of weapons, acquire additional combat skills and survival techniques have been a key part of Tomb Raider’s gameplay from the very first title in the reboot trilogy. Eidos Montreal and Crystal Dynamics are set to expand upon this familiar system with a revised pillar that they are calling “resourceful Lara”. What this means for our heroine is that she will have a complete understanding of the environment around her. For players this will mean a more open ended progression system when it comes to upgrades so that a player’s Lara Croft will better represent the type of play that suits them.

If you enjoyed this in-depth look at the design philosophy, core gameplay systems and new features coming in Shadow of the Tomb Raider, check back later today and early next week for more coverage from my time at the Shadow of the Tomb Raider reveal event.

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Hands-On Preview: Yakuza 6: The Song of Life

Posted on April 13, 2018 by Rae Michelle Richards

Written By: Jeb Wrench

“Problematic Punch Man”

If ever the phrase “Problematic Fave” was to mean something, it would be to describe Sega’s Yakuza series. The acclaimed series of intense action, crimes, and large men being lumpy and glowering at each other is riddled with tropes that can range from irritating to uncomfortable, yet the care and thought that went into its writing can generally shine through.

Yakuza 6, due out worldwide later this month, continues this tradition by quickly fridging Haruka Sawamura to motivate the long-running protagonist Kazuma Kiryu back into the world of large angry men being large angry men at each other. Again. Next verse, same as the first.

Still, I wouldn’t have referred to it as a “Fave” if I didn’t think this sort of thing was worth it. Because it is very much Yakuza, for all the bad and especially all the good things about it. Older, slightly wrinklier, ostensibly wiser, Kiryu is still a great character to assume the role of. In this installment, you will take the Dragon of Dojima through his old stomping grounds of Kamurocho to look for his lost daughter-figure, the recently-retired idol Haruka.

He’s Also A “Kickman”! (Image Provided By SEGA)

Being a Yakuza game, this will involve less searching as much as it does punching people very hard, kicking people very hard, throwing people very hard, and hitting people with nearby objects very hard. Which, in a way, provides some insight into what makes Kiryu so compelling even though he inhabits a series that contains so many cringeworthy tropes.

Kiryu is, for all his compassion and well-spoken mannerisms, not the most capable problem solver in the world. He can only truly address situations in three ways – violence, crimes, and violent crimes. Yet he keeps encountering situations that he cannot reasonably handle in these ways. And that’s how what could easily be a “boring punchman” protagonist becomes someone you want to follow for seven games of punching mans.

Surprising no one, Kiryu finds out that Haruka’s disappearance may involve some form of treachery and deception and just maybe, crimes. Thus, he heads off to the fishing town of Onomichi, in the Hiroshima prefecture. Not to give away too many spoilers, but in Onomichi, Kiryu may have to punch some people. He may also wind up wearing a mascot costume with a bowl of ramen for a hat. And then punching people.

(Editor’s Note: If you’re going to punch people VERY hard always make sure to do it in a mascot costume!)

[Onward To The Second Page of This Preview!]

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GDC 18: Hands On With Little Dragon Cafe

Posted on April 11, 2018 by Broken Joysticks

Written By: Victoria Rose

Last month at the Game Developers’ Conference, we at Broken Joysticks got the opportunity to play an in-development demo of Little Dragon Café, the new game headed up by Harvest Moon creator Yasuhiro Wada and his new studio, Toybox. The game borrows the relaxing Life Simulation gameplay of its creator’s previous works, but adds several modern twists to the formula to keep things fresh. 

One of the things that sets Life Simulator games apart from other contemporaries in the Simulation or RPG genres is the pacing and tension of the core gameplay loop. Instead of the complex resource management of the former or tense combat systems of the latter, Life Sims tend to gravitate towards a more meditative process of repetition of simple tasks to reach long-term goals. The player is given less to worry about on an immediate basis compared to a full-on Strategy game. Little Dragon Café looks to be leaning more towards this pure Simulation genre than its Harvest Moon predecessors by giving players many more factors to manage, but intends to keep the core mechanics of its Life Simulator roots. 

Swapping out the farming gameplay of Harvest Moon for finance, gathering, and cooking mechanics, Little Dragon Café puts the focus more on managing a business than gardening. Players are expected to keep kitchens stocked, dishes made and on hand, and employees in line to succeed. This leads to a more fluid gameplay loop wherein players will have to make more careful decisions about how they spend each in-game day. Going on expeditions for ingredients with your titular dragon buddy is obligatory, but managing inventory during them brings to mind contemporary game Slime Rancher more than other Harvest Moon games. Players must act quickly and conservatively to maximize output during expeditions, adding that aforementioned tension to the mix. 

Prototype Plush Dragon From The Games’ Special Edition

Of course, this is all in service of the café itself, where the business management aspects come into play. Players must cook all dishes served in the restaurant, look after customers, make sure employees are happy, and be the caretaker for your dragon. Cooking is done by a simple and short rhythm mini-game, and customer interaction is handled in a similar manner as NPC interaction in Harvest Moon. The greater amount of tasks to do in Little Dragon Café adds to the hectic nature, and pushes the game more towards a pure Simulation experience. 

Little Dragon Café has loads of potential and a striking, colored pencil shader aesthetic. Even in its early state, it is clear to see how this game can potentially find its niche between its two source genres while providing something truly different from its predecessors. This is one to keep an eye on. 

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GDC17: GameMaker Studios 2.0 Takes On Industry Titans

Posted on March 12, 2017 by Broken Joysticks

Article By: Tori Dominowski

Long since a staple of the ready-made game engine marketplace, YoYo Games’ GameMaker has reinvented itself in recent years after coming under its new ownership. Their recent GameMaker Studio suite got attention by overhauling nearly every piece of the software, turning it from a designer’s prototype plaything into a game engine that could stand on its own. Now, after building up its community and figuring out its development strategy going forward, YoYo Games has announced the second iteration of the remade Studio. We at Broken Joysticks had the chance to sit down with some representatives from YoYo during the Game Developers’ Conference to take a look at an early build of Studio 2 and ask some questions about its new feature set.

We were shown a general overview of the new suite, and ran through some of the additions made since the last revision. The most notable shift was in the supported programming languages, with traditional languages such as C++ and Javascript now being supported alongside the proprietary GML language that the engine originally used. Yoyo Games stated that their intent with this was to distance themselves from the perception of being a walled garden environment and a prototype-only engine. Asked about whether older (Pre-Studio) versions of GML would still be supported in Studio 2, and was told that they would be supported, but are not under active development, and are considered to be legacy code.

However, GML has been given a facelift in modern times, and it seems to be paying dividends – the new optional graphical interface introduced in the prior revision has received some major additions in Studio 2. For one, code now supports live editing previews, allowing for feature changes without having to recompile the game. We asked about their approach in creating the graphical language, particularly with regards to how they intend to differentiate themselves from competitors such as Unreal Engine 4’s Blueprint language. The representative we spoke with stated that he believed Blueprint to hide too much from the user, and that it tried to be a full scripting replacement, whereas Game Maker’s new system was created with the intention of being a bridge between learning to code and text-based scripting.

The graphical code editor that accompanies GML now includes a full in-engine sprite editor/animator, as well as integration with the Spine sprite animator. The live preview feature also made it over here, allowing users to “draw” over the sprite as it is playing through its animation to allow for easier changes to a whole animation set.

GameMaker’s structural changes include a new page tab system, similar to the layout of most modern IDEs, but the unified function approach of Game Maker allows for better organizing things that would require multiple different programs otherwise, keeping the graphical editor, level editor, and code windows all in the same tabbed interface. YoYo Games also boasted of several technical upgrades, such as GML’s apparent 50% decrease in compile times, DirectX11 support, native Box2D physics integration (As well as a custom solution for water physics), a custom pre-built networking system, archetypal level inheritance, as well as support for in-app purchases and advertisements. While this may not sound exciting to the uninitiated, these are indeed some welcome additions to developers.

One of the most surprising additions to the original Studio was the variety of platforms that games could be exported to, including several niche platforms, making it an attractive option for independent developers who want to support lots of platforms. While Studio 2  does support a few new platforms such as Microsoft’s new Universal Windows Platform and Android TV, several of said niche platforms such as the PlayStation Vita, Samsung’s Tizen OS, and Windows Phone 8 have been removed. When asked about this, YoYo Games stated it was primarily due to developer inactivity, and that said platforms will still be supported in Studio 1.x, but not in any new versions. They did state that MacOS was now a supported platform on which to run the editor itself, however, where it was Windows-exclusive in the past.

Finally, when asked about potential changes to their monetization model for GameMaker, YoYo Games stated that they have no immediate plans to change the current model for the engine which requires a purchase up front for the engine and once again for exporting the final game. They did state that they are toying with the idea of adding certain high-level features as extras in a subscription service later down the line, but that there are no plans underway as of now. As for said initial purchase, Studio 2 will be a separate purchase from the prior version, although existing users will be offered a 40-50% discount on the new version.

These look to be exciting times for the GameMaker faithful as the engine continues to blossom far beyond its roots as a simple experiment program into something that can be a legitimate rival to industry titans such as Unity and Unreal Engine.

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GDC 17: Hands-On With VR Sports & Front Defence

Posted on March 1, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

Vive Studios will introduce three brand new entertainment experiences for the HTC Vive this spring for owners of the headset. During the first day of the Games Developer Conference I got the chance to sit down with Joel Breton to discuss the three new products – VR Sports, a collection of room scale enabled mini games. Make VR, a tool that helps bridge the gap between Virtual Reality and the real world by bringing support for 3D printers into the virtual space. Finally, Vive Studios also announced Front Defense, a World War II inspired shooter that uses Valve’s room scale technology.

The ten-minute demo of VR Sports and Front Defense that I tried at GDC was my first experience with room scale. Previously I had played Elite Dangerous in VR at E3 2016, set up my own sitting VR experience with motion controllers and played a few demos that used the Xbox 360 controller but this was my first time being able to move freely in the real world while strapped to a VR headset.

VR Sports is exactly what the title implies– table tennis using both room scale and the HTC Vive motion controllers. I was able to use one of the Vive wants to position the ball in front of me and smash it with the paddle in my other hand. It took me some time to adjust to the Vive wands and I found myself smashing the ball just a little hard, sending it flying out of bounds. After a few attempts and some coaching from the helpful HTC staff I was finally besting my computer controlled opponent. While the VR Sports demo at GDC17 was limited against an AI opponent the final game will also support online multiplayer against friends who also have HTC vive setups.

The second, and last, demo that the Vive team had on display was the tutorial level for Front Defence. In this World War II inspired first person shooter players have to fight off waves of enemy soldiers after learning the ropes against stationary cardboard targets. Front Defense gives provides players with a number of different tools of destruction to defeat their enemies – a standard machine gun is wielded in the right hand and reloading is performed by gripping the ammo clip with the left controller and then grabbing a replacement clip from your belt and inserting it into the gun. Rocket launchers also make use of a similar reloading mechanic where I had to reach down and grab a new projectile from an armored case on the ground and then insert it into the back of the rocket launcher. All of these movements added to the immersion and realism that you just don’t get when playing with a standard controller. It did take me some time to adjust to the idea of moving around a virtual space when using the HTC Vive but this is not a limitation of the platform and more getting used to not having to control my movements with an unnatural input device.

I’d like to thank Joel and the Vive Studios team for letting me go hands-on with their upcoming games. For my fist taste of room scale, the GDC demos showed me how impressive premium VR could be with technology as immersive as room scale. Make sure to watch my interview with Joel Breton in the embedded player below:

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“Arms” Surprises As One Of The Best Games At Switch Press Event

Posted on January 28, 2017 by Les Major

We’ve all seen the footage from the Nintendo Switch Reveal. Gamers have questioned just what was going to be worthwhile with this new console. Was it going to be the big new thing? Then there’s all that footage of that wacky game “Arms” with various boxing fighters with extendable arms! What in the WORLD is going on?

So today I got to check out the Nintendo Switch at a press event in downtown Toronto. Of course I was skeptical of Arms but I wanted to give it a go. If nothing else to have some video footage of myself flailing around while trying to play the game. Instead, I walked away thinking it was one of the two top games I enjoyed at the event!

No joke! I’m not being paid to say this. This isn’t some sort of ploy, it’s my personal opinion. I enjoyed Arms and it controls surprisingly well with very relaxed motions by the player. You don’t need to swing around wildly, though you can if you like. Otherwise you can play the game calm, cool, and in control of the bout.

First off, holding both the JoyCon controllers separately and attached with wrist straps is very comfortable! They’re incredibly light and comfortable. I think my wife put it best that they clearly seem to be made of plastic or the like, but they almost feel easier on your hands than you’d expect. In Arms you hold the controllers upright with the joysticks facing each other. This leaves your thumbs on top for surprisingly fitting control of the triggers and L/R buttons. These are actually used in the game to control your fighter along with motion controls.

JoyCon Controllers

Across the games I played, I experienced the rumble of these JoyCon controllers. As I’m sure you’ve seen, Nintendo is making a push to encourage gamers to take note of how they feel. I can’t recall if Arms did indeed use them, but I’m pretty sure it did. In general, it does oddly have that feeling of the “ice cubes in a glass” sort of expression that was mentioned in the Nintendo Switch reveal trailer. It’s like there are more rumble points or what not in the controllers. With how light they are too, it makes the feeling more noticeable. The best way I can describe it is different. It’s more of a unique experience.

Arms itself is controlled by leaning the JoyCon’s in the direction you want your fighter to move. You tilt them forward, backward, or to the sides to move. Combining that with jumping by clicking the R button at the top I do believe, and the L button to dash, it gives you a good range of moment. Also by tilting the JoyCon’s at each other you can block. The best part about this is, you feel in control. Wii Boxing was fun, but at times you sort of felt out of rhythm and like you were just flailing and the game was responding to you doing something, but wasn’t always sure what. When you move in Arms, your character moves. Really, I want more games with the controls Arms uses. I could see piloting a mech with the JoyCons like this and I really liked the feeling!

Mechanica I believe was the girl I first played as, which probably helped me get that mecha feel. Punching, much like the movement controls, just feels good! You jab or twist your punch in and your character reacts. Considering your long extendable arms in the game, they sort of track the other character to land each blow, especially across the arena. I’d need more hands on time to see just how you time your punches to beat down your opponent, but things got pretty neat. At times I missed, others my punches arced around and landed right on! I don’t blame the controls for this, I blame getting used to playing the game. However, I had some pretty sweet moments. One stage I was moving to position a pillar between my fighter and their opponent. Then from there I was arcing punches AROUND that pillar to still smack at them! Of course to keep things fair after a few volleys of punches, the pillar collapsed.

Arms Mechanica

But wait, there’s more! Punching with both fists at the same time performs a grab move on your opponent. If not blocked, you pull them in and deliver a devastating wallop! A barrage of punches that land is probably just as effective, and the game does show damage numbers to indicate just how much you’re hurting your foe. However, with a grab you get in all that damage all at once if they don’t move out of your way and just let your gangly arms miss them. On top of all that you can build up a super move and unleash that with the triggers held at the same time. During this phase you can unleash a barrage of devastating punches in a row as fast as you can. Your opponent has super moves as well, so you’ll need to learn to dodge out of the way of their attacks.

Of course everyone at the event was there to make sure we had fun and the staff gave us lots of encouragement as we played our games. By the time I was making my rounds it was late in the day and everyone was pretty tired out. When I made it to the Arms display, the attendant that we got set up with was happy to show me how the game worked but was quite thrilled when we got into it. Sure, everyone wants to try out the games and just get a taste of it. It was near the end and no one was lining up so I got right into Arms. By the end our attendant was cheering me on as as struggled against Master Mummy who seemed to have two hands that almost resembled Bullet Bill’s for fists! As I tracked around the arena and managed to put some distance between us with those pillars I mentioned earlier, we were down to landing just one hit to win. My right hook went wide! Out in the open I was concerned this was game over. Then he faltered just for a moment and my left jab won the match!

Arms Mummy

It really was satisfying. Both the quality of the game and controls, as well as genuinely seeing our attendant getting so into the game. Our experience with Arms showed me there is more to it than flailing your arms madly at the TV. Instead you really are able to come up with some plan of attack and make your fighting style your own. Want to hop in the air constantly and pummel your opponent from above? Go for it. Is staying distant so you can time their punches and scoot to the side to avoid getting hit while landing well placed jabs? You can do that too! Want to just click dash and run in, punching like mad while hoping for a good outcome? Do that too! The game really is more than just Wii Boxing for the Switch with extendable arms. Let along the charm of the characters really drew me in. I knew nothing of the robot suit piloting Mechanica but I adored her.

The big take away from all this is that I want Arms. I want to own the game. It’s a game I would play and enjoy. Sure, I don’t know much about it yet and haven’t even begun to research the title, but I enjoy the gameplay! Playing Arms on the Switch feels good, and I want to experience that again. Sure, I want games like Zelda that I can plunk my butt down on the couch and explore hours upon hours of shrines throughout Hyrule. I also want to just get into Arms and do those over exaggerated movements that aren’t needed but just feel so good because the game reacts so well to my motions. It’s cool to see the evolution of motion controls, the comfort of the Nintendo Switch JoyCons, and most of all another new IP from Nintendo that I genuinely want to play!

Arms Fighters

Nintendo gave me a ton of options today to play anything I wanted. I’m glad I decided to give that silly stretchy arms title a chance. It made a lasting impression and showed off the Nintendo Switch very well!

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Yakuza 0 Hands-On Preview

Posted on January 11, 2017 by Broken Joysticks

Previewed By: John Bridgman

The Yakuza games have always been a peculiar mix of gritty crime drama, bombastic martial arts, goofy side stories, and lots of minigames. Yakuza 0 is no exception, blending its cinematic storytelling with an almost overwhelming amount of side content to distract you from the game’s harsher elements.

As the title suggests, the game is a prequel to the long-running franchise, set back in the 80s and showing off the early days of series protagonist Kiryu Kazama and his recurring rival Goro Majima. The two characters operate in different cities, and their gameplay while similar, are stylistically different enough to keep the variety going.

Kiryu, when not partaking of the various diversions offered in Kamurocho, does a lot of muscle work – many of the problems he faces are solved through liberal applications of violence. He does this work both for the Yakuza and later as part of a real estate business. Fortunately, Kiryu is essentially the god of war with devastating combos to chain together into brutal finishers.

Combat is a spectacle with exciting martial arts manoeuvres and styles shown off, and each weighty punch and kick knocking piles of cash out of the recipient. Being able to change styles mid-battle makes for some fun strategizing, enhancing the martial arts movie feel the combat thrives on.

Majima has his own set of styles, which are in general a bit more stylish than Kiryu’s, though no less brutal – indeed, one of his styles, “Slugger”, is focused entirely around baseball bat fighting. To contrast, the similar style that Kiryu learns is “Beast”, which involves improvised weapons ranging from from boxes, furniture, or motorcycles, depending what is handy. A common refrain from defeated foes is “What are you?” which, given the ridiculous violence that can be pulled off, is a reasonable question.

Majima’s chapters take place in Sotenbori, where he manages a popular night club. When he’s not dealing with some very shady dealings and seedy characters that come with his job, the town offers more distractions, though it feels a little less overwhelming than Kamurocho. Oddly, it is here that the crafting system exists. Why there is crafting system I’m not sure, but it includes a system of dispatching agents around the world to find materials and recipes. This is something I’ve always had a soft spot for, so I welcome the opportunity.

Presentation is a strength of the game. It looks great, and features some great sound design. There’s a lot going on that screams 80s, including some familiar sound-alike music, parody characters, and, of course, brick-sized mobile phones. In a curious decision there are multiple styles for cutscenes, with some being simple cinematics, while others are sort of motion-comic styled vignettes.

Yakuza 0 is no exception game that attempts to blend over the top action with some gritty, and often uncomfortable, drama. Inferences and threats made to characters can and do approach some difficult territory – torture, mutilation and sexual violence are brought up, and some people may be understandably turned off from the game because of these, as well as some of the ways women are portrayed.

John Bridgman is a Canadian games journalist who has freelanced for various publications, and a host of the Downloadable Concept podcast ( is our URL). He can be found on Twitter . Yakuza 0’s publisher, SEGA, provided Broken Joysticks with a single download code for Yakuza 0 for our consideration.

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Exclusive: 15 Minutes of Footage From The English Localization of World of Final Fantasy

Posted on September 11, 2016 by Rae Michelle Richards

At the 2016 Penny Arcade Expo Square Enix allowed select press to not only meet the director of World of Final Fantasy – Hiroki Chiba – but also get some hands on time with the upcoming RPG. Without further delay I’m happy to present 15 minutes of exclusive gameplay footage from the North American localization of the game which is currently under development.

The protagonists of World of Final Fantasy are siblings Lann and Reynn who are trying to make their way through the world of Grymoire. Raising the stakes of their adventure even further –  the siblings have lost their memories and don’t remember their past or where they’ve come from. As players guide the siblings through the introductory town (which the below video showcases) they slowly learn that the siblings are what are known as “jiants”. Normally the inhabitants of Grymoire are stuck in an adorable chibi form but the siblings are able to shift back and forth between their normal size and the chibi style. The world of Grimoire isn’t just filled with new characters, designed by FF series main-stay Tetsuya Nomura, but also features returning Final Fantasy characters like Squall, Cloud and Lightning who can assist you in battle!

world-of-final-fantasy

Speaking of combat, the battle system of World of Final Fantasy takes cues from multiple iterations of the ATB (active time battle) system that has made the franchise’s combat a genre staple. It’s hard to pin down exactly which main-line game that World of Final Fantasy takes inspiration from as no particular title seems to have influenced its combat mechanics. New to the franchise is the introduction of an “easy mode” for combat which distills things down to their basics – attack, defend, run etc. I wouldn’t say that “easy mode” is analogous to Final Fantasy XIII’s Auto-Battle as the player still has some semblance of control over the flow of battle – although things like picking the appropriate spells or attacks are handled by the CPU.

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I enjoyed the brief time I got to spend with World of Final Fantasy at PAX West, especially its bright and color art-style and the writing. The teams (handling both the original Japanese release and English localization) have done a fantastic job injecting fourth wall breaking jokes, some fantastic puns and well timed comedy while still keeping the light-hearted & colorful nature that is at the core of World of Final Fantasy. In all honesty the writing of World of Final Fantasy reminded me a lot of NIS‘ Disgaea series and that isn’t a bad thing given that those are some of my favorite JRPGs of the past decade or so.

This is definitely one RPG worth keeping an eye on! World of Final Fantasy will be released on PS4 and PS Vita on October 25th in North America.

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E3: Hands-On With Sniper Elite 4

Posted on June 16, 2016 by Rae Michelle Richards

I had the chance to hook up with Rebellion and to try out their newest entry in to the long running Sniper Elite series. Sniper Elite 4 will be releasing  Feb 14th 2017, but Brokenjoysticks was part of a select few who were able to try the game in its alpha state today. The demo was about 30 minutes long and featured a wide open Italian country side setting, with a primary mission being to blow up a viaduct by placing a satchel charge and then shooting it to blow it up.

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see the beautiful Italian country side through the scope of your rifle.

Loading in to the game the first thing I noticed was we were not in Germany anymore. For anyone else that has played Sniper Elite game, the usual setting is a blown out western front city, with bomb craters and grey mats all over the place. Italy by contrast is vibrant and green. The developer who was assisting us on the demo mentioned that the was in Italy in 1943 and although it was not an “open world” but it is an open philosophy for the game. The maps are quite large described as being at least 100 square meters, with no real boundaries and plenty of secondary objectives to explore.

Since we only had 30 minutes I mostly concentrated on the main objective of the game which was to blow up that bridge. Players familiar with the series will be happy to hear that combat is still very sniper rifle centric, targets are marked with binoculars, and depending on the type of target an icon will appear over their heads and allow you track them as they move across the map.  Since I have already played the Sniper Elite line, the first thing I did was drop prone and use my binoculars to scan the area around me for enemies. I found quite a few and in particular one sniper. Just like pervious sniper elite games, these snipers have a rage that’s so long it actually goes out of your radar range (increased in this game to 70m) so its very important to mark and hit these guys as early as you can to avoid any problems that might come from them spotting you later on.

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Xray Kills now work with melee as well as longer shots

I was playing on a PS4 controller which is much different than my normal Xbox one controller so I took some time to get used to the controls, most of the things from the previous series are here, you have to carefully monitor heart rate, which allows you to use slow time and focus so that you can easily hit your targets. Equipment is still very important, with health packs, grenades, stones for distractions and a variety of traps making an appearance.

I was playing with the intention of being stealthy, but just like previous titles, occasionally I just had to whip out my Thompson and mow down a few enemies. The developers promised that there were over 100 enemies on the large map we were playing on, I only managed to kill 30, but in a 25 minute demo I think that’s pretty good. I also was the only one of our testing group (and only the 5th of E3!, to complete the level in the allowed 30 minute time slot.) Stealth is still very important, and its still very important to crouch and use cover.

From the moment I started the game, I painted my objective, and the enemies near it, and they stayed as icons on the screen guiding me over to my eventual victory. As with all of the other Sniper Elite games, bullet drop is in the game, and I assume that just like other games you will be able to select a mode with out the ever present in this demo red diamond that tells you where the bullet will hit. In Sniper Elite 3 you were able to play a mode with out the assist, and I am eager to see if this game also features it.  Also returning is searching bodies, I was surprised to find that one of the bodies had on it a duty roster. This roster highlighted several enemies I hadn’t spotted through the binoculars, making my journey a bit easier.

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There is an emphasis on being able to do a sort of parkour in this game, you can mantle, climb, and move about quite easily.

Many items are returning favorites, traps and the like are back in game. Flare gun, trip mines, S Mine, Stick Grenade, TNT, and the Silenced Pistol all make returns. Players of course can also strip off any items or weapons the find on bodies around the map.  

Though it was still subject to change there was also a progression system in place as I played that gave me ribbons and little appointments  when i did something that took more effort or work than a simple kill shot. Cover is classed in to separate systems, with wood being able to be penetrated and rock and other harder surfaces impermeable.

enemy AI seems to have been improved considerably, at one point I was forced to play a sort of ring around the rosie with an enemy who was dodging me around the back of a train, I ended up laying a mine down to kill him, and just running off to the next objective.

The standard alert system is back an arrow will appear when there is danger, yellow for when its getting close, and red for when you are noticed. I was noticed twice during the demo, and both times found it fairly easy to slip away from the people whom had noticed me with just a few minutes of clever hiding and shooting.

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Italy is a beautiful shooting gallery.

Fan favorite X-Ray shots return, with a serious vengeance, now everything from melee kills to the sickest sniper shots will trigger the signature mode which shows exploding bone, organs and flesh. I really enjoyed the feeling of nailing that one single shot that got me away from being noticed, or using a well placed burst from the Thompson to take down an enemy.

I Was able to finish the provided demo level, and according to the developer who was assisting with the demo that was better than most. My time was bout 25 minutes, but I did manage not to die at all. Though i did not do it, the game offers a variety of weapons to try, I stuck with the old reliable Springfield, knowing what it was capable of and how it could do damage. But, if you want to be experimental, you can always pick up weapons off of dead bodies and try then out instead of your trusty Springfield and Thompson.

Overall I really enjoyed the demo, I am by no means a skilled player of games such as this, but I found myself able to adapt fairly easily, I really liked the X-Ray feature, as well as what appeared to be very much  improved AI in the enemies. I can not wait for the arrival of this game on Valentines day of this year.

 

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Crossout demo’s Beta at Pax East + A Beta Code Giveaway!

Posted on April 23, 2016 by Fionna Schweit

Our two winners were: OG Nico Givenchy
and
Roland Sajovoelgyi

 

 

Today at Pax East I had the chance to get a hands on play test of the newest vehicular combat game on the block Crossout, made by Gaijinn entertainment the company’s own Alexander Trifonov gave us an interview and walked us through the basics of the game and Rae got a chance to go hands on. The game is at its core a sort of loot based MMO with vehicles instead of bipedal characters.

The game play looks fantastic, its set in a post apocalyptic world where you spend your time crafting, looting, and driving around blowing things up. The game will be free to play and wont include any feature gating and  will feature some new and interesting mechanics. One of the main Mechanics of the game is building your car. You will start out with a small vehicle, and throughout the game be able get more weapons, and other pieces to add to your vehicle, and even build some new ones.

The whole community of the game will be able to build and share their cars and other types of vehicles with the rest of the game. This means that if you cant decide what you want to build you can just pull something down from the web, and as long as you have the parts you can build it. This aspect means that even the most uninventive person (like my self) will still be able to sport a cool mech like this one.

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Is this a Vehicular combat game or METAL GEAR!

Since this is a loot based game your going to spend most of your Time in PvE which is what we got a demo of and what will be most of the games content. The main objective will be to go out blow up vehicles, and bring back their bits, to improve your vehicles.

Building, is only limited by what you can imagine, and the parts you have available. Each vehicle will have weight and an amount of available power, which you can use to fit things on to your to vehicle. Building will be regulated by a 100% controlled player controlled economy. Only players will be able to add or subtract from what is in the game economy. This idea is similar to EVE online where players take control of whats made via blueprints and and mining. For now mostly what we know is that there will drops of crates, which will contain the games items, and players will be able to loot these for later game supplies.

Perhaps most interesting of the features we got to see was how end game content is going to be handled. This is a loot based game, your car will be PvE fighting other cars to get loot drops. Alexander even described the game as being all about loot.  During our preview I was able to see that there are at least four rarities of loot to pick up. So lets say you are a top level player, and you have the very best PvE vehicle you can build. You can make that vehicle in to an PvE end game mob which a group of players can then take on.

If these players manage to defeat your boss mob, they will get some loot, but if your boss mob kills off all of the players, you will be rewarded with some of the players loot. This dynamic will all be tracked on the games leaderboards!

Accorind to what we were told, nothing in the will require money to unlock, all content will be avilable to all players either free or paid, and anyone who buys in with founder packs will retain their items after a final server wipe when the game gets ready for release around December of this year.

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If you paint it red does it go faster?

The game is currently in Closed Beta, but we have keys! Make sure to comment on this post if you want get in, and we will do a drawing in a week, on April 30th.

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Hands On: This Weekend’s DOOM Beta Was Hellishly Bad

Posted on April 3, 2016 by Rae Michelle Richards

Fans of id Software’s DOOM franchise have literally been waiting years for the closed beta for Bethesda’s upcoming reboot since it was announced via a pack-in advertisement bundled with Wolfenstein: The New Order. After spending 3 hours with a limited version of the game’s multiplayer this weekend I’m left with far more concerns and questions then fun moments to tide me over until the games’ May release date.

Two of DOOM’s six multiplayer modes were available in the closed beta – the FPS staple Team Deathmatch and a King of the Hill variant called Warpath. The inclusion of TDM just feels odd, literally every other online shooter and In all honesty the beta would have benefited from one of the more unique modes like Soul Harvest and instead what we are left with is a paltry selection of modes that does little to showcase how DOOM’s multiplayer will set itself apart from the competition. Read More

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Hands-On With The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes | Preview

Posted on October 18, 2015 by Rae Michelle Richards

Nintendo held a special online-only stress test for their upcoming multiplayer focused entry in the Zelda franchise – The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes. Codes were distributed by the Big N’s mailing list and select 3DS owners were able to participate in a maximum of 15 hours with the game across three different levels with random strangers. I quickly grabbed my Kokiri sword and green tunic and ventured into the world of Hyrule for a few hours over the course of this weekend and I’d love to share some of my initial impressions.Read More

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Hands-On With The Star Wars Battlefront Beta

Posted on October 10, 2015 by Rae Michelle Richards

Our staff played a combined 10 hours of the Star Wars Battlefront beta on Windows PC this weekend and are ready to share their field reports. It should be noted that these are early impressions based upon a beta build of an un-released game and as such the final game may address some of the issues we are about to discuss.

Fionna Fox’s Impressions

IT happened at 11:35 on the second day of the beta, with a slight almost cash register type of sound I bought the last item available for unlock in the beta. I had done it! I had beaten the Star Wars Battlefront beta. But I wanted to keep playing -that’s how good it is, I kept going without any incentives, any unlocks, or even the promise of in game rewards.

Let’s start with the basics, the game is beautiful, on the highest graphics settings it looks like a brand new hi-end game (not really surprising here since it hasn’t seen a retail release yet). I’m playing on a 1080p monitor at 1920×1080 resolution and I still get awed when I take a look at the vista of Hoth. The Sound design is AMAZING, it sounds like you are in a star wars movie.  Without even having ever gotten to game play the game already feels FANTASTIC, it has the shiny look of a modern game, with a Star Wars skin on top. That alone will be enough for lots of players, but it manages to back it up with gameplay as well.

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Read More

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