Sad news for fans Gravity Rush fans that were looking forward to finishing Kat’s story in Gravity Rush 2 this December, you’re going to have to wait a little longer to experience the game’s (presumably) fantastic story. Kat’s current generation adventure has been delayed worldwide until January 2017 according to an update Keiichiro Toyama provided over on the PlayStation Blog.
The team behind the game have spent a considerable amount of time working on asyonchris multiplayer functions and they want as many players as possible online at the same time.
Toyama wrote on the PlayStation Blog:
“A lot of work went into online features that allow for asynchronous player interaction, we want as many people as possible playing the title at the same time. Thus, after careful deliberation, we have decided to change the release date. Gravity Rush 2 will now launch on January 20, 2017.”
Fans will at least get some consolation prizes to help ease the pain – the developers were planning to launch a side-story DLC pack for the game which will now be released to all players free of charge. Also Keiichiro Toyama mentioned that a special animated short will make its debut before the game’s release.
Here are the details about the DLC:
“In exchange for the longer wait, we have decided to release the premium DLC planned for the title free of charge. This additional story will take place in the world of Gravity Rush 2 and we think fans will have a lot of fun playing through it.”
Gravity Rush 2 is now scheduled to be released on Jan 18th in Europe, January 19th in Japan and Jan 20th in North America.
With a strong start to Telltale’s adaptation of DC’s Batman lore, can the next episode continue picking up momentum and make the next part of the story just as exciting as the first? I did not know what to expect going into this episode, considering I have found each Telltale game has it’s highs and lows during each series, but I had hoped for the best. What resulted after my time with the episode was a mix of feelings.
The second episode picks up where the first left off. Without giving too much of the story away, Bruce is still quite conflicted about some new information he gathered about his family’s past and fortune. Although the story of Bruce and his tragic past has been a story told and retold countless times in countless ways and in many different mediums, TellTale offered a quick breath of fresh air to the story by allowing the player to revisit the site of the Wayne’s murder, go through Bruce’s memories and even learn some new history of the Wayne family, courtesy of Alfred. How Bruce processes this information and reacts to it, is up to the player. I found this to be an interesting change from the usual cutscene or re enacting of the infamous murder.
Throughout the game, we uncover a story of murder, intrigue, political conspiracy and corruption. We learn who the titular “Children of Arkham” are, what they want and how they plan to get it. You will have to choose who to help, what information you let people know and what relationships you build with those in your life. My personal favorite moment of the game was a bar fight you and Selena get into after some friends of the Penguin threaten Selena. You work together to fight them with a series of fight moves that were fun and showed how well in sync the two characters were. You start seeing the famous relationship between Selena and Bruce grow, but do they kiss? Well, you will have to play to find out.
This episode had some difficult choices and the story is definitely developing into something interesting and more complex than the average Batman adventure. I enjoyed seeing Bruce conflicted about his past and coming to terms with the fact that his family may not the be the perfect picture he thought of as a child.
What I didn’t enjoy as much was the fact that the gameplay again seemed like an afterth
ought. While it is normal for Telltale to focus on the story, it seems they took all the nuance and detail and put it into the story and less in the gameplay. It can get repetitive and at times just over simple and makes me wish for the days of Walking Dead season 1 or even Wolf Among us which I felt used the Telltale engine and detective gameplay more effectively and Walking dead’s choices seemed to carry more weight. The good news is that this is only episode two, so hopefully a lot of this will end strongly and the gameplay becomes a bit less repetitive.
Overall, this game continues its highly interesting story and certainly makes me want the next episode immediatelyafter playing, but the gameplay could have had the effort put into it that the story did. Aside from
an exciting bar fight that showed the potential for the gameplay and mechanics, it seems your choices don/t hold as much weight as previous Telltale games and you are repeating a lot of actions. All of this should not deter someone from continuing this adventure and could very well all be fixed easily in upcoming episodes.
Pac-Man Championship Edition 2follows up on its predecessors with a strange proposition. Imagine you’ve grown accustomed to driving a car without brakes. You hit other cars, you die, so you learn how to avoid doing so. You follow the road, you swerve correctly, you do fine, right? Then, one day, your car suddenly has brakes. And, when you hit other cars, it takes a couple hits before you actually crash. This would be disorienting, right? Because you’d have to completely relearn how to drive that car.
In Pac-Man Championship Edition 2, Pac-Man literally has a brake button.
Pac-Man Championship Edition 2 follows a recent tradition of modifying Pac-Man’s classic formula. Games like Pac-Man Battle Royale and Pac-Man 256 have proven that Pac-Man’s basic maze gameplay has a lot of unexplored depth, and the Championship Edition series has led the charge in showing off how interesting and unique Pac-Man can become.
As with its predecessors, Championship Edition 2 is gorgeous, with a blissful neon aesthetic and incredible techno music that will keep you going for hours of play. CE 2 takes advantage of its new position on next-gen hardware to deliver mind-bending visuals at a consistently high frame rate.
The game’s new 3D flourishes exemplify this, offering fluid animations as a new reward for skillful ghost busting. It’s not surprising that Namco’s sound team has outdone themselves, either, with clever sound effects and arguably the series’ strongest soundtrack.
In addition, fans of previous outings will find some of their favorite songs, like Pac Rainbow, left in tact, along with some series favorite mazes like Championship I & II, Highway, and Spiral. While the aesthetics remain the same, and callbacks to previous games will make series regulars feel at home, there’s a mountain of modifications to the gameplay that might not excite everyone.
From Pac-Man Championship Edition‘s release, Namco has shown it’s not afraid of changing Pac-Man in subtle ways. In the first Championship Edition, players initially play the game at the speed of the classics, collecting pellets and regenerating the maze’s layout as they collect fruit. DX changes things up a bit by allowing you to collect a “Ghost Train” rather than having to avoid the traditional four ghosts on the map.
Pac-Man Championship Edition 2 piles on new systems in a way that isn’t as satisfying as the natural evolution and simplicity found in the older titles. Pac-Man CE 2 adds, in no short order: Angry Ghosts, Boss Ghosts, a brake button, jumping, Ghost Routes, Runaway items, several new modes, and a compulsory tutorial just to cram all this in. It’s clear that Namco doesn’t want the series’ first proper numbered sequel to feel like a gentle iteration, but all of these revisions don’t gel with the simple gameplay of the original two titles.
Players who were looking for a game more similar to the original Championship Edition will be left out in the cold. CE 2 will feel more familiar to DX players who are used to chasing after Ghost Trains. In 2, rather than building up speed after collecting members of Pac-Man’s Ghost Train, the player starts off at full-speed, and any ghostly minions collected become trails behind the four main ghosts, Blinky, Inky, Pinky, and Clyde.
The challenge comes from chasing pellets at full-speed while avoiding both the roaming ghosts and their new trails. It’s a race against time, as before, trying to accumulate as many points as you possibly can before time runs out. At its strongest moments, CE 2 is a fast-paced score chaser that feels reminiscent of the gameplay offered by DX with some new and interesting twists.
Sometimes, those twists end up tangling up in one another and bog down the gameplay with undue complication. Changes pile upon each other and lead to series regulars needing to rethink their traditional CE play.
Grinding on the wall of the maze is still there, for instance, but because of Pac-Man’s increased speed and the unpredictable new behavior of ghosts, it doesn’t feel the same, and it’s something you typically want to avoid.
When eating ghosts, instead of going after the Ghost Train behind you in a satisfying finish, you’re sent on a frustrating chase after the four ghosts and their trains along Ghost Routes, colored escape routes that require memorization and constant attention.
New rules constantly interrupt basic tenets of gameplay put in place by DX, and while offering something new can be fun, the amount of relearning necessary might be challenging to those who have been playing CE DX for the past six years.
If all these new details weren’t aggravating on their own, they’re paired with new modes that only serve to highlight the game’s shortfalls. As in prior outings, the game is rife with unlockables, but rather than simply mastering each maze to seek rewards, players must conquer a new mode, Adventure. Adventure fails to deliver the classic, simple fun of the traditional score attack mode, and most players will likely avoid it altogether.
The new mode challenges players to complete several time attack missions in order to unlock Boss Battles, which are in themselves just a more challenging brand of time attack. Time attack isn’t very rewarding when failure is often found in having to battle stuff like Ghost Routes.
The process of completing stacks of time attack missions only to unlock even harder time attack missions isn’t rewarding, and if it weren’t for the promise of Galaga sprites for use within score attack, I probably wouldn’t have bothered. Within the context of 2, Adventure mode serves as an unfortunate annoyance.
Conclusion
By no means is Pac-Man Championship Edition 2 the weakest entry in the Pac-Man universe. At its best, Championship Edition 2 is fast and engrossing, pulling you in with engaging visuals and throbbing music. It’s a unique evolution on the classic arcade gameplay that you’d be hard-pressed to compare to its 1980 progenitor. Compared to its contemporaries, however, it lacks cohesion. At its worst, skillful play feels more like a wrestling match against new mechanics.
Pac-Man 256 and Pac-Man Championship Edition DX proved that you can iterate on the maze game formula without feeling overly complicated, without needing coercive tutorial levels, and without muddling what makes Pac-Man simple and fun to play. Mastery in titles like these is rewarded by a building sense of speed that motivates and excites.
Championship Edition 2 starts fast, stays fast, and ends with Pac-Man crashing into a wall of minions behind an Angry Ghost. If you’re ready to rethink the way you play Pac-Man, or you want to enjoy one of the best video game soundtracks this year, Pac-Man Championship Edition 2 is absolutely worth a shot, but you’d be remiss without playing stronger entries in the series first.
Persona 5 is now in the hands of Japanese gamers and fans in the west have to wait almost half a year – five whole months – before getting the game. With that being said news from official sources, namely Atlus USA, is probably going to be drip fed to us until closer to the February launch date.
Atlus sent out a press release this afternoon detailing the special Steelbook Launch Edition for the game. They revealed that the inside of the case is clear plastic – allowing owners to see the underside of the cover art. It’s pretty rare for games to get reversible art and those that do are usually special editions, as is the case here, but still pretty cool news even if it isn’t earth shattering. The outside of the Steelbook Launch Edition features a stylish black, whit and red group shot of Persona 5’s main cast.
Here’s the official assets Atlus revealed for the Steelbook Launch Edition:
Persona 5 was originally revealed all the way back in the Fall of 2013 and was originally set for release in the Winter of 2014 before being delayed more than two years for quality and story revisions. In Persona 5 players take on the role of a high school student (as in previous games) although this go around the player has an entire year to complete the games. As with other titles Persona 5 sees the return of the day/night cycle popularized by Persona 3, allowing the protagonist to form social bonds with classmates during the day and take on challenging dungeons at night.
Persona 5 will be released on February 14th 2017 in Western regions for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4.
Capcom’s Resident Evil 7 got an updated demo that is available for everyone – not just PlayStation Plus subscribers like the surprise reveal E3 2016 demo. Despite being hotly anticipated Resident Evil 7: Beginning Hour Twilight Version leaves players with more questions than answers. Potentially infuriating players it actually fails to answer questions posed by the first demo entirely.
Here are some of the questions that the community wants answered that the two playable demos have yet to reveal:
#1 – What is the finger for?
Over the course of the demo players can find both a detached finger and hand. What the hell do they do? Absolutely nothing, despite being the stuff of speculation for months since fans played Beginning Hour. Some fans have spent upwards of 20+ hours combing through both demos and came up with nothing – is it part of the dummy found in part of the house? Can you re-attach the finger to the hands? We simply don’t know yet.
#2 – Where Are The Weapons and Enemies?
Resident Evil 7: Beginning Hour is heavy on exploration and setting the scene for the full versions release. Players can explore the creepy home and soak in the atmosphere but there aren’t any weapons in the demo. Ammo exists in Twilight Version but without a gun to combine it with we’re left with nothing – in fact Capcom has only shown a few seconds of footage showing the player reloading a pistol (pictured above.) How will RE7’s gunplay feel compared to the third-person entries? It is anyone’s guess right now.
#3 – Could We See Another Update?
This game has been a mystery during its entire short public existence. Prior to the E3 reveal during Sony’s press conference Capcom was happy to show off the game for Sony’s upcoming PlayStation VR as “The Kitchen” without so much as acknowledging the game’s connection to Resident Evil. When it was revealed at E3 the fanbase was driven rabid, combing the demo for every possible clue and scrap of information. PlayStation VR is set to be released on October 13th and comes packed with a demo for Resident Evil 7– could Twilight Version get an update on that day? Perhaps on Halloween just in time to scare us?
What do you think of Resident Evil 7? Tell us in the comments section
The 2016 Tokyo Games Show (TGS) is in full swing and Square Enix has released 4 brand new screens from the upcoming HD remaster of Final Fantasy XII. This small collection of screenshots give us a good representation of some of the improvements that the devs at Square have made to the ten year old PlayStation 2 title. Improved textures, increased geometry, new lighting systems and other improvements seem to await players – of course Vaan’s abs still look they’ve been painted on!
Final Fantasy XII was originally released on March 16th 2006 for the PlayStation 2 in Japan and October 31st 2006 in North America. The PS4 re-master, titled Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age not only includes a number of technical improvements but also a re-recorded soundtrack and the “Zodiac Job System” originally introduced in Final Fantasy XII: International which oddly enough was never released in North America.
Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age will be released sometime in 2017. Click the images below for higher resolutions.
Want to see the rough difference between the original Final Fantasy XII enhanced on a PlayStation 2 emulator and The Zodiac Age? Twitter user Andrea Ritsu thankfully posted some comparison screenshots from the most recent trailer:
Out of the 2016 Tokyo Games Show comes a report that a new entry in the long running mech series Armored Core is in development courtesy of series creators From Software. Dualshockers supposedly spoke with Armored Core director Hidetaka Miyazaki who stated that work on the next entry in the franchise was under way.
Miyazaki didn’t reveal any other information about the new project. His work with the franchise began with 2005’s Armored Core: The Last Raven as a planner. He also directed both Armored Core 4 and Armored Core: For Answer on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Hidetaka Miyazaki is probably best known as the director of multiple Demon’s Souls titles as well as the original 2009 Dark Souls.
The last entry in the Armored Core franchise – Armored Core V – was released back in early 2012 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It was met with above average reviews – earning a 65% on the PlayStation 3 according to MetaCritic. I personally found the game’s take on the mech action genre to be fun, up until the difficulty ramped up around the mid point within the campaign. After spending about a dozen or so hours on Armored Core V I eventually gave up and just traded the game back to GameStop.
Here’s hoping From Software have something awesome planned for the franchise – COME ON CROSS PLATFORM VR MECHS – and we will hear about it in 2017!
Bandai Namco Entertainment announced today that they are partnering with Bigben Interactive to publish Sherlock Holmes: The Devil’s Daughter in North America. The game will be released for both PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Sherlock Holmes: The Devil’s Daughter is scheduled to launch in the Americas in October 2016.
Developed by Frogwares Games, Sherlock Holmes: The Devil’s Daughter is a unique single-player adventure game where players take the role of Sherlock Holmes. Using Holmes’ superior powers of observation, deduction, and his uncanny photographic memory, players will explore the streets of London to chase and interrogate subjects in order to unravel five different mysteries ranging from a series of disappearances in the heart of Whitechapel to uncovering a mysterious Mayan treasure.
Following last week’s PlayStation Meeting, Sony announced more details about the PS4 Pro. In addition to adding 4k game videos to their YouTube channel, Sony confirmed details concerning PS4 Pro Enhanced. Acting as a new labeling system for game releases, the new logo implies a game uses some or all of the features of the new console.
As discussed last week, the Pro offers graphical enhancements to existing and upcoming PS4 titles. Enhanced will mean that a game takes advantage of any combination of these tweaks. A Pro Enhanced game will offer 4K resolution, HDR capabilities, and/or higher frame-rates. Older titles can offer software updates with these features. Newer games will come with this label on packaging or on PlayStation Store pages.
Because of Polygon‘s reporting, we know developers won’t be able to charge for Enhanced upgrades to older titles. In addition, as Enhanced can entail HDR lighting, users of the original PS4 and the new Slim model will benefit as well.
Gameplay videos are available from Horizon: Zero Dawn, Mass Effect Andromeda, and more. You can view every 4K PS4 Pro video on Sony’s playlist. Note that you’ll need Chrome in order to view 4K YouTube videos on your computer.
Psyonix’s surprise summer hit from 2015 recieves a brand new “rumble mode” that provides players with a whole new set of power-ups. 11 new randomized power-up give players new abilities that drastically changes how the rocket powered soccer title is played.
If you’re getting flashback to older racing titles from the 90s that included outrageous power-ups, like Extreme-G for the Nintendo 64, don’t worry you’re not alone. Here is a list of all of the power-ups available to players in the new “rumble mode”.
The Boot (Kicks an opponent’s car)
Disruptor (Forces the opponent to drive uncontrollably)
Freezer (Freezes the ball in-place)
Grappling Hook (Pulls you toward the ball)
Haymaker (Punches the ball)
Magnetizer (Attracts the ball to your car)
Plunger (Snaps the ball to your position)
Power Hitter (Hit everything harder)
Spike (Attach the ball to your car when you bump into it)
Swapper (Change positions on the field with your opponent)
Tornado (Sweep up the ball and cars into a giant funnel cloud)
Today’s update also introduces the “Crates & Keys” system that will allow players to unlock new skins and cosmetics through keys that are purchasable through optional micro-transaction. “Crate & Keys” is a similar micro-transaction model as popularized by Valve’s Counter Strike: Global Offensive and does not affect the core gameplay experience of Rocket League. Keys will be sold for $1.49 USD for 1 or in bundles of 5, 10 or 20. Profits from the “Crate & Keys” system will be used to fund future e-sports prize pools for the Rocket League community.
Sony officially unveiled the much-rumored PS4 Pro at today’s PlayStation Meeting. The PS4 Neo improves performance and offers higher resolution graphics. A new, slimmer base model will accompany the PS4 Pro’s launch in November.
Sony’s Mark Cerny demoed the console’s 4K graphics with games such as Horizon: Zero Dawn and Mass Effect Andromeda. Because the console features enhanced hardware, games will be able to employ higher resolutions and greater detail. In addition, HDR lighting is coming to all PS4 models via a software update.
PS4 Pro will make its debut on November 10th for $399.
Sony officially unveiled the new PlayStation 4 model, a sleeker, slimmer model that will represent the new standard PlayStation 4 model going forward. At this morning’s PlayStation Meeting, Sony’s Andrew House announced that 40 million units of the original model had been sold, with this new model being targeted at those who had yet to “join the PlayStation ecosystem.”
The new model launches in all markets on September 15th, following a leak of the product as reported by Eurogamer and others. The new PlayStation 4 carries an MSRP of $299.
In five more days the window will close on one of the best Humble Bundle values I’ve ever seen – the Humble Capcom PlayStation bundle. Games from a number of different Capcom series including fan favorites like Mega Man, Resident Evil and Street Fighter headline this mind boggling bundle. For the price of ONE of these games you not only can get your hands on the HD remakes of Resident Evil 1 and Resident Evil 0 but also a whole bunch of older titles as well.
The value for PlayStation 4 owners is probably going to come from the two RE titles, as those retail for about $20 CDN a piece, but there are a few other current generation titles like the Strider reboot and a hefty discount off of Street Fighter V.
For those looking to relive some of Capcom’s modern classics on the PlayStation 3 this bundle can’t be beat. For the price of just Okami HD you not only get Clover’s classic PS2 game remastered in HD but also Don’t Nod’s cyber punk Remember Me, Lost Planet 3 and Street Fighter II HD Turbo Remix.
Here’s the complete list including tires. You can purchase the bundle here:
In a summer that has allowed indie games and smaller titles to shine and show what they are capable of, Sony has added one more title to that list before the fall rush of major AAA titles begins. Bound, developed by Plastic, has taken the spotlight and used it to tell an emotional, heart wrenching story and manages to do so in quite a short amount of time. This is a game that will hypnotize you and definitely leave an impact on some long after it’s over.
Bound’s strength is first and foremost in its story. In the game, you take on the role of a young princess who needs to navigate her world using the art of interpretive dance and elegant, flowing movement and ultimately save her world. The universe in which the princess resides is surreal and dreamlike, which fits with the narrative because we are exploring the mind, feelings and memories of a young woman and her past. As you explore, you are able to piece together her thoughts and relive her experiences through this princess and help her overcome some of her more distressing memories. This story is dripping in metaphor, but is not inaccessible to those not caring to analyze and break it down; it seeks to paint a clear enough picture with metaphor and surrealism that will help keep the player immersed in the mood and art rather than leave them lost and bored. There are both beautiful, slow, thoughtful moments along with hectic platforming depending on the story unfolding to help keep you
on your toes, so to speak.
Bound’s artistic style might take a little time to get used to, but once I let myself become immersed in the paper style, beautiful dance movements and bright colors, I was hypnotized. The dancing was some of the most beautiful animation I have seen in a game and really had me impressed with the small development team. I al
so very much enjoyed the puzzle piece style of putting together the young woman’s memories and how the pieces of the picture would gather and put itself together based on where you moved in the scene.
The only weak point for Bound is in its gameplay. This is not a game for those looking for competitive play, heavy action or breakneck speed. This is a slow, emotional, artistic trip that focuses on the style and story rather than the gameplay. While this is not a bad thing, the platforming does suffer because of this.
I unfortunately encountered some broken platforms that would cause me to fall through them while jumping, even though it was clear I had landed on them, which would set me back a little, It was not enough to make me give up or get angry, but worth noting. I also found the moments you had to dance to hold back enemies to be slightly unfulfilling as you simply could just press whatever dance button you like with no reasoning or direction and it would all work the same in getting past whatever obstacle was in your way, but some might see that as a way to just express yourself and be more free in what you can do with this dream like world; i personally still enjoyed dancing in as many different ways as I could and dancing in as many different ways I was able to.
While Bound is not perfect, I still highly recommend it. For what few flaws cause it to stumble, it more than gracefully makes up for in its art and story. It’s short, sweet and worth the evening it will take to complete. Let the princess and her adventures sweep you off your feet.
Square Enix posted thirty minutes of new direct-feed footage from the Japanese version of Final Fantasy XV to YouTube. To say that this footage is “new” might be a little subjective given that a large sections of this gameplay video were covered in Square’s 60 minute gamescom presentation a few weeks back.
So what makes this footage interesting to analyze? The GamesCom footage was taken from the English dub and this new footage comes from the Japanese version, allowing fans to analyze script differences. Portions of both demonstration videos were taken from a mixture of PlayStation 4 and Xbox One builds.
What differences have fans pointed out between the two? Here is a partial list of some of the main criticisms that some observers have pointed out:
Different dialogue and motion capture for some characters.
A dialogue wheel appears in the Japanese footage but does not appear in the English GamesCom build. (has this feature been cut?)
The Xbox One build runs at 752p in some of this footage.
Foliage does not appear to be completely implemented in some of the footage.
Object draw distance appears to be slightly less in the Xbox One build.
Number of objects on the Xbox One title screen is considerably less when compared to the PS4 version.
(Old footage vs new footage) – Chocobo area appears to be brighter and contain more foliage.
Want to see some of the differences in action? Here are some pictures comparing the various pieces of footage we’ve got from Square Enix between GamesCom and now. Keep in mind that these pieces of gameplay might be taken from a variety of different builds & platforms (PS4/Xbox One).
Pushing Car Gameplay
Status Screen Comparison
Title Screen Comparison
Chocobo Area
What do you think of the differences between these two gameplay videos? Did anything strike you as particularly noticeable? Let us know in the comments section. You can watch the original videos in the embedded players below.
ncover a story of murder, intrigue, political conspiracy and corruption. We learn who the titular “Children of Arkham” are, what they want and how they plan to get it. You will have to choose who to help, what information you let people know and what relationships you build with those in your life. My personal favorite moment of the game was a bar fight you and Selena get into after some friends of the Penguin threaten Selena. You work together to fight them with a series of fight moves that were fun and showed how well in sync the two characters were. You start seeing the famous relationship between Selena and Bruce grow, but do they kiss? Well, you will have to play to find out.
hly interesting story and certainly makes me want the next episode immediatelyafter playing, but the gameplay could have had the effort put into it that the story did. Aside from
