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1.17.2018

Oceanhorn 2: Knights of the Lost Realm Small Update

     It's been nearly a year since I covered the announcement of Oceanhorn 2: Knights of the Lost Realm, and almost 8 months since the first gameplay trailer was revealed.  Well, yesterday the 5 man development team of Cornfox & Bros. gave us a tiny update via their blog and at the Touch Arcade forums assuring us that they are still hard at work crafting a vast and beautiful open world game for our enjoyment.




     These images are iPhone screenshots, and show off exactly how much better this game looks compared to the original.  They picture the Capital, and "The Grand Core"- a city-sized machine at the heart of the Capital.

     Cornfox & Bros. promise to bring us many more updates and videos as the game progresses in development- they've been hard at work, explaining that, "We have been building an adventure! More gameplay, more story, more levels, more worlds."
     The first game was great, and this one looks to surpass it in every way possible- Oceanhorn 2: Knights of the Lost Realm is a title to keep an eye on for sure.

     Source [ Oceanhorn 2 Dev Blog ] via [ TouchArcade ]

1.15.2018

Star Wars: Rivals- Another Mundane Mobile Game on the Way & Thoughts

     In accordance to modern mobile gaming trends, another cheap-looking Star Wars game is on the way called Star Wars: Rivals.  It's being touted as "the first real-time Star Wars competitive action shooter for mobile."
     Players may currently pre-register for Star Wars: Rivals, and in doing so gain access to some bonuses.  For the pre-registrations, we'll receive for a limited time, exclusive access to special support units.  For those who do so through Goggle Play, they'll receive access to the Imperial Death Troopers to fight alongside players in PvP skirmishes with advanced weapons and cover fire.  For iOS users, they'll get access to the Rebel Special Forces, giving them health restoration out on the battlefield.


     Instead of a new and interesting 3rd person shooter or action/RPG that many fans have been clamoring for, we are getting a yet another bland, half-assed, cover-based shooter with a Star Wars skin- complete with grind heavy, loot-box-laden bore-fest.

     In a post I wrote months ago, "Of Midichlorians and Microtransactions: The Force Asphyxiated," I explained a large part of the Star Wars games' problem:
     This doesn't bode well for the Star Wars game as it sounded like the game was "shaping up to be a story-based, linear adventure game," under Visceral's good hands, but now it may be becoming something much closer in alignment with EA's push towards a "games as service model."  Meaning it might wind up like Battlefront, being all hype and no substance, and completely riddled with preposterous microtransactions for every little thing, of which we can only expect more of this same old shit from with the release of Battlefront 2 soon.  It's the same thing for Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes, Star Wars: Force Collection, and Star Wars: Force Arena, they are cheap games designed to siphon money off of players instead of creating a unique and memorable story in a beloved franchise.  All the really good Star Wars games have been cancelled or shut down- Star Wars: 1313,  the mobile game Star Wars: Uprising, the Untitled Darth Maul Project, and the amazing potential of Disney Infinity
     So when EA says, "We want to take the time to get each game right, to make it unique, to make it amazing," I don't believe it.  When the game arrives we'll see if they really want a good story and experience, or if it follows the path of the Dead Space games, getting worse with each new installment, getting worse with each step away from a great single player experience, and closer to the large multiplayer messes.  We even know that Dead Space 3's original plan was great, and EA flubbed that up in the name of the almighty dollar, proving that they've become the money-hungry monsters worshiping a Marker with a big green S spray-painted on its front.

     Will Disney and EA realize that maybe we might want something more akin to the very underappreciated and truly fun Dead Space Mobile game?  It's a small, but highly replayable, 3rd person game with a good controls and a great story that expands the lore and universe of the main games, while telling us a riveting stand-alone tale from a completely new perspective.  Sure, they could add a competitive shooter arena on top of it, but there's been a plethora of complaints about Disney/EA not wanting to make single player games recently, which is completely idiotic- have they not seen how well The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has done?  Or how about Hellblade, Nier: Automata, Horizon: Zero Dawn, Cuphead, Nioh, and Uncharted 4?
     Maybe some of the backlash is due to not producing anything for the neglected single-player market.  Just take a look at the mass

     We want new mobile games like Dark Forces, X-Wing/TIE Fighter, or the Jedi Academy games.  Or how about a Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic version of Marvel Future Fight?  With the ever-expanding roster of Star Wars characters, they could have YEARS of material and more than enough income from players.  We want them to make something worth playing, worth investing our time and money into, not another pile-of-crap, shovelware game.

     Pre-Registration Links [ Google Play ] [ App Store ]

     Source [ Star Wars Official ]

     Reference and Discussion [ Reddit ]

1.11.2018

Dark Souls Remaster: Officially Announced!!!

     The original Dark Souls has been a game fans have enjoyed in and out since its arrival in late 2011, and after years of asking and rumors culminating in an insider leak last month of a Remaster on the way, we finally have the first official teaser trailer and announcement.
     Series creator Hidetaka Miyazaki previously stated that his Dark Souls saga was complete with part 3's DLC The Ringed City, but left some potential openings for remasters and even new installments long down the line.


     Praise the Sun fellow travelers.  According to the official site:
     DARK SOULS: REMASTERED allows players to explore the twisted ancient land of Lordran in the first title of the critically acclaimed action role-playing series like never before. Experience the rich world of DARK SOULS in upscaled 4K resolution with 60FPS when playing on a PlayStation 4 Pro system, Xbox One X, and PC.  Also, 1080p resolution with 30FPS is available when playing the game on Nintendo Switch with its TV mode. 
     We've also been promised a much-needed multiplayer experience, with the move from Player-to-player connectivity to dedicated servers, as well as the change from 4 players to 6.  Now, many of us are waiting to see if we'll also receive the ability to play with friends that Dark Souls 3 and Bloodborne had with the password system.
     Personally, I'm curious to see if they'll clean up the combat a bit (NOT sped up, just not as clunky)- with things like better hit boxes, omni-directional rolling, and the like.  Fextralife claims to have been working with Fromsoft on fixing a lot of these issues and the multitude of bugs in the game since 2016.  Perhaps we may even see some changes to Lost Izalith, as Miyazaki has voiced his displeasure many times about how it wasn't up to standards.

     This return to Lordran is going to be great.

     Dark Souls Remastered is slated to arrive May 5th, 2018.

     Related posts [ Dark Souls ]

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