PARENTAL ADVISORY: There is language in this episode.
This time around, CJ is joined by Rachel, Bri, and newbie Aariel, as they play The Contender! Come see who is for, and against, your favorite topics!
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Welcome to the newest show on the Geek IO Media Network! Every week, CJ and friends go deep into different games, teaching how to play them, as well as providing insight on them as they go along.
This week, is the Bushiroad Collect able Card Game: Weiss Schwarz! Join CJ & Matt Rumbold of ConGeeks as they go in depth on to see if Fate Stay Night can beat Disgaea!
Plague of Shadows released on September 17, 2015 as free DLC for Yacht Club Games first game Shovel Knight. You play as one of the Knights of The Order of no Quarter Plague Knight.
Recored gameplay with OBS, audio with audacity, and edited with Lightworks.
Source: Yacht Club Games Steam
The game that rekindled my fire for strategy RPGs is back, and this time on the PlayStation 4. It may look the same on the surface, but the deeper you go the more in depth this game goes. The story, as in the other games of the series almost an after sight, and certainly not the main portion of the game, the game focuses on the craziness that comes out of Japan.
The combat in this installment is again, more of the same, you have the basic set of weapons (sword, axe, staff, gun, bow, staff, fist, and monster weapons) you have your story heroes, your generic characters that you can create, monsters, and your basic SRPG tile-based turn-basted battles. Geo panels, field effecting (positive and negative) panels are back, plaguing some levels, also creating the ability to quickly level.
The weakest point of this game, as with previous installments, is the sound and music. The overworld music when you’re just walking around your base is truly atrocious, and the voice actors in this are some of the worst in the series. Thankfully, you can change the background music (BGM) of the overworld, and I did, but the voice actors are there to stay, unless you go to the Japanese voice actors, but those are not much better. It is something you just come to live with, but it is the weakest point of this otherwise great game.
If you are looking for a jumping on point to Japanese RPGs, Strategy RPGs, or isgaea in general, there are worse installments than this one. Also, given how this is the first on the current generation of consoles it is a sure fit. Currently, the previous installments are not available for the PS4, but remakes have been made for the PS Vita.
SCORE: 4/5
...But he did have some good things to say about VR.
Try holding your hands out like this for ten minutes. That's when you realise why a mouse and keyboard works so well.
Valve writer Chet Faliszek did indeed run a Developer Session at this year’s EGX but no, he did not confirm that Half Life 3 was in development, and that it would not support Virtual Reality. OK, so it was admittedly open to a little interpretation, but there were whiteboard doodles during Half Life 2’s development that yielded more useful information.
So what was actually said? You can actually find the full video over at Eurogamer’s website and it’s definitely worth watching the whole thing, but the exchange that’s being reported elsewhere comes at the end when the floor was opened up for questions.
“Is Half Life 3 gonna be in VR?” was the first of one guy’s questions. Chet responded with a polite smile and, “We were kinda betting that that was gonna get asked, no.”
You could interpret this as confirmation of Half Life 3, or you could see it as someone who constantly gets asked such questions and now will only respond with a flat and succinct, “no.”
The guest followed it up with a question on wireless technology, but even he didn’t think he’d gotten any confirmation on the matter. Before surrendering the microphone he added, “You didn’t answer my first question.” The response he got?
“I said no.”
Do you want this? Yes. You want this.
Now that that’s out of the way, go and watch the video anyway. Chet Faliszek had some very interesting things to say about the development of Steam’s VR platform and the HTC Vive.
One of the most important points he wanted to make was about space requirements. Although we’ve had confirmation in the past that the Vive would work sitting down, there has been speculation that the difference between Vive and Oculus Rift would be that one would suit a seated experience and one would require a dedicated room. This naturally lead to some concerns over whether people without the floor space would be able to enjoy Valve’s offering or be forced into going with another solution.
The HTC Vive would work in a space up to five by five metres, but that is a maximum limit, not a required minimum. The experience scales down to a stationary and, yes, seated experience. The point was pressed so hard that it’s clear Valve have been listening to people’s concerns on the subject. Unfortunately, having finally experienced the Vive demo, while I may not need a five by five space for VR, you really really want it.
Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls is a third-person action-adventure game developed by Spike Chunsoft for the Playstation Vita. It is a spin-off of the main Danganronpa series, as well as a connecting game for Trigger Happy Havoc and Goodbye Despair. It was released on September 1st, 2015 by publisher NIS America.
Komaru, with the Hacking Gun and an attacking Monokuma Bot
You play as Komaru Naegi, younger sister to the main protagonist in Trigger Happy Havoc, Makoto Naegi. The game opens with her apparently living on her own, though we learn soon that she's been a prisoner in her room for over a year. Having no idea of what happened to the world outside, she lives in an apartment alone, going about her daily life and trying to stay sane. Unfortunately, her life is suddenly turned upside down (again) when the door to her prison is destroyed by none other than Monokuma, one of the main villains in the series. After escaping, we are introduced to a surviving member of the previous game, who gifts Komaru a megaphone that can apparently destroy the Monokuma robots that are suddenly attacking the city. After learning about some about the city, as well as being introduced to our partner for the majority of the game, we are treated to a chilling introduction to the Warriors of Hope, the true villains of this particular game. These children are controlling the Monokuma attacking the city, in the hopes of creating a paradise for children by killing all the adults - who are dehumanized by being called 'Demons' - and ridding the children of their influence. We learn over the course of the game that the Warriors of Hope are haunted by events in their past - effectively trapping them with their own 'Demons' who they are attempting to destroy.
There is a lot more story to it, but expounding anymore will take much longer than I feel is appropriate for this review, as well as spoiling major plot points from both the previous and subsequent game. Suffice it to say it's a very well-crafted game that holds many twists and turns before the finale.
The graphics are very similar to the games it's spun off from, though with added 3D models since a good portion of the last few games were 2D. I'm glad they stayed true to the previous games in terms of graphics, though the game gained a lot with the introduction of the 3D modeling. The controls are, sadly, somewhat finicky at times, making it very troublesome to hit the moving target at times. I don't believe I found any way to fine-tune the aiming, but I jumped right into the action without really spending time in the settings so I might have simply missed the option to make aiming easier. At any rate, I've yet to really run into any issue with the fine-tuning, so it's not really a complaint.
As for gameplay, it's fairly straightforward. You are attempting to escape and survive in the 'Demon Hunting Game' put on by the Warriors of Hope. With the help of your partner, Genocide Jack, you move through the city, fighting Monokuma, the Warriors of Hope and, ultimately, Despair. The series revolves very heavily around the concepts of Hope and Despair, so the writing touches on the swing connecting these two emotions. The writing sometimes comes off as...contrived because it reuses the 'It's hopeless I can't go on' trope more than a few times, followed immediately by the 'I might as well keep fighting' trope almost immediately after. However, given the overall story, the writing makes sense in this regard since the story as a whole is built on the connection between the two.
You can alternate freely between Komaru and Jack, though Jack has a time limit based on the battery life of the stun gun. Jack is invincible, which makes her ideal for large groups of Monokuma, but keeping an eye on the battery meter (as shown above) is important to keeping yourself from running out of battery life and leaving Komaru high and dry when you need backup. This resource can be replenished by defeating Monokuma, or activating Monokuma machines, scattered around the City. Both can drop batteries, hearts to replenish Komaru's health, or Monocoins, used to buy upgrades to Jack's abilities or 'Bling Bullets' which modify the ammo used in the Hacking Gun.
Lastly, randomly located within the City are 'Game Rooms', which function as a challenge room. You are given a group of enemies and a goal to achieve within the room. In the image to the right, the clear condition is destroying all of the Monokuma in a single explosion. The Shield Monokuma turn in unison and you're only able to use the Knockback Bullet. For this, I had to sneak up behind the Bomb Monokuma on the right and shoot him with Knockback, blasting him down the room and he blew up all the Shield Monokuma. These rooms add a level of strategy to the game, and helps break the monotony of running between very similar locales.
I have a long way to go before I've finished the game; I'm just now in Chapter Two, and I'm almost certain there are five or six chapters within the game. So I won't be seeing the end of this one for a while. But, if this one is anything like the previous entries, and all that I've played so far suggest it's very similar, the journey to the end will be a twisting and chilling one. I would definitely recommend this game for anyone with a Vita or a Playstation TV, because this game - as well as the other two - is one of my favorites on my Vita.
Fallout Shelter was announced and released at Bethesda’s E3 conference. Fallout Shelter is a iOS only tap to play game that puts you in the role of an overseer of your very own Vault. As the overseer, you are in charge of taking care of the Vault dwellers, assigning jobs, managing power, food, and water expansion and exploration of the wastelands and protection.
The main gameplay of Fallout Shelter is building rooms and assigning dwellers to either collect resources or to train their S.P.E.C.I.A.L stats. Each room as a stat assign to it: food production uses Agility, Strength for power, and Perception for water purification. As the Vault begins to grow, you will need to acquire new dwellers to maintain larger Vaults. New dwellers are either incoming people from outside the Vault or those being born to the current residents. All residents have a happiness percentage which will increase or decrease based on the condition of your Vault. Low resources will lower happiness and start affecting their well being and they’ll start to contract radiation sickness.
The basic rooms are the diner, power station, water treatment station, and the residential area which increase the max number of Vault dwellers. Building multiple resource rooms will increase maximum production as well as capacity. More advanced rooms are unlocked by increasing the number Vault dwellers, like training rooms and advanced version of the basic resource rooms. Med bays are used to create stimpaks restore health and Science labs to produce Radaways to remove radiation sickness. The training room are use to increase one stat at a time to improve productivity. Rooms can be placed next to one another to increase the number of dwellers that can be assigned. Bottle caps are the main currency used to upgrade rooms and to revive fallen dwellers. Each production room can be rushed for collection at the risk of failure which will either cause the room to burst into flames or a radroach infestation.
Sending dwellers out into the wastelands will give them experience and also gives them a chance to find and collect bottle caps, weapons, used for Vault protection from raider attacks, and outfits to modify stats.
Fallout Shelter has a fast pace with no wait times for rooms to be built with the ability to modify wait time on resource collection by using higher stat dwellers to the rooms. It does take some extra time for training and for children to grow up enough to get assigned to jobs. Resources are not automatic collected, so if you step away from the game you must keep checking on it. Dwellers in a room waiting to be collected will stop working. The game can be played without an internet connection, which it is only needed for the cash transaction of buying lunch boxes that contain cards that can range from bottle caps, outfits, weapons and special dwellers. Fallout Shelter is a great way to pass the time until Fallout 4 is released this fall.
Going into the Sony Conference this year, I didn't know what to expect. Bethesda had already brought the house down last night with the release date of one of the biggest games this year just last night, and Microsoft had surprised everyone with the announcement of backwards compatibility with the Xbox One. So, Sony had an uphill battle. However, with what I saw, Sony might've easily won E3 this year.
Right out of the starting gate, they bring out the big guns. For the first announcement of their ninety minutes, they chose The Last Guardian. A game that's been in development limbo for close to a decade, and the projected release date is...sometime in 2016! This was simply a massive bombshell. Everyone was hoping for information on this game from the makers of Ico and Shadow of the Colossus, two critically acclaimed games from Team Ico, but I think many people expect it to be one of the final announcements, given how long it's been since the last bit of information was gleaned about it. The trailer didn't show much, but it showcases the interaction between the main character and his companion. All in all, it looked stunning, and I simply cannot wait until this game is released.
Following on the heels of that is a huge endeavour, but Sony chose Guerrilla Games to appear next. Best known for their work with the Killzone series, Guerrilla Games announces a brand-new IP called Horizon Zero Dawn. Not much was said about this game, but what little information we have seems to suggest that it takes place centuries after present-day civilizations have died out. Again, the trailer doesn't explain much, but it does show off some amazing combat against..mechanical dinosaurs. Yes, there is little explanation, but from what they've shown, the game looks spectacular and it's certainly on my list of games to watch out for. It looked very polished, so I expect to hear much more about this one at Gamescom.
With the huge games out of the way, Sony announces a new entry in the Hitman saga. In yet another showcase, Sony shows nothing of the story - probably for good reason, since Hitman doesn't really need story - and instead opts for showing a myriad of locales and characters, some of which will probably be targets within the game. I'm curious to see where they go after the ending of the previous game - which appears to be chronologically before this new entry, since a character says "Good to have you back" while focused on 47's face. For PS4 users only, a preorder nets beta access, which suggests there will be a multiplayer component, which I'm unsure about.
Sony then went on to show some Street Fighter 5 footage. After a quick set of sequences showcasing Birdie and Cammy, they mentioned that the public beta for the game will be come to the PS4 exclusively on July 23rd..
After that brief calm, they called Sean Murray to the stage, who proceeded to blow our socks off - after we had just managed to put the back on after Last Guardian! - with some new No Man's Sky footage. After starting in a real space battle, followed by a small glimpse at the sheer size of the game universe, he jumped to a random planet closer to the galaxy center and landed. He then announced that every planet was fully destructible. Still, with no release date in sight, this game continues to astound. However, he did mention that the planet he jumped to will be able to be found by players once they get the game, suggesting that he was actually playing a final build of the game, which further suggests the release date could be sooner than we all think.
Media Molecule, best known for their work on Tearaway and Little Big Planet, then announced Dreams, a pretty ambitious evolution of their previous works, in which players will be able to construct seamless 'Dreams' that can be explored endlessly. Unfortunately, I sorta glossed out at this, since it seems directed at highly creative individuals, which I am unfortunately not. Afterward, they announced Firewatch would be making its console debut on PS4. It feels very survival horror, without that overt horror feel that typically comes with that territory. I'm very curious for this one, and will probably add it to my list to buy when it comes out.
Next up, Sony trotted out their seeming partnership with Bungie with footage of the new Destiny expansion coming Septmber 15, The Taken King. As well as adding new subclasses for the existing classes - a Void Bow Hunter, Arc Lightning Warlock, and Solar Hammer Titan - it will also pit guardians against Oryx, father of Crota, who has come inward from the outer solar system to get revenge for his son's murder. It looks spectacular, and seems to suggest many new areas - Saturn was among what I saw, as well as possibly more Mercury. Further, Playstation users will get more exclusive content, including a day one strike and multiplayer maps. Given the time I've spent with this game as it is, I'll definitely be playing this one, though it has some huge expectations to fill if it intends to hold players after Fallout 4 is released.
Switching gears somewhat, we get some new footage for Assassin's Creed Syndicate, the yearly release for the franchise with so many mixed feelings about it. We are introduced to Evie Frye, sister to Jacob Frye and the second female protagonist available in an Assassin's Creed game - the first being Aveline de Grandpré from Liberation - and the first since Ubisoft's ill-choice of words last year about it being hard to have a female protagonist. We are shown the Cane Sword, which seems quite intuitive in use, as well as throwing knives which appear to be somewhat useful. PS4 is also going to be getting a set of exclusive missions titled the Dreadful Crimes. I expected this to be connected to Jack the Ripper, but apparently they're focused on Victorian-era mystery novelists. With what is already expected this year, I'll probably hold out on this one, since I was burned very badly with Unity's gamebreaking bugs last year.
World of Final Fantasy came next. Exclusive on PS4 and Vita (the first time all show they've even mentioned their ailing handheld system) the World of Final Fantasy almost feels like a pokemon-esque game. You can shrink your character to a chibi and ride monsters, or return your chibi to normal size and have those monsters ride you for some reason. While not much was really shown about this, it looks intriguing enough that I'll definitely pick it up for my Vita, since my PS4 will be getting a major workout this holiday season.
And then, Sony brought the house down. I thought it couldn't get any bigger after the announcement of The Last Guardian, but oh was I wrong. Because they announced the Final Fantasy 7 remake that's been teased for years. The character models appear to use modified Advent Children models, and I also think the in-game engine is modified from Final Fantasy 15's, which combine to make this look spectacular. No release date was given, but I will predict it will have a 2017 release date to coincide with the 20th anniversary of Final Fantasy 7.
After that, I blanked out just slightly. they showed off a quartet of new games from Devolver Digital: Ronin, Eitr, Mother Russia Bleeds and Crossing Souls. They looked fascinating, but what little I noticed caused me to ignore most of this segment, since none of those games seemed to interest me - instead, spots sickened me, which is not what I want my games to do.
Sony then started talking about Kickstarter. I was confused at first, and then the trailer came on. Shenmue 3 appears to be happening. A game originally based on the Dreamcast, Shenmue 3 launched a kickstarter literally during the Sony conference. As of writing, the kickstarter sits at 1.2 million dollars, 60% of the asking price of two million. A direct sequel to the previous games, this kickstarts still has a month remaining. I fully expect this game to get far more than than the asking funding, and with Sony behind them, we can be sure that funding this game will get this game released.
Next, Batman: Arkham Knight was showcased. With the release date of June 23rd, we are shown one of the exclusive Scarecrow Nightmare missions. With you controlling a cop, you suddenly get dosed with Fear Toxin and you start shooting everything. It looks very fast paced, but I don't know what the final reward for these missions will be, so we'll have to see if the exclusivity is worth it.
The next bits step away from games for a bit, first talking about Project Morpheus and dropping a few names of games coming for the system (which we'll probably hear more about in the coming days after people get some hands-on with it on the show floor), and then about Playstation Vue, a tv programming system currently availabe in LA, San Francisco, New York, Chicago and Philedelphia. They will be allowing subscribers to choose channels they want to pay for, which is huge - coming at a time when Verzion is pushing this exact thing with their Custom TV packages. Further, Playstation Plus members will get an undisclosed discounted rate on subscriptions, which would just add to the already massive value of the service.
Returning to the games, which is far more interesting than Vue or Morpheus (though both are big for Sony, I'm sure) we are treated to a reveal of Call of Duty Black Ops 3. The segment starts with a four player co-op mission, fighting a wave of mechanized shock troops, as well as hackable artillery walkers. After that, they surprised by showing multiplayer footage, which felt very like titanfall without mechs - there was a lot of wall running to be had and seemed very fast-paced. It looked very polished, though since I'm not a fan of the CoD installments, much of the excitement was lost on me. They also announced that from here on, PS4 users will be the first to play all map packs for Call of Duty, and a beta for Black Ops 3 will appear on PS4 first in August.
Shifting gears to the Star Wars side of things, we have an announcement for Disney Infinity 3.0. Coming this fall, Disney Infinity will add Star Wars characters to their already robust lineup with two new playsets set in the world. Even better, Playstation will get an exclusive starter pack which includes the base, five figurines (Including the exclusive Boba Fett figurine!!!) and the playsets Twilight of the Republic and Rise Against the Empire playsets, all a month before any other platform. It's all exciting stuff, but I've stayed away from games like this solely because the figurine collection aspect seems like an unnecessary money sink for me.
More Star Wars news, we are treated to some Battlefront co-op missions. We see the Survival mission type for the first time, pitting two rebel soldiers against waves of Imperial forces, starting with stormtroopers but including AT-STs and possibly Sith warriors. It looked very exciting and I suddenly began wondering if I wanted to get this one. Playable Offline, split-screen or online, the lack of a campaign still makes me leery. Star Wars Battlefront is slated for a November 17th release.
Finally, Sony treated us to some Uncharted 4 gameplay. After a small hiccup with their systems - and what appeared to be a demo restart - we see Nate and Sully working their way through an unnamed city toward the tower of someone named Sam. While I'm unsure if Sam is friend or foe, the duo moved through the crowd for a bit before a combat wave appeared. It looks very fluid, and makes me highly excited for this game - as if I weren't already. Many of the environments looked and felt completely destructible, which is huge for a game like this. I'm curious to see how much of the world can be destroyed. Unfortunately, after this demo, the conference ended abruptly, without so much as a word from anyone regarding it.
All in all, Sony brought their A game this year. I was a bit disappointed about the lack of Vita coverage, but that's par for the course these days - and maybe there will be some gems hidden on the show floor for the system. As for the games, what they showed was highly surprising, and everything seemed designed to bury the competition in the dust. Hopefully, the games without release dates will come out soon, because those are quite possibly the best looking of the bunch.
Microsoft kicked off their conference with the announcement of Halo Guardians with squad based combat. With one team lead by The Master Chief and the other by Locke. Online multiplayer Warzone Player VS Everything. Along with Halo 5 campaign demo with squad controls and enemies.
A new game by Keiji Inafune name recore for the Xbox One coming Spring 2016.
Some big news on the hardware front from Microsoft was that the Xbox One will now support Backwards Compatibility and the the fully customization Xbox Elite wireless controller. Bethesda show have gameplay of Fallout 4 mech suit and Mods created the PC are free to import to the Xbox One. EA show Madden 2016 and the addition to adding Titanfall and Dragon Age Inquisition to EA Access vault. Membership to EA Access will include early access to game. Also showed a trailer a Plants Vs Zombie Garden Warfare 2.
Trailer showcase Forza 6, Dark souls 3 in 2016, Tom Clancy The Division Xbox One Beta in Decmeber, and Rainbow Six Seige on October 13, 2015. A new Free to Play for Xbox One and Windows 10 Gigantic with a Beta in August 2015.
Microsoft show off some indie titles from the ID@Xbox. With Tacoma from the developer of Gone Home, Ashen, Beyond Eyes, and Cuphead.
Xbox Game Preview is a early access service launching with Long Dark, Elte Dangerous, and Day Z. Each game will have a free trial to give you a change to decide if you would like to pay for a still in development game. From the Develovers of Day Z come Ion.
Rise of the Tomb Raider ice climbing gameplay out November 2015.
Rare announced Rare Replay with 30 games for $30 released on August 4 2015
New game from Rare Sea of Thieves.
Fable Legends free to play on Xbox One and Windows 10. Microsoft announced a partnership with Value VR. Minecraft was showed off with the Hololens. Gears of War Ultimate Edition on August 25 with 60fps and a one week public beta this week. Gears of Wars 4 Holiday 2016.
As some of you may know, Bethesda Softworks announced in February that they will be hosting their first ever conference at the Electronics Entertainment Expo in LA this year. Given Bethesda's blockbuster lineup, this has led to a lot of hype surrounding the conference.
First, I'll write some thoughts before the conference about what I think they'll cover. There was the announcement of Fallout 4 just last week, so we know they'll go more in-depth with that during their hour conference. Secondly, someone was 'accidentally' live streaming a conversation at Bethesda just last night talking about Dishonored 2.. This was one that many had hoped for, but was never really expected, so they'll most likely officially announce the game. We know id Software has been working on a new Doom for a while now, and that's also expected.
After that, it's pretty much up in the air. Elder Scrolls Online has been out a while now, so I expect an announcement for an expansion. It recently came to the console generation, so I would almost expect any expansion to be much cheaper for them - or staggered to allow the consoles the same amount of time with the base game as PC users had. Unfortunately, I haven't delved too deeply into ESO so I don't know where I stand on the matter. However, what I *do* expect is an announcement for the next numbered sequence in the long-heralded game. They'll have to do a lot to top Skyrim, but I can't imagine they'll announce their own conference and exclude any of their franchises. Personally, I want to either see the Summerset Isles or Hammerfell.
Further, Bethesda could even surprise everyone and announce a sequel to Rage. I consider this to be a long shot, simply because id has been confirmed to be working on Doom, but perhaps Doom is practically done and they've had time to prep some Rage footage.
Anyway, the above was written at 9:30pm, half an hour before the conference. I will finish this with the real announcements after I nerd out on it.
Alright, after a very inspiring opening video, Bethesda has decided to change it up somewhat and decided not to show a trailer for Doom, but instead to show true gameplay. It looks just as spectacular as I expected it to be, as they showcase a few of the amazing weapons and many different finishing moves on the myriad of enemies. They also showed off a bit of multiplayer before returning to the singleplayer and showcasing a level in Hell. They also announced a custom map too for the game, titled Doom Snapmap. Every copy of the game will get this, and will allow modders to shine wherever they may play. It looks very in-depth, and could aim to shake up the idea that PC gamers get all the mods, that's for sure. The game is currently slated for a Spring 2016 release.
They also spoke a bit about Battlecry, a team-based shooter reminiscent of Team Fortress. It looked very cel-shaded and not entirely up my alley, but it looked good. They're now accepting beta applications at the Battlecry website, and if you apply before the 18th, you'll receive priority beta access and special in-game items. I'll probably skip this one, myself, but it does look like it could be fun. This one should be getting a 2015 release.
As mentioned in the second paragraph, Bethesda officially announced Dishonored 2. After a very polished trailer, it introduces a new character, Emily Kaldwin, and shows her moving fluidly through a much brighter city than the previous game - though this city is also in the throes of a plague. The Outsider makes a return appearance, and takes place in Karnaca, and you can choose to play as Emily or Corvo, who also makes a return (It's possible that he's the one who trained Emily? They didn't explain any of the story, but probably for good reason. There isn't a release date as of yet, but they did announce a remastered definitive edition of the previous game, which is coming this fall.
Moving to their MMO, ESO appears to be getting an update which allows players to enter the fallen Imperial City - possibly as a raid instance, since it appears to be quite intricate. Further, they mention Orsinium, so maybe we'll get some backstory on the orcish homeland. After those small tidbits, they show a screen that I wanted to see from the beginning: the Dark Brotherhood note. That was enough to get me to possibly consider getting back into this game, since I've always loved the Dark Brotherhood.
More on the Elder Scrolls front, they announced Elder Scrolls Legends, a strategy card game that sounds a lot like Hearthstone. They mention mobile devices, but the game appears to mimic Hearthstone and will release on PC and iPad. Slated for a 2015 release, they didn't show any gameplay or anything about the game, so I'm very curious to see how it plays.
Finally, they get to the showstopper: Fallout 4. As suggested by the trailer, we finally see the beginning of the war. It starts out with some gameplay of real face sculpting. You can not only select pieces of a face and make changes - no sliders! - but you can also choose a male or female character. That in itself, is huge, especially after the deadly...fallout (bad joke, am I right?) from Ubisoft last year saying how hard it was to animate a female character. Further, your in-game child is generated based on the couple that you create during that opening sequence. I don't know what purpose that will have, but it's fascinating that you can modify the character you don't choose and still have those choices make a difference in your game. Further, they appear to have made it fully voiced, even with the ability to choose a name; they have pre-recorded over a thousand of the most popular names in use, so that you can use your name and still be able to have full dialog. Obviously for people like me and others, you won't have your name in-game, but it's a huge step forward for RPG immersion.
As for the story, they didn't reveal much aside from saying the bulk of the game takes place two hundred years after the war begins, and that you are the sole survivor of Vault 111. You can choose between First or Third Person Perspective, as well as being able to do basically anything; you are never locked into dialog - you can turn and leave after starting a conversation, or you can shotgun people in the face. It's a very dynamic approach to conversations, one that I've not seen used in that form before. They also showcase the dog seen in the trailer, and apparently he counts as a true companion; you can issue orders to him, he can fight alongside you, and you can treat him like a real friend. It's very interesting. They've also mentioned a layered armor system. While they didn't quite explain this very well, I believe it means that you'll be allowed to fully customize your loadout.
As for the Pip-boy, they've spent a lot of time crafting it, giving it real heft; your protagonist finds it outside the vault when he leaves, and it can be given upgrades - they mentioned games that can be played on your Pip-boy, which means I'll probably waste so much time on that it will be utterly ridiculous. Finally, they announced Fallout 4 Pip-boy Edition, which has a real Pip-boy, which you can add your phone into and use the second-screen app for Fallout 4 - you won't need the Pip-boy to use the app, but it certainly adds a measure of flair to the whole thing.
They segued into a new game they announced as well called Fallout Shelter. On iOS devices, you can make your own vault, where you're the overseer. It takes clear inspiration from such games as FTL and XCOM, where you can build a vault and try not to kill everyone. It's free to play and does not have a paywall; there is no pay to win. Even better, it is out now. I plan to play it for a while to see how lost I get into it.
Luckily, they weren't done with Fallout 4. You have the option to salvage pieces from the world to rebuild your home. The limitations are currently unknown, but it shows them tearing down a burned down house for resources, which are then used to build a home. Through this, you can build your own town, and NPCs can show up and populate the town that you built. Further, it will be attacked by raiders (Todd Howard all but confirmed that you will have to defend it) so it has a form of Tower Defence built into it. It seems super ambitious, but everything about this game seems to be that. Case in point, you can not only build multiple towns - and even set up trade routes between them - but every item has a purpose; it can all be salvaged and used to craft weapons and armor. There are 50 base weapons and over 700 modifications for those weapons. Even better, you can also have your own power armor. It's all very exciting stuff, but they saved the best for last: Fallout 4 will grace the world with its presence on November 10, 2015.
So, as for my predictions, I was about half. They announced stuff for ESO, but no numbered entry - though that was a tad hopeful, since they were already working on Fallout 4. They didn't announce anything for Rage, but again, id's already super busy. All I know for sure is that I'm going to preorder this almost as soon as I get the chance, since it looks so amazing. All in all, this was a huge start to what I hope will be a spectacular E3. I plan to do similar reviews for a couple other conferences that I plan to watch, so stay tuned for those
Welcome this is Raul for Geek I/O’s Gamer Geeks with the top stories for the week of May 11th 2015.
10 years ago this week the World of Warcraft Guild Pals for Life posted a video of a raid gone wrong, immortalized the battle cry of Leeeeeeroy Jenkins. The battle cry has been turned in a achievement for World of Warcraft and a card for Blizzard’s other game Hearthstone.
http://www.polygon.com/2015/5/11/8584549/happy-10-year-anniversary-leeeeeeeeeeeeroy-jenkins
Twitch the online video game streaming site, stated in a blog post that they are rolling out with a opt in beta feature that will be available to all streamers that would reduce lag by 33% on average.
http://blog.twitch.tv/2015/05/new-reduced-stream-delay-beta/
Nintendo has announce their programming for E3 for June 14th to the 20th. Starting with The Nintendo World Championships for the first time in 25 years. Also planned for that week is a Nintendo Digital Event, Treehouse Live, as well as a demo for Mario Maker for Wii U being available at select Best Buy locations.
Staying the the Nintendo theme. The Silver Edition Mario amiibo will be in stores on May 29 at the msrp $12.99
http://www.nintendo.com/whatsnew/detail/J5qdBlZvsdmVY7vfvnIfRhtBfGLoQzf8
Steam is have a publisher sales weekend with up to 80% off capcom titles. Like Resident Evil, Devil May Cry, Dead Rising and many others. Head to steampowered.com the see the full list.
http://store.steampowered.com/sale/capcom2015/
Thanks for listening Geek I/O’s Gamer Geeks and check out Geek-io.net where you put geek in and geek out.
Live Streamed on Twitch May 8, 2015
Welcome to the Geek I/O’s Gamer Geeks news for the Week May the 4th 2015 I am Raul and lets get started.
Paying a visit to scottgames.com will treat you a image of a Five Nights at Freddy’s animatronic holding a top hat with the words “The Final Chapter” and a date of October 31, 2015.
In a blog post on the Oculus site stating, that the consumer version of the Oculus Rift will be shipping in first quarter of 2016 with pre-orders later this year.
https://www.oculus.com/blog/firstlookattheriftshippingq12016/
And so it begins Disney Infinity 3.0 edition will have figures from the Star Wars Universe. In a Announcement Trailer posted on youtube. There will be Three Sets for Star Wars, one for episodes 1-3, 4-6, and the new Star Wars The force Awakens set to be released alongside the new movie.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWnAyXUmJI
GoG.com has release a BETA version of its GOG Galaxy a DRMfree online gamin platform.
The platform will provide Oneclick installs, backup copy download, Offline support, the ability to turn off autoupdates for games, and rollbacks of game update coming soon.
With the news of Konami cancelling a new Silent Hills game the Playable Trailer known as P.T. is now longer available to download from the Playstation Network Store even if you had it in
your game library but the local content is still playable.
http://www.destructoid.com/ptisnolongeravailablefordownloadevenifitsalreadyinyour-
library291652.phtml Nintendo released a Splatoon Direct this week. Highlighting many of the features including game mode, weapons, matchmaking and gear. With three new Amiibos. as well as post launch updates of new weapons and stages.
Thanks listening and check out Geekio.net where you put geek in and geek out.
Final Fantasy XV Episode Duscae is the long awaited demo for Final Fantasy XV. Coming bundled with Final Fantasy Type-0 HD in a 'Day One Edition', this is our first look at the upcoming game which currently has no release date. However, Final Fantasy Type-0 HD was released March 17, 2015 for the PS4 and the Xbox One. The copy I have was made for the PS4, but the quality should be similar across all platforms (and barring any unforeseen circumstances, there will be a review of Type-0 at some point soon).
Firstly, I would like to mention that the gameplay contained within Episode Duscae may not be totally indicative of the final product. What has been released is merely a sampling of the final game, a sampling which is likely to be changed before the final product makes its way to consumers. As such, this is not a real review, merely a look into the released product. We shall see once the game is truly released how well these impressions hold up. With that out of the way, I shall get on with the bits you came to see!
Episode Duscae begins with some backstory explaining that our band of brothers, Noctis, Ignis, Gladiolus and Prompto, are traveling across the country when their car breaks down in the province of Duscae. In order to get back on the road (and, presumably, continue eluding Imperial forces) a sum of 24,000 Gil must be gathered. While it seems possible to gather the sum without ever following the story of the demo, that story is laid out immediately after gaining control of the group: hunting the great 'Deadeye', the Behemoth. Giving a total of 25,000 Gil upon successful kill, the aim of the demo is ultimately to kill Deadeye.
After a short tutorial on combat - it is skippable, but since the combat was such a departure from previous entries, I deemed it appropriate to go through with it as a matter of principle - you are given free rein. I started my demo by running off and killing some of the wildlife, which I was informed was called a Sabertusk. A pack animal, they typically attack in groups of 3 to 5 from what I could tell. After dealing with the lot of them, this game's version of the Battle Over screen appears as an overlay that tallies up the EXP gained and a couple other morsels of information which factor into an EXP bonus, which modifies the base EXP given by each enemy. The better you handle the battle, the more EXP you get, which is a very nice addition.
After I killed a few of the Sabertusks, I turned my attention to the Garulas. Looking like enormous cows, they are harmless to you...until you attack one of the herd. I found this out accidentally as I happened to hit one while trying to fend off a Sabertusk attack. What made that battle even better was the further addition of rare spawning Imperial Guard Troops. While playing the demo, a patrol of Magitek Troops will land near you and engage. That battle was quite hectic, as I was fending off three different groups of enemies - though the AI seems to keep them separate, as each engaged the other in differing ways as well, making it quite fascinating. Luckily it's hard to die in this game. When your HP gauge is depleted, that nice white HP bar becomes red. Which it's fully depleted, you drop to your knees and are susceptible to 'permanent damage', which means damage you take depletes the red bar. After each battle, your health regenerates, but only up to the end of the red bar; so the more damage you take while downed, the lower your total health until you camp. Having the red bar totally depleted results in death and Game Over. However, if you manage to escape the scrum, one of your brothers will come stand over you and allow you to recover, returning your nice and white health bar. The same thing can happen to them, and any of you can help them - I've 'rescued' a comrade a couple times, and the other AI partners did so in a later battle.
Another departure in this game over previous is that EXP isn't automatically given. In order to level up, you have to camp - usually done once the sun goes down, but presumably whenever you like. When camping, a meal is made based on ingredients you have in your inventory (killing the wildlife can give you drops normally found on that animal, and you can also buy foodstuffs from shops around the area), and this meal confers bonuses the next day. After the meal screen, you're taken to a screen that tallies up all the EXP gained for the day, and then levels your characters up based on that. Personally, I'm slightly against the need to camp to level up, but the meal buff makes it almost worth it.
At any rate, after destroying a few packs of Sabertusks and Magitek Soldiers, I turned my attention to the mission at hand: killing Deadeye. The structure of the mission was exciting: I had to track his position and finally move in on his apparent den. Once you enter the den and come face to face with the beast, you have to track him through the mist, using his blind eye and rocks for cover - this use of the cover system was quite ingenious, but it functioned like any insta-fail stealth mission from other games, so it got annoying after a couple failures - before finally moving in on its true den. Ignis laid out a rather good plan - though rather simple - and following through on it seemed too easy. My fears proved right when the beast jumped up and attacked. We regrouped and fought it for a bit before it proved too much and we were forced to flee. I feel like the game should've explained that better, since I hit a game over screen far too many times because my group ran off without me, leaving me alone with the beast and unable to flee.
After I managed to get away, we searched for clues and found out that there was a cave near a ranch that was apparently 'haunted'. Obviously, four bros were more than up to the task, so we went in search of that cave. After battling through a goblin horde, Noctis acquires the summon for Ramuh. From what I've heard (since I have stopped playing the demo for other reasons at the moment), the summons only activate upon 'death' so I have yet to see this in action. However, it appeared to be what I needed to do, since my current quest objective is to return to the lair of Deadeye.
From what I can see, the game is very well crafted. It looks gorgeous, the controls feel right (though the camera could probably use some work) and the banter seems okay - I do hope there are more lines in the finished product, since they repeat themselves quite often. The Duscae region we are exposed to is but a small portion of the game proper, so I'm sincerely hoping to see as varied a continent as we've seen in not only other entries into the franchise, but also other open-world games like Skyrim that we can see have been borrowed from. Just look at that monstrosity to the right; that was as close as I could get, so each of those spines is easily as large as Noctis. I hope to be able to walk across that water in the finished product and lay waste to that hulk, just to see if I can do it - much like every encounter I had in Skyrim.
All in all, I"m very happy with the demo. I'm sure I'll be playing it multiple times to see what I can find locked away in it, but until then, the demo simply stoked the fire I have for this game. I hope E3 gives us more information about this game, most importantly an actual release date.
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Celebrating a year's worth of content, features and game modes, Marvel Heroes 2015, and the month-long event that kicks it off, brings players daily shared quests, trading, alternate advancement systems, and an epic end-game raid for 10 players against the massive ruler of fire demons himself, Surtur.
Warlords of Draenor is the fifth expansion pack for the acclaimed MMO World of Warcraft. It was released on November 13, 2014 by Blizzard Entertainment, and is exclusively for the PC.
Before the review, a bit of backstory. For those familiar with WoW lore, Draenor is the name of the planet from the first WoW expansion, The Burning Crusade. However, in TBC, we were dealing with a broken world, a planet absolutely destroyed by the influence of the Burning Legion, a horde of demons hellbent on destroying everything in their path. TBC was when I started my first true character - my *first* character was on a friend's account so it didn't count - a Blood Elf Paladin named Viriatus. As I leveled through Outland (the new name for Draenor in TBC) I fell in love with the lore, with the models, and everything about WoW; a love that still goes strong today, despite all the bad press WoW seems to get. So, when I heard we were going back to Draenor, before it was destroyed, I was at once excited and reticent. On the one hand, I feared for my memories: what if, in going back to areas I remember from TBC, the lustre from there disappeared and I realised I hated the game? On the other hand, what if everything they did with the expansion was what I dreamed of and more: A new history for the planet I had so much love for?
Luckily for me and my memories, I absolutely loved the new take on the planet I held dear. Indeed, my favorite new area has to be Nagrand, which was also my favorite area in Outland. It nicely wraps up the story that we were given going in, and leaves enough questions to make us wonder what we were going to be doing next. Going through the opening zones, I felt confused. After all, we entered the new Dark Portal in pursuit of Garrosh Hellscream, son of Grommash Hellscream, and the final boss within Mists of Pandaria. The story given was that Garrosh was saved from trial by a renegade bronze dragon, who sent him back in time to Draenor pre-destruction, where the Iron Horde was built and turned loose against Azeroth.
However, when we enter Draenor for the first time, not only do you not see Garrosh until the absolute end of the instanced Tanaan Jungle, you barely encounter the Iron Horde in the zones following. All the lore we were getting in the leveling zones was great, but I wanted to see the culmination of the story I saw unfold in the Siege of Orgrimmar. We met the Frostwolves, the Laughing Coffin, the Arakkoa and even helped drive the Iron Horde out of Shattrath, but I managed to level to 100 before ever encountering Garrosh again. Luckily, the story had quite the satisfactory ending, one I will not spoil so early in the expansion cycle, since I believe it's something everyone needs to see for themselves.
Following that, the game returns to what we've grown accustomed to. We grind for gear to get into heroics for better gear, which we then have to grind for more gear to be able to get into raiding, et cetera. The monotony is broken by the addition of level 100 rare elites that drop gear that can help you bypass a bit of grinding, and by the Garrison. The Garrison is, I feel, one of the best additions to the game in a long time. Not only is your character finally being recognized for all the work he or she has done for their respective faction, but you finally get to feel like you're actively changing the world around you. Garrisons effectively put you in the driver's seat of your own thriving base of operations in the opening zone for your faction. Your choices on outposts within your garrison are limited, even at max garrison level, but even with that limitation, I start and finish every game session in my garrison.
The graphical upgrade of the character models seem quite unnoticeable, but that may be because I play a Blood Elf primarily, one of the few races to not get an update at this point in time. I've read Blood Elves will get their upgrade in the first major content patch, but we'll see when that day comes. What was noticeable, however, were the zones. The zones in WoD are some of the best crafted zones in the history of WoW. From the beginning, in Frostfire Ridge, to the end in Nagrand, I was in awe by my surroundings. Especially in Nagrand, you can certainly see the depth Blizzard went to making this expansion look amazing.
One last bit before I wrap up: dungeons and raids. As a healer, I feel the changes made to dungeons and raids negatively impact us - it's far too easy at the time of writing for idiot DPS to die to stupid avoidable things (My main is a Discipline Priest, with Shadow as my off-spec. I did dungeons as Shadow to figure things out, see where the damage spikes are, etc; I found myself dying to things that didn't have as big a 'tell' as previous expansions) that I feel if you are not an amazing healer, you are simply going to hate your life. Also, tying Heroic queues to the 'Proving Grounds' is a laudable goal - teaching people their role is great in theory - but as a healer that specializes in single-target healing, getting through the proving grounds had to wait until I got to higher levels of gear before I managed to even queue for Heroics (Despite having healed respectably as tank healer in Highmaul not hours before). I will say, however, that dungeons and raids are far and away more interesting than previous games. Grimrail Depot is fun, despite having much avoidable damage that people cannot seem to figure out how to avoid.
My final verdict: as stated previously, I love World of Warcraft. I'm in for the long haul, even though I may lose interest and disappear for periods of time. Warlords of Draenor is one of my favorite expansions, and I'm hoping that my guild manages to complete Highmaul before Blackrock Foundry opens up - it's definitely very exciting to actually be able to do content when it is relevant, even if you're not the first ones to drop bosses. I'd definitely recommend WoD for anyone who feels able to justify the subscription.
