Month: March 2016

“Final Fantasy XV” release date, spin-offs announced

Posted on by astyahla

Last night, Square Enix gave fans a long-awaited look at “Final Fantasy XV” at their Uncovered: Final Fantasy XV event. They showed several new trailers and announced an anime series, feature-length film, a mobile game, a demo and most importantly, the release date.

“Final Fantasy XV” will be released worldwide on September 30, for Playstation 4 and Xbox One, more than 10 years after its announcement. The game was originally revealed in May 2006 as “Final Fantasy Versus XIII” exclusively for the Playstation 3. Originally it was planned to be part of the “Fabula Nova Crysatallis: Final Fantasy” sub-series along side “Final Fantasy XIII” for the Playstation 3 and “Final Fantasy Agito XIII” for Playstation Portable and would have a similar mythology to the other two games. However, Square Enix was largely silent regarding the game, leading to rumors that the game had been canceled. The game was finally shown again at E3 2013, where the game’s current title was revealed and it had been moved to the then upcoming systems.

In the years since, “XIII” got a multi platform release on PS3 and Xbox 360 and spawned two sequels, “Final Fantasy XIII-2” and “Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII” Meanwhile “Agito XIII” was renamed “Final Fantasy Type-0” and released so late in the PSP’s life span that it took an HD remaster for PS4 and Xbox One to get it out of Japan.

Since June 2013, Square has produced a steady stream of news regarding “XV” plus a demo titled “Final Fantasy XV: Episode Duscae” which came with the Day One Edition of “Final Fantasy Type-0 HD.” All of this culminated with the Uncovered: Final Fantasy XV event.

In addition to the game’s release date, several tie-ins were announced. First, the game will have a five-part anime series called “Brotherhood: Final Fantasy XV,” which focuses on the interactions between the protagonist, Noctis, and his friends. The first episode was released following the event and can be viewed on Crunchyroll and other video streaming services. The remaining episodes will be released leading up to the game’s release.

There will also be a CGI film called “Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV.” The film will focus on Noctis’ father, King Regis Lucis Caelum and his bodyguards. It will serve as a prequel to the game and is set to be released sometime in 2016.

Beyond that, Square Enix will also release “Justice Monsters Five” for iOS, Android and Windows 10. The game is a pinball game with RPG elements based upon a machine that Noctis and company can play. Thus it is also available as a mini-game in “Final Fantasy XV” The mobile version will be available in 2016.

Its been 10 years since “Final Fantasy XV” was announced and the end is in sight. While the game will not be released until September 30, players who want a taste of the game now, whether or not they missed out on “Episode Duscae,” can download “Platinum Demo: Final Fantasy XV” for both PS4 and Xbox One. The demo was released immediately after the Uncovered event. It gives players a scenario not found in the full game, taking place within the dreams of young Noctis. Those who complete the demo will also get Carbuncle as an extra summon in the full game. Players will also be given the option to pre-order the digital version within the demo.

The game will also have a day one edition and two collector’s editions available. The day one edition will come with an in-game Masamune sword at the usual price of $59.99. For $89.99, you can get the Deluxe Edition which comes in an exclusive steelbook case and includes the game, a copy of “Kingsglaive” on Blu-Ray, an in-game alternate costume for Noctis based upon his appearance in the film, an alternate platinum paint job  for the party’s car and the Masamune from the day one edition.

Finally, there is the Ultimate Collector’s Edition, of which there are only 30,000 copies available worldwide and had sold out in minutes. This bundle went for $269.99 and included everything from the day one and Deluxe Editions, along with a second steelbook case containing Blu-Rays of the game’s soundtrack plus songs from “Kingsglaive” and “Brotherhood,” and the “Brotherhood” anime, including an exclusive sixth episode. To top it all off, the Ultimate Collector’s edition also includes 192-page hardcover art book, an exclusive figurine of Noctis created by Play Arts Kai and four in-game item packs.

Fire Emblem Fates Conquest review: greater challenge, worthy struggle

Posted on by astyahla

System: Nintendo 3DS

Genre: Strategy

No. of Players: 1-2 local wireless and online

ESRB: T

The latest game in the “Fire Emblem” series is so large that it had to be divided into three parts for publication. All three of them contribute to “Fire Emblem Fates'” story of two kingdoms at war, with the player character born to the royal family of the peaceful kingdom of Hoshido, but kidnapped at a young age and raised as royalty in the militaristic kingdom of Nohr. Torn between your newfound blood relatives and the people you have called family all of your life, you must choose a side. The first two versions of the game, “Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright” and “Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest” correspond to each side. “Conquest” has you side with Nohr, the aggressors in the war, in hopes of bringing a peaceful end to the conflict. What follows is a well designed game that does not hold back on the difficulty.

The core gameplay of the series is intact and is as simple to understand but hard to master as ever. You move your soldiers across a grid to attack others with performance being determined by a number of factors. “Fates” adds a few new mechanics to the game that add new options. For example, your character and their siblings use special spaces on the map called Dragon Veins to alter the map in various ways. While this can be instrumental in your victory, the game does a good job of making you consider when is the best time to use them as you can just as easily move enemies into a good position for them as you can get them into a trap, or cut off your own escape routes as easily as you can open a new path. In addition, the royals of Hoshido can use them too, so you have to stay on your toes.

In addition, weapons no longer have limited durability. While it sounds tempting to arm everyone in your army with the most powerful weapons available as soon as possible, their strength is now countered by inflicting stat penalties either while equipped or after use. Instead, you are meant to carry multiple weapons and switch between them based upon the situation, only using the most powerful weapons when you can afford the stat penalties.

Between chapters, you can build your own castle and choose which facilities you have access to, such as an armory, a smithy to combine two of the same weapon to make them more powerful, a lottery shop for a chance to win rare weapons, a mess hall to cook meals for stat boosts or a prison to hold captured enemies and attempt to win them over to your side. You can also build objects such as turrets or Faceless to help defend your castle during the occasional invasion or battles with other players via local wireless or the internet.

In comparison to “Birthright,” “Conquest” is the more difficult of the two games. The enemies are smart enough to use any advantage they can to take you down. If there is a unit they have an advantage over, they will go for that unit. If someone is off on their own, they will get ganged up on. Fortunately, they will still fall take the bait if you place a single unit within enemy range but have the rest of your army ready to take them down. It is crucial that you take advantage of attack stance and guard stance. These stances are like the Pair Up system from “Awakening” but not as overpowered. If two allies are standing next to each other, one will follow the first unit’s attack with one of their own but will never defend the first unit from attacks. If two units are paired up, they will occupy the same space. The unit in the back will automatically block any attacks from a unit in attack stance and when a gauge is filled by the front unit attacking and being attacked, they will block a single attack from the main attacking unit. Unlike “Awakening,” the enemy can also use these stances but are subjected to the same rules.

Fighting alongside each other not only gives you an advantage in battle, but also improves the relationships between two units to unlock support conversations, which help flesh out the characters. Overall the playable cast is memorable with standouts such as Arthur, a fighter with a strong obsession with justice but takes time to understand the nuances of the concept and has horrible luck in and out of battle, Effie, a super strong knight who worries she is too strong, and Niles, an outlaw with a rapier wit and a love of teasing others. All of the characters have deep back stories to explore and reasons you want to keep them alive. If two characters of the opposite sex build their support ratings enough, they will get married and have children who inherit skills, classes and stats form their parents and can be recruited. However, the reason the children are old enough to fight is rather contrived and none of them have a major role in the story. However, their levels at recruitment scale based on how far in the main story you are and potentially come with an item that allows you to promote them and get them to a level appropriate to the story beyond a certain point.

However, “Conquest” does not give you a lot of chances to build relationships as you move on from one chapter to the next with no chance to grind for experience or money. You do get the chance to do side chapters from time to time, but they are limited. Furthermore, you can play the DLC chapters as many times as you want, but only one of them gives you experience. By comparison, “Birthright” allows you to grind all you want between chapters. On the other hand, “Conquest” has a lot more mission variety compared to “Birthright.” One chapter you may be asked to seize a throne or gate, another will ask you to defend a specific part of the map for so many turns. Yet another may require you to escape the map within so many turns. This variety will keep you on your toes and give you more to think about.

For those who find themselves in over their heads, you can lower the difficulty between chapters, but you cannot raise it. You can also choose between three different gameplay modes which change how fallen units are handled. Longtime fans will want to stick to Classic Mode, which features permadeath and makes the main character’s death an instant loss. For a less intense experience, you can play on Casual Mode. This mode has fallen allies flee battle instead of dying. They will return at the end of the chapter. Those who cannot even handle this can play on Phoenix Mode, where fallen allies auto revive on the next turn, making it hard to lose. However it is still possible to lose if you fail the objective.

While the gameplay is excellent, there are few issuses with the story. For example, the main character comes off as weak willed, as they continue to do morally questionable acts under orders from the corrupt King Garon, but do nothing to directly oppose him until late in the game, despite advocating peaceful actions. While the localization makes it clear that Hoshido committed some dubious actions and plays up the aggressive racism several of its people, it still comes off as more upstandging nation compared to Nohr. Furthermore, Garon’s subordinates are clearly evil men, further contributing to the black and white morality on display here, with “Conquest” comming off as a villain campaign.

Despite some hiccups in the story, “Conquest” is an excellent game. Those looking for a challenge will find it here. You will feel accomplished for finishing this game. Naturally, those who want the full story will also want to play through “Birthright” and the third path “Fire Emblem Fates: Revelation.”

Score 9.5/10

New games, release dates announced during Nintendo Direct

Posted on by astyahla

Today’s Nintendo Direct gave updates on games slated for release this spring, but also revealed some new titles. The presentation began with a look at “Star Fox Zero” for Wii U. This revival of the space shooter series was originally planned for release last holiday season, but got delayed. Today, Nintendo showed the game again and revealed they delayed the game to overhaul it based on fan criticism. Originally, the game was just going to be a straightforward run through a linear set of levels. Now, they have added branching paths similar to “Star Fox 64.” The developers have also returned the usual smart bombs and tightened up the gyro controlled-aiming and even added the option to turn off the gyro-controls altogether. In addition, a two-player cooperative mode allows two players to split duties. One player aims and shoots with the Gamepad, while the other steers the ship with a Pro Controller or a Remote and Nunchuck.

That is not the only Star Fox based announcement in the Direct, Nintendo also announced “Star Fox Guard,” a tower defense game also for the Wii U. The premise is that Slippy Toad’s uncle, Grippy, needs help defending his mine from invading robots. The player has to set defenses and keep an eye on different cameras to thwart the enemies. This game will come bundled with “Star Fox Zero” when both games are released on April 22. You can also buy them individually on the eShop or purchase them both for the same price as the retail bundle.

Next, Nintendo announced that they would continue to support “Splatoon.” First they will release an update that will improve some of the lesser used abilities, adjust matchmaking for ranked battles and add new features to the Splatfests in order to make them more fun. This update will be available on March 8. Later, a two-part update will be released to add weapon recommendations, with the first part arriving in April and the second at a later date.

“Super Mario Maker” for Wii U will get an update to add new course elements. By shaking a Thwomp, you can change it into a skewer. You can also add keys and locked doors to your levels. In addition you can add pink coins that give you a key when you collect them all or give keys to enemies to force players to fight bosses. Finally, a new difficulty level will be added to 100 Mario Challenge called Super Expert. Here, you get to play six of the most difficult courses ever devised. However, only those who have beaten the 100 Mario Challenge on Expert may play Super Expert. There will also be some new mystery mushroom costumes only obtainable on Super Expert. This update will be available on March 9.

The “Shin Megami Tensei” and “Fire Emblem” crossover has a new title for its international release: “Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE.” That symbol is supposed to be a sharp, not a hashtag. This RPG will focus on the entertainment industry as several young actors and idols join forces with being known as Mirages based off of various “Fire Emblem” characters to battle evil Mirages. Due to the setting in Tokyo, the game will keep the Japanese voice overs and add English subtitles. Interestingly enough, the Direct referred to it as a new IP. Considering the game was a flop in Japan, it may be to avoid damaging the two brand names. “Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE” will arrive in North America on June 24.

New this Nintendo Direct is “Paper Mario: Color Splash” for Wii U. In this game, Mario travels to Prism Island, which is having its color and life drained from it. Mario has to revive the island and its inhabitants using his new paint hammer. In battle, you paint cards then flick them off the Gamepad, implying that the game will be similar to the 3DS game, “Paper Mario: Sticker Star.” The game is planned for a 2016 release.

A spin off of “Mario vs. Donkey Kong,” “Mini Mario & Friends: amiibo Challenge” is a free-to-play game for both Wii U and Nintendo 3DS. By scanning one of ten Mario based amiibo, you can guide wind-up toy versions of them through special courses, each of which has their own special abilities, such as Mini-Mario’s wall jump, Mini-Donkey Kong’s ability to climb up steep slopes, Mini-Rosalina’s high jump or Mini-Yoshi’s tongue. The game is compatible with Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Toad, Bowser, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Bowser Jr. and Rosalina. Players can get early access beginning March 25 by purchasing any amiibo at Best Buy, Gamestop or Amazon. Everyone else can download the game starting April 28.

Nintendo will start releasing Super NES games on the 3DS Virtual Console, but they can only be played on a New Nintendo 3DS or a New Nintendo 3DS XL. The games have the option to play in “pixel perfect mode” with the same resolution as the original releases. The first Super NES games are the original launch titles: “Super Mario World,” “F-Zero” and “Pilotwings.” All three of them were released immediately following the Direct. Three more games, “Super Mario Kart,” “Earthbound,” and “Donkey Kong Country,” will be released on March 24.

On March 25, “Hyrule Warriors Legends” will be released on Nintendo 3DS. This is a port of the Wii U game “Hyrule Warriors” with the addition of five new characters. The game will also have its own set of four DLC packs and a season pass. An additional character, Medli from “The Wind Waker,” will be available as a free download on the same day the first DLC pack is available in both the 3DS and Wii U versions.  Those who purchase the season pass will get an extra costume for Ganondorf based on his appearance in “The Wind Waker.” Those who purchase a physical copy of the game will also get a download code for an exclusive 3DS Home Menu theme and a download code to get the five new warriors and a new weapon for Ganondorf in the Wii U version. There is no word on if the new DLC packs will be available in the Wii U version. Those who preorder the game at Gamestop will get an exclusive art book.

Nintendo also showed off “Bravely Second: End Layer,” the sequel to “Bravely Default” for 3DS. The Direct showed two new jobs available in the game. The Wizard customizes black and white magic to add new effects, while the Catmancer allows you to learn enemy attacks and get cats to perform them in exchange for treats. Players can get an early look at the game with a demo to be released on the eShop on March 10, which has an exclusive scenario. By playing through the demo, you can get rewards you can transfer into the full game, similarly to the first game. Members of Best Buy’s Gamers Club Unlocked will get a download code to get the demo early on March 7. There will also be a collector’s edition available which includes the game, a soundtrack CD and an art book. More details will be revealed in a video series on Nintendo’s Youtube Channel. “Bravely Second: End Layer” will be released on April 15.

In response to the unfavorable response to “Metroid Prime: Federation Force” at E3, the game’s producer, Kensuke Tanabe, personally addressed viewers to explain the Nintendo 3DS title. This game shifts focus from series protagonist Samus Aran to the soldiers of the Galactic Federation. The Federation has chosen some of its best troopers to participate in Project Golem, an attempt to reproduce the technology of Samus’ power suit. The game follows the team to the Bermuda system where a routine training mission becomes a fight for survival when they run into the Space Pirates. The game is a four-player cooperative game with online compatibility. Tanabe likened it to an RPG where everyone takes a different role based upon what equipment you choose to take with you. For example, someone who carries a lot of repair capsules becomes the medic.

The reason there has been no new Metroid titles is because the developers have been working on “Federation Force” since 2009. It was originally planed for the Nintendo DSi, but it became apparent that they could not achieve what they wanted on that system. When the team learned about the New 3DS, they started from scratch. “Federation Force” will be released in Late Spring 2016. A lot of people hated the idea of the original “Metroid Prime” before it was released, but it turned out to be an excellent game. Perhaps “Federation Force” will turn out the same way.

The Direct concluded with the announcement of “Kirby: Planet Robobot” for Nintendo 3DS. The game involves invaders replacing Dream Land’s scenery with machines and Kirby has to stop them. While this game adds new copy abilities, such as Doctor Kirby, the big difference is the ability to hijack Robobot Armor and use it against enemies. The mech is able to destroy obstacles too tough for Kirby to deal with himself and can also use copy abilities. In addition to the main game, there is also a four-player cooperative side game called Team Kirby Clash in which you can team up with friends or CPU controlled allies to take on bosses. “Kirby: Planet Robobot” will be released on June 10.

Release Dates:

Wii U

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD – March 4

Pokken Tournament – March 18

Mini-Mario and Friends: amiibo Challenge early access – March 25

Lost Reavers Open Beta – April 14

Star Fox Zero and Star Fox Guard – April 22

Lost Reavers – April 28

Mini-Mario and Friends: amiibo Challenge – April 28

Mario and Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games – June 24

Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE – June 24

Paper Mario: Color Splash – 2016

Nintendo 3DS

Super Mario World – March 3

F-Zero – March 3

Pilotwings – March 3

Fire Emblem Fates: Revelation – March 10

Mario and Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games – March 18

Super Mario Kart – March 24

Earthbound – March 24

Donkey Kong Country – March 24

Hyrule Warriors Legends – March 25

Mini-Mario and Friends: amiibo Challenge early access – March 25

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past – April 14

Super Metroid – April 14

Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest – April 14

Mini-Mario and Friends: amiibo Challenge – April 28

Disney Art Academy – May 13

Pocket Card Jockey – May 2016

Metroid Prime: Federation Force – Late Spring 2016

Kirby: Planet Robobot – June 10

Azure Striker Gunvolt 2 – Summer 2016

Monster Hunter Generations – Summer 2016

Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past – 2016

Rhythm Heaven Megamix – 2016