Friday, February 27, 2015

Hyperdevotion Noire: Goddess Black Heart (PS VITA)



Innovation, and a new direction is what this latest Neptunia spin-off is all about. While co-developers Complie Heart, and STING do good to stay true to the roots of the series, and the characters therein they take a gamble on an almost completely new combat system. One that really pays off. Of course it goes without saying that the story is entirely different this time around though. In fact you'll find that instead of Nep-Nep being the game's protagonist that the often times second place Noire gets her turn to shine as team leader. As far as the plot goes Noire, and her share dueling friends once again find themselves mixed up in a terrible mess regarding the Gamindustry. Having bumped into a shady character while sporting a new holier than though demeanor Noire lets down her guard only to be tricked into messing up the Gamindustry shares for all of the CPU goddesses including herself. To right her wrongs Noire soldiers up, and joins her former friends to figure things out, and restore their respective Gamindustry lands.

Thursday, February 26, 2015

Zen Pinball 2 - Iron & Steel Pack (PS4)

Appropriately titled, this new set of Zen Pinball 2 and Pinball FX2 tables takes the gamer on a fun loving journey involving two of Zen Studio's own unique creations. Within the set you'll find a wild west themed table starring a blonde haired female gunslinger named Cindy who has arrived in a town wrought by mischief, and mayhem. You'll also find Sir Gareth of the "Castlestorm" games doing his usual heroic duties amidst an army of vikings. Each table is decorated accordingly with the "Wild West Rampage" table looking as if it were inspired by the movie "The Quick & the Dead", and "Castlestorm" looking as if it were inspired by a knightly fairytale akin to the game of the same name. Both tables have an overabundance of scoring options including multiple back ramps, and lanes as well as themed pits for capturing the ball, and triggering various missions. You'll even be pleasantly surprised to know that these two new tables include a unique multiple skillshot setup that has never been seen on a Zen Studios pinball table before. If you like the Zen Studios brand of gaming, and you love their pinball gaming experiences I have no doubt that you'll enjoy this new set!

Sunday, February 22, 2015

A Preview Review - Hyperdevotion Noire: Goddess Black Heart (PS VITA)

Before I briefly go over the details you need to know in order to make an educated decision about a possible purchase of this upcoming PS Vita exclusive I need you to understand that this is a "Preview Review". In simple terms it's more, or less a preview of my future full length review. It will not be a complete disclosure at this point for the simple fact that I got the code for the game late, and will not have the full playthrough finished before it's release. As such my purpose behind posting this micro-review is to tell you whether, or not I think the game is worth a purchase, and what the game entails this time around. I hope you enjoy this article posting for what it is, and I hope that it gives you a proper understanding of "Hyperdevotion Noire: Goddess Black Heart". Do enjoy!

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Under Night In-Birth EXE:Late (PS3)



Out of Japan's arcades, and onto the PS3 home console French-Bread's spiritual successor to "Melty Blood' aims to capture both the casual, and hardcore gaming community with it's easy to pick up, but hard to master build. At the heart of it is a story about a once a month event known as the "Hollow Night" in which 'Voids (creatures who feast upon EXS/Existence)', and 'In-Births (Individuals who have become infected during an encounter with a Void)' battle throughout the night in order to sway the balance of order, and chaos. There are a handful of different rival factions, and lone individuals who end up getting caught in the fray. Each of them must fight their way through a kill, or be killed tournament the likes of which could change the outcome of life (or the lack thereof) as they know it. You'll find the order of the Night Blade, Licht Kreis, Third Reich, and a few others are amongst those who find themselves drawn to fight in the bloody battle. Each faction of course has their own views on the situation, and intend on going about things as they see fit. In total there are 16 hard hitting fighters who each sport their own weapons, and unique fighting styles. Whoever comes out on top at the end of the ten man/woman tournament will go home the victor only to await the next Hollow Night, and it's many unusual encounters.

Thursday, February 12, 2015

MTG 2015: "Garruk's Revenge DLC Expansion"

Sometimes in the process of reviewing a game a journalist finds out hands-on that their first verdict may not have been befitting of the nature of the game, or product that was being reviewed. Some things arise in follow-up playthroughs that the journalist just did not think to take in account so early on. As far as my review goes everything I said in my core review of "MTG 2015" was spot on, but only in the sense that I believed it to be true before moving on. I gave you the details of what the game entailed, and delivered an honest, opinionated verdict at the end based up what I had experienced. What I had experienced on the other hand though was an up, and down roller coaster ride that eventually ended on a good note.

The core game of 'MTG 2015' ended up seeming alright, and I stress the word "seeming". As I continued on with my playthrough of the DLC that was released not long after the 2014 launch of the core game, and given to me recently it became apparent that there was still one nagging problem with gameplay, one problem that had me beating my humpty dumpty noggin against brick wall like a mindless bafoon. This of course was tied to the one-sided duels that I ranted briefly about on Twitter during the beginning of my core playthrough. Well, it seems that this problem I thought was fixed ended up being ten times as worse in the "Garruk's Revenge" DLC. Before I get too far ahead of myself though allow me to go over what the DLC includes.

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Magic the Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers 2015 (Xbox One)

Having had played the actual MTG trading card game in the past, and having followed up said experiences with playthroughs of the console video game series my love for what Wizard's of the Coast and Stainless Games has offered has continued to grow over the years. Up to this point I've really loved being able to get back into the game with the Planeswalkers game series. It has afforded me a long lost opportunity since my old MTG gaming pals have all parted ways, and have gone about their own life paths. I cannot tell you how invaluable a game such as MTG 2015 is, especially when you have no one else to teach you the ropes, or to play with. With all that being said though I do have to be honest about some things pertaining to this latest release. This playthrough was not without incident. There were a handful of bugs, and things that hindered my progress in the game's single player campaign, but in the end it could all more than likely be tied to the Xbox One's operating system. Thankfully though I did find solutions to each of the issues, and ended up enjoying the game as much as any version before it.

Friday, February 6, 2015

Blog Update - Feb. 6, 2015

I know it's been a while since my last post, but I assure you I'm still working on getting some fresh content posted on this blog. While I've not really tried to reach out to developers, or PR recently I did manage to get MTG 2015, and it's DLC expansion for review. I'm actually glad I did as well, because I love Magic the Gathering with a deeply burning passion. Despite my positively biased opinions towards MTG, and it's offerings though most of you have likely seen my ranting on twitter pertaining to MTG 2015, regarding my series of setbacks I experienced during my playthrough. At this point I've not come to a solid verdict regardless of the before mentioned setbacks, and plan on giving the game a proper chance before delivering my final critique. I hope you guys, and gals stay tuned for that review.