Showing posts with label Konami. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Konami. Show all posts

Friday, April 25, 2014

'Skullgirls Encore' Free For PS+ Subscribers in May!!!

Putting aside all negative feelings for 'Autumn Games', 'Lab Zero Games', and their fanboy fighting game community I will admit that "Skullgirls Encore" is a decent fighting game experience. It offers a beautiful art style, amazing music, unique fighting game characters, and mechanics that try to right the wrongs of many generations of fighting games. The initial project was truly ambitious in it's own right, and in a slight way has prevailed in it's endeavor despite it's many ups, and downs. Players of the "Marvel vs Capcom" series will be glad to know that the developer has taken some inspiration from MvC, and has even applied some features from other well known fighting game series (color palettes, etc., ...).

Aside from the similarities of other fighters the latest edition of the game "Skullgirls Encore" continues to take in account infinites, and continues to apply the anti-spam mechanic that made it's namesake notable. It is this anti-spam feature that will enable the player to escape from repetitive combos should they get caught up in them. With that being said though the game is still not flawless, and there are ways to extend, and exploit combos by slightly altering hit patterns. As such combos in the 100's can be achieved if you can time your inputs just right. With all of it's good, and not-so-good points though the developers behind this fighting game creation continue to patch it, release new in-game content, and release new character DLC for their diehard fans.

Monday, April 21, 2014

Castlevania: LoS2 - "Revelations" DLC (PS3)

In this latest "Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2" DLC release titled "Revelations" Konami aims to test your mettle, and your patience with a handful of ridiculously hard boss fights, and only a small amount of level based platforming puzzles. The main protagonist this time around, who will be going along for the ride is none other than the weakling vampire Alucard, and I stress the word weakling. During Dracula's, and Alucard's last encounter we found (assuming you have beaten the game) that these two lead vampires had fooled Satan with a plot to end the dark lord's return. All Dracula wanted was for his eternal life to end, and all Alucard (aka, Trever Belmont) wanted was for the family's suffering to end. Just before the final fight with Satan Alucard let Dracula (aka, Gabriel Belmont) in on the secret between them, and in doing so had shed some light on the events that had taken place prior to their current day reunion. The sword placed in Dracula's still beating heart was no accident, and the near fatal wound was merely part of the ploy to get Dracula in good terms with a certain enemy (Zobeck). Together the two vampires thwarted Satan's plan ultimately killing him, and his demon spawn off for the second time since the beginning of this all inclusive mini-series.

Thursday, February 27, 2014

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 (PS3/PSN)

Prior to the release of the "Lords of Shadow" saga, and the "Mirror of Fate" tie-in the history of the Belmont clan, and their eternal struggle against Dracula had never really been fleshed out. In fact Gabriel Belmont, the forefather of the Belmont clan had not entered the picture until the first "Lords of Shadow" game had been released. Previous 2D releases did much of nothing in the way of fully revealing Gabriel's story, or the Belmont family ties. The origins of Alucard, and even the origins of Dracula himself were kept in the shadows of gaming history like the dark characters themselves. The 2D games that were released before these definitive plot installments came into play were shared in such a haphazard sort of way that many questions were left unanswered for faithful fans of the series. The introductions of new characters later on, and the new stories that were added also made little to no sense in the ongoing saga.

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Weekend Wrap Up - 2/16/2014

I almost totally forgot about my plans to include this weekly post. As you can probably tell I've been swamped with work lately. That work load alone has thrown me off course from my regular routine. Between my work with Xcritic, Paradise Theater XxX, and OtakuDante's Gaming Inferno I've had little to no time to myself. People just don't realize how hectic a journalists' job can be. The fact that I put in more time, and effort than most journalists definitely speaks of my dedication to my work though. Despite my one man army approach I'm still doing good to get reviews out to my readers. At the current time though my adult readers are getting more attention due to the consistent flow of review material. Games on the other hand are a slow go this year, and have not been as plentiful as last year. With the new consoles released one would think that the library for next-gen would be growing steadily. Instead PS4 owners, and Xbox One owners are getting short handed with remakes, upgrades, and a pitiful selection of new releases.

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Skullgirls Encore (PS3): "The Good, The Bad & The Sugar Coated"

If you missed it a couple of years back a developer by the name 'Autumn Games" co-produced a fighter titled, "Skullgirls" with another development team known as 'Lab Zero Games'. Together these two studios got on board with 'Konami' to bring to the fighting game community what was suppsoed to be a fresh, and innovative take on the 2D fighting game genre. The teams working on the game incorporated impressive hand drawn character animations with a somewhat mature theme, and a fighting system that mirrored that of previous MvC (Marvel vs Capcom) offerings. While there were definitely nods to other fighting games via color palettes, and fighting styles the game did one important thing differently. That thing of course was a way to fight back against spammers. This innovative mechanic allowed spam assaulted players to break free of a combo if the player dishing out the attacks repeated the same combo twice. In essence it did work out properly, but in an unfortunate turn of events exploiters found a way to perform infinites despite the applied mechanic, and in turn ruined the game's intended experience.

Saturday, January 4, 2014

Happy Belated New Year!!!

Greetings all ye blog readers! The year is 2014, and there's lots of gaming goodness headed your way in the coming months. As I mentioned earlier I have already sent out several review inquiries in hopes of snagging some review material. So far I've only gotten two confirmations from retail game developers/PRs, but I'm sure more are on their way. Unfortunately not everyone has awoken from their holiday hibernation just yet. As far as what I'm going to cover this year goes I will be trying my hardest to cover all of the new NISA, ATLUS, XSEED, and Tecmo Koei RPGs. Without a doubt this will definitely be the year for great RPG experiences. I'm definitely looking forward to it, and hope that you are too.

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate HD (XBLA)

Out of all the series that Konami has released none has captured my undivided attention as much as that of the "Castlevania" series. From it's humble beginnings as an 8-Bit NES game to it's more noteworthy recent releases such as that of "Castlevania: Symphony of the Night" the Belmont's struggle against Dracula, and his minions has gained a cult following like none other in the history of gaming. Perhaps it's the dark theme of it all, or the horror icon known as Dracula who continues to draw gamers into the fray that is "Belmont vs Dracula". Whatever the reason may be it is one series that we all hope will never end, and I'm fairly certain you'll all agree with me on that.

While the first few games in the 'Castlevania' series, and the numerous spin-offs that followed did little in the way of explaining the Belmont clan's origins it was no doubt the Metroidvania style gameplay applied to it that has kept the series afloat long enough for that tale to finally be told. Earlier this year, or perhaps a few years back 3DS owners were privileged to finally bare witness to the story behind the famous Belmont clan. It is this 3DS release of "Castlevania: LoS - Mirror of Fate" that brings the tale full circle just in time to make way for the final chapter of 'Lords of Shadow'. Thankfully we console gamers can now also enjoy the game in all it's glory via the PS3, or the Xbox 360. As you play through this newly enhanced HD version of "Mirror of Fate" you'll get to witness what 3DS owners experienced earlier on. Through your playthrough you will come to understand why the Belmont clan's struggle against Dracula is a personal one, and why they must at some point put an end to Dracula's Tyranny, even if it means sacrificing their own lives in the process.

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Frogger Hyper Arcade Edition (XBLA): "Konami Revitalizes A Classic & Does It Right!"

If you're an oldschool gamer like myself then you've most likely spent at least some of your time playing the classic Frogger game. The first time I actually played Frogger was on one of those ancient PCs that are now as obsolete as obsolete can get. I recall playing Frogger at a school my Mother was teaching at during my childhood days. It was one of those fond gaming memories I'll likely never forget. I think that encounter with Frogger was actually the first time I had ever gamed on a computer, and is part of the reason I got interested in computers in the first place.

Anyways in a haphazard sort of way my point is that some games, regardless of their retro beginnings still have a flicker of life left in them. This is definitely the case with Konami's re-imagining of the classic Frogger game. They have once again breathed life into this almost forgotten classic. Not only did Konami revive Frogger, but they also did it the right way. Aside from the classic Frogger goodness that most of us know you'll find some additions to the game that make it many times better than it was to begin with.

Sunday, July 8, 2012

Blog Update 7/8/2012

Greetings all my loyal readers! By now you've likely noticed the header/title change on my blog. While I've always been partial to my original blog name of "OtakuDante's Gaming Inferno" it seemed a little cliche to me. I wanted an blog title that was both catchy, and innovative without necessarily using my username as a part of it. My plans are to stick with the new title of "The Oni Xpress". It has an epic oriental ring to it that implies what I'm all about, hardcore press coverage. The header you currently see will most likely not be the final product. I have asked a good friend of mine (@MasterBlud) to design a more professional banner/header for me. I'm confident he'll make something worthy for my blog.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

SkullGirls (XBLA): "The Review"

As I promised earlier in my "Rant" I'm here to deliver to you my "Review" of the new fighting game 'Skullgirls'. If you haven't read my rant yet I suggest you do that either before, or after reading this review. It tells some things that really bothered me about the game as well as some significant issues that plague the game in it's current state. While my rant is a little on the rough side I believe it properly conveys how frustrated I was with the game when I played it. I will not be as blunt, or straight forward with my review though. This review is mainly here to let you know about the characters, modes, controls, graphics, and other features that the game has to offer. I hope both my rant, and review gives you enough insight into 'Skullgirls' to allow you to make an educated decision if you choose to buy the game. Without further adieu lets get this show on the road!

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Skullgirls (XBLA): "The Rant"

After thinking long, and hard on how I was going to approach my review of 'Skullgirls' I decided on dividing it into two separate posts. The first post, which is the one you are about to, is appropriately titled "The Rant". This post will be where I lay down my opinions on the game. The second post will be titled "The Review", and will come later giving you all the details of the game without my opinions cluttering up the post. I feel this separation of review, and rant is necessary. It allows me to give my opinion in it's purest form while not having to give the details of the game. This is opposite to the "The Review" which will give you details about the game without you having to hear me complain about the issues that plague it. Without further adieu I think it's time to get the show on the road!

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

The Simpsons Arcade Game (XBLA): "A Retro Arcade Beat 'em Up"

This game brought back so many memories from my childhood. As a teenager I enjoyed watching "The Simpsons" every chance that I got. My mother wasn't really approving of the shows semi-adult humor, but she allowed me to view it anyways. The television series isn't the only nostalgic memories this game brings to mind. Back in the day when I used to play the arcades at a skating venue called "Skate Country" I would spend many quarters playing this exact same arcade game. When I first got this game for review I wasn't really sure it was a direct translation of the arcade cabinet game, but after doing a thorough playthrough I realized that it was. It was definitely a pleasant surprise. I think Konami, and Backbone Entertainment did an excellent job of porting this arcade style brawler to the consoles. They included a lot of extra features that the arcade cabinet version of the game didn't have including online co-op.

Monday, November 7, 2011

BurgerTime World Tour (XBLA): "A Fast Paced Fast Food Arcade Game Frenzy"

During my time as a gamer I have never really played a game like 'BurgerTime World Tour'. I do realize that there was a release of BurgerTime for a retro console (The NES I believe???), but I never really got the opportunity to see what it was about. Aside from it's classic gaming roots BurgerTime had previously been re-released as a next generation XBLA game that played, and looked very similar to this one (BurgerTime HD). Monkey Paw Games the developers behind this wacky puzzle/platformer revived the title once more with newly added features that includes an online multiplayer mode, and Xbox live avatar compatability. The offline mode features 4 worlds with multiple levels in which 'Peter Pepper' competes against rival burger makers by completing burgers (layer by layer). His task is complicated by attacks from various enemy foods (hot dogs, Limburger Cheese, Eggs, Pickles, Peppers ...), obstacles, traps, and level sized bosses that constantly block his path to progress.

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Zombie Apocalypse: Never Die Alone (XBLA): "A Dual Thumbstick Zombie Shmup"

Zombie Apocalypse: NDA (Never Die Alone) is the sequel to Back Bone Entertainment, and Konami's 'Zombie Apocalypse' game of 2009. It features dual thumbstick (shmup) style gameplay, and a story that can be completed in either singleplayer or multiplayer modes. Up to four players can join in on the zombie shooting spree in multiplayer mode, or you can have at it alone switching between characters as you make your way across the zombie infested locations. There are four unique characters to play as in the game. There is a gamer dude named 'Jeremy', a female weapons specialist named 'Alma', A youth minister named 'Father Bill', and a British/Australian rapper named 'Def Money'. Each character plays their own special part in this apocalyptic zombie tale that takes place in the various locales of Canada. There's lots of humor to enjoy, zombie swarms to neutralize, and some major moolah to collect in this RPG driven shoot 'em up.