Rainbite's Playstation Indie "Reverie" Blends Two Nintendo Favorites While Doing It's Own Thing

As the PR description so boldly stated Rainbite's "Reverie" is inspired by games like "The Legend of Zelda", and "Earthbound". It features the retro dungeon exploring, and village antics that such games harbor. While there is definitely some inspirational elements at play from said games Reverie does good to create it's own unique lore via a story unfolding within a story. What I mean by that is that the game at hand begins by telling a tale akin to a Hawaiian fable regarding brothers who set out to sea to catch some fish. One of which fished up an island leaving the other brothers to be envious. In their jealousy the unlucky brothers drowned the brother who had found the island, and in that moment became bound by a curse on the very island that was discovered. Once this tale is established via story panels, and told through a textual conversation between two off screen characters we find out that the protagonist is a young boy named Tai who is aboard a ship bound for that very fabled locale. He is there to visit his Grandfather, and it is through that meeting of different generations that what once was considered legend comes to life in the form of an epic adventure. Tai ultimately sets out to calm the cursed brothers, and bring stability to the island community after an unusual earthquake shakes the land around them. He faces many worldly, and otherworldly threats along the way as he collects the relics needed to put all of the brothers to rest.

Vanillaware's "Dragon's Crown Pro" Returns To The Playstation In Glorious 4K Or Not!!!

I thought I'd never see Dragon's Crown reemerge on modern consoles. I thought it had lived it's course, and was long forgotten. Perhaps a gem, but forgotten. Thankfully that is not the case though, and a new generation of gamers can enjoy the experience in full with upgraded visuals to boot. For those of you who are new to Vanillaware games, George Kamitani's artwork, or Dragon's Crown you will find in place a fantasy masterpiece brought to life in the form of animated art. It is a beautiful side-scrolling co-op brawler with it's own slightly inspired story, a brilliantly read narration, and a cast of characters that make all the onscreen action worthwhile. You can go at it alone with NPC allies, or join up via the Playstation network with players across the globe. It is one of those buddy games that breaks the bounds of couch co-op, and brings to the gamer a competent online adventure that is worth taking on time, and time again.

Funcom's Take On Conan's Epic Adventures Harkens Back To The Source Material Ultimately Falling Short Of Such Grand Visage

Conan Exiles, for me, conjures up old memories of watching Arnold Schwarzenegger playing the leading role of Conan in the 1980's film adaptations about the fabled barbarian. The heavy drumbeats, the bloody battles, and the scantily clad females who at some point bared half of their lady parts for the audience to stare at comes to mind. It also reminds me of my favorite artistic masterpieces from fantasy painters such as Boris Vallejo which also featured some mature themes as well as the more tame story driven works of comic book artists presenting their own unique renditions of the hero's many adventures. I can imagine it does the same for a lot of you that are my age. At first glance, and first view it would appear to carry such an inspiration even down to the partial nudity, but as I found out hours into it, it's not quite as purely inspired or directed in that sense.

Before I got into the game I took it upon myself to view the trailers as I tend to do for potential game review prospects, and for me that was the initial selling point. That's what made me want to review "Conan Exiles". What I saw in the cinematic intros was a Conan tale more akin to the original source material, and less like the Hollywood counterpart. A Conan I was truly excited to see. Much like the classic stories, and works of art that surround Conan the barbarian this game did go deeper into the lore through character creation details, and within the world in which you survive, build, and dominate. As the intro catchphrase so boldly states in regards to it's mission directive. For that alone I was impressed. When it came to the actual gameplay aspect though I was thrown a slight curve as it didn't seem to hold that initially inspired passion. In saying that I felt the hours I spent surviving, building, and dominating were more along the lines of a game not as inspired by Conan as it could have been. The core focus of gameplay ended up being mostly influenced by games like ARK though much more refined, and tolerable with a Conan theme tacked on.

The Parable Of The Farmer And The Rabbits And How It Pertains To The Gaming Industry

These days the gaming industry providers, and creators are so wholly focused on the money making aspect of what they do that they are losing creativity, originality, and quality in their greedy pursuit. It is this reason that I shared on Twitter a short parable with a moral breakdown regarding what such a focus can, and will do to big business. I urge you to share the parable, and for industry persons to take heed of it. It's a valuable lesson even though it's mildly applied. Enjoy the read!

I Got So Triggered By Bread Team's "Phantom Trigger" I Rage Quit The Review!

Very rarely, if ever do I have to cut a playthrough short, and give up on a game. This, unfortunately, happened early on with Bread Team's "Phantom Trigger". The reason behind this was not so much that the game lacked in quality or was functionally bad, but more so that the game lacked any sense of direction. It lacked a control explanation, menu explanation, and a tutorial explaining the game's mechanics. The developer seemed to want the gamer to figure everything out on their own. This cannot be done in a game that is this complex, and unique even with prior knowledge of seemingly similar video game experiences. All I was able to learn was that a husband, for some unknown reason, passed out after his wife told him she couldn't cook him pancakes. It went from this to an alien world that was truly alien. Nothing made sense at all. Through button mashing I was able to figure out that the new alien protagonist had two types of attacks/abilities that could be used to clear certain environmental objects as well as help in the solving of puzzles via color coded means though. I also figured out that these abilities/weapons level up as you use them. Outside of that there was a menu system brought up by pressing the DPad directions. Beyond that fact I couldn't make heads or tails of the menu's function or purpose. It was like falling down the rabbit hole in Alice's Wonderland, and trying to make sense of the nonsensical. An impossible feat.