As most Final Fantasy fans know by now, XIII-2 is indeed real and it will feature Lightning and at least one new character. It was confirmed that it would come out for North America in 2012, a year after Japan gets it. However, that has changed and it looks like we will be able to get it towards the end of 2011, which is definitely great news! Also, the game’s story is to take place right after the original game and the little novelas in between. These little stories go into more detail on the personal lives of the group of heroes and give players a deeper relationship with each character. XIII-2 will actually pick up where the novellas left off and will actually tell us if Lightning really is happy, which is what most people thought about at the end of FFXIII.
XIII-2 will actually have a darker tone than the original game and unlike X-2 where everything changed and became bubbly and happy, the returning characters and the story of XIII-2 will not. Expect to meet new characters in XIII-2, other than the one that was shown in the teaser. For those that would like to know a little more about the novellas, please check out Final Fantasy XIII: Episode Zero. That’s all for now so be on the lookout for more updates as we get them!
Not many people know about this little gem from Square back during the RPG release boom in the late 90’s. This was during the time of games like Chrono Cross and Legend of Mana, so unless you were a hardcore RPG fan, it was easily missed. But luckily, PSN Network has decided to re-release it for North American fans sometime this year. Also known as Dewprism, Threads of Fate is a story about two characters both playable, Mint and Rue, both on the hunt for the same thing but for different reasons.
Threads of Fate is an awesome, little RPG that allows you to have different plots and endings. There are tons of mini-games as well as dungeons to venture through. In Threads of Fate characters are able to transform into the monsters you have fought, and are capable of mix and matching spells. Square is giving everyone the chance to take part in the story again, or experience it for the first time, thanks to the PSN Network and see just how great some of the lesser-known games are.
Capcom unfortunately has canned the blue bomber’s up coming title Megaman Universe. On the official Japanese website Capcom posted an apology and news of the cancellation, letting fans in Japan down. There still has yet been any news here in the states on the North American website, but the forums have been slowly filling up with news of the cancellation. Well it was a good run while it lasted, and for all you lucky gamers who got a chance to play it at the New York Comic Con feel blessed, and for those who didn’t well, you’re just gonna have to wait until the next game.
At the dawn of the 22nd century, an evil power brought inanimate objects to life, and they turned on humanity. Bridges, automobiles, cities – the whole of humanity’s creations were all compelled to turn on their makers. Mankind’s fears of apocalypse became reality! Hidden amongst humanity’s survivors, an elite unit of specially trained ninja known as Moondivers has been lying in wait for orders to reclaim the planet. Today, those orders arrived. Today, the battle to retake Earth begins.
Created by Koichi Yotsui, one of the masterminds behind Strider, Moon Diver pays homage to the Strider universe with a side-scrolling action packed game. Moon Diver will support up to four players to drop in and drop out anytime they want, locally or online. Depending on which characters you choose a number of unique, selectable, upgradeable and cooperatively combinable character special abilities called “MoonSault Combinations,” can be used. From powerful area-of-effect attacks to critical passive power boosts to simple, yet effective, invisibility, MoonSault Combinations will change the battlefield drastically. Moon Diver is now available for download on the PlayStation®Network for $14.99, and will soon be out for XBLA.
It’s Monday, and we’re in the mood to give away something! We’re gonna be doing a double give away today, one will be announced tonight on the www.justin.tv/lvlone channel, and the other will be announced tomorrow here on the site. How do you win? Well all you have to do is post a comment here on the site with your email address included, head over to the Justin.tv channel and follow the channel. Commenting here on the site will give you one entry into the drawing, following the Justin.tv will give you another entry, and for one more bonus way to get entered into the drawing is to follow our Facebook group Winners will be chosen randomly and the only way you can’t win is if you don’t follow our Justin.tv channel. So good luck to all our entrees and I’ll see one of our lucky winners tonight in the JTV channel at 9PM EST.
We got the chance to sit in on the pre-alpha build of Battlefield 3 at PAX East. Many of you have probably already seen what the build looks like during the trailers that were released of the game but to see it played with my own eyes was amazing to say the least.
The beginning sequence of the game starts you off in a transport with your company, and like most fps shooters there’s the usual banter of people joking with each other. Soon enough the transport stops and everybody gets out leading to the streets, immediately after you get out the screen becomes blindingly bright from the lighting effect just as if your eyes were adjusting. Just like the real sun, blind spots on the horizon become very apparent. Following your company through a small abandoned market place you meet with the commanding officer who gives you details about what has been happening and that your mission is to take a look at a reported weapons cache and to give support to another company. When dismissed you head down a narrow ally where there are different types of lighting effects like neon lights, fire, sun, and shadows from different objects while running past each object. It wasn’t until you enter the building across the ally where the lighting really pops out. Slowly pushing through the building there are skylights with rays of sun lighting up dust particles in the air like it really would in real life. Getting to the point, when you finally enter the area where you’re supposed to rendezvous with another company, the screen slows and a loud gunshot is heard as the person in front of you falls and his blood splatters on the screen. Needing to pull the wounded soldier out of the open your company covers you as you pull him to safety. Getting back into battle and returning fire you try to clear the parking lot of the danger. While taking cover behind a van a RPG is launched and knocks you on your back a few feet from the explosion, needing to recover and take out the RPG nest located on the second level of across the lot.
After clearing out the lot, the game cuts to an instance where you’re on the roof taking sniper fire from a .50 caliber rifle. Slowly making your way to an opened part of the roof while bullets whiz by and break flower pots, pipes, and chips off parts of the surrounding building. Your team advises that the sniper needs to be taken out, and rolls you over an AT-4 rocket launcher. While backing up because of the back blast from the rocket, your squad lines up and counts down to offer covering fire while you shoot. As the squad lays down waves of fire, the AT-4 launches in the direction of the sniper, not just blowing a hole in the side of the building but taking a quarter of the building and sign down with it. Funny enough one of your squad members says “Good effect on target!”.
The Frostbite 2 engine was worth the wait in BF3, and not because of just the lighting effects but because of all the updates to the hud and environment. BF3 is definitely the next generation FPS that will be on my “Need To Buy” list. Although there hasn’t been any multiplayer gameplay yet, for me I don’t think it really matters too much. With so much history with the Battlefield games, I know there’ll be a good structure and foundation for the multiplayer aspect of the game. Expect Battlefield 3 to be out for PC, Playstation 3, and Xbox 360 in the Fall.
The world is opening their hearts and wallets to support the Japan relief efforts. The group over Valve and at Mann Co. is also helping out in their own way. The “Humanitarian’s Hachimaki” ($7.99), the “Benefactor’s Kanmuri” ($19.99) and the most prestigious “Magnanimous Monarch” ($99.99) will be available from now through April 6. Also available will be two limited edition noise makers, as if hearing mini guns and engineer’s beeping turrets aren’t enough. All DLC proceeds will go to the Japanese Relief Fund (net applicable taxes) and all hats can be equipped by all classes, but can’t be used in crafting nor can they be traded. For you tax conscious donations, unfortunately the Mann Co. can not be considered at tax write off.
PAX East gave us the chance to get our hands on Brink, one of Splash Damage and Bethesda Softworks’s slated titles to hit later this year. With already a couple of years of work under their belt the game looks amazing to say the least. When I first heard of free running and a FPS mixed together my mind was blown. I was excited to see how the parkour integrated FPS would look and how it would play out. When I finally saw it with my own eyes and got to play, I almost wanted to cry because it was everything I expected and more.
If you don’t know the story behind Brink then let me get you back up to speed. The game takes place in the near future off a large floating island off the coast of San Francisco named “The Ark”. Originally created to save about 5,000 civilians from a flooded Earth, the Ark became over populated with almost ten times the original planned number. Citizens became irritated from the lack of supplies they needed, eventually forming a group called “The Resistance” and demanded more resources for the people. The Ark’s leader denied their demands and began arming themselves in reaction to the Resistance’s actions. Which begins the civil turmoil on the Ark.
With the SMART (Smooth Movement Across Random Terrain) system running the game, traversing the battlefield never felt better. The SMART system takes all the conventional rules a normal first person shooter and throws it out the window. Sure you can hide behind a large shipping containers, but it’s not going to stop me from climbing over the top of it and taking you out. The system also gives different entry and exit points to certain areas, openings in windows, fences, and even over railings to just name a few. Also the term sitting duck no longer exists, except for the people who choose to camp out in one spot.
Gun play and upgrades in the game work on the type of body you select for your character. The larger the body the bigger the guns, but also the slower you move. Also the weapons in the game are more based on a run and gun play, no gun nor weapon (knife and/or melee) will be a one shot kill. There’s really no point in having the SMART system if people are just gonna run around knifing people and getting quick kills.
As for customization in this game, it has by far the most customization in any FPS I have ever seen. Different body types, hair, scars, tattoos, clothing, facial accessories, body accessories, and voice style is just some of the customizable options. Then there are over 40 different types of weapons including it’s own customizations from gun butts, muzzles, sights, grips, and even magazine clips. If you think that’s it you’re wrong, there’s also different abilities for every each class in the game, from medic, soldier, operative, and engineer. This game is every boy’s and even possibly girl’s customizing dream, although there hasn’t been an option to select which gender you can be yet.
Everyone can expect Brink to hit PC, Playstation 3, and Xbox 360 May 17, and depending on who you pre-order from you’ll get special downloadable bonus skins for your characters.
While at PAX East 2011 Valve treated gamers to a first look at the single player aspect of Portal 2. Everything till now has been focused on the co-op and what it entails. While it was actually not playable and video at that, it did however give us insight on what we can expect when the game drops this April.
The opening starts us off with Chell awaking in a standard looking room. She is then run through some movement tutorials to make sure everything is functioning properly. She then needs to return to bed but when awoken it seems that you’ve been out alot longer then expected. Wheatly is the labs core that looks over everything and pops in to explain a couple of key things that Chell should know. The amount of time passed that she had been asleep for can only be described in a way in which she should be a vegetable by now.
Wheatly then runs another set of tests to make sure that Chell can do basic functions because she may have a mild case of Major brian damage. The tests don’t go exactly as planned but none the less she is escorted out of there because that area is going to have a power outage soon. The room itself is then manually piloted by Wheatly to be taken to another part of the facility. You can already tell that things are unstable at best as the room starts to fall apart once in motion. He then does a “manual override” on the docking station (which is plowing the entire room into it) to get you on your way. The once great aperture science center is now in ruins but that doesn’t leave you without experiencing this place new. This is only some of what we experienced while getting to see the play through in action.
We also got a bit of one on one time with one of the games developers at Valve and gave us a quick briefing of things regarding Portal 2. The games single player length is about 3-4 times bigger then the original Portal. While the games co-op campaign is about two times the size of Portal in length. The two will also intertwine with each other in terms of story. Steam will also work on all platforms that support it as cross platform play, which means that the PS3, PC and Mac versions can get in on the co-op action together.
Portal 2 looks to be a great ride and from what we’ve witnessed it’ll have plenty of laughs and challenging puzzles to keep you and friends busy when it comes out April 19th 2011 for Xbox 360, PS3, PC and Mac.
“The Goddess Altea, creator of the land of Lagendia, is poisoned by her evil sister Vestinel. The poison can only be cured using an antidote made using the source of the poison itself, Vestinel’s magic grail, which has disappeared somewhere within Lagendia. The players as heroes of Lagendia must comb the land fighting evil dragons in order to find power stones that enable them to communicate with the sleeping goddess in order to find the grail, wake her and save the world.”
This is the world of Dragon Nest, the new free to play MMO developed by Eyedentity Games, and published by Nexon. Currently the game is in open beta in China, but already released in Korea, Japan and soon to be here in the US. Characters so far are currently limited to gender locked classes of the Warrior, Archer, Sorceress, and Cleric, with each having two secondary jobs available to them at higher levels. The Warrior’s being a Mercenary and or Sword Master, the Archer being a Bow Master or Acrobat, The Sorceress being Elemental Lord or Force User, and the Cleric being a Paladin or Priest. The targeting system is all mouse controlled, so players have the freedom of switching from enemy to enemy mid attack. The targeting system allows free movement when attacking or defending, meaning much more dramatic and realistic combat situations.
The game is beautiful, and flows very well. Bright colors throughout levels make enemies in the level stand out, giving them a dark evil look to them. While cut-scenes in the game introduce mid-level bosses and bosses in certain dungeons. The scaling of monsters compared to the player controlled characters is immense, but in a good way. Fighting larger bosses and enemies gives you the feeling of how large of a task you have at hand to save the Goddess Altea.
Expect to see Dragon Nest out this summer here in North America, and if you haven’t already check out the teaser site that has already gone up at Nexon.
