This past week was another big one at GameSpace with a number of reviews, preview, interviews and other views. You can learn some of our thoughts about Warriors All-Stars, Mario + Rabbids, Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet and many others.
Fighting Fantasy Legends Review - Verdict: 7/10
What do you get when you take a tabletop RPG game, mix in a card game, and add elements of a dice game just to be safe? You might end up with something very like Nomad Games’ Fighting Fantasy Legends role-playing game. The game is set in the Fighting Fantasy world of the single-player role-playing “gamebooks” (i.e. “City of Thieves”, “The Warlock of Firetop Mountain” and “Citadel of Chaos”) created by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone. This is our review of Fighting Fantasy Legends.
Azure Striker Gunvolt: Striker Pack Review - Verdict: 9/10
Overall, Azure Striker Gunvolt: Striker Pack is a great port of a great game. While there are some minor port issues, overall the added features and improved resolution help make this the best version of the game yet, and a must-buy for the Nintendo Switch. It takes the tried-and-true gameplay that Mega Man X fans are looking for, and adds enough variance to make it a fresh experience while the improved experience and added features will give you as much challenge as you want.
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MetaArcade's Tunnels & Trolls Adventures Review - Verdict: 7/10
All in all, while I don’t believe it measures up to the best digital gamebooks out there in terms of length, mechanics, writing, and overall subtle finesse (hell, there are some AAA RPG’s that I feel don’t measure up to Steve Jackson’s amazing Sorcery! series), Tunnels & Trolls is a good showcase for what may be an interesting platform for easily creating professional quality game books in the near future. As a game unto itself, it’s an entertaining, if brutally difficult and rather short, collection of classic single player RPG adventures. And hey, if MetaArcade releases more of them while I’m waiting on the Adventure Creator, I’ll have some gold in my pocket and that sweet greatsword I stole from the tavern to help me out.
Last Day of June Review - Verdict: 7/10
Before you pick this game up, know what you are getting yourself into. It gets messy and you may only play it once. This is not a game you play for the fun, but for the feelings. So, be open to getting a little uncomfortable… and don’t blame the onions, it’s ok if you tear up a bit.
Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle Review - Verdict: 8.5/10
Still, the sense of progression and power increase you get from new skills or buying new weapons is huge, and as the story unfolded, I genuinely found myself smiling from the hijinks. There was a spark through E3 when this game was unveiled. Its rampant praise caused the creative director to tear up and become a meme. Let me tell you, the hype is real. Nintendo, as always, in a sea of dark and gritty games reminds us that purely aiming for fun can be enough. Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle is a testament to fun, wrapped around a game filled with depth and creativity.
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Absolver Review - Verdict: 8.5/10
To a degree leveling in Absolver does matter. It gives you increases stats that you can choose to put into strength, agility, health, stamina. So, a really high-level character can destroy you, but if you’re skilled enough you can put up a good fight. At the end of the day as you travel the road to be a Kung Fu master isn’t that all that really matters? Standing your ground and fighting as best as you can? Or perhaps you seek the road of the Drunken Master, that road exists as well.
Warriors All-Stars Review - Verdict: 7/10
Warriors All-Stars adds a few fun new additions to the series, but ultimately falls short at making itself stand out for any reason other than the cast. It allows many of Koei Tecmo’s stars from multiple games to meet up and cause massive amounts of mayhem in the name of good, but adds no interesting mechanics or hooks outside of continuing to provide a great Musou experience.
Hands on with Little Witch Academia: Chamber of Time
The developers are working closely with the team behind the anime to bring fans a brand new story created just for the game. For those not familiar with the anime, it follows the adventures of Akko and her witch school friends. While most of the students come from witchy families Akko herself is more of an optimistic novice. Of course, underneath the surface, there’s something extra special about her and she somehow possesses the wand of a legendary witch.
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Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet Takes the Series in a Whole New Direction
Up until now, we’ve only seen SAO titles on Sony consoles, so I’m sure folks will be glad to know that this is also the first time fans will be able to play a title from the series on an XB1 console or PC. Right now there isn’t too much else to report about Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet. But it’s also just newly announced so there’s bound to be more details on the way. We’ll be sure to keep you up to date.
New Episodes of The Tick Out on Amazon Prime Video
I watched the full 6 episodes this AM. It’s a breezy 2-3 hours or so, and worth every second. Peter is amazing as Tick, and Arthur is perfect. The fact that they got Earle-Haley as The Terror is just aces. In 6 episodes, minus campy special effects, they’ve created mystery in the back stories, depth in the villains, and hilarious jokes are all over. DO WATCH. I can’t wait for the next four episodes.
Comic Review - The World of Aluna #1 - Verdict: 7/10
The art in this issue is bright, the colors are vivid while the penciling is crisp and more traditional versus some of the newer post-modern paint brush techniques used in other comic book titles. The twenty-two-page story flows well, leaves a lot of questions open and seems to be over oh too quickly. This first issue acts more as a teaser for what is coming in the next seven issues. For newcomers to the series, like myself, it’s not clear from this issue who this Aluna is, what she’s about to become and what crusade she’s about to go on. Perhaps that’s a genius way to get us to buy the remaining issues. Nevertheless, for an independent comic book this a strong offering.
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A Destiny Veteran's Impressions of the Destiny 2 Beta
As for the PvP, I have to say they seem to have just ported over D1 PvP, insert large hand pistol and you insta-die. What I will say it was still fun, mechanics are slightly different in what you gain (capping) and how quick you capture points. I only hope I see the handgun go the way of the dodo as its very very annoying to see it dominate.
Getting Our Giant Robot Fighting in the Gundam Versus Open Beta
I’m really looking forward to the release of Gundam Versus on September 29. I was able to play with a buddy who is also a big fan of the Gundam series and we easily spent 4 hours playing it on Saturday. I do want to note the attention to detail for when you lose in this game. When you lose, your team’s mobile suits are displayed on your screen the way they were destroyed in their respective series. That is some great attention to detail. If you have given the beta a try I would love to hear your opinions and which mobile suits you enjoyed playing with.
Hands On with the Skaven of Total War: Warhammer 2
When it comes down to it, the most iconic moments in Total War Warhammer are still found on the battlefield, be it the AI or your online friends. Total War Warhammer 2 does not mess with a formula that already works incredibly well. Instead, it adds a new twist to the rest of the game and eases new players into the world. If you have ever been intimidated by the world of Warhammer then this is a fantastic place to start.
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ECHO Wants to Change the Way We Think About Ourselves
ECHO is a forthcoming action game set in a futuristic reality where the main character, En, is being hunted by different sentient versions of herself. We caught up with developer Ultra Ultra’s Martin Emborg (CEO and Lead Designer) to talk about the game’sunique approach to action and enemy AI. Read on to find out what makes ECHO worth watching.
