Battle Royale: The Last Generation Of An SNES-CD Saga

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Fall 2014 (Part 11) - RPG Mega-Hits: Worthy Of The Hype?
  • Index

    • RySenkari

    Necrocracy 3

    Necrocracy 3 is a WRPG developed by Bioware and published by Valve, and released initially as a Steam exclusive, with a console port coming in 2015. It's the third and final game in the acclaimed series of RPG titles about two human heroes who battle to free humanity from an undead dictatorship, and mixes elements of action, horror, drama, humor, and political satire. Like Necrocracy 2, this third game features two playable main characters, Latham and Cass, with Latham being a human and Cass being a zombie, but both working for the good of humanity as they fight to liberate the world. Unlike Necrocracy 2, which took place in several American cities, Necrocracy 3 takes the action worldwide, featuring London, Cairo, Tokyo, Moscow, Syndey, and Rio under zombie control, while also featuring a few locations in America, including New York City and Chicago (which was featured in all three games in the series). Necrocracy 3 builds on the gameplay of previous titles, with wider skill trees and a greater enemy variety, along with more weapon types and action moves that Latham and Cass can learn. The game also allows for Latham and Cass to be each other's companions during the parts of the game where they're in the same place (mostly the game's second half), and it's possible for players to switch back and forth between them during these segments. The game's overall size and scale have been scaled back: there's no longer any wide open areas to explore, save for the New York City and Chicago areas, with the cities in this game generally being more compact than the areas in Necrocracy 2. In addition, there aren't as many companions to recruit, though each of the game's cities does have at least one. There's still a ton of quests to do as both characters, with large side quest branches and valuable rewards for completing them, making it important for players not to ignore them. The side quests can alter the story trajectory of the main quests, and what characters live and die over the course of the game largely depend on what players do in the side quests. It's possible to hop from city to city as well, though cities do have to be opened up in the main quest before they can be visited whenever. Each city has its own political quirks, with some cities having stronger hordes of zombies than others, and other cities having active human resistances, inspired by the example set by the overthrow of Fleshtear. It's also learned that some zombie factions aren't necessarily friends with the others, reflecting the squabbles that human nations have in real life. Zombie vs. zombie battles are commonplace, and encountered throughout the game. It's possible to sometimes take a side on them, though doing so might just cause both zombie groups to attack. Necrocracy 3 is a bit more action oriented than previous games in the series, with a faster combat system and more emphasis on shooting than before. There's still plenty of RPG elements, but shooting now plays a heavier role, with more missions that rely on combat and less on helping human characters survive. This makes sense, as the game is essentially the chronicle of a worldwide human/zombie war, but it does serve to make some mission varieties a bit more repetitive than they were in the two previous games. Necrocracy 3 is a big step forward for graphics for the series, and is probably one of the best looking PC games ever released, more demanding on rigs than ever before, with the reduction in world scale helping Bioware to push harder for graphical detail. Most of the major voice actors from previous games reprise their roles, and the game features a sweeping soundtrack with a wide variety of songs, designed to give each city its own distinct feel.

    The game begins right where Necrocracy 2 left off, with Latham escorting the human American president out of a United Nations building crawling with zombies. Just when it seems like they won't be able to escape, Cass shows up and helps to get the two of them out, kicking off the game in grand, action style. Latham and Cass both start out much stronger than they were in previous games, with most of their basic abilities from Necrocracy 2, and stats at level 1 that are about the same as a level 20 character from the previous game. After a short segment in New York City, Latham and Cass separate for two different missions: Latham returns to Chicago to help repel a zombie invasion there, while Cass begins traveling the world to conduct diplomatic missions, starting in London. It's here that we learn that even though each zombie nation is independent of the others, there seems to be some kind of figure conducting their actions, and is connected to a sort of Interpol-like organization of zombie cops and zombie spies known as DEADEYE. DEADEYE begins tracking Cass as soon as she goes to London, which eventually forces Latham to leave America to help her. Meanwhile, Cass is shown to be increasingly losing her grip on sanity due to her long-term stint as a zombie, and realizes that this happens to pretty much every zombie eventually, though zombies can stave this off by consuming human flesh or by injection with a special substance that is distributed only to zombie leaders and scientists. Cass realizes that this is how the zombie leadership keeps the rest of the undead under control: forcing them to kill humans in order to keep some semblance of their humanity. Latham and Cass both help human revolution movements in zombie controlled cities around the globe, battling DEADEYE and its agents all the way. During this time, we get a decent look at some of DEADEYE's agents and their reason for serving zombiekind. We get more hints of what zombies were initially like as humans, and learn more things about their side of the story. Meanwhile, we also learn that zombies and vampires are battling for control of certain cities, including Moscow, where a vampire aristocracy has taken root. Players have a great deal of choice about what actions to take regarding the human/zombie war in numerous cities, which boils down mainly to a choice between helping humans rise up to take out the zombies, or helping sympathetic zombies overthrow their masters. Eventually, we learn that the primary antagonist of the game, and the main catalyst behind the entire series, is a corporation called Arise, a megaconglomerate secretly pulling the strings of DEADEYE and most of the world's zombie governments. It's initially believed that their leadership consists entirely of undead, but in reality, Arise's leader is a human named Geron Dimm, who rose to power in the wake of the initial zombie disease and began studying the zombies' behavior, realizing that zombies were far easier to control and predict than humans were, and having scientists who were close to finding a cure early on killed in order to ensure a zombie apocalypse. No matter what path taken through the game, a pro-human path or a pro-zombie path, Arise and Dimm are the game's final antagonists, and must be defeated, via either a human raid or a zombie invasion. Arise's HQ is in New York City, where the game initially began, and after completing all the game's relevant main missions, the final showdown is here, with Latham, Cass, and their allies teaming up to take Arise down. Once Dimm is defeated and Arise is no more, the player has a decision to make: a pro-Human, or pro-Zombie ending. The player can choose either one. In the pro-human ending, humanity retakes the globe and the zombie apocalypse is forever ended, but all of the undead die permanent deaths and disintegrate, including Cass, who dies in Latham's arms after seeing her last sunrise from the roof of Arise HQ. In the pro-zombie ending, all humans become either zombies, vampires, or other undead creatures, but there's also a way for them to keep their humanity much more easily, and it even becomes possible for zombies to reproduce. Many, many more characters survive this ending (including Cass), and the zombie ending is actually somewhat happier, though it's definitely a HUGE change for all living creatures, and the world does become more unpleasant overall. More people survive, but it's definitely tougher, with horrific creatures roaming the wastes and many undead still occasionally going feral. In the end, the world survives, either returned to the humans (who will eventually restore it to its former glory, though it will take time since there are only about 50 million humans left) or remaining an eternal necrocracy.

    Necrocracy 3 is released on November 4, 2014, exclusively on Steam for PC and Macintosh. A console release happens eventually around a year later. The game is one of the fastest selling PC titles ever, and gets a good critical reception, but definitely not a great one like the previous two games. Though the graphics, gameplay, voice acting, and some story elements are praised, there's also heavy criticism: the cities aren't nearly as big as previews had hinted (none of them is bigger than Chicagoland from the first two games), the relative lack of companions is a bit jarring, and the repetitive missions also get some players upset. In addition, the ending: if you save humanity, multiple beloved characters die, including Cass, while if you choose the pro-zombie ending, the world remains a fairly unpleasant place to live. There's no "golden" ending to be had here, which does upset longtime players. The villains are also considered to be somewhat weaker than Fleshtear from the first two titles, though players do enjoy learning more zombie backstories. In the end, Necrocracy 3 is considered by most to be a disappointment, but also one of the best PC games of the year. It doesn't live up to the legacy of the first two games, but few video games could, and it still ends up being a major financial success for Valve. The controversy does generate a lot of threats from players to boycott the console version, but despite the trouble, it's still expected to sell very, very well.

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    Rise A Knight IV: Scourge

    Rise A Knight IV: Scourge is an open world WRPG and the sixth game in the Rise A Knight series. It's the first game in the series with a fantasy setting, contrasting with the previous games, which featured more realistic characters and combat. The familiar gameplay elements of a complex weapon/skill system and detailed character relationships remain intact, though things are a bit trimmed down from previous titles, with less available skill trees and companions, but more complex skills and relationships in the bargain. For the first time, the player can choose their protagonist's gender, while also being able to customize their appearance and starting stats, making for a more flexible experience overall and also affecting the way the player can choose to progress through their quest right from the start. The combat system has been further refined from previous titles in the series, and in addition to utilizing a variety of weapons, the protagonist can now learn and cast magic for the first time, from one of eight different elements. Rise A Knight IV had a much more complicated development process than previous games in the series, and has been in development since 2007, before the release of Rise A Knight III: The Sacred Oath. It was originally intended as a seventh generation game, but as development time lengthened, ideas were scrapped, and many things were changed, it was decided to instead make the game for eighth generation consoles, and to scrap much of the work that had been previously done. The game's extremely long development process was well chronicled over the past several years, and fans have become quite restless in the leadup to this game's release. However, the long development time did allow for more time to refine the story and gameplay, while the graphics are considered among the best of any eighth generation game thus far, especially on the Reality and Virtua, though the Nexus version looks quite excellent as well. The game also makes great use of each console's features, with VR available on the Reality and enhanced motion controls for the Virtua, while the Nexus allows a complex menu system on the second screen that makes switching spells and weapons in mid-combat a breeze. Rise A Knight IV features full voice acting, even for the protagonist, with Nolan North voicing the male protagonist and Carice van Houten voicing the female protagonist. The player character starts out much older than in previous titles, displaying a more mature, world-weariness that previous protagonists didn't have.

    The protagonist starts the game as a vassal to a lord whose family has ruled the town and its surrounding area for more than a century. The vassal is forced to flee when the town is attacked by orc-like creatures known as Vergons, who slaughter the lord and overrun the town. The vassal is then recruited as a knight to help defend against the Vergon invasion, which threatens the kingdom itself. Here, the player is given their first freedom, allowed to take one of three approaches to blunting the invasion, or simply to explore on their own (though not much of the realm is opened up right away). Two choices lead to further battles with the Vergon hordes, but one choice leads to a chance encounter with a young Vergon that leads the protagonist to realize that these are simply people trying to get along in the world much like the humans are. However, both humans and Vergons are threatened by a terrible plague emanating from a ruined black spire, said to be the site of an ancient battle between wizards hundreds of years ago. Getting to and climbing the black spire, which hasn't been set foot upon by anyone since the day of the battle, is the main goal of the first half of the game, though players can get into all kinds of adventures before then, including befriending various human factions or even Vergon factions. It is possible to go right to the spire, which is surrounded by high level enemies and constantly drains the player's HP (and doing this is the goal of many speedrunners), but most players will want to level up and earn special obsidian equipment that will allow them to climb the spire without the negative effects. Eventually, once the spire is climbed, the protagonist finds an ancient book left there by one of the wizards, that details the results of the battle and claims that the other wizard, a dark mage known as Ankordus, is still alive and continues to poison the land. However, once the protagonist explores the spire, the spell that once cursed it is eradicated, and humans and Vergons begin to fight over it. The protagonist escapes on a dragon in time to watch in horror as the armies fighting for the spire are infected and melted by residual dark magic, a sign that Ankordus still lives and plans to return. The second half of the game sees the protagonist rallying either humans, Vergons, or a coalition of both to track down and defeat Ankordus as more of the realm is poisoned by his dark evil. There are thus four main options the player can take: a human-led alliance in which the Vergons are subdued and destroyed on the path to defeating Ankordus, a Vergon alliance in which the humans are cowed (with many of them going on to serve Ankordus), a human/Vergon coalition in which the two races resolve their differences and defeat Ankordus together, or a "scourge" path in which the protagonist takes Ankordus' power for themselves and conquers both the humans and Vergons. Like in previous Rise A Knight games, there are variations of these paths (mostly regarding which characters live or die, or which human factions are stronger, or whether or not Vergons let humans live or destroy them), and the final ending relies heavily on the protagonist's actions. The "gold" ending has humans and Vergons working together and the protagonist surviving (the human/Vergon path is very difficult and it's quite possible for the protagonist to die on this one), though numerous endings can be considered fairly happy. The game ends with a new age for the realm, with the war over and a new ruler rising to claim the throne.

    Rise A Knight IV: Scourge is released on December 2, 2014, and despite the production hiccups, is seen as generally a very good game and one of the best RPGs of the year. While not quite as good as its predecessors, it's also not seen as a disappointment like Necrocracy 3 was. The series has lost a bit of its luster since peaking in the mid to late 2000s, and Rise A Knight IV wasn't quite as hyped as the third mainline game was. Sales are quite good, becoming the best new release of December, and it's still considered THQ's best franchise overall. Development has already begun on the series' next game, which doesn't expect to see quite as many delays as this one endured. For all the trouble that went into making it, Rise A Knight IV is a success, and fans are mostly pleased, though a few do express that they'd like to see future games shy away from fantasy elements in the future. The game would also give rise to the "Vergon" meme, which draws a connection between the word "virgin" and Vergon, using images of the creatures as an online insult. The Vergon meme probably becomes the most memorable thing about the game, far outliving the period when the game is at the height of its popularity.
     
  • Index
    • Roger Redux

    Roger Redux

    RySenkari said:
    having scientists who were close to finding a cure early on killed in order to ensure a zombie apocalypse
    Click to expand...
    RySenkari said:
    In the pro-human ending, humanity retakes the globe and the zombie apocalypse is forever ended, but all of the undead die permanent deaths and disintegrate, including Cass, who dies in Latham's arms after seeing her last sunrise from the roof of Arise HQ. In the pro-zombie ending, all humans become either zombies, vampires, or other undead creatures, but there's also a way for them to keep their humanity much more easily, and it even becomes possible for zombies to reproduce. Many, many more characters survive this ending (including Cass), and the zombie ending is actually somewhat happier, though it's definitely a HUGE change for all living creatures, and the world does become more unpleasant overall.
    Click to expand...
    But not an ending where someone picks up on that work and finishes the cure?
    ...Seems like a bit of a plot hole....unless it's explicitly stated at some point that virus has mutated too much for the old research to be of any use...?
    RySenkari said:
    There's no "golden" ending to be had here, which does upset longtime players.
    Click to expand...
    At least I'm not the only one 😛

    In all seriousness, great work as usual!
     

    CaseMonster

    Interesting how BioWare IOTL was criticized in 2014 for making Dragon Age Inquisition too big while ITTL their 2014 game was criticized for not being big enough. Very curious what they’ll make next, doubt we’ll see Mass Effect show up ITTL, but Dragon Age feels possible. Or maybe a version of Anthem that’s a single player RPG.

    Also I still really want to play Necrocracy.
     
    Fall 2014 (Part 12) - Nexus Shoots For The Stars
  • Index

    • RySenkari

    Rezna War

    Developed by id Softworks, Rezna War is an FPS that sees the protagonist, a mercenary employed by an intergalactic corporation, dropped onto a fiery hellworld in order to retrieve an experimental weapon. Known only as Merc in official material, the protagonist must battle his way to the weapon while dealing with two factions of demons and monsters caught up in a bloody civil war. Along the way, the Merc will need to get help from a few noncombatants, in order to enhance his gear and make his way through ruins and corridors to reach his goal. Helmed by John Romero, Rezna War has some gameplay elements in common with OTL's Doom revival, including some Metroidvania aspects and the ability to upgrade Merc's equipment while venturing through the world. Merc has access to a wide variety of weapons, and generally tends to shoot first and ask questions later, brutally killing enemies with a mix of raw physicality and ranged weaponry. Merc will also be able to collect a variety of items such as health packs and combat buffs, which he can use in battle to even the odds against his foes, and the Nexus' second screen allows the player to access these mods with the touch of a button, or use the map to look through the world with a bird's eye view. The game's lore is mostly centered around the three factions: the Lotus Corporation is the Merc's employer, and is a fairly ruthless and extremely rich intergalactic conglomerate, colonizing worlds and taking over star systems to line its pockets. Unlike the corrupt corporations of many other games, Lotus is portrayed neutrally, and is unopposed throughout the game, with the Merc doing their dirty work and collecting a paycheck without an objection. The two factions battling for control of the world may be even worse: the Devilbreed consist of demons and monsters working for the devil himself, who seek to turn the world into a giant gate to bring their dark master back to life. Meanwhile, the Skullrippers are insane, hedonistic monsters who love violence and bloodshed and enjoy killing their foes in a wide variety of ways. The Skullrippers are the native inhabitants of their planet, while the Devilbreed are invading from a portal to hell that's opened up in space next to the planet. Both factions come to see the Merc as a deadly threat, and both fear and hate him as he tears through their legions. Meanwhile, the weapon itself, known as the Rezna, is an experimental weapon capable of blasting holes in time and space. The Lotus Corporation developed it and intended to ship it to their headquarters on an Earthlike planet known as Centrus, but when the Devilbreed's portal opened, it caused the transport ship to crash, and they were forced to send in the Merc. The few friendly NPCs take the form of demon defectors and fallen angels from the Devilbreed, while the Skullripper NPCs are the few native inhabitants of the planet who don't want to kill and maim things. They help the Merc in exchange for his help in getting them off the planet, but he doesn't care much for that, and the player can choose not to help the friendly NPCs if they wish, as the only reward for helping them is a slight change to the ending and a few fairly trivial upgrades. The final boss battle sees the Merc go up against Satan himself, and he's forced to use the Rezna, as it's the only thing powerful enough to damage and destroy Satan. Then, he uses the Rezna to seal the portal to Hell, and returns with the weapon to Lotus HQ. Rezna War also includes a multiplayer deathmatch mode, playable locally or online. It's fairly simple as far as FPS modes go, but the weapon variety and brutality in the game makes it a real treat, and it proves to be fairly popular.

    Released exclusively for the Google Nexus in November 2014, Rezna War gets exceptional reviews from critics, who praise the game's action and gritty horror setting. It enjoys better reviews than even Call Of Duty: Advanced Warfare, winning some attention for the game. Sales are decent to start, and pick up in the weeks after the game's release, as word of mouth spreads that it might just be the Nexus' best exclusive FPS. The success of Rezna War generates calls for a sequel, but first, id and Romero want to finally revisit Doom... hoping to create an experience that will mix violence, horror, and FPS action in a way never achieved before.

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    Techno Angel: Sabine

    Techno Angel: Sabine is an FPS/RPG developed exclusively for the Google Nexus. It continues the story from the previous games, of powerful exosuits used by soldiers to battle over a futuristic Earth ravaged by war, and features the young protagonist Sabine Avilo, who was introduced in 2009's Techno Angel: Immortal. Sabine is now 18, and is seven years older than she was in the previous game, with seven years more training and a brand new, less bulky exosuit, which allows her to perform almost superhuman feats of agility and strength. She teams up with a group of mostly teenaged freedom fighters known as Rebel Force, as they battle it out against an army of mercenaries led by a powerbroker who calls himself the Decembrist, who is seeking to take advantage of the newly peaceful world by using his army to crush everyone he can. Techno Angel: Sabine marks a massive turning point for the series: in addition to giving the game a huge boost in graphical quality over its predecessor, it also transforms the gameplay itself from being primarily an FPS title similar to a game like Titanfall to being a loot-based shooter/RPG similar to Borderlands. Enemies drop frequent loot that Sabine can equip to herself or her two companions, while Sabine herself moves around much more quickly and can use powerful skills and combo attacks on enemies as she levels up and earns skill buffs. There are a total of 11 possible companions, with eight of them being human and three of them being robotic, and robots have different gameplay than humans. Instead of level-ups, robots get permanent enhancements in the form of chips, but can also be equipped with weaponry, with some weaponry being exclusive to robots. Chrissie Fit reprises her role as the voice of Sabine, while the Decembrist is voiced by James Horan. This is the first game that doesn't see Jennie Kwan reprise her role as Sabine's mentor/mother figure Adriana. Instead, she's voiced by Mela Lee. Techno Angel: Sabine has a somewhat lighter hearted story than previous games in the series. The Rebel Force consists mostly of teenagers, and as such, both they and Sabine are quite energetic, and prone to playing pranks on their enemies, avoiding killing unless it's absolutely necessary. Sabine herself as overcome much of the trauma she suffered in Immortal, though she does revisit it during certain segments of the game. The Rebel Force itself is prone to infighting, with at least one mole amongst their ranks, while another member of the Rebel Force, a 16-year-old girl named Eleanor, is actually a secret bioweapon created by the same people responsible for the original Omniscient, and ends up becoming the key to the plot of the second half of the game, as Sabine struggles to protect her from being taken by the enemy. Most of the game consists of battles between the Rebel Force and the Decembrist's army, which is rapidly carving up areas of the planet thought previously to be at peace. The first half of the game sees the Rebel Force barely managing to survive as the Decembrist gradually captures large chunks of territory, before Eleanor's power awakens, forcing the Decembrist's forces back and kickstarting the next part of the game. The relationship between Sabine, Adriana, and Eleanor is key to the game's second half. Adriana becomes an optional companion, and as the Rebel Force begins to splinter, with two of its members dying, two of its members defecting, and Eleanor ending up in enemy hands, Sabine finds herself once again leaning on Adriana for strength. The last third of the game sees Sabine leading what remains of the Rebel Force to free the world from the Decembrist and save Eleanor. Sabine manages to extract the bioweapon from Eleanor, and the Decembrist is defeated, but the bioweapon has a mind of its own and latches onto a reconstructed exosuit, the original Omniscient, which then becomes a major threat to the planet. The final battle sees Sabine and her companions battling the original Omniscient on a deserted battlefield, and after defeating it, Sabine is celebrated for ushering in a new era of peace, which she now hopes to enjoy as a civilian rather than a soldier, living with Adriana as a mom and Eleanor as a little sister.

    Techno Angel: Sabine is generally positively received by critics, but gets a mixed reception amongst fans, some of whom love the new looter shooter style and others who hate it and say it goes against the spirit of the series. The game's reviews average in the mid 8s, though it does manage some of the fastest first week sales of the series, becoming the Nexus' big holiday game of the year (surpassing other successes such as Nexus Homestead, Rezna War, and Buffy The Vampire Slayer). It contributes heavily to the Nexus' small spike in holiday 2014 sales, and while no Nexus title in 2014 is quite as successful as Miraculous Ladybug, the quantity over quality approach helps the console to keep pace in sales with the surging Apple Virtua. As for the series itself, the looter-shooter approach of Sabine becomes the series standard from that point forward, though it's not yet known if the developers will stick with Sabine as the protagonist or take the series in a new direction entirely.
     
  • Index

    • RySenkari

    The Blockbusters Of 2014/Star Wars: The Dark Prophecy
  • Index

    • RySenkari

    The Top 25 Highest Grossing Films Of 2014 (North American domestic gross only):
    (Authors' Note: Supergirl, Spider-Man: Maximum Carnage, Heroes For Hire, Justice League Dark, and G.I. Joe vs. Transformers were all given to us by the reader Pyro.)

    1. Star Wars Episode VIII: The Dark Prophecy ($760.4 million)

    2. Spider-Man: Maximum Carnage ($505.1 million)

    3. Eclipse ($476.5 million) (Note: The sequel to JJ Abrams' 2012 action film Celestial is a MASSIVE, MASSIVE hit, way overperforming expectations. The original film was a decent box office success, but thanks to a huge online fandom and lots of hype, Eclipse succeeds beyond Abrams' wildest dreams. Eclipse is the dark origin story of a magical schoolgirl villain who ends up being a rival to the heroine from the first film, resulting in several spectacular battles between the two. Celestial/Eclipse are, in a lot of ways, the Hunger Games of TTL in terms of how their movies performed and were received, and the series also built heavily off the huge As Gods fandom as well.)

    4. Justice League Dark ($440.7 million)

    5. Batman: The Killing Joke ($417.4 million) (Note: The sequel to Batman Crusader is an adaptation of The Killing Joke, with a few twists: notably, Barbara Gordon avoids being permanently crippled, and instead, Joker's attack on her is what leads to her becoming Batgirl in this series of films. Edward Norton earns widespread acclaim for his portrayal of the Joker.)

    6. G.I. Joe vs. Transformers ($408.5 million)

    7. Sonic The Hedgehog ($386.2 million) (Note: Pixar's Sonic film is a massive, massive success, thanks to excellent writing, beautiful animation, and great voice acting using the cast from the video games, with a few new characters played by more famous people. It's seen as a rival to Metroid for best video game film of all time, and the game to movie renaissance continues.)

    8. The Hobbit: Part 2 ($354.7 million)

    9. Supergirl ($300.7 million)

    10. The Emerald Princess ($278.5 million) (Note: Another CGI Disney animated musical, this is a sort of amalgamation of Irish myths and legends weaved into a coherent story set in medieval times, with Lisa Hannigan as the voice of the titular princess. Critically beloved, it becomes another extremely popular Disney animated film, and one of the year's most successful.)

    11. The Lego Movie ($232.9 million)

    12. The Old Man ($227.0 million) (Note: An action film starring Tom Cruise as a CIA agent who tracks down an aging mercenary played by Arnold Schwarzenegger who might be able to help him stop a terrorist attack. One of the most spectacular blockbusters of the year, this film has slightly limited appeal but still did quite well at the box office.)

    13. Soldiers Of Fortuna ($218.7 million) (Note: An animated Dreamworks film about a group of middle aged magical girl superheroines who are now grown up with families, who must unite once more to take down a new villain. A fairly successful movie, both critically and commercially.)

    14. Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes ($214.6 million)

    15. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ($208.6 million) (Note: Not a Michael Bay film ITTL, this reboot is directed by Peyton Reed, and gets decent reviews.)

    16. Heroes For Hire ($202.8 million)

    17. Jellin' ($170.6 million) (Note: A light hearted, silly romantic comedy, this film is a success due to some of the best critical reviews of the year and its highly likable characters.)

    18. The Plague ($167.3 million) (Note: A disaster film about a pandemic that sweeps the globe, this film is even scarier than OTL's Contagion, though it's also a bit less realistic. Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Michael Bay, and packed with big stars, it's a lot less explosive than some of Bay's other films but does feature an over the top action sequence toward the end. Makes back its big budget mostly due to international box office success.)

    19. Beatsville ($157.0 million) (Note: An urban-themed hip hop film featuring a number of contemporary rappers, this movie, partially written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, becomes a breakout hit, far surpassing its $30 million budget.)

    20. Interstellar ($156.9 million)

    21. Fright Camp ($152.1 million) (Note: A family oriented action comedy about a group of kids who team up with their camp counselors to save everyone after some people end up missing. This film is more of a critical and commercial success than it has any right to be, and succeeds thanks to the likable characters and strong acting performances from its young cast.)

    22. Meteor Riders: Death From The Sky ($150.4 million)

    23. Clinical ($140.4 million) (Note: A psychological thriller about a telepath implicated in a series of murders, this is one of the smartest horror films in recent memory, and ends up being an Oscar contender.)

    24. Life Lessons From Losers ($139.0 million) (Note: A raunchy romantic comedy starring Melissa McCarthy, this film gets mixed critical reviews but is still a moderate financial success.)

    25. Gone Girl ($137.7 million)

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    Star Wars Episode VIII - The Dark Prophecy had a lot to live up to, considering the massive success of Episode VII and the always high fan expectations for anything Star Wars. The film would be directed by Michelle MacLaren, taking over for Steven Spielberg (who was set to finally release a new Indiana Jones film in 2015), with Lucas once again taking more of a production/writing role for this film. It would see all the major characters and actors from Episode VII return, including Tilda Swinton as Lady Lumiya, Hugo Weaving as Grand Admiral Thrawn, Olivia Cooke as Kira, and Anton Yelchin as Galen, along with Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford (splitting time between this and the fourth Indiana Jones) reprising their classic roles as well. It would also introduce new characters, such as rogue Jedi Knight Mercury Cyre (played by Aimee Carrero), Urgadda the Hutt (played by Andy Serkis), Inquisitor Kotan (played by Sung Kang), and Janissa (played by Danai Gurira), a Whill inhabiting an alien being as a vessel, and secretly helping Luke to defy the dark prophecy of her people. The film takes place a year after The Fated Crisis, and sees Grand Admiral Thrawn, considered a hero of the war against Lady Lumiya, now holding the reins of the New Republic, having turned it into a de facto military dictatorship. Though he's not hunting down the Jedi, he has barred them from Coruscant, and makes it clear that he wishes them to no longer have any roles in the Republic's affairs, using the fear of Lady Lumiya and her mysterious shadow apprentice to gin up support for his Jedi discrimination. Luke Skywalker has been tirelessly hunting Lady Lumiya, while attempting to put the Whills' prophecy out of his mind. He refuses to believe that Kira or Galen would betray him, and continues training them both and insisting they accompany him on missions. Meanwhile, Han Solo, once a high ranking Republic general, is troubled by Thrawn's attempts to crack down on the Outer Rim planets, and works together with Leia to stymie this crackdown. As a result of Han and Leia's efforts, Thrawn has sent an Inquisitor, Kotan, to serve as governor of the Outer Rim. Even the Hutts, who didn't even fear the Empire, are disrupted by Kotan's efforts, and one of them, Urgadda, eventually forms an alliance with Han, who comes to believe that Thrawn may be seeking out old Imperial relics in an attempt to gain Force powers. The film starts with Luke, Kira, and Galen visiting the isolated moon of Shadar, where Lumiya may be hiding. However, a trap has been set for them: ancient Sith warriors, suspended in time by an ancient Dark Side ritual, ambush them as they arrive. The three manage to fend off the warriors, but Kira is wounded. Her wound festers with an odd energy, and when she dreams, she has nightmares of Lumiya speaking to her. Luke decides to take care of Kira on his own, while Galen rendezvous with Leia on Corellia. It's here that Galen meets with Mercury Cyre, who saves him and Leia from an assassination attempt by someone who turns out to be working for Thrawn. As the three storylines (Luke/Kira, Leia/Galen/Mercury, Han/Urgadda) play out, we also see scenes of Lumiya's activities, as she and Thrawn are both searching for ancient Sith artifacts left by Palpatine and his predecessors. Lumiya is attempting to gain the power of a Force Storm, which will allow her to destroy the New Republic all at once, while Thrawn seeks to use these artifacts to reshape the New Republic in the image of the Galactic Empire, but without the mysticism of the Sith. Kira finds herself drawn to Lumiya, and slips out of Luke's protection under cover of darkness, to find Lumiya on her floating ship known as the Black Diamond. Luke, who by now has been meeting with Janissa, learns that if he does not prevent Kira's meeting with Lumiya, she will surely gain her new apprentice. Meanwhile, Han and Urgadda find themselves in a full scale battle with the New Republic after a fleet of outlaw ships attack a New Republic fleet. Kotan is revealed to be a Gray Jedi, and attacks Han and Chewbacca, only to be stopped by Leia. Leia is defeated, but Galen and Mercury attack Kotan and defeat him. However, they're unable to prevent Thrawn from capturing a Sith artifact, a crystal that, when placed into the reactor of a capital class ship, enables it to destroy worlds. Thrawn sets his sights on Tatooine, seeking to destroy it to wipe out the Outer Rim rebellion, set an example for anyone harboring Jedi, and to destroy Luke and Anakin Skywalker's homeworld as a symbolic gesture. Amidst this battle for Tatooine, Kira meets with Lumiya, and is tempted toward the Dark Side by her. Lumiya cannot use Force Storms, but Kira can, and Lumiya begins tempting her with visions of Thrawn and his tyranny, wanting to turn her against the New Republic. We learn a lot about both Lumiya and Kira here, and though Kira rejects most of what Lumiya tells her, some of it she finds extremely appealing. Luke tries to go to Kira, but is called telepathically by Leia, who needs him to return to Tatooine to battle against the New Republic fleet. Luke instead meets with Galen and Mercury, asking them to battle Thrawn in his stead while he goes to save Kira from Lumiya. Galen and Mercury, who have fallen somewhat in love with one another, make an excellent "battle couple" as the two of them fight their way onto Thrawn's capital ship, while Leia, Han, Chewbacca, and Urgadda, along with other allies including Mon Mothma and Admiral Ackbar, participate in a massive battle for Tatooine. Luke eventually finds Kira, who refuses to let him harm Lumiya, and draws her lightsaber against him, leading to a fierce and tragic lightsaber duel between the two. Meanwhile, Galen and Mercury confront Thrawn. Thrawn tells Galen that the only way the Jedi can be trusted is if he has total control over them, then uses another Sith artifact to attempt to brainwash them. Galen fights off his control, but Mercury attacks Galen, forcing him to defend himself against her. The Luke/Kira and Galen/Mercury duals play out simultaneously as Leia and Han struggle to command a much less powerful fleet against the New Republic's fleet. Leia evens the score a bit with her Force powers, but she can't hold them back alone. Han returns to the surface of Tatooine to shut down the New Republic's signal base there, in the hopes of crippling their fleet. The Luke/Kira dual should be an easy win for Luke, but he's holding back, while Lumiya is amping Kira's powers to enable her to hold him off. When Luke hesitates in a crucial moment, Kira severs his robotic arm, but upon hearing Luke's cry of pain, she realizes in horror what she's done, and turns on Lumiya, wounding her. Lumiya retreats as Kira tends to Luke. She begs him to kill her, but Luke refuses, sensing the good in her and realizing that she, like he did before, rejected the Dark Side and won't be tempted by it again. The two pursue Lumiya. Meanwhile, Galen manages to fend off Mercury, but is distracted by Thrawn's imminent activation of the Sith weapon, which will destroy Tatooine, where Galen's father Han is still fighting. Mercury uses this opportunity to wound Galen, but at that moment, Han manages to cripple the New Republic signal base, enabling the rebel fleet to counterattack. Galen then uses his Light Side Force powers to break the hold that the artifact has on Mercury, freeing her from its control. The two go to apprehend Thrawn, and it appears they'll be able to do so before Thrawn manages to regain control of Mercury long enough to force her to restrain Galen with her Force powers. Thrawn then stands poised to use the superweapon, and Galen does the only thing he can to save his father... he stabs Mercury through the chest. She dies in his arms, but not before telling him that he did the right thing. However, as Galen is consumed with grief, Thrawn activates the superweapon, destroying Tatooine and killing Han and Chewbacca (it's made particularly poignant by the fact that just before the planet is destroyed, Han tells Leia on a radio comm that he loves her and that he'll see her soon, to which she responds: "I know," her last words to him.) Galen is consumed with a rage and grief like he's never felt before, and in that moment, the Dark Side has him. He begins to Force choke Thrawn, who is able to escape after his guards shoot at Galen. Galen slaughters Thrawn's guards with Force lightning, then unleashes a powerful Force Storm from the helm of the New Republic's capital ship, destroying its entire fleet and many of the Rebel ships in the process. Leia, who has not only witnessed and felt Han's death, as well as everyone on Tatooine, and now senses her son's turn to the Dark Side, collapses into Mon Mothma's arms. Meanwhile, Lady Lumiya begins laughing, and is still laughing as Kira walks into her throne room. Luke, who has also sensed all the death and darkness, is barely able to stand. Kira confronts her, telling her she's going to end all this, but Lumiya says it's too late and that Galen has already turned. Kira screams that she's a liar, only for Lumiya to shoot Force lightning at her, which knocks Kira to her knees. Summoning all the strength she has, Kira is able to heal her Dark Side wound, then she begins to block Lumiya's Force lightning, protecting herself and Luke. Realizing that the battle is a stalemate, Kira flees with Luke in tow, as Lumiya reaches out to Galen with the Force, beckoning him "home" by telling him that she can teach him to bring back the ones who have died. Leia communes with Galen using the Force, begging him not to listen, but Galen takes Thrawn's capital ship and flies to find Lumiya. The movie ends with a montage of scenes showing a mass memorial for those lost on Tatooine, including Han and Chewbacca, Luke recovering with Leia, Kira meditating alone, and Galen bowing to Lumiya, his new Sith master. Meanwhile, Thrawn, who escaped on a pod and has returned to Coruscant, has been vindicated by Galen's turn to the Dark Side, and with the New Republic's fleet wiped out, commissions the construction of a new fleet to destroy the Sith menace once and for all, while ordering all Jedi to be hunted down and captured. The film ends with Janissa meeting with Luke, who has recovered somewhat from his injuries. He tells her he intends to go train Kira, but Janissa tells him he must go with her instead... that she was not rebelling against the Whills, but was helping to carry out their prophecy, and that all will be revealed once she takes him to meet with the rest of her kind. Luke asks her why he should help her when her prophecy has led only to death and suffering. She shows Luke a vision, and, as cryptic as it is, it seems to change his mind. When Kira returns to meet with Luke, both he and Janissa are gone, and the film ends with Kira walking out of the hut alone, determined to defeat Lumiya and her former friend Galen at all costs, as Luke Skywalker's theme plays in the background.

    Star Wars Episode VIII, like Episode VII before it, is released on December 19, 2014. It's a massive success with fans and critics alike, scoring an 87% on Rotten Tomatoes, and breaking The Fated Crisis' opening weekend record by becoming the first film ever to open at $250 million at the North American box office. However, it doesn't have quite as much legs as its predecessor, and ends up failing to meet its domestic box office total. While the reception from fans is highly positive, word of mouth is a bit less positive than that of its predecessor, with certain elements including the destruction of Tatooine and the death of Han and Chewbacca receiving a great deal of criticism. Also, though Danai Gurira's performance as Janissa was highly praised, the concept of the Whills itself was met with some criticism, with George Lucas taking a good deal of the blame. Still, Episode VIII is hugely popular and builds up major hype for Episode IX, due to be released in 2017.
     
  • Index

    • CaseMonster

    Nivek said:
    Not Live action sections please, i never liked those(specially the actors)
    Click to expand...
    Funny you say that because TLM is my favorite movie ever in large part because I thought it would be cool if they did that as a twist but never thought it would. Wonder if I’d feel the same about TTL’s version.
     
    jolou

    jolou

    Pretty much awesome SW VIII !

    Can't wait to see your episode IX ! (Maybe with an appearance of a child of Luke ? :p )
     
    Fall 2014 (Part 13) - The Rest Of The Games
  • Index

    • RySenkari

    (Here are the rest of the notable games from October 2014 to December 2014!)

    -

    Nintendo Reality-

    Unreal VR

    A first person shooter exclusive to the Reality, Unreal VR features both single player and multiplayer modes, and as the title would imply, the game is centered around the Reality's VR features. Created by Epic as a way to test their latest gen Unreal Engine on the Reality, it pushes the Reality more than almost any other game. The single player campaign, which sees numerous rebel factions team up to battle the monstrous Skaarj, is fairly short and unremarkable, though the graphics are quite spectacular for console, and the game has been designed to really impress in VR, with lots of objects coming directly at the screen, and realistic enemy visuals. The main attraction here is the multiplayer deathmatch mode, with all the familiar Unreal series tropes, including an overenthusiastic announcer with a lust for blood. Though the game definitely isn't 2014's best FPS, it's a visual feast and does a great job showing off the Reality's graphical potential, and scores a lot of sales because of it.

    X-Ray

    A shooter title where the player is able to look into any object they want with a special x-ray attachment. Another game designed to heavily show off the Reality's VR, the game's x-ray functionality is like having Perfect Dark's Farsight at all times, though you're usually not able to actually shoot objects. Visually gorgeous, it's a fairly basic shooter with a rather silly plotline and a basic multiplayer mode, but the gimmick helps distinguish it and earns it a bit more sales than it would otherwise have, and is utilized by other games to a better extent later on.

    Maxima: Rose's Revenge

    The return of this FPS series after six years sees Rose, the protagonist from the previous game, on a quest for revenge after her partner (the French agent from the previous game) is killed during a mission. The leap to the next generation sees across the board improvements in graphics, sound, and gameplay, with the shooting/aiming as one of the most improved aspects. Players can aim and zoom in rapidly, locking onto certain enemies, shooting out objects, and taking out enemy body parts with great accuracy. The game is designed to be accessible to new players, but FPS veterans can pull off some incredible feats, and this is one of the more impressive looking FPS titles on the Reality from a visual perspective, almost as fun to watch as it is to play. It scores better reviews than its predecessor, but the lack of a multiplayer mode does hurt the game from a sales perspective, and it becomes a somewhat underappreciated cult classic.

    Apple Virtua-

    Mickey Mouse's Haunted House

    Another Mickey Mouse themed action platformer, the first for the Virtua, this game isn't developed by Capcom like the two previous iTwin titles, but does borrow a lot from them, including Mickey Mouse changing into different costumes (this time, horror themed ones) and teaming up with friends like Donald, Goofy, Minnie, Daisy, Pete, and Scrooge McDuck to battle evil foes. This game has some similarities with OTL's Luigi's Mansion, requiring Mickey to venture through a haunted mansion to save his friends from spooky bad guys, using a variety of different items and costumes in the process. It makes use of the Virtua's motion controls, though it can also be played normally, and it features bright, cartoon inspired graphics that really make the colorful world of Disney pop. While not a very difficult game, it's quite a fun one, and decently popular amongst families, achieving good reviews and decent sales.

    Star Siren 101

    Developed by Capcom for the Virtua (and the reason why Capcom commissioned a different studio to develop their Mickey Mouse game), this is a 2-D action beat 'em up title similar to OTL's Viewtiful Joe games, featuring a magical superheroine named Saiyuki and her four best friends, who transform into the Star Souls to aid their leader Star Siren (aka Saiyuki) in battle. This game sees the five superheroines and their boyfriends transported into a series of mystical dream worlds by their evil supervillain college professors, and forced to fight their way out, with the game's worlds being somewhat of a satire of various school subjects. This game features some of the most beautiful cel shaded graphics ever in a video game, looking very much like an anime come to life, and there are more special attacks than ever before, with each Star Soul gaining more than a dozen different attacks and spells to use on foes. This game is full of character based comedy, with the boyfriends mostly serving as the damsels in distress for the heroines to rescue. Star Siren 101 is a bit of an overhaul for the series in terms of presentation and voice acting, with a number of different visual motifs than previous titles, while the English dub cast has also gotten quite a shuffle. Cristina Pucelli returns as the voice of Saiyuki/Star Siren, while Julie Maddalena and Hynden Walch return as Mariko and Megami respectively, but Kagata (Danielle Judovits) and Chikyu (Riki Lindhome) have been recast, with Cristina Vee joining the cast as Kagata and Erica Lindbeck joining as Chikyu. Star Siren 101 is seen as a fun and fan pleasing beat 'em up game, but the gameplay is still a bit dated, and the days when the series was seen as a Game of the Year contender are long past. Still, it's considered a solid game, and does fairly well in sales, especially in Japan.

    Land Of Enchantment 2

    Land Of Enchantment 2 is a thematic adventure game published by Apple exclusively for the Apple Virtua. Continuing a short while after the original game left off, it continues the story of the five superpowered teens from the original game, who must now battle against an alternate universe Soviet Union, which has become the ruler of an alternate 1984 after gaining alien supertechnology, including their own set of superpowered soldiers. The game features much of the same gameplay elements as its predecessor, with each teen having their own unique power. These powers haven't changed much from the original, but they have gotten stronger and more versatile, and players can now enhance these powers by using them often, much like how one builds up a muscle by frequently using it. It also allows players who like a particular power to make it stronger, allowing the player to choose their own style when going through the game. Though the original game spent about an equal amount of time switching between the 1940s and the modern day, Land Of Enchantment 2 sees players spending much more time in the alternate 1984, which they reach fairly quickly after Arabeth's abduction. Like in the previous game, the team has to split up to explore the strange new world, and quickly learn that their powers are much less effective against the alien-enhanced Soviets, who already know about their powers and who are using Arabeth's time manipulation abilities to try and destroy any threats to their present or future rule. However, the five teens each find friendly faces in the harsh Soviet-controlled world, and with the help of their allies, are able to steal some alien tech of their own, enhancing their powers even further. Arabeth eventually escapes from captivity, and eventually, the five teens reunite, but are unable to make their way home, due to the fact that the Soviets are poised to use their alien tech to find another way to travel to the past and destroy everything. The teens must infiltrate a top secret facility to disable the machine the Soviets are using. In the end, they are able to defeat a powerful alien warlord and the scientist in charge of the facility, but the Soviets' doomsday device is still poised to activate. Arabeth decides to stay behind and use her powers to send the machine into a time void, though this comes at the cost of her own life. The others try to stop her, but she sends them all back to the 1940s and sacrifices herself. The alternate Soviet future is destroyed, and the four teens are returned to New Mexico in 1948. They make a vow never to use their powers again, so as not to cause any other calamities like the one their friend was forced to stop. The game ends on a somber but hopeful note: Arabeth is dead, but her friends are now leading normal lives, with no sign that the Earth is in any further danger.

    Land Of Enchantment 2 is released in December 2014, to mostly good reviews, but not quite on the level of the first game. The graphics and gameplay are praised, but the game itself isn't quite as epic as the original (it's a decent bit shorter), and the storyline also gets some criticism, with Arabeth's death meeting with some controversy. The game is ultimately considered a disappointment: not a financial failure by any means, but also not nearly as memorable as successful as the first. It was expected to compete with Squad Four Betrayal in terms of prestige, but falls far, far short of that game in every aspect.

    Google Nexus-

    The Room

    Has nothing to do with Tommy Wiseau's infamous movie, which was butterflied ITTL. Instead, it's a game about eight people trapped in a room because of a sadistic psychopath, and the player is one of those people. Plays out sort of like Until Dawn meets Saw, with elements of Danganronpa mixed in. Becomes a cult classic, despite mediocre reviews.

    Buffy The Vampire Slayer

    An action RPG with social game elements, Buffy The Vampire Slayer is a Nexus exclusive developed in conjunction with Joss Whedon himself, designed to bring a true Buffy game experience to home console. There have been Buffy games before this, mostly for PC, but this is intended as the definitive Buffy game and even brings back most of the original cast to reprise their roles, including Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy, Alyson Hannigan as Willow, and David Boreanaz as Angel. The player protagonist is a customizable character (can be male or female) who starts out with no powers and teams up with Buffy and the Scoobies early on, but as the game progresses, the player begins to gain mysterious powers, and becomes a crucial ally to Buffy in her quest to defeat evil. The game's action combat plays out somewhat like OTL's The Outer Worlds (some of the people who developed that game IOTL are a part of the TTL Buffy team, though it's not an Obsidian game), and the storyline follows the original series, but diverges from it more and more as the game goes on, due in some part to the player's interference and due in other parts to the presence of a cabal of witches known as the Oathbreakers who begin interfering in Sunnydale events and who eventually become the game's primary antagonist. The game itself does have branching storyline paths and choices, but isn't quite as open world as many other WRPGs. It limits the player's freedom of movement, but gives them a lot of freedom of interaction. The game also has a Buffy Diaries app intended for mobile play that connects with the main Nexus game and can be used to play special social side quests that affect events in the game. Ultimately, the player is able to determine many of the game's plot elements, including some control over who lives or dies (Angel, for example, can be killed early on). Depending on the player's actions, the final battle can play out in any number of ways, though Buffy lives and Sunnydale is saved no matter what. Buffy The Vampire Slayer achieves excellent reviews from both Buffy fans and non-fans alike. Fans consider it to be an excellent companion to the TV series and a great way to relive classic moments, while non-fans consider it one of the best licensed games and WRPGs ever made. The game becomes a big hit for the Nexus in late 2014, and even drives some sales amongst older gamers who considered it a “kiddy” system.

    Nintendo Connect-

    Worlds With Wings 2

    An anime-styled JRPG developed by Level 5, Worlds With Wings 2 follows in the footsteps of its predecessor, though it has a slight step down in graphical presentation (the original was a Sapphire game). The gameplay, like the original, has a lot of similarities with Ni No Kuni, and it has somewhat of a tie-in with its predecessor, taking place 100 years after the original and featuring the angel Seraphina as a magical guardian, still the ruler of the angel world and now watching over the new protagonist, a young girl named Grimelda. Grimelda, as her name would imply, is a depressed and moody young girl with dark impulses, who doesn't believe in angels and who wields dark magic. Seraphina must guide her unlikely protege to save the world from the forces of darkness, and in doing so, Grimelda must discover the thing that makes her happy. This beautiful little handheld RPG is quite well reviewed, and is one of the best selling Connect games of the year in Japan. It doesn't do nearly as well in the States, but good reviews do lead to decent sales.

    Apple Gemini-

    Raffus Raccoon vs. The Walrus

    A wacky 2-D platformer (with some 3-D elements) about an anthropomorphic raccoon, Raffus Raccoon vs. The Walrus features some of the best handheld visuals ever, a beautiful mix of 3-D and cel shading, while its protagonist is quite humorous and mischievous. The game plays somewhat like a mix of Rayman and Donkey Kong Country, and its antagonist is a big blubbery walrus who plays music and causes trouble with his army of wacky henchmen. Raffus has a wide variety of weapons and moves at his disposal, and is able to throw a lot of different items like boomerangs to kill enemies and activate switches. This is the second most hyped original Gemini IP of the year (after Seeded) and one of the best 2-D platformers not named Mario or Sonic in a long time. It's exactly what it says on the tin, and is a lot of crazy fun. It helps contribute to the Gemini's big holiday push, becoming one of the system's most successful games of the year.

    Multiplatform-

    Substance

    An FPS which features the mechanic that the main character must utilize combat chems to excel in battle. The player's chem loadout is as important as their weapon loadout, and the player must juggle lots of different possible reactions in battle. The plot is focused on a corrupt chemical production company that hires mercenaries to kill those who know its dark secrets. It's got a unique concept, but despite good reviews, it doesn't succeed as well as the other established FPS franchises do, and is considered a bit of a financial failure, limiting the chance for it to get a sequel.

    Divine Wrath 5

    The fifth game in Acclaim's Divine Wrath series of fighting games that features gods and other mythical and legendary beings battling it out for control of a multiverse of souls. As violent as Mortal Kombat and as irreverent as any game out there, Divine Wrath pulls no punches in its use of religious pantheons, and even features the Judeo-Christian God as a playable character. Divine Wrath 5 features 36 playable characters, including 28 returning characters and eight new ones, with eight set to be released later as DLC.

    The initial roster includes:

    Thor
    Odin
    Zeus
    Hercules
    Hades
    Apollo
    Athena
    Medusa
    Shiva
    Vishnu
    Ra
    Horus
    Anubis
    Lucifer
    Amaterasu
    Izanagi
    Hephaestus
    Pele
    Poseidon
    Mammon
    Exmachina
    Iris
    War
    Famine
    Pestilence
    Death
    God
    Cu Chulainn
    Brynhilda
    Nanook
    Huracan
    Dybbuk
    Seiryu
    Suzaku
    Byakko
    Genbu

    Popular characters like Uncle Sam, Santa Claus, and Hellboy return as part of the game's DLC. A news story released later on reveals that the developers desperately wanted to include Xenu in the game, but Midway backed off from doing so in fear of angering both Scientology and its critics. The game's main plot focuses mainly on the four Guardians, who are initially portrayed as antagonistic but are in fact working to prevent an even more powerful threat from destroying the universe. Divine Wrath 5 is received decently by critics, but isn't quite as successful or notable as Divine Wrath 4, and the series has lost a bit of its luster from the previous game.

    Ever After High: A Fairytale Adventure

    A JRPG-styled game based on Hasbro's Ever After High franchise (which is being promoted much more than Mattel did IOTL, and is thus doing a lot better, currently the #2 doll line for girls behind Barbie as of TTL 2014), it features Raven Queen and Apple White leading their friends in a great battle against evil. Despite the game's girly aesthetic and fairly simple difficulty, it's an extremely well made game with a decently long quest and a great storyline, and wins a surprising amount of accolades from critics, with better than expected sales. It's released on the Reality, the Virtua, the Connect, and the Gemini, with only small differences between the handheld and console versions.

    Just Dance Revolution

    Ubisoft's long awaited crossover between the two most popular dance-based game series ever (Just Dance and Dance Dance Revolution) is finally launched for the eighth generation consoles. The gameplay combines the arm movements of Just Dance with the footwork of Dance Dance Revolution, and features a huge amount of songs in the base version alone, with over 100 songs available right from the start. About two thirds of the songs are contemporary rock and pop, with the rest being a mix of old classics and J-Pop/J-Rock. There's a huge variety of dance moves and styles as well, and in addition to a robust amount of multiplayer modes, there's a single player mode featuring 12 progressively challenging sets of songs, with “Dance Gurus” to guide the player on their journey. These gurus include stars like Alfonso Ribiero, Lyssa Fielding, and Koda Kumi, among others, and they interact with the player while they're playing through the stages, with each having recorded hours of voice/motion capture footage to cover a huge variety of situations. Just Dance Revolution also has many levels of difficulty, ranging from “little kid beginner level” to “tournament level grandmaster”, with more than a dozen levels in between, allowing a huge variety of players to enjoy the title and making it the most accessible dancing game ever released. Just Dance Revolution is a huge critical and commercial hit and becomes the most successful game ever released for both franchises, with sales legs extending way beyond holiday 2014.

    Thrillseekers: Waveriders 2

    Thrillseekers: Waveriders 2 is an extreme sports game focusing on water sports, and is the sequel to 2007's Waveriders. It features a total of seven sports in all, four returning from previous titles and three brand new: surfing, jet skiing, wakeboarding, kite surfing, hydroflying, windsurfing, and parasailing. Windsurfing is probably the game's featured debut sport, and features the most complex controls of the three new sports, while hydroflying is gimmicky but fun, and parasailing combines elements of Thin Air's aerial sports with Waveriders' companion/friendship mechanic to create a fun hybrid. The storyline of Waveriders 2 is somewhat short and simplistic, and once again focuses on Marina Hirano as she trains for a worldwide competition. The story is divided into seven chapters, with the first two focused on Marina and Alex (and allowing players to play as either of them), the second two focused on Marina and Stacy (again, allowing either of them to be picked) and the last two focused on Marina, Alex, and Stacy (and allowing players to pick between all three). The Marina and Alex chapters focus on the competition/rivalry between the two, and have Marina picking Alex as a training partner, only to be dismayed somewhat after learning that Alex has surpassed her, prompting her to train extra hard to win, the second two chapters see Marina training Stacy, who is taking increasing risks in an effort to impress her and keep up with Alex, forcing Marina to give her a confidence boost, and the final three chapters are a sort of summation of the relationship between the three girls, who end up getting stranded on a deserted beach after losing track of time during training, and forced to work together to get back. The story itself ends with Marina's friends cheering her on as she prepares to compete, though the competition itself isn't shown. Like previous games in the series, the story segment of the game is included alongside a “free ride” segment that allows players to freely play any of the seven sports and choose from a wide variety of characters, with plenty of unlockables to be had (and a good amount of DLC as well). Thrillseekers has always done water sports best, and Waveriders 2 is no exception. The game gets strong reviews for its gameplay and subdued storyline, and is generally seen as a worthy successor both to the original title and to Thin Air, though reviews aren't quite as good as that game. It continues the good vibes that Thin Air established, and sees strong sales throughout the first few months after its release, while also setting the stage for Thrillseekers 3, finally coming in 2015. It's Jennifer Tung's last performance as Marina before Anna Akana takes over the role, and also sees Cristina Milizia debut as the voice of Vivian. Brittany Saldita died after Waveriders 2 went gold, but the day one patch for the game does add a memorial to the beginning of the story mode's credits to properly honor her.

    The Talos Principle

    Released on the Reality, Virtua, and Nexus in 2014 (and PC and Mac), and getting a handheld port in early 2015, The Talos Principle is a story-based puzzle title, and is very similar to OTL's game in both story and gameplay. Designed somewhat more with the consoles in mind (particularly the Reality, whose VR pushed the developers to try and put out a console version simultaneously with the PC and Mac versions), the game does have a slightly smaller scale than OTL's, and slightly worse graphics, but also features slightly more creative puzzles, so overall, it's a wash, and the game itself is considered one of the very best games of the year. It sells quite well as a Reality digital game, and would later be included in some bundles for that system.

    -

    Top Selling New Console Games In North America (in terms of sales over the first four weeks of release):

    October 2014:

    1. Squad Four Betrayal (Nintendo Reality)
    2. Commander Keen: Adventures In Virtual Reality (Apple Virtua)
    3. Assassin's Creed: Liberation (Nintendo Reality)
    4. Assassin's Creed: Liberation (Apple Virtua)
    5. Assassin's Creed: Liberation (Google Nexus)

    November 2014:

    1. Call Of Duty: Advanced Warfare (Nintendo Reality)
    2. Super Mario Dimensions 3 (Nintendo Connect)
    3. Call Of Duty: Advanced Warfare (Apple Virtua)
    4. Call Of Duty: Advanced Warfare (Google Nexus)
    5. Sonic The Hedgehog 7 (Apple Gemini)

    December 2014:

    1. Rise A Knight IV: Scourge (Nintendo Reality)
    2. Techno Angel: Sabine (Google Nexus)
    3. Land Of Enchantment 2 (Apple Virtua)
    4. Rise A Knight IV: Scourge (Apple Virtua)
    5. Rise A Knight IV: Scourge (Google Nexus)
     
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