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

[RySenkari]

Bloodborne

Developed by From Software and published by Sony, Bloodborne is an action RPG exclusive to the Nintendo Reality, and building on TTL's King's Grave games while being thematically and mechanically comparable to OTL's PS4 exclusive. The player creates a character known as the "Hunter", who explores a Victorian-era city in the midst of a terrible bloodborne plague causing insanity and mutations throughout. However, rather than being a cosmic horror-esque game as in OTL, TTL's Bloodborne is more of a murder mystery, taking more inspiration from Sherlock Holmes than from Lovecraft, though it also has plenty of Gothic-inspired horror and lots of fearsome beasts. Like OTL's game, Bloodborne encourages the player to attack fiercely by making them quick and giving them lots of weapons to use, while also restoring lost HP if they're able to hit the enemy quickly enough after being struck. Though solving the mysteries presented throughout the game, the player can gain Insight that has a similar function to OTL's game, and by defeating enemies, they're able to earn Blood Echoes, which are dropped upon defeat but can be retrieved afterwards if they're able to reach the spot where they previously died. NPCs play a larger role in TTL's Bloodborne, helping to provide clues for mysteries or sometimes giving or selling various items or pieces of equipment the player will need to succeed. However, these NPCs can be mutated into horrible creatures, depending on the player's actions or what point in the game they've reached, and so it's impossible to truly trust anyone in this game, since a typical conversation can often turn into a difficult battle. As the Hunter explores the city, they'll be put on the trail of a killer known as the Bloodletter, who has a Jack The Ripper-esque MO, leaving mutilated bodies behind. Sometimes, these bodies turn into creatures who must be put down, and it soon becomes apparent that the Bloodletter is utilizing some kind of evil magic to commit his vile deeds. The local religious group, the Church Of Angelus, also comes into play, with their members usually being skilled hunters in their own right, but using a strange substance to enhance their powers, which sometimes drives them to attack the Hunter in their insanity. As the Hunter continues to explore, the city descends more and more into madness, with stronger monsters and fewer friendly NPCs. About halfway through the game, there's a climactic boss fight with the Bloodletter, who, after defeated, reveals himself as a Hunter and a former member of the Church of Angelus, who, in their efforts to stop the plague, have made a pact with an ancient evil. The Bloodletter was killing infected in an effort to slow down the Church's efforts, and tells the Hunter that they must take responsibility for freeing the city and preventing an even more terrible plague from spreading. The Hunter then becomes a fugitive, hunted down by nearly everyone in the city, and must also contend with the beasts and plague victims roaming the streets. The second half of the game sees the Hunter fighting against beasts and Church of Angelus Hunters alike, until finally raiding the Sanctuary of Angelus and battling the Grand Inquisitor, who is revealed as a massive creature and a vessel for the True Evil. The defeat of the Grand Inquisitor leads to the final segment of the game, in which the Hunter enters a gaping dark wound that has been carved out into the center of the city by the corrupted blood. They defeat the source of the corruption, a creature spawned from a Church priestess and a plague god, and in doing so, free the city from the plague. The Hunter crawls out of the massive hole in the city streets, and though the plague has ravaged the city, it can no longer threaten the living. Bloodborne also gets two DLCs: a DLC in which they must venture out of the city in search of a trio of rogue Hunters, and a second DLC taking place after the game, in which the city sees a rebirth of the plague, spread by a group of visitors known as the Death Merchants. Some of the merchants must be defeated, while others offer incredible items to make the Hunter stronger than ever.

Bloodborne is quite a well received game upon its release, though it isn't quite as highly reviewed as the OTL title. The murder mystery elements of the game aren't quite as unique as the cosmic horror elements of OTL's game, and some of the NPCs are considered boring and/or annoying. However, the DLCs are quite well received, some of the best DLCs yet released for a game, and help to breathe new life into the title. Bloodborne does get better reviews than any of the King's Grave games, and its first-person VR mode is one of the most terrifying experiences in gaming, though it does make the game a bit harder to play in this fashion. Overall, the game is one of the biggest Reality hits of the first half of the year. With King's Grave not quite as successful as OTL's Dark Souls, and certainly paling in comparison to Bloodborne, From Software's focus for future games shifts somewhat, and it's likely that Bloodborne, or more original IPs, will get more attention than King's Grave going forward, altering what TTL audiences perceive the genre to be, while reducing the influence of Souls-type games ITTL. Bloodborne is seen as more of a flash in the pan than it is part of an overall "genre", and as such, isn't quite as influential on the action RPG genre as a whole, even as it becomes a major success critically and commercially.

 

[Roger Redux]

Even more hilarious would be the reactions in Game Over to how violent and vulgar Rick and Morty is IOTL. “Wait Rick did WHAT to a homeless man?!”

Confession time: I've never actually seen the show, I only know it by reputation.....so baring that in mind.....do I even want to know what Rick did to the homeless guy?

 

[TheDetailer]

Confession time: I've never actually seen the show, I only know it by reputation.....so baring that in mind.....do I even want to know what Rick did to the homeless guy?

Spoiler

It involves a Jurassic Park parody and space. That's all I'll say.

 

[CaseMonster]

Don’t forget the pirates

 

[RySenkari]

Phantasy Star Online 3

Phantasy Star Online 3 is an action MMORPG released for the Apple Virtua and Macintosh computers. The game builds upon the gameplay and locations of previous titles in the Phantasy Star series, and is the series' first action RPG (in contrast with OTL, in which Phantasy Star Online 2 was the first action RPG in the series). The game actually plays a lot like OTL's Phantasy Star Online 2, with a slightly more complex battle system and more loot dropped by enemies in battle, as well as an increased emphasis on partying up, and much more open locations. Instead of a central hub from which missions are given out and players are deployed to certain small areas, the game plays more like World Of Warcraft or Final Fantasy Online, with much larger, open areas divided amongst several planets in a vast galaxy. There are some ships roaming between worlds that serve as hubs of a sort, with some ships even containing combat and missions of their own, but most players will start on one of the planets, usually a vast plains world known as Aylandia. The game is full of NPCs and missions, missions which range from the typical "find 10 of these" or "kill these enemies" missions to more complex quest lines involving dungeon exploration and strategic combat. The game also introduces vessels ranging from animals that can be trained and ridden (with some able to fight alongside the player) to motorcycle-like vehicles that can be ridden across the landscape, to hovercraft or large trucks. These vessels can either be purchased or found, or earned as quest rewards, though purchasing them is probably the easiest route to take. The game features player vs. player combat, and even entire PvP zones, though most of the game's worlds don't allow for PvP by default, and instead, cooperation is encouraged, with loot and XP bonuses for partying up and even some party exclusive quests. Voice chat, which was a novel feature in Phantasy Star Online 2, is now strongly encouraged, and there are limited edition bundles of the game that come with PSO branded headsets. However, the text functions are also available for those not using a microphone, and some players also communicate on online voice services outside of the game. Phantasy Star Online 3 features vastly improved graphics over its predecessor, and the game also looks better than OTL's Phantasy Star Online 2, though the graphics aren't cutting edge for contemporary RPGs and sacrifice some level of detail for immense scale. The game's world is huge, not quite as big as World Of Warcraft or Final Fantasy Online II, but definitely enormous, especially for a game without a subscription service. Because of the lack of a subscription service, Apple does have a lot of cosmetic DLC, and also some time saving "pay to win" purchases as well, including exclusive equipment and more spins at the game's casino. These DLC sales allow the game to be quite profitable, though it is an annoyance to players who don't want to/can't afford to pay. The game's storyline is fairly complex, involving the search for a paradise world called Eternessence, the gateway to which is said to open when certain artifacts are found on several planets. However, once the gateway is opened, a slew of ancient creatures pour out to wage war on those who would defile the sacred planet, and while this is going on, a galactic dictator hopes to seize the planet for himself. Once this storyline is completed by the player, Eternessence opens up, but rather than being a complete paradise (though it is beautiful), it's a land of powerful beasts and impossible wonders, and mostly becomes the planet for high level parties to adventure on. Of course, subsequent DLC expansions would open up even more amazing worlds to the players, introducing more characters and equipment and also improving the game over time.

Phantasy Star Online 3 is released on February 27, 2015, to strong reviews from critics, averaging in the mid to high 8s. That's a bit of a dip from the previous two titles, with the main criticism focusing on the game's DLC (most notably, Jim Sterling at Games Over Matter would award it a 4/10 and would go on to call it one of the "Shittiest Games Of 2015"). Most players and critics, however, quite enjoy the game, and it enjoys one of the biggest Virtua software launches ever in Japan. In North America, it wouldn't do quite so well, but would have a decent debut month, with more players jumping in once the game received a price cut. It's not quite as good as Final Fantasy Online II, but for those who don't want to pay $15 a month, it's definitely the best MMORPG on eighth generation consoles, at least for the time being.

 

[Kara0616]

@RySenkari I know that you don't seem to like questions but what is Rockstar Games going to do next ITTL?

 

[RySenkari]

@RySenkari I know that you don't seem to like questions but what is Rockstar Games going to do next ITTL?

Believe it or not, you'll find out in tomorrow's update...

 

[RySenkari]

Chance

Chance is a third-person shooter/stealth game published by Take-Two Interactive and developed by Rockstar Games. The game was developed by most of the same team that worked on the Max Payne titles, and it can be somewhat considered a spiritual successor to them, though it also takes influence from games like Goldeneye 007, Blackheart, and Metal Gear Solid, as well as Tales Of The Seven Seas: Horizon (for its cinematic elements). Its protagonist is a British spy named Lee Chance, who can be somewhat compared to the Daniel Craig version of James Bond from IOTL, with a bit of Pierce Brosnan thrown in. After a mission gone wrong, Chance must hunt down the people responsible for murdering his mentor, the legendary spy John Stone (voiced by Ben Kingsley, and featured in a number of flashbacks). Chance plays like a fast-paced stealth shooter title, and the game's primary selling point is its quick-snap aiming and shooting, which asks the player to move quickly from place to place, darting in and out of cover to find their shot. It's easier to fire from a stationary position than it is to fire on the run, but firing on the run is also an essential skill to learn, one that the player will build up over the course of the game. Chance has a number of spy tools and skills at his disposal, and while stealth isn't required, it's highly recommended for certain missions. Missions themselves are broken up into numerous objectives, similar to the Goldeneye 007 titles. Some of these objectives are required, while others are optional, with the optional objectives altering certain mission parameters or future objectives. In addition to shooting segments, there are some segments where the player can use Chance's charm to sweet talk a target into divulging information, while there are also interrogation options as well for targets who need to be roughed over a bit. The enemy AI in Chance is quite realistic, which is why stealth is so important, as enemies will be quick to notice things out of the ordinary like bodies left out in the open, or even furniture that's too out of place. Of course, this also makes it possible for players to lay traps. Even during shootouts, enemies will flank and will pick up on player tendencies, forcing players to change it up a bit from time to time, or even to flee if a fight gets out of hand. Though it's preferable to use firearms, the game does have an extensive melee system, with Chance able to use a wide variety of martial arts on foes, with knives and even swords also available. There's even the opportunity to improvise weapons, with objects such as vases and candlesticks able to be picked up and swung (of course, this goes for enemies as well, thanks to the game's sophisticated AI... and it even extends to friendly NPCs in escort missions). While Rockstar's budget for Chance wasn't quite as big as their budget for Grand Theft Auto III, the company was able to put a decent amount of resources into the game, and it's one of the better looking console games to date this generation (it helps that it's not an open world title, allowing the developers to focus more on detail). The game has a sophisticated soundtrack with a wide variety of original music, including a Bond-like theme song during the game's title sequence. The game also features a strong voice cast. In addition to the aforementioned Ben Kingsley as Chance's mentor, there's also Nora Zehetner voicing Chance's main love interest, a mysterious woman named Mary Page who becomes an instrumental part of Chance's mission. Nathan Fillion voices an American agent who serves as a dubious ally to Chance, while Jillian Rose Reed voices a young computer hacker named Risk who gets caught up in the situation but who has a strange loyalty to Chance. Chance himself is voiced by a relatively little known British actor who is still quite heavily praised for his performance, giving Chance a mix of debonair charm and world-weary focus. Though some might call Chance a parody, and it does have its comic relief moments here and there, it's a much more serious game than a true parody like No One Lives Forever, and at an M rating, it isn't afraid to get quite dark and gritty. In addition to the game's fairly long single player campaign, there's also a multiplayer mode. The multiplayer mode is rather simple, with a small variety of ways to play, and is meant as more of a throwback to a Goldeneye 007 or The Covenant type of multiplayer, which can be played either locally with up to four players, or online with up to 12.

Chance's opening mission is a flashback mission (somewhat like the Dam mission in Goldeneye 007) which sets up the circumstances under which Chance's mentor was killed. The mission focuses on interrupting a weapons deal, but someone sold Chance and Stone out, and only Chance makes it out alive, while Stone is murdered by an unseen figure. Chance is demoted for the failure of the mission, but slowly works his way back up to special agent level, building up a roster of underworld contacts along the way. The game itself resumes just as Chance has gotten his special agent status back, and he immediately wants to find Stone's killers, as the trail for them has gone cold, while the stolen weapons have already been used in a series of high profile crimes. However, Chance is instead required to partner up with the American agent Marcus Whittier on an unrelated mission. A short time into working with Whittier, Chance meets a mysterious woman, Mary Page, who offers him a lead to find Stone's killers. Chance and Page are able to convince Chance's agency that Page's expertise on the current string of missions is essential, and thus, Chance is able to pursue the lead, while Whittier also tags along. The trail leads to a high-level corporate executive named David Tarnes (voiced by Jason Schwartzman) who has been dealing in shady tech equipment, and who is the target of Whittier's investigation, while potentially being tangentially involved in Chance's as well. However, Chance pushes the issue, leading to the mission going south, with Whittier being wounded, Page disappearing (after it's revealed that she, not Tarnes, is involved with Stone's death), and Chance on the run. Chance soon makes a reluctant ally: a young woman named Risk, who Chance initially forces to work for him, but who eventually begins working for him voluntarily after discovering some interesting properties of Tarnes' tech: it's being co-opted by a shadow group called Pentacost without Tarnes' knowledge, and that Pentacost tech was also used in the weapons stolen by Stone's killers. In fact, Tarnes' company became successful as a result of that tech. Chance realizes that in order to get to Pentacost, he'll need to get back to Tarnes, and with Risk's help, Chance is able to corner Tarnes and interrogate him, learning more about Pentacost and their plans, along with their leader, an anonymous figure known as North. North is a tech genius and a nihilistic zealot who went off the grid several years before, after the government forcibly broke up his company and confiscated some of his patents. North uses Pentacost and its shadow agents to communicate with corporate leaders around the world, manipulating them into doing Pentacost's bidding. In addition, North may be hiding in plain sight, and Chance needs to infiltrate a corporate gala to scope out potential suspects. In doing so, he runs into Page again, who confesses to working with Pentacost but only to the degree that she needed to do so to steal an important piece of technology from a member of Pentacost that her employer needs to complete his life's work. Chance reluctantly decides to trust Page again, and by doing so, he's able to get close to a man named Daniel Belknap (voiced by Ryan O'Flanagan), who turns out to be North. However, before Chance is able to question him, he's incapacitated and captured. In typical Bond villain fashion, North reveals his plans to Chance, then begins torturing him, which the player has to resist or it's a game over. Fortunately, North is called away, and Page is able to find and rescue Chance, revealing that she made contact with Risk and has been receiving her help. This sets off the last few missions, in which Chance must stop North from unleashing a crippling computer virus that will give him control of the world's financial and electrical systems. Whittier returns and the game sets up that Whittier will betray Chance, but fortunately, Whittier really is a good agent, and provides crucial help to Chance, helping to foil an attack while Chance is occupied with rescuing Page (who gets herself captured by one of North's goons early in the second to last mission of the game). Chance rescues Page, and the two end up making love just before the final mission, in which the agent and his allies must finally bring an end to North's plans. It's fairly typical spy movie fare, complete with a spectacular car chase, one final brief stealth/hacking sequence, and some fierce brawls, with the final boss being North's toughest goon, an assassin who was also the one to pull the trigger and kill Stone, while Page helps Chance by killing the mole within Chance's organization who sold Chance and Stone out all those years ago. The final confrontation with North involves a clever twist on QTEs, and though it's possible for the player to lose here and get a game over, it's done in such a way that most players will recognize the cues and succeed, killing North and triggering the game's ending. There is a twist in the ending, with Page dying in Chance's arms after being shot by an unknown assailant (implied to be another mole within Chance's organization). The game ends with Chance meeting the director privately, only for Chance to shoot the director with a paralyzing dart, implying that he's going to interrogate the director about who might have been responsible for Page's death, and setting up a sequel.

Chance is one of the most hyped games of the first quarter of 2015, and it ends up being one of the most successful, both critically and commercially, with the gameplay, storyline, and production values all being highly praised. It's considered a step forward for the third person shooter and stealth genres, taking what didn't work about those types of games and tossing it out in favor of something bold and new. It retreads the popular spy genre, providing a comforting familiarity, while at the same time pushing the genre to new heights. It emerges as one of the year's first game of the year contenders, and the start of yet another highly successful Rockstar franchise.

 

[Kara0616]

Chance

Chance is a third-person shooter/stealth game published by Take-Two Interactive and developed by Rockstar Games. The game was developed by most of the same team that worked on the Max Payne titles, and it can be somewhat considered a spiritual successor to them, though it also takes influence from games like Goldeneye 007, Blackheart, and Metal Gear Solid, as well as Tales Of The Seven Seas: Horizon (for its cinematic elements). Its protagonist is a British spy named Lee Chance, who can be somewhat compared to the Daniel Craig version of James Bond from IOTL, with a bit of Pierce Brosnan thrown in. After a mission gone wrong, Chance must hunt down the people responsible for murdering his mentor, the legendary spy John Stone (voiced by Ben Kingsley, and featured in a number of flashbacks). Chance plays like a fast-paced stealth shooter title, and the game's primary selling point is its quick-snap aiming and shooting, which asks the player to move quickly from place to place, darting in and out of cover to find their shot. It's easier to fire from a stationary position than it is to fire on the run, but firing on the run is also an essential skill to learn, one that the player will build up over the course of the game. Chance has a number of spy tools and skills at his disposal, and while stealth isn't required, it's highly recommended for certain missions. Missions themselves are broken up into numerous objectives, similar to the Goldeneye 007 titles. Some of these objectives are required, while others are optional, with the optional objectives altering certain mission parameters or future objectives. In addition to shooting segments, there are some segments where the player can use Chance's charm to sweet talk a target into divulging information, while there are also interrogation options as well for targets who need to be roughed over a bit. The enemy AI in Chance is quite realistic, which is why stealth is so important, as enemies will be quick to notice things out of the ordinary like bodies left out in the open, or even furniture that's too out of place. Of course, this also makes it possible for players to lay traps. Even during shootouts, enemies will flank and will pick up on player tendencies, forcing players to change it up a bit from time to time, or even to flee if a fight gets out of hand. Though it's preferable to use firearms, the game does have an extensive melee system, with Chance able to use a wide variety of martial arts on foes, with knives and even swords also available. There's even the opportunity to improvise weapons, with objects such as vases and candlesticks able to be picked up and swung (of course, this goes for enemies as well, thanks to the game's sophisticated AI... and it even extends to friendly NPCs in escort missions). While Rockstar's budget for Chance wasn't quite as big as their budget for Grand Theft Auto III, the company was able to put a decent amount of resources into the game, and it's one of the better looking console games to date this generation (it helps that it's not an open world title, allowing the developers to focus more on detail). The game has a sophisticated soundtrack with a wide variety of original music, including a Bond-like theme song during the game's title sequence. The game also features a strong voice cast. In addition to the aforementioned Ben Kingsley as Chance's mentor, there's also Nora Zehetner voicing Chance's main love interest, a mysterious woman named Mary Page who becomes an instrumental part of Chance's mission. Nathan Fillion voices an American agent who serves as a dubious ally to Chance, while Jillian Rose Reed voices a young computer hacker named Risk who gets caught up in the situation but who has a strange loyalty to Chance. Chance himself is voiced by a relatively little known British actor who is still quite heavily praised for his performance, giving Chance a mix of debonair charm and world-weary focus. Though some might call Chance a parody, and it does have its comic relief moments here and there, it's a much more serious game than a true parody like No One Lives Forever, and at an M rating, it isn't afraid to get quite dark and gritty. In addition to the game's fairly long single player campaign, there's also a multiplayer mode. The multiplayer mode is rather simple, with a small variety of ways to play, and is meant as more of a throwback to a Goldeneye 007 or The Covenant type of multiplayer, which can be played either locally with up to four players, or online with up to 12.

Chance's opening mission is a flashback mission (somewhat like the Dam mission in Goldeneye 007) which sets up the circumstances under which Chance's mentor was killed. The mission focuses on interrupting a weapons deal, but someone sold Chance and Stone out, and only Chance makes it out alive, while Stone is murdered by an unseen figure. Chance is demoted for the failure of the mission, but slowly works his way back up to special agent level, building up a roster of underworld contacts along the way. The game itself resumes just as Chance has gotten his special agent status back, and he immediately wants to find Stone's killers, as the trail for them has gone cold, while the stolen weapons have already been used in a series of high profile crimes. However, Chance is instead required to partner up with the American agent Marcus Whittier on an unrelated mission. A short time into working with Whittier, Chance meets a mysterious woman, Mary Page, who offers him a lead to find Stone's killers. Chance and Page are able to convince Chance's agency that Page's expertise on the current string of missions is essential, and thus, Chance is able to pursue the lead, while Whittier also tags along. The trail leads to a high-level corporate executive named David Tarnes (voiced by Jason Schwartzman) who has been dealing in shady tech equipment, and who is the target of Whittier's investigation, while potentially being tangentially involved in Chance's as well. However, Chance pushes the issue, leading to the mission going south, with Whittier being wounded, Page disappearing (after it's revealed that she, not Tarnes, is involved with Stone's death), and Chance on the run. Chance soon makes a reluctant ally: a young woman named Risk, who Chance initially forces to work for him, but who eventually begins working for him voluntarily after discovering some interesting properties of Tarnes' tech: it's being co-opted by a shadow group called Pentacost without Tarnes' knowledge, and that Pentacost tech was also used in the weapons stolen by Stone's killers. In fact, Tarnes' company became successful as a result of that tech. Chance realizes that in order to get to Pentacost, he'll need to get back to Tarnes, and with Risk's help, Chance is able to corner Tarnes and interrogate him, learning more about Pentacost and their plans, along with their leader, an anonymous figure known as North. North is a tech genius and a nihilistic zealot who went off the grid several years before, after the government forcibly broke up his company and confiscated some of his patents. North uses Pentacost and its shadow agents to communicate with corporate leaders around the world, manipulating them into doing Pentacost's bidding. In addition, North may be hiding in plain sight, and Chance needs to infiltrate a corporate gala to scope out potential suspects. In doing so, he runs into Page again, who confesses to working with Pentacost but only to the degree that she needed to do so to steal an important piece of technology from a member of Pentacost that her employer needs to complete his life's work. Chance reluctantly decides to trust Page again, and by doing so, he's able to get close to a man named Daniel Belknap (voiced by Ryan O'Flanagan), who turns out to be North. However, before Chance is able to question him, he's incapacitated and captured. In typical Bond villain fashion, North reveals his plans to Chance, then begins torturing him, which the player has to resist or it's a game over. Fortunately, North is called away, and Page is able to find and rescue Chance, revealing that she made contact with Risk and has been receiving her help. This sets off the last few missions, in which Chance must stop North from unleashing a crippling computer virus that will give him control of the world's financial and electrical systems. Whittier returns and the game sets up that Whittier will betray Chance, but fortunately, Whittier really is a good agent, and provides crucial help to Chance, helping to foil an attack while Chance is occupied with rescuing Page (who gets herself captured by one of North's goons early in the second to last mission of the game). Chance rescues Page, and the two end up making love just before the final mission, in which the agent and his allies must finally bring an end to North's plans. It's fairly typical spy movie fare, complete with a spectacular car chase, one final brief stealth/hacking sequence, and some fierce brawls, with the final boss being North's toughest goon, an assassin who was also the one to pull the trigger and kill Stone, while Page helps Chance by killing the mole within Chance's organization who sold Chance and Stone out all those years ago. The final confrontation with North involves a clever twist on QTEs, and though it's possible for the player to lose here and get a game over, it's done in such a way that most players will recognize the cues and succeed, killing North and triggering the game's ending. There is a twist in the ending, with Page dying in Chance's arms after being shot by an unknown assailant (implied to be another mole within Chance's organization). The game ends with Chance meeting the director privately, only for Chance to shoot the director with a paralyzing dart, implying that he's going to interrogate the director about who might have been responsible for Page's death, and setting up a sequel.

Chance is one of the most hyped games of the first quarter of 2015, and it ends up being one of the most successful, both critically and commercially, with the gameplay, storyline, and production values all being highly praised. It's considered a step forward for the third person shooter and stealth genres, taking what didn't work about those types of games and tossing it out in favor of something bold and new. It retreads the popular spy genre, providing a comforting familiarity, while at the same time pushing the genre to new heights. It emerges as one of the year's first game of the year contenders, and the start of yet another highly successful Rockstar franchise.

10/10 I would definitely play this if it were real.

 

[RySenkari]

(Here are the rest of the notable games from January 2015 to March 2015!)
-

Nintendo Reality-

Twisted Metal Reality

A car combat game exclusive to the Nintendo Reality, Twisted Metal Reality features classic Twisted Metal gameplay in an extremely violent reality show setting. The game features 24 playable characters/vehicles (and would later add six DLC characters), in a winner take all deathmatch in a massive city that's been taken over by a sadistic reality show host named Dr. Slaughter. The city has been rigged with traps, criminals, and hostages, and the 24 characters have been lured, blackmailed, or abducted to the city to battle it out for the pleasure of millions of viewers across the world. The game features both single player and multiplayer gameplay, with an extensive “campaign” mode featuring 14 chapters, while the online modes feature deathmatch, capture the flag, and other popular forms of play. The game also includes a first person VR mode to allow players to experience the carnage and destruction in full 3-D. As for the plot and new characters, the game features several, including a rock musician named Spirit who's trying to rescue her kidnapped girlfriend, a teacher named Mr. Reed who's been driven insane by his students, and a war hero, Sgt. Liberty, who's already been on one reality show about war and now wants to conquer a new kind of battlefield. Of course, most of the beloved favorites from series past return, including Needles Kane, aka Sweet Tooth, who just wants to kill people. Twisted Metal Reality delights in its irreverence, with a crazy announcer commentating the action as you play, and plenty of blood, guts, and violence throughout. While it hasn't changed up the formula much from the Chaos series, the story mode and outstanding graphics help the game stave off concerns about unoriginality, and it fares well with critics, while also easily becoming January 2015's top selling new game.

Dr. Mario

A brand new 3-D Dr. Mario for the Reality, this game features a slew of graphical upgrades and new gameplay modes, though at its core, it's still the same old classic puzzler. Online gameplay is the big attraction here, with a wide variety of match customization options and a full competitive ladder. Fans of Dr. Mario love this game, but it's not really a huge mainstream success in the West, and does most of its sales in Japan.

Apple Virtua-

Aquila Hexagon

The latest Battle Engine Aquila title takes place after Shikase, and features six playable protagonists: four returning, and two new. These characters must once again climb into flying battle mechs, engaging a powerful alien army with advanced battle engines of their own. The game has some noticeable similarities to Titanfall, but with more of a free-wheeling, anime edge, and has taken on a sort of run and gun playstyle compared to the previous games which were more traditional FPS style. In this game, you pick one character to play as, and then take either one or two characters as wingmen, depending on the level. Depending on who you pick and what skills you've unlocked, you're able to utilize powerful attack and defense combos, capable of decimating waves of enemies. This game definitely knows what it wants to be, and is a long way from the original game's roots. Aquila Hexagon sees some slightly declined review scores from Shikase, with Western reviewers somewhat decrying the faster gameplay. However, Japanese review outlets shower the game with praise, and it's also one of the top selling games of early 2015 there. It doesn't do quite so well in the West, and is considered a bit of a disappointment here.

Gundam Legacy

Gundam Legacy is a tactical RPG somewhat similar in gameplay to the OTL Project X-Zone games. Like those titles, Gundam Legacy is a massive crossover game, this time involving the cast and mechs of more than a dozen different Gundam series, battling both each other and a new existential threat known as the Dark Impulse Gundam, which leads an army of machines infested with a strange dark energy that seek to conquer and destroy the Gundam multiverse. Heroes, villains, living, and dead all come together under the banner of a unified Gundam Force (after initially battling it out amongst themselves) to take down the Dark Impulse Gundam and its army. Battles consist of players maneuvering individual Gundams near an enemy, and then a one-on-one (or sometimes two on one or two on two) battle takes place until one is either crippled or destroyed. Gundams can be leveled up, or equipped with accessories to increase their power, and there are plenty of voice clips and cutscenes, with the North American version including full English voice acting. Gundam Legacy is moderately well reviewed, with scores in the low to mid 7s, and ends up doing fairly well in the West, becoming the best selling Gundam title ever in North America.

Eternal Warriors: Stormworld

Acclaim brings this series back for a third go-around, once again teaming up with Apple to release the title as a Virtua exclusive. This time, however, the game has a reduced budget, and is released as a $29.99 budget title, with a shorter quest and a more streamlined game overall. It sees Gilad, Armstrong, Magnus, and Ivar return for a Gauntlet-esque hack and slash action-RPG that takes place across twelve different time periods and features lots of different enemy types and plenty of violence. It can be played with three friends online, with a co-op and a competitive mode (the competitive mode lets players steal loot from one another, and whoever kills the most enemies is the winner). In the game, the Eternal Warriors must do battle with the Thunder Dragon (a godlike being who can transform into a dragon) across time and space, finally clashing with him once and for all in Stormworld. It's a fairly fun hack and slash, and a really solid budget title. It becomes one of the best selling digital Virtua games of the month, and sales remain strong, especially after a price cut to $19.99 later in the year. Acclaim would produce more digital titles for their IPs, some as multiplatformers and others as exclusives.

Monkey Ball Virtua

The popular Monkey Ball franchise comes to the Virtua for the first time ever (not counting digital downloads of older games in the series). It gets a graphical update and lots of new modes and levels, with improved motion controls. Indeed, the motion controls, which are fully customizable, get a lot of praise from reviewers, and this game is considered by many to be the best Monkey Ball game ever produced. Sales are slow at first, but good word of mouth helps the sales to grow later on.

Triple Orb Balancer

Capcom's action series comes to the Virtua, after a couple of fairly forgettable installments on the Gemini released in the last four years. Tri is once again the protagonist, and the main gimmick of this game is the presence of special “balancing orbs” designed to enable special effects for the other two orbs equipped to the player. All balancing orbs weaken the other two orbs, but the special effect is intended to counteract that, and a big challenge of the game is for the player to find a combination of buffs, debuffs, and special effects that work for them, all while navigating a 3-D action landscape similar to the Mega Man Next games. The orbs also enable some new movement powers for Tri, enabling him to swing and hover in the air, with many strategies revolving around raining down attacks on enemies from above. The plot is fairly simple: Tri and Tezuka are on vacation, only for a supervillain to threaten them, Tezuka needs to be rescued... it's fairly standard for the genre, and most of the game's attraction comes from the gameplay, not the plot. The motion controls, which allow the player to mimic the throwing and juggling motions of Tri's orbs, are really fun, and work better than the traditional controls once the player gets the hang of them. Triple Orb Balancer is a fun game, albeit a fairly short one, and sales are rather good, improving significantly over the Gemini games.

Google Nexus-

Soma

The popular first person indie survival horror title from OTL is a Nexus exclusive ITTL, in which the player explores an underwater research lab that's been ravaged by monsters in an attempt to discover what happened there. Along the way, they encounter strange machinery, and must unravel the mystery in order to survive and discover their place in this strange new world. The plot of TTL's Soma has some major differences from OTL's game, focusing more on monsters than on intelligent AI, and also eschewing the post-apocalyptic future storyline in favor of an inconclusive timeline, but many of the same thematic and gameplay elements that made OTL's game so well received are present in this one, and Soma is considered one of the Nexus' best indie titles of the year, achieving similar review scores to OTL while also ranking highly on Google's digital storefront.

Wakfu: The Grand Adventure

A JRPG spinoff of the popular game/animation series, Wakfu: The Grand Adventure features a cast of strange adventurers on a journey to save their realm. The protagonist is the player, able to customize a character (male or female) with some control over their stats and class. The gameplay actually somewhat resembles that of the OTL South Park RPGs, though not nearly as irreverent or controversial, and this game is considered a solid Nexus RPG, though sales don't quite match those of earlier Nexus Wakfu games.

Pageantry

An anime-styled game in which the player must help the cute anime girl of their choice win a beauty pageant. While that may sound simple on the surface, this game is surprisingly deep, with lots of fun characters and dialogue, and though reviews are mediocre, averaging in the 7/10 range, this becomes a popular niche title, with lots of online “let's plays” and streams, and of course, plenty of fanart.

The Redacted 2

Developed fairly hastily, after the first game achieved a decent amount of success and sales, The Redacted 2 features a short campaign about a special forces soldier who ends up having to escort the president through hostile territory after an attack on Marine One in a foreign country. The gameplay, however, has seen some notable improvements, based on player complaints from the first game. Meanwhile, the multiplayer has been totally overhauled, with lots of new features and modes, and it's clear that this is the main attraction of the game. Surprisingly, for such a rushed title, The Redacted 2 manages to achieve fairly strong reviews, and first week sales are also pretty good, though they would trail off quickly afterwards.

Vainglory

A MOBA game that was moderately successful IOTL, Vainglory plays fairly similarly ITTL, but with Google assisting in the game's development (after purchasing Super Evil Megacorp in 2013), it sees some significant improvements to team communication features, and starts to become hyped in late 2014 as a Nexus exclusive entry in an increasingly popular genre. Google would announce the game at PAX in the fall of that year, and hype would steadily build until the eventual release in February 2015. Its launch is a very successful one, becoming the biggest Nexus game launch since Techno Angel: Sabine, and it would end up being even bigger than Mortal Kombat Eternal, at least on the Nexus at launch. It becomes one of Google's flagship titles, and updates are frequent, with even more new characters and stages added than IOTL. Its release would also lead to a bump in sales for the Nexus, and the game would eventually come bundled with some varieties of the console.

Clockwork

A clock-based puzzle action game in which players must manipulate time to control clock-based puzzles. These puzzles range from simple at first to incredibly complex later on, with more than a dozen clocks that the player needs to account for. The game features trippy graphics and excellent music, and reviews are quite good, eventually helping it become one of the best reviewed Nexus games of the year.

Drip

A water-based physics game in which players must control drips of water in various puzzle stages. A bit simpler than OTL's Flow, and features plenty of levels and addictive features, making it one of the better puzzlers of the year. Though Clockwork and Drip are produced by separate companies, Google would push the two games together in marketing and advertising, and players could get a small discount for buying them both together.

Phantom's Kiss

A mystery game with elements of visual novel games, but with a more complex plot and gameplay, drawing some inspiration from the Crime Stories series. A fairly light-hearted game with strong voice acting and fun characters, it's actually made with adolescent audiences in mind, with young characters and stakes that are a bit higher than the average Scooby Doo episode, but nowhere near as violent and tragic as some games in the genre. It centers around a town haunted by the ghost of a young woman, and students from two rival high schools trying to solve the mystery independently of each other (before circumstances force them to work together). The game ends up having a decent fandom, with plenty of fanfics and fanart, and though reviews and sales aren't spectacular, its niche fanbase makes its presence felt.

Soldier Tuesday

The long awaited sequel to Soldier Monday, a comedy FPS that came out in the waning days of the Xbox to be one of the system's last significant hits, Soldier Tuesday sees the titular rogue soldier return, now tasked with battling aliens who have been turned into zombies. Once again, the soldier's superiors don't let him go off and fight the aliens, instead hiring a by the book space marine hero modeled after Master Chief. However, after this new guy gets himself captured, the soldier decides to once again take matters into his own hands, battling the alien zombies all across the planet, through a series of underground labs and ruined cities. Soldier Tuesday features the same creative level design and gameplay innovations of the first, with plenty of graphical upgrades and quality of life improvements. It's definitely a solid game, with reviews on par with the first, but the Google crowd doesn't quite go for it like the Xbox crowd does, and so sales are rather sluggish. However, like the original Soldier Monday, the game eventually finds its footing, and would sell about as well as Soldier Monday eventually, ensuring that we'd probably get at least one more game in this series.

Nintendo Connect-

Cyberwar: Infiltrator

A spinoff game in the Cyberwar series of FPS titles, this game features a group of new characters and has an emphasis on stealth, with drone piloting being a major focus of gameplay. It's still an FPS, but is less violent than previous games in the series, with very little blood and a Teen rating, and its protagonists are a group of young activists seeking to disrupt a powerful tech corporation by uncovering its dark secrets and threatening its leaders. They eventually attract the attention of a dangerous mercenary hired out to protect the company, and must complete their mission while evading his grasp. The game features a multiplayer deathmatch mode with both FPS and drone fighting, and overall is one of the more content-rich handheld shooters out there, with strong reviews for both its single player campaign and multiplayer mode. It achieves good sales, though not nearly on par with the mainline console games, and is considered an overall success.

Quintessence 2

The sequel to Argonaut's 2012 rail shooter hit sees ace pilot Raid Conlan return in his Five-Ship to battle the forces of evil once again. The game features some new ships and new elements enabling more complex combinations of attacks on foes, while streamlining the level selection somewhat (instead of 18 levels divided amongst three tracks, there's now a single track with 13 levels, though players still have some freedom about what paths they follow and what enemies they face. It's now possible to level up the ship and individual beams, with new attacks opening up the more levels the player achieves, and impressive combos racking up experience points quickly. While not quite as innovative as the original title, it definitely continues the strong gameplay, while featuring a story that serves as suitable motivation to push forward, and some extremely memorable music and boss battles too. It's a high quality portable rail shooter, and achieves excellent reviews and strong sales to become one of the top Connect games of the year.

Flitters

Flitters is a 2-D/3-D adventure game about insect-sized fairies who live in an overgrown plant world. The game has a Zelda-esque style of gameplay and structure, with dungeons and items obtained as one progresses through the story. In contrast with Zelda, it doesn't have one playable hero, but three: Oren, the mystical knight of the realm, Dazl, a beautiful princess fairy with powerful magic, and Cray, a boy who rides a bumblebee into battle and has unique skills. The three must venture through the land to obtain a series of magical artifacts to stop a plague infecting the plants of their realm. They each start out at different corners of the map before uniting to battle an encroaching evil. One of the Connect's most beautiful games, full of amazing artwork and animation, and featuring a strong storyline, it's one of the best reviewed Connect games of the year. It achieves good sales and would end up becoming a franchise, with spinoff sequel games focused on each individual hero starting in 2017.

Castlevania: Frozen Blood

A 2-D adventure game and the first Castlevania title published by Ubisoft (while being developed by much of the original Konami team), Frozen Blood features gameplay similar to OTL games such as Symphony of the Night and Circle of the Moon, with classic Metroidvania-style combat and progression. It focuses on an ancient castle in Scandinavia, and sees Rothar Belmont, a distant relative of the Belmont clan, venture through this castle to defeat a vampire who has been abducting and draining the blood from his people to invoke an ancient Norse death god. Rothar encounters not only the vampire's minions, but hideous beasts such as resurrected mammoths and mythical snow creatures as well, and after defeating the vampire lord, must battle the death god to free the world from his terrible wrath. Frozen Blood is one of the better Symphony-style Castlevanias to date, and achieves excellent reviews, among the strongest of the year for a handheld game. While sales in the West are only average, they're excellent in Japan, as fans consider the game a return to form and a sign that Ubisoft will treat the series properly.

Pokemon DawnAlpha And DuskOmega

These remakes of the TTL generation 3 titles are done in the same graphical style and presentation as Order and Chaos, complete with an expanded story by the same Naughty Dog writing team as the Gen 6 games. The story itself follows the same beats as the original titles, and as in those games, what path you follow through the world depends on which game you purchase, with DawnAlpha taking place in one side of Hoenn initially and DuskOmega taking place in the other side. The battle between Team Growth and Team Decay is even more intense in this game, and Arcadia and Steven's motivations are even more heavily expanded upon. Of course, all the quality of life enhancements from the current generation, and all Pokemon, are included in these games, and there's even an expanded postgame with more opportunities to catch legendaries, while also stopping a space cataclysm from occurring (similar to the postgame of OTL's AlphaSapphire and OmegaRuby). Overall, these two games are considered excellent remakes of the originals, and sell extremely well, becoming two of the best selling games of the year. They don't quite live up to Order and Chaos, either critically or commercially, but they're still major successes for Nintendo.

Apple Gemini-

Hitman: Nothing Comes Free

This Gemini exclusive stealth action title is an episodic game, like OTL's recent Hitman title, released in five $7.99 installments on the iTunes store. It follows Agent 47 as he hunts down a series of targets, though as he learns more about the people he kills and pieces together the reasons for why he was ordered to do so, he begins to unravel a deadly conspiracy that could put one of his closest allies in the line of fire. Like OTL's episodic Hitman title, this game is story driven, with long cutscenes between long action segments. It looks quite good on the Gemini, and is comparable in terms of gameplay to the console titles. Once all five parts are put together, it's about as long as the typical console game, making it a good value for the price. Overall, it's a strong addition to the Hitman series, with part 1 released in January, part 2 in March, part 3 in May, part 4 in September, and part 5 in November, with all parts achieving strong sales, and a complete package eventually released for $29.99 late in the year.

Party Karts 3

The second Gemini Party Karts title, it features similar gameplay to its predecessor, but significantly expands on level selection and variety, as well as weapons and karts. Though some fans criticize the game, saying that the content offered in this brand new game could've been included as DLC for Party Karts 2, others praise it, calling it a worthy addition to the series. Like the other Party Karts games, it's a big financial success, and its online lobbies are usually quite full for a long time after release.

Weapon10

The sequel to the 2011 Gemini launch title, Weapon10 is a hack and slash game featuring ten weapons that the protagonist, Nine, can switch between quickly. The new weapon is a rocket launcher which, while powerful, is also large, unwieldy, and risky to use against the game's new enemy force, a group of strange life forms known as the Amalgams with the ability to transform into a huge variety of creatures or objects. The Amalgams are being controlled by another weapon wielder named Core, who wants to combine his weapon with Nine's weapon to create an unstoppable weapon capable of destroying the universe. The game plays out across 20 levels, and is generally considered a superior game to its predecessor, with the rocket launcher and new enemy types creating a unique gameplay experience from the original. Sales aren't quite as good in the West, but this is another game that experiences a lot of popularity in Japan.

Faerie Delivery

An action RPG game in which you play as Luka, a member of a Pony Express-style service staffed entirely by magical faeries who deliver mail and packages all across the realm. The gameplay is somewhat like the Neptunia series, with a focus on humor and wacky anime situations and characters, and missions, while repetitive in terms of gameplay, are a fair bit of fun thanks to all the silly dialogue. It's definitely not the best RPG out there but it does accumulate a loyal following.

Life Of The Party

A music game that's meant to be played in parties and crowds, essentially turning your Gemini console into a portable DJ booth, with all kinds of strange filters and interesting challenges. It's a very weird and experimental game, but for players lucky enough to be able to use it as intended, it really is quite fun.

Multiplatform-

Oddworld Revolution

A fully 3-D game in the Oddworld series, featuring Nush, a brand new Mudokon, as he ventures forth to rescue the rest of his people from an oppressive corporation. Abe and Munch are prominent side characters, but Nush is the only playable character, with a wide variety of brand new moves at his disposal. This game is a 3-D platformer with a twist, a generally dark aesthetic and more of a focus on exploration than collecting. This revival of the classic cult series is one of early 2015's most hyped games, and sees release not only on the major consoles, but the handhelds as well. Critically, it's considered one of the better entries in the series, averaging in the low to mid 8s in terms of reviews, while sales meet expectations: not a huge hit, but a fairly profitable game and probably the most commercially successful game in the series thus far.

Vehicular Assault

A third person battle game in which players use vehicles such as trucks and tanks to attack one another. Combines elements of Grand Theft Auto, Twisted Metal, and Fortnite, though it's not quite a battle royale game, with only 16 players in a match at a time. The game also features a single player campaign mode in which you play as a hired hitman who uses vehicles as homicidal weapons. Becomes decently popular, despite mediocre reviews.

Scavenger Of The Slums 2

The sequel to the popular looter shooter from 2012, Scavenger Of The Slums is more of the same, though with an upgrade in presentation due to the next-gen console leap. It features mostly the same gameplay from the last title, with tons of randomly generated weapons and a wide variety of missions, though it has a bit more of a sophisticated storyline, focusing on the effort to rebuild an independent city to escape the taxation and slavery of the slumlords. This city comes under attack from scavengers and mercenaries, forcing the protagonist (a character created by the player) to defend it and scavenge for resources. It's a bit better than the previous game, and sales are about on par with that one, with better sales legs later on.

Tangerine

A Celeste-esque platforming puzzler about an orange clad young woman named Tangerine, Tangerine sees the player complete a variety of platforming challenges across a wide array of environments. It's not quite as melancholy and contemplative as Celeste, with a more light hearted storyline, and it's also a bit easier and longer as well. Its graphics have an orange theme to them, but feature many different shades of orange, indicative of the mood and environement, with the game's overall design being something akin to “cel shaded realism”, a sort of comic book/anime combination art style that gives everything a fun and fantastical look. A very well reviewed indie budget game, it sells quite a bit of downloads and is generally considered among the best indie titles of the year.

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

January 2015-

1. Twisted Metal Reality (Nintendo Reality)
2. Gundam Legacy (Apple Virtua)
3. Quintessence 2 (Nintendo Connect)
4. Cyberwar: Infiltrator (Nintendo Connect)
5. Party Karts 3 (Apple Gemini)

February 2015-

1. Mortal Kombat Eternal (Nintendo Reality)
2. Mortal Kombat Eternal (Apple Virtua)
3. Vainglory (Google Nexus)
4. Mortal Kombat Eternal (Google Nexus)
5. Phantasy Star Online 3 (Apple Virtua)

March 2015-

1. Pokemon DuskOmega (Nintendo Connect)
2. Pokemon DawnAlpha (Nintendo Connect)
3. Chance (Nintendo Reality)
4. Chance (Google Nexus)
5. Bloodborne (Nintendo Reality)

 

[RySenkari]

Today's Nintendo Direct started right off with the final gameplay trailer for Elemancers, which is coming to the Reality on May 8th. The trailer showed off a little bit about all 12 characters and what moves they can pull off in the game. The two "showcase" characters, who have been heading up most of the advertising, are Pyron and Katsu, the fire and water Elemancers respectively. Pyron is a fast-running character capable of burning things at quick speed, while Katsu takes things a bit more slowly, but her water provides her with tough defense and a limited self-healing ability. Each of the game's characters gets their own single player campaign mode that'll take about an hour to complete and gives you that character's backstory while also showing off all their abilities and moves. Pyron's campaign is about taking down a gang of bullies, while Katsu's campaign is about protecting a younger student from a mysterious dark wizard. We didn't get to see anyone else's campaign, but we did get to see all 12 characters in the multiplayer mode, using their abilities to battle other players in a slick-looking arena with lots of obstacles and power-ups strewn around. We also got a look at two new characters who will be added to the original 12 in a patch during the game's launch weak: Luvaby, the cupid girl who can hover and fire arrow-like magic beams at opponents, and Shred, a powerful rockstar who can form musical instruments from magic. We've heard a lot about Elemancers since it was announced last October, and we're excited to see it released. After the six minute Elemancer preview, Nintendo of America president Shawn Layden appeared to welcome viewers and introduce the Direct itself. He briefly discussed Mr. Iwata, who is battling an illness, then introduced the next game to be discussed, Codename: S.T.E.A.M. It's a tactical RPG for the Nintendo Connect, and it has a sort of Western/Steampunk feel to it, pitting historical figures and literary characters against one another in a battle for the ages, literally. Abraham Lincoln is featured as one of the game's main characters, and there are also some characters from last year's Fire Emblem: Rise Of The Exalt who appear as playable guest characters as well. This game is also coming out next month, dropping on May 15th. Up next, another Connect game: Snap! 2, the sequel to the hit Connect photography game from 2012. There's more to shoot than ever, and this game introduces myths and legends to the realistic slate of things to photograph. Can you catch Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster on film? Find out this summer, when Snap! 2 hits the Connect. After we saw those quick Connect trailers, Shawn Layden appeared again to introduce some upcoming indie games heading to the Reality and Connect over the next few months. We got to see a preview of a frightening horror game called The Fear We Fail To Face, in which the protagonist must confront their worst fears to save their loved ones from terrible fates, and that will be coming to the Reality and Connect in July. There's a platformer called The Gobbler coming later this year to the Connect, in which you (as the titular Gobbler) must go around eating everything in sight, with a big emphasis on environmental destruction. We also got to see a preview of a story driven title called Hallie Heartsong, about a young musician who discovers herself and meets new friends as she sets out to be a star. There's clearly a wide variety of great indie games coming to Nintendo over the next few months, and this Direct featured one of the biggest crops of indie titles yet, nearly every one of them looking quite exciting.

Next up, a big trailer for Necrocracy 3, making its way to the Reality later this year. It was a smash hit on PC, even if it disappointed some players, and it looks spectacular on the Reality. The game will also include some of the DLC, including the ability to change the PC game's original ending. We also got a trailer for the upcoming Dying Light, a beautiful looking new survival horror game coming to the Reality this summer. It'll make heavy use of the system's VR features (though it's also expected to be a launch title for the Virtua's upcoming Oculus VR headset as well), and could well be one of the scariest games we've ever played, fitting in right at home with the aforementioned The Fear We Fail To Face. Next up, a quick preview for a beautiful looking new Wave Race title, introducing new beaches and new surfers, and an interesting California-themed aesthetic, complete with some Beach Boys songs, before the full title, Wave Race: The Golden Coast, is revealed. Then, we got a final gameplay trailer for Killer Instinct 5. There wasn't much new stuff revealed here, just some excellent looking fighting in brilliant high definition. However, at the end of the trailer, we got a guest character... the Black Sun King from The Dreamers: Dark Sunrise is joining the proceedings, and he looks absolutely badass, carving through foes with his shimmering moon sword. The trailer announced that we should expect more guest characters, most likely as DLC after the launch of the game in July. Then, we got an unexpected announcement of a new Reality game... a brand new title in the Detective Club series, in which players will be tasked with solving a murder. You're able to wander around a full Japanese city, gathering clues and interviewing suspects to track down a killer in the all new Detective Club: The Reality Files, coming next year. After this trailer, Shawn Layden returned to introduce Masahiro Sakurai, with an update on Super Smash Bros. Reality. This segment was all about gameplay updates, including some new single player modes that would allow players to create their own "challenges", putting in different characters and story segments, which can also be uploaded online for other players to try out. Then, we saw a quick trailer. It showed off some F-Zero footage, and almost seemed like a new game... but soon, we got to see Captain Falcon and his rival, Samurai Goroh, clashing cars on the track... which soon turned into a fist fight, and after Goroh got the advantage, he posed triumphantly and we could see that he was going to be a playable character in the game. He and Falcon continued to battle it out with fists and kicks, until the two of them managed to get their cars back onto the track, racing off into the sunset. After this segment, Sakurai said that he hoped everyone would join him at E3 in June, for more details on Samurai Goroh, and perhaps a few more surprises. After this segment ended, Layden said he had one last announcement, and to help him reveal that, he would be returning to "our friends at Rare". This was the introduction to a segment featuring a brand new game, in which players will battle it out in a massive arena supporting 120 players at once, with the option for teams to battle it out or for individual players to hunt each other down using a variety of weapons. The game is called Battle Buddies, and looks to be a bit on the wacky side, with weapons ranging from normal fire arms to close range melee weapons to huge bombs that can be dropped from the air. Rare's Battle Buddies is set for release next year, with more details coming in a future presentation.

That ended the Nintendo Direct, and though there were some glaring omissions (no Legend Of Zelda, but it's been confirmed that we'll be getting a separate Direct for that later on, and no Selene 3, but that's expected to be a featured game at E3 in June), it was a fairly good show, with a good mix of updates and announcements for upcoming Nintendo games. Battle Buddies looks exciting, and Goroh fans will be happy to see him in Smash. Nintendo looks to have a big presence at E3, so we'll surely see some even bigger bombshells dropped there!

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Two Hands

Developed by a Nintendo team headed by Gunpei Yokoi, exclusively for the Nintendo Reality, Two Hands is a game based around completing puzzles and challenges with two players working together. It's possible to play single-player with the CPU, but to get the best use out of the game, it's preferred that one play with a partner, either locally or online. The system uses the Reality's VR features, along with a special peripheral that serves as a grip attachment for the Reality's controller (and works with either the default controller or the VR paddles). Using this grip makes it possible to manipulate simulated objects more realistically, allowing the player to time and coordinate their movements with their partner's. It's not necessary to communicate over voice chat, and though it is possible to do so, the game is designed in such a way that visual, audio, and tactile clues guide the player in the game just as easily to coordinate. It's much more simple than Nintendo's other first party games of the time, but it features a wide array of challenges, ranging from extremely easy to extremely hard. Yokoi designed the game for anyone to be able to pick up and play with a friend and have fun, and it's rarely frustrating, even when players are having trouble coordinating with each other. There's no "campaign" mode, no story to the game, just a series of challenges divided into numerous modes that allow players to customize and cultivate their experience with the game. There's even the ability to "see" the other player using the VR goggles, and to congratulate them with a variety of gestures, emphasizing the teamwork aspect of the game.

Two Hands is released on April 17, 2015, and accompanied by a decent amount of hype, with Nintendo primarily pushing the title as a party game. Reviews are extremely good, with critics praising the game's intuitiveness and the way in which it encourages cooperation and fun. Some critics even see it as a revolutionary title that changes the way people will think about multiplayer games in the future. Sales, while not spectacular, are quite solid, and as word of mouth spreads, more people pick up the game, even as it's pushed out of the headlines by Elemancers. Streamers are especially fond of the game, which is fun to show off and capable of creating lots of humorous bloopers and moments, and it becomes a streaming favorite well past 2015. The game is an excellent capstone to Gunpei Yokoi's legacy with the company, and after creating the Reality headset and Two Hands, he re-retires later that year, walking off into the sunset on his own terms.

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June 30, 2015

"How are you, my friend?" asked Gunpei Yokoi, as he sat in a chair next to the hospital bed his good friend and fellow Nintendo developer, Satoru Iwata, was laying in. Iwata had his laptop with him, and had continued to work even after his hospitalization. Though the doctors had told him his cancer had progressed significantly in recent months, he fully expected to get better, and was quite positive as Yokoi talked to him, giving him a smile and taking a brief break from his work.

"I'm doing wonderful," said Iwata. "I wish I could have attended E3 this year, I heard it was quite excellent."

"Don't worry, I missed it as well," replied Yokoi.

"You just retired!"

"True, but I did enjoy myself last year, I felt sorry not to be there."

The two laughed and joked with one another as they continued to talk about Nintendo and everything else going on in their lives.

"Two Hands has surpassed two million sales," said Iwata, showing some sales figures to Yokoi. "People enjoy it very much."

"Ah, I've heard that."

"They enjoy the Reality... they enjoy it so much that Apple and Google are both copying us!"

The two shared another laugh.

"I'm actually quite excited to play the new VR devices from them," said Iwata. "Apple especially... their headset design is really forward thinking. Not as good as your design, but-"

"You can say it, it's better than mine," said Yokoi with a laugh. "I'd be worried about them if I were you."

"Right now I'm just worried about getting over this thing I'm dealing with!"

"Then you shouldn't work so hard," said Yokoi.

"I take a break when my family's here," said Iwata.

"Take a break for yourself too," said Yokoi.

"Do you think I should retire?" asked Iwata, laughing again.

"Perhaps," said Yokoi.

"No," replied Iwata, shaking his head. "I love games too much to quit now."

"I'm happy for you, my old friend," said Yokoi. "I'll be happier when you're back on your feet, though."

The two continued to talk, losing track of the time... time that Satoru Iwata, sadly, didn't have much left of.

 

[TheFaultsofAlts]

Well, that's certainly depressing!

 

[THAHORSEMEN]

damn so Iwata still passes away in this timeline.

This was the introduction to a segment featuring a brand new game, in which players will battle it out in a massive arena supporting 120 players at once, with the option for teams to battle it out or for individual players to hunt each other down using a variety of weapons. The game is called Battle Buddies, and looks to be a bit on the wacky side, with weapons ranging from normal fire arms to close range melee weapons to huge bombs that can be dropped from the air.

Welp this looks to be the beginning of the Battle Royale craze ITTL.

 

[AeroTheZealousOne]

Battle Royale craze

Personally never been big on it (sticking mainly to early JRPGs and modern strategy games such as Civilization and various titles published by Paradox) but it's good to see, in a way. The main exception to this for me is, of course, Super Smash Bros.

That being said, it's nonetheless very good to see a familiar trend, even after nearly a quarter-century of butterflies and ripple effects. Not so much that Satoru Iwata can't be saved, but unless you're Steve Jobs, it's a little difficult to refrain cancer.

 

[CaseMonster]

I think Battle Royale is in good shape if Rare is spearheading it ITTL. OTL had PUBG which accidentally stumbled on the craze followed by Fortnite which just tacked it on. It a dev who knows how hat they’re doing and is designing it that way from the start they could do more interesting, more well thought out things with it.

 

[Rogue Slushy]

Fire Emblem: Rise Of The Exalt. It's a continuation of the classic SNES Fire Emblem titles, bringing back Marth as the primary protagonist

But Marth isn't the first exalt. The first Exalt is 1000 years after him, and 1000 years before Awakening.

 

[eldandythedoubter]

But Marth isn't the first exalt. The first Exalt is 1000 years after him, and 1000 years before Awakening.

No he isn't, but awakening as it is otl isn't going to happen.

 

[RySenkari]

Street Fighter VI

Street Fighter VI is a 2-D fighting game (with 3-D graphics) exclusive to the Apple Virtua on console (though the game is also released to arcades). It introduces a number of new elements to the series, including a "Personal Training" mode designed to help new players ease into the game, and a complex motion control system that allows for particularly inclined players to battle it out with foes entirely using motion controls. It plays much like Street Fighter V, but fixes nearly all the flaws that plagued that game, with a smoother combo system and more fleshed out characters. The game also streamlines single player somewhat, with a traditional arcade mode, a customizable tournament mode, and then a campaign mode that combines the stories of numerous characters, rather than introducing stories for each character in the game. Street Fighter VI starts players out with 22 characters, a mix of old favorites and several new ones, with the option to unlock up to 8 more, and then 10 more after that via DLC for a total of 40. The slight reduction in characters from the original Street Fighter V allows Capcom to focus on balance and fun, making Street Fighter VI the most tournament friendly game in the series to date. The game's plot revolves around Hakando, an old but very powerful martial arts master who once taught Ryu's mentor. Hakando used to be a legendary hero, but now he has chosen to embark on a campaign of domination and evil, and has recruited numerous fighters to his cause, including old villains such as Sagat and new characters such as Mizue, a beautiful but cold woman who follows Hakando for mysterious reasons, has a past with Ryu, and forms a rivalry with Chun Li. Street Fighter VI introduces unprecedented upgrades to presentation, with excellent graphics and lots of voiced lines, including custom voice lines for every possible matchup in the game (similar to Mortal Kombat titles). The menu screens and interfaces have also received a lot of polish, and it's easy to jump right into a battle, either home alone or with strangers online, with the two "Quick Play" options on the game's starting menu. Street Fighter VI also introduces a somewhat gimmicky "First Person Fighting" mode, that seems designed to be used with VR (and indeed, will support the Virtua's Oculus accessory later in the year). Even with the Oculus, it's a bit clumsy and awkward, but is a bold step toward creating an immersive first person fighting game experience. Street Fighter VI's DLC packages would be released over the following two years, and in addition to introducing new characters, would also introduces new stories and modes, fleshing out the campaign and even introducing a Final Fight-esque beat 'em up mode to the game.

Released in April 2015, Street Fighter VI is significantly better received at launch than Street Fighter V was, with reviews averaging in the 9/10 range. It would become popular for tournament play almost immediately, while also providing plenty of streamers and newbies a chance to jump right into the franchise for the first time. The DLC and patches that would be released for the game would only improve the experience, making it one of the definitive fighting games on the Virtua (being compared with Virtua Fighter Beyond Infinity on many occasions). Sales would prove excellent, both in Japan and in the West, and not only does it help to sell Virtua consoles, but it provides a suitable rival to the Reality's Super Smash Bros. Reality. Of course, as news began to break about Capcom's intention to return to developing multiplatform titles, Street Fighter VI would become one of the most frequently rumored games to be getting a Reality/Nexus port, especially with its VR gameplay that seems designed for the Reality. The question of whether or not the game would remain a Virtua exclusive would be hotly debated on message boards in the months and years after its release.

-

Capcom Schedules E3 Keynote, Expected To Announce New Multiplatform IP

Capcom, which has been developing games exclusively for Apple for the past several years, has been rumored to be exploring the creation of content for the upcoming Reality and Nexus systems, and has announced an E3 presser in which they're expected to reveal plans for new games that will be headed to the Nintendo Reality and Google Nexus, starting perhaps as soon as 2016. The company has enjoyed a lucrative relationship with Apple, with successful titles in the Mega Man and Resident Evil franchises to name a few. However, in recent years, numerous figures within the company have expressed dissatisfaction with the Apple deal, as well as interest in Nintendo's VR technology. The company has released a number of VR concept demos and videos, the earliest of which were shown off at last year's Tokyo Game Show, and were said to be previews of future Virtua titles (keeping in line with that company's barely hidden plans to develop a VR peripheral). Now, Capcom appears all but certain to once again develop new titles for Nintendo and Google, and we may even see them porting over popular iTwin and Virtua games as well, such as Resident Evil 6 and the brand new Street Fighter VI. Co-production agreements with Apple will likely prevent some ports from coming to Nintendo (the recent Mega Man titles for example), but Resident Evil 6 and Street Fighter VI were developed entirely within Capcom, funded with Capcom's money, and the company should have no problem porting them to other consoles if they so desire. Capcom's presser is expected to come after the three console companies have given their keynotes, so we may see the reveal of a Capcom game in Nintendo or Google's pressers first. Whether we learn about Capcom's plans then, or from Capcom themselves, it's all but confirmed that the company will be ending its exclusive relationship with Apple at E3 2015.

-from a Kotaku article, posted on May 3, 2015

 

[rick007]

T. Wood: This is where I enter the story.

Close up of a needle on a record player. The record starts playing Doin’ What Comes Naturally by Dinah Shore which plays throughout.

T. Wood: I was young. Though my parents weren’t around, I was loved.

Pictures of Thomas with Wood and Petrova, smiling and happy.

T. Wood: They kept most of what they did for a living away from me at the time.

A man at the docks is seen investigating some mysterious packages. A gun cocks. The scene goes black and a gunshot rings out.

T. Wood: I was happy. But there was still darkness in the world.

Scenes at a Japanese internment camp are shown, focusing particularly on a grandfather and granddaughter holding each other.

T. Wood: That’s just the way of the world though.

Dinah Shore: Doin’ what comes naturally.

Crime Stories: Dance of the Jackdaw

April 9, 2009.

Dance of the Jackdaw January 15-April 4, 1946

Background:

After the debacle that was the ending to The Written Tragedy, the Housers decided to bring someone in to help Richards write the next games of the series. This was with the intent to push him out and continue the series their way. That someone was Amy Hennig. However, Hennig proved to be an invaluable ally to Richards and stuck by him. The Housers, realizing that there was nothing they could do at the moment, let things be. Taking their time, and taking note of what went wrong in the previous game, they created a Professor Moriarty type character that was a part of the story from the beginning of the game. They also decided to wrap up the loose end of the other Lowden brother in this game as well. They also decided to move away from serial killers and towards criminal organizations.

During the creation of this game, two personal tragedies, happening pretty much back to back, caused Richards to nearly step aside. They were the deaths of both his mother and Brittany Saldita, whom he considered a good friend, both from cancer, his mother from cervical and Brittany from ovarian. That, more than anything, seeped into the story.

Cast:

Troy Baker as Johnson "Jack" Wood, age 61-68

Born: July 1, 1884.

On the edge of retirement, Wood does not feel the need to leave the detective business just yet. Though he has had some hardships thanks to World War II, he puts himself more into his family and his work.

Anya Garnis as Svetlana Konstantinevna Petrova, age 57-63

Born: December 31, 1888 (N.S.) (O.S. December 19, 1888)

Thanks to the events of the World War II, Svetlana has dedicated herself to helping fellow Jews as much as she can. Though she still helps with investigations as much as she can, Svetlana would rather spend her time with people then investigating them.

Daniel Radcliffe as Quentin R. Wood, age 27-33

Born: December 14, 1918.

Captured in the raid on Dieppe in 1942, Quentin was released during the Normandy invasion. Racked with guilt over what happened, he founds a veteran’s group called Wood’s Trees. He is a lawyer now.

Molly C. Quinn as Irena P. Wood, age 25-32

Born: April 14, 1920.

Devastated by the loss of both her little brother and her husband, Irena decides to take up medicine as a nurse. Though her mother wishes she would become a doctor like she was, Irena feels that that can wait.

Justin Bradley as David L. Wood, age 20

Born: March 2, 1922. Died: August 19, 1942.

Only appearing in flashbacks in this game, David joined the army as soon as he could. Sadly he died in the doomed raid at Dieppe.

Tara Strong as Ethel Finch nee Wood, age 53-61

Born: November 5, 1892.

Happy that her children survived the war, she is none the less worried for her family. She works even through her own tragedy.

Jack Huston as Harold "Harry" Finch, age 55

Born: November 30, 1890. Died: February 16, 1946.

Harry is sadly killed midway through the game in a traffic accident. Everyone assumes that it was malicious but it was just a random accident.

Allison Court as Millicent Finch, age 23-30

Born: April 1, 1922.

She married Isaiah in 1943, shortly before he is goes back to Europe. By now she is pregnant with her first child.

Matthew Mercer as Constables Hugh, Thomas and Peter Finch, age 20-26

Born: January 9, 1926.

Having missed the opportunity to serve in World War II, the Finch boys join the Lancaster Police Department. Eventually Hugh serves in Korea.

Mae Whitman as Karen Harvey nee Sutter, age 52

Born: March 8, 1892. Died May 5, 1944.

Another person who only appears in flashbacks. Karen went to Germany to help Maeve and was executed by the Nazis for resisting them and taking full responsibility for smuggling 300 Jewish families out of Nazi Germany.

Bill Thomas as George Harvey, age 26-34

Born: January 1, 1920.

Though he misses his mother, George continues to be a good psychiatrist. He even helps in the investigation, when he can.

Sabra Johnson as Agatha Jones nee Esrom, age 45-54

Born: February 4, 1900.

Still teaching Chemistry, Agatha is now the head of the department at the college where she works. She is quite happy where her life has gone.

Lee Thomson Young as Marcus Jones, age 47-55

Born: January 3, 1899.

When Jack retires he plans on taking over the business. Though he doesn’t know for how long he can keep going at this, for the moment he will go on.

William and Tory Maxwell as Isaiah and Jonah Jones, age 23-31

Born: March 9, 1923.

Both served in segregated units in World War II, they fought in Europe from 1941 until the end. They have just been discharged from the army and are beginning to work for their dad, with Isaiah expecting a child with his wife, Millicent.

James Arnold Taylor as Finbarr "Finn" Collins, age 61-69

Born: June 14, 1884. Died: June 21, 1953.

Retired from reporting, Finn decided to move to the country. He feels that it would do him some good. Plus he gets to be near Michael. In the end, he was closer to Michael than he ever could be in life.

Laura Bailey as Edna Hubbard, age 40-49

Born: March 10, 1905.

Still working at the Lancaster Spectator, she is respected though she is still not the Chief Crime Correspondent like she wants. Though she will not make shortcuts to get there.

Adam Beach as Detective Sergeant Michael Cross, age 55-62

Born: April 10, 1890. Died: July 6, 1952.

Comes back to Lancaster from time to time, mostly to gather support for the plight of his people. He eventually dies of heart disease.

Nolan North as Detective Inspector Leonard Ryan, age 55-64

Born: June 5, 1890.

Still a Detective Inspector he is quite happy where he is. Though he is slowing down somewhat.

Jonny Harris as Constable/Detective Sergeant James Crummey, 27-35

Born: December 2, 1918.

Born in Newfoundland and Labrador. Crummey moved to Lancaster to meet up with Quentin after the two met when Crummey rescued him from that Nazi POW camp. He shows an early aptitude for police work when he joins up.

Nathan Fillion as Doctor Edward Morehouse Hughes, age 54-63

Born: March 4, 1891.

He is getting on in years and is training a replacement. He feels that he is doing the best he can.

Grey Delisle as Mary Crichton, age 61-67

Born: August 31, 1884. Died: April 2, 1952.

A wealthy woman in her last years of life, Mary spends most of her time doing charity events and balls. She also spends time with her remaining children and grandchildren (who only appear visually). She dies of natural causes.

Greg Baldwin as Wendell Crichton, age 62.

Born: October 13, 1883. Died: March 17,1946.

Hospitalized at the beginning of the game, Wendell tries to help his family run the steel mill after being away from the business for so long. He dies of natural causes.

Zelda Williams as Rachel Pinedo nee Crichton, age 38-47.

Born: April 7, 1907.

An effective investigator, her and Giorgi only have one child, Alphonse. Rachel thinks that she’ll keep going for a few more years. Though she misses her youngest brother very much.

Scott Menville as Henry Crichton, age 33-42.

Born: May 6, 1912.

A journalist for the Lancaster Spectator, he feels that nothing is the same now. Cole’s death hit him harder than his sister.

Wil Wheaton as Cole Crichton, age 27.

Born: June 2, 1914. Died: December 7/8, 1941.

Yet another character seen in flashbacks, Cole was serving as a Sergeant in Hong Kong when the Japanese attacked. He fell on a grenade, saving his comrades. Though considering the conditions of Japanese P.O.W. camps in World War II, that was a cruel mercy.

Paget Brewster as Lillian Crichton, age 56-63.

Born: August 1, 1889. Died: August 2, 1952.

A society matron, for what that term is worth in the late ‘40s/early ‘50s. She holds various art galas around the city. It is she that gets the ball rolling. She dies of a stroke.

Jennifer Hale as Narcissa Lonsdale nee Crichton, age 59.

Born: June 14, 1887. Died: March 4, 1946.

Dying of cancer, Narcissa wants to be near what family she has left. In the end, she is repentant for what her husband did in 1919. She wants to have a little dignity.

Rumer Willis as Jordan Mathers, age 27-35.

Born: January 1, 1919.

Originally from Saskatoon, Jordan spent some time in Germany before the war. Now she and her brother are going into business together, taking over Looney’s operation from the inside.

Jared Padalecki as George Mathers, age 29-36.

Born: June 4, 1916.

The face of the Mathers siblings, he lets his sister do the thinking. There is nothing he wouldn’t do for her.

Gideon Emery as David C. Looney, age 75.

Born: November 5, 1870. Died: February 10, 1946?

Slowing down in his old age, he realizes that there is nothing he can do now that the Mathers have essentially taken over his operation. He disappears around February 10.

Adrianne Barbeau as Charlotte Wood, age 79.

Born: May 31, 1866. Died: April 2, 1946.

Ravaged by Alzheimer’s, Charlotte spends her last remaining days in a fog. She mainly speaks Welsh and goes back to her youth. Though she does have a moment of clarity before she dies.

William Hayes and Yannick Bisson as Thomas C. Wood, age 4-12 and 73.

Born: January 15, 1942.

This is the first time in the series that we see Thomas Wood in his youth. It’s in this game that we learn that his mother essentially abandoned him after his father died in the war. He says that he isn’t bitter now, and, at the time the game and DLC takes place, he hoped that his mother would come back.

Kevin Conroy as Hosea Potter, age 79-87.

Born: March 5, 1865. Died: October 15, 1952.

Hosea, having retired from the steel works, feels as though he is part of the family. He helps where and when he can, though he mostly takes care of Charlotte. He dies of heart failure

Patroka Epstein as Sophonisba B. “Sophie” Potter, age 39-47.

Born: April 5, 1907.

An old maid, by the standards of the time, she has decided not to marry. Though she makes small visual cameos throughout the game and DLC. She makes audio cameos by way of unused audio from the previous game. This was done because Patroka Epstein took a step back, so to speak, to take an experimental procedure.

George Takei as Hiro Yamamoto, age 67-75

Born: January 1, 1879

A shop keeper in Vancouver, Hiro spent the last five years in an internment camp near Lancaster and has sadly seen his son and daughter-in-law die in the camp. Now he’s raising his granddaughter as best he can. He strikes up a friendship with the Woods when they visit the camp looking for information.

Kendra Suzuki as Hitomi Yamamoto age 3-12

Born: April 5, 1942

Born inside the camp, Hitomi hasn’t known anything else. She doesn’t remember her parents at all and wishes that she did. When she and her grandfather are released she has trouble adjusting.

Jessica Alba as Thomasina Maldonado, age 23-32

Born: April 19, 1922.

Only heard through letters and vocal narration, she doesn’t seem to be coming back for Thomas. In the end her letters stop coming.

Jaleel White as Willis Lowden, 58-66

Born: February 6, 1887. Died: April 9, 1953.

Somehow Willis got involved with Looney’s organization. Having been defrocked, he now commits low level crimes to make ends meet. He seems unrepentant for what happened in 1927.

Alex Hernandez as Abraham Jones, age 39-48

Born: April 4, 1906.

Marcus’s second in command essentially, he has made quite the name for himself in the community. Though unmarried, he seems to enjoy the bachelor life.

Chantal Riley as Jennifer Fraser, age 30

Born: June 5, 1985.

Angry with her production company for how they edited the last film she feels as though this one will have to be great to prove that she can do this.

Will Friedle as Jonas Evans, age 48-50.

Born: June 5, 1894.

Still as secretive as ever, now Evans is rooting out Communists in Canada and America. Though he is still passionate, he has mellowed somewhat.

Shawn Ashmore as Timothy Warren, age 35-38.

Born: September 2, 1916.

Split off from Evans, Warren is doing his own missions. Or so he says.

Patricia Thomas as Sofia Meyers, age 42.

Born: October 4, 1903. Died: March 6, 1946.

Unable to forgive herself after what happened to her son, unwilling to live for her grandson, Sofia kills herself. Though there is some implication that the Mathers siblings may have had something to do with it.

Quinton Flynn as Silas Meyers, age 24.

Born: April 7, 1918. Died: August 19, 1942.

Appearing in flashbacks, Silas joined the army with the Wood boys. Still doesn’t make it hurt less.

Michael Morrissey as Silas Meyers, Jr., age 3-10

Born: February 9, 1942.

Another fatherless child at least he has his mother and maternal grandparents to help him.

Georgina Reilly as Maeve Pinedo, age 55-64.

Born: June 13, 1890. Died: June 25, 1954.

Maeve returned to Canada after the war ended. She never forgave herself for letting Karen be executed for what they did over there. She helps Jewish refugees settle in Canada.

John Ruben as Giorgi Pinedo, age 37-48.

Born: May 7, 1906.

A fine journalist, he works with his wife to uncover various things happening in the city while raising their sun.

Marco Mancuso as Alphonse Pinedo, age 16-25.

Born: January 2, 1929.

A bright kid he follows his father into journalism. Though he starts using underhanded tactics to get stories.

Phil LaMarr as Reverend Thomas Michaels, age 54-63.

Born: April 1, 1891.

Still ministering at the church, Reverend Michaels is happy where he is. He continues to work towards equality for his people.

Ashley Callingbull as Emily Wood nee Wilson, age 28-36.

Born: June 5, 1918.

Though her and Quentin’s children are only seen visually (they’re all pretty young in this game) Emily still helps where she can. Emily is disappointed that she lost her right to vote after moving off the reservation and she is working to get it back.

Michael Fassbender as Major Horst Klimt, age 57.

Born: October 12, 1886. Died: July 21, 1944.

Appearing in flashbacks, Horst was part of the July 20 Plot and was quickly caught and executed. He did manage to get his family out the country though.

Willemijn Verkaik as Gertrude Klimt, age 58-66.

Born: August 4, 1887.

Coming to Canada recently, Gertrude never forgets what her husband did. She takes great pains to make sure that she deserves what his sacrifice did for them.

Taron Egerton as Erwin Klimt, age 23-32.

Born: March 7, 1922.

Renouncing Nazism after his experiences during the war, Erwin becomes a teacher and marries (though the player never meets his wife and children). Erwin is an art expert as well.

Hayley Atwell as Marilyn Monroe, age 26-28.

Born: June 1, 1926.

Yes, indeed Marilyn asks for some help in some of the DLCs. This is also where players really start to notice some alternate history in these games (not that they weren’t there before but things like the advertisements between segments of the game start to be more obvious that it’s set in an alternate history).

Plot:

In times of peace, warlike men attack themselves.

-Friedrich Nietzsche.

Thomas introduces this case as being different from what has gone on before. While there are multiple murders, they aren’t committed by a serial killer. Jennifer asks why they are covering this case. Thomas says that it is the first case involving two people of great intellect at the start of their criminal careers.

First Tableau: The Firebird.

There gardens surround a palace all of glass;

There Firebirds sing by night

And peck at golden fruit.

-Yakov Polonsky, A Winter's Journey.

It starts on the Lancaster waterfront in 1946. A guard is killed by smugglers, though we don’t know what they’re smuggling yet. Eventually, Evans and Warren come into the picture (the first time either of them show up in the main game), to say that they are smuggling art in from Europe. They think that Looney has something to do with it, though he denies it. At least, at first. While questioning his workers players are introduced to the Mathers siblings. Shortly thereafter, Looney disappears and the Mathers’ take over his operation.

Second Tableau: Swan Lake.

Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.

-Confucius.

Wood and Petrova are now looking into Looney’s disappearance. Though they are suspicious of the Mathers, they have no evidence against them. Eventually they come across Willis Lowden working in one of the warehouses where some of the stolen paintings are supposedly coming through. After he is arrested, news comes of Harry Finch’s accident.

Third Tableau: Nightingale.

Thou wast not born for death, Immortal Bird!

-John Keats, Ode to a Nightingale.

Though Lowden is cooperative, in exchange for what happened in 1927 along with what he was doing recently. However, as he is being transferred, hit men attack the convoy and several constables are wounded or killed along with the attackers. Lowden is safe and he is bundled off to jail, though his testimony is enough to put away the low level guys, the Mathers are untouched for the moment.

DLC:

These loosely connected cases were again, released once a month.

Red Crosscurrents 1952-1954

The crusade against Communism was even more imaginary than the specter of Communism.

-A.J.P. Taylor.

1. Sunrise Avenue January 18-24, 1952.

In the last case that Wood and Petrova work on before they retire, they are asked to look in a case of real estate fraud. While there is no evidence that the Mathers are involved directly they may have profited from it in some way. The real fraudsters are sent to prison.

2. The File on Jordan Mathers April 5-16, 1952.

A police evidence lockup is set ablaze in the middle of the night. Wood and Petrova are called in by DI Ryan to investigate because, as Ryan says, they were unhappy in retirement. They catch the guy who did it, along with a slightly singed file on Jordan Mathers. He says that he was going to give it to her for the right price.

3. Niagara July 5-19, 1952.

During the filming of Niagara, Marilyn Monroe calls Wood and Petrova and, after reminding them that they met when she was 12, asks them to look for a makeup artist that she is working with on the film. They do find her, alive but scared. She says that she saw an illegal deal of some sort. They look into it but find some evidence that the deal happened but nothing to indicate who was involved or what they were selling. Marilyn is pleased that the makeup girl is safe and takes her back to the states when filming ends.

4. Lancaster Confidential April 9-26, 1953

This one opens up with a mob style execution in Lancaster Bay. It’s Willis Lowden, just released from prison. There is plenty of evidence that the Mathers gang had something to do with it but nothing to connect them directly with the crime. Instead, it was a low-level thug who killed him. This is also when Hugh comes back from Korea with no right arm.

5. The Big Drop October 4-19, 1953

A jewelry store in Toronto is robbed of its gems. When they start turning up in Lancaster, Wood and Petrova look into it for the Toronto PD. When they find the thieves, they try to give information on the Mathers siblings but it turns out the information was fake.

6. One Man's Confession December 8-15, 1953

A death bed confession leads Wood and Petrova to an abandoned house on the outskirts of the city. When they get there, they find the body of an informant in the group. Evans and Warren come in to say that he was a member of a Communist group. While they find the killer, he claims that he did it out of fear of what he would do.

7. The House on the Escarpment February 15-19, 1954

A family living on the escarpment has been holding out against moving to make way for a highway for years. When their house mysteriously burns down, they suspect arson. Wood and Petrov investigate to find that it was just faulty wiring.

8. Don't Bother to Ring June 4-18, 1954

During Marilyn Monroe’s suspension from Fox, she invites Wood and Petrova to L.A. to help her get some pictures of her, taken without her permission, back. They find the photographer and give the pictures back to Marilyn who burns them.

Gameplay:

The gameplay got a bit of an overhaul depending on the system the game was played on. The Reality and the Virtua used VR for the first person view where available (though both systems let players use a controller where applicable). The Nexus used the Companion as a map/microscope/magnifying glass. Other than that the gameplay didn’t change.

Achievements/Trophies:

Not This Time: Get all other Achievements/Trophies 150g/Platinum

A Different Show: Start the game 15g/Bronze

Something Fishy: Investigate the warehouse crime scene 15g/Bronze

Oils and Water: Search the ship manifest for the art for the first time 20g/Bronze

Irish Fiddling: Question Looney thoroughly 20g/Silver

Worth A Lot of Words: Find some of the art 30g/Silver

A Different Direction: Complete Act I 70g/Silver

Out of Irish Luck: Investigate the site of Looney’s disappearance 20g/Bronze

A Little Off: Follow Jordan Mathers without being seen 20g/Bronze

Double Header: Finally arrest Willis Lowden 25g/Silver

A Voiceless Bird: Complete Act II 70g/Silver

Not Like This: Investigate the accident site 25g/Silver

Fifth Stage: Accept that accidents happen 30g/Silver

Web Of Fear: Visit Charlotte seven times before she dies 70g/Silver

See You Later: Go to both funerals 20g/Bronze

Auto Enthusiast: Collect all the cars in the game 30g/Silver

That Was Close: Protect Lowden with minimal causalities 70g/Silver

Something Decent: Help the Yamamotos out of the camp 60g/Silver

Not yet: Complete Act III 100g/Gold

Maybe Next Time: Complete the game and watch the credits 100g/Gold

Child’s Play: Buy every child’s toy for Thomas 20g/Bronze

Another Time: Collect all the Watches 20g/Bronze

DLC:

Wrong Address: Get the call 20g/Bronze

Not Listed: Compare City records with company records 20g/Bronze

Making Cents: Find some evidence of the Mathers involvement 20g/Bronze

One Last Look: Retire 20g/Bronze

A Close-up: Complete Sunrise Avenue 20g/Bronze

The Blazes: Have a look around 20g/Bronze

Put One Out…: Find who has the file 20g/Bronze

And Another Springs Up: Search for where it is 20g/Bronze

Dying Embers: Find the File 20g/Bronze

Extinguished: Complete The File On Jordan Mathers 20g/Bronze

I Know You: Reunite with Norma Jean 20g/Bronze

A Girl’s Best Friend: Find the girl 20g/Bronze

Everything Must Go!: Find something about the deal 20g/Bronze

The Stand: Defend the girl 20g/Bronze

Over A Barrel: Complete Niagara 20g/Bronze

Lowden Clear: Investigate the crime scene 20g/Bronze

Not Enough: Search Lowden’s apartment 20g/Bronze

Something Else: Find the thug 20g/Bronze

That’s The Ticket: Bring in the thug alive 20g/Bronze

Not Alone: Complete Lancaster Confidential 20g/Bronze

Shine Bright: Get to the store 20g/Bronze

Low Light: Follow one of the thieves without getting caught 20g/Bronze

On The Other Hand: Interrogate all the thieves correctly 20g/Bronze

Not Right Now: Confirm things one way or the other 20g/Bronze

It Mathers Not: Complete The Big Drop 20g/Bronze

Hear Him Out: Listen to the confession 20g/Bronze

The House On The Hill: Find the house 20g/Bronze

First In A While: Complete the autopsy 20g/Bronze

Leftwinged: Inform the spies 20g/Bronze

Well Listened: Complete One Man’s Confession 20g/Bronze

Hot Property: Get to the house 20g/Bronze

Lot In Life: Search the records 20g/Bronze

Yet Another Scheme: Confront the Mathers 20g/Bronze

A Spark Of Burning: Find the faulty wiring 20g/Bronze

Certainly Unexpected: Complete The House on the Escarpment 20g/Bronze

The Two Year Itch: Meet with Marilyn 20g/Bronze

Let’s Get It: Talk to the photographer 20g/Bronze

Undeveloped: Steal the photos 20g/Bronze

Popped-razzi: Deal with the photographer 20g/Bronze

No Business: Complete Don’t Bother to Ring 20g/Bronze

Reception:

Crimes Stories: Dance of the Jackdaw was released on April 9, 2015 on Nintendo Reality, Apple Virtua and Google Nexus. The DLC released once a month afterwards. The game received a much better reception than the previous game, in the mid to high 8s. The Mathers siblings were better received as a Moriarty figure than the Lowden twins (not that there was anything wrong with them on principle. Just that they weren’t meant to be Moriarty types). Still, a fear was that the series wouldn’t make the transition to the Eighth Generation without the support of Rockstar.

Fortunately, it managed to sell well, though not as well as Grand Theft Auto III. Richards was satisfied with this, especially since Dan Houser reluctantly apologized to him. It wasn’t enough to repair the relationship between both men but it was a start.

May 30, 2015

Andrew Richards rarely felt nervous. He knew that he had no right to be. Richards knew the person he was going to meet to today for the past few years, ever since her mother had worked on The Written Tragedy. Though he knew Anya was miffed at him for doing this on her birthday party, she understood why it couldn’t be done sooner. Brittany Saldita maybe gone (though not forgotten by any means) but now, Richards had a promise to keep.

As Richards went into the room where Regan was waiting carrying the script and a contract in his lap, he saw that he wasn’t the only one to be nervous as Regan was bouncing in her chair slightly beside her father. She stopped when she saw enter the room.

“Hello, you two.”

“Hey.” “Hello.”

Richards smiled. “Glad you could make it.”

Chris nodded and smiled. “We were surprised to get your call.”

Regan looked at her father. “I wasn’t. Drew and I talked about the possibility of me having a part in one of his games.”

Chris looked from his daughter to Richards. “I didn’t think you were entirely serious about that.”

Richards shook his head. “At the time I wasn’t. But I am now.” He looked at Regan. “Look, Regan. Your mom and I kept in touch after we finished that game. She always said that if she couldn’t be in another one then maybe you could take her place. Now I don’t want to put pressure of any kind on you to take this but-“

“I’ll do it.”

Both Richards and Chris looked surprised by this. “You sure, sweetheart?” asked her father.

Regan nodded. “Yes. I’m sure.”

Richards chuckled. “All right. Your character is the granddaughter of your mom’s character and half-sister to Thomas Wood.”

“What’s her name?”

Richards handed her the script. “Her name is Brittany Reagan.”

Regan looked through the script, laughing at some parts. When she looked up there were tears in her eyes. “You didn’t have to do this.”

Richards nodded. “Yes, I did. I made a promise.”

After signing the contract, they exited the room. While Chris and Regan were changing to go into the pool, Richards told Anya that Regan accepted. “Regan was right you know. You really didn’t have to do it.”

Richards smiled slightly. “I know. But I figure it’s my way of honoring Britt.”

“And your mom too?”

“Yeah.”

“There are other ways to honor them.”

Richards nodded as Regan came tearing up the stairs to it and jumped in. Later that night, Richards gave a small speech.

“I would like to propose a toast to my wife. Anya, you have made us, and me, very happy. I don’t know where I’d be without you. I have been thinking about what you said earlier. You’re right. There’re many ways to honor those we have loved and lost. I’m reminded of an old quote: honor the dead, fight like hell for the living. That’s what we should all do. Thank you, love. Here’s at you.”

 

[RySenkari]

Last week's launch of the Google Nexus' new Star Trek game has proven to be a strong week for the console, which has been seeing its sales slowly climb since January. The Nexus has enjoyed a wave of popular games, including Vainglory and Soma, that have sent people to stores to pick up the console. At $199 for the base console and $299 with an included Nexus Companion unit (not necessary if one owns a suitably capable Android device), the Google Nexus remains by far the cheapest console on the market, retailing for half the price of its competitors, and that economy has enabled it to continue selling units at a brisk pace. Its sales are outpacing those of both the original Microsoft Xbox and its ill-fated successor, and at 2 1/2 years into its lifespan, the Nexus has sold 30 million units thus far, making it the second most popular current generation console, and an unexpected success for Google, which has seen a wave of successes this decade. The Nexus Star Trek, which has earned good reviews from game critics, plays much like the 2013 mobile hit Star Trek: Federation Command, though with significantly better production values and expanded gameplay. It allows players to take command of the Kirk-era USS Enterprise, guiding Captain Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Sulu, Uhura, and several brand new characters into the final frontier, exploring new worlds and battling threats to the Federation. It features gameplay similar to the XCOM series, with tactical battling and resource management, though its in-ship segments also take inspiration from games such as Nintendo's Selene trilogy, with branching dialogue paths and meaningful choices that affect the lives of one's companions and crew (in this game, red shirts can survive, if you play your cards right). While not the full-fledged, epic Star Trek adventure some fans were hoping it would be, it enjoyed one of the most successful Nexus launches of the year, and continues the trend of hit Nexus exclusives based on popular television IPs, with last year's Buffy The Vampire Slayer proving to be another major hit.

While the Nexus has garnered somewhat of a reputation as a more kid-friendly console, games like Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Techno Angel: Sabine defy that expectation, catering to mature players of all stripes, and upcoming games such as the FPS Infrascope, which takes full advantage of the Nexus Companion (using it as a high-tech sniper scope), are also aimed, no pun intended, at older players. Infrascope may also be one of the first games to take advantage of the Nexus VR devices that are just now starting to hit the market, beating the Virtua's upcoming VR device to the punch. Of course, many of these VR devices are merely goggles that attach to one's Android phone, and aren't necessarily designed for hardcore virtual reality enthusiasts, but this new generation of cheap Android goggles are designed with Nexus compatibility in mind, allowing players to switch freely between a simulated TV screen and the Nexus' "second screen" with the push of a button or even a voice command. There's also devices such as the Nexus Rangefinder, which are a little more pricey but allow for something closer to what one might get on the Nintendo Reality, with motion controls, full-range VR, and a pair of compatible paddle-like controllers. Nexus game designers have been programming VR modes into their titles since 2014 with these early devices in mind, and those modes are liable to be compatible with the more advanced goggles that are expected to be announced at E3. While Apple is planning an "official" peripheral for the Virtua, Google is going with a more decentralized solution, and while the company is expected to announce some more expensive first-party goggles at E3, the fact that Android devices such as the Nexus and the Nexus Companion are compatible with a wide range of VR goggles opens up possibilities for more budget-minded consumers to jump into the VR game as cheaply as possible.

2014 was somewhat of an "off" year for the Nexus, in which it seemed that the console that took 2013's holiday season by storm had peaked. Now, 2015 is shaping up to be the Year of the Nexus, and its fans are waiting eagerly for June, when Google's E3 presentation will take place and when the new life-sim game Dream Garden will launch. Google's plans for the second half of the year are a bit more hazy, which is why E3 2015 looks like such an important time for the Nexus, and where we could see this generation of the console wars really kick into high gear.

-from an article on Games Over Matter, posted on April 21, 2015

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Dream Garden

Dream Garden is a life-simulation/MMORPG for the Google Nexus, with a playable Android app to accompany it. It's a game that has players create their own magical gardens, in a sort of cross between Animal Crossing and Harvest Moon, with the aim of gathering up materials from their gardens, turning them into weapons, armor, items, or other materials that can be refined, and then going out and doing battle, either in their own gardens or in the gardens of others. The game has a "modern fantasy" aesthetic to it, combining classic tropes and creatures such as faeries and sylphs with a few modern scenery elements such as neon lights and random sci-fi items (though most of the things that can be created are related to fantasy tropes). Players have a large open area in which they can create their garden, and this area is linked to "adventure areas" that are randomly generated by the game but can't be customized (it is, however, possible to manipulate and even "reroll" these adventure areas for a fee of in-game currency). Resource management is done via a combination of in-game currencies and by attracting magical creatures to one's garden, who can work and even fight for you, and can also gather materials. These creatures range from faeries and elves to magical creatures such as dragons and phoenixes. The creatures that one can attract to one's garden (or, later on, can even breed) have characteristics somewhat similar to Neopets, though they're obviously different enough to avoid any kind of lawsuit or accusations of being ripped off from that game. Dream Gardens can grow and expand both horizontally and vertically, and it's possible to get structures like waterfalls and cave complexes in one's garden, as well as flowers the size of skyscrapers and even climbable clouds and rainbows. The game has its own mascots as well, with creatures unique to the game's mythos, and unique faerie characters as well who will visit someone's garden and can perform a variety of helpful tasks. The game itself also guides people through with a helpful faerie companion named Wispy (voiced by Ashlyn Selich) who drops hints and tutorials throughout the game, though she can be shooed away if the player doesn't want her help (they can always invite her back or just ask for advice manually), and she sort of serves as the "main character" of the game in a way, appearing on the cover art of the game itself. There are plenty of single player things that can be accomplished, and the game has what one would call a "campaign" mode in which a great evil dragon must be defeated, but most of the game's attraction is online, as players can not only visit and hang out in other people's gardens, but can also go adventuring with them, and the more players come to your garden, the more "adventure areas" your game generates, meaning that bigger parties can go on bigger adventures (and if you can't get people to come to your own garden, there are always other people's gardens you can join to play that extra content). Dream Garden is meant to cater to everyone: people who just want to casually grow their garden and not worry about the adventure modes, and people who want hardcore MMORPG adventures will all find something to love with this game. It allows players to go at their own pace and has plenty of features to help players avoid online toxicity, and it has a fun cel-shaded graphical style to boot, while also featuring a soundtrack created by Aivi and Surasshu, with a mix of orchestral, Uematsu-style music and retro-style chiptunes.

Pushed as the Nexus' biggest hit of the year, Dream Garden is released in June 2015, timed to coincide with E3 2015. It receives outstanding reviews for its fun, lighthearted gameplay and character designs, and it would immediately become the Nexus' fastest selling game since Miraculous Ladybug, pushing more than a million copies in its first week. Designed to work with a free Android companion app (which becomes one of the fastest downloaded apps of all time), the game is played by fans of all ages, though its biggest demographic success is amongst girls aged 12-17, who turn the game into a hangout and a source of inspiration, with characters frequently springing up in fanart (and Wispy becoming a sort of Isabelle-like figure). Combined with a sudden, shocking price cut announcement at E3 that brings the base model Nexus down to $149 (and with most people now owning phones that can run Nexus Companion, and thus not needing the $249 model's included device, the base model is what most people are buying), Dream Garden sends Nexus sales back over sales of the Nintendo Reality for the first time since 2014. Whether or not Google can stay on top has yet to be seen, but Dream Garden proves to be a major success and potentially the most successful game of its kind since SimSociety.