Honestly?
Six-of-one, half-dozen of the other.
The two are equally bad in different ways.
Battle Royale: The Last Generation Of An SNES-CD Saga
- Thread starter RySenkari
- Start date
Six-of-one, half-dozen of the other.
The two are equally bad in different ways.
So are you saving that Enix Keiken won't tone down the gaccha and thus will not find succes in the west
technically speaking, Gacha is a mega success in the west, just in western stuff like FIFA, overwatch loot boxes and other stuff
Assassin's Creed: Confederation
Assassin’s Creed: Confederation
Background:
After Assassin’s Creed: Restoration got better reviews than what Domination got Ubisoft decided to continue down this line of thought. But where to place the game was on the minds of the creative team. According to Ashraf Ismail, the director of this game, he wanted to adapt one of the seasons of the HBO series, but Ubisoft shut him down. While talking with friends of his one suggested a Wild West Assassin’s Creed.
Ismail was understandably hesitant to do something like this, Wild West games haven’t exactly set the world on fire. However, the more he thought about it the more he liked the idea. But instead of setting the game on the U.S./Mexican border as you might expect, Ismail set it on the U.S./Canada border instead. He also decided to bring back, and put a twist on, having two protagonists in the game.
Cast/Characters:
Khary Payton as Simon Cartwright
Ashley Callingbull as Joanne Lightning (Alsoome Wawetseka)
Vyvan Pham as Cam Nguyen
Thuy Trang as Georgia Lassiter
Danny Wallace as Shawn Hastings
Jessica Alba as Anita Crane
Chantal Riley as Layla Hassan
Ashly Burch as Nadine Thomas
Kari Wahlgren as Fiona Applegate
John Barrowman as Othneil Welles
Matthew Modine as George Armstrong Custer
Travis Willingham as Kenneth Williams
Idris Elba as Carter Roberts
Adam Beach as Thomas Farmer (Kitchi Mingan)
Sam Witwer as H. H. Holmes
Sean Bean as Gareth Knight
Lyssa Fielding as Eve
Dan Jeannotte as Marcus Fielder
Emerald O'Hanrahan as Rebecca Thorne
Plot:
Picking up right where the last game left off, Eve tells the group of a place she heard about in the Canadian Rockies, near Calgary. She says that they will find all the answers they want there. Cam says that knows the area and will go with Eve, if no one else will. The others agree, though the members of Abstergo say that they have some things to do before joining the others. After burying their dead, they go to Calgary.
There they find the subjects that they are looking for: Simon Cartwright and Joanne Lightning. After choosing one of them to be, Cam goes into the Animus. At this point, the story takes one of two paths. Though both paths share most of the same missions, they tell different stories. For Simon, he was disillusioned by his service in the army and he is fighting in the Indian Wars while serving in the Order at the same time. For Joanne, she is trying to protect her people from the incursions of settlers.
However, both characters realize that no matter what, their efforts will be in vain if the Templars gain control. Simon’s path starts just after the American Civil War, when he killed John Wilkes Booth. After getting away, we jump forward to 1867, when Simon has joined George Armstrong Custer’s command. Simon chafes at having to serve under a Templar, especially one as arrogant and showy as Custer.
Meanwhile, Joanne is meeting with a missionary named Fiona Applegate and a politician named Gareth Knight. They see westward expansion as inevitable and think that all the tribes should submit themselves to the Canadian government. After nearly being stopped by Thomas Farmer from leaving, Joanne swears to stop it. Eventually, Farmer and an old army friend of Cartwright’s called Roberts help out.
After undergoing several missions, Simon and Joanne meet Othneil Welles. They start making a plan to slow the spread of westward expansion across the Western Frontier of both America and Canada. It is here that the two meet Nadine Thomas who is learning to be an assassin. At this point, players start doing missions together with the other player character being AI controlled. Essentially you only play one half of a mission, to get the complete story you have to play the other character. Fortunately, this only applies to about 15% of the game.
There are prep missions where you can play as one or the other character for each main mission. First, they try to kill Custer in 1868, but fail. Over the next few years, they work on both sides of the border to eliminate the other Templars (Williams in 1870, Knight in 1872, Applegate in 1874) along with other minor Templars, training Nadine along the way.
This all culminates in the Battle of the Little Big Horn. Though Simon is constrained by the military structure, he and Joanne are able to get close enough to kill Custer while Nadine helps Sitting Bull and the others escape. Simon is resigns from the army shortly thereafter. They ride into the sunset.
In the present day, Cam is still training. Every so often she goes on missions to assassinate Templars as the war is seemingly winding down as well as exploring the temple they are in. After the main story is complete, she and the others find the answers they are looking for. As the two groups go their separate ways, a surprise cameo from Elise comes through the radio telling the Assassins that something similar was found in France.
DLC:
The Assassins of the South: Focusing on Simon Cartwright, this addition sees Cartwright hunting down Confederate Templars during the Civil War.
Spirits of Another World: Focusing on Joanne Lightning, this one forces Joanne to look into the Ghost Dancing movement of the late 1800s.
The Horrors of Dr. Holmes: A psychological thriller where Nadine investigates, and nearly becomes a victim of Dr. H. H. Holmes.
Gameplay:
Going full tilt into the RPG mechanics, the way that you upgrade now is relatively the same. Three separate categories: Stealth, Melee, Range that look like constellations of things from Native American, specifically Plains Cree, mythology. These improve those aspects in various ways, like being hidden better, better weapon accuracy, etc.
In a return to the first game, there are minor Templars that you can assassinate in an effort to weaken their efforts in the west, all based on famous outlaws or lawmen of the time. You also have to deal with bounty hunters coming after you. The ship/settlement that you get is changed into a train. Also the armor in this game is made to hide under clothing like modern body armor.
Achievements/Trophies:
High Plains Drifter: Collect all other trophies -/Platinum
Over the Edge: Set up near the Rockies 10g/Bronze
Getting into Character: Complete the Prologue 15g/Bronze
Not Like That: Complete Chapter 1 15g/Bronze
Past Mistakes: Complete Chapter 2 15g/Bronze
Charged Up: Complete Chapter 3 15g/Bronze
Maybe Not: Complete Chapter 4 15g/Bronze
Land Wrongs: Complete Chapter 5 15g/Bronze
Another Day, Another Death: Complete Chapter 6 15g/Bronze
In The Making: Complete Chapter 7 15g/Bronze
New Position: Complete Chapter 8 20g/Silver
Last Stands: Complete Chapter 9+Epilogue 50g/Gold
Child of the River Spirits: Complete all underwater areas 15g/Bronze
Tactical: Complete all missions just as Simon Cartwright 15g/Bronze
Clever as a Fox: Complete all missions just as Joanne Lightning 15g/Bronze
Both Sides: Complete all missions as both 30g/Silver
For the Right Price: Recruit a Legendary NPC to your cause 15g/Bronze
What a Blast!: Find and equip a Legendary Gun 15g/Bronze
Land of Ancient Beasts: Find all the Dinosaur bones on the map 30g/Silver
Float Like a Butterfly: Become a legend in the boxing ring 30g/Silver
Legend of the West: Reach Level 50 15g/Bronze
Makeshift: Acquire a Tier 3 ability 15g/Bronze
A New Legacy: Upgrade all of your skills 30g/Silver
Top of the List: Defeat all the Bounty Hunters 15g/Bronze
Frontier Justice: Kill all the Templars 30g/Silver
Wide Open Spaces: Unveil all regions of the plains 20g/Bronze
Ain’t No Mountain High Enough: Climb to the top of the highest mountain in the game in ten minutes 15g/Bronze
No Longer Blurry: Defeat the Sasquatch 20g/Bronze
Don’t Go Into the Water: Defeat the Great Lynx 20g/Bronze
Terror: Defeat the Wendigo 20g/Bronze
Helpful, Indeed: Get help from an Apiscinis 15g/Bronze
Make Casey Proud: Fully upgrade your train 30g/Silver
Working on the Railroad: Fully crew your train 30g/Silver
Not Bad: Complete First Training Session with Nadine 20g/Bronze
Getting Better: Complete Second Training Session with Nadine 20g/Bronze
I Know What I’m Doing: Complete Third Training Session with Nadine 20g/Bronze
The Last of it: Complete Fourth Training Session with Nadine 20g/Bronze
Taking Flight: Complete Final Training Session with Nadine 30g/Silver
City of Stars: Complete Cam’s First Assassination 15g/Bronze
Blood Sport: Complete Cam’s Second Assassination 20g/Bronze
Fashion Statement: Complete Cam’s Third Assassination 20g/Bronze
Do You Feel Lucky?: Equip All Legendary Weapons 15g/Bronze
And Dance Under the Light of the Moon: Spend the night with all of your companions 15g/Bronze
From a .44: Kill one cluster of Templars 30g/Silver
Hitting the Trail: Find the first map to the Thunderbird Armors 15g/Bronze
Makes You Think: Find the second map to the Thunderbird Armors 15g/Bronze
Aim True: Find the third map to the Thunderbird Armors 15g/Bronze
Low Point: Find the fourth map to the Thunderbird Armors 15g/Bronze
Highest of Highs: Find and equip the Thunderbird Armors 20g/Bronze
A Few Dollars: Complete activities on the plains 50g/Gold
Infamous: Raise your bounty level to maximum 15g/Bronze
Forts and Treaties: Raid all forts 15g/Bronze
The Range: Brand a single item you own 15g/Bronze
The Whole Lot: Brand all the items you own 15g/Bronze
DLC:
Just Getting Started: Join the Brotherhood 20g/Bronze
Without a Trace: Kill 10 enemies in a row without being seen 20g/Bronze
Up Against a Stonewall: Kill Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson 30g/Silver
Early Days: Kill all Templars in Virginia 20g/Bronze
The Irishman: Kill Patrick Cleburne 30g/Silver
Close to the End: Kill all Templars in Tennessee 20g/Bronze
Back to the Beginning: Start after John Wilkes Booth 60g/Gold
Rough Market: Kill the Stiff Jointed Bear 20g/Bronze
Ghosting: Help all of the followers of the movement 20g/Bronze
Red Cape: Avenge Sitting Bull 40g/Silver
Drifting: Find all the feathers 20g/Bronze
Masked: Find all the masks 20g/Bronze
Towering: Climb to the highest peak and perform a Leap of Faith 30g/Silver
Flooded: Kill all the Templars 20g/Bronze
Bury My Heart: Reach Wounded Knee 50g/Gold
Winds are a ‘Blowing: Enter Chicago 20g/Bronze
A Fair Assumption: Visit the World’s Fair at least 5 times 20g/Bronze
Free Wheeling: Get to the top of George Ferris’ wheel 40g/Silver
Seeing Things: Survive the first hallucination 20g/Bronze
Not There: Survive the second hallucination 20g/Bronze
Marked: Survive the final hallucination 30g/Silver
Sideshow: Find all the sights of the fair 20g/Bronze
The Doctor Will See You Now: Escape from Dr. Holmes 50g/Gold
Review:
Assassin’s Creed: Confederation was released on the Nintendo Reality, Apple Virtua and Google Nexus on October 5, 2018 and on Google Stadia on November 16, 2018. The Assassins of the South, Spirits of Another World and The Horrors of Dr. Holmes were released on December 13, 2018, February 7, 2019 and April 14, 2019 respectively. It got review scores in the low to mid 8s and showed that there was still some life in the franchise. I quite like it. Simon Cartwright moves up from last to 11 in my book. Nadine is number 14, though if she were more experienced she might be higher Cam is number 9 and Joanne is number 8.
However, with what’s been going on at Ubisoft lately it seems that Assassin’s Creed has been put on hold. At least for the time being. Whether the next game will be released this year or next I’m not entirely sure. But I heard that it will be next year. I also heard that it might be set in the Viking age though that might be a rumor. Till next time.
-Review of Assassin’s Creed: Confederation by R.C. Anderson, Nothing is True: A History of Assassin’s Creed on Consoles, Gamesovermatter.com, May 5, 2019.
Here's our question: What was Roswell, New Mexico made ITTL compared to IOTL? And what was the original Roswell TV show made ITTL compared to IOTL?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roswell_(TV_series) this one? Dunno if was mentioned, turning on the @RySenkari Signal, if anything I don't remember, might has been butterflies away
@RySenkari What happens to the Disney cartoon Amphibia ITTL? Will you incorporate elements of it in your upcoming "The Boiling Isles" game ITTL?
Well...
That being said, if ITTL he becomes one of the most mysterious yet well acclaimed developers here, this outta make me a few chuckles.
Mmmm, Roswell the TV show was nearly identical to the OTL show, TTL's events had little to no impact on it.
Unfortunately, Amphibia has been butterflied from TTL. Creator Matt Braly doesn't get into animation ITTL, though he does have a moderately popular game review/streaming series on Videocean where he mostly talks about and plays Sega/Apple games (he also still has a day job since he doesn't quite make enough from his videos to live off the income).
He's making a bunch of crappy Steam games ITTL, and some of his stuff has popped up on the Nexus/Stadia store.
Oh. I blame myself for hyping up expectations that probably wouldn't happen.
So is Stadia poised to still be a dumping ground for shovelware then or will Google get more proactive monitoring games this time?
Google ITTL essentially becomes the ITTL version of Microsoft, so it's likely they'll be more proactive monitoring games, especially since they actually have experiences with developing consoles.
Any System is going to have shovelware, that is not a negative but a reality, is part that a system is popular enough people try to swing at everything, you get hit or misses, but so far ITTL both APPLE AND Google and has far better quality control systems for games, so if a game sucks is because is bad, not because was fundamentally broken...but of course shit always get through any filter, that tends to happen
I just remember Ry mentioning Nexus’s shovel ware was around the same ballpark as the Wii was IOTL. Most successful systems do get shovel ware obviously (spend 5 minutes browsing the Switch and PS4 stores and find proof pretty quick), but there’s a point where shovel ware starts to hurt a platform like what happened with Wii and Steam. Was curious if Stadia would be on that level.
February 2019 - Ancient Guides And Future Machines
Luck Leads Niners To Dominant Super Bowl Win, Niners Dynasty Is Back
Andrew Luck and the San Francisco 49ers are the undisputed kings of the NFL, after a dominating 21-2 win over the New York Jets in Super Bowl LIII. The game, a mostly defensive struggle that saw the Jets go up 2-0 on a safety in the first quarter before the 49ers finally managed to wear down their tough defense and rattle off three touchdowns in the final three quarters, stood in stark contrast to last year's shootout against the Raiders, and demonstrated that Andrew Luck can win against both soft defenses and tough ones. The Jets came into the game as not only the toughest defensive team in the NFL, but perhaps the best defensive team of all time, and though they were wild cards in the AFC with a 10-6 record, they pushed their way past the Raiders, Patriots, and finally the Cleveland Browns to make it to the Super Bowl. The 49ers had to go through the Seattle Seahawks, then tussled with another underdog team, the 10-6 Detroit Lions, who upset the Atlanta Falcons to prevent a rematch of last year's NFC Championship, then gave the 49ers a surprisingly tough game in the conference championship before finally going down. As it turned out, the Lions would be the 49ers' stiffest test en route to their second straight Super Bowl championship and their third championship in four years, and their seventh overall. Not since Joe Montana and the West Coast offense-driven 49ers of the 1980s has San Francisco fielded such an excellent football team. In addition to their top ranked offense, they also had the second best defense in the NFL, behind only the Jets, and steamrolled through the regular season with a 15-1 record. Luck's Super Bowl victory proved to be an easy one, though he did struggle early, and finished with only one touchdown and two interceptions, while running back Johnathan Franklin took the MVP trophy with 137 yards and two rushing touchdowns. The New York Jets have been one of the decade's best defensive teams, but have struggled on offense in recent years, unable to find stability at either the QB or running back positions, and fielded three different starters this year, with Tim Scorfee having quarterbacked the team through the playoffs. With two picks of his own in the Super Bowl, it's up in the air whether he'll be back at the starting position next year, though the 24-year-old did show flashes of promise throughout the playoffs. With the Jets picking 31st in the upcoming NFL Draft, and a somewhat thin selection of quarterbacks this year, the team is likely to stick with Scorfee, though they could try their luck in free agency.
Early Vegas prognosticators favor the 49ers to pull off the threepeat, giving them 3-1 odds of winning next year's Super Bowl, followed by 11-2 odds for the Atlanta Falcons, and 6-1 odds for the Buffalo Bills.
-from an article on Yahoo! Sports News, posted on February 4, 2019
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In one of the most bizarre acceptance speeches ever given at the Grammys, eccentric pop superstar M. S., whose album Kill You won Album of the Year, made a number of controversial statements even for her, in which she insulted numerous people including Rihanna and Taylor Swift, started to insult Bruno Mars but then backed off and propositioned him instead, and also made bizarre sexual comments about her longtime friend, screen and stage actress Elizabeth Gillies. Gillies, who was in attendance at the ceremony, looked noticeably uncomfortable at the singer's comments, though she continued to clap and congratulate her friend after the rambling speech. The singer declined to perform any songs at the ceremony, though in her speech her voice did have a noticeable rasp, and it's speculated that she may have been under the weather. Though she was considered to be one of the top contenders for the night's biggest award, and took home three Grammys overall, her victory was considered somewhat of a surprise, as Bruno Mars was widely expected to take home Album of the Year for his album Soulflyer, which also won three awards last night including Record of the Year. M. S., whose real name is Martina Sanders, has been known for bizarre behavior and a unique appearance ever since she began performing at 14. Now 24, she is still considered one of the biggest names in the business, even as her sales have faded somewhat over the past few years due to a spate of pop rivals, the surging popularity of hip-hop, and the re-emergence of Korean and Japanese pop acts into the mainstream. She's embraced many of these trends, and is a self-expressed fan of many popular Asian bands, including BTS, who she was seen with backstage before the show. She once controversially claimed to have slept with every member of the band in a controversial social media post where she also told the band's fanbase to "go fuck themselves, because they won't be fucking anyone else", which drew a massive negative response from many young BTS fans and a response from the band's management denying the singer's claims. M. S. has already announced that she's working on another album, and that it'll be "done when it's done". The singer has scaled back her live concerts and tour appearances in recent months, and though there's some tabloid speculation that she could be addicted to drugs, those close to the singer have denied such reports. CBS, which broadcast the ceremony completely uncut and did not censor any of the singer's comments, including four uses of the word "fuck" and numerous explicit sexual remarks, has not yet commented on what happened, though the network is not likely to face any fines or punishment due to reforms made to the FCC under the Huntsman administration that gutted the agency's power to punish networks for obscenity during live broadcasts.
-from an article on Pop Without Remorse, posted on February 11, 2019
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A Star Is Born, Spike Lee, Owen Wilson Win Big At Academy Awards
A Star Is Born, the latest in a series of remakes that have seen actresses such as Judy Garland and Barbara Streisand cast in the lead role, took not only the big prize of the night, but also the top accolade for its star Aimee Carrero, who achieved what Garland notably failed to do by winning Best Actress at last night's Oscars. Both A Star Is Born and Carrero were considered upset wins, with Spike Lee's racially-charged BlacKkKlansman favored to win the night's biggest prize, but ultimately losing out to the heartwrenching musical. Lee did take home his first ever Best Director award, while Owen Wilson won Best Actor for his performance in Resurrection, a comedy-drama about a man's struggles at a drug rehab facility. Resurrection was also considered a leading contender for the night's top award, but, like BlacKkKlansman, fell short. Carrero, whose biggest previous movie role was arguably as Raya Alonso in the Jem film series, and had very little prior singing experience outside of those films, but was cast due to what director Alfonso Cuaron (who turned down a film deal with Blockbuster to direct the A Star Is Born remake) said was an "exceptional" audition, as well as strong chemistry with the film's leading actor Patrick Wilson (who was nominated for Best Actor as well, though he lost to his fellow Wilson, Owen). Carrero said that she based her performance on the rise of pop star Selena in the mid-90s (ironically, the idea of a remake of A Star Is Born was floated in the late 90s, it would have starred Selena, while Val Kilmer was being considered for the role of her co-star, but Selena was contracted for a concert tour and the film ultimately had to be scrapped). The film garnered strong reviews and a 91% Fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes, with most of the reviews highly praising Carrero's performance, but the film's multiple wins still shocked many, and Carrero herself looked noticeably stunned as she received her Oscar from last year's Best Actor winner Heath Ledger (who was also considered for the lead in A Star Is Born, but had other commitments). The Best Animated Film winner was also a highly contentious category, and with video game icons Mario and Sonic going head to head, one could be forgiven for confusing the night's proceedings for a video game awards ceremony, at least during that part of the broadcast. However, it was a Japanese film, Mirai, that took the award, doing what Hayao Miyazaki's final film The Little Conductor couldn't do last year.
-from an article on Yahoo! News, posted on February 25, 2019
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Austin Watson: It's time for what you've all been waiting for, an exclusive first look at Hideo Kojima's newest game project, scheduled for release next year. We got to go to Kojima's game studio in Japan, where this brand new game is more than halfway complete. Let's go see what one of the greatest game creators of all time is up to.
*We next see Watson, along with Avan Jogia, at Kojima's studio. We also get some quick looks at physical models of monsters and giant mechs, giving us a hint of what's to come. Next, we see Watson and Jogia meeting up with the master himself, Hideo Kojima, who looks exhausted but also excited to be showing off the new game at last.*
Austin: This is it, the big reveal, and you've invited us here to your game studio here in Japan.
Kojima: *nodding* Yes, Ubisoft has been quite gracious to allow me to put my own team together, and I appreciate very much that they've let me devote so much to this game.
Austin: Well, let's see it, I'm excited!
Avan: What's the next game from Hideo Kojima?
Kojima: This project is called Awakened From The Earth, and it will focus on giant mecha battling ferocious creatures for the fate of humanity.
Austin: You've done mech games before, Zone of the Enders, but this is something entirely different, right?
Kojima: That's right, these mechs are much larger, they tower over everything. The game's title refers to these ferocious giant beasts, but it also refers to these giant mechs, because they too were buried by another civilization, and you will need to find them before you can pilot them against the beasts. This game combines exploration with mech combat, you can't just climb in and fight, there's an entire process you will need to go through to earn the mech's trust.
Avan: So this is something... this is like Zelda, it's like Evangelion, it's like Gundam?
Kojima: This is like no game that has ever been made before. *laughing*
*We see some footage from the game, of a character exploring an ancient temple-like place that turns out to be the inside of the mech, needing to solve puzzles and communicate with the mech's spirit to awaken it for battle.*
Kojima: There is one mech on every continent... so you will have to awaken seven in all, and you will have seven different playable characters who each have their own unique journeys and personalities.
Avan: It sounds to me like this game gets seriously into the psyche of each of these pilots.
Kojima: Yes, you will need to know them all.
*We get to see some exploration footage, with Austin guiding one of the protagonists through the game's first dungeon. We then get to experience some mech combat, in which the player must rely on their reflexes and wits to win. The mech battle is almost a puzzle in and of itself, as you'll need to target certain spots on the beast to claim victory. The mechs and beasts are enormous, perhaps a thousand feet tall, easily shattering buildings as they fight.*
Avan: Incredible!
Austin: There's a whole layer to this, a layer of having to know your mech inside and out.
Kojima: You'll discover secrets within the mechs that will help you win each battle.
Austin: Will the pilots come together, team up at some point?
Kojima: There are bonds that form, but I don't want to spoil much of that.
*The preview continues for a while, showing off more footage from the exploration as well as the mech vs. beast combat and even some of the interpersonal relationships between the characters, who are mostly young and who have various problems that they'll have to work through inside the mechs before they can pilot them successfully. Finally, the meeting ends with one last short conversation between Kojima and the two hosts.*
Avan: *shaking Kojima's hand* Thanks again for showing us this amazing game, we can't wait to see more get revealed and we really can't wait to play.
Austin: Yeah, take it easy, you look like you've been working really hard on this game.
Kojima: Thank you, thank you for all the kind comments, I will hopefully get to show more soon.
-from the February 21, 2019 episode of GameTV
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Game Spotlight: Eternal Guide
Eternal Guide is a JRPG developed exclusively for the Nintendo Reality by the second party studio Inquill (a Japanese studio original TTL, with people who worked on games like Ni No Kuni and Dragon Quest XI IOTL). It's a fairly old-school style turn based RPG about a young (14-year-old) boy named Stefan who travels into a mysterious book to undertake a mysterious quest. The book contains a variety of themed realms, and Stefan gains more companions as he goes along, as the heroes venture together to save the book and its denizens from destruction. The gameplay is turn-based, but with a variety of options that Stefan can undertake in battle. Along with the typical Attack/Skill/Item commands so common to JRPGs are a "Write" option that allows the player to create attacks or alter the environment, with Stefan (and later one other character) able to activate this ability. This ability can provide a significant advantage in battle, and winning some of the game's tougher battles requires its use, while it can also be used in simpler battles to earn bonuses and loot by changing certain things if the player wants to spend the time. The game is fairly linear, as Stefan and his friends travel between pages in the book, and while you must play through the story to go forward, it's always possible to go back via the use of an extensive fast travel and checkpoint system, to get treasures that you missed, do sidequests, and even revisit old areas to take on tougher challenges. Up to ten total characters are available, with four able to be used in battle at any one time. The game's graphics, though taking full advantage of the Reality's capabilities, do have a whimsical, slightly hand-drawn appearance to them (not full cel-shaded/anime style like Ni No Kuni, but definitely not as vivid and realistic as a modern Final Fantasy game. The game also has a symphonic soundtrack full of a huge variety of songs, more than 80 in all, while the voice cast features a wide variety of actors from across the Los Angeles area, and a young OTL actor as the voice of Stefan. The game's plot sees Stefan end up in the book after meeting a pretty girl named Miriam who volunteers at the library, and after he develops a crush on her, she disappears and he follows her into the book. He eventually finds Miriam, who is a princess in this new world and who doesn't recognize him at all, and he resolves to get her home so she can remember who she is. He eventually runs into a boy named Akira, who claims to be from Stefan's world and says that only one of them can escape, and serves as a rival and enemy to him early on, but who eventually joins Stefan in his quest, as the two unite to battle the Book of Shadows, a mysterious force said to be overtaking the Eternal Guide, manifesting dark words and beasts within its pages, and also converting people into evil versions of themselves. Miriam eventually falls for Stefan, though she still doesn't believe his story that she was from the real world, and eventually Stefan learns that she's someone who escaped from the book and is a manifestation of the Book of Shadows. When the Book of Shadows is destroyed, she'll be destroyed as well, but Stefan doesn't have the heart to tell her, and eventually she finds out in a heartwrenching scene where she lashes out at him, not wanting to be destroyed. Stefan wants to protect her, but Akira wants to destroy the Book of Shadows and get home. Eventually, Miriam decides on her own to help Stefan, while Akira ends up getting possessed by the Book of Shadows. He's defeated, and rejoins Stefan and the others for one final battle in which Miriam willingly sacrifices herself to purify the Eternal Guide and return Stefan and Akira home. Stefan returns home and is sad, until one day at the library he reunites with Miriam. Miriam has somehow been able to survive the destruction of the Book of Shadows, though she doesn't remember anything from their quest, and only remembers how nice Stefan was to her before his adventure began. The two hold hands and leave the library together, while we also see Akira reunite with his family (it's shown that he's been gone a lot longer, but his mom, now quite old, is still happy to see him again).
Eternal Guide is released in North America and Europe in February 2019, following a fall 2018 release in Japan. The game got high sales and lots of critical accolades there, and does equally well with Western critics, thanks to its beautiful graphics and emotional storyline. Sales aren't quite as vigorous, but as one of the biggest Reality exclusive JRPGs to be released, and thanks to a lot of promotion from Nintendo, it still does very well, becoming the fastest selling JRPG-style game on the console since Volare. It's considered one of the year's best RPGs, and is also an early contender for the year's top Reality exclusive, showing that the genre can still produce hits outside of the big well known franchises.
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Other Significant Titles For February 2019:
CarnEvil: The Return: (Author's Note: The following game idea was given to us by the reader HonestAbe1809!) Published by Acclaim, this is a remake of the classic light gun game CarnEvil, but, like OTL's Resident Evil remakes, also functions as a unique game in its own right, and plays like a straight action horror adventure game than the light gun game that inspired it. In it, a small town is overtaken by the titular evil carnival, and the protagonists must battle their way through fun, games, and horror to liberate their friends and loved ones from the wrath of the evil ringmaster Ludwig von Tokkentakker. The protagonist, a young man named Rick, must rescue his girlfriend Becky, though Becky does take an active role for most of the game, fighting alongside Ricky in numerous missions and only occasionally becoming a damsel in distress. The gameplay can best be compared to OTL and TTL's Dead Rising, while in-universe it also gets comparisons to Fun Fair. The game is brutal, gory, but also a whole lot of fun, an exciting throwback horror title that averages solid 8/10 scores from critics and achieves well over a million sales.
Pac-Man In: Mega Madness!: (Author's Note: The following game idea was given to us by the reader MegaToon1234!) Namco brings their legendary pellet munching protagonist back for his biggest adventure ever, combining the 3-D platforming of OTL's Pac-Man World with the maze-centered gameplay of OTL's Ms. Pac-Man: Maze Madness to create a game that blends the unique gameplay of the series with a modern fully realized 3-D platformer. The result is an adventure that not only allows players to play as Pac-Man or Ms. Pac-Man, but to even take control of the ghosts in certain segments. There are eight worlds in all, and over 100 different challenges to complete. The game features throwbacks to pretty much every form of Pac-Man media ever created, from games to TV shows to merchandise, with Buckner and Garcia's "Pac-Man Fever" prominently featured and remixed. Throw in some extra modes featuring classic Pac-Man gameplay (the full original Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man games are included), and you've got the ultimate tribute to one of the most popular video game characters of all time. The game is a surprise critical and especially commercial hit, and kickstarts a revival for the Pac-Man IP that would continue over the next few years.
Andrew Luck and the San Francisco 49ers are the undisputed kings of the NFL, after a dominating 21-2 win over the New York Jets in Super Bowl LIII. The game, a mostly defensive struggle that saw the Jets go up 2-0 on a safety in the first quarter before the 49ers finally managed to wear down their tough defense and rattle off three touchdowns in the final three quarters, stood in stark contrast to last year's shootout against the Raiders, and demonstrated that Andrew Luck can win against both soft defenses and tough ones. The Jets came into the game as not only the toughest defensive team in the NFL, but perhaps the best defensive team of all time, and though they were wild cards in the AFC with a 10-6 record, they pushed their way past the Raiders, Patriots, and finally the Cleveland Browns to make it to the Super Bowl. The 49ers had to go through the Seattle Seahawks, then tussled with another underdog team, the 10-6 Detroit Lions, who upset the Atlanta Falcons to prevent a rematch of last year's NFC Championship, then gave the 49ers a surprisingly tough game in the conference championship before finally going down. As it turned out, the Lions would be the 49ers' stiffest test en route to their second straight Super Bowl championship and their third championship in four years, and their seventh overall. Not since Joe Montana and the West Coast offense-driven 49ers of the 1980s has San Francisco fielded such an excellent football team. In addition to their top ranked offense, they also had the second best defense in the NFL, behind only the Jets, and steamrolled through the regular season with a 15-1 record. Luck's Super Bowl victory proved to be an easy one, though he did struggle early, and finished with only one touchdown and two interceptions, while running back Johnathan Franklin took the MVP trophy with 137 yards and two rushing touchdowns. The New York Jets have been one of the decade's best defensive teams, but have struggled on offense in recent years, unable to find stability at either the QB or running back positions, and fielded three different starters this year, with Tim Scorfee having quarterbacked the team through the playoffs. With two picks of his own in the Super Bowl, it's up in the air whether he'll be back at the starting position next year, though the 24-year-old did show flashes of promise throughout the playoffs. With the Jets picking 31st in the upcoming NFL Draft, and a somewhat thin selection of quarterbacks this year, the team is likely to stick with Scorfee, though they could try their luck in free agency.
Early Vegas prognosticators favor the 49ers to pull off the threepeat, giving them 3-1 odds of winning next year's Super Bowl, followed by 11-2 odds for the Atlanta Falcons, and 6-1 odds for the Buffalo Bills.
-from an article on Yahoo! Sports News, posted on February 4, 2019
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In one of the most bizarre acceptance speeches ever given at the Grammys, eccentric pop superstar M. S., whose album Kill You won Album of the Year, made a number of controversial statements even for her, in which she insulted numerous people including Rihanna and Taylor Swift, started to insult Bruno Mars but then backed off and propositioned him instead, and also made bizarre sexual comments about her longtime friend, screen and stage actress Elizabeth Gillies. Gillies, who was in attendance at the ceremony, looked noticeably uncomfortable at the singer's comments, though she continued to clap and congratulate her friend after the rambling speech. The singer declined to perform any songs at the ceremony, though in her speech her voice did have a noticeable rasp, and it's speculated that she may have been under the weather. Though she was considered to be one of the top contenders for the night's biggest award, and took home three Grammys overall, her victory was considered somewhat of a surprise, as Bruno Mars was widely expected to take home Album of the Year for his album Soulflyer, which also won three awards last night including Record of the Year. M. S., whose real name is Martina Sanders, has been known for bizarre behavior and a unique appearance ever since she began performing at 14. Now 24, she is still considered one of the biggest names in the business, even as her sales have faded somewhat over the past few years due to a spate of pop rivals, the surging popularity of hip-hop, and the re-emergence of Korean and Japanese pop acts into the mainstream. She's embraced many of these trends, and is a self-expressed fan of many popular Asian bands, including BTS, who she was seen with backstage before the show. She once controversially claimed to have slept with every member of the band in a controversial social media post where she also told the band's fanbase to "go fuck themselves, because they won't be fucking anyone else", which drew a massive negative response from many young BTS fans and a response from the band's management denying the singer's claims. M. S. has already announced that she's working on another album, and that it'll be "done when it's done". The singer has scaled back her live concerts and tour appearances in recent months, and though there's some tabloid speculation that she could be addicted to drugs, those close to the singer have denied such reports. CBS, which broadcast the ceremony completely uncut and did not censor any of the singer's comments, including four uses of the word "fuck" and numerous explicit sexual remarks, has not yet commented on what happened, though the network is not likely to face any fines or punishment due to reforms made to the FCC under the Huntsman administration that gutted the agency's power to punish networks for obscenity during live broadcasts.
-from an article on Pop Without Remorse, posted on February 11, 2019
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A Star Is Born, Spike Lee, Owen Wilson Win Big At Academy Awards
A Star Is Born, the latest in a series of remakes that have seen actresses such as Judy Garland and Barbara Streisand cast in the lead role, took not only the big prize of the night, but also the top accolade for its star Aimee Carrero, who achieved what Garland notably failed to do by winning Best Actress at last night's Oscars. Both A Star Is Born and Carrero were considered upset wins, with Spike Lee's racially-charged BlacKkKlansman favored to win the night's biggest prize, but ultimately losing out to the heartwrenching musical. Lee did take home his first ever Best Director award, while Owen Wilson won Best Actor for his performance in Resurrection, a comedy-drama about a man's struggles at a drug rehab facility. Resurrection was also considered a leading contender for the night's top award, but, like BlacKkKlansman, fell short. Carrero, whose biggest previous movie role was arguably as Raya Alonso in the Jem film series, and had very little prior singing experience outside of those films, but was cast due to what director Alfonso Cuaron (who turned down a film deal with Blockbuster to direct the A Star Is Born remake) said was an "exceptional" audition, as well as strong chemistry with the film's leading actor Patrick Wilson (who was nominated for Best Actor as well, though he lost to his fellow Wilson, Owen). Carrero said that she based her performance on the rise of pop star Selena in the mid-90s (ironically, the idea of a remake of A Star Is Born was floated in the late 90s, it would have starred Selena, while Val Kilmer was being considered for the role of her co-star, but Selena was contracted for a concert tour and the film ultimately had to be scrapped). The film garnered strong reviews and a 91% Fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes, with most of the reviews highly praising Carrero's performance, but the film's multiple wins still shocked many, and Carrero herself looked noticeably stunned as she received her Oscar from last year's Best Actor winner Heath Ledger (who was also considered for the lead in A Star Is Born, but had other commitments). The Best Animated Film winner was also a highly contentious category, and with video game icons Mario and Sonic going head to head, one could be forgiven for confusing the night's proceedings for a video game awards ceremony, at least during that part of the broadcast. However, it was a Japanese film, Mirai, that took the award, doing what Hayao Miyazaki's final film The Little Conductor couldn't do last year.
-from an article on Yahoo! News, posted on February 25, 2019
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Austin Watson: It's time for what you've all been waiting for, an exclusive first look at Hideo Kojima's newest game project, scheduled for release next year. We got to go to Kojima's game studio in Japan, where this brand new game is more than halfway complete. Let's go see what one of the greatest game creators of all time is up to.
*We next see Watson, along with Avan Jogia, at Kojima's studio. We also get some quick looks at physical models of monsters and giant mechs, giving us a hint of what's to come. Next, we see Watson and Jogia meeting up with the master himself, Hideo Kojima, who looks exhausted but also excited to be showing off the new game at last.*
Austin: This is it, the big reveal, and you've invited us here to your game studio here in Japan.
Kojima: *nodding* Yes, Ubisoft has been quite gracious to allow me to put my own team together, and I appreciate very much that they've let me devote so much to this game.
Austin: Well, let's see it, I'm excited!
Avan: What's the next game from Hideo Kojima?
Kojima: This project is called Awakened From The Earth, and it will focus on giant mecha battling ferocious creatures for the fate of humanity.
Austin: You've done mech games before, Zone of the Enders, but this is something entirely different, right?
Kojima: That's right, these mechs are much larger, they tower over everything. The game's title refers to these ferocious giant beasts, but it also refers to these giant mechs, because they too were buried by another civilization, and you will need to find them before you can pilot them against the beasts. This game combines exploration with mech combat, you can't just climb in and fight, there's an entire process you will need to go through to earn the mech's trust.
Avan: So this is something... this is like Zelda, it's like Evangelion, it's like Gundam?
Kojima: This is like no game that has ever been made before. *laughing*
*We see some footage from the game, of a character exploring an ancient temple-like place that turns out to be the inside of the mech, needing to solve puzzles and communicate with the mech's spirit to awaken it for battle.*
Kojima: There is one mech on every continent... so you will have to awaken seven in all, and you will have seven different playable characters who each have their own unique journeys and personalities.
Avan: It sounds to me like this game gets seriously into the psyche of each of these pilots.
Kojima: Yes, you will need to know them all.
*We get to see some exploration footage, with Austin guiding one of the protagonists through the game's first dungeon. We then get to experience some mech combat, in which the player must rely on their reflexes and wits to win. The mech battle is almost a puzzle in and of itself, as you'll need to target certain spots on the beast to claim victory. The mechs and beasts are enormous, perhaps a thousand feet tall, easily shattering buildings as they fight.*
Avan: Incredible!
Austin: There's a whole layer to this, a layer of having to know your mech inside and out.
Kojima: You'll discover secrets within the mechs that will help you win each battle.
Austin: Will the pilots come together, team up at some point?
Kojima: There are bonds that form, but I don't want to spoil much of that.
*The preview continues for a while, showing off more footage from the exploration as well as the mech vs. beast combat and even some of the interpersonal relationships between the characters, who are mostly young and who have various problems that they'll have to work through inside the mechs before they can pilot them successfully. Finally, the meeting ends with one last short conversation between Kojima and the two hosts.*
Avan: *shaking Kojima's hand* Thanks again for showing us this amazing game, we can't wait to see more get revealed and we really can't wait to play.
Austin: Yeah, take it easy, you look like you've been working really hard on this game.
Kojima: Thank you, thank you for all the kind comments, I will hopefully get to show more soon.
-from the February 21, 2019 episode of GameTV
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Game Spotlight: Eternal Guide
Eternal Guide is a JRPG developed exclusively for the Nintendo Reality by the second party studio Inquill (a Japanese studio original TTL, with people who worked on games like Ni No Kuni and Dragon Quest XI IOTL). It's a fairly old-school style turn based RPG about a young (14-year-old) boy named Stefan who travels into a mysterious book to undertake a mysterious quest. The book contains a variety of themed realms, and Stefan gains more companions as he goes along, as the heroes venture together to save the book and its denizens from destruction. The gameplay is turn-based, but with a variety of options that Stefan can undertake in battle. Along with the typical Attack/Skill/Item commands so common to JRPGs are a "Write" option that allows the player to create attacks or alter the environment, with Stefan (and later one other character) able to activate this ability. This ability can provide a significant advantage in battle, and winning some of the game's tougher battles requires its use, while it can also be used in simpler battles to earn bonuses and loot by changing certain things if the player wants to spend the time. The game is fairly linear, as Stefan and his friends travel between pages in the book, and while you must play through the story to go forward, it's always possible to go back via the use of an extensive fast travel and checkpoint system, to get treasures that you missed, do sidequests, and even revisit old areas to take on tougher challenges. Up to ten total characters are available, with four able to be used in battle at any one time. The game's graphics, though taking full advantage of the Reality's capabilities, do have a whimsical, slightly hand-drawn appearance to them (not full cel-shaded/anime style like Ni No Kuni, but definitely not as vivid and realistic as a modern Final Fantasy game. The game also has a symphonic soundtrack full of a huge variety of songs, more than 80 in all, while the voice cast features a wide variety of actors from across the Los Angeles area, and a young OTL actor as the voice of Stefan. The game's plot sees Stefan end up in the book after meeting a pretty girl named Miriam who volunteers at the library, and after he develops a crush on her, she disappears and he follows her into the book. He eventually finds Miriam, who is a princess in this new world and who doesn't recognize him at all, and he resolves to get her home so she can remember who she is. He eventually runs into a boy named Akira, who claims to be from Stefan's world and says that only one of them can escape, and serves as a rival and enemy to him early on, but who eventually joins Stefan in his quest, as the two unite to battle the Book of Shadows, a mysterious force said to be overtaking the Eternal Guide, manifesting dark words and beasts within its pages, and also converting people into evil versions of themselves. Miriam eventually falls for Stefan, though she still doesn't believe his story that she was from the real world, and eventually Stefan learns that she's someone who escaped from the book and is a manifestation of the Book of Shadows. When the Book of Shadows is destroyed, she'll be destroyed as well, but Stefan doesn't have the heart to tell her, and eventually she finds out in a heartwrenching scene where she lashes out at him, not wanting to be destroyed. Stefan wants to protect her, but Akira wants to destroy the Book of Shadows and get home. Eventually, Miriam decides on her own to help Stefan, while Akira ends up getting possessed by the Book of Shadows. He's defeated, and rejoins Stefan and the others for one final battle in which Miriam willingly sacrifices herself to purify the Eternal Guide and return Stefan and Akira home. Stefan returns home and is sad, until one day at the library he reunites with Miriam. Miriam has somehow been able to survive the destruction of the Book of Shadows, though she doesn't remember anything from their quest, and only remembers how nice Stefan was to her before his adventure began. The two hold hands and leave the library together, while we also see Akira reunite with his family (it's shown that he's been gone a lot longer, but his mom, now quite old, is still happy to see him again).
Eternal Guide is released in North America and Europe in February 2019, following a fall 2018 release in Japan. The game got high sales and lots of critical accolades there, and does equally well with Western critics, thanks to its beautiful graphics and emotional storyline. Sales aren't quite as vigorous, but as one of the biggest Reality exclusive JRPGs to be released, and thanks to a lot of promotion from Nintendo, it still does very well, becoming the fastest selling JRPG-style game on the console since Volare. It's considered one of the year's best RPGs, and is also an early contender for the year's top Reality exclusive, showing that the genre can still produce hits outside of the big well known franchises.
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Other Significant Titles For February 2019:
CarnEvil: The Return: (Author's Note: The following game idea was given to us by the reader HonestAbe1809!) Published by Acclaim, this is a remake of the classic light gun game CarnEvil, but, like OTL's Resident Evil remakes, also functions as a unique game in its own right, and plays like a straight action horror adventure game than the light gun game that inspired it. In it, a small town is overtaken by the titular evil carnival, and the protagonists must battle their way through fun, games, and horror to liberate their friends and loved ones from the wrath of the evil ringmaster Ludwig von Tokkentakker. The protagonist, a young man named Rick, must rescue his girlfriend Becky, though Becky does take an active role for most of the game, fighting alongside Ricky in numerous missions and only occasionally becoming a damsel in distress. The gameplay can best be compared to OTL and TTL's Dead Rising, while in-universe it also gets comparisons to Fun Fair. The game is brutal, gory, but also a whole lot of fun, an exciting throwback horror title that averages solid 8/10 scores from critics and achieves well over a million sales.
Pac-Man In: Mega Madness!: (Author's Note: The following game idea was given to us by the reader MegaToon1234!) Namco brings their legendary pellet munching protagonist back for his biggest adventure ever, combining the 3-D platforming of OTL's Pac-Man World with the maze-centered gameplay of OTL's Ms. Pac-Man: Maze Madness to create a game that blends the unique gameplay of the series with a modern fully realized 3-D platformer. The result is an adventure that not only allows players to play as Pac-Man or Ms. Pac-Man, but to even take control of the ghosts in certain segments. There are eight worlds in all, and over 100 different challenges to complete. The game features throwbacks to pretty much every form of Pac-Man media ever created, from games to TV shows to merchandise, with Buckner and Garcia's "Pac-Man Fever" prominently featured and remixed. Throw in some extra modes featuring classic Pac-Man gameplay (the full original Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man games are included), and you've got the ultimate tribute to one of the most popular video game characters of all time. The game is a surprise critical and especially commercial hit, and kickstarts a revival for the Pac-Man IP that would continue over the next few years.
@MegaToon1234 essentially gave Pac-Man his own Super Mario Odyssey moment, and I am absolutely surprised at how good it really is.