In the wake of last week’s Far Cry 5 announcement trailer, a wave of controversy has hit the internet. Set in the fictional Hope County, Montana, Far Cry 5 will follow an unnamed sheriff’s deputy, controlled by the player, as he combats a militaristic doomsday cult named Eden’s Gate. Continue reading Far Cry 5: Yet more video game controversy
Monthly Archives: May 2017
Lost Sphear is Tokyo RPG Factory’s second game
Tokyo RPG Factory is essentially an indie development studio set up by Square Enix in an effort to bring traditional JRPGs to the modern era. Their first game was the beautiful I Am Setsuna, which released on PS4, PC, PS Vita (Japan only), and more recently as a Nintendo Switch launch title. Today, the studio announced their second game: Lost Sphear. Continue reading Lost Sphear is Tokyo RPG Factory’s second game
Sonic Mania Pre-order Trailer hits the right notes
Sonic Mania is the return to 2D pixelated glory that classic Sonic fans have been wanting for decades. Long time fan turned programmer Christian “Taxman” Whitehead, Headcannon, and PagodaWest Games have been given the reins in order to do what Sega couldn’t with Sonic 4: Bring classic Sonic to life in the modern day. Continue reading Sonic Mania Pre-order Trailer hits the right notes
Xenoblade Chronicles 2 needs to borrow the Gambit system
Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is on the way, and it has high hopes to live up to in terms of story and world building, but there’s one area in particular I want to focus on today: Combat. I have always lauded the greatness of Xenoblade’s combat, both in the original and Xenoblade Chronicles X, which has the best combat system to ever grace an RPG. It avoids the boredom inherent to the turn based combat systems of traditional JRPGs, and cuts down on the stiff, janky combat that saturates Action-RPGs. Combat in Xenoblade Chronicles X feels like the proper evolution of Final Fantasy XII’s Active Dimension Battle system, but it’s missing one vital piece that’s holding it back from perfection: Gambits. Continue reading Xenoblade Chronicles 2 needs to borrow the Gambit system
Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age’s gambit system is the greatest
One of the most controversial moves in the Final Fantasy series was the implementation of Final Fantasy XII’s Gambit system. A good many fans absolutely hated it, saying “the game played itself” or that it “took skill out of the equation.” Those people are called fools, because the Gambit system is the best combat system to come from the mainline Final Fantasy franchise, barring Final Fantasy XI. Continue reading Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age’s gambit system is the greatest
Monster Hunter XX Switch will have cross save and play with 3DS
Capcom just recently revealed Monster Hunter XX Switch Version, and today they filled Japanese fans in on what to expect: Save files can be transferred between the 3DS and Switch versions of the game, and cross play is available as well. This means Switch players can join in on multiplayer hunts with the sizable 3DS audience. Continue reading Monster Hunter XX Switch will have cross save and play with 3DS
It begins: Monster Hunter XX is coming to Nintendo Switch
Capcom has officially confirmed Monster Hunter XX is coming to the Nintendo Switch, mere hours after the Capcom CEO’s most recent interview was taken horribly out of context due to a shoddy translation. While the source is in Japanese, the Switch confirmation is in English. Currently there’s no other information, as Capcom is saving the details for the Monster Hunter Championship livestream. Continue reading It begins: Monster Hunter XX is coming to Nintendo Switch
Capcom needs to get its act together on the Nintendo Switch
The “Capcom Test” is what gamers use to describe a situation where a company will test the waters of a new console with a game that was clearly never going to perform well on the platform, be it due to quality, pricing, or inability to appeal to the console’s demographic (JRPG exclusive to Xbox). The sales of this game are then used as an indicator of how much interest gamers have in buying the company’s games on the tested console. There are also other variations of the Capcom Test that use a similar method to evaluate interest in dormant franchises. “Oh, nobody likes the new Mega Man cartoon, guess that means we shouldn’t make Mega Man Legends 3 now.” Continue reading Capcom needs to get its act together on the Nintendo Switch
No, Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle will not damage the Mario brand
Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle will not damage the Mario brand. It can’t. Those among the embarrassingly high number of people that think it’s a legitimate possibility (go to most any gaming forum, there will be some), especially at this point in time, are being foolish. The game isn’t even officially announced, and there’s no game play footage at all. As if suggesting a game we know virtually nothing about could damage a franchise wasn’t stupid enough as is, people are actually suggesting it could hurt the Mario franchise. Continue reading No, Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle will not damage the Mario brand
Why the characters of Nintendo’s ARMS are designed to last
Mario, Pac-Man, Link, Megaman, Scorpion, Sub-Zero, and Ryu are all iconic characters. Not Ubisoft iconic, but designs that have actually withstood the test of time, and still remain in the gaming public’s collective consciousness all these years later. A large part of why these characters have become such familiar faces is their visual simplicity and brilliant use of color, which makes it easy to conjure up accurate mental images of them. For that reason, among others, you can go ahead and add the cast of Nintendo’s ARMS to that list. Continue reading Why the characters of Nintendo’s ARMS are designed to last
Common Sense Gaming 