Tag Archives: strategy

Star Ixiom: Still Shining

Let’s take a moment to catch up. Star Luster is a space combat game by Namco, originally released for Famicom in 1985. Despite it being an obvious homage to an incredibly popular Western game — Atari’s Star Raiders — it never came West.

35 years later, Star Luster finally got a worldwide release as part of the Namco Museum Collection 1 cartridge for Blaze’s Evercade retro gaming system. This was my first contact with a game that I ended up absolutely loving — and after looking into it further, I was surprised to discover it got a sequel for PlayStation in 1999. A sequel which got a fairly middling reception because the press of the time compared it unfavourably to its rough contemporary Colony Wars — and, of course, because relatively few people in the West had any clue that Star Luster existed.

35 years after the release of Star Luster and 21 years after the release of its sequel, I find myself in possession of a copy of that sequel: Star Ixiom, a game I’ve been looking forward to playing since I was first blown away by Star Luster’s sheer playability. So let’s take a look at what this space-based blastathon has to offer — and how well it holds up today.

Continue reading Star Ixiom: Still Shining

short;Play: A Valley Without Wind

One of the things that has always been good about the indie sphere has been its many developers’ willingness to experiment.

One company that has always been at the forefront of experimental gameplay is Arcen Games, who are very fond of blending disparate genres together to create something wonderful — and of throwing a healthy dose of procedural generation into the mix, too.

A Valley Without Wind was my first encounter with them… and it’s a game I’ve loved since I first came across it back in 2012. Take a look at the video below to see how it plays — and don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube for more!

Warriors Wednesday: Never Let Zhao Yun Tank – Warriors Orochi #42

Orochi’s armies are growing in strength in an attempt to counter the growing confidence of the Shu forces.

Zhao Yun can practically smell his master Liu Bei now — not literally, ’cause that’d be weird — and his friends are relieved to know that victory is within sight.

There are still a few challenges left to overcome, though… and as we’ve seen numerous times up until now, complacency can be a Warrior’s worst enemy!

Warriors Wednesday: Gratuitous Panty Shot – Warriors Orochi #40

With an outfit like that, it was only a matter of time before Zhurong gave the people what they wanted. And in slow-motion, too!

Ahem. Anyway, besides that little diversion, today’s Warriors Orochi outing sees the Shu gang teaming up with Wu’s Sun Ce in yet another sure-to-fail attempt to track down the perpetually absent Liu Bei. Will Zhao Yun ever be reunited with the man he lov– err… I mean, his master?

Only time will tell! For now, enjoy the barbaric butt-kicking, courtesy of Zhurong.

Warriors Wednesday: Scantily-Clad Barbarian Ladies – Warriors Orochi #39

There’s no rest for the Shu forces as they come face to face with Masamune Date!

Thankfully, Date’s friend Magoichi Saika, who has been rolling with the Shu crowd largely because of its disproportionate number of attractive and formidable female warriors, has a cunning plan ready to go… assuming he can keep his mind on the battle, that is.

Zhu Rong, Ginchiyo Tachibana and Yue Ying surely have their work cut out for them this time around…

Warriors Wednesday: Junglist Massive – Warriors Orochi #36

In today’s Warriors Orochi mission, the Shu gang hit the jungle and encounter the formidable Meng Huo and his even scarier wife Zhu Rong.

Renowned strategist Sima Yi has been causing trouble for the barbarians, it seems, so Zhao Yun and company take the opportunity to forge a new alliance and demonstrate their own fighting potential.

Meng Huo isn’t so easily convinced, but thankfully his wife has a sensible head atop those broad, powerful shoulders…

Warriors Wednesday: Spirits of Sanada – Warriors Orochi #34

Oh no! Ghosts! They ruin everything. Particularly when they’re not actually there.

This is the painful lesson that Yukimura Sanada has to learn in today’s Warriors Orochi mission. Fortunately, Zhao Yun, Yue Ying and Ginchiyo Tachibana are right there ready and waiting to educate him with various pointy implements.

Hit the jump to see how the Shu gang’s attempts to prove their corporeal nature went…

Continue reading Warriors Wednesday: Spirits of Sanada – Warriors Orochi #34

New Game Plus: Mel Kishida Loves Stinky Feet – Atelier Rorona DX #10

As with Wednesday’s Warriors Wednesday video, I thought I’d make an effort to drop in some vaguely interesting factoids into my video intros.

As such, today you will learn that yes, indeed, Atelier Arland character designer Mel Kishida is indeed into stinky feet. But how is this relevant? Umm… Well… Oh, just watch it, will you? (And play Blue Reflectionit’s beautiful.)

Hit the jump to see how Rorona’s efforts went today… ignoring the pervy Japanese dude just waiting for her to take her boots off!

Continue reading New Game Plus: Mel Kishida Loves Stinky Feet – Atelier Rorona DX #10

Warriors Wednesday: Learn Through Pain – Warriors Orochi #28

And oh, oh, I did. I really did learn through pain. Intense, burning, repeated pain.

We have a long journey ahead of us, dear friends, but it’s a worthwhile one. In front of us stands the seemingly undefeatable Tadakatsu Honda, and beyond? The path to Orochi.

When I say “seemingly undefeatable”, I… well, you’ll see. Hit the jump to see how badly things went.

Continue reading Warriors Wednesday: Learn Through Pain – Warriors Orochi #28

Warriors Wednesday: Some People Are Into Weird Feet – Warriors Orochi #27

You know who you are.

In today’s episode of Warriors Wednesday, I finally catch up with my other video series technology- (and confidence)-wise and show my face! How exciting.

Anyway, now we have The Wild Man on our side, let’s take him for a spin, shall we? BWAHAHAHAHA!

Continue reading Warriors Wednesday: Some People Are Into Weird Feet – Warriors Orochi #27