Tag Archives: video games

Delving into Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown – #2

I’m flying over a small island. Glancing out of the side of the cockpit, I can see the small amount of “civilisation” on this otherwise untamed little piece of land; the rest is dominated by a large hill, covered with trees.

As I pass over the summit of the hill, my craft comes out from beneath the cloud cover. Sunlight suddenly streams in from behind me, bathing my instruments and multifunction displays in bright light, punctuated by the dark, intense shadows my cockpit struts cast.

As I pull the nose back, wondering how high I can make this bird fly, I think to myself, “this is beautiful; this is what I’ve always wanted to do.”

Continue reading Delving into Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown – #2

New Game Plus: Five S – Project Zero #12

This is it! This is what it all comes down to… what I’ve been training for.

Will that tortuous Nightmare mode playthrough of Project Zero, along with finally clearing out that pesky ghost list, prepare me for a long-overdue S-rank clear of any of the missions in the game’s Battle mode? Will my epic battle against that dead guy in that one closet have all been worthwhile?

Find out on today’s episode of New Game Plus, only on MoeGamer. And, err, YouTube.

Continue reading New Game Plus: Five S – Project Zero #12

Atelier Meruru: Arland Comes Together

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Atelier Meruru: The Apprentice of Arland, the thirteenth mainline Atelier game and the third in the Arland series, first released in 2011.

It is a longstanding favourite of many enthusiasts of the series with good reason, and absolutely a suitable high point for the whole trilogy to wrap up on… that is, until Atelier Lulua comes along and confuses everyone by turning it into a quadrilogy! But more on that another time.

Providing some of the most refined mechanics in the Arland subseries along with a satisfying and enjoyable narrative to follow, Atelier Meruru combines elements of classic and more modern Atelier games. The result is a really great game featuring one of the series’ most appealing protagonists. So let’s dive in and take a look!

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Atari A to Z: Rick Dangerous

The “masocore” platformer, in which you learn by dying repeatedly in seemingly unfair circumstances, has become particularly popular in the age of Let’s Plays and streaming.

The reason for this is that, although playing the damn things tends to be rather frustrating, they’re quite entertaining to watch. And their reliance on puzzle-solving and memorisation make them quite a distinct experience from more conventional platform games and action adventures.

Here’s the Atari ST version of Rick Dangerous, developed by Core Design (of Tomb Raider fame) and published by Telecomsoft imprint Firebird in 1989. Oh, boy, it’s irritating… and yet I found myself trying again and again and again… Waaaaaaaa!!

Follow Atari A to Z on its own dedicated website here!

Warriors Wednesday: Enter Kunoichi – Warriors Orochi #23

The Wu campaign continues as the Sun family comes to blows over the recapture of their father.

In this installment, the Battle of Sekigahara, we retire the ever-reliable Ranmaru Mori for now in favour of newcomer Kunoichi, who turned up in the previous battle. She is joined by Taishi “Prepare to Die” Ci and Lady Nō to form what appears to be a pretty respectable fighting team.

Hit the jump to see how the battle went this time around…

Continue reading Warriors Wednesday: Enter Kunoichi – Warriors Orochi #23

Atari A to Z: Way Out

Mention early first-person perspective 3D games to someone and they’re most likely to picture a “gridder” — the projection of a 2D map into a fake 3D perspective, through which you move by “step”, one cell at a time.

The reason for this is that it was the easiest way to create a 3D effect without actually having to do any real “3D” — hell, one of the earliest and most famous examples of this was on the humble ZX81 in the form of 3D Monster Maze. And indeed this style of presentation (if not necessarily the exact execution) remains popular today for many first-person perspective dungeon crawlers from both Eastern and Western developers, allowing for intricate, interesting level design without the need for complex 3D modelling.

Some talented coders in the early 8-bit era figured out ways to get more natural movement through these “projected 2D” maps, allowing you to rotate through angles other than 90 degrees and move relatively freely. One such example on the Atari 8-bit was 1982’s technically impressive Way Out (sometimes stylised as Wayout). The creator of this game, one Paul Allen Edelstein, remains part of the games industry to this day, albeit now with a specialism in video and audio compression technology rather than 3D graphics.

Follow Atari A to Z on its own dedicated website here!

What’s in the Box: Senran Kagura Burst Re:Newal Bountiful Beauties Edition

Senran Kagura is a longstanding favourite here at MoeGamer, so there was no way I was going to miss out on a shiny new limited edition for a reimagining of the game that started it all.

Marvelous Europe’s limited editions have been consistently good quality in my experience, and they’ve really outdone themselves with this one. The overall packaging quality is excellent, and there’s a variety of really cool goodies in the box just waiting to be enjoyed.

Without further ado, then, let’s take a look inside.

Continue reading What’s in the Box: Senran Kagura Burst Re:Newal Bountiful Beauties Edition

Sunday Driving: Big Rig Boom – Split/Second #3

Today on Split/Second, we introduce the second new type of event: Survival!

This event sees our brave drivers attempting to survive as long as possible against the odds, as the Split/Second trucks throw deadly explosives their way!

Hit the jump to see how yours truly coped with this fearsome challenge…

Continue reading Sunday Driving: Big Rig Boom – Split/Second #3

Around the Network

Happy weekend, folks, hope you’re all well. I’m having a bit of a trying time at present to be perfectly honest, but I won’t bore you with that here; remember you can sign up for my daily #oneaday blog on Patreon if you’d like a bit more of “the personal touch”!

Anyway, it’s been a busy week. My own personal issues aside, I’m more than happy with how things are going around these parts. I’ve got some fun videos going out nearly every day of the week now, we’ve got another great episode of The MoeGamer Podcast for you to enjoy, I’m really enjoying the current Cover Game feature and I’m feeling quite inspired for what I might be able to provide some deep-dives into over the course of the next few months.

For now, though, hit the jump to see what you might have missed this week.

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Atelier Totori: Arland’s Middle Child

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Atelier Totori: The Adventurer of Arland, the second installment in Atelier’s Arland trilogy, is in that unenviable position that all “middle children” end up in — perhaps more so than most.

Originally offering considerable improvements over Atelier Rorona’s first incarnation — particularly in the graphical and mechanical departments — Gust’s tendency to put out “Plus” versions for its Atelier games means that Totori has ended up, in some respects, now being the most dated of the Arland trilogy even once it, in turn, got its own “Plus” and “DX” rereleases, the most recent of which is on PlayStation 4, Switch and PC.

This isn’t to say Totori is a bad game, mind you — far from it. Just… don’t take anything for granted! Let’s have a closer look.

Continue reading Atelier Totori: Arland’s Middle Child