Our second playthrough of Warriors All-Stars gets well and truly underway as we get to grips with Sophie’s moveset, and look at expanding Tamaki’s forces.
On today’s agenda is Mitsunari Ishida, a vibrant-haired, brilliant tactical mind with his own strong opinions on how best to wage war. How will he get along with the rather flighty Sophie… and the somewhat more grounded Plachta?
Better punch a whole load of dudes in the face to find out!
Strikers 1945 III, also known as Strikers 1999, does things a little bit differently to its two predecessors. Not a lot differently, mind, but enough to make it a distinctive experience.
For starters, we’ve shot 54 years into the “future” — well, more accurately, what was the “present day”, since this game actually released for the first time in 1999 — and are now taking on mechanical monsters that have been possessed by nanites. We’re flying modern jet fighters. And we’re dealing with a seriously escalated difficulty level.
Sounds like fun, right? Let’s strap in and get supersonic with this next installment — which, like its predecessors, is included in the Psikyo Shooting Stars Alpha bundle for Nintendo Switch.
Our adventures in the Temple of Apshai Trilogy are finally coming to an end as we delve into the third part: Curse of Ra.
This particular module is designed for adventurers who have spent a bit of time gaining experience and gathering equipment in The Temple of Apshai and The Upper Reaches of Apshai, and as such is pretty tough.
It does, however, present some of the most interesting, well-crafted dungeon designs in the whole series, though, so it’s worth exploring if you think your character is up to the challenge!
Sometime in 1997. I am in my last year of compulsory education. My brother, ten years my senior, has come home from America to visit, on vacation from his job on Electronic Gaming Monthly and the Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine. I always enjoy this, because he tells me all about the interesting new games that are coming out for exciting new platforms like the Sony PlayStation.
“Have you heard of Final Fantasy VII?” he asks. I respond in the negative. I had a feeling I’d heard the name Final Fantasy before, perhaps in the Super NES magazine Super Control that his ex-girlfriend used to work on back before they split — and before he left our green and pleasant isle for pastures new — but I’d never really paid it much mind. He seemed excited, though — and given that his position meant that he saw a lot of new games each and every day, this was enough to make me pay close attention.
“It’s the only game that I’ve ever seen make someone cry,” he said. I knew immediately that I had to play it. And thus a switch flipped, and what would become the Pete of today was born.
One of the coolest things about the Atari Flashback devices and compilations that have been released over the course of the last few years is the number of prototypes included.
In many cases, these prototypes were complete games that just didn’t get released for one reason or another; such is the case with Combat Two, a game originally set to come out in 1984, but which was a victim of the great crash of ’83.
Fortunately, we can play it today — and it’s an interesting twist on the tank battle formula of the original Combat, offering a very different competitive experience for two players to enjoy.
This post is one chapter of a MegaFeature!
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Last time, we talked a bit about how Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana is a lot more of a “traditional RPG” than many of its stablemates in the rest of the series as a whole.
We looked in particular at how the game’s combat and progression mechanics are based on the conventions of turn-based, menu-driven console RPGs, but how it adds a few twists onto that formula — with an appropriate emphasis on item usage and alchemy.
Today we’re going to explore the overall game structure and presentation a bit further, with a particular eye on how protagonist Klein and his companions can explore their world over the course of their adventure as a whole. Let’s jump in!
Continue reading Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana – Life at 45 Degrees
In today’s episode of Final Fantasy II, Firion and the gang return to the Mysidian Cave in search of the Crystal Rod.
This whole sequence shows how Final Fantasy II has a few interesting “puzzles” along the way where things you do in one location can have a knock-on effect elsewhere in the game. While the game at times “feels” less linear than other Final Fantasy titles, bits like this remind you that you’re still being railroaded down a main scenario.
With any luck, soon we’ll have the Ultima tome in our grasp. And with even more luck, they remembered to fix how the Ultima spell works for this version of Final Fantasy II… because it sure didn’t work properly in the Famicom original!
Strikers 1945 II is the sequel to Strikers 1945, unsurprisingly. And, to cut a long story short, if you enjoyed Strikers 1945, you will definitely enjoy Strikers 1945 II.
On the surface, the two games appear very similar to one another. And… well, to be perfectly honest, they are very similar to one another, but Strikers 1945 II adds a few little tweaks and refinements to the mix as well as providing a new lineup of aircraft to pilot, new enemy superweapons to blow to smithereens and, once again, some of the most satisfying shooting action you’ll ever enjoy.
Let’s take a closer look at this classic blaster from Psikyo, now readily available as part of the Psikyo Shooting Stars Alpha collection for Nintendo Switch.
Today we have a game that got banned in Germany. Not for the usual reasons, either; no excessive violence or Nazi imagery here.
Nope, Vixen by Martech got banned because its name sounded a bit like the German word for “wanking”. It subsequently did manage to get a German release under the name She-Fox. Meanwhile, UK high street retailer Boots refused to stock the game because of the boobies on the box art.
And you thought we had problems these days!
With the Atelier MegaFeature well under way, it’s probably about time we took a look at some of the wonderful female characters in the series for Waifu Wednesday, isn’t it?
And where better to begin than with Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana’s main female protagonist, Lita Blanchimont? While Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana eschews the series’ traditional focus on a playable female protagonist, Lita nonetheless plays a very important role in the game’s main narrative, and is one of several ways we come to understand some of the broader lore of the Atelier Iris series.
Let’s take a closer look, then. There may be some mild spoilers ahead!
