NewNews - PAX Prime Starts Today

Official Site: http://prime.paxsite.com/

PAX Prime starts today!  You know what that means: Gaming news, reveals and announcements.  I haven't heard or seen anything in particular worth sharing just yet, but I'm sure there are a lot of things we'll be hearing after these 4 days are over.  Here's a full schedule of what's being held there: http://prime.paxsite.com/schedule  I'm not even sure how attendees are supposed to catch everything.  There's so many things going on!  In any case, have a fun and safe time if you're one of the people going and keep an ear to gaming news media as I'm sure there will be things to report all weekend long.  Have a good weekend!

NewNews - Steam Greenlight Games Everywhere!

Steam: 100 Greenlit Games
Steam: Greenlight Game Sale

Steam Greenlight

Valve Greenlit 100 games yesterday and has released a sale of over 50+ games of previously greenlit games to celebrate its first year since Steam Greenlight launched.  The idea of anyone being able to submit a game entry and having the community vote which game was going to be put up on the Steam client sounded like a bad move for Valve, and it was when it first started.  But conditions were made, factors were accounted for, and now Steam Greenlight has allowed a much faster and efficient way for games to get put up for sale.  Small batches have always been let out of which games would get put up on Steam and get equal exposure, but Valve is experimenting a little and letting through 100 games this time.  And with a successful year of the community getting 260 titles Greenlit, Valve is offering 50+ games for 10%-75% off on those previously greenlit.  A lot of those games on sale came out recently too!  This is nice and sad at the same time.  It's awesome so many games are being put up on Steam, but how the heck are we supposed to keep up with so many games?

VGCulture - Hatsune Miku Project DIVA F Controller

Play-Asia Site: Hatsune Miku -Project Diva- F Controller for PS3 Source: Youtube Channel shinstc

Holy mother of rhythm game controllers, I want this so bad!  So I managed to nab myself a physical copy of Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA F in fear that they all get sold out, but I had nothing to worry about (which might be bad in terms of sales and for future plans of porting the 2nd game).  I had come across a controller created by Hori that was made for the game specifically and thought it was an interesting design.  When I looked it up online to see if there were any video demonstrations for it, I realized I was looking at a "mini" version and that this was the original version (shown in the video above).  The Original is larger, the buttons light up, and has a swipe pad rather than an analog stick.  It's so shiny and has that arcade feel to it!  It's also really expensive.  It was $499 when I checked it up online last night at Play-Asia, but due to the release of Project DIVA F yesterday, it seems they have lowered the price down to $399.  Not to mention shipping costs $50+ depending on where you live in the world.

Image from Amazon.com

This is a picture of the Mini version that has no light up buttons, no swipe pad, but it lighter and smaller for easier transportation and usage on your lap.  Still, the cheapest ones I've found that isn't used is around $145 at eBay or $168 at Amazon.  As much as I want the controller, I can't justify the purchase of it.  It's more expensive than the fightstick I bought and will be mainly used for one game as opposed to my fightstick where I play over 20+ games on it (Fighting, platformers, shoot-em-ups).  After seeing the controller, playing on controller doesn't seem as much fun anymore.  The controller design reminds me of an old music rhythm game called Pop 'n Music.
Source: Youtube Channel bootsee

For those who are a bit more dedicated and want an authentic arcade experience with Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA F, you can grab the original controller at Play-Asia on the link on top or the Mini version from your select online store such as Amazon.  Maybe I'll get a mini if it drops down in price.

VGCulture - Fall & Winter 2013 Releases

Reference: http://www.metacritic.com/game
Source: Youtube Channel IGN

When I was younger, I wanted to be able to play every game that released but thought it impossible because of how expensive games were.  Now that I can afford to buy games and that we live in an age where crazy sales allow me to buy games between $2.49-$9.99 each, I find that I still can't play every game that releases because there isn't enough time in the day to play that much.  Even with the crazy sales, some games don't go down in price (Xenoblade Chronicles, noooo, I should've bought you on the first daaaaaaay) which leads to purchases lots of games at high prices.  I'm already going to try getting Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA F today which is $50, and it's a good thing I'm not a Madden fan or that would've been another $60 I put down today.  I've already skipped a lot of games I wanted this year such as Dragon Crown, The Last of Us, Tales of Xillia and many others, yet the holidays aren't even here yet which means a lot more games coming out.  Here's what we can look forward to just in the next month:

-Hatsune Miku: Project Diva F (Today)
-Madden NFL 25 (Today)
-Final Fantasy XIV Online: A Realm Reborn (Today)
-Lost Planet 3 (Today)
-Killer Is Dead (Today)
-The Chaos Engine (Aug 29)
-Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons (Sep 3)
-Total War: Rome II (Sep 3)
-One Piece: Pirate Warriors 2 (Sep 3)
-Rayman Legends (Sep 3)
-Diablo III (Sep 3)
-Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate (Sep 3)
-Outlast (Sep 4)
-Killzone: Mercenary (Sep 10)
-Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs (Sep 10)
-Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 ReMIX (Sep 10)
-NHL 14 (Sep 10)
-The Wonderful 101 (Sep 15)
-Grand Theft Auto V (Sep 17)
-Ys: Memories of Celceta (Sep 24)
-Valhalla Knights 3 (Sep 24)
-Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure (Sep 24)
-Armored Core: Verdict Day (Sep 24)
-FIFA 14 (Sep 24)
-Pro Evolution Soccer 2014 (Sep 24)
-Shadow Warrior (Sep 26)
-Alien Rage (Sep 27)
-Deadfall Adventures (Sep 27)

Not to mention games like these are coming out in October & November:
-Batman: Arkham Origins
-Battlefield 4
-Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
-Call of Duty: Ghosts
-Watch Dogs
-Need for Speed Rivals
-The Guided Fate Paradox
-XCOM: Enemy Within
-NBA 2K14
-Beyond: Two Souls
-Disgaea D2: A Brighter Darkness
-Sonic: Lost World
-Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures
-Etrian Odyssey Untold: The Millenium Girl
-Pokemon X/Y


There are about 24 games I want and plan on buying sometime or another just from this list.  I'm sure I'll find the price I want for each of these games, it's just finding the time to play them that's difficult.

NewNews - Project DIVA F for Retail

Source: Youtube Channel HatsuneMiku

I didn't realize they were bringing a retail version of Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA F for North America.  One of my biggest gripes of the game being brought over was that it was going to be digitally sold only, and that made me decide not to get it.  But now that it has a retail version coming out...I'm just hoping there will be copies left after tonights launch because I didn't pre-order it.  So yes, if you were looking forward to the game and want a physical copy of the game, North America will be getting them!  Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA F releases tonight for $49.99 retail and $59.99 digitally (as far as I've heard) for the Playstation 3 only.  No release for the PS Vita has been announced for the West yet.

NewNews - Mortal Kombat Komplete Edition for $8

Site: GreenManGaming - Mortal Kombat Komplete Edition (Steam required)
Source: Youtube Channel Machinima
The trailer is of the console version of the Komplete Edition

It's been barely 2 months and GreenManGaming has already offered us an awesome deal of $8.16 for Mortal Kombat Komplete Edition on PC (Steam) from its retail price of $29.99.  To do this:
-Click the top link and click "Buy Now"
-Go to check out and log-in/Make a new account
-Enter "GMG20-KCDKK-H4TPB" into the voucher box to get the price $8.16
-Pay for the game through your desired method
-Copy and Paste the code into your Steam account and download the game

If you haven't activated a game in steam before, it's really easy:
-Click the "Games" Tab on your Steam client
-Click "Activate a Product on Steam..."
-Click "Next", Agree to the Steam Subscriber Agreement, and enter the code
-Click "Next", download the game, and then start playing

Mortal Kombat Komplete Edition is the newest Mortal Kombat in its series and has really changed a lot of how combat mechanics work with a much more technical and competitive concept than its previous button-mashing predecessors.  Along with the base game is every DLC they've ever released implemented into the game already.  Although Mortal Kombat has gone through many iterations and spin-offs, it's still an ultra-violent fighter that fans can enjoy.

Personally, I didn't have much interest in Mortal Kombat (9) at first when it was on consoles as my PS3 has very limited space and fighting games took up a lot of Hard drive space.  Also, I guess it's just that I've played so much Mortal Kombat in the past that I kind of got bored of it.  Then I got to try it once at a friend's house and was surprised by how the game played compared to past iterations.  Because of this, I wanted to give the game a try and decided to do just that when a Komplete Edition was announced for the PC.  I heard there was a story mode, and hopefully they have more modes to keep me busy on this game.  If they bring Injustice over to PC and give us an awesome deal like this one today, I'll give that game a chance too.

NewNews - Destiny on PC?

Official Site: http://www.bungie.net/en/Destiny
Source: Youtube Channel destinygame

Don't tease me like that Joystiq!  Apprently, Kotaku did the same in an original post for this video.  The game is set to release for PS3, PS4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One.  What a lot of players want was a release for PC as well as many First-Person Shooter fans like playing on their computers with a keyboard/mouse, ability to type messages to communicate, and (usually) better graphics.  But Bungie hasn't confirmed a PC release yet.  So when I saw that it was going to be released on "PC" as well on Joystiq's post, I got so excited.  But seeing Kotaku's note on their post made me double-check on the official website to see no version for PC.  Perhaps this is hinting/pressuring Bungie to add in a PC release as well.  My guess is that they are highlighting the new consoles (PS4/XB1) as much as possible.  Destiny on PC is still very possible, but no real confirmation has been announced yet.  The game's looking great and I'm looking forward to seeing more.

Destiny is a First-Person Shooter developed by Bungie, the original creators of the Halo series, with open-world gameplay, online experiences, and RPG elements such as leveling up, gaining skills and grabbing loot.

NewNews - Diablo 3 expansion? Yes, Please!

Official Site: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/reaper-of-souls/
Source: Youtube Channel Diablo

We all knew it was coming, but we never knew when it was coming.  Today, Blizzard has announced that they are working on releasing an expansion for Diablo 3 with the subtitle "Reaper of Souls".  It's known and understandable that many players did not like Diablo 3, but I thoroughly enjoyed the game and have been waiting for an expansion to be announced and here it is!  I still play Diablo 3 to level up my other characters, but I have pretty much given up end-game as it has just become a repetitive chore of running through the same levels over and over to slowly level up my paragon level and "maybe" getting an upgrade to my equipment.  So it was natural that I was excited for an expansion as it will mean new characters to play, an extra Act, and more content.  Here's a quick run down of what is known about the expansion:

-New class: Crusader; similar to D2's Paladin?
Source: Youtube Channel Diablo

-Level cap raised to 70; new runes/skills for everyone!
-Act V in addition to the 4 acts before it
-Main enemy will be Malthael, the angel of death (watch video at top)
-New enemies to fight; unsure if previous acts will have new enemies
-The "Mystic" NPC will be able to re-roll stats on items and change their look
-Paragon level applies to an account rather than one character and has no cap
-Loot Runs: (Hopefully) Randomly generated dungeons for end-game.  Kotaku has described it as "Completely random dungeons, with several levels and a random boss at the end."  It could be set levels and be picked at "random", but I'm hoping for randomly generated levels like in Diablo 2.

I am excited for new characters, a new Act to the story, more skills and abilities for the characters I already have, new bosses, and I'm especially excited about Loot Runs if it's randomly generated dungeons.  Diablo 3 was lacking an end-game content where things could stay fresh and keep me playing and so this might be the answer to that.  Since it's Blizzard, we might not get to see this expansion for a while, but it has been announced for a release in 2014.  Getting a year from them is better than having to wonder how many years later we'd have to wait before we got to play it.  I am so ready for some more Diablo 3!

Also, the console version of Diablo 3 will be releasing on September 3, 2013 if you had planned on getting it for console instead.  Some benefits of Diablo 3 on console is being able to play offline without the need for constant internet connection (no lag/disconnections), playing 4-players locally on one system with your friends, having an action-controller scheme similar to Gauntlet over the point-n-click experience, and playing on a large HD Television set.

GameLight - Titanfall

Official Site: http://www.titanfall.com/
Source: Youtube Channel gamespot

Gamescom 2013 is happening right now!  One thing that I saw this morning that really stood out was the gameplay demo of Titanfall.  Titanfall is a First-Person Action Shooter that allows players to take control of large mechs, jump around great heights, and utilize an array of futuristic weaponry.  As much as I want to keep taking a break from FPS games, I keep getting pulled back in when something like Titanfall shows up and goes "this could be even better than the FPS before it!"  I've played a LOT of different FPS games, yet there always seems to be another that comes out that interests me despite the core game not changing too much.  Titanfall is the product of those who left Infinity Ward because of the dispute between the developer and Activision and had formed Infinity Ward because they had left Electronic Arts because of how much the team was limited to their creative development when making Medal of Honor and had gone back under Electronic Arts as Respawn Entertainment.  To put it simply, the developers continue to innovate and change the First-Person Shooter genre no matter what studio name they use or which publisher they work under.

From the video, not only is the graphics impressive, but the mobility and movement that the player is capable of is what really stood out for me.  The player must take into account height, jumping, and falling rather than running on ground level.  The high mobility and jump height boasts the idea of a much more faster-paced shooter rather than a tactical one which has been the forte of the genre due to the success of franchises such as Call of Duty and Battlefield.  Call of Duty got big under the development of Vince Zampella and Jason West, will Titanfall be the next big franchise for them?  Currently, the game is announced to launch on PC, Xbox 360, and Xbox One in the Spring of 2014.

VGCulture - Gamepad Compatibility on PC

Gamepad compatibility for a PC game is a wonderful thing when the keyboard and mouse just doesn't cut it.  Genres such as platformers, fighting games, shoot-em-ups and Beat-em-ups just feel better with a traditional gamepad or arcade stick.  It's nice to see a lot of these games still being made and readily available on PC to play and even better to see that they're compatible with a controller.  There's just one problem with this that I've run into quite often in the past dozen games I've recently played: Only the Xbox 360 controller works.

There are plenty of games that were ported to PC that was originally on Playstation 3 yet it doesn't work with a PS3 controller.  It may be that when a game is ported to PC, it uses Microsoft's development kit to bring it over and is already scripted to use the Xbox 360 controller and the developer doesn't want to program the ability to recognize other controllers.  It might be that Microsoft has exclusivity to a game when ported over or developed on PC, especially when that game uses Games for Windows Live.  Whatever the case, it's very limiting and annoying to have only one controller out of dozens that other people have at hand be compatible with a game.  I've been pretty lucky on some games such as Street Fighter x Tekken and Sonic Generations to be able to use my fightstick and Playstation 2 controller to play those games; however, I haven't had luck with a lot of games I've gotten recently.  Sonic the Hedgehog 4, Sonic Adventure, Sacred Citadel, Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara don't recognize other controllers and have been known only to support Xbox 360 controllers.  There have been ways around this that people have used such as an Xbox 360 controller emulator that recognizes any controller as an Xbox 360 one or an application that maps keyboard keys onto a controller.  For some games, this has worked.  For others, it has not.  I'm hoping that developers realize that not all PC gamers own an Xbox 360 controller and would prefer to use a different controller on their games as it often deters many gamers from playing or even purchasing their games.  I've already purchased my games and will stubbornly play through them with my keyboard despite it not being the way I want to play them.

VGCulture - Filler - Highlights of DotA 2 from Korean Casters

Source: Youtube Channel ATK402

I knew I should've watched the Internationals 3 in the Korean channel!

Also, League of Legends World Championship is happening this weekend.

GameLight Review - Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate

Official Site?: http://www.konami-castlevania.com/mof/
Source: Youtube Channel IGN

Developer: Mercury Steam
Publisher: Konami
Platforms: Nintendo 3DS
Release Date: March 5, 2013
Genre: Action-Adventure

Pros:
+ Although on 3DS, the combat is similar to the Lords of Shadow on console
+ Fluid animation and combat mechanics
+ The 3D effects are pretty cool on some parts of the game

Cons:
- Much like the first Lords of Shadow, Mirror of Fate has an identity crisis
- The majority of the game felt kind of empty
- Although the game is open-world, the game still feels linear
- Fans of the Castlevania series may cringe at Mercury Steam's take on the story

Recommended: No?  Maybe?  Although I had fun with the game, it's not exactly a game I'd recommend to my friends.

I was well prepared to be conflicted in thoughts on this game after completing Castlevania: Lords of Shadow on the PS3.  To be straight-forward about it, I did have some fun playing Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate; however, it didn't live up to the quality, experience, or entertainment value I got out of previous installments within the series.  The game promised players a return to its roots of classic Castlevania games while still retaining the open-world of exploration of the Metroidvania era.  Rather than finding the balance between the two, the game felt like a struggle between the two while playing very similar to the console version of Lords of Shadow.  Battles against certain enemies are a bit tougher and require patience to defeat, much like classic Castlevania games.  And since the combat is similar to the first Lords of Shadow, the player has many skills and abilities to utilize against enemies.  There are problems with these concepts.  Classic Castlevania games were linear, side-scrolling experiences where the player keeps moving forward.  With the utilization of free-exploration within the castle, you're going to have to run into those tougher enemies more than once.  After a while, you start to lose interest in fighting them and learn to run past them.  Then there's the many combo abilities the player has: most of them are ineffective.  Despite having so many different variations of attacks, a lot of them do not flinch the enemy or stop them in time before they attack you.  Because of this, you will end up using the same 2-3 combos throughout the entire game to fight effectively without getting killed.  There's no point in having so many different attacks, skills and items when they aren't useful.  There's also the matter of an open-world exploration: there isn't much to explore.  There will be a few places here and there along the way where you can't reach an item until a certain ability or item is acquired.  Once that said ability or item is in possession, it is a simple walk back to those few spots to get more items.  What made the Metroidvania formula work was the constant flow of action and fast-paced gratification received from fighting your way across the castle while exploring up and down the castle rather than going forward and occasionally backwards to gather extra items.  This was mechanic was like "yang" to the classic Castlevania's "yin" as the originals were linear and required a slower approach to fights with more patience.  Each Castlevania game before knew it had to be one or the other and couldn't be both at the same time and needed to find that balance.  Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia was actually the closest to achieving that balance of both mechanics.  But in Mirror of Fate, battles weren't particularly difficult as much as they were tedious, exploration was shallow, and because of that it made the entire castle feel very empty.  And much of the music was similar to Lords of Shadow on console, so it just made the game feel more like Lords of Shadow than any of the other Castlevania games before it.  In fact, I think a lot of the songs used in Mirror of Fate are the same exact ones in Lords of Shadow.  There is still much I can go on about, but I suppose I should just get straight to the points of each aspect of the game.

Aesthetics
Art-Style: 3D Cel-shaded Medieval Fantasy within 2D environment gameplay
+ There are some really nice 3D effects on some parts of the game
+ Animations and movement are still quick and fluid despite the 3D graphics
+ Some of the bosses have really nice designs to them
+ Interesting way of telling the story through semi-moving cinematics
+ Impressive backdrops in various parts of the castle

- Why does every character have different accents within the same family lineage?
- Music is as high quality as the console game, but is still generic and forgettable
- Although the graphics were nice, all the levels were kind of the same: dark
Aesthetics: 7/10

Buttons
Controller: 3DS buttons, no need for touch-screen as far as I remember
+ Familiar controls to Castlevania: Lords of Shadow/other 3D Action games
+ Blocking and dodging react pretty quickly in the middle of an attack
+ Auto-aim grappling ensures you don't miss and fall down
+ Fairly well laid out controls for the game

- Why are there quick-time events in a hand-held Castlevania game???
Buttons: 8/10

Concept & Content
Core Concept: Progress through fighting, solving puzzles, and exploring
+ It's really fancy seeing long combos and console quality combat on a handheld
+ Some of the boss fights were pretty fun
+ Having the ability to heal by attacking makes up for having no potions
+ There's a decent amount of unlockable abilities
+ You can change the difficulty at any time throughout the game
+ Sub-weapons are actually really useful in combat and compliment the whip
+ Dying is a minor setback so you never have to restart back too far
+ There are some tricky and challenging platforming involved

- Quick-time events don't add that much to the entertainment
- Near the end of the game, I didn't feel like fighting most of the enemies
- The castle felt so empty without all that music and colorful levels and enemies
- MercurySteam made their own take on the story, but it still makes me cringe
- A lot of the longer attack combos and abilities are useless
- Exploration was shallow and boring
- No end-game content other than an extra difficulty level
Concept & Content: 6/10

Duration

+ A decent amount of gameplay time for one playthrough
+ The flow of battle comes at a nice steady rate
+ Time is never wasted when you die, you lose 3 minutes at most

- Other than playing on a harder difficulty, practically no replay value
- Each new chapter felt like starting the game over again
- When you're not fighting, the game felt slow and boring
Duration: 5/10

Fun
+ I thought it was nice having console quality combat mechanics on a handheld
+ It did feel good fighting tough enemies and bosses and landing perfect blocks
+ The platforming and jumping parts of the game were semi-entertaining
+ Puzzles weren't too difficult, but they did provide a decent challenge

- Going back to get the few items I couldn't before killed the flow of the game
- The game never got past "it was kinda fun"
Fun: 7/10

Overall
My expectations were already pretty low for the game, so I was able to judge it for what it was.  I know Mercury Steam wanted to please fans of the series and still innovate something out of it, but it just didn't really work out.  What came out of it was a decent Action-Adventure game that was mildy entertaining but doesn't boast any merits or be considered that memorable of a game.  I did have my fun out of playing it, but I didn't feel like it was a "great" experience.  When I reviewed Lords of Shadow, I had a lot of conflicts with the game, but was able to look past all that and say that it was a pretty solid Action-Adventure game.  Even when doing that for Mirror of Fate, it is still a mediocre game under unbiased eyes.  Overall: 6.6/10

GameLight - Teleglitch: Die More Edition

Official Site: http://diemore.teleglitch.com/buy
Steam Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/234390/ Source: Youtube Channel gamespot

I've seen this game on the front page of GreenManGaming for the longest time and I just never had interest in looking into it after looking at a few screenshots.  When it was officially launched and showed up on Steam, I read the description and realized that it was a top-down shooter with Rogue-like elements.  These were two genres I enjoy playing that I don't see too many of in the current day market.  So I decided to do more research about it and find out if it's a game worth buy/playing.  The first two things I immediately take note of is that the graphics are minimalistic, but not pixel-based which has this blotchy ugly look to it and the fact that there's no music throughout the game.  I suppose I can look past the graphics style and I guess I can play my own music while playing this game.  There are times where the screen has this crazy color blur effect such as when the player is shooting.  It's a cool aesthetic in coordination to feedback within the game, but I can also see it being annoying when fighting a whole horde of enemies.  What does interest me is the amount of weapons there are and the randomization of levels, as most rogue-like games utilize, to deliver a new experience every time you play.  The game doesn't seem too complicated: survive, kill enemies and progress to the next level.  The game, as a whole, does seem to be lacking depth; however, it does have an interesting concept and one that I'd definitely be willing to try out.  You can grab Teleglitch: Die More Edition on Steam for $12.99 or from one of the many distributors listed on their official site.

GameLight - Payday 2

Steam Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/218620/
Source: Youtube Channel XCVii007r1

I was disappointed with Payday: The Heist.  It's much like Left 4 Dead 2 where you have a team of 4-players and instead of Zombies you have the police and SWAT after you.  You're still trying to escape alive, but you're also trying to gain wealth along the way.  The concept was interesting, but the game was horribly balanced.  Leveling didn't make too much sense.  Weapon acquisition was slow and class focus was confusing.  The one thing I did like was the music.  But despite that, I wasn't interested at all in looking in Payday 2 when it was announced.  I saw a lot of news for it and saw a few friends buy the game to play the closed beta.  Then one of my friends who didn't buy the game told me yesterday that they saw the beta on their list of games.  I checked mines and I saw it in mines as well.  Apparently it was an open-beta of sorts and so we both downloaded the game and tried it out last night.  At first, everything seemed about the same.  Walk around until you decide to put the mask on and start the heist and then everything came into play.  You can start a heist without causing a ruckus and there's an indicator showing whether people are suspicious of you.  That's one new factor that seemed impossible in the first one: stealth.  Then I start shooting and see all sorts of new changes: recoil and sound effects make for a strong feel of kickback and power behind each shot, smoke from the gun barrel looks more realistic, the indicator that shows whether you shot someone is more visible, etc.  To make short of what I'm trying to say: shooting feels more visceral and intuitive to the game's environment.  Enemies are still pretty tough, but they're more fair now.  In the first one, the enemies (even on the easiest difficulty) would have impeccable aim and mob the players in large numbers in kamikaze fashion.  In Payday 2, the enemies are more strategic, they hesitate when firing at times, and come in at a steady rate rather than an alarming wave.  Although I liked the music from the first game, I didn't pay too much attention to it.  But in Payday 2, I kept commenting to my friend on how good it was.  It wasn't until I looked in the description of the game on Steam that I found out that the music was done by Simon Viklund, the same guy who remixed all the songs in Bionic Commando Rearmed and led the development for that remake.  Alongside the actual gameplay of Payday 2 is everything before, in-between and after each mission: inventory management, learning skills, and purchasing equipment.  Leveling granted skill points to add into a class tree.  Acquiring money from each mission and unlocking items allowed the player to purchase equipment.  Focusing on a class tree made it easier to figure out what role a player had within a team.  Everything just made more sense and is significantly more balanced in this sequel than the first one.  I'm glad they allowed players like me a chance to try out Payday 2 yesterday before taking out the beta at mid-night and launching the game.  It convinced me that the changes to the sequel made Payday into a better game.  Payday 2 is definitely a game I'll be getting in the future, but if you're interested in getting it now it's available on Steam for $29.99.

GameLight - Hammerwatch

Steam Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/239070/ Source: Youtube Channel theTransflash

How this game escaped my attention on Steam Greenlight is beyond me.  Hammerwatch is described to be a cooperative Action-Adventure, Hack-n-Slash with RPG elements.  It reminds me of classic Gauntlet with puzzle solving from The Legend of Zelda series.  The frantic nature of the game and its insane amounts of enemies are among some of the aspects that has gotten me really interested in the game.  The game will also support mods and so perhaps it'll utilize Steam workshop.  The game also features local, online, and LAN cooperative multiplayer.  I am lacking in multiplayer games and so it's nice to see games such as these still being made.  As far as the video shows, there will be lots of killing, lots of looting, lots of upgrading, lots of puzzles, and lots of dying.  It looks like it's going to be a lot of fun.

GameLight - Spelunky

Official Site: http://spelunkyworld.com/
Steam Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/239350/
GOG Page: http://www.gog.com/game/spelunky
Source: Youtube Channel MossmouthGames

I played the original Spelunky back in college and really enjoyed the challenging and engaging gameplay utilizing rogue-like mechanics such as randomized levels.  It's still an Action-Platformer at core, but with a lot of randomization.  With that, every playthrough has its unexpected encounters with trap placements, enemy spawn, and item drops.  Over the years, the team had worked on a new version and released it on XBLA last year and has finally made its debut back on the PC yesterday on Steam.  With the new version, the graphics are in HD, new content has been added, and new modes are available.  There's even a local co-op mode and competitive multiplayer!  If you're not sure if you'll enjoy the game, the original game can still be downloaded and played for free on their main site by clicking "Play the Original!" and see if you like the original.  Spelunky is now available on Steam and GOG for a discounted price of $13.49 and will return to its original price of $14.99 on August 15th.

NewNews - DotA 2 International 3

Official Site: http://www.dota2.com/international/mainevent/watch/

If you didn't know, the international 3 began yesterday.  The international is a global tournament for pro teams from around the world participating in the most intense DotA 2 event of the year.  You can watch their stream (shown above), or watch live through the DotA 2 client to win items (must pay for the ticket), and watch replays directly from the game.  This event lasts until Sunday.  If DotA 2 isn't your thing, there is also League of Legends next week and Starcraft 2 starting in 2 days.

GameLight - Skullgirls on Steam

Steam Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/245170/
Source: Youtube Channel margherita0141

Skullgirls is an indie developed fighting game that has received really good responses from the fighting game community with its release on consoles last year.  It took a bit of time and money for the team to do it, but Skullgirls is about to finally release on PC/Steam.  Pre-purchases went up a few days ago and those that grab it now will get beta access as well as a color palette DLC pack.  Now I generally don't care about color palette for characters in fighting games, but I was convinced to get the game and started playing the game and noticed some interesting color combinations.  Apparently, there are a LOT of references of other characters from comic, games, and animé in the color palette for the fighters.  Seen in the video up above is a list of referenced characters from X-Men, Madoka, The King of Fighters, Guilty Gear, and many others.  It's a really cool color palette option and one I'm glad I got.

As far as the game goes, I am impressed by it so far.  Controls are tight, animation is fluid, and combo mechanics flow naturally from one attack to another.  Along with that is an in-depth and comprehensive tutorial that explains and teaches all the fundamentals of a fighting game as well the game specific mechanics within Skullgirls.  In that sense, beginners to fighting games can learn all the most basic concepts of fighting games such as poking, blocking, countering, and performing combos.  The game currently has 9 characters and we can hope to get more in the future as the game's popularity grows.

To note right now, Beta access opens up Arcade mode, Training, and Versus local.  Story and online mode is disabled for now as the game finishes beta and officially launches on August 22.  I heard that the story is actually pretty decent for the game, so I'm looking forward to playing that.  Skullgirls can be pre-ordered on Steam for $14.99 and will launch on August 22.

NewNews - Senran Kagura Burst Localized

Source: Youtube Channel FaheyKotaku

We've been getting a decent helping of beat-em-ups this year, and that makes me really happy.  From Code of Princess, the re-release of Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara to Sacred Citadel and the release of Dragon's Crown today, this year has made me hopeful that Beat-em-ups isn't a dead genre.  For a while, a Nintendo 3DS game in Japan has been talked about quite often here and how it has expanded to a series of manga and animé.  Senran Kagura Burst, or to some known as "booby ninjas in 3D", is a 3D, side-scrolling Action Beat-em-up with a lot of fan-service.  It features an all female-cast (as far as I know) of fighters and Ninjas in a light-hearted action-comedy themed beat-em-up.  For those who have played the game, they mentioned that the combat mechanics are actually pretty in-depth and provide a decent amount of variety and fluid gameplay.  There is also customization in the characters outfits that changes their stats and thus changing the gameplay.   The excessive amount of fan service seemed like it would have no chance of ever seeing an over sea release; however, XSeed, once again, reached out to the niche group who are interested and decided to localize the game for the Western market.  This was happy news to hear for sure, but it made me sad when I found out that it will be digitally distributed only.  I have expressed my dislike for digitally distributed games other than what Valve has provided on their Steam platform for PC, so this was a disappointing, happy news to hear.  I might just suck it up and purchase it if I have no other choice.  Senran Kagura Burst is set to release on the Nintendo 3DS eShop this Fall with no mentioned price at the moment.

Source:
-Kotaku - Oh Good, The 3DS Ninja Breast Physics Sim Is Coming To North America

NewNews - EverQuest Next

Official Site: https://www.everquestnext.com/
Source: Youtube Channel EverQuest Next Source: Youtube Channel EverQuest Next

All weekend long, I kept seeing articles and blog posts of "Everquest Next" being the game that'll change MMORPGs and break away from the old tired structure that the original Everquest built and World of Warcraft popularized.  Guild Wars 2 was the game that everyone said will change MMORPGs and break the structure and all.  It did change some things about MMORPGs and it was a lot of fun.  But when every MMORPGs starts saying that, it stops being marketable phrases to use.  Fortunately, there are gameplay and demonstrations shown which convinced me otherwise of what they've been saying.  Destructible environments, multi-altitude plains, clothing and hair that react to the weather around the characters, etc. shows that they are trying new things out.  I have to say that I'm impressed and am looking forward to seeing more of the game in the future.

NewNews - Capcom's Deep Down Teased

Source: Youtube Channel cogmovie

Pictures of project Deep Down was shown at the reveal of the Playstation 4 and no word of it has been mentioned of it since then.  Well it seems like the game will be a Online Multiplayer RPG of some sort.  It will utilize a new engine Capcom has revealed called Panta Rhei and from the screenshots they've shown, it looks really good.  From the few seconds of flashing video clips up above, I suspect those are in-game footages and not pre-rendered footages.  A lot of games make their cut-scenes right in the game's engine so that the flow between story telling and gameplay is seemless.  I suspect that we'll be seeing even more of that on the next generation console games.  I'm not sure how an Online Multiplayer RPG will work just yet, but I'm excited to see what Capcom has in store for us.

Source:
-Joystiq - Capcom's Deep Down is an online multiplayer RPG for PS4

NewNews - Deals everywhere (8-1-13)

There's sales going on everywhere!  Well, maybe not as crazy as the recent Steam Summer Sales, but there's some good deals right now:

The Humble Deep Silver Bundle
-Saints Row: The Third
-Saints Row 2
-Risen 2: Dark Waters
-Sacred 2 Gold

$4.95 or more:
-Dead Island GOTY Edition
-Saints Row: The Third Full Package

$25 or more:
-Dead Island Riptide


The Humble Weekly Sale: 1C Company
-King's Bounty: The Legend
-King's Bounty: Armored Princess
-Men of War
-Men of War: Red Tide

Above the Average: (Currently $3.34)
-King's Bounty: Crossworlds
-Men of War: Assault Squad


Quakecon Steam Sales
A bunch of games: Quake series, Rage, Doom series, Other old Classics, The Elder Scroll series, Brink, Dishonored, Fallout and others.


Sleeping Dogs 75% off
I really want to get the game, but I have too many Action-Adventure games that still need playing and I won't have time to play this if I get it.


The Humble Deep Silver Bundle is a nice deal, and the Weekly sale is a treat for any strategy game fan.  The Quakecon Steam Sales I feel aren't that great and each and every one of those games have seen better sales.  But if there are any of the older games you want to get, then that's probably worth getting.  Sleeping Dogs have gotten 75% quite a few times and it's probably a worthwhile purchase.  Sadly I can't bring myself to get it just quite yet, but I eventually will.