Retroview - Demigod

Official Site: http://www.demigodthegame.com/
Steam Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/202710/
Source: Youtube Channel IGN

Before League of Legends, Heroes of Newerth, DotA 2, and many other Massive Online Battle Arena games (MOBA), Gas Powered Games (Dungeon Siege 1&2, Supreme Commander 2) tried their hand at an original game inspired by the Warcraft 3 Custom game map "Defense of the Ancients" (DotA 1).  During the time Demigod was announced, I had already played DotA for several years and was excited to see that a developer was going to take on the mechanics and concept of the game and make an original one without the limitations of the Warcraft 3 engine.  So why is it that such a good looking game is so unknown/forgotten to the gaming community?  To put it simply, there were a lot of problems with the game and I see them even more clearly now than before since the release of so many other successful MOBAs.  You could say that the lack of experience Gas Powered Games had with such a new genre of gaming could be blamed as LoL, HoN and DotA 2 all have members with close ties, experience and work to the original DotA 1 game.  I might miss out on mentioning certain aspects as I delve back into analyzing the game, but I'll try my best to explain what developers have learned about making a "DotA-like" game since the release of Demigod.

Things Demigod did well:
+ Obviously not having to be limited to the models of Warcraft 3 models, the developers were able to craft and create unique and original characters.  DotA 1's characters had many references to other videogames, animé characters and such.  A lot of LoL character's also reference videogame characters and animé characters pretty closely.  HoN are nearly direct emulations of DotA characters with different names and looks while DotA 2 recreates and refines the characters of DotA 1.  So it really was nice seeing very different characters in Demigod.

+ Skills, items, gold, Health and Mana are neatly organized into a clean bar on the bottom that doesn't take up a large portion of the screen.

+ All the skills and items are lined up into one row of keys instead of being all over the place.  Obviously, all other MOBAs did this because it made sense.

+ Games are highly customizable.  DotA 2 has a fair amount of customization, which is cool.  In Demigod, there are 4 different modes, the ability to change spawn rate, death penalty, experience rate, starting gold, and such.  With such diverse rule changes, lots of different custom games can be played with friends.


Things Demigod got wrong:
- First and foremost, online multiplayer connections had lots of problems when the game first came out.  It was a tough challenge for the developers to resolve them all.  DotA 1 also had problems with connection.  Most MOBAs now allow the ability to re-establish connection or re-join if their game/computer crashes.

- A team-orientated game requires lots of intense coordination and movement, so it's a big problem when characters in the game react 1-2 seconds after your command.  A lot happens in 1-2 seconds during a team-fight.

- Lifebars on both Demigods and minions look the same.  In a sea of enemies and allies, the inability to distinguish the two impedes on the competitive gameplay in an online match.

- You can't see the health of your team mates unless you're near them or hover your mouse over them.  A mod was made just so the player could see the condition of their team's health.


Great ideas that weren't executed very well:
* The background graphics are beautiful.  They're amazing!  But the problem is that they also take up resources, slows down the fps, and makes the game lag.  This leads up to another idea that doesn't work too well.

* Full camera control.  Aesthetically, it's nice to be able to zoom in and all the way out, change the angle and rotate the camera to see the background.  But in terms of cohesive usage in gameplay coordination, problems arise.  For one, it's hard to find that balance to how you want the camera to be facing when in battle and any position you put may not feel right.  This also affects team-play coordination when calling out positions of the map and the orientation of each player's camera will change how they see the battlefield.  Pings can help only so much.

* All items within one shop at base and one secret shop in the battlefield.  One of the hardest things I had to learn playing DotA 1 was where each item was found in one of the 10-14 shop keepers around the map.  Demigod did a pretty good job of categorizing the items by types: Helmets for Mana, gloves for attack, armor for defense, etc.  The problem was that items had vast stat differences which causes an imbalance in gameplay as those that get ahead stays ahead with the items that they get.  For this reason, many MOBAs still have items in pieces before it becomes one strong item rather than having lots of strong items as a stand alone.

* Skill builds.  Demigod provides different passive and actives for the player to acquire which leads the player to having different builds depending on the situation and playstyle.  The problem is that it's one mess of a wall during an intensely paced multiplayer game.  The window covers up the entire screen and obscures the view of the battlefield.  Most MOBAs have stuck with the usual formula of having 3-5 upgradeable skills that shows up on their skill palette.

* Lots of Maps (8 in total).  Having a variety in maps was really nice considering DotA 1 only had that one map.  But the problem was the way the maps were designed.  A lot of them had open pathways which made it easy to see who was coming and going.  Towers are almost right next together, and some Demigod can attack them at very safe distances from their own tower's protection.  It was difficult to make plays with team mates to gank, assist and distract because of how the maps were orientated.

* 10 unique characters with different builds.  Despite the different builds each character can go for, the small roster of 10 characters made it rather boring for a lot of players.  By the time Demigod came out, DotA 1 already had over 70+ characters are so.  MOBAs such as LoL has over 100 characters now.

*Lots of ideas put into a mess.  There are a lot of ideas behind Demigod: deep character skill builds, a neater shop, lots of different maps, various game modes, etc.  But the lack of character variety, item imbalance, undynamic maps, delayed character reactions to player commands, a skill chart that covers the whole screen, and the many other flaws pointed out makes it difficult to enjoy for various reasons (bored with the same characters, imbalanced for competitive play, lack of team involvement because of map orientation, etc.).


I'm pretty sure I missed out a lot of points, but I want to show just how much effort and progress developers have made towards the new MOBA genre to get to the point we have reached in LoL, HoN, and DotA 2 as well as other MOBAs (I've recently played Solstice Arena and am very impressed with it).  Don't get me wrong, Demigod is actually a pretty fun game (at least playing against computer AI in single-player is), but the various problems with the competitive and online multiplayer side of the game kills the longevity of the community and their interest in the game.  I bought Demigod over the Steam weekend sale for nostalgic purpose ever since the first time I tried it back 4 years ago and had a bit of fun with it.  But it also showed me just how far this genre has gone since then and what the industry has learned from it.

GameLight - Solstice Arena (Steam)

Official Site: http://www.solsticearena.com/
Steam Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/240380/
Source: Youtube Channel SolsticeArena

Five months ago, I mentioned a new MOBA in the making that was releasing on mobile devices such as iPhone and iPad.  It was a bit of a surprise to see it on Steam yesterday and I decided to try it out.  I was a bit hesitant about the decision since it's published and seemingly developed by Zynga who are known for questionable practices in the Videogame industry.  What gave me some hope was that the game was being developed by "A Bit Lucky" studios before they joined Zynga in finishing the product before putting it out in the market.  Solstice Arena boasts itself for being the first Speed-MOBA in the market which delivers fast and exciting PvP matches.  It takes out minions to farm, lanes to gank and focuses on positioning and utilizing the abilities of all the characters in the team.  What's left is a bare-bones PvP action that, surprisingly, was a lot of fun.

Some Pros:
+ Eased into the game: tutorial isn't long and the game has the player play at least one bot match and one co-op match before they're thrust into a real match between players so that they can familiarize themselves with the characters, items, mechanics and map.
+ Matches are short: You don't have to invest a lot of time to get the excitement and action of player vs. player.  Even if you lose, it was a short duration and you can jump right back in for another match.
+ Various characters and skills: The characters are rather distinguished and fun, though missing a bit of personality with the lack of story.  Each match is dynamic and different as each player will have their own playstyle and different composition of characters brings something new to the game.
+ Intense PvP: A lot of abilities are skill shots which requires aiming and timing
+ Super easy account creation: I've played dozens of Online games and it's quite frustrating when creating an account is a hassle.  The account can be created in-game with a display name, email, username, and password.  The game can also be played as a guest before you decide you want to stick with the game and create an account to carry over what you progressed.
+ No chat: Why is this a plus?  Because if you've played enough online games, you might be familiar with people who consistently argue, yell, and rage throughout a match and ruin the experience for everyone else.  There are in-game pings which is more than enough to communicate with the team and a button to say "GG" (Good Game" to everyone at the end of the match.
+ Fast loading: Get into the game quicker.  The game isn't very big and loading is very short.  Shorter load times = more play time.

Some Cons:
- Imbalanced characters: Some matches can work against you and you won't be able to do a thing when characters leap towards you, slow, stun, knock up, and burst you down perhaps across the map.  It can be a bit depressing, but it reminds me of DotA where characters are balanced by fighting broken with broken.  It's not a very balanced game, but it sure makes it fun (so it can be seen as a plus).
- Terrible interface: The game is essentially a straight port of the iPad version.  Buttons will even have the words "Tap here" on it.  It works well for touch screen, but the interface isn't designed very well or elegantly for PC.
- Graphics aren't very good: The game is a straight port of the iOS version which has a lot of blocky lookin' characters.  I actually think the graphics are pretty nice for a game that originated from a mobile device, but there will be players that will be turned off by its presentation.
- No chat: Some people want to yell or maybe playfully jeer at the enemy, and not having any form of communication with the enemy other than saying "GG" at the end of the match might not be what some players want.  I have met those who enjoy bullying other players in online games and play those games to feel superior.  It's rather depressing...
- The meta-game: Players can level up a character that they play often to make their abilities even stronger.  This is an interesting meta-game that's a nice incentive to keep playing a single character and have an advantage over players, but players of all levels are matched up against each other which puts lower solstice level players at an immediate disadvantage.
- Everything is incredibly expensive: If you play League of Legends, 6300 IP already sounds like a lot just to earn enough to buy a new character.  Characters can get up to 30,000 points before you can get them unless you use real money to purchase them which might be the whole point.  This is Zynga we're talking about, the business portion won't be handled by the developers and you can expect some shenanigans coming from Zynga here.
- Cross-Platform Multiplayer: If I understand this correctly, players on Steam/PC will be playing with players on iPads and iPhones.  The controls do look pretty good on iPad, but the fact that the player's hand gets in the way of the display already puts a disadvantage on them.  Players on PC will be able to kite, react and cycle through their skills much faster than those on touch screen in general.  This isn't much a con for PC players, but I find this really unfair to iPad users who have been supporting them for the past 5 months.

To put it simply, the game isn't perfect but is a whole lot of fun.  The action is pretty consistent and the experience isn't ruined by other player's complaints and whining.  I'm actually very impressed that the developers found a way to give the player the means to communicate within the game without having to add text/voice chat.  The game isn't too hard to learn compared to most MOBAs, but has enough customization and depth to keep it interesting.  If anything, it's a fun game to mess around in.  Solstice Arena can be downloaded through Steam up on the link above.

VGCulture - Garen Does The Monkey

Official Site: http://beta.na.leagueoflegends.com/
Source: Youtube Channel League of Legends

Garen was the 2nd champion I bought when I first started playing League of Legends and he was one of my favorite characters.  He was incredibly strong with high damage, high resilience, his spin skill (Judgment) allowed him to be invulnerable to all spells, and it was a time where Fire Cape stacked.  After numerous nerfs and changes to his skills, I didn't play him as much and I saw the same from the community.  It seems Riot realized this and decided to spruce Garen up a bit with new visuals, some refining in his skills, and adding a new dance!

Garen originally did the dance from N*Sync's "Bye Bye Bye" Music Video.  But watching the spotlight, I realized he did "The Monkey".  But where did the inspiration come from?  What is riot referencing when they added it in?  I looked what other people thought it might be and one mentioned Johnny Bravo.  I still remember that dance being in the intro of that cartoon (Dance at 0:22):
Source: Youtube Channel Chankis39

Then I saw one other possibility from an Animé I've never heard of called Overman King Gainer.  Dance at 0:46
Source: Youtube Channel ntyun

I am now addicted to the theme song and can't stop listening to it.  There's also the theory that Riot is referencing "Bird is the Word" from Family Guy.  Dance starts at 0:28.
Source: Youtube Channel FOX

It could be anything!  The dance is a bit goofy for Garen, I kinda liked his N*Sync dance.  Still, his visual upgrade looks pretty cool and I'm planning to check it out myself in-game sometime soon.

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.

VGCulture - League of Copyrights (300 Heroes)

Official CN Site: http://300.zqgame.com/index.htm
Source: Youtube Channel MMOCultureBlog

It's not rare to see custom re-skins for League of Legends.  So when I heard about 300 Heroes and saw some screenshots, I thought it was League of Legends entirely re-skinned and shown off as a video.  Little did I know that, until watching actual videos of it, 300 Heroes is an actual game in China where it takes the entire League of Legends engine (mechanics, textures, level design, etc.) with characters from all categories: Disney movies, animé, TV shows, other games, and such and was making money off of it.  Despite the blatant ripoff, there have been mixed reactions from viewers outside of China.  On the obvious side, people are furious that so many copyrighted material is being used without consent and is making money off of it.  On the surprising side, there are those who are excited to see so many familiar characters in one game as well as seeing something crazy as 10 players versus 10 players.  In any case, it has sparked quite the discussion on the internet.  A lot of people were excited to see Naruto and Luffy.  I was particularly excited to see Kula Diamond from King of Fighters.  It's probably not going to be a game I'd try, but I do fancy the idea of 10 v 10.  Riot might not try that for League of Legends, but I'm hoping Valve would be willing to have such a mode for DotA 2.

GameLight - Solstice Arena

Official Site: http://www.solsticearena.com/

It is evident that Multiplayer Online Battle Arenas (MOBA) or DotA-like games have become a popular genre in the market of games, and thus many developers try their shot at making the next successful MOBA.  One particular game that's in the works is Solstice Arena.  The "A Bit Lucky" team joined Zynga in the project in hopes of delivering and exciting mobile experience to the masses.  Many problems arises with this project.  Lots of MOBAs are available for PC, consoles, and mobile devices, so what exactly do they have to offer over others?  (Hopefully something better, right?)  Zynga has proven themselves to be successful in the past, but much of their revenue comes from casual players.  Considering on how complex and steep the learning curve is for most MOBAs, can they really attract casual players to the game?  They also claim that the game is both for casual players and hardcore players.  For hardcore players of MOBAs, communication is key to good teamwork.  Will they be able to provide that for hardcore players?  I'm not saying that this will be a bad game or that they should give up, but they are valid points to address when they're developing the game.  I wish them the best of luck and look forward to testing it out when it releases.

VGCulture - League of Legends Lunar New Year Skins

Official Site: http://promo.leagueoflegends.com/lunar-revel/en.html

Every year, Riot Games will celebrate Chinese/Lunar New Year with the rest of the community with special releases of Champion Skins.  This year, it's not just 1-2 skins, but 5 of them.  For a limited of time, players can buy a special oriental themed skin for Annie, Cassiopeia, Corki, Jarvan IV, and Xin Zhao.  I'm most fond of Jarvan IV's Lu Bu skin and Xin Zhao's Zhao Yun skin which both has the likeness of those character designs from the Dynasty Warrior's series by Koei.  Aside from Champion skins, there also special wards, gifting, summoner icons, and a paper craft contest.  Click on the top link to check the details.  Happy Chinese/Lunar New Year's!  May fortune and good health bless you all.

GameLight Review - Awesomenauts

Official Site: http://www.awesomenauts.com/
Steam Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/204300/ Source: Youtube Channel MachinimaTrailer

Developer: Ronimo Games
Publisher: Ronimo Games
Platforms: Playstation 3, Xbox 360, [PC]
Release Date: Apr 10, 2012
Genre: 2D-Action Tower Defense (Action, Platformer, Strategy, RPG)

Pros:
+ Cute and charming characters in a cartoon-ish world
+ Fairly easy to learn how to play compared to most MOBA-like games
+ Fast-paced and lots of action going on right from the start
+ Player drop-in/drop-out makes it easier to find a game to play
+ Continually unlock more characters, features, and items, even if you lose
+ New characters being added without having to pay more for them
+ Can play 3-player co-op locally and host private games up to 6 players online
+ Controller compatibility as well as keyboard/mouse combo controls

Cons:
- Limited customization in character builds
- Online community is fairly weak with very few players playing online (PC)
- Even with 3 distinct maps, they can wear out in interest very quickly
- Other than practice mode, there isn't much for solo play when no one's online

Recommended: Yes, if you can get 3-6 friends together, this game can be very fun

If we were to mix a 2D Multi-player shooter like "Soldat" with popular Warcraft 3 Mod "Defense of the Ancients" (DotA), masking it with our favorite 80's cartoons, we'd end up with something like Awesomenauts.  Players choose from a variety of characters in a 3 versus 3 battle royale to push their robot army into the enemies towers, base, and eventually destroy the drill.  Throughout the battle, players will gather "solar" from enemy droids, enemy players, and scattered around the field which will allow the player to buy more items to become more powerful.  Unlike most MOBA-like games, a character's strength and abilities come from purchasing them at the store rather than gaining experience points.  The game was really easy to learn and very enjoyable once the mechanics of the game was grasped.  It did bother me a little that the amount of customization to item builds were so limited.  This doesn't allow for much variation.  Still, for a regular price of $9.99 provides a decent amount of game play time.

Aesthetics
Art Style: 80's Cartoon style
+ Distinct and charming characters
+ A really "awesome" opening
+ Maps are colorful and easy on the eyes
+ Objects are easy to distinguish
+ User-interface is shiny and clean/organized
+ Each character has their own theme song and killing spree verison
+ Voice acting is great and embodies the characters

- Frame-rate drops drastically and erratically during split-screen multiplayer
- Lag issues from one side can be seen by others and affects hit-boxes
- Songs can be annoying and repetitive at times
Aesthetics: 9/10

Buttons
Controller: Any gamepad with directional keys and 4 buttons; keyboard/mouse
+ Compatible with a lot of different gamepads for PC
+ Keyboard and mouse provides the best controls for multi-directional aiming
+ Controls are easy to grasp and feels great in game
+ User-interface for the shop is easy to navigate and figure out
Buttons: 9/10

Concept & Content
Core Concept: Push droids into enemy base while getting more powerful
+ Smart approach for a 2D-Platformer MOBA with simplified game mechanics
+ The whole 80's theme is realized with the theme songs, graphics, and characters
+ Story is simple, but gets its point across on why these characters fight each other
+ 3 distinct levels thus far, each with their unique gimmick
+ Characters are gradually being added to the game for free
+ All extra paid content is solely aesthetics: alternate character outfits
+ Being able to bring certain items vary the playstyle of the player each time

- Item build variety is very limited
- The maps and gameplay can grow weary on a player after a while
- Some characters feel overpowered while others feel very useless
- Can't browse through available games, all match-made
Concept and Content: 8/10

Duration
+ Matches generally don't last that long, so lots of matches can be played
+ The level/unlocks system is a good incentive to keep playing
+ The game's a lot of fun, and time will burn through quite quickly
+ New characters come out slowly, but players will revisit the game for each one
+ It takes around 5 hours to unlock all the characters, so there's no grind for them

- The novelty of the game can wear out rather quickly, best to take breaks from it
- Can be hard to continue playing if no one's online or friends aren't on
Duration: 8/10

Fun
+ The title opening is what really got me, reminds me of Battlefield Heroes teaser
+ I really liked the idea of each character getting their own killing spree song
+ All the characters are lovable, especially Clunk, I love to hate him so much...
+ Battles are really exciting and fairly constant in action, less passive action
+ I like Leon and Raelynn the most, they're challenging to play but so satisfying
+ A few of my friends got the game as well and made it extra fun to play

- Not having that many people online makes it hard to enjoy playing multiplayer
- The game can get boring playing long durations in a short amount of time
Fun: 9/10

Overall
Awesomenauts is a solid multiplayer game.  I can't see it being a highly competitive e-sport tournament game, but it can provide a decent amount of entertainment for casual players among friends.  With the ability to play 3-player local, 6-player online, and against bots, the game can be a really fun distraction from other games or one that can be played during short breaks in the day.  It's not too complicated, so it's easy to jump in and out whenever one feels like playing it.  I'm not too certain with PS3 and Xbox 360, but PC players should try to grab a few friends who they know they can join playing together or against each other as the Online community is scarce.  Also for PC players, Steam occasionally has some good discounts for the game so be sure to look out for the game as cheap as $2.49-$4.99 from its usual $9.99.  Overall: 8.6/10

VGCulture - Filler - Irelia OP

I'm sick...so here's a video I found to entertain you all:
Source: Youtube Channel Yagamifyed

VGCulture - League of Legends Semi-Finals continue

Official Site: League of Legends Official Site
own3D.TV Site: http://www.own3d.tv/game/League+of+Legends

Last week, the semi-finals for the League of Legends tournament never finished because of technical problems that prevented the first team from even finishing their game.  So the tournament is being held without an audience with the same hi-quality stream they would have had for an on-site tournament.  There are only 4 teams left.  Which 2 teams will go onto the grand finals?

VGCulture - GW2, TL2, and MOBA Tourneys, oh my

Guild Wars 2: https://www.guildwars2.com/en/

Source: http://www.nerfnow.com/comic/829

It's been a week since I've started playing Guild Wars 2 and it has gone far beyond my expectations for the game.  I didn't see myself enjoying PvP and WvW as much as I do now.  The fluidity of the game makes the progression of PvE feel seamless.  I don't pay too much attention to levels as it's not as important.  I'm able to enjoy each aspect of the game with its spontaneity.  I'm not sure how long the replay value will last, but so far it's pretty good.


Torchlight 2: http://www.torchlight2game.com/
Source: Youtube Channel TotalHalibut

Runic games finally stated a release date for Torchlight 2.  On September 20th, players will be able to download it from their choice of distributor.  To be honest, it would've been better if they had came out last year or early this year to avoid the competition from Diablo 3 and Guild Wars 2.  At least then, they'd have players willing to try their game out who aren't already Torchlight fans.  It seems some mechanics have been changed from the first one, and the addition of multiplayer and mod capabilities is a plus.  For me, I'll probably wait a while before getting it as I'm already full on my play list and don't have a reason to get it right away.

League of Legends: https://tournaments.leagueoflegends.com/s2-na-regionals
DotA 2: http://www.own3d.tv/TheInternational

I haven't been keeping up with the tournament matches, but both MOBA games are holding them right now and streaming live.  Some pretty crazy stuff.  That's all for now, have a great weekend everyone!

GameLight - SMITE

Official Site: https://account.hirezstudios.com/smitegame/
Source: Youtube Channel smitegame

I finally got my hands on a beta key to try out Hi-Rez's highly anticipated MOBA game SMITE over this weekend.  SMITE is a 3rd-Person Action Massive Online Battle Arena (MOBA) that's structured much like familiar MOBA games such as Defense of the Ancients, League of Legends, and Heroes of Newerth but plays and controls much like an Action game.  The world and its characters are based off of Mythology all over the world with players taking the role of a god in aims of defeating the enemy Minotaur.  The game currently have gods from Greek, Norse, Hindu, and Chinese Mythology with the possibility of more in the future.  SMITE isn't the first MOBA to be played in the 3rd-Person perspective with Action game elements to them as games like Dungeon Defenders, Orcs Must Die!, and Land of Chaos Online (LOCO) have tested the water in that department; however, the game plays much more closely to traditional MOBAs rather than having it play more like a straight up action game.  The way spells have an image projection of where skills will end up is akin to what League of Legends changed from DotA and makes for a more certain and strategic use of skills during a team fight.  My first experience with the game was actually an odd glitch.  I entered the game without the ability to attack or use skills, but I could still level up by being near defeated enemies and buy items.  After that, the game has been running normally.  So some of the first impressions are:
-Controls and map layout is what I expected it to be
-Third-Person Action style is tougher as most attacks are skill shot reliant
-A little disappointing to be limited to 5 Gods in the beginning, but it helps learning the game faster
-The game is rather polished and has a balanced gameplay (LOCO was extremely broken in beta)
-Coordinating ganks and team fights is a little difficult since it's hard to see everything that happens
-Won my first match with 4/2/8 (Kills/Deaths/Assists) using Artemis, it was fun using a ranged character
-There were times where the game skips or lag, I'm not sure if it affected everyone
-Jungling is tough to do in SMITE
-I can't tell if the game has any lasting power in it as it stands (one map, 18 available characters)

Overall, it's looking to be a fun game; however, I'm not sure if it can hold the community's interest.  I have faith in Hi-Rez studios though as I've been a fan of theirs ever since the launch of Global Agenda and know of their belief in quality games.  SMITE is currently still in beta and is bound to have problems and have players who aren't familiar with the game yet (please go easy on each other).  SMITE doesn't have an official launch date yet, but it will be Free-to-play with the ability to buy Gods if players do not want to earn them through game time.

VGCulture - Touhou Defense of the Shrine

Official Site: http://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/DOTS
Source: Youtube Channel venomstrike666

Touhou is a danmaku/bullethell series created by one man in Japan that goes by the alias "ZUN".  Touhou has become an international phenomenon in Japanese gaming and animé culture and has since issued millions of fan based materials.  From remixes of ZUN amazing original sound tracks to cosplaying the various characters within the series, Touhou touches upon everything imaginable.  Just now, a friend told me about another Touhou related creation called "Defense of the Shrines" (DotS) which more or less plays like Defense of the Ancients (DotA).  Custom models and extensive mods make this custom map campaign of the Warcraft 3 have as much feel of a Touhou related game as possible.  Much like DotA, all the characters have special abilities and the potential to level up.  It still seems pretty early in development, so characters may not be entirely balanced and a lot of words may not be translated to English yet.  The custom models and map can be downloaded from the wiki page above.  Warcraft 3 Frozen Throne is required to play the game.

GameLight - LoL Pulsefire Ezreal

Official Site: http://promo.leagueoflegends.com/pulsefire-ezreal/en.html
Source: Youtube Channel RiotGamesInc

Players of League of Legends have waited for the longest time for the so-called "Megaman" Ezreal, and yesterday it was revealed.  This is possibly the most detailed skin Riot has ever done for a champion.  This new skin has a different set of voice acting, sound, death animation, ability animations, taunt, joke, dance, and movement animation.  One of the coolest aspects to this skin is that the armor Ezreal wears evolves and changes look each time he levels his "ult" (Ultimate Ability).  At a certain point, Ezreal will hover for a short while instead of walking.  It's just a different animation and doesn't give him any ability to fly over walls or anything, but it's a nice little addition to the aesthetic.  Rather than firing from a bow, Ezreal's attacks comes out of his arm cannon which is said to be an homage to Megaman.  Even his death animation has a reminiscence of the blue bomber.  That little addition to having a different animation to minion deaths and champion deaths seem almost unfair as no other champion really has that amount of detail and care for their skins as this one does (and they have been just as expensive).  The taunt for this skin is a reference to a very particular scene from the Dragon Ball Z series.  This is possibly (if not most definitely) the coolest skin Riot has ever created for a champion and I hope they continue to have this amount of detail done for skins of other champions.

VGCulture - Infinite Power in League of Legends!

Apparently there's been a bug that players of League of Legends have found that has allowed them to place mastery points on a skill that reduces their cool down on summoner skills past the max capacity all the way to 105%.  By doing so, that player is able to spam their summoner skills indefinitely and pretty much steam roll over the other team:
Source: Youtube Channel sephshomarulol

The above video was featured on one of Kotaku's articles discussing on Riot's action towards this exploit.  What's happening is that the player is exploiting the bug mentioned above with a skill called flash that allows a player to teleport a short distance instantaneously and the skill smite which allows a player to deal large amounts of damage to non-player controlled enemies.  Combine those with the exploit and he can be everywhere and kill anything.   Source: Youtube Channel kindahappy123

Here's another video revealing the same exploit on the Chinese servers of League of Legends.  In this video, the Evelyn on the enemy team is constantly using the "heal" summoner spell which restores not only her own health but all her allies around her as well.  I imagine that they just pushed mid all the way and won the game as an invincible team.  I'm glad I didn't have to deal with that sort of shenanigans the past few days I've played.

In any case, the exploit causing players to be able to spam their summoner skills indefinitely has been fixed by Riot and they made the effort to find and ban every player that was abusing the bug.

Source:
-Kotaku: Riot Closes “Bull****” League of Legends Exploit, Bans Hundreds of Players

GameOn - MOBA Games - League of Legends

Official Site: http://na.leagueoflegends.com/

Source: Youtube Channel RiotGamesInc

If we are to talk about MOBA Games, League of Legends (LoL) is bound to be the one game to be brought up (other than DotA 2 which isn't officially out yet).  I have accumulated close to 600 hours on LoL since I first started 2.5 years ago when DotA was still my main MOBA game.  That is perhaps the most I have ever spent on a single game (even more than Phantasy Star Online).  It is undeniable that Riot Games' League of Legends is the most popular MOBA game on the market and one of the most played online games.  Although there are many similarities from DotA's cast of characters, many of the champions in LoL are distinct with their own personality, unique play-style, and story background.  The game is constantly expanding, improving, and updated so that the game's quality continues to further itself.  A new champion is released every month with changes to existing ones to balance out the gameplay.  There are many things that Riot does right with the new MOBA genre: simple to learn gameplay while still keeping it highly competitive and challenging, organized user-interface and comprehensible item shop, impeccable level design and art style that distinguishes objects from each other and the environment, and listening to the community to keep them involved.  Like many other games, it does have its faults.  The community is filled with younger audiences which unfortunately brings a lot of immaturity, whining/raging, name calling, and profanity filled goodness along with high egos and arrogance (this is not a generalization, you can tell the difference before schools out and right when the time they get back home).  Children aren't the only ones to blame as many adults can be just as disrespectful and uncouth as they are in the streets.  In short: the general community of LoL is ill-mannered and hard to get along with.  That doesn't mean that everyone who plays LoL are going to rip your head off if you happen to do something wrong.  In fact, I had a few matches where players from both teams were very courteous and joked around a lot which made the game really enjoyable (rare case, but they exist).  Another problem is that the game frequently suffers from lag, bugs, disconnections to the server, glitches, and problems (usually right after a new patch).  The Riot team is incredibly hard working though and has always made it a point to notate all issues and remedy them.  The following for LoL is very strong and so there are a lot guides and videos that help players understand the game better.  LoL is very balanced and the dynamics of how the game can be played makes for a very interesting match each time one plays.  I highly recommend League of Legends for anyone who wants to play a MOBA game as an introduction to the genre as it's one of the easiest to learn and get into.  Click on the top link and click play for free on the upper right hand corner to begin downloading and playing.  This concludes this week's GameOn event, I hope everyone enjoyed it.

GameOn - MOBA Games - Avalon Heroes

Official Site: http://avalonheroes.en.alaplaya.net/

Source: Youtube Channel alaplayaMovies

One MOBA that is rarely talked about or even known to many is Avalon Heroes.  Little background information can be found on the development of the game, so I'm unsure if the game was Korean developed or when it was first launched, etc.  Avalon Heroes is also one that follows DotA quite closely from the 25 level cap, to the various shop merchants, and Warcraft 3 engine feel.  What's unique about Avalon Heroes is that other than the usual battle mode, there's an adventure mode where up to 8 players can traverse a dungeon and fight a boss, a scenario mode where it tells a story, an arena mode where the goal is to eliminate the enemy hero, and a lobby where players can hang around to socialize and trade.  It's pretty evident that the quality in development is a bit low.  The graphics are outdated and blocky, the user-interface is convoluted and incredibly difficult to navigate through (the shop organization is atrocious), and descriptions of skills and items are much too wordy.  The game does take quite a bit of getting used to, even for DotA veterans and it's possibly why the game isn't very populated.  Still, there's quite a variety of heroes to choose (still a lot more than Rise of Immortals) and the various modes make for a different experience.  I think it'd be a fun game if one can find a group of friends to play adventure mode.

GameOn - MOBA Games - Heroes of Newerth

Official Site: http://www.heroesofnewerth.com/

Source: Youtube Channel machinima

If you're a DotA veteran and you seek challenge from a hard-core game, Heroes of Newerth (HoN) would be the game for you.  With the help of major DotA contributor "Icefrog", S2 Games had developed Heroes of Newerth within the world of their "Savage" series with the gameplay mechanics from DotA.  Many of the limitations and problems the Warcraft 3 engine suffered from has sought solutions within HoN.  The game is very fast-paced, highly competitive, has over 100 heroes to choose from, and is now free to play.  The graphics are beautiful with a more up to date graphics rendering compared to the Warcraft 3 engine and has a really nice lighting and effects visual that creates really nice animations for spells and attacks.  Unfortunately, HoN has its own problems.  Because of its steep learning curve, the game is very difficult to pick up and play.  Furthermore, the community within HoN is relentless and unforgiving.  Players will talk down each other, even within the same team.  The attitude of players can range from the immature to the most profane one can encounter on the internet.  Although the animations and effects are really nice, the overall color scheme and graphics style makes it really difficult to distinguish units from the environment.  Others might complain that the game is "too" similar to DotA and doesn't offer anything new.  Still, my experience with HoN was mostly good and I really liked all the different characters to choose from.  There's still a lot of dynamics and variation to keep the game fresh and exciting every time I play it, and it's definitely worth checking out now since it's free to play (originally a $30 purchase).

GameOn - MOBA Games - Realm of the Titans

Official Site: http://realmofthetitans.aeriagames.com/

Source: Youtube Channel MachinimaRealm

Realm of the Titans was lead and designed by two DotA professional players who entered in various tournaments around the world and saw potential in the genre.  After the two returned to China from studying in Australia, the now CEO and Lead Designer of Realm of the Titans got a team together and started development.  Realm of the Titans was still in development when League of Legends and Heroes of Newerth was announced and eventually released and so it was dealt with much negativity from the fanbase of LoL and HoN.  Unfortunately for me, I never got to try Realm of the Titans yet and have been waiting for it to go out of beta for who knows how long.  So far, those who have tried the game thoroughly have praised it for its large cast of characters (more than twice as much as Rise of Immortals), its balance in competitive play, and its polish.  I can't back those claims just yet as I have not tried the game, even though I've been meaning to for an entire year now (Alpha Testing started back last year April 7, 2011).  In terms of gameplay, map design, and core concept, the game is closer to DotA than most MOBA games (aside from Heroes of Newerth).  For a Chinese developed game, it sure looks impressive.  I'm very willing to try out this game.

GameOn - MOBA Games - Rise of Immortals

Official Site: http://riseofimmortals.com/

Source: Youtube Channel IGNentertainment

It's been a while since I've done a GameOn and have chosen to talk about Massive Online Battle Arena (MOBA) games this week.  It's a fairly new genre and is not officially called MOBA but is used to describe any game that plays similarly to the globally popular Warcraft 3 custom campaign map "Defense of the Ancients" (DotA).  In a MOBA, there is generally two teams consisting of players taking different roles to fulfill a need to win a team fight.  Throughout a match, both teams try to push their own army into the opponent's base and destroy the main core to win.  What's unique about MOBA games is that its core concept is similar to a tower defense game, plays similar to a top-down Action-RPG, and originated from an RTS custom campaign map which retains some of its elements in the genre (MOBA originated from a Starcraft custom campaign, DotA made it popular).  There are dozens of characters to choose from, the dynamics of the game changes all the time with team compositions, players level up throughout a match and learn new skills, buy items to become even stronger, and participate in mini-boss fights in the map.

With the success of DotA, many developers wanted to have their take on the new found genre without the limitations of the Warcraft 3 engine.  One such game to emerge is "Rise of Immortals" and heavily based on the theme of Mythological beings from various cultures.  The game's art style and characters remind me of "Demigod", another MOBA game that was fun but unfortunately suffered from unbalanced gameplay and clunky user-interface.  I liked how there was a 3-player cooperative mode to play and practice on a new character in the game.  In most MOBA games, players are often tossed into the fray and had to learn everything along the way which made for a steep learning curve (it's not really like that anymore).  Rise of Immortals wanted to make the game a bit more involving for players since those who played DotA would know that nothing was kept and a player starts fresh at level 1 every time.  In Rise of Immortals, players can earn currency to purchase items that slightly increases an ability of a character to give a bit of advantage and allow a sense of progression like an RPG would.  During a match, the player can rotate the camera all the way around and play at an angle they feel most comfortable playing in.  The game is still refining itself as all online games tend to do, and here are some things they hopefully improve on:
-The character roster is rather limited (a little better now than when I tried it)
-Gameplay is still imbalanced (some characters are useless while other clearly have an advantage)
-Movement reaction is sluggish or delayed (Not sure why, but there's a slight delay in movement when clicking)
-Less login bugs (A lot of players seemed to have trouble logging in)

It's been a while since I've played the game and I feel like playing it again once more just to check out the new characters.  It's free to play so anyone interested shouldn't hesitate to click on the link on top and try the game out.