To Learn More About the Game Check out our Dragon Soul Page.
Dragon Soul is a 3D PvP centric fantasy MMORPG published by Neonga – the same company behind A Mystical Land. The game’s visuals are a bit outdated, but the game still offers plenty of action for those looking for a PvP heavy game. The game’s most notable aspect is the fact that is has 8 factions that are in perpetual war as well as mounted combat. With only four playable classes the game lacks some variety. To learn more about Dragon Soul check out the official MMOHut Dragon Soul page which includes a detailed review, tons of screenshots, and additional videos.
TQ Digital has made Conquer Online available for free on the iPad, starting today.
Conquer Online for the iPad will continue to offer many of the same gameplay features as the PC version of the game. The platform utilizes its “tap-and-swipe” features to control movement and combat, offering a newly designed way of interacting with the MMO.
TQ Digital also publishes Zero Online and Crazy Tao.
Conquer Online: iOS Launch Trailer
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Popular PC MMO Conquer Online Taps and Slashes its Way onto the iPad Today
The First Completely Free-to-Play MMO on the iPad Available Now
HONG KONG – December 6, 2011 NetDragon Websoft Inc, a leading online game developer and operator in China, announces that one of their most well-known free-to-play PC and Mac MMORPG games running for over eight years now, is making its debut on iTunes today—completely free for iPad! Conquer Online will be the first ever completely free MMORPG arriving on the iPad: no charge to download and no monthly subscription fee! Conquer Online for the iPad delivers an MMO experience that's as deep, rich and satisfying as its PC and Mac counterparts. The game offers more features than any portable MMO to date. An all-new trailer has been release today to celebrate the launch of the game.
Set in ancient China, players will take on the role of a brave hero, with a massive amount of customization options, as the hero gallantly embarks on an adventure into this vibrant fantasy universe. Conquer Online features over 20 interactive in-game systems such as marriage (and divorce), your own customizable home, not to mention the countless ways to release your rage in the battlefield with competitions like the Guild Wars, Clan Wars, and arena fights! Master the six martial-arts classes to defeat monsters, complete quests and reach the top of your class.
With quick, simple controls and navigation, MMO fans will be able to transition with ease to the iPad MMO experience. The game utilizes a "tap-and-swipe" control scheme. You can jump freely wherever you want by tapping on the map and can perform skills by hacking and slashing at the enemies with your finger. The controls are designed to feel natural and intuitive in the iPad MMO space.
Conquer Online was the first MMO to introduce the free-to-play gaming model in the world back in 2003, and has since been converted into 10 different languages, amassing more than 10 million players from over 100 countries in its 8 years of life. The iPad version will also inherit a legion of features from the fully-fledged PC version of the game, so prepare to meet plenty of new friends, then create a new guild and set off to enjoy the heart of the adventure in Conquer Online!
Download Conquer Online for free now in the app store! http://itunes.apple.com/app/conquer-online/id459012102
GamersFirst has announced that APB Reloaded, its revised version of APB (All Points Bulletin) made available free-to-play, is now available via Steam.
Downloading and playing APB Reloaded through Steam also lets players keep their game up-to-date easily, as well as connect to the Steam community. APB Reloaded is still in open beta.
GamersFirst also publishes Knight Online and Sword 2.
APB: Reloaded Gameplay Screenshot
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APB RELOADED JOINS STEAM NETWORK
GamersFirst's Popular Free2Play® Open-World Cops and Robbers Now Available on Steam®.
Irvine, Calif.,December 6, 2011 – A leading publisher of Free2Play® massively multiplayer online games, GamersFirst (www.gamersfirst.com) announced today that the Company's blockbuster open-world third-person shooter, APB Reloaded, has joined the Steam® library of games. Steam® Valve's leading platform for digital content distribution and management allows players to directly download APB Reloaded to their systems. Gamers can also connect with other players and keep the game client up-to-date, all through one safe and convenient service.
Available for download today, Steam members can now join the fight for control over the fictional world of San Paro while the game continues to refine itself through the open beta process.
"GamersFirst is and always will be focused on our community, and being able to deliver the truly unique gaming experience that APB Reloaded offers to Steam subscribers only strengthens that commitment," said Rahul Sandil, SVP of marketing and business development for GamersFirst. "Steam and GamersFirst share a common passion for authentic gaming experiences and dedication to delivering the very best entertainment possible to the PC platform."
In the world of San Paro, Criminals and Enforcers battle in an open-world environment to control territories, commit or stop petty crimes, and gain notoriety within their own organizations. Be it on foot or from the driver seat, APB Reloaded melds player-on-player combat within the immersive world of a city on the edge of total chaos. Powered by Epic's Unreal 3 engine, APB Reloaded features a robust set of customization tools second to none, providing gamers the ability to create the exact look of their in-game avatar, character symbols, clothing and even customize cars they drive.
An email sent out to Neo Steam players has announced that the game will be shutting down on Feburary 8, 2012. Atlus Online’s version of Neo Steam is the last published version of the game available.
December and January will grant players bonus experience, TP, and drop rates, while removing death penalties and granting unlimited Neo Steam. Players who still have Gears can use them in the Item Shop up until January 4; unspent Gears will convert to Atlus Crowns, useable in other Atlus Online games.
Atlus Online also publishes Pandora Saga.
Neo Steam Gameplay Screenshot
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Thank you for sharing your time in Neo Steam and steampunking it up with us for the past two years. We take pride in being in the first Atlus Online title and the last-standing Neo Steam server in the world. It’s with deep regret that we must now announce:
Atlus Online will shut down its Neo Steam service on February 8, 2012.
Starting today, you and all your friends will be granted the benefits from all previously run server events in the upcoming months of December and January. That means more EXP, more TP, no death penalties, increased drop rates, unlimited Neo Steam, the works! We will hold nothing back in delivering the best Neo Steam has to offer.
If you still have Neo Steam Gears, you will have access to the Premium Item Shop until January 4, 2012. All unused Gears will revert back to Atlus Crowns, ready for use with all current-and yet-to-be-announced-games.
Citizen of Chrysalis, thank you for your support. Let’s celebrate together and go out with a bang!
Aeria Games has released a new set of screenshots, straight out of the alpha test, for Lime Odyssey. You can check out these new screenshots below.
Lime Odyssey is a fantasy MMORPG that features a dual class system (battle and profession), multiple playable races each with their own corner of the continent, plus pets, mounts, crafting, farming, and more. The game is expected to be available to the public in early 2012.
Aeria Games also publishes Eden Eternal and Grand Fantasia.
Lime Odyssey: Alpha Testing Screenshots
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Aeria Games Releases Sneak Peek of Lime Odyssey Alpha Test
Scenes Revealed from Testing Phase for Upcoming 3D Fantasy MMORPG
SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Dec. 6, 2011 – Aeria Games, a leading global publisher of free-to-play online games, today released new screenshots taken during an early-stage alpha test of Lime Odyssey: The Chronicles of Orta, its upcoming 3D massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG). Lime Odyssey is developed by Sirius Entertainment Co., Ltd., a Korean-based team composed of talented industry veterans, many of whom worked on the classic MMORPG Ragnarok Online.
Lime Odyssey alpha test participants received the first outside glimpse of the game's immersive experience, which touts everything from multiple playable races to thousands of possible quests. Lime Odyssey boasts an array of engaging features, including a dual class system, pets, mounts, farming, extensive crafting, inspired 3D visuals, and an imaginative, colorfully-rendered continent filled with whimsical beasts.
Lime Odyssey: The Chronicles of Orta features:
Dual Class System – Choose from four battle archetypes (warrior, thief, mage and cleric) and adopt a profession (chef, tailor or blacksmith) in Lime Odyssey's double class system.
Immersive World – Run, fly or swim across a huge continent. Each race claims a unique corner of Orta. Move freely through diverse regions on your trek to restore order.
Pets, Mounts & More – Hatch a delightful animal companion, or acquire a more useful beast on your journey. Players can also start a thriving farm as part of their story in Lime Odyssey.
Aeria Games is slated to release the epic Lime Odyssey adventure to the public, available in English for the first time, in early 2012. Interested players can visit the website to sign up for a chance to participate future testing: http://limeodyssey.aeriagames.com.
Jade Dynasty has announced a new expansion, called Legacy, coming soon for its players.
The expansion will deal with the new area of Incense Valley, introducing two new classes (Mages and Forta). A new instance, the Crimson Peaks Voidland, will be available for 10-25 players, making it the largest yet. New seasonal events, new exchange items, new Jade types, and new Treasure Boxes will also add to the new content list.
Meanwhile, a major rebalancing will go through gear (including stronger Ethereal and Celestial gear) and combat (including faction skills). Character creation will also be boosted to offer new examples of each faction, new starting fashion gear, and the ability to preview high-level armor sets on the character.
Jade Dynasty is published by Perfect World Entertainment, which also publishes Forsaken World and War of the Immortals.
Jade Dynasty Gameplay Screenshot
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Jade Dynasty: Legacy Announced
Expansion to Popular MMO Features New Classes and Character Visuals
(Foster City, CA) December 5, 2011 — Perfect World Entertainment Inc., a wholly owned U.S. subsidiary of Perfect World Co., Ltd. (NASDAQ: PWRD), today announced a new expansion to its free-to-play martial-arts MMORPG, Jade Dynasty .
In Jade Dynasty: Legacy, players explore the secretive Incense Valley while fighting through the massive multi-staged instance, which is larger than any other dungeon currently available in this game.
“We couldn’t be more excited to publish a new chapter in the Jade Dynasty series,” said Dean Sakurai, Product Manager, Perfect World Entertainment. “Jade Dynasty: Legacy is our biggest update since ‘Vengeance (August 2010)’ and features two new classes, enhanced character visuals, new instances and numerous other content updates. With Jade Dynasty: Legacy we add tremendously to a gaming experience already shared by millions.”
Key features include:
• Two New Classes: Players can now choose between the powerful, fire-wielding Incense Valley Mages and the crippling, melee-astute Forta.
• New Instance: The Crimson Peaks Voidland is the largest instance in Jade Dynasty, designed for groups of 10-25 players to face its many dangers and claim its secreted rewards.
• Character Visuals: Character creation has been reworked, providing new visual examples of each faction, new starter fashions and even the ability to preview high-level armor sets.
• Balance and Enhancement: Several facets of gear and combat have been reworked, from rebalanced factions skills to stronger Ethereal and Celestial gear.
• Content Updates: New wedding and seasonal events, more items available for exchange with new Jade types, and more easily attainable Treasure Boxes are but a few of the many other changes.
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All good things must come to an end, and that's the case for Drowning in Snow. We've been bringing you the chapters for several months now, but it's time for the story to fade off into the sunset, with the heroes riding off in triumph...
Wait, no, that's not right at all. When we last left the adventurers Kira and Uriel, they weren't riding off in triumph. They were knee-deep in betrayal, which throws the entire story up to this point into question. So it does seem they've got a little adventuring left to do, doesn't it?
Click on past the break for Prone Meridian, the final chapter in this exclusive piece of RIFT fiction, brought to you by the team at Trion Worlds and (of course) the team here at Massively. Or take a look at the previous five chapters if you've missed them before now, since this one won't make much sense otherwise.
Worried that RIFT's Guardians and Defiants are less age-old enemies and more goofy odd couple roommates bumbling around to a laugh track? If faction chumminess concerns you, you'll be glad to hear that Trion Worlds is planning to escalate tensions between the two sides that will forever change the feel of the game.
Trion said that it's already deep into the planning stages of heating up the conflict between the game's two sides, which is planned for next spring. The current Fae Yule festival is meant to be a quiet moment before everything explodes; a peace that is soon to be shattered.
Design Director Hal Hanlin puts a date on the upcoming Factionopalypse: "We're planning to drive a wedge between the factions for the game's one-year anniversary." This puts the date of the event in early March 2012.
Currently, while the two factions don't necessarily get along, they both are working toward the same goal of repelling the invading planar forces. It's just that they use different approaches and philosophies as they truck along.
The year-long free-play party for Final Fantasy XIV is nearly over, according to the most recent Square-Enix newsletter. The mailing thanks FFXIV customers for their support during the title's rocky maiden voyage, and also notes that recurring billing will officially commence on January 6th, 2012.
Square plans to suspend all FFXIV service accounts on January 5th in order to ensure that no customers are charged without their consent, and the company suggests that fans who wish to continue to play the game renew and set up their payment methods on December 16th. Finally, Square is offering a discounted billing rate ($9.99 per month) that will last until the release of Final Fantasy XIV's 2.0 patch. More info is available via the game's official website.
Massively Speaking Episode 177 returns this week with hosts Justin and Rubi discussing the week's MMO news, including Glitch's unlaunching, Lineage II's move to F2P, EVE Online's Crucible update, Justin's love for Bobby Kotick, and much more.
Have a comment for the podcasters? Shoot an email to podcast@massively.com. We may just read your email on the air! Get the podcast: [iTunes] Subscribe to Massively Speaking directly in iTunes. [RSS] Add Massively Speaking to your RSS aggregator. [MP3] Download the MP3 directly. Listen here on the page:
Could Ubisoft be developing an MMO for Nintendo's upcoming Wii U, of all platforms? There are a few indications that, yes, the studio is indeed doing just that.
The first step in the puzzle comes from Ubisoft's Emile Gauthier, who posted the following tweet yesterday: "Ubisoft Quebec is working on a NEW AAA MMORPG Game and we need people to fill these very strategic positions."
The link attached sends readers to Ubisoft's Facebook page, where a number of recently posted job descriptions are listed. These jobs include Senior Engine Programmer (Wii U -- AAA title), Network Programmer (Wii U -- AAA title), Tools Programmer (AAA MMO), Online Game Design Project Manager, Programmer Gameplay (MMO AAA), and Animation Art Director (MMO AAA). Since all of these have been lumped together and added within a few days of each other, one might come to the conclusion that it is for the same game -- a Wii U MMO.
Of course, the MMO and Wii U title may turn out to be two separate projects, but in any case we're interested to see what Ubisoft has planned for our favorite game genre.
December is here, and with it comes the usual crop of MMO holiday events. Developers may tweak events to fit the game lore or pull straight from the real-world holiday season, but the foundation of each celebration is usually similar. Special drops from enemies, seasonal quests with fun loot, and extra goodies in the cash shops can all be found throughout MMO-land during most of December.
So what are you most looking forward to? Will you be sticking with the familiar, long-running traditions of Wintersday in Guild Wars? Are you hoping for more of last year's hilariously misinterpreted holiday traditions from the citizens of Fallen Earth's Wasteland? Or are you dying to check out RIFT's very first holiday celebration? What holiday event are you looking forward to and why?
Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
No job ever goes quite right, no matter how well you plan it. It's as true in Champions Online as it is anywhere else, and it's certainly the case in the latest installment of the Whiteout series. After all, the first two issues made it plenty clear that heroes would have their hands full dealing with a downed alien spacecraft, but now things are going from bad to worse for the Steelhead soldiers and the player characters. It seems there's another player involved in the game who hopes to get in on the wrecked ship...
As with previous installments of the series, the new issue can be played by any character over level 11 and provides special rewards in addition to the usual mission benefits. But if you've already played through the mission, you can take a look at the game's latest Art Corner, which shows off the design of the mechanical antagonists plaguing the newest mission installment (and the subsequent ones as well, most likely).
Enigmatic online game Land of Chaos Online launches this week, blending elements of MMO and MOBA gameplay into a third-person team deathmatch. League of Legends' competitive season two is underway, and this week Riot launched its season two competitive gaming website with an article on all the recent major developments. Heroes of Newerth saw some interesting competitive action of its own over the weekend with some surprising upsets in the finals of the North American Star league.
This week we learned that Diablo III beta testers will soon be getting a taste of the real money auction house, and fansite DiabloFans has been digging inside the game files to unearth details of the Mystic follower and her array of equipment enchantments. Blacklight: Retribution opened its closed beta on Thursday 1st December, and Path of Exile received a huge patch as it draws closer to release. Bloodline Champions launched a charity pack containing a limited-edition avatar and title, with all the proceeds going to gaming charity Child's Play. Rise of Immortals reveals upcoming lion immortal Kavashiir and shows off its new crystalline creep models.
Skip past the cut for details of this week's biggest news from the world of MOBAs and other big online games that aren't quite MMOs.
Perfect World Entertainment announced today that it will be releasing a new expansion for its free-to-play MMORPG, Jade Dynasty. The expansion, known as Jade Dynasty: Legacy, is the largest single update to the game since 2010's Vengeance, and it brings quite a few new features to the martial arts title. For starters, heroes will be able to venture into the mysterious Incense Valley in search of -- what else -- powerful, delicious loot. Players will also be able to step into the shoes of two new classes: the pyromaniacal Incense Valley Mage and the completely uninformatively named Forta.
These classes will no doubt be very helpful in the new Crimson Peaks Voidland instance, which will play host to a party of 10 to 25 players as they face its dangers in hopes of securing the treasures hidden within. A number of balance passes have been made as well, which will hopefully ensure a more fair and enjoyable experience. For the full details, head on over to the Jade Dynasty official site.
[Source: Perfect World Entertainment press release]
Diablo III is not an MMO by any stretch of the imagination, but it certainly has some strong online elements like previous installments. It also has a lot of expectations to live up to, several of which are discussed in a recent PC Gamer interview with Wyatt Cheng and Andrew Chambers. Both designers discuss the challenge level of the new Inferno difficulty, which is aimed at max-level characters in good gear who have already completed the Hell difficulty level. They confirm that while it's meant to be brutal, it can be played and beaten solo -- although having a friend won't hurt.
And speaking of getting by with a bit of help from one's friends, Cheng and Chambers both agree that twinking out new characters is a time-honored part of the game's tradition; their job as designers requires them to find ways to ensure that twinking is a fun process for players. It's the sort of interview that can leave fans wanting more of the game before it's released -- which ties in nicely to the fact that you can pre-order the Book of Cain (a collection of in-universe lore and artwork) on Amazon right now. And you can even take a look past the break to see what the book looks like.
If you're similar to me -- my condolences if you are -- then you're probably very friendly with your alt and tab keys. Browsing the internet, chatting with your non-gamer heretic friends on AIM, and gaming all at once requires a certain mastery of alt+tab-fu. Allods Online, however, is looking to remedy this multitasking predicament, so it has enlisted the help of Overwolf.
Overwolf is an in-game overlay that provides players with a means to browse the interwebs, IM friends on multiple protocols, record their gameplay, and more without ever leaving the comfort of their game windows. Overwolf will be bundled with all future Allods client downloads, and existing players can download the gPotato version of the application from Overwolf's official site. For the full details on the new partnership, head on over to the official announcement.
With 15 days to go before Star Wars: The Old Republic's launch, it doesn't seem like there's much time to get everything stocked and ready before the year's biggest release happens. Fortunately, BioWare's helping us to run down the preparation list with a series of informative forum posts.
First on the list is to make sure that SWTOR players have the latest version of the client installed on their computers. BioWare says that if you played the game prior to November 25th, you'll probably need to install a completely new client; if you played since, you should be good. There are instructions on the forums as to how you can check which version you have.
Pre-orders are wondering about early access, which BioWare says is the same between the three editions of the game -- it only matters when you added your pre-order code, not which edition you purchased. More information about the early access program is coming later this week.
Finally, BioWare is preparing to make major changes to SWTOR's forums following a December 10th outage, during which all posts and PMs will be erased (as will infractions!). New forums, including those covering crew skills, story, lore and PvP, will be added, and guild forums will be expanded significantly. Those just starting to learn about the game will appreciate the new player help forum and community blog that's coming with the update.
Don't look now, but there's another MMO jumping on the story bandwagon. This time it's Undead Labs'Class3 console game, and there's a new dev blog up on the title's official site that outlines writer Travis Stout's modus operandi.
Stout is a huge fan of the zombie genre, and that's a good thing given Class3's focus on the walking dead and the creeptastic atmosphere surrounding them. So what does Stout see as a writer's main mission when it comes to the upcoming MMO?
"Take the zombies out of the equation and be damn sure you've got a rock-solid story full of interesting, well-developed characters and exciting action," he explains. "Then put the zombies back in so those characters can smash their heads in with tire irons."
Sony Online Entertainment is getting the EverQuest II:Age of Discovery hype train up to full speed today with a new dev tour of the upcoming content. Emily Taylor, the game's Executive Producer, takes viewers through the new features that players can expect from the upcoming expansion. To start things off, she gives players a look at the new Beastlord class, which can tame creatures to utilize as Warders in order to alter its playstyle.
We then get a look at the new and improved city of Freeport, which has been completely revamped. The city's four zones have been consolidated into one single zone, the visuals have been updated, and new questlines and content has been added. Finally, the tour stops off at the Seafarer's Roost Inn, where the new mercenaries can be hired -- for the right price, of course. So for the full video, click on past the cut and take a look.
As 2011 draws to a close and hordes of hopeful Guild Wars 2 fans look to 2012 for a possible launch, people are beginning to turn eyes back to the Hall of Monuments. (No, stop that. We're not debating launch dates; I'm just saying.) It's been over a year since ArenaNet unveiled the Hall of Monuments calculator. I wrote the Road to 50 Hall of Monuments guide series right away, so you guys probably have the basics done and are looking at some of the more challenging parts of Guild Wars. If you're not familiar with the series, I definitely recommend you check it out -- there are separate guides for those who are starting with only three points, those who are aiming for 30 points, and those who want to go all 50.
With that in mind, I want to spend some time on one of my favorite parts of the game: elite areas. If you've finished all three campaigns and the expansion -- preferably both in normal and hard mode -- and you're ready for a bigger challenge, it's time to take on the elite areas. I'll be focusing on one elite area each week while we wait for Guild Wars 2 news, so follow along and let's get you started on the first area: the Fissure of Woe. Ready, set, kill!
It's no secret that Star Wars: The Old Republic is one of the most highly anticipated MMORPGs in recent memory, and the game's recently concluded public testing phase confirms the hype. The game's publisher, EA, announced that the SWTOR test phase drew in over 2 million players, and of those 2 million, 750,000 unique players jumped into the game over the Thanksgiving weekend alone.
EA also shared some interesting statistics about the game's test players. Over the holiday weekend, players averaged about 12 hours of game time each for a grand total of over 9 million hours of playtime across the playerbase. If you didn't get a chance to try the beta, or if you simply couldn't get enough, you don't have much longer to wait. The game launches in about two weeks on December 20th, with pre-order head start beginning on the 15th.
Squealing in delight, the gamer continues down the list, eyes feasting on line after line of the perfect features. Everything ever wanted, dreamed of, right here. Could it be? Could this be The One? Visions of gaming nirvana dance about the gamer's mind. Oh the fun that shall be had! Almost quivering, unable to contain the excitement, eyes finally chance upon the line... wait, what's this? PvP?Window closed/box tossed back on the shelf. What a piece of garbage.
Sound familiar? How many times have we heard the phrase "It would have been perfect without PvP" or see gamers just pass over a title that fit their wants and needs almost to a "T" just because of that one feature without even giving it a chance? How many people have been captivated by the beauty and promise of Aion but refrained from trying it because of two little words: "open PvP"? Plenty. Even among my own circle of friends I have heard that refrain many a time. To that I say: It's your loss.
In fact, I propose that PvP can be not only tolerated but actually enjoyed by almost everyone. And this week's Wings Over Atreia is dedicated to showing you how. Poppycock! you say? Now, before you dismiss me out of hand, please consider where this declaration is coming from. No one can (accurately) accuse me of being a PvPer. In fact, I more fully fall into the quintessential carebear category than anywhere else -- I am a casual-ish player and a roleplayer. Even so, I can now make the following (qualified) statement:
My name is MJ. And I like PvP.*
Don't believe that you, too, can make this statement? Take the leap past the break for a look at some tips on how to come to enjoy this integral feature more and not let fear keep you away from Aion.
Over the course of September and October, I think the rest of the 1UP team started to hate me for making them carry sketchbooks -- to the Penny Arcade Expo, Tokyo Game Show, developer offices, etc. The goal was to collect as many pen and pencil sketches as we could from people in the game industry.
We left the content up to them, and said we would auction off 100% of the profits for Red Cross disaster relief -- in part to help victims of the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan, covered in our feature How Japan's Earthquake Changed its Developers. The results originally appeared in the final issue of 1UP's print magazine, and now it's time to put the gallery online and kick off the auction.
In a season riddled with life-changing mega-sequels, Corpse Party couldn't have arrived at a worse time -- especially on a platform so ravaged by the deadly tag team of piracy and disinterest. With its distinctly fan-made presentation and digital-only availability, XSEED's latest isn't going to turn heads like the Uncharteds and Modern Warfares of the world; though, in the case of Corpse Party, this lack of attention just might be for the best. While most of our modern gaming blockbusters seek to offer either awkwardly bloodless violence for the sake of the coveted catch-all Teen rating or Bruckheimer-esque glorification of combat, the folks at Team GrisGris obviously didn't suffer under these same publisher pressures. Corpse Party doesn't seek to cast the widest net possible with a series of escapist power fantasies that gently nudge players down a path of rewards; from the outset, the game wears its heartlessness on its sleeve, dispatching characters in ways that have yet to debut in your nightmares (but soon will). This glorified visual novel may resemble a B-tier Super Nintendo game on the surface, but nothing else I've played over the past 25 years has been so relentlessly brutal, bleak, and terrifying.
Though Corpse Party looks like an ancient JRPG, trappings like hit points, an inventory, and tile-based movement only exist as lip service; the "game" portions of Corpse Party act solely as a conduit for the narrative. Like Phoenix Wright and 999, Corpse Party is a visual novel, though it looks and plays decidedly more "gamey" than other entries in the genre. Instead of transitioning from static scene to static scene from a first-person perspective -- typical of the genre -- the game employs 2D sprites and an overhead perspective, providing players with a more familiar means of input. And since you're tasked with controlling a group of defenseless teens, combat simply isn't an option; the few foes found in the game most often kill with a single touch, making their presence more disturbing than any turn-based ghost battles ever could.
Upon finishing my first battle in Infinity Blade II, I was gravely concerned that developer Chair Entertainment had inadvertently created a parody of the original game's conceit, and that I was trapped in another endless loop of the same gameplay I'd so fully exhausted a year ago. I was dead wrong. It doesn't take long for this follow-up to the poster child for iPhone gaming to show its stuff and set it apart from its predecessor as a worthy sequel.
The first Infinity Blade was often rightly summed up as "Punch-Out!! with swords," though I could be heard to argue that the fighting system offered more depth than that description implied. That depth was easy to miss, however, as you could easily charge through the game never even using mechanics like the parry system. Infinity Blade II fixes that from the very beginning; by augmenting said parry system, better explaining it, and offering substantial incentive for using it in battles.
If you're planning to pick up a PlayStation Vita early next year that you'll share with another person, be prepared to share your PlayStation Network account along with it. According to a catalog given out at a recent Vita event in Japan, a factory reset is required before being able to use a separate PSN account.
An FAQ section in the back of the catalog specifically addresses a question regarding the number of PSN accounts the system supports, according to a NeoGAF member. It's stated the system must be formatted back to the factory-default settings before a separate account be used.
An official Final Fantasy VII remake is unlikely to happen, at least in the near future, though if it did the game's director Yoshinori Kitase says he would be tempted to change things. He's not the only one who doesn't want to leave things alone, as a fan-made remake of the game's opening segment has been released which features portions of the game seen through a first-person perspective.
The project, known as Final Fantasy VII Remake, is a (somewhat) faithful remake of the early portion of the classic PS1 RPG, occasional first-person camera view aside. It runs on the freely available Unreal Development Kit (powered by Unreal Engine 3), chosen because of its power and the wide array of documentation available online, according to the project's website.
It was reported last week that Fumito Ueda, the man best known for his work on Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, and the upcoming The Last Guardian, was leaving Sony. He has yet to address those rumors and Sony itself hasn't provided any comment more specific than its standard response to everything it chalks up to "rumor and speculation." In a tweet sent out earlier today, Ueda stated he is still at work on The Last Guardian but didn't acknowledge anything regarding his possible departure from Sony and Team Ico.
Ueda had gone silent on Twitter in recent days, fueling speculation that his tenure with Sony was coming to an end. He's begun talking once again today, including one message that reassured fans he is still working on The Last Guardian. Another message pointed out that the 10-year anniversary of Ico's release in Japan is December 6. None made any mention of his employment status.
Reports of Skyrim players encountering severe lag, particularly on PlayStation 3, continue to roll in even after the most recent patch was said to resolve those issues. From what we know this stems from the increasingly large size of players' save game files, a problem that may take a big investment to fix.
Obsidian Entertainment's Josh Sawyer offered up some thoughts on Skyrim's technical issues recently in response to questions he received on Formspring. Sawyer works as a project director at Obsidian, which developed Fallout: New Vegas using the same engine Bethesda used for its most recent game before Skyrim, Fallout 3. While Skyrim runs on a different set of technology, Sawyer does provide some insight into why the problem with lag hasn't been fixed more quickly and why the PS3 version has been especially troubled by it.
With the big Xbox 360 fall dashboard update being released tomorrow, Microsoft has shed some light on when we'll begin to see the new slate of third-party content providers show up on the system.
Support for several dozen providers was announced in October, although it was unclear exactly when they would be coming. None were given exact release dates with the exception of the UFC app (which allows users to order pay-per-views, watch on-demand content, and more), and that did us little good -- it missed its original December 1 launch and is now coming on December 20.
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