A new intellectual property (IP) from Square-Enix. The details and directing staff have hyped up many fans of Mech games. Set in Novo Slava, Russia in the future, humanity has apparently not learned about allowing something to live or die. The trailer doesn’t show much but there are actual gameplay and in-game cutscenes. Surprisingly, it shows 3rd person shooting aspects against the Wazers (mechs). If you’re interested in more of the game, click here.
Hokuto Ga Gotoku:
Yakuza developers are working on a new Fist of the North Star game. Based off the hit classic manga, you play as Kenshiro, master of the assassination art: “Hokuto Shinken.” Although the trailer doesn’t reveal much, it is a free roaming game similar to the Yakuza series. You’ll explore the towns and fight random thugs, bandits, and thieves and murder anybody in your way. Many of the kills are censored for the Japanese audience. Similar to the Yakuza series, you’ll also do random side jobs that will seem out of character such as work in bars and mingle with people. It is set for Japan in 2018.
Tokyo Game Show (TGS) 2017 was a great show for PlayStation. This show is directed towards Japan’s audience and many Japanese RPG games were shown. Standout winner for TGS is Square-Enix. Here are the highlight games from the show:
Left Alive:
A new Role-Playing Game from Square-Enix is a Dystopia Mech Robot game. Fans of Japanese mecha series will be excited as the game is being produced by Front Mission series’ Shinji Hashimoto, directed by the Armored Core series’ Toshifumi Nabeshima, and featuring character designs by the Metal Gear series’ Yoji Shinkawa. Some Wanzer (mecha) designs will be done by Mobile Suit Gundam 00‘s Takayuki Yanase.
You’ll play and switch between three protagonists. Left Alive is a survival based shooters revolving around gunplay and traps. The world setting is actually between Front Mission 5 and Front Mission Evolved. Progression in the story is determined by the player and there are several different outcomes that can affect the one main ending. You won’t be able to customize your Wazer but you can customize weapons with materials. It is stated to be an offline experience with some online experience that hasn’t been explained yet. If you’re a fan of the Front Mission series, Producer Shinji Hashimoto: “We wanted to make a Front Mission with a new lineup. We started this new title to see Front Mission in a slightly different perspective. Square Enix wanted to convey the feeling that we cherish Front Mission.” Left Alive is planned for a 2018 release.
Monster Hunter: World
Fans of Monster Hunter will finally have their mainstream console hunting game. Set for January 26th, 2018 release. The game will obviously include new monsters and environments. Pukei-Pukei and Nergigante, as well as the Coral Highlands stage and Astera, the base of operations for the Research Commission, are new areas show in the trailer.
For $69.99, the Deluxe Digital edition will come with the game, Samurai Set skin, three gestures, two sticker sets, plus an extra face paint and hairstyle option for the hunter. The PS4 deluxe edition will also come with 14 Weapon Avatars. The Physical Edition is $149.99 and comes with everything above and 32 hard page art book, monster statue, and a digital soundtrack.
Earth Defense Force: Iron Rain
You’ve probably heard of the Earth Defense Force series before and may have found a few copies at random game stores. There are currently 4 main releases and a 5th one coming this December in Japan. Iron Rain is set to release in 2018 which features a dark tone for the series although it still revolves around humans fighting giant ants, robots, and aliens with guns and mechas.
Final Fantasy IX:
Final Fantasy IX has been released for the PlayStation 4 today worldwide. It is a higher resolution version with improved cutscenes and character models, trophy support, and cheats that allow you to skip random battles, high-speed mode, and master all abilities for armors and weapons, and give you max levels, magic stones for summons, and gil. The cheat options are great for players who’ve finished FF9 (like myself). There is currently a deal for US PlayStation store for the game. The price is $16.79 and includes several avatars and a PlayStation Theme until September 26th.
Recently, Bethesda, creators of the Elder Scrolls and Falloutseries, launched a new feature: Creation Club. Essentially, they are official mods to Fallout 4 and Skyrim that players pay for through credits. They are created from fans or engineers from Bethesda and actually require Quality Assurance Testing before they are released for players to purchase. They don’t affect the achievements or trophies, unlike fan mods. It will be completely compatible with the game and you’ll receive 100 credits for all users on all systems. There will still be free modding support for all systems as well.
Fans Respond
Obviously, there is fan backlash regarding premium mod supports. They consider the prices too high for essential paid DLC content such as one gun, backpacks, or even armor. The modding community has always been providing free content to improve the gameplay, adding unique features, or even add an additional fan story portion. Bethesda even provided the ability to download free mods on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. To add paid mods will not appeal to anybody considering free mods are actively available and better than the paid versions. To remain good relations with their fans, Bethesda should not release the Creation Club or make them free for all users.
LOL, check out FO4's current review score on Steam: 57%. The market has spoken.
Announced today, Final Fantasy XV will receive free DLC that fuses its game play with the Assassin’s Creed series. From August 31st to January 31st, 2018 the DLC area will be free. It is actually an alternative reality plot line in Lestallum and entirely different game play mechanics, story, and costumes. From the trailer, Noctis no longer has his Power of Kings and has replaced it with the Power of Assassins…Creed. Stealth, stab, and stuff your enemies in hay piles. You’ll still have the ability to teleport but there is a bigger emphasis on movement with climbing, crossing railways, moving around your enemies, parrying, and chasing after your enemies similar to Assassin’s Creed. The combat will still relatively be the same with you controlling Noctis while fighting with your brothers: Gladious, Ignis, and Prompto. The partnership between Square-Enix and Ubisoft has been planned for 3 years based on Ubisoft’s blog.
The Future of Final Fantasy XV
Director of Final Fantasy XV, Hajime Tabatha they will not have a sequel of the series. Tabata stated the reason they would not do a sequel:
“The negative of that is there’s a very large open period where you’re not releasing anything. In that period, you get people to move away, and their attachment to the franchise dissipates a little bit.”
The original game took 10 years to finally release with multiple changes of directors, story, game play, art really confused players when a complete version would be released. Taking time to produce a sequel would take serious effort. Instead, Tabata is focusing on filling in the missing plot with the DLC. They still want to maintain a good relationship with fans by continuing to release new content for the game.
“If we had tried to do that as a traditional, full-scale sequel, that would have been very difficult,” the director said, “but it works really well in [keeping] that continued relationship with fans.”
The World of Final Fantasy XV has definitely been expanding since the release in late 2016. Two additional DLC stories for Gladious and Prompto have been released and Ignis‘s story is set to release for Winter 2017. A multiplayer mode was in beta during the month of August and was well received by fans. A new mobile game was release called Final Fantasy XV New Empire was released in July. It’s a generic tower defense mobile game that horribly disappointed fans of the series. Also the advertisements are all over YouTube and are actually quite annoying. Final Fantasy XV Pocket Edition is scheduled to release in Fall. It is a mobile militarizes version of FFXV with Chibi Character models and simplified combat. While frame rate looks slow during intense fighting scenes, it looks like a decent game for people who only play mobile games.
Opinion:
I personally liked Final Fantasy XV. It had major plot holes, average gameplay, and a weak third act but I still had a lot of fun. While I’m not interested in the playing the DLC at the moment, but I do love all the main characters. I don’t think Square-Enix should release a sequel because reception for the game is mixed overall rather than positive. The side content is fine except for the mobile game.
Questions:
How do you feel about Final Fantasy XV and the update to the series as time goes on? It is a different experience than the Final Fantasy of the past.
The Gaming News Corner 