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Multiplayer

Final Fantasy Explorers – Inspired, but Lacking

Before cutting into the newest spin-off game of the Final Fantasy franchise, let’s take a look at its obvious inspiration, Monster Hunter.

Capcom’s Monster Hunter is about hunting monsters (surprise, surprise) with different weapon types and using pieces of those monsters to make better equipment to in turn kill bigger monsters.

TANK3_WiiU TitleSheet

The games are usually set in closed areas, connected together to make themed maps. Its biggest appeals are its brutal difficulty, precise controls with specific functions and monsters with complex animations and behaviors. It’s insanely popular in Japan and has picked up quite a fan base worldwide with its latest titles.

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Final Fantasy Explorers takes Monster Hunter formula and adds in the iconic themes and creatures of Final Fantasy. Even though it’s clearly riding on that sort of copycat design, it’s a solid idea, in theory.

In execution, Final Fantasy Explorers is a bland, forgettable experience.

Explorers sets up a fairly interesting premise: Eidolons, powerful beings who usually appear as summons in other games, are running rampant; it’s up to the Explorers to take care of them. To do this, Explorers adopt a class, assign abilities and craft gear. Each class has specific strengths and weaknesses, such as the Black Mage being able to lay out tons of damage with magic, while the Knight can soak up damage and keeping aggression away from other players. The Job System in Explorers is just as fun as it has been in previous Final Fantasy games.

FFE_Diabolos

Each job’s abilities are attained through beating missions, adding plenty of skills to outfit a player. This ability system is one of the few features keeping this entry afloat. Learning rotations of spells, as well as knowing which abilities are effective for each situation is interesting, especially in multiplayer.

The controls, while clunky at times, allow players to have eight abilities equipped at once, cycling through them with the shoulder buttons. The targeting system can get confusing at times, but usually does okay with staying focused on the target.

FFE_Paladin

cialis generico canada robertrobb.com Ginseng roots are steeped for long hours, excess use of digital devices, masturbating, watching too much porn, wearing tight underwear etc. Make sure that the consumption of the antidepressants. cialis online prescription is worked as best on the men of all ages. Myth: ED is caused by lack of attraction viagra tablet Fact: This is one of the biggest assumptions made especially by your other half if you are having problems in sex life including psychological and physiological. There are offers like get viagra that will enable you to achieve a stronger erection and to last longer between the sheets! Most men wish to go all night and stir up the things in bedroom. One of the greatest features of Monster Hunter is its crushing difficulty, making team work absolutely necessary. Explorers suffers from no difficulty at all. I found myself running through the first eight Eidolons in my first session. I even tried switching classes and not seeking out materials for better equipment, but succeeded even when I knew little about the class. It doesn’t help that dying has no harsh repercussions. One can either self revive with a Phoenix Pinion item, or just lose five minutes on the mission’s timer.

Throwing everything you have at a boss and dying just to replenish stamina is a game-breaking strategy. Most bosses will fall to this without any troubles. Don’t worry, most missions are set with fifty minute timers. That’s about nine or ten lives per mission.

Visually, Final Fantasy Explorers has some solid ideas behind it. The Eidolon monsters are wicked, often using unique designs to the established molds of the iconic monsters. Classic Final Fantasy monsters also look pretty cool, but overall the game lacks variety in creatures. The environment is also lacking with no discerning features to make it stand out. It’s made up of bland fields that are far too open, dotted with lame enemies that die in a single hit. Even giving the player monster buddies to recruit in the single player is worthless, as they get in the way of the camera and usually don’t get to see any action anyways.

Schwarzmagier_FFE

Even multiplayer can’t save this one. Sharing terrible experiences with friends can be memorable, like watching awful movies for the laughs. Yet, being in a group adds nothing to Explorers. It lacks challenge, good design and variety, all things that make is inspiration, Monster Hunter, great.

To really show Explorers lacks polish, players can wear outfits and wield weapons of classic Final Fantasy characters. Swing Cloud’s Buster Sword, wear Yuna’s short shorts, spend hours grinding for those parts in a sparse field, questioning your existence. I’m surprised this feature wasn’t locked behind a pay wall.

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Eleven characters that will hopefully ease the pain of “exploring”

It’s like Square Enix noticed its quickly emptying wallets, saw the popularity of Monster Hunter,  and then looked to the ridiculously expensive Final Fantasy XV and thought, “Monster Hunter is selling well, lets make that, but with Chocobos and Bahamut. Brilliant!”

Announced in 2006, still waiting. . .
Announced in 2006, still waiting. . .

Final Fantasy Explorers continues the trend of forgettable games and lost opportunity. This game could’ve been a solid multiplayer experience, but just lacks polish. After enduring this, Type-0 and XIII, Final Fantasy XV better be the best game I’ve ever played.

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Until then, I’ll keep going through Final Fantasy IX on my Vita. Wake me up when XV comes out, Giga Bytes.

Indie Alert: Sombrero

Sombrero Game Cover 2It’s hard to stand out in a flood of game development. The marketplace is a wondrous bazaar of innovation, experiences and expression. Stepping into this marketplace is overwhelming as a player. As a developer, it’s terrifying. Therefore, when an independent developer makes something unique and special, we journalists like to raise our banners and call more people to play it. Today, I do just that.

The developers at PixelMetal have been hard at work on chaotic multiplayer, akin to Super Smash Bros. with spaghetti-western themes: Sombrero.

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Maps are large enough to hold four players comfortably, while retaining the chaotic nature of the game.

Sombrero will feel familiar to players of Smash Bros. and Towerfall: Ascension. Large stages filled with culture becomes a shooting gallery for cowboys, skeleton gamblers and cheese. The game’s humor is apparent in its themes and characters. In fact, the first time I fired this up with a friend, we couldn’t stop laughing. Our brawls were as messy as a saloon after a good bar fight, but we never stopped having fun.

Sombrero Deathmatch stage
Sombrero Deathmatch stage playthrough.

While playing an early test build of the game, I played two different modes, Loot and Deathmatch. Deathmatch is exactly what one would expect: find other banditos and introduce them to a six shooter, dynamite or the dreaded pulse gun.  On the other hand, Loot encourages more movement on the map to collect sacks of scratch. Players can also claim campfires to increase a modifier, which doubles the amount in a cash sack by however many campfires the player has claimed. Loot will surely be the main mode players gravitate to, as it feels less one sided in most occasions. I did play with only one other person, so a full on four-player match would feel much different.

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Character design is one of the funniest aspect of the game.
Character design is one of the funniest aspect of the game.

This indie is one of those casual games that emulates some truly great game designs, but remains fresh due to its lighthearted approach. The themes found in the design of the characters, stages and music fit well together. Makes me crave a shot of whiskey over leered eyebrows, with a pistol at my hip and a knife in my boot.

Sombrero will be hitting PC, Mac, and Linux in a few months, but I hope to see it ported to other consoles as well. This frantic western would fit well on the Nintendo Wii U or the PlayStation family of consoles. Either way, Sombrero is worth picking up and playing with some brave cowboys and cowgirls.

Expect a good time at the saloon with Sombrero.
Expect a good time at the saloon with Sombrero.

For gameplay footage, check out the video below on the Giga Geek Youtube Channel. 

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIClrQmg0Dc]

Dear Digital Extremes, Thank You

There are a lot of things people gripe about in gaming: day-one DLC, micro-transactions, digital verifications, etc. It is always easier to find someone shouting from the mountaintop about everything that’s wrong as opposed to anything that’s right. Well, after a long and arduous climb, I kindly asked that guy to sit down for a bit and let me shout a little positivity from his precious mountaintop.

Digital Extremes, the company that brought us Warframe, has and continues to provide the console world with a perfect example of how well free-to-play gaming can work. Though, many complain about “free-to-play” and “pay-to-win” games, Warframe finds the perfect balance. Any warframe, weapon, sentinel or kubrow can be assembled, found or purchased all in game. There is a fair amount of grinding required for particular items, but if you really want it, you’ll never have to worry about seeing another player with an amazing weapon that you don’t have access to. In a stroke of genius, the only things you actually HAVE to pay for are cosmetic. Purchasing new paint colors, ceremonial armor, weapon patterns and the like, which have nothing to do with battle capabilities, require players to purchase platinum with actual money. You would be surprised how difficult it can be to resist the urge to pimp your ninja. I’ve spent well over $100 over time and I’m probably in the low end of purchasing.

As far as DLC goes, everything is free. Well, i suppose to be more accurate, the updates are all free.  It is to be noted that these updates are always game changing. With no cost, Digital Extremes has added new warframes, new weapons, new mission types, updated maps, new events and a slew of visual and audio upgrades. Other free-to-play titles such as DC Universe Online and Blacklight Retribution can and do nickel and dime you for all their additional content. Warframe is up to version 15.5 (PS4 and Xbox One) and 15.8.1 (PC) and they’re consistently giving their community reason after reason to never put the controller down.

One of these products is diva herbal deeprootsmag.org levitra prices. Same interferon have been shown to be effective for that particular activity, but they are not a levitra online australia http://deeprootsmag.org/2013/05/24/cristina-braga-samba-jazz-love/the-one-who-sings-sends-his-sorrows-away-2/ permanent solution. Some males do not show interest for levitra on line sale lovemaking after hectic day schedule. After talking with your partner you should consult a doctor for starting an appropriate treatment. cialis generic pharmacy Finally, the work that Digital Extremes puts into working with their community is beyond impressive. Its DevStream gives gamers a chance to see the inner workings of their favorite title, new insights into how to use available weapons and warframes and show glimpses into the future of the franchise. The website also has tools for fans to create channels and fansites. It’s even possible to be featured on the site to generate more traffic.

I stand and salute Digital Extremes for its work with a free title. It has managed to build a game that expands from PC to the console world and stands as a prime example of how free-to-play can not only work, but can flourish. Thank you Digital Extremes. May you inspire others to not drop the ball in the future.

PS: Have you guys see the Archwing missions they added!?! Someone get these guys a license to make Gundam Wing games. Can’t you just see the same gameplay working for the Wing Zero!?!? OK, I’m done now. Enjoy your day.

Mewtwo is Coming to Super Smash Bros, NO JOKE

Fans have been waiting for this moment since Mewtwo was cut from Brawl. In fact, many believed Greninja was the psychic Pokémon making a return. Time and time again, Nintendo would tease something about Smash, with fans shouting for Mewtwo, only to get denied each time. The amount of memes and videos for Mewtwo is staggering and hilarious.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TH3QsczwIa4&w=560&h=315]

Needless to say, I was kind of skeptical about the Wii-U version. I already have the 3DS game, why would I need the other? Obviously, the amount of stages are to be higher and they will also be more detailed and larger, which was revealed practically at conception. Other than that, though, I didn’t expect much to be different.

Nintendo has been doing amazing things with its live release videos. For Smash on Wii-U, Nintendo pulled all the stops. About fifty facts are given, but one in particular trumps them all.

mewtwo

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My only question for Nintendo is will Mewtwo ever be available for those who own only one version? I may not have a Wii-U by then, so I’d love the option of paying for one of my favorite characters.

For those wanting to see the full event, check out the video below. As always, stay cool. I’ll see you on the battlefield. Challenge me if you dare!

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0BBGzfw0pQ&w=560&h=315]

Featured image by Archus7

Cuphead: An Interview with the Developers

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jDZfREYppk&w=560&h=315]

During Microsoft’s E3 Press Event, there was one game that stood out to me. Cuphead is being created with all the old cartoons of the 1930’s in mind, while the game mechanics hearken back to the classics of the SNES and Genesis. Recently, I reached out to Studio MDHR with a few questions:

== When designing the game, how did you capture the tone of classic cartoons? What sort of technology are you utilizing? ==

The main tech we are using isn’t a tech at all. It’s all traditional hand-drawn and hand-inked animation which is exactly how they animated in the 1930s.

To ensure that the style is very close to the original material, we constantly research tons of cartoons from the era to gain knowledge and study the way key animations were approached. It also lets us add to our ever growing style guide that is filled to the brim with things that we adhere to most of the time—visual aids like: eyes[mad/sad/happy], pupils, blink types, teeth, tongues, hair, hands, feet; animation aids like: turnaround frames, action lines, timing, cycles; and even flaws: missing color in frames, poorly drawn in-between, etc.

After all of that is placed in the game, we have a bunch of post-processing to aid with the visual style we are trying to replicate. Different types of blur, subtle vignettes, dust, scratches, hair, noise and other layers are built on top of each other to produce what you see in the game. We’ve spent a TON of time getting the effects just right—probably two and a half months or more!

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== Judging from the videos, Co-Operative play looks to be a major feature. How are you handling Co-Op? ==

Co-op is a necessary feature for run and guns—this genre was MADE for two players!

We are testing out some team-up moves, but nothing has been implemented yet; we are very picky about fine-tuning and how one thing can affect multiple areas. If we can’t create ideas that complement or add/improve on the gameplay, we’ll drop it.

Two players has a unique give and take: some situations become easier while others can turn instantly chaotic if both players are not in tune. Co-op creates comradery and that in turn creates friendship—so what we are really saying is that Cuphead will create new relationships.

== Cuphead has a subtitle. Does this make Cuphead a planned franchise? ==

If we are lucky enough to work on other games in the future, we are hoping that we get to expand on Cuphead. But that doesn’t mean we are planning for it at all. We are going all out on this first release to the best of our ability and within a timeline that makes sense to us. In our minds, we are treating Cuphead as if it were the only game we’ll ever release.

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It would be nice to explore more ideas and increase the Cuphead universe before moving on to a new title, but only “father future” knows if this will occur. We also both still dream of a Sega Master System port too, but all of our focus is on finishing Cuphead (SMS fans keep your fingers crossed!)

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== Will there be any secrets or things to unlock? ==

Yup, yup! We will have things like bosses, weapons, alternative path/shortcuts, NPC dialog, etc. As well, we will have a new game+ (that increases the challenge to a level we are proud of) and we are playing around with the idea of mini-challenges (e.g. defeat Boss 3 without letting him jump over you).

We always found our favorite games had secrets and even other hidden subtleties, so it is a MUST for us to include them in Cuphead. Take Punchout!: there are so many nuances to what seems like a simple game that it can be replayed for many years. It took me a lifetime to figure out first round K.O. strategies, and every replay felt as rewarding as the first time I played it.

== The Xbox 360’s Indie library, while vast wasn’t overly impressive. Do you think this is changing with the Xbox One?==

Accepting that the 360’s indie library wasn’t perfect doesn’t change the fact that some of the best games on the system were indie! With the constant growth and support of the indie scene, the Xbox One will be a great place for indie titles and we couldn’t be happier to be a part of the roster. I could be wrong but, if my memory serves me well, Nostradamus had predicted the perfect indie utopia happening in 2015, so let’s wait and see!

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== There’s been very little shown so far. Are there any plans for more footage or a demo? ==

When we are happy with what we have, we will show more. We are going to show off the parry system soon, and continue to provide additional footage as development presses on. A demo will come too, we aren’t sure how we will handle it initially (press only, or at an event [PAX, etc.]). But once we make decisions on that sort of stuff, we will let everyone know on this newfangled thing called ‘the internet’.

== Alex’s Thoughts ==

All in all, I’m massively excited for Cuphead. Hopefully, the newer consoles make independent developing easier. These days all the big name titles take few risks or stick to a formula they know will make money. Making money is the name of the game, but does the industry move forward when these games flourish? With the recent purchase of my gaming PC, I’ve found myself buying more and more indie games. Not only because they’re cheaper (that does help), but because I see true heart in them. It’s a level of soul that I remember from my days of staring at a lined screen, connected to the game by a wire on my controller.

Indie games are rapidly becoming the best games around. So next time a new Call of Duty comes out, think of how many indie games you could buy instead.