Protocol Games has been working on bringing back what survival horror used to be, before it became more of an action genre with some jump-scares. In August of 2014, Song of Horror was conceived: a third-person survival horror determined to freak you out and make you feel completely helpless—you know, like in the good ol’ days.
We aim to preserve and recover the feelings that the old-school survival horror masterpieces provoked in us, while also taking advantage of current technologies to build upon those foundations.
Daniel Noyer is a washed-up advertiser who has fallen on hard times; now, he has a crappy position at a publishing house. Daniel’s boss asks him to check up on the company’s most important client, renowned writer Sebastian P. Husher, who has missed some deadlines and meetings to turn in a first draft. Believing Husher has only gone dark without notifying the company, Daniel takes on the simple task. Upon arrival to Husher’s mansion, Daniel quickly realizes something is wrong: missing guard dog, lights off even though it’s night time, ajar door, dark hallway. I would have ran away and called the police, but I guess that wouldn’t be much of a game.
Daniel Noyer|Final Concept
Daniel won’t be the only character you play as. You will take control of up to 16 different characters, depending on how long you can keep your characters alive. The game is divided into different chapters—not like Telltale Games episodic games—when you begin most of the chapters, you’ll choose a character to start. If your character dies, that’s it for that character and his/her storyline; you will have to choose another character to continue where the previous one died off. Each character has his/her own backstory, but will still fit in with the main story.
Sophie van Denend|Concept Art
So, you should have to take the on line cialis medicine in room temperature away from sun-light and small kids. Do them on a regular basis and you will notice a difference within weeks of starting Sinrex. purchase cheap cialis Men who seek natural penis enlargement products are available in India: https://unica-web.com/archive/2015/unica2015-proposed-unica2018-nld.pdf cheapest viagra no prescription There are ample of different pen is enlargement products in the market to choose from, but the fact is that the bulk of them hold male enlargement component that don’t work at all and have bad and dangerous side effects. So, males who are suffering from oligospermia and trying how to get rid of oligospermia may take efficient natural herbal supplement Spermac capsules certainly. viagra price australiaAll of the playable characters are ordinary people—a doctor, shop clerk, alarms technician, sales director—with no fighting skills or weapons. To make the situation even more unnerving, the enemy is intangible, which means no combat, no defenses—not even a camera will help you. Your choices are to run, hide and “do whatever it takes to survive”; sometimes those options won’t be enough to get away from “twisted manifestations” of a “primeval horror.” Oh yea, no save points either. The game saves, but you won’t have control of when.
Defenselessness, constant terror, that “NO WAY I’M GOING DOWN THERE” moment… all of it, wrapped with an enthralling story, one that does not let you quit the game even when a part of you is wishing you did just that.
There are a variety of puzzles and riddles in the game. Some are small obstacles, others are life threatening. To keep tensions high, Protocol Games uses a movie-like camera style; all the cameras are automated, meaning players will have no control over them.
A little gameplay video to show our current cameras, lights and doors. Still a work in progress!
I’m interested to see how well all these different stories will fit into the main story. Husher is well-known, so you can assume he knows a lot of people, or at least has a lot of people working for him. A bunch of stories and characters can be distracting at times, but I’m definitely intrigued to learn about them all. This game looks and sounds scary; it reminds me a little of P.T., which, of course is a major plus—super Silent Hill fan over here.
Though Song of Horror is still in its early-development stage, the game looks great and has a lot of potential to be a horrifying experience. Protocol Games hasn’t announced a release window or platform, but you can stay updated by following its Twitter and Facebook page.
One of the most grotesquely fascinating monsters of Final Fantasy Tactics is Cuchulainn. He appears as the first major challenge in the game as the Scorpio Lucavi of the Zodiac. He later appeared in Final Fantasy XII as an Esper that wasn’t necessary for the game’s completion. In both games, his form is that of an obese monster with many teeth and the ability to inflict a multitude of status effects. His surname is the Impure.
This bottomless pit of a monster’s name may sound familiar. The Esper shares his name with a Celtic warrior, whose feats are told in an epic story called The Tain.
In many mythologies and legends there’s a hero, a hero who slays monsters, wins battles, hooks up with beautiful maidens and usually has connections to the gods in some form. In Celtic Myth that hero is Cú Chulainn, which is Irish for Culain’s hound. This warrior was known for having a bit of a temper in combat and facing impossible odds by himself. He wielded a powerful spear known as the Gae Bolg, which he could cast from his feet.
Doesn’t sound a whole lot like Final Fantasy’s Cúchulainn. . .
So how does this hero of myth become a monster with a belly mouth? Before we start making connections, let’s learn the stories of both monster and warrior.
In Final Fantasy Tactics, Cardinal Delacroix seems helpful enough to the player’s quest. He is the one who reveals the grand plot that runs alongside the political story line. In Ivalice, the world of Tactics, there are powerful beings known as the Lucavi that seek magical stones known as auracite, each of which correspond to the twelve Zodiac. These stones allow them to take their true forms for immense, otherworldly power. Delacroix is simply a conduit for Cúchulainn, allowing the Impure to exist in Ivalice.
Considering the monster as symbolic, Cúchulainn’s form highlights the fact that Delacroix betrays Ramza, the hero of that game. The ugly inner self is revealed and its hunger goes beyond greed and gluttony. The monster is slain by Ramza and company and the Scorpio stone is apprehended.
In Final Fantasy XII, Cúchulainn plays no special role in the story. In fact, there is no dialogue exchanged at all. The monster simply exists and if the player can defeat him, then his summon is unlocked. The King of the Impure aids the party in a couple ways. First, his melee attacks are efficient, capable of doing massive amounts of damage in just a few whacks. Second, he has the ability to poison enemies. His final attack does massive damage and poisons all enemies.
On the other side of the coin, the Irish hero Cú Chulainn’s story is vastly different. Our hero is born with connections to the divine as he is the son of the god Lugh and the mortal Deichtine. He is then taken in by the Ulster men, who teach him everything from fighting to poetry. His name is Setanta during these stories, as he had yet to earn his name. In early childhood, he was known for besting a whole group of boys at Emain Macha. Setanta just wanted to play with them, but he didn’t understand the rules and was attacked. Even though the boys were older than him, he beat all of them senseless and had to be drug away. Lucky for Setanta, his Ulster mentor Conchobar clears up the misunderstanding and the boys let Setanta play.
During these games, Culann the Smith is impressed by Setanta’s skill and invites him to a feast. The wide-eyed boy agrees, but asks to finish his game before joining the smith at the table. Swept up in the meal, Culann forgets he has another guest on the way and releases his massive hound to protect the house. Setanta arrives only to find a snarling beast and is attacked. It is here that Setanta shows his godly strength, killing the beast by throwing a ball down its throat. The smith hears the commotion and finds his prized hound dead and a bloody Setanta. Ashamed of his fury, Setanta honorably offers to replace the hound and protect the house until a new hound is raised. Thus Setanta earns his name Cú Chulainn, the hound of Culann. American ginseng:- Boosts energy Lowers blood cialis tadalafil online sugar and cholesterol levels in human beings. That is the reason why they may not look generic soft cialis like the pills manufactured in the US. The condition demands a gynecologic surgery that might cute-n-tiny.com free sample levitra be ineffective. Infact, people are doing all sorts of their activities online right from booking tickets to buying important super cialis household items and the latest in the group is purchasing medicines online from various online pharmacy stores thereby saying goodbye to traditional drug stores.
As an adult Cú Chulainn performs many impressive feats. His battle frenzy was unmatched and in one instance the people of Emain feared for their lives. Cú Chulainn was only calmed by an army of naked women, who distracted him so he could be doused in vats of cold water. The first vat exploded from his rage. The second boiled. Finally, the third vat was only warmed, thus calming him.
Cú Chulainn’s story goes beyond being a berserker as he must face more complex challenges. Throughout his life he must rescue his love, face his son in battle, and ultimately meet his end at a young age. However, I believe that it’s his battle frenzy that may have inspired his Final Fantasy design.
Imagine the Celtic hero’s battle lust is never sated or if the women of Emain never came to the rescue. He would continue to seek out fights, destroying all in his path. Eventually, this could lead to gluttony, explaining the Final Fantasy version’s plumpness.
Another important feature to note is Cúchulainn’s face in Final Fantasy XII. At first I thought the red swoops to be an elaborate headdress. However, looking closer, I realized that this is a spear. The spear has been impaled through the beast’s skull from the top, so it wasn’t done as an act of self-mutilation.
The angle of the spear is incredibly important, for in Irish Myth, Cú Chulainn is mortally wounded by a spear. After this, he ties himself to a stone so that he may face his enemies standing. Once the fight leaves him and death approaches, a raven lands on his shoulder. It is here that his enemies behead him and a great light spills from the warrior’s body.
My last theory on Final Fantasy’s design choices follow what could have happened next. The body of Cu Chulainn could have been reanimated, becoming the grotesque King we see in Final Fantasy XII. Since his godly light is gone, he would no longer be pure, but impure.
While at first it seemed like the connection was only in name, these two beings are in fact connected. There were some creative angles put on the Impure, but the subtle design elements scream Celtic.
Makes me wonder why Bahamut is a dragon in Final Fantasy and not a whale as he is in Arabic Myth. That’s a story for another time.
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A strange sight caught Cecil’s eyes as the boat sailed across the waves. There was a swirl forming, just a few yards from the port side, gaining speed and broadening. The ship tipped as it slowly sucked in. Cries of panic surrounded Cecil and his companions. Unable to do anything, Cecil watched as the water engulfed the sky.
Just before the sea swallowed the boat, Cecil saw an immense serpent coiled beneath the surface. “Leviathan!” yelled a crewman.
Summoning is often one of the strongest and most visually appealing forms of magic in the Final Fantasy series. First appearing as a summon in Final Fantasy III in Japan, Americans did not get introduced to Ifrit and pals until Final Fantasy 4 hit the SNES. Since then, these powerful beings have become icons, often being envisioned in many creative ways for each installment.
While there are many summons to elaborate on, there are a few that could use a bit more discussion. For some excellent insight into other summons, check out Gaijin Goomba’s series on Youtube:
Leviathan’s character is a simple design, a massive sea serpent that summons tidal waves to drown enemies. However, his size and immense power is better described in his origins. Sea serpents have been showing up in literature ever since the days of the Nordic folk. Even the Bible references this massive creature said to be immune to all weapons.
“Canst thou draw out leviathan with an hook? or his tongue with a cord which thou lettest down?” – Job 41: 1
Interestingly enough, this same passage mentions befriending the creature or at least making a pact with it. Considering in Final Fantasy X, many summoners create bonds with their Aeons, this could be a potential influence to Leviathan being created as a summon.
“Will he make a covenant with thee? wilt thou take him for a servant for ever?” – Job 41: 4
There was actually a Final Fantasy IV novel in Japan! Wish it would translated one day. . .
The first Leviathan in Final Fantasy III showed a simple design and concept. He’s just a regal serpent with long whiskers that summons weather forces. However, in Final Fantasy IV, he becomes a king of beings called Eidolons. The Eidolons are powerful elemental beings that live in a separate plane of existence. It’s here that Rydia (the summoner of Final Fantasy IV) gains her mastery of summoning, also creating an interesting parental connection with Leviathan and his queen, Asura. Both of these royal beings offer rough battles, but end with the prize of being able to call on them.
It’s also interesting that Leviathan’s human form in Final Fantasy IV is that of an old man. He appears frail and wise, sporting a long beard like many of the other sages in the series. In many mythologies, higher beings often have the power to shape shift. For instance, Zeus regularly transforms into animals such as an eagle or a bull, usually to carry away maidens and sometimes young men for, well, coitus.
This remedy can also be self applied if buy cheap cialis cute-n-tiny.com you have the understanding, nonetheless when very first attempting this method it is finest performed by a physician who will insert a gloved finger into the rectum to feel for an an enlarged prostate. Strong Aphrodisiac For Men Muira puama otherwise “potency wood” is most recognized for its aphrodisiac or “sexual cialis generic no prescription interest improving” effects in men. Sleep restriction: this prevents daytime prescription viagra online naps to promote nighttime sleep. Common details are discount cialis http://cute-n-tiny.com/cute-items/crochet-hot-chocolate/ from particular natural aphrodisiacs like Tribulus, Ashwagandha, and Shilajit and so on. Leviathan’s human form could have connections to Proteus, son of Oceanus of Greek mythology. Proteus could call upon great storms and change his shape, one of which was a snake.
As far as his design goes, Leviathan does not see much change until Final Fantasy IX. In this game, he is given wing-like fins that give him a more imposing appearance. His color palette also expands to include many shades of purple to accent his blue skin. Also important to note is Leviathan is a female. This makes sense, as summoning is a feminine power used only by Eiko and Garnet. That same motif is carried into Final Fantasy X by Yuna.
Both MMO Final Fantasy games retain Leviathan’s wings, neither changing the design too drastically. Unfortunately, Leviathan has been absent in true form in later console games. The Sea King lives on in name as an airship and as a plaza.
As of now, its unknown what sort of role summoning will have in Final Fantasy XV. Will the tides rise with the revival of Leviathan? Or will he merely remain a memory? At least, early trailers suggest he (maybe she) will be a massive boss.
Thus Leviathan remains as a staple for those wanting to add some water to their magic repertoire. His role in the story of the series has been grand and subtle, but one thing is certain, Leviathan is an icon of Final Fantasy.
Drop by next week for a look at everyone’s favorite Celtic warrior gone toxic monster, Cúchulainn.
OK, this is going to be hard. I have to write this and not sound like I’m a great-grandfather, talking to a room full of small children about how back in the day everything was better. Here we go: back in the day, everything was better. Seriously though, it was. I’ll break it down to a couple of different categories and then you tell me if I’m lying. Oh and just to specify, when I say “back in the day,” I mean Nintendo up to the PlayStation 1 cause I grew up on Jampack demos and Final Fantasy VII. I’m only 28, I’m not THAT old—geez.
Graphics: NOW
I’m going to go ahead and get this out of the way and give “now” it’s one point. The graphics on games these days are mind numbing. I can remember playing Madden ‘95 with my dad and thinking, “man, how can it get any better than this?” Flash forward to Madden 15 and there’s just no comparison. Everything from water effects in BioShock to creating detailed characters in the WWE series (not so much 2K15 but that’s neither here nor there) are light years ahead of what could be produced on the older consoles. Just as a point of comparison, consider this: going from PS3 to PS4, Killzone went from 10,000 polygons per character to upwards of 40,000 polygons. Gaming works in leaps and bounds.
*picture credit MobyGames.com*
Soundtracks: THEN
There cannot be an argument for this. Find the most digitally out of touch person you can and I bet they can hum the Super Mario theme. Check the CD cases of some gamers you know. I’ll bet money a majority of them have a Final Fantasy soundtrack in there somewhere. Games these days have music, but it’s just not the same. You don’t hum these new songs all day. You don’t know the names of the songs. Your mind doesn’t jump to that moment in a game when you hear these new songs, because they’re just cycled over and over. It’s not like “One Winged Angel” or the “Underwater Theme” from Mario. They’re just ambiance tracks at best, but usually nothing more than background noise.
You can hear the music in your head, can’t you?
*picture credit MobyGames.com*
I bet you’re humming along right now, aren’t you?
*picture credit MobyGames.com*
And this one will be stuck in your head for the rest of the day. You’re welcome.
*picture credit MobyGames.com*
Stories: TIE
The only reason I have to go with a tie here is because for as many amazing stories as there were in the Super Nintendo, Genesis, PS1 days, there were just as many ridiculous ones. Seriously, the story for Mario is just about as acid-trippy as you can get. On the other hand, even when more recent games have less than stellar stories—I’m going to call out Diablo III for this one—it still makes more sense than a plumber stomping on turtles for the sake of anything, much less a princess. At least Link was from that world. He has a sword and…just nevermind. Either way, THEN has Zelda, Final Fantasy and Suikoden and NOW has Mass Effect, God of War and Skyrim. I think we all make out pretty well here.
The gods used and discarded you. For that, Olympus shall fall.
*picture credit MobyGames.com*
You’re a walking, shouting legend here to kill dragons…and anything else that gets in the way.
*picture credit MobyGames.com*
You had it all, they took it all. Now it’s time to take it back.
*picture credit MobyGames*
The lost SOLDIER battles himself and his past.
*picture credit MobyGames.com*
Saving the princess, no matter what time you have to go to to do it.
*picture credit MobyGames.com*
A routine mission becomes a galaxy altering fight way above your pay grade.
*picture credit MobyGames.com*
Gameplay: THEN
There was no better time for ‘easy to play, hard to master’ than back in the day. With the entire gaming world dumbing down to reach a wider audience, you see IPs like Mass Effect and Dragon Age start as dial based, hotkey games focused on strategy over flash, which become more streamlined with sequels built like an American action movie. Not that I don’t enjoy all the iterations of those games, but they so clearly cut much of the details to get you to fight more and think less. There was no “think less” on SNES. There was no auto save on PS1. There was get it right or be stuck forever. Could most people beat Mega Man X? Sure they could. Could everyone get the Hadoken in Mega Man X? NO! You had to grind for that. You had to learn to use your powers, jump at just the right times, and search a little bit harder than you really needed to if you wanted it. There was no codex/journal/anything that told you to look out for these things either. You either looked or you didn’t. That’s the difference people. There was no dumb down for us. It was greatness or bust.
*check out Caleb Hart crush Mega Man X in this speed run*
Fun Factor: THEN
First of all, some of you may not recognize this category. It’s from a magazine called Game Pro and you missed out. Anyway, I play games for fun, not headaches. No matter what the genre, I feel like I should have fun. From Vandal Hearts to Motor Toon Grand Prix, WWF In Your House to Power Stone, Lufia to Joe Montana Football, I had fun. I was very rarely bored with a game I owned or even games my friends owned. Pit Fighter was a TERRIBLE game on both the Genesis and the SNES, but my friends and I had the time of our lives playing it. I have difficulty saying that about Def Jam Icon or Too Human. There was just a different vibe back then that the machine of consumerism has kind of sucked out of the creative process. Unfortunately, you won’t get another Bubsy 3D. It’s not unfortunate because it was a groundbreaking or amazing game; it was actually pretty bad, but my childhood was better for having played it. It also boosts the stamina to generate and therefore men levitra uk don’t feel tiredness when the sexual session is ongoing. levitra buy It is manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline and Bayer. The drug should be taken with water on an empty stomach, and avoid alcohol or fatty meal. female levitra There are some websites that claim a simple online survey can replace purchase generic levitra a physician.
*Wallpaperflembot (what a name) braves through five minutes of gameplay from Bubsy 3D*
Let’s take the genre of fighting games. THEN has Power Stone, Killer Instinct, Street Fighter, Tekken, Mortal Kombat, and Bushido Blade. These are just off the top of my head and trying to pick games that have strong differences in gameplay (which is why Guilty Gear and Soul Caliber are not on the list). NOW has continuations of the majority of the aforementioned games and various copies (like Guilty Gear) or copies of copies (like BlazBlue). You want to find something interesting and unique? Check out a game on the PS1 called Evilzone. I’ve never seen anything like it since. What about Tobal #1 or Ehrgeiz, which fused an actual adventure mode into a fighting game instead of the traditional arcade mode story. They beat Tekken to the punch, that’s for sure. If all you played was a specific genre back then, you could be OK. You could see a wide variety of play styles, controls and characters without stepping out of your comfort zone. In sports, there was a time when Deion Sanders Primetime Football, Joe Montana Football, Bill Walsh College Football, Madden, Mutant League Football and Tecmo Bowl were ALL poppin’ at the same time, and when Quarterback Club came out, my brother and I got that too. NOW is too weighted down with legalities, deadlines and other soul-killing ‘machine’ jargon that most developers are afraid to take the steps into left field they once did. NOW can’t touch THEN on variety in any way, shape or form.
Akira Toriyama designed characters in hand to hand combat. Are you not entertained?!
*picture credit MobyGames.com*
Yes, that is Cloud. Yes it was a fighting game long before Dissidia was thought of. Yes Sephiroth is in it as well, along with Tifa, Yuffie and Vincent. Yes you should have played this.
*picture credit MobyGames.com*
First person option on the PS1 in a fighting game. No health bar, no stamina bar, just one wrong move and DEATH.
*picture credit MobyGames.com*
Licensing: THEN
It is generally understood that games based on licensed properties (e.g. movies, TV shows, etc.) are destined to bomb. This was not always a foregone conclusion. Debate me if you dare, but Aladdin on the SNES was high fun. As a matter of fact, most of the Disney games were fun. Space Jam, so good. That’s not to say it was going to replace NBA Live as a yearly series, but it was a fun game. Spiderman’s Maximum Carnage and Separation Anxiety are still two of the most fun beat ’em ups I’ve played outside of Turtles in Time (another solid use of licensing) and Streets of Rage (not licensing, but classic all the same). Compared to the flops we’ve seen in more recent years, like Aliens: Colonial Marines and pretty much anything that comes from Cartoon Network and hits consoles, we see that graphics can’t save everything.
It’s not all about the platforming. Sometimes you have to take it nice and slow with your lady on a magic carpet ride.
*picture credit MobyGames.com*
You see this? This is how a TMNT game SHOULD be. MULTIPLAYER!!!
*picture credit MobyGames.com*
Doppelganger used to give me that work. Those extra arms made a big difference lol
*picture credit MobyGames.com*
When you get a license, you use it to the fullest. They even had you look for Mike’s sneakers JUST like in the movie.
*picture credit MobyGames.com*
Durability: THEN
Seriously, I can still plug in a Nintendo right now and it’s going to work. There are Xbox 360s that came out of the box broken. You just can’t compare the lasting ability of a cartridge vs CDs. I was the WORST at taking care of my games, but as long as I had strong lungs and—in extreme cases—a Q-tip, I was good to go. When we came to the disc era, I definitely had to tighten up because a scratch or two in the wrong place meant the end. No matter how skilled I was, if the game froze mid cut scene, I’m not beating that game. Even with the Dreamcast and PS1 being a part of THEN, it still doesn’t match up to the disc-read errors, red rings, yellow lights and internet outages of NOW.
I later learned that I might be doing more damage than good, but who can argue with results. It worked EVERY time. *picture credit retrogamenetwork.com*
There’s so much more that I can get into, so many other games that I’ve played, so many more amazing childhood memories that we could be here all day. The point of all this is, THEN gets the W. Do we love the new technology of today with its fancy graphics and updated rosters and such? Of course we do or we wouldn’t still play them. Comparatively speaking though, it’s just not the same anymore, and it’s not simply because we’ve grown up. When anything creative, be it music, art, or gaming, starts to become a major industry, it has the potential to collapse in on itself. When money is the motive, as it understandably is for these Fortune 500 companies, there is less freedom in expression. Those who do leap, do so into the shadows of bigger marketing and development budgets. Could a small team recreate something like Bushido Blade in this day and age? Possibly, but that small team has to eat. It’s hard out here, and the harder it gets, the more likely it is to become uniform. Support those indie devs like Drinkbox Studios and Polytron, or the landscape of gaming could get pretty monochromatic.
So, now that I’m done with my rather morbid final word, I’m absolutely sure you’re either cheering with tears in your eyes, planning to dig up your old systems and hug them, or you’re foaming at the mouth waiting to systematically tell me how I’m wrong (you can reach me @AceofSpades1245). Either way, you’re right. I’m so clearly biased it’s almost painful, but I made some good points. Maybe made you look back and have a couple laughs; probably gave you a point of discussion for you and your friends. I’ll take that as a win. You’re welcome.
