The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel Review

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Genre: RPG
Developer: Nihon Falcom
Publisher: XSEED Games, Marvelous USA, Inc.    
Release Date: Aug 2, 2017
Price: $39.99 as of August 6th, 2017
(Information gathered from STEAM)

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Aside from about 15 hours of Final Fantasy X on the PS2 and a little bit of time in Fire Emblem, I believe this is the first in-depth JRPG I've touched. It certainly was not something I was expecting to get, but I'm honestly glad I did. I view writing articles for The Gamers Lounge as a way to expand my gaming palette, and this is no exception. This game has a lot of interesting moments and engaging game play. Even so, there are a lot of eye rolling moments, if you've seen my Twitch Stream. Mainly, if you've ever seen an anime, this uses those tropes. So many stereotypes. Just.... yeesh. Presumably they understand that fact, as it is frequently lamp-shaded by the main character. To be clear, this game is a port to the PC. Originally released on the PS3 and PS Vita in 2015 (here in the US anyways), this PC version came out on just August 2nd. There have been many improvements over the original version, and is worth checking out even if you played the originals.

As an example, this release clearly had some graphical updates, and they are amazing. Everything is clear and sharp, and is vibrant enough to clearly interpret which enemies are in the distance. It genuinely felt like I was controlling an anime, and I don't mean one where they outsource the animation to be done by some cut-rate animation studio. There is subtle variation in styles between characters versus static-objects in the game, where the characters themselves tend to pop a lot more than the surrounding background.

Speaking of the background, the music was decently composed. It fills in the silence and provides a little atmosphere. It blends in with the environment as to enhance the experience, rather than detract. However, there are times when the music really enters the main stage. Bosses are a good example of this. The music gives the more important sequences a flourish that helps captivate the attention.

Those moments help transition between cutscenes and game play as well. They use the same style and rendering as the game, so the music is a minute addition that pairs well the the removal of the UI for those instances. Personally, I almost always dislike when games switch from game fidelity to some previously rendered, high-fidelity movie for those moments. This game keeps everything visually connected, so you can remain attached to the story even as you momentarily lose control.

The small configuration window

In addition to the attention given to those cinematic cutscenes, the controls themselves where given proper treatment. Every time you boot the game, you get this small settings menu. This is cool, because you can set your input scheme every time. Most of the time you just boot straight to game, but simply having the easy option to customize every time is refreshing. This same menu also lets the user set a bunch of graphical settings and language settings, so you can change to lower graphical settings to stream or record as needed, or if you have other tasks running in the background and don't have the resources.

I'm sure you want to hear about the actual mechanics now, right? Trails of Cold Steel has a lot going on, and I only have so much space, so I'm going to have to truncate a lot of the information. If you want to see more, you can watch my recording I linked in the first paragraph or view the trailer linked at the bottom of this article. However, I'll do my best.

The game play is divided into two distinct sections: Orienteering (as the game puts it) and Student Life. Orienteering is the dungeon diving and combat aspects. You kill the monsters, you fight the boss, you get the loot and experience. You can use the loot to improve your combat or improve your social life (like items used for cooking). Over the course of combat, you gain experience to gain levels which affect attribute points. Basic things like speed, attack power, defense, etc. There is also the regular inventory management from items you can loot and buy. One of the more interesting mechanics, in my opinion is the tactics screen. It lets you position your team so you can start each normal battle in a way that lets you maximize your first-turn moves, as well as shield your frail casters. It also defines Links. Links are combat synergies between two squad-mates so that they can aid each other during the action.

As I mentioned, the other half is Student Life. During the time between major combat sessions, you will be running errands for the student council, doing class assignments, and maintaining your social life as a student. This gives many different quests with varying rewards. Most just advance the story, but some give you better items or other great perks. There is also fishing, which is a minigame that, over time, allows you to trade in points earned for rewards. There’s cooking, which lets you combine ingredients to create food that has a random chance to drop rarer versions of the dish. You can use these in battle to cure status ailments, or to heal characters, or more. Finally, there is working on your relationships with the other members of Class VII. These are done through daytime tasks, or done through the single (more effective) evening event. Not every person can be interacted with, so it matters who you choose the people correctly.

Overall, I feel that this game is a great RPG. It takes a lot of smaller facets are combines them in a way that lets you invest as much, or as little, to get the story as you like. There is the ability to speed up the game as well, which makes running to areas take a lot shorter time. I genuinely enjoy this game, and will be spending a lot more time on it.

If you like RPGs, and liked the original on PS3 or Vita, then you’ll enjoy this port to the PC. According to Steam, there are more voice lines and a little more content for this, which will help give a little more depth if you return after getting it again. Either way, I highly recommend buying this game to add to your collection, or converting to digital from an old copy. 

The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel is now available for Windows PC on Steam, GOG, and the Humble Store by Humble Bundle! Steam: http://store.steampowered.com/app/538680/The_Legend_of_Heroes_Trails_of_Cold_Steel/ GOG: https://www.gog.com/game/legend_of_heroes_trails_of_cold_steel_the Humble: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/the-legend-of-heroes-trails-of-cold-steel?hmb_source=search_bar Among the nations on the Zemurian continent, the mighty Erebonian Empire has been quick to stake its claim militarily; yet politically, ugly bouts of internal conflict between the upper class and commoners struggling to rise to power have been steadily intensifying with each passing month.

Pro's:

• Self-aware humor that doesn't break the fourth-wall

• Great art style

• Clear audio with respectable voice acting

• Engaging story

• Lots of content for your dollar

Con's:

• The tutorial area is a little slow, but good for first time players

I would also like to thank XSEED for providing a code to review the game

"Disclosure(s): I only had time to play the first 10 hours of the game, but in that time I was able to sample most to all of the games many features."

FORTS Review

Like Angry Birds, but with guns!

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Genre: Action, Strategy
Developer: EarthWork Games 
Publisher: EarthWork Games
Release Date: Apr 19, 2017
Price: $14.99 (As of Release)
(Information from Steam)

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FORTS! PATRIOTISM! REFERENCES! MORE FORTS! This game has them all! But seriously, this entry into the RTS Genre is both light and complex. EarthWork Games has done a solid job in this entry. It places you in control of building multiple forts across the world. Why are you building forts across the world? Well, I suggest watching their trailer. It is funny and gives you good insight into the game.

Forts, the physics-based RTS where foes build custom bases, arm them to the teeth and blast their opponent's creations to rubble, is out now! Steam Store - http://store.steampowered.com/app/410900 Humble Store - https://www.humblebundle.com/store/forts Build an armoured fort in real-time and arm it to the teeth.

So how accurate IS the trailer? Well, pretty good. It demonstrates the "pop" that these games tend to end on. It also shows some of the offbeat humor that pokes at current political events and fervent nationalism.

So, what is the set up for the campaign? Well, if you didn't watch that video I linked for some crazy reason, I'll reiterate it for you. Sometime in the future, all the oil and metal in the world is scarce. In fact, oil has been depleted to the point where there is only one rumored source left, and the three world powers left (proxies for the United States, Russia, and China) are fighting over it. As the campaign starts, it is very simple, but it quickly ramps up until the point where it took me the better part of 20 minutes to figure out how to overcome campaigns. This is great, because it actually helps improve your game play for when you decide to tackle multiplayer. By the way, you should totally dip your toes in multiplayer, if only to experience the chaos.

However, I spent most of my time in single player, because that's how I roll. I gotta say, I loved it. It has the small simple levels that reminded me of games like Angry Birds. Even the mechanic of "Shoot to the right and destroy things" carries over. However, this is where the similarities end. The whole game revolves around building a base, stocking it with weapons, then using them to destroy the enemy base and prevent them from doing likewise. This becomes a game of balancing your objectives (which unlock more levels) and building to the powerful weapons so you can quickly destroy your enemy.

POP! POP!

To build that, it is a fairly simple interface. You have 3 types at the bottom: Materials, Devices, and Weapons. Materials determine with what you build your base, such as the bracing and doors. Devices are for non-weapon sub-buildings, such as mines and the factory. Finally, weapons are the items you point at the enemy team to make them go away. You start the game with a reactor you have to protect. If it goes nuclear and explodes, you lose. You can either manually add to existing joints, or drag sections to automatically let the game handle connecting things for you.

As you build, you run into increasingly convoluted situations you have to build around, like a maze of tunnels you have to build in while avoiding the walls. Since physics are a factor, your building starts to sag and might randomly explode if joints or connectors have too much pressure on them. So, no biggie to build a reasonable base.

Overall, I would say this is a great game. It is quick to learn, and it is challenging to overcome the game scenarios the further you progress. However, there are some issues where the difficulty of missions fluctuates and you will ace some while needing to spend several attempts to finish others. 

PROS:

1.  Tight gun-play
2. Super rewarding to get the final volley off and finish a match
3. Interesting maps keep the race to the laser different.

CONS:

1. Each match seems to finish with with the Canons or Lasers
2. Difficulty isn't as smooth as an upward trend as it could be, leading to some frustrating moments
3. Finding an online match can be spotty, but it is definitely there.

Thanks to EarthWork Games for providing us the Steam codes to use for this review!

PSYCHO-PASS: Mandatory Happiness Review

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Genre: Adventure
Developer: MAGES. Inc. , 5pb.
Publisher: NIS America, Inc.
Release Date: Apr 24, 2017

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PSYCHO-PASS: Mandatory Happiness is a Visual Novel published by NIS America, Inc. (At least here in the US). If you are like me, I honestly didn't know visual novels were a thing until I got a chance to play this game. To boil it down, it is an interactive story that is more complex than a simple Choose Your Own Adventure, and is more interactive to boot. It allows more branching plot lines, hidden scenes, and things like that. This is one of the big reasons video games are great, and I'm glad I had the good fortune to expand my gaming horizon.

Now, this game is a bit of a special case for me. The PS4 version came out almost a year ago AND we did a review on it. In fact, it was written by our own Ryan Johnson, and you should go read it now. I'll even link it for you. It's okay. Go ahead and read it. This can wait.

Great, now that you have read that, I'm not going to discuss the story. Why? Well, two reasons. Ryan did a great job already going over several key points. The second is that I recently learned (due to the Persona 5 steaming policy), that story-driven games like this shouldn't have its plot spoiled and should definitely be experienced. That said, I'm going to talk about how this game functions on the PC.

This is a pretty standard dialogue screen. As you can see, there are a bunch of controls along the bottom with key bindings.

Great, now forget them. Everything in the game (aside from something I'll mention later) can be done through the mouse. Honestly, I had a much better time with this than the controls. All of the little buttons you can just click, and since this game is not based on quick timing or anything like that, you can focus on the story more. Even a right-click brings up the menu screen. Basically, they did a great job on the controls. They are super simple, which lets you focus on making the choices which almost always seems to lead to 2 bad endings then finally a good one.

There is one caveat to this, and that's the mini game included in the "extras" option in the main menu. This one you should definitely get out the arrow keys. Why? Well, take a look at the screenshot below and tell me if it reminds you of anything.

That's right, it is 2048! Like Ryan mentioned, it is used to unlock all sorts of cool extras. It is the best of both worlds: a time sink minigame AND a way to easily get unlocks.

Overall, this game is a great PC adaptation. The controls make sense. Really, pick up this game. I'm going to give this a slightly higher rating than Ryan.

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This game was reviewed on the PC, but there is also a PS4 version.

Pro's
+Easy Controls
+Clear Story
+Very well translated captions
+Great Visuals

Con's
-Sometimes the background noise overpowers the audio
-The phone conversation subtitles don't pair well with the audio being subtitled

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Thank you NIS America for providing us with this code!

The Inner World Review

About 3 weeks ago, I received a copy of The Inner World. Unfortunately, I was busy when I first got it and put off reviewing it until last week. What a mistake that was! This game is delightfully charming and was a pleasure to play. It made me think in ways I don’t normally, and when I couldn’t find the answer, had a well-planned hint system that gives you only what you need to find your spark. The controls were simple, but I had one major gripe. I also had one bug I saw that wasn't really a big deal. Basically, save your self some time and get the time.

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You can see the trinket around the Wind Monk's neck.

The story starts off with you, Robert, an Asposian with a deformity, chasing after a pigeon that stole a trinket from your bitter guardian. This is the first chance Robert had to get away from the monastery where he was raised, so he quickly leaps into action.  Along the way, he meets a lot of interesting characters, like Laura. In Robert’s efforts to procure the trinket, he becomes infatuated with her, and she quickly becomes integral in solving the mystery that begins to unfold. Robert quickly uncovers his true origins, and why his deformity is actually very important.

Overall, I would say the story is pretty transparent. It quickly becomes apparent that the main character has a case of “The Chosen One”. They pretty well lampshade this in the opening scenes of the game. The story is also pretty short. HOWEVER, the characters are all so darn lovable and unique that they more than counteract the short-lived story. I actually found myself pursuing more dialog just to see how they interact with each other. Seriously. The swamp was probably the best part of the game. You’ll know what I mean when you get there.

This game has surprisingly pretty graphics. I thought the game was going to be another game that just has an odd style for the sake of it, but the crisp outlines and sharp colors really add to the atmosphere and help drive home the idea of this alien environment. I also found the more limited color palette to lend to that as well. It almost gives it a… Adventure Time meets Tim Burton feel.

The music is also delightfully simple. It is slightly above elevator music, but since most of the time you will be racking your mind trying to piece together the riddles, it will help soothe you. It sure helped me.

The cinematics were sparse but purposeful. Early in the game, the usage seems to lean more towards helping draw attention to specific parts of the environment. This helps to deliver hints about with which objects you would need interact. As you get used to the game, this is incredibly useful. However, I felt there is a definite shift towards then end of the game. As the story becomes delivered less in sporadic dialogs and more in the cinematics, the quality really increases.

However, the controls were the first complaint I had with the game. It was often hard to navigate the areas, and then the objects you can actually interact with only have their icon if you are close to them, which is hard to do because the areas are hard to navigate. See the cycle? That often leads to an issue where you don’t see a vital clue even if you turn on the object interaction mode. Having said that, the controls are pretty simple and easy to learn. On the XBox One, one have one control stick to move around the environment. As you move around, you can press a button to let you interact with objects, then select one. This brings up a contextual menu where you can combine it with other items, use it, or just inspect it. That is pretty much it. The game is really simple to control, which works out in its favor.

Other than that, this game is solid. The puzzles can be a bit contrived, but often each thing is done for a reason. If they bother to add something into the game, you can be almost certain you will need it to solve a riddle. The biggest example I can think of is this group of moths that molt and change color based on what is behind them. If you aren’t paying super close attention, you will miss it. Not only that, but you will also fail to realize it is key to a later riddle, and that kind of thing drives me mad. It is fair game in puzzlers like this. But man, it is hard for me to pick up on that.

The only real bug I had in this was that the background music would sometime turnoff. But that is sometimes refreshing. The silence clears your mind and enables you to focus on piecing all the small parts together.

Overall, if you like puzzle games, this is a buy when it comes to the Xbox One. It is a solid game with a unique art style. Plus, there is a sequel coming out soon that if you snag this in time, you shouldn’t have to wait too long to pick up. 

Final Score 4 out of 5

I played this game on the Xbox One, but the game is also available for PC and Mac per the website. If you want to know the exact specs, you can check the Steam page before purchasing. It doesn’t take much to run this game, so you’ll probably be safe even on a laptop. I also wanted to take the time to thank the developers, Studio Fizbin, for providing us this copy.

BLADE ARCUS from Shining: Battle Arena Review

http://saizensen.degicagames.com/

Blade Arcus is a fairly standard fighting game. The controls are solid. The battles are quick, but the key bindings (for keyboard) leave something to be desired. I recommend waiting for a sale to get this one, unless you are a fan of the series and already are into the story, as you will get nothing from this otherwise. Also, get a controller or an arcade stick. Don't be me and play on the keyboard. You can watch my review below if you want to get some game-play shots.

Watch Matthew finish his Blade Arcus broadcast, talk about his thoughts on the game as a pretty bad noob to the genre, and talk about that one time in high school.... -- Watch live at https://www.twitch.tv/thegamerslounge

Full Mojo Rampage Review

Full Mojo Rampage

I was fortunate enough to snag a copy of this fun little game. It is a top down arcade style game, where you run around and destroy various nasty beings using your magic powered by your Loa, or Voodoo deity. The music and art style are fun, and the randomly generated levels mean you have to focus on skill rather than map memorization. You also get some fun items to use and equip, and wacky wands to use.

My experience with FMR was on the shorter side, but enough to where I knew the game was rock solid. The developers clearly knew what they were doing. When I first started the game, I was expected to be spammed either with a long chain of logos, or to be dropped into a bland menu. Neither happened. Instead, a witty little cinematic comes on that accomplishes two things. First, it sets the tone of the game. The art style and tone is clear. The music is fun, yet creepy. Second, the cinematic serves as a sort of tutorial. Where it never explicitly tells you how to play the game in the intro, it shows you what to expect. You see big and small enemies in a hoard chasing you. You run around, find and use an item by destroying a mausoleum, and then turn the tables from the power-up. From that, you see you can destroy some environment pieces, what to expect from enemies (weak and strong types, and mobs), and that there will be some items to give interesting perks. Getting into the game, I played several rounds, and then died. I was expecting to return to the mission select screen, but found myself on the main menu. When I tried to reenter, I found a new game with new levels, but my same character progression. I don't know if that was something they meant to do or if I botched/missed something, but still a great touch. Don't die, or you die-die.

Overall, great game. Go out, pick it up, and play it. It is a fun game you can spend a fair amount of time playing.

Score a  4 out of 5

Full Mojo Rampage is is available  now on Xbox One and Steam. thanks to the publisher from supplying a code for review.