When I think back to my favorite PSVR titles from the original headset, A Fisherman’s Tale comes up pretty quick. The game had an incredible concept for puzzles and a charming, inviting atmosphere that made it easy to get lost in the world. Now we have Another Fisherman’s Tale on PSVR 2, a sequel that promises to be bigger and more complex than the original, with an entirely new set of mechanics compared to the first one. Much like a real fisherman’s tale, this one gets bigger every time you tell it. Is that enough to top the ingenuity of the first game? Let’s find out. Certainly a Taller Tale Than it’s Predecessor While I had seen some of the trailers for Another Fisherman’s Tale, I went into the new game without much knowledge of how it would differ from the first one. For those who didn’t play the original, I sincerely hope they port it to PSVR 2, but in the meantime for comparison’s sake I’ll offer a quick description of the differences. In the first title, you played as the titular fisherman living inside of a lightouse. The premise of the first game was the you had an environment around you to work with, as well as a replica of the area directly beneath you on a table in the middle of the room. The game used this environment within an environment hook in spectacular ways, allowing you to manipulate something smaller than yourself to enact change in the larger version in real time. While the scope and size of the original was fairly small, this mechanic was unlike anything else I’d seen in VR at the time. It stood tall with the greats. Another Fisherman’s Tale offers a different approach, and one that’s at least 4 times longer than the first game, but this time around the mechanics may feel a little more familiar, though still unique in their own way. The game begins with narration from our fisherman and sets up a small story on a tropical island where you can get your bearings and learn the ropes. The premise this time around is that you can detach your head and hands from your body to solve puzzles. Now, keep in mind, your character is a wood puppet so while this concept may sound like a horror game, it’s still very family friendly. In fact, the tone of the story is one of my favorite elements. Yes, the dialogue tends to go on for a while, which I know some may find instrusive, but I liked the style and voice acting for the narration a lot. The game also introduces a meta element to explain why you’re playing as a puppet, who is telling the story, and more. It was an excellent addition that added depth to the world and some fun explanations for how things work. I won’t spoil it here, but suffice to say, the story this time around does a great job of … Read More
Mia and the Dragon Princess Review – The Bones of a Great Pirate Adventure
I am one of those gamers who have really enjoyed the resurgence of FMV games in recent years. One of the most recognizable brands in this space are the folks at Wales Interactive, who have done a significant number of these interactive films over the years. I myself played many of their early titles, like The Bunker, Late Shift, and The Complex. There have been many more since. The latest in their interactive film collection is Mia and the Dragon Princess, which stars a barmaid in London who comes across a woman that doesn’t speak English and is on the run from police. The two quickly become embroiled in a pirate treasure hunt over 100 years in the making. It’s the premise for a fun adventure, but do all the pieces come together, or should this FMV game walk the plank? Let’s find out. A Strangely Compelling, but Uneven, Adventure Mia and the Dragon Princess opens with a well-animated introduction recounting the tales of an ancient princess and a pirate who, after gaining huge amounts of treasure, were separated. The princess was given a wrist device to find the ultimate location of her share, but otherwise their legend faded to history. We jump forward to modern day London, joining a barmaid name Mia who is working at a local pub. While doing her usual duties, Mia comes across a women named Marshanda who is dressed in a hospital gown, sporting a wrist device, and on the run from the police. If this isn’t enough, she doesn’t speak a word of English either. Together, the two navigate a delicate situation at the bar, where the owner of a restaurant upstairs, and a powerful thug, starts roughing up the owner to convince him to sell the pub, which has been in his family for generations. The combination of pirate legend and crime drama makes for an enticing premise right off the bat. Marshanda’s wrist device and her connection to he pirate treasure also make for a compelling mystery. Like many of Wales Interactive’s games, you mostly watch the events of Mia and the Dragon Princess play out, but you’ll get opportunities throughout it’s 1-hour run time to make decisions that affect the story. These decisions always come in pairs, and while they have an effect on your personality traits via several stats you can see when making choices, the game offers a story map right off the bat to show you which path you’re on, and which decisions you’ve made in prior playthroughs. For some, this may be too direct, but I appreciated the knowledge because it let me see vastly different outcomes in my three total playthroughs during my time with the game. While the choices are binary, and the overall story can take one of two distinct paths, the individual decisions do lead to some surprising changes and deaths or lack thereof as you experiment with different options. All of that being said, the game has a number of endings, … Read More
Strayed Lights Review – Parry, Dodge, Ponder
Some games are made with atmosphere in mind, focusing solely on story and exploration. Others are more interested in slick combat and intense challenges. There are, of course, games that blur the lines between these two, but often it’s pretty easy to look at a game and figure out which way it’s leaning. Strayed Lights isn’t so easy to parse. On the surface, it looks like your typical narrative exploration game. A story told without words, in a gorgeous world, with little to no combat, and maybe some puzzles to keep things interesting. That’s not the case. Strayed Lights does tell a story without words, and it does have a visually arresting style, but its most unique element is that it brings in fast-paced, time-sensitive combat focused on parries. Does this create a hybrid experience above the other indies in this space? Let’s find out. Superb Combat in a Shallow World Strayed Lights is an interesting beast, and I say that for a number of reasons. For starters, the beasts themselves in the game (your character included) are quite interesting. They have an almost Disney-like quality to them that reminds me most of Ori and the Blind Forest. This is especially true of the bosses, which are bombastic in size but also have an air of innocence beneath their menacing surface. Standard enemies are more amorphous, looking like vague shapes of creatures but built of glowing stones and arranged like golems. In either case, it’s a world that has a visual identity from the moment you begin, and color is more important than you think. I usually open my reviews with a story analysis, but in this case, Strayed Lights leaves almost everything up to you. There is no spoken dialogue, nor are there tangible narrative threads for you to pull on. It’s clear that there’s some sort of corruption across the land that you need to cleanse, but deeper elements are cryptic to the point of being too ambiguous in my opinion. The concept of cleansing a land, of healing broken spirits, is nothing new. It feels like there could have been more to this story here, specifically around your ability to change colors, and the symbolism that such a mechanic offers. Despite this, don’t go into Strayed Lights expecting a story that will knock you off your feet. It has moments of genuine emotion, but it’s all too vague to ever establish a strong connection. While Strayed Lights does a good job of building atmosphere and intrigue, but both of those things wane quickly when you realize that the environments are fairly surface-level, beautiful as they may be. Traversal is simple, platforming is light, and alternate paths do exist (and reward you with collectibles and upgrade points), but it never goes any deeper than that. Despite this, I cannot stress enough that there are moments of genuine awe though, specifically when you’re looking at ancient ruins or watching the local fauna flee from a tyrannical creature. Much like … Read More
Across The Valley Review – Functional Farming
When I think about farming games over the years, my first thought is always Harvest Moon, but my second thought is immediately Stardew Valley. Yes, there are numerous others, and versions that focus on being realistic sims, but there’s something truly captivating about building up your own farm. Harvesting crops, taking care of livestock, maybe even building a life of your own? It’s relaxing and addicting in equal measure, when done correctly. You can imagine my excitement, then, when I heard about a farming VR title for PSVR 2. Across the Valley is here, but does it deliver the farming dream in VR, or would gardening in my backyard be more fun? Let’s find out. The Foundation of a Great Farming Sim I’m honestly surprised I haven’t done more farming in VR. The various responsibilities offer plenty of interaction for a virtual reality experience. Planting seeds, watering crops, tilling the fields, caring for livestock, it’s all there. Across the Valley does bring all of these things to the table, and more, but it does so without much fanfare. The game starts with a simple menu that offers several interactions, but there’s no context for how you came across this farm, or other people to interact with. Settings are pretty barebones as well, only allowing for transportation. This type of movement is helpful for those new to VR, but as a veteran I always look for the option to move freely as I find it far more immersive. That’s not an option here. Even after a few patches, Across the Valley has some bugs that are hard to ignore. The most recent patch fixed an issue where teleportation and snap turning could result in your ending up in a different place than the developers intended when you move around. The solution here was to disable snap turning for the time being. I sampled this prior to publishing the review, and it does fix the aforementioned issue, but the trade-off is that you need to physically turn around in place when leaving an area like the fields. It’s not difficult, but I still am of the mind that free movement would allow for more immersion. Putting that aside for a moment though, let’s talk about those first couple days and weeks of farm life. The game issues tutorials via books placed at teleportation points around the farm. For example, when you head over to your fields, there’s a book near the tools that you can open and read to learn how they work. The same goes for the building that houses livestock like sheep, chickens, and cows. You’ll find a book inside your house too that explains how the upgrade table works, the job board, and the bed. It’s not a bad setup, but the first night on the farm can be a little confusing since you won’t have a grasp of what’s going on. In fact, you spend that first night fumbling around until you fall asleep and then wake up … Read More
Townsmen VR Review (PSVR 2) – Bow to Your Clumsy God
There’s an appeal to the “god game” genre that’s easy to understand. As early on as the days of the Black and White series on PC, I’ve always enjoyed being the omnipotent ruler of entire civilizations. Their entire existence is in the palm of your hand, what’s not to love? Enter Townsmen VR, a launch title for PSVR that tasks you with tending to and growing an entire village either on a series of islands in the story mode, or freely in a sandbox mode. Combat also comes into play, which should satisfy the RTS fans out there. Does it all come together to surpass its 2D counterparts? Let’s put on our PSVR 2 headsets and find out! An Excellent VR Title That’s Also Perfect for Impatient RTS Fans There are those who have criticized the launch lineup for PSVR 2, but I myself have more than I know what to do with. Townsmen VR is easily one of the best launch titles though, with an experience that slowly unravels its complexities over the course of several missions. At the beginning of the Townsmen VR story mode, you’ll find yourself floating over a wrecked ship and facing one of the characters in the game that can communicate directly with you. Despite his name, Sir Clunksalot is actually a quite capable advisor and kicks things off with an explanation of how to move your camera and interact with the world. Given the sheer amount of mechanics and options at play here, Townsmen VR showcases a remarkable ability to keep the controls intuitive throughout. Zooming in an out is as simple as pressing the side grips and pulling or pushing the environment horizontally, much like you would to zoom in or out on a smartphone. You also reach out and grasp the space in front of you to pull yourself around the world. Grabbing in two places and rotating lets you spin yourself as well. You can use the left analog stick to handle rotation as well, but I found the interactive controls more than adequate for getting around quickly. Nearly everything that’s not built or part of the environment can be interacted with as well. In the opening mission, this is as simple as plucking resources from the water and placing them on the ship for repairs, but the interactivity carries over nicely into the main portions of the game. If there are two things fans of this genre are used to, it’s being patient and navigating a lot of menus. Townsmen VR manages to circumvent both of these potential frustrations in creative ways by leveraging virtual reality to do things you wouldn’t otherwise be able to do easily. Opening build menus is simple and quick with a flick of the analog stick, and using your hand as a 3D pointer, you can quickly click through and place structures or dive into their build options and commission add-ons and upgrades. Once you’ve placed the outline, you can physically pick up your … Read More
Ragnarock PSVR2 Review – Valhalla Calling
As someone who spent countless hours playing Guitar Hero and Rock Band (and even DJ Hero), to the point where I saw the walls moving, I love that virtual reality has brought back the rhythm game genre. We’ve all heard about Beat Saber and other big players, but what about a viking-themed rhythm game that has you playing war drums to encourage your crew to row faster? Welcome to Ragnarock, a VR rhythm game that debuted on other VR headsets, but has since made its way to PSVR 2 in time for launch. With a unique set of tracks and some excellent haptic feedback, does this game send you to Valhalla, or will you find yourself smashing the delete button instead of the virtual drums? Let’s find out! Easy to Pick up, Difficult to Master The best kinds of rhythm games are the ones that offer simple, easy to understand mechanics. Slash the colored blocks, ride the rails, tap the targets, etc. In this regard, Ragnarock welcomes new players with open arms. At a basic level, your hands are mallets and there are four drums in front of you. Beyond them, a crew with their oars at he ready. As the song begins, blue runes begin sliding towards the drums in front of you. Smash them as close to the beat as possible to score points. It’s a tried and true method that doesn’t require anything like strumming a guitar or performing any other action than smashing the drum at the right time. In addition to breaking runes as they pass over your drums, perfect hits will power up your special ability, which again is quite simple to use. When your mallets begin glowing with lightning, you can ring a cymbal behind you on either the right or the left (or in my case I like to do both at the same time). This sends bolts of electricity through your crew, hilariously showing their skeletons for a brief moment as they supercharge their rowing for a short time. This is important because your score is based entirely on how far your crew manages to row, with bronze, silver, or gold awarded based on distance when the song finishes. And that’s about it! Ragnarock is fairly straightforward as far as rhythm games go, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. Songs have three difficulties each, but a number attached to each difficulty from 1 to 10 shows how much challenge you can expect at each level. One song’s easy is not the same as another. Interestingly, Ragnarock does not feature a fail state, which means that songs will continue unaffected even if you manage to fail all of the notes. I would have preferred this as an option, if only to keep me on my toes, but for those who get easily frustrated, your journey to Valhalla won’t be cut short if you’re having trouble matching the beat. Speaking of matching the beat, one thing I will say is that getting that … Read More
GTA VI Exposed in One of The Largest Video Game Leaks Ever
Grand Theft Auto VI is one of the most anticipated games in the history of the industry. Over the course of a weekend in mid-September 2022, a hacker published authentic and in-progress footage of GTA VI. This GTA VI leak is one of the largest in video game history, spawning immediate discussion, disappointment from the developments, and anger from publisher Take-Two Interactive Software in equal measure. Join us as we look at what was leaked and what it means for the game’s development. Rockstar Speaks Out on GTA VI Leaks The last leak of this magnitude was perhaps the Last of Us: Part II, which saw much of its story’s surprises thrown out into the internet prior to its release. These types of things don’t happen very often, so many were quick to cast doubt on the authenticity of the screenshots, videos, and other assets. Turns out, the leaks are indeed real. Rockstar has issued an official statement on the matter, but employees also spoke to Bloomberg and confirmed that the footage is real, though the final version will be far more polished. Over the weekend since the leak, Take-Two has been quick to issue takedowns to websites like YouTube and Twitter, but it’s still possible to find the leaks as of this writing. The hacker posted videos on an online forum, claiming they were also behind the recent Uber hack that also happened in the last week. A Message from Rockstar Games pic.twitter.com/T4Wztu8RW8 — Rockstar Games (@RockstarGames) September 19, 2022 Our coverage of the GTA VI rumors has been verified by some of these leaks as well. GTA VI Leak Confirms Protagonists As part of the leaks, people have spotted the protagonists of the new game, confirming the two main characters, one of whom seems to be a Latina woman. This is significant because the series has never had a playable female protagonist up until this point. The leak seems to also confirm the Vice City setting we reported from prior rumors. Despite this development, Rockstar has said that the game’s development will not be affected, as some suggested. It may be difficult to find additional footage as time goes on, but as someone who saw some of the videos before they were taken down, I can say that the game is looking very impressive for being in such an early state. If you do explore the internet in search of the leaks, keep in mind that this game is early in development, so you’re going to see missing textures, placeholders, code, and the like. Games are not meant to leak like this, but we will keep an eye on this story as it develops. To keep up with the latest developments on GTA VI, stay tuned to PS5 gamers! If you saw some of the leaks yourself, let us know what you think in the comments! Article by – Bradley Ramsey Insert date – 9/19/2022
Destroy All Humans 2! – Reprobed Review: Set Phasers to Nostalgia
Destroy All Humans! is one of those franchises that offered exactly what I wanted as a gamer during the PS2 and Xbox era: wanton destruction and crass humor in equal measure. There was nothing quite like it, and to this day, I’ve never heard a better off-brand Jack Nicholson in a voice acting role. The remake of Destroy all Humans! in 2020 from THQ Nordic was good, but it brought to light the flaws with the outdated gameplay. With Destroy all Humans! 2 – Reprobed, the sequel gets the remake treatment. Beyond massive visual upgrades and a few quality of life touches, this is the game you remember, through and through. Does it ride the wave of nostalgia to wipe out its flaws, or did crypto not age well? Let’s find out. A Faithful Remake, Warts and All It’s funny that Destroy All Humans 2! – Reprobed opens with a disclaimer specifically about its content. The developers chose to leave the original narrative untouched and present it exactly as it was when it first released. The world is a vastly different place today than it was back then, and a lot of these themes, stereotypes, and jokes hit a lot different in 2022, but I can also respect the desire to keep the source material intact. Personally, I didn’t find anything in Destroy All Humans 2! – Reprobed to be offensive, at least not compared to the likes of Grand Theft Auto or other similar games, but I can also see how some of these elements would be seen in poor taste with the state of the world. While it didn’t personally affect me, the disclaimer is a fair one, and I think it’s completely fair for others to feel differently about the content in the game. In terms of the overall story and humor, I had a few laughs and some of the deeper mysteries intrigued me, but nothing about Destroy All Humans 2!’s narrative really jumped out at me, though I did appreciate the globe-trotting adventure and the variety of locales. From a gameplay perspective, Destroy All Humans 2! – Reprobed combines large open areas with fairly standard mission designs. Kill a certain number of enemies, destroy specific objects, escort an NPC, etc. The bonus objectives allow you to have some creativity, but beyond this, you’ll need to make your own fun as it were by trying out different weapons and combinations with your PK ability. The on-foot combat feels fine, but the boss fights in particular offer huge difficulty spikes that can be frustrating if you’re used to the pace of the normal missions. The variety of weapons keeps things interesting, as does the skill trees for each that let you increase their power or capacity. The other side of combat is your saucer, which is a little unwieldy to control but offers satisfying levels of destruction. You use the left stick to fly and the right stick to adjust your height. Holding the left trigger allows … Read More
PS5 Prices Are Going up in Select Regions: What You Need to Know
Prior to the launch of the PS5, we made a lot of predictions about what the price would be. When the next generation console came out at $399 and $499 I think we were all pleasantly surprised. I think we also all agreed that the price would go down over time, not up. If the last few years have taught me anything, it’s that nothing is true and everything is permitted (little Assassin’s Creed joke for you there). In late August of 2022, PlayStation Boss Jim Ryan took to the PlayStation Blog to announce a price increase for PS5 consoles in select regions. Of course now you’re asking the big questions: Why, and by how much? Let’s dive in. PS5 Prices Going up Due to ‘Economic Environment’ and ‘High Inflation’ Spoiler alert, you’re going to hear some terms that have probably haunted you in your daily life outside of gaming. My apologies for that. It starts with “inflation” which is causing the price of everything to go up, due to economic mechanisms I don’t fully understand, but most certainly hate with a fiery passion. In a blog post written by Jim Ryan on the PlayStation Blog, the CEO doesn’t mince words. As a result of global economic challenges, adverse currency trends, and inflation rates, Sony has made the decision to raise the recommended retail price (RRP) of the PS5 in the following regions: Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) Asia-Pacific (APAC) Latin America (LATAM) Canada The exact increase varies between currencies, but it’s not a small amount. For unexplained reasons, the United States won’t be receiving a price increase, but if we did, it would most likely be a $50 increase in cost for each of the models. The post ends with a reminder that Sony is trying to meet demand by increasing production, but there’s no details on how or when this problem, which has been an issue since launch, will go away. The comments section, as you can imagine, is pretty angry. To my knowledge, this is the first time a game console has increased in cost after launch without any additional storage or features. As some of the comments have said, a larger hard drive to offset the cost here would have gone a long way, but as it stands, the price of the PS5 is now higher in all of these regions as of August 25th, 2022. According to the post, Japan will have until September 15th before the changes take affect, so if we have any Japanese readers, this is your chance to start looking for one before the price hike. For now, the United States won’t be receiving a price increase, but this could change. Stay tuned right here to PS5 gamers for any updates in this story, and here’s hoping prices can come back down in the future when inflation, chip shortages, and other factors finally calm down. Have you secured your PS5? Will you be affected by these price hikes? Let us … Read More
New Report Claims GTA VI Will Have a Female Protagonist and Take Modern Events into Account
The Grand Theft Auto series has always been one that bucks cultural sensitivity and general tact in favor of bombastic characters and wanton violence. To some, it could be seen as a purposeful exaggeration, but to others it could be viewed as downright insensitive. There’s a reason this series has always courted controversy, after all. Now, a new report from Bloomberg suggests that Rockstar is taking some steps to make GTA VI more culturally sensitive, including the addition of the series first playable female protagonist. How will these changes affect the overall tone gamers have come to expect from the series? Let’s dive in and find out! Bringing Self Awareness to Grand Theft Auto VI Rockstar as a developer has been slowly taking steps to repair their image as both a business and a game maker. They recently removed transphobic jokes from GTA V, and the company has also taken steps to narrow the gender pay gap internally. According to the Bloomberg report, the studio has already shelved at least one game mode for GTA VI in light of recent events. The mode, which would have been a variation of the game “cops and robbers,” was deemed inappropriate after the death of George Floyd in summer of 2020, so the company decided to take it out of their plans. New information from anonymous sources claims that GTA VI will include a female protagonist as a playable character. The woman, who is Latina, will be one of two main characters that are supposedly inspired by the classic “Bonnie and Clyde” story, while taking care not to “punch down” by making jokes about marginalized groups. This type of approach is somewhat shocking, given Rockstar’s penchant for insulting just about everyone and everything in the name of satire. Issues in the studio also came to light over the years, despite GTA V being one of the most successful games of all time. While it’s easy to applaud some of these changes and additions, it does make me wonder if a softer GTA VI that’s less offensive will have the same resonance with its long-time fans who have grown accustomed to a look and feel that, while questionable, defines the brand. GTA VI Aiming For 2024, With Post-Launch Updates in Tow/h2> Due to internal changes, the pandemic, and other factors, development has been slower than expected on GTA VI. Even so, the Bloomberg report shares new details on the setting as well, which is expected to be a fictional version of Miami, Florida. The game was originally planned to include large portions of both North and South America, but these ambitions have been scaled back. According to sources, Rockstar plans to add additional areas and cities after the launch of the main game. For what it’s worth, this particular gamer is happy to see Rockstar taking a step back and becoming more self aware about the world as it stands today. Parody and satire are not only fine, but are essential to truly sending … Read More