Author: admin

Star Ocean: First Departure R Review

Star Ocean started its journey on the Super Famicom over two decades ago. Since then the first game has found its way on the PSP in 2008 and now again on the PlayStation 4 and Switch. Given the limited nature, a number of players have yet to experience Star Ocean, so is Star Ocean: First Departure R worth (re)visiting or should it be forgotten in the past? Here’s our Star Ocean: First Departure R Review. Star Ocean: First Departure R follows the story of Roddick, Millie, and Dorne as they patrol the village as part of their day-to-day routine. On one fateful day, a mysterious plague sets in that suddenly turns people into stone. Hoping to find a cure at a nearby mountain by gathering what they call a medicinal herb, things have started to change when two people from a far more advanced civilization suddenly teleport in front of them.

Star Ocean: First Departure R

Ronyx and Ilia, the other main protagonists of the game, are the humans from the Planet Earth that explain to Roddick and his friends that the plague that spread in their planet called Roak is a biological weapon that was developed by Lezonia in Planet Earth. Wishing that a far more advanced civilization like Earth will be able to cure the people of Planet Roak, they are mistaken. To cure the plague, they must get a sample of an archfiend that only existed 300 years ago. The only way they can achieve that is to go to the past, and that’s where Roddick and his friends will be joined by Ronyx and Illia in search of the cure. Since the game is more than two decades old, don’t expect the story to be as deep as other Star Ocean games or JRPG games. It’s fairly simple and easy to follow for those hoping it wouldn’t have a convoluted story like other games these days.

For those who have played previous Star Ocean games before, the battle system should be familiar at some point. Instead of its turn-based classic battle system that was introduced in older JRPG games, First Departure R is an action-oriented battle system. When you battle an enemy, you will be able to control one of the four characters in your party, while the other three are controlled by an AI. You smash the X button to attack an enemy using a regular attack and pressing the shoulder buttons, LI or R1 will allow your character to perform special attacks. The combat is fairly basic, yet fun at times and doesn’t require complicated button pressing to defeat an enemy- though there are times the difficulty spikes up in combat all of a sudden.

Star Ocean: First Departure R Review - Screenshots 03

In addition to simply taking down enemies, the other things that you will be doing in the game are crafting or mastering skills that make your party stronger. Whenever a character gains a level, you will receive a Skill point that you can use onto your characters. These abilities can be used on and off the battle and will greatly improve your character’s performance in battle. As far as crafting goes, you can create items that you can use in both cooking or in battle. Don’t worry about its complexity as they are fairly easy to understand as they are basic at most.

Seeing how First Departure R is the game that started the Star Ocean series, there are things that in this game that evolved in succeeding games. One of the features that are common in Star Ocean games is the Private Actions that you can trigger with certain characters. In First Departure R, we can see how the Private Actions have started and how it evolved in other Star Ocean games. To gain more insight or learn more about the character, you trigger Private Actions when a prompt appears on the screen. This is purely optional but to fully enjoy what the game has to offer when it comes to story, it’s highly recommended that you take a look at it.

Star Ocean: First Departure R Review - Screenshots 02

With the game being a port of the PSP version that was launched back in 2008, First Departure R doesn’t have any new content to offer. In fact, if you have played the PSP version before or even the Super Famicom ones, you will be playing the same exact version, except with minor changes. The minor changes that the team behind Star Ocean: The Last Hope did with First Departure R is improving the artwork. Right at the beginning of the game, players will be able to choose whether to use artwork from the original version or the new one specifically designed for this version.

In terms of visuals, the game remains true to the original, except the sprites look crisper and detailed. CG cutscenes are untouched, where you will notice that even the audio hasn’t been improved. However, the majority of the cutscenes still have voice-overs, which makes it better when it comes to going through those lengthy scenes in the game.

Star Ocean: First Departure R Review - Screenshots 01

If you have played the PSP version in the past and were annoyed with things like backtracking or random encounters, they remain present in the PS4 version. Sadly, there are no modifiers present to turn them off, and this is something you will be dealing with. At this day and age, random encounters are frowned upon and may not appeal to the new generation of gamers. Also, if you are one of those that simply hate backtracking, prepare to do it on this game as there is plenty to look forward to.

Star Ocean: First Departure R Review – Verdict

Star Ocean: First Departure R is a classic game that reminds us of where the series started. While it is certainly fun and enjoyable, it retains a number of traits associated with the best JRPGs. These include a simple storyline, a fascinating combat system, and a relatively straightforward adventure. If you’re from a newer generation of JRPG fans, you might find the excessive random encounters, backtracking and minimal depth annoying and might want to stick to more modern releases. Still, veteran fans will likely remember why this series became so popular in the first place.

Story of Seasons Download Size Revealed

story-of-seasons-download-size-225x300

Marvelous and XSeeD’s followup to their storied farming simulation series, Story of Seasons, will be arriving on the Nintendo 3DS next week. Here’s how much free space you’ll have to clear off your SD card to play Story of Seasons.

Coming in at 4,466 blocks, the farming sim is going to take up a sizeable chunk of your memory card if you’re still running one of the stock cards that came with your Nintendo 3DS. If you’re wondering how large the download is in megabytes, you’re looking at a download that’s just shy of 560MB.

Look forward to checking out Story of Seasons with our review arriving in the coming days!

Tekken 7 Website Updated With Character Bios And Guide Videos

tekken 7

Bandai Namco has updated the official Tekken 7 website giving you details on each of the characters included in its roster as well as some video guides on how to play it.

You can look at the Tekken 7 roster page by clicking here. Bear in mind, this is the launch roster as more characters are to be added in the future as DLC. The launch roster includes 37 fighters in total.

These characters include: Akuma, Alisa, Asuka, Bob, Bryan, Claudio, Devil Jin, Dragunov, Eddy, Eliza, Feng, Gigas, Heihachi, Hwoarang, Jack-7, Jin, Josie, Katarina, Kazumi, Kazuya, King, Kuma, Lars, Law, Lee, Leo, Lili, Ling Xiaoyu, Lucky Chloe, Miguel, Nina, Panda, Paul, Raven, Shaheen, Steve and Yoshimitsu. 

You can also view some guide videos by clicking here. This includes videos on how to move, do power crushes and the Rage Art. The game will be released on June 2nd, 2017 for the PC, PS4 and Xbox One.

Skyrim – Marrying Someone is Easy as 1, 2, 3 ; The Benefits of Marriage

Click here for more Skyrim Guides
One of the new features of Skyrim is the ability to marry someone of whoever you meet in the game. It doesn’t matter if it’s a Khajit, a Nord, a male or a female. As long as you have the Amulet of Mara, you’re ready!

If you’re one of those achievement and trophy hunter, you would like to find someone to marry as an achievement will be unlocked once you’re married.

Now, the big question is, what are the requirements should you have to have this wedding?

REQUIREMENTS

– You must form a bond to someone
– Having a House would be ideal

Step 1

– Go to Riften and find Maramal in either at the Bee and the Barb Inn or the Temple of Mara.
– Talk to him and pay 200 Gold for the Amulet of Mara

Step 2

– Find that someone you would like to marry but before you talk to him/her, wear the Amulet of Mara

Step 3

– Once your soon-to-be spouse agrees to form a bond with you, go back to Maramal in the Temple of Mara and ask for the wedding ceremony to happen.

Step 4

– Maramal will ask you to come back at Dawn for your Wedding Ceremony to happen. Don’t be late!
– Congratulations you’re married!

Why get Married?

There are benefits as to why you would like to get married. If you have a house, you can ask your spouse to live with you.

– Now that your spouse is living with you, you can ask her/him to cook for you. Sometimes, there will be a gift waiting for you.
– If your spouse is your companion, you can ask her to carry some of your equipments and direct her to either defend you or attack your enemies.
– Always visit your spouse as there’s a chance they’ll leave you.

Brave Frontier x Phantom of the Kill Collaboration Detailed

Brave-Frontier-298x300

Gumi announced today the details of the collaboration between Brave Frontier and the recently released Phantom of the Kill.

Starting on June 23 until July 13, gamers who play Brave Frontier and Phantom of the Kill will get all sorts of new rewards by simply participating. Fans can look forward in getting a new unit in Brave Frontier by doing exclusive dungeons in the Vortex, summoning an exclusive Global Unit named Zero in the Summoning Gate, and getting an exclusive unit by simply logging in daily.

Here are the details of the Collaboration:

I. Phantom of the Kill Collaboration Dungeon

Brave-Frontier-01-308x300 (1)

Explore the calm-yet-eerily-dangerous Hellebore Meadow and get the chance to recruit the Killer Princess Tyrfing!

II. Special Summon: Phantom of the Kill’s Zero (Global Exclusive)

Brave-Frontier-02-367x300

Zero, the first prototype of the Killer Project and first Killer Prince, will be featured in the Divine Summon Gate starting June 27th, 7:00 PST to July 13th, 23:59 PST [June 27, 8:00 PDT – July 14, 0:59 PDT]!

III. Play Phantom of the Kill, Get Rewards!

Brave-Frontier-03-361x300

Log in & play Phantom of the Kill starting June 24, 0:00 PST – July 13, 23:59 PST [June 24, 1:00 PDT – July 14, 0:59 PDT] to acquire the Killer Princess Laevateinn, as well as other rewards, in Brave Frontier!

Final Fantasy: Brave Exvius coming to Japan this week

Final-Fantasy-Brave-Exvius-407x606

Square Enix announced today that Final Fantasy: Brave Exvius will be coming to Japan this October 22 for iOS and Android devices.

Final Fantasy: Brave Exvius is a smartphone title developed by Alim, creators of the hit Brave Frontier. The game tells a new crystal-based story with original characters, and features characters from previous Final Fantasy titles, as well. In addition, the battle system will have simple controls and summons.

When the game launches this week, Square Enix will be giving out a “Magitek Armor with Terra Brandford Piloting” playable character. Check out the trailer below:

There’s currently no word yet as to when the game is coming out to North America. Let’s hope it will be out later this year!

No PS4 or Xbox One Version of Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII

Lightning-Returns-No-Healing-890x606

Square Enix has no plans to port Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII onto the PS4 or Xbox One.

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII’s design director Yuji Abe told IGN the following:

We’re not thinking about it. We set out to achieve the highest possible quality we could on the current generation of consoles, the PS3 and Xbox 360. That’s what we’ve been trying very hard to do, and we think we’re almost there. Our mission is presenting the best possible experience for gamers on those consoles. We’re not thinking about anything else, including next-gen consoles.

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII is the final game in the Final Fantasy XIII series. It will conclude Lightning’s story and hopefully resolve all of the loose ends at the end of the game.

Don’t worry Final Fantasy fans as Square Enix will be releasing Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn on the PS4 while Final Fantasy XV will hit the PS4 and Xbox One sometime in the near future too.

Digimon World Re:Digitize Decode localization campaign garners support

Digimon-World-Re-Digitize-Decode-3DS

This post is a little bit different from our usual news postings as it isn’t exactly a breaking news story, but rather exposure for a localization campaign for a game. Digimon World Re:Digitize released in 2012 for the PlayStation Portable, with a re-release under the title Digimon World Re:Digitize Decode for the Nintendo 3DS. Sadly, the title was never released outside of Japan, and many are hoping to change that.

Operation Decode, an online localization campaign, has been working for months to catch the eye of Namco Bandai to show how much support there is for a US release of this Digimon title. When the campaign started, the goal was 10,000 signatures, which has been far surpassed with a total of 18,340 at the time of this posting. While you may just think that petitions are useless, that is not quite the case as they have worked in the past, including Project X Zone, also from Namco Bandai.

The campaign has also caught the eye of Namco Bandai along the way when Joseph Walsh, a Namco Bandai PR Executive, tweeted in response to the Operation Decode Twitter account with “A LOT of love for Digimon. Interesting stuff.” This obviously doesn’t indicate anything, but it certainly doesn’t hurt. If you are interested in seeing Digimon World Re:Digitize Decode in the US, make sure to sign the petition that can be found right here. Hopefully we may also see a re-release and localization of the PSP title Digimon Adventure, an RPG retelling of the entire first season of Digimon.

Fallout 4 Install Size and Recommended PC Specs Detailed

Fallout-890x606

Bethesda revealed today the install size for the console version of Fallout 4 and the recommended system requirements for the PC version.

According to Bethesda, gamers will need between 28GB and 35GB on console depending on where they live and what language they want the game to support. As for the system requirements for the PC version, gamers will at least need an Intel i5 processor.

Minimum

Windows 7/8/10 (64-bit OS required)
Intel Core i5-2300 2.8 GHz/AMD Phenom II X4 945 3.0 GHz or equivalent
8 GB RAM
30 GB free HDD space
NVIDIA GTX 550 Ti 2GB/AMD Radeon HD 7870 2GB or equivalent

Recommended

Windows 7/8/10 (64-bit OS required)
Intel Core i7 4790 3.6 GHz/AMD FX-9590 4.7 GHz or equivalent
8 GB RAM
30 GB free HDD space
NVIDIA GTX 780 3GB/AMD Radeon R9 290X 4GB or equivalent

Fallout 4 is due out this November for PC, Xbox One and PS4.

Tales of Zestiria Launch Day Bug Fix Detailed for PC version

1_8051853703-515x290

With Tales of Zestiria releasing on on Steam in just a few hours, Bandai Namco announced that there’s a bug already as soon the game finishes downloading.

Bandai Namco is currently hard at work in fixing the bug, though the patch won’t be released just in time for today’s release. However, there’s a temporary easy fix that you can do to alleviate the issue:

When installing the game for the first time (without old game configuration), remapping any key on the keyboard will not work until the next game launch. Please close the game and restart. Doing this will resolve this issue.

Check back with us later tonight for our review of Tales of Zestiria.