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Vindictus entices players with a dynamic new trailer
The creators of Vindictus, or Addictus (as it's been called by certain Editors-in-Chief), have thought to inspire us to play their action MMO by launching another trailer. The free-to-play game launched two weeks ago as the first real-physics based MMO. This game that features constant twitchy combat, also, recently announced a new ranged-class giving the gameplay a completely different dynamic. The trailer magnifies the intensity of this unique gaming engine by slowing down and reversing much of the in-game shots in the video. All creatures and player characters affect the environment, as well as their intended target. Walls are mashed. Buildings fall. The earth is crumbled beneath mighty weapons. If violence and passion fuel your gameplay then Nexon invites you to try out Vindictus for yourself at the official website. It will cost you nothing to try it out for yourself, and you may just find a new world you'll love to explore. Fix your eyes on this film featuring a frenzied flash into this fantasy realm after the break.
Vindictus takes a look at casting with Evie
The highly active nature of Vindictus has made the game a bit of a darling within the free-to-play community for the time being, but many of the class spotlights thus far have focused on getting into your opponent's face and carving him up. All well and good, but sometimes you'd rather just hang out in the back and start casting some fireballs or summon up devastating golems from the surrounding debris. If that sounds like your cup of tea, the latest video from the game will be for you. Evie is a caster, focusing less upon beating things to death with a staff and more on controlling the battlefield via magic. Among the spells on display are her abilities to summon golems, create magic turrets to attack enemies, and reverse gravity to give party members a fighting edge. Click on past the break to take a look at what things look like in Vindictus from the caster's point of view. (Here's a hint: It's violent.)
TERA creeps us out with a monster movie
En Masse Entertainment has presented beautiful render after beautiful render of its highly anticipated action MMO TERA. We've seen revealing armor sets, robust cities, thunderous monsters, and creepy villains. The vampires of Popolion were pretty freaky when we showed them off a couple of weeks ago, but when coupled with the silent-film motif, the evil chills cause your body to shudder. Who doesn't like the classic monster movies? Bela Lugosi's Dracula is still the best. To say Happy Halloween to the fans of TERA, the developers have put together their own version of a spine-tingling monster movie. Don't miss the baby-dolls with cleavers, clowns with sinister sneers, and, of course, the vampires with top hats. Follow after the break for the full video, and prepare to be TERA-ized.
Vindictus open beta off to an early start
Looking to get a head start on some F2P dungeon-crawling, vampire staking, and goblin smashing? It's your lucky night, as Nexon America has let us know that the Vindictus open beta has left the terminal a bit ahead of schedule. The festivities include the game's newly accessible third episode, the aforementioned new mobs, and a new dungeon (Ainle), which you can enter from boat dock three. Inside, you'll encounter a town overrun with fireball-flinging undead and assorted underworld minions, many of which can be picked up and used as thrown weapons thanks to the game's Source Engine physics. In addition to the new content, early access beta players will be able to retain their characters, rank, and loot when Vindictus officially launches later this month. Check out more of our Vindictus coverage, including video of the game's grappling moves, or head over to the official web site for more info.
Dungeon Defenders preview: Defense of the Diablo
Dungeon Defenders originally began as "Dungeon Defense," an indie game created with Epic's Unreal Dev Kit that mashed up the tower defense and action-RPG genres. Developers Trendy Entertainment then decided to revamp the game, which became Dungeon Defenders, and it's now being readied for release on XBLA, PC and PSN (with support for Move and stereoscopic 3D) later this year. After a recent preview session with the game, I'll say this: It's complicated. Dungeon Defenders doesn't just mix pieces of a few genres, it totally combines them. There is a full tower defense game here, and a full action-RPG game, and even a little bit of real-time strategy resource management. There's a lot going on, but just like recent genre-mixer Monday Night Combat, players who can juggle a few genres at a time will find a lot to like. %Gallery-103139%
TUAW's Daily App: HYBRID 2: Saga of Nostalgia
Gamevil's new action RPG HYBRID 2 is an excellent game, but it's not one that I would recommend for just anyone to pick up. We've spotlighted plenty of great casual games and apps here on the Daily App, but HYBRID 2 doesn't fit in that category. If you've never played a Japanese-style action RPG, you'll probably get lost right away. There is a pretty solid tutorial for the combos, but soon after that, the game quickly falls into the kinds of tropes that only someone who loves old school RPGs can deal with; there's a convoluted plot in which the world has to be saved from a supernatural threat (again), jerky controls with lots of stats to oversee and upgrade, and even lots of typos and some Engrish in the menus. Don't get me wrong -- HYBRID 2 is actually a lot of fun. If you've played the first one, you'll automatically know what to do, and even if not, you can skip right past the cutscenes and get right into the excellently stylish 2D fighting and rewarding level grinding. Once you actually wrap your head around it (and your fingers around the less than trustworthy D-pad and virtual buttons), there's some great hacking-and-slashing action to be had, with hundred-hit combos earning XP and loot all the way through the quest-based storyline. The game is worth the US$4.99 for the right person. If the action sounds good to you and you aren't about to let a cluttered interface and clumsy story get in the way, have at it. Everyone else will probably have to wait for Dungeon Hunter 2 to get their action RPG on.
Retailer: Solatorobo is DSi-enhanced
Cyberconnect2's Solatorobo: And Then To Coda (previously known as Solarobo) will feature support for the DSi camera, according to a listing from Japanese retailer Game Star. The listing doesn't offer any detail on how the functionality will work, except to note that you can take pictures that will be used in the game. This adventure, a semi-official followup to Tail Concerto, will not require the use of a DSi. Siliconera also points out a new video from the official site (see it after the break) of a multiplayer mode available over Download Play, in which up to four players can race in an Air Robo Gran Prix.
Diablo 3 adds Artisans to craft items for you
In Diablo 2, you had the assistance of a mystical Horadric Cube to alchemize new items. In Diablo 3, adventurers have the much simpler option to just ask some guy to make you stuff. As revealed today at Gamescom, your character can meet and befriend Artisans, including a blacksmith, mystic and jeweler, who will then follow you around the world of Sanctuary, making new items from raw materials you extract from unwanted loot. The blacksmith makes weapons and armor, of course, and can add sockets to items when possible. The mystic enchants items and creates magical implements like scrolls, potions, runes and charms. The jeweler creates gems, amulets and rings, and can also combine existing gems and remove socketed gems. Each artisan has a quest line and backstory and has skills that can be upgraded by the player. A Blizzard game with crafting? It'll never work. %Gallery-99749%
Ys Seven eases onto retail and PSN August 17
Finally, that 12.5" x 34" space in the "cloth map" area of your room can be filled. XSEED has announced the release date for the beautiful collector's edition of Falcom's action RPG Ys Seven -- as well as the PSN version, for those of you whose walls are already completely occupied by cloth maps.
OFLC rates Namco Bandai's Solarobo
Solarobo, CyberConnect2's DS action RPG about animals piloting mechas, is on its way to the Anglophone world -- specifically Australia, according to an OFLC rating for the Namco Bandai-published game. Solarobo, a spiritual successor to CyberConnect2's Tail Concerto, casts the player as a dog bounty hunter (but not Dog the Bounty Hunter) who uses his mech to catch fugitives on his floating island home. The game allows characters to fight and interact with the environment both in and out of walking robot vehicles. Red (the dog hero in question) can also "trance up" and transform into ... a human, with his mech transforming along with him. To learn more about Solarobo's gameplay, you can check out several short videos on the website. It's something to do while we optimistically wait for a general announcement.
Preview: Darkspore, Maxis' 'Spore meets Diablo' action RPG; coming Feb 2011
Last week saw the release of DeathSpank, a game I wasn't alone in likening to "Monkey Island meets Diablo." Presumably in an attempt to avoid missing the "meets Diablo" bus, Maxis is preparing to give the PC gaming world Darkspore -- a.k.a. "Spore meets Diablo" -- in February 2011. It's a new Spore game, albeit one focused on combat. It's described by publisher Electronic Arts as a "sci-fi action-RPG," but you might describe it as "not really what you were hoping for from Maxis." Still, the studio Will Wright built (and later left) seems to be trying its best to work the idea – an idea it's had since wrapping the original Spore, we're told – into something that will satisfy a more hardcore, multiplayer-focused PC gamer. %Gallery-97777%
Review: DeathSpank
"DeathSpank? What a ridiculous name!" I can hear you saying it now. Yes, it is a ridiculous name, for a ridiculous game which revels in the fact that it's ridiculous. Well, that and damned funny. Oh, and a super-fun, retail-caliber yet downloadable action-RPG. If you haven't been following all things 'Spank, know that it's the creation of Ron Gilbert (one of the mad geniuses who brought the world the Monkey Island series) and Hothead Games (makers of the delightful, and also downloadable, Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain Slick-Precipice of Darkness). Also know that it stars a hero, DeathSpank, who possesses enough machismo to fill a football stadium. His grasp on reality, on the other hand, would barely fill a football. %Gallery-71890%
Preview: Ys Seven
XSEED's recent deal with Nihon Falcom means a truckload of role-playing games on PSP for us. The flagship product of the partnership is Ys Seven, the latest game in the long-running action RPG series and the first to be designed specifically for PSP. As someone whose experience with the Ys series can be described as "casual" at best -- I played the original Ys on a few different platforms -- I was pleasantly surprised to see the game evolve from the clumsy bumping-into-monsters adventure I remembered into an action RPG game that seems more than competent in the action department. %Gallery-96423%
Square Enix's Lord of Arcana be-heading to the PSP
We were just thinking to ourselves this morning, "You know what Square Enix should do? Make a multiplayer action game for PSP. And boy, I could really use a large Berry Blast from Jamba Juice!" And wouldn't you know it, the publisher announced plans to bring Lord of Arcana, a "multiplayer action game," to Sony's handheld at some point in the future. A release date "will be announced at a later time," though the EU PlayStation blog says the game will be "coming soon". The announcement details Lord of Arcana as allowing play with "up to three friends" and including creation tools for crafting your own playable character. Between LoA's official website (can we call you LoA, LoA?) and the handful of screens released thus far, it appears that, regardless of the game's "multiplayer action" description, there'll be plenty of numbers and bars and giant swords to satiate Square Enix fans. Unfortunately, the press release contains no mention of that Berry Blast smoothie. For shame.%Gallery-96718%
Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep trailer features fighting, floating PSPs
Just past the break, we've got a new trailer for Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, which highlights the PSP title's trio of protagonists: Aqua, Ventus and Terra. As you'd imagine, their keyswordthingy skills are without equal -- except when directly compared to each other, we guess. So where were we? Oh, right, the trailer -- you can see it yourself just past the break. And if you're wondering what all of the hubbub is about, you probably haven't read our E3 preview yet. Don't worry, we won't hold it against you ... for now.
Sega already at work on another PS3 Yakuza
At some point, even die-hard Yakuza fans are going to grow weary of the series, and Sega is doing its best to determine exactly when that will happen. The latest Famitsu brings word from Toshihiro Nagoshi that, as development on Black Leopard: New Yakuza Chapter for PSP continues, the team is simultaneously working on another Yakuza game for PS3. This will be the seventh game in the series. Even among those suffering from Yakuza fatigue, Nagoshi's announcement that this game would feature the eyepatch-clad Goro Majima as a playable character is likely to ignite some frothing demand. Majima, the "Madman of the Shimano Family" is notable mostly for being kind of crazy, and obsessed with fighting Kazuma Kiryu. Inhabiting his life will be pretty different from following the comparatively virtuous Kazuma. "While I can't give a release time frame yet," Nagoshi said, "we're working to deliver it at a time Yakuza series fans will want." Whether he means the fans clamoring for an uninterrupted supply of Yakuza, or regular sensible people who think there should be some time between sequels, is unknown.
Meet your new 3D Dot Game Hero
Atlus searched far and wide its 3D Dot Game Heroes character hub for a new face for the game, in its "Make-a-Hero" contest. Finally, it found someone man enough, and cannon enough, for the job: Mannon. After the break, see some of the user-created heroes who almost got the job.
Preview: Yakuza 4
As I played through the combat-only demo of Yakuza 4, I noticed a small group of onlookers gather around demo station. It's not that I was fighting exceptionally well, but the fighting in Yakuza games is something of a rare spectacle, with a single tough guy weaving through a crowd of gangsters, deftly punching, kicking, dodging, stepping on faces, and bashing them with weapons ranging from swords and stun guns to traffic cones, advertising signs, and beer bottles. Whatever's handy, really. %Gallery-94713%
Nomura: Kingdom Hearts 3D 'probably' being developed by Birth by Sleep team
Square Enix sent out some (unfortunately flat) images representing two of its announced 3DS titles, Kingdom Hearts 3D and Chocobo Racing 3D. We're going to go ahead and assume you aren't tired of looking at 3DS images yet, and place them in galleries for your perusal. Don't expect the games to look exactly like this upon release -- these images essentially represent tech demos. Tetsuya Nomura told Siliconera that Kingdom Hearts 3D "will probably be developed by the team who was in charge of Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep, the Osaka team." In other words, Square Enix hasn't even gotten to the point in the game's development where it figures out who's developing it.%Gallery-95619%%Gallery-95618%
Preview: Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep
At last year's E3, I got a chance to check out Kingdom Hearts' first North American outing on handhelds, 358/2 Days (or, as Google's automatic calculator called it when I just searched to make sure I had the name right, 179 Days). I recall being impressed at how they managed to ape the solid experience the game delivered on PS2 on a portable platform, albeit at the cost of a bit of visual power and general gameplay depth. To describe Birth By Sleep using these terms would be awfully irresponsible. If 358/2 Days was Square-Enix's attempt to emulate the franchise's previous offerings on a handheld, then Sleep represents the fruits of the studio's developmental labor. It's not just an attempt to squish the core franchise down to a smaller format -- it's a fully realized extension of said franchise.
