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'Furi' brings its relentless fighting to the Xbox One
You no longer have to be picky about where and how you play Furi, The Game Bakers' distinctive (not to mention incredibly challenging) boss battler. The studio has released its indie darling on the Xbox One with both an extra boss fight and "polished" content, giving you a reward for your patience over the months between now and the PC/PS4 versions. If you haven't played it before and you're up for the difficulty, you should be in for a treat.
Daily iPhone App: Dungeon Hunter 4 is a hack-and-slash that asks for cash
I got to see Dungeon Hunter 4 in action a few weeks ago at GDC, and now the app is out and available for free on the App Store for you to try out for yourself. I'm torn on this one, unfortunately. On the one hand, this is an excellent game -- the graphics are extremely well done and the controls are excellent. While it is a little repetitive, this is a very respectable dungeon-crawling action game, similar in tone to the very famous (and much-loved) Diablo series. If you liked Dungeon Hunter 2, you'll be glad to see that the series has abandoned arenas for an actual story again, and I think all three of the game's classes are well-balanced and fun to play. That's all fine and dandy, but the issue here isn't with the game, it's with the business model. Dungeon Hunter 4 is a freemium title, and I'd go so far as to say it's viciously freemium. It's up to you what the most annoying of its many in-app purchase tricks are, but they include putting a timer on potions so that you have to wait or pay to use them frequently, teasing the player with better items for sale right there in your own personal inventory, or making you wait in real time (or pay, again) for item upgrades and crafting. One of these ideas might not be so bad, but including all of them means that a good quarter of your time in Dungeon Hunter 4 is taken up with the game tempting you to spend money, rather than just enjoying your time in the game's virtual world. It's up to you whether that works or not. Personally, I like Dungeon Hunter 4 -- I won't spend any money in it, but I get a kick out of the action RPG gameplay, and I can see sitting down for some multiplayer sessions with friends. If everyone who downloaded this game played like me, however (without spending any money at all), then Gameloft would go out of business, or have to fall back on a premium model. So it's up to you -- if you feel this is a worthwhile way to sell games, then by all means, give them your money. If you think making the monetization systems almost as complex as the game itself is a mistake, then it's probably better to move on and try something else. Ridiculous Fishing, for example, is an excellent title that leaves gameplay and monetization completely separate.
Daily iPhone App: Swordigo hacks and slashes in 2D
Swordigo is a really impressive venture on iOS. It's a 2D-action platformer with a lot of nice RPG elements. In other words, it's a 2D Legend of Zelda title, and it lives up to that comparison quite well. There are a few weak points. The graphics aren't exactly impressive though they do get the job done, and the story is barely there and hamstrung by some translation issues, I think. But neither of those things matters much, because the game is well designed. Every swing of your sword pops up XP into a meter, which feels very rewarding and makes the whole affair a lot of fun. Plus, Swordigo is free today, so you should probably just go download it. It's a quality game anyway, but for zero dollars, it's a must-get.
Daily iPhone App: Emissary of War
Emissary of War is a new title from Cedar Hill Games, a studio run by a former Bioware developer who's gotten into mobile development. The game is an action RPG title, and while it is a little short, there's quite a bit of polish here, some fun humor, and a good chunk of intriguing gameplay. You can point and click your hero around the game while hacking and slashing through various enemies, and he has a potion-throwing buddy that will help out both in battle and by healing at the correct times. There's a Rage mechanic for extra attacks, and lots of upgrades and collectibles to find as well. There's Game Center integration for achievements, too, which adds a little extra replayability to the affair. It's a solid title, and the fact that it's available as a universal app for free means you should probably just go ahead and pick Emissary of War up right away. The free game only includes the first episode, but the second is just 99 cents anyway, which is more than worth it if you get to that point. Emissary of War is an excellent addition to iOS (and Android, incidentally), and we're glad to have Cedar Hill's developer here on the platform.
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.
Warriors Orochi ships over 1.5 million, sequel announced
Despite flirting with futuristic racing, it's no secret that Koei's heart has always belonged to cutting swaths through bad guys, keeping their population under control with the mashing of buttons in such series as Dynasty Warriors, Samurai Warriors, or in the case of Warriors Orochi, both at the same time. Warriors Orochi, which fused both franchises for a crossover fiesta, was released last year for multiple platforms, and according to a statement from Koei this afternoon has shipped more than 1.5 million units worldwide. Granted this simply represents the number of copies the company has thrown on the back of a truck, and not how many that players have actually been taken home and played. Even so, this hasn't stopped Koei from confirming that it also plans to bring Warriors Orochi 2 to North America, giving PS2 and Xbox 360 players another means to sacrifice thumbs and delete evil doers en masse this September.
Eidos shoots the food, confirms Gauntlet for DS
Eidos and developer Backbone are bringing Gauntlet's food-shooting, poison-eating, death-avoiding action to the Nintendo DS later this year. Eidos describes the upcoming title as a "modern reworking" of the arcade classic, thankfully returning the series to its overhead roots rather than the forgettable 3D entries of recent years. Gauntlet for the DS will once again reunite the series' iconic Elf, Warrior, Wizard, and Valkyrie, and include 40 maps across three different areas. What's more, as Gauntlet has always been been strongest when played in groups, this latest version will boast ranked 4-player co-op and competitive multiplayer modes, playable both wirelessly and over Nintendo's Wi-Fi Connection. Just remember, shots do NOT hurt other players ... yet.[Via Nintendo DS Fanboy]%Gallery-19968%
Hudson revisits Dungeon Explorer on PSP, DS
Hudson's Turbografx-16 title Dungeon Explorer was one of those games that blew us away when originally released in 1989, but when revisited on the Wii's Virtual Console nearly two decades later it proved that some games are best left alone, looked back on through rose-colored glasses. Despite this, however, Hudson is at it again, this time with a laboriously-titled sequel, Dungeon Explorer Warriors of Ancient Arts, currently in development for both the PSP and Nintendo DS for release this coming February.While Atlus handled the development reigns on the original action RPG, it's unclear what studio is tackling this portable follow up. What we do know is that the game is expected to keep with the original's hack and slash theme, offering "many unique fighting styles" and "deep and customizable multiplayer adventuring," as both versions will also support up to three players simultaneously. Interestingly, however, both the PSP and DS versions look to offer distinct differences as well, with the PSP version including 150 different "fighting arts" to the DS's meager 60, such as the "Big Bang Arts," which may or may not be just a theory.[Update: A Hudson representative has contacted us, letting us know that Dungeon Explorer Warriors of Ancient Arts is being developed internally at Hudson Soft.]
First Circle of Doom artwork unleashed
Developer Blue Side has gracefully decided to share some early and undeniably striking concept art for their forthcoming Xbox 360 sequel, Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom. Though the Kingdom Under Fire series failed to set retail charts on fire during its run on the original Xbox, vocal fans won't allow you to overlook the game's considerable critical success. The Xbox 360 version's main draw is its Xbox Live functionality, allowing up to 4 players to go on a hack 'n slash frenzy through dark fantasy lands, presumably populated by psychotic clown-men.
