Since the days of Wasteland and Fallout, fans of post-apocalyptic wastelands have longed for a new addition to the genre that is even worthy of being mentioned in the same discussion as the masters. Some titles such as Fallout 3, Wasteland 2, and UnderRail have tried with varying degrees of success, but none have been able to properly recapture the same radioactive magic of their elders. That is until now. Beginning life as a Kickstarter project, ATOM RPG is an isometric RPG developed and published by AtomTeam with the sole intention of recreating that sense of wonder and fulfillment that RPG fans haven't experienced since the days of Fallout 2 and Baldur's Gate.

What I love, perhaps, the most so far is the story. Despite the main quest tasking you to investigate a conspiracy that threatens all remaining life on Earth, it's entirely up to you if you even want to go about that. You are not "the chosen one." You are not a fabled hero tasked with saving the people of the wasteland. You are a survivor. Plain and simple. Your goal is to survive. How you choose to do that is up to. Yet, despite all that, if you wish to choose to play as some kind of messiah, you can. Your story is your own. How you want to leave your mark on the wasteland is up to you.

The setting itself is also quite interesting. Instead of the cliche post-nuclear remnants of the United States, ATOM RPG is set in an alternate version of the Soviet Union circa 1986 where both sides of the Cold War settled their differences through a mutual nuclear holocaust. While a post-apocalyptic Russia setting isn't exactly new for a video game, it's still a nice change of pace from the good ol' US of A.

As of writing this review (11/28/17), there are currently over 20 quests in the early access build of ATOM RPG which will take anywhere from 8 or 9 hours to complete. AtomTeam plan on adding much, much more for the final release.

Anyone even remotely interested in ATOM RPG has spent some time with Fallout 1 and 2, and fans of the original Fallouts will find that almost everything, in terms of gameplay, has been either lovingly recreated or painstakingly improved upon; even down to the nearly identical HUD. Turn based combat is very much an acquired taste. It's difficult for people nowadays to come from Fallout 4's borderline Borderlands gameplay to an isometric turn based action game, and there's nothing wrong with that. You just have to know what you're in for. Enemy encounters are just as tactically challenging as they were in Fallout 2. You have to weigh your options against each other due to a limited number of action points per turn. For example, you could attempt to kill a bandit nearest to you, but risk being attacked by his buddies, or you could take cover and wait for an opportunity to take out any bandits in your vicinity, but they may run to cover as well.
If you have a basic understanding of turn based combat, you don't need me to explain ATOM RPG's gameplay to you; you'll do just fine.

Either in 1988 or 2017, graphics have always been the least important aspect of any RPG. The same can be said for ATOM RPG. While the visuals aren't exactly photorealistic, the graphics are serviceable and lend themselves to the authenticity of the Soviet Wasteland. The best part of this, of course, is that if you don't have the shiniest new GPU or CPU, you can still probably run ATOM RPG at 60fps. If you can run Fallout 1 and 2, you can run ATOM RPG.

It's difficult to criticize an early access game because any problems that are observed by the community will more than likely be remedied in future updates. The few issues I did fine are hardly worth mentioning. For instance, you can see the edges of locations you're in as plain grey textures and once you find an AK47, you become a walking god of death. The former can be fixed by simply adding a desert texture overlayed with a green light indicating that you are about to be transported to the map screen to walk to another location, and the latter can be fixed with a balancing patch. Other than that, ATOM RPG is one of, if not the most, stable early access game I've played.

Even in its current early access state, ATOM RPG is a love letter to the fans of the original Fallout games and is, without a doubt, worthy of your time. With a couple of patches to fix simple issues and the future release of the rest of the promised content, ATOM RPG is a great throwback experience for a reasonable price. ATOM RPG is the post-apocalyptic RPG fans have been waiting over 20 years for.
This review will be updated and added upon as updates are applied over time.

Ah, the MMO...

A genre seemingly dead, yet somewhat alive; In a coma would probably be the best way to describe it. Why? Well, could do with the standstill and/or the lack of innovation, and the easily accessible multiplayer games out there, such as RUST and ARK of the survival genre. But that innovation thing is the big problem. You see, for those who are living on a rock in the middle of the Indian ocean, World of Warcraft dominates MMOs. While some MMOs started and stayed small time players in the market working hard to keep their niche player base, others just sort disappeared as quick as they existed, almost like bubbles. MMOs and their fans really haven't moved in the past decade and a half. EVE Online and WoW just sorta are the kings; they were early adopters of the MMO genre and people flocked to them, and back then showed new and wonderful things.

But there is a new player here to have a go at recreating the MMO...

Introducing Chronicles of Elyria.

Started as a dream in a bar almost ten years ago by a handful of game developers, the people at SoulBound Studios have poured their time, effort and dosh (roughly a million) into creating the player-run MMO of dreams. Calling the features and mechanics ambitious would be an understatement... unimaginable would be a closer word. Chronicles of Elyria is a MMORPG with a story and economy run by the players. NPCs are simply extras to help mold your characters' ripple on the world of Elyria and push their epic with some engine generated storylines; We'll get to that later.
Here is my understanding of what the game will be like:

SKILLS, LEVELS AND CLASSES

The game lacks an overall level and classes and replaces it with overall skills which umbrella over specific skills;

-Combat: which covers unarmed, one-handed, two-handed, thrown and ranged as well as duel wielding and sneak attacks.
-Survival: which is specifically the skills of surviving out in the wilderness. It covers finding food and water, tracking prey, bandaging wounds and navigation.
-Crafting: the art of turning raw goods into useful items, covers producing meals and drinks, armors and weapons, furniture and fine jewlery.
-Gathering: the skill of being able to procure raw goods from various sources covers identifying and handling organic materials (such as plant or animal based items) as well as inorganic materials (such as ore, stone, metals and gems)
-Deviant: the skills of thievery and stealth. This skill allows pickpocketing, purse cutting, crafting false identities, disguises and forging documents.
-Bardic: the skills and arts of academics and performing. This allows characters to play music for buffs and entertainment, reading forgotten languages on ancient documents, performing forensic actions to hunt down criminals and the art of map making.

These skills are taught by either books, NPCs or other players. Someone who has never done smithing will always fail and must procure some style of training to begin. Once someone has learned basics they will be of Novice level. Continuing learning and grinding of skills will eventually bring them to Apprentice, then Journeyman, Expert, Artisan, and eventually to Legendary if enough dedication is given towards a skill. Specific combinations of skills will create player made classes; perhaps you want to become an explorer and map the world? Survival and Bardic would be your best bet. Or perhaps become an assassin? Deviant and Combat would do the trick. But no matter what, it is for you to decide.

CHARACTER CREATION, SOULS AND PERMADEATH

On the subject of skills, I must talk about those learning it; your character.
From my understanding there are two separate entities when referring to "you"; your soul and your avatar (or character).

Your avatar is the physical embodiment you play as in the world of Elyria. You are born either as a ward of the state or into an actual player family (each of these have their pros and cons). Your character will develop skills, battle scars, physique and a story over your life time. They will eventually die of wound or old age, depending on how physically damaged they are or how many times they have been forced to "Plane Walk" (past KO, before perma death. Similar to WoW were you have to walk to you dead body). The average played life span is between 80 and 120 in game years, and each in game year is 4 IRL days (And each of these days will be a different season). But your character will die, and you can't stop it. When you die, you have the chance to pass on your belongings in a will. Perhaps, if you have a family, it will be your next of kin played by another person or yourself? It's up to you.

Your characters body will die, but your soul will live on. Your soul will have passive skill attributes given to it by default and over the course of multiple lives, affinity (basically karma) and talents; bonuses in specific skills and special abilities such as magic or the ability to soul walk when one pleases. Achievements are things that players do over time that are bound to a soul over the course of lifetimes; Maybe you were once the champion of the arena for a kingdom, maybe you were the master and founder of a very successful guild, or an adventurer who chartered far off lands never seen before; what you achieve is up to you.
Each soul is also given a "destiny" which can be unlocked by doing specific tasks unknown to the player. Once these tasks are completed the player will then be able to follow their destiny, and once completed will have changed the world of Elyria forever in some way. Perhaps it is your destiny to adventure into a deep dark ruin, battle great beasts and retrieve the blade of kings? Or perhaps it is your purpose to FORGE the blade of kings?! You'll never know unless you trigger it. Every soul is also given a soul mate. You don't know who they are, but they share a bond with you like no other soul; their destiny is the same as yours, their talents are identical and their skills are yours if you find them. You won't know who they are unless through pure luck you find them; you can tell if they are near you through some undisclosed mechanic. And if you're forced to plane walk while you're near them you will most certainly be able to find your body with ease and plenty of time. But of course, there is a catch; your soul mate may develop to become your rival through either affinity or politics (such as guilds or kingdoms)

Oh, by the way, there is a weird soul-based subscription system..? Apparently once you perma-death (which is no easy feat) you have to cough up around 30 USD to start a new character? I don't really know, I'd love someone to clear this up for me, but a "Spark of Life" apparently should last as little as 3 months and 3 weeks to as long as a full year, which is good value since that's roughly 7 USD per month if you last as long as the minimum

TRADE, CONTRACTS, CRIME AND "OPCs"

Chronicles of Elyria removes the well known trade system and market houses and instead picks to go with contracts and player based couriers or merchants. Trading is done in two ways; face to face where you simply exchange goods or services to receive goods or services, nice and simple, and there is over trade agreements.
You sign a trade agreement (or contract) with someone when giving them a task or making an order/promise for items with a written document to prove it to them or authorities. Say, for example, you are a mercenary and have been tasked to protect a merchant shipment or cart, and in return you'll be paid. You both sign the document, you do the task and you receive your payment. But what if they want to swindle you? Then you have a document to prove it and can be given a bounty token, which depending on the laws of ye kingdom will allow you to have authorities go after them, to rob their house in compensation or to brutally murder the goy. Or perhaps YOU swindle them? Well they can do the same and go after you for not delivering, and you'll have to either flee or change identities through the use of forgery and disguises. However, what if you want to set someone up? With the skills of forgery you can trick authorities into allowing you to go after the poor bastard and stealing his stuff with a fake document.
And how would you get caught? Well, someone with forensic abilities might be able to identify a fake document, and will have you jailed or executed by authorities for your vile ways; as you should be, criminal scum!

What happens when you go offline? You don't disappear, you become a "Offline Player Character" or OPC. You can "code" your OPC to do specific tasks, such as act as a vendor or guard a specific area. But what happens if you die when offline?..I actually don't know. But it's safe to assume you'll either want to go somewhere safe in the middle of nowhere or be guarded by other characters.

EDIT- OPC deaths while the player is away will begin your Spirit Walk on your next log in. Permanently die after ~30 IRL days if you don't log in

CITIES, BUILDINGS, MAPS, RESOURCES AND RUIN

From my understanding of the game this is how it is; there are finite resources, but items that aren't so easy to replace such as metals can be replaced at a 1:1 ratio via a smelting process. Cities and buildings are also made by the players of CoE in a style that I'd say is similar to Starwars Galaxies and RUST or ARK. But the finite part of environments creates dilemmas and problems; people demolish a forest and don't plant new trees? Well the trees won't be coming back naturally. People manage to flatten an entire mountain? It won't ever be coming back either. The Soulborn engine, an engine that creates the stories, recognizes player developments and other dynamic things, and will work server side and separately to the Unreal Engine, with the ability to recognize new towns and cities through different criteria and account for them. For example, a leader has amassed enough people and resources to start building a town, then a city and eventually a kingdom. The game will start to work around this, marking on a server side map this creation. Cartographers begin creating new maps marking this city with the name of "Derginsaw" and the engine will recognize this and so on. But the city is one day attacked and razed mostly to the ground, and is left forgotten. Eventually cartographers will start not marking this place as a city, or not marking it at all and the engine will eventually turn it into a dungeon of sorts for adventurers to explore for ancient treasures and, more importantly, more old maps which will show the way to other ruins. But let's say Derginsaw was captured by a different faction, and the king wants to rename it to "Krathlanaw"? Well, he'll have to pay a huge amount of cartographers to update their maps with this new name and make it the mainstream name (like Constantinople Istanbul) and eventually the Soulborn engine will recognize this change on the back end. Oh, by the way, maps are created by players, which means people will go out of their way to map new areas, then detail them with different things such as forests and names, and then sell these to people so they can be copied or used for navigation. This hefty job will be most valuable to tacticians, adventurers and anyone who likes knowing where the hell they are. You will also have to rely on sun dials to reliably get the time of day,use a compass to find north and use astronomy to find where you are at night. Players also have a "Sensory" mini map which will show temperature, smells and sounds heard by the character, allowing you to notice finer details impossible with current technology, such as the smell of wood and cooked meat from a nearby camp that you haven't seen yet whilst hunting for bandits.

Farewell, and I hope to see you in the lands of Elyria!

Lets\r face it, we all hate chores, running errands, and pandering to the needs of\r annoying neighbours, but for some reason we just can't stay away from\r games that incorporate these aspects of life into game-play. Fantasy Life, for the Nintendo 3DS, is\r essentially what you would get if Final\r Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles and Harvest\r Moon had a baby; it's a magical RPG packed with quests, weapons, fishing, flower\r picking, crafting, and monsters. Like Harvest Moon before\r it, Fantasy Life allows you to explore and\r immerse yourself into a colourful world filled with a wide array of charismatic\r NPC's and their never-ending requests. 

In many\r games the class you choose during character creation is the class that you are\r stuck with, one of the key features that Fantasy\r Life offers is the opportunity to have your character switch between 12 unique\r classes at almost any point during game-play. This allows the player to embrace\r their inner miner while living the peaceful life of a fisherman but still being\r able to kick-ass as an adorably ruthless mercenary. Additionally, each class\r has unique goals which will no doubt keep the player occupied for hours. One of\r the more disappointing qualities of the 12 class system is that the fundamental\r game play does not change in any way when you switch between classes, and aside\r from gaining new skills and quests when you switch classes (which are retained\r when you switch again) there is no real change in how the game is played. In\r some respect this makes the 12 class system unnecessary, but at least the class\r specific costumes are cute. 

Fantasy Life also offers a main quest\r that involves the player running about, defeating monsters, and saving the\r world. Despite following the standard RPG archetype the story line it is quite\r charming, and besides, if you're already venturing out into the world to\r improve the rank of your life-at-the-time you might as well get some of the\r main quest done too.

The\r majority of time spent with this game will involve forging swords, sewing hats,\r and mining gem stones for NPC's, and aside from being able to purchase a few\r different homes and a wide array of items there isn't much to work towards\r financially. That being said Fantasy Life\r is a game that you will either love or hate; if you enjoy games like Animal Crossing you will no doubt be\r hooked on Fantasy Life after an hour.

Speaking of gameplay, this game is a rogue-like hack 'n slash that sometimes breaks out into a bullet-hell style game. The character you choose also affects the game. Feel like running around dealing tons of damage? Barbarian is the class for you. Feel like playing a shoot 'em/bullet-hell? Pick the archer.

This is a great rogue-like hack'n slash with some awesome RPG elements, and even though it isn't finished, it's already an amazing game, and I would recommend it to everyone.

Originally posted on Steam on 7/24/15

Sigma Star Saga is a dual genre RPG/Shoot-em-up developed by WayForward Technologies and released for the Game Boy Advance in August of 2005. In it, you play as Ian Recker, a skilled fighter pilot for Earth's forces, who is tasked with infiltrating the ranks of an extraterrestrial species known as the Krill who attacked Earth by boiling away its oceans killing almost all life on the surface. While undercover, Recker meets Psyme, a female Krill that outfits him with a parasite suit that gives him enhanced strength and speed and allows him to interface with the Krill's living spaceships, which is where the game's main mechanics come into play.\r

The RPG part of the game works in a very unusual, but surprisingly logical way. In order to make sure the Krill (and Recker by extension) are safe during a mission on another planet's surface, the Krill scramble the battleships in low orbit above the planet to scout for intruders, but because the ships are unintelligent living beings much like cattle, they scare very easily. As such, they warp in a nearby pilot to help them rid of whatever is causing their distress a la Random Encounter. While piloting a ship, the game plays like a side-scrolling shmup much like Gradius or Sky Kid, but once all of the enemies in the battle are destroyed, you are rewarded with some experience points and the ship will quickly warp you back to the overworld shortly afterward.\r

\r

The overworld map on the other hand plays VERY different than what I was expecting for an RPG endeavor. Unlike most RPG's, your character does not engage in battle while walking around the map. Any and all enemies shown in the overworld are nothing more than obstacles that block your progression forward and most can easily be taken out with Recker's gun. Another thing that makes this very different is the fact that Recker can find permanent power-ups on the map for both himself and whatever ship that may beam him aboard. While Recker's abilities stack in the fashion of Metroid, your ship's power-ups are customizable allowing you to better fit your play style.\r

All in all, I had fun with this game, but it isn't for everybody. It is a very nice change of pace for fans of the shmup genre, but RPG fans may have a hard time getting into the battle segments due to them being much more action oriented, and the fact that the story can be overly complicated at times. But if you're the kind of person that plays through a game multiple times, then you'd probably enjoy the multiple endings and New Game +. It even has an extra secret ending if you manage to complete it 100%. If you have the time, you should definitely check this game out, but until then, I'll be seeing you.

Score

Having been the inspiration for the Fallout series and given a new chance at life with a sequel on Kickstarter, Wasteland 2 is back again with the "Director's Cut" that includes a number of new features and improvements on top of the Wasteland 2's original game.

Developed by inXile Entertainment, Wasteland 2: Director's Cut is an open world turn based RPG that sets out to improve on many of the issues players had with the original release of Wasteland 2. These improvements overall affect the graphics, gameplay, and sound design.

Wasteland 2's story begins with the death of a fellow Desert Ranger named Ace. The circumstances of his death are very suspicious, so General Vargas tasks a team of recruits, under the code name "Echo", to investigate Ace's death and figure out who was really behind it.

Nothing from the story has changed since Wasteland 2's original release, but what has changed is the amount of voiced dialogue. Over 8,000 lines of new dialogue was recorded for the Director's Cut and it shows. Not every line of dialogue was voiced, but it is still a welcome addition to hear exceptionally more line spoken. All the new spoken dialogue sounds just as believable as the voices in the original release of Wasteland, so there are no poor performances to speak about.

The visuals in the original release of Wasteland 2 weren't bad by any means, but weren't anything special either. With the upgrade to Unity 5.0, inXile were able to improve the visuals.

All the textures in the Director's Cut look much sharper and the frame rate seems to be much more stable as well. It's clear a lot of hard work went into reworking the visuals and that this isn't just a quick port job to consoles.

Unfortunately, despite the clear upgrade, the visuals for the Director's Cut still aren't anything special which is a shame because the game itself is special. Though, if you are coming off of the original release of Wasteland 2 then you are going to notice the visual upgrade and appreciate the game even more.

On PS4 and Xbox One, Wasteland 2: Director's Cut runs at 1080p 30fps and remains stable at that; for the most part. I briefly stated that the frame rate seemed to be more stable in the Director's Cut than in the original release, which isn't a lie, but there were a few time I ran into a drop of frames when enter a random encounter. They were few and far between so it wasn't anything that hindered the gameplay.

The thing I was most worried about for the Director's Cut's journey to consoles were the controls. It was going to be tough for inXile to pull it off, but they did it. These are some of the best controls from a PC ported game that I've ever seen. The face all do what you would expect (X for interacting and O for canceling), but the triggers are where the magic happens. When the left trigger is used it brings up all of the skills you can use at that given moment, and when the right trigger is used it brings up all of the combat options you can use for the given situation.

If I did have a complaint regarding the controls, it would be that the map is still somewhat difficult to navigate and I could never really tell if I was heading in the right direction when I was trying to get to a new undiscovered location.

Gameplay in the Director's Cut remains largely the same, but with the exception of one feature that makes Wasteland 2's gameplay feel even more involving.

During combat, you now have the option to bring up a "Precision Strikes" menu that allows you to pick individual body parts of your enemy to attack. If you are familiar with the original Fallout games then you will feel right at home with the combat.

There are a lot of variables to consider when using this Precision Strikes mode though. Things like weapon level, elevation, and cover can either make or break a successful strike. I just wish that this system would factor into damage a little more. Rather than, say, shoot at a raider's arm so they can't hit you as properly, the Precision Strikes mode really is only for increasing the likely hood of you connecting a shot.

To further add to the feeling of role playing, inXile have added a "Quirk" system. This system is similar to perks, but this gives your players a "quirk" that usually has a great benefit and an equally impactful drawback.

Of course, this isn't necessary and you can choose to forgo a "quirk" altogether, but I wouldn't recommend it if you are trying to role play.

The character creation also remains untouched from the original release of Wasteland 2. Being able to create your basic look and giving yourself a decent starter outfit is nice, but I can't help but feel this feature to be lacking. I suppose I've been a bit too spoiled with other RPGs and their robust character creators.

Never did I find did I find a face (or "head") that I liked and same goes for hair style. This is a game that could have really benefited from an in depth character creator since you are encouraged to make your 4 person squad by creating each member individually.

Usually, I can never get into turn based games. I want to like them so much, but for some reason, I can never just sit down and play them. Then Wasteland 2 came along and changed that for me. Wasteland 2 was already a fantastic game in it's original release. Now with the release of the Director's Cut, it could have only gotten better, and it did. Wasteland 2: Director's Cut is a truly unique experience that you won't find elsewhere in the PlayStation Store or Xbox Live Marketplace.

(Originally posted on Steam on 1/9/16)

First of all, all of the game's battle mechanics are the same as they've always been: Your and your opponent's pokemon take turns attacking each other until only one is still fit to fight; there is the usual pokemon type match-up system where certain types are weak to or strong against certain other types; and there is the 3 starting pokemon that you have to choose one of being of fire, water, or grass in element. So with all of this formulaic stuff that has been virtually unchanged since the series beginning back in 1996, what makes this one so special? Well let me tell you because it's actually a pretty significant alteration.

Unlike the previous 6 generations of Pokemon games, Sun & Moon do not have gym battles or a Pokemon League. Instead of gym battles, "Island Trials" exist in their place where you must complete a unique task presented to you by a trial captain and then fight a special boss fight with a "Totem Pokemon" which has the ability to permanently boost one or more of its stats before a battle starts and can summon a fixed number of pokemon to help it fight. And if that wasn't enough, after you finish each trial on the island, you then need to fight the island's strongest trainer, called the Kahuna, who was specifically chosen by that island's guardian deity or "Tapu." This provides a much needed change of pace and it keeps it from getting stale too quickly.

Now when a trial captain or Kahuna is defeated, you are presented with a Z-Crystal as a reward for successfully completing the challenge. This is where the game's new battle mechanic is introduced: Z-Moves. These crystals have the ability to greatly boost the ability of the moves that your pokemon has available, assuming the move's type matches the type of the crystal AND for only one time per match. This adds an unusual new kind of strategy to the game that makes it battles much more interesting and more stressful if you don't expect them to happen. I especially like Z-Splash because it makes the original move no longer useless.

In addition to Z-Moves, a new battle style called Battle Royal is introduced where 4 trainers with 3 pokemon each face each other in a no holds barred competition to see who knocks out the most pokemon before one trainer loses all three of their fighters. This is a very interesting inclusion to the series and I would love to see it expanded upon in future installments of the series. While we're at it, another thing from this game that I want to see return in a future installment are the ride pokemon which completely replace HM moves from the previous games. HM moves were moves that you could teach your pokemon that allowed you to better traverse the world map. This was extremely annoying and I'm so glad this game got rid of them.

Now as for the villains this time around, what pokemon game would be complete without an evil crime syndicate for the player to face? Well things feel a bit more realistic this time around as Team Skull isn't your usual villainous affair. All members, with the exception of Guzma, are all trainers that attempted the Island Trials when they were of age, but bailed when it started to overwhelm them. It makes them feel more believable and pitiable this time around. It is a very nice touch overall.

Now the one feature that enjoyed the most about this game was the Poke Pelago. After you get the ability to fly to anywhere you've already been, you can visit this place at any time from the pause menu and I don't think I've ever been this enthralled before by a feature that feels like a mobile game. All of Poke Pelago is based around waiting for various actions to finish and it usually takes around 24-48 hours for anything to get done, but the beauty about it is the multitasking. It streamlines everything that was annoying about the previous generations into this compact waiting game system. While that sounds bad at first, I love it so much because of the ability to train and level up pokemon WHILE THE GAME IS OFF. As someone who rarely has time to play through RPG's any more, this feature was sorely needed.

Now I know I've only touched upon a fraction of the game's content in this article, but if I were to cover absolutely everything this game had to offer, we'd be here all day. I mean, I didn't even touch upon the Alolan form pokemon, Ultra Beasts, or the Aether Foundation, but I think that's best left to be experienced yourself. All in all while it isn't completely perfect, I haven't been into a Pokemon game this much since Pokemon Diamond on the original DS. The music is quite catchy, the graphics are splendid to look at, the battle mechanics and new game modes are top notch, and the story starts to get wonderfully dark toward the end of the third act. I give this game very high praise and I hope this marks the start of a new trend of mixing up the Pokemon formula every once and a while. So until next time, I'll be seeing you.

Score

The story basically goes like this: Princess Peach receives a letter in the mail from someplace called Prism Island, but the letter happens to be a folded up Toad with all of his color drained. On a dark and storming night, she takes the seemingly dead Toad to Mario who then decides to go to Prism Island where with the help of a magical paint can named Huey, he uncovers a dastardly plan by Bowser (and his army of Shy-Guys) where he infused himself with the sinister power of black paint to help him conquer Prism Island by capturing the six Paint Stars to hopefully keep Mario from using their power to stop him. Not the most original plot, but in concept it's at least is better than Sticker Star.

Now first of all, this game looks absolutely gorgeous. The game is in full 1080p 60fps and has a very impressive art style. Everything truly looks like it is made of paper or cardboard, save for the 3D "things" that you occasionally run into here and there. Everything is also very bright and colorful which makes it feel all the more inviting; It all just pulled me right in. My only real gripe about the design though is the fact that the paper aesthetic was just a visual style in the earlier games whereas in this game, just like in Sticker Star, the paper visuals is actually what their world is made of and further reinforces this fact when the characters and NPC's refer to themselves as such. Not exactly what I was hoping for, but with the release of Mario & Luigi; Paper Jam, I don't think this will be changing back any time soon.

The gameplay is just about the same as the previous installment where all of your actions are limited to however much space you have available in your inventory (99 cards max). Where Sticker Star had it where all you had to do was find an attack sticker so you could use it in battle, Color Splash adds a little bit more strategy to the mix, although that's not saying much. In this game, most of the cards that you get are unpainted and must be painted first before you can use them in battle, but using paint in any way depletes your reserves which are needed to recolor the spots that had been sucked dry by the invading Shy-Guys. Luckily, it is possible to find pre-painted cards to circumvent this handicap. In addition, while winning battles in Sticker Star would only reward you with coins, in Color Splash you are rewarded with coins, paint, and special mini-hammers which will permanently increase your maximum paint reserves once enough of them are collected. I guess one would equate these mini-hammers to being battle experience since there is no way to "level up" in this game, but it is certainly better than nothing. Overall this system is decent and a good step up from the last game.

Now the map is certainly something. Unlike the previous game which had a very predictable map and was laid out and numbered like a traditional Mario game, the map of Prism Island was much more open ended in design. But because the story is still linear (as most JRPG's are), the map gives the illusion that the world can be explored in whatever order you so choose. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it would've likely been a much better game had it had that option.

Now one thing about most modern Mario games that has been leaving such a bad taste in my mouth is the overuse of Toads; This game is no exception. I'm not sure exactly when it happened, but some time after Mario & Luigi: Dream Team there was some sort of decision to only have Toads as the "good guy" NPC of choice. Once again, not really a bad thing and the attempt to make them have more varied personalities in this game is a nice touch. But the way I see it, there is still no variety if they all still look the same; Make them look more interesting, and I would be more inclined to talk to them.

Which brings me to the writing. This game's writing was MUCH better than its predecessor. The humor was on point when it needed to be, and there was a natural progression of plot and character development (what little of it there was). Plus I loved all the little references and inside jokes that were thrown in here and there. It made it feel a bit more alive compared to Sticker Star. Plus the music compliments the writing very well. It was upbeat when the dialog was humorous and was intense during scenes of duress. Plus it didn't shy away from the more melancholy writing and music as well.

Overall I found it very difficult to hate this game. It has this problem where is feels disconnected from the first three Paper Mario games in the series, but it certainly tries to recapture their charm. I feel that it definitely could've been better though. It was missing the atmosphere that the first three games had, but it was otherwise quite the enjoyable experience. I would definitely recommend this game for first timers of the series, but even if you are a fan of the older games, you might find some enjoyment with it here and there. So until next time, I'll be seeing you.

Score

In an industry that has seemingly forgotten how to make a proper RPG, Spiders have to once again remind us what an actual RPG looks like; and that RPG is The Technomancer. Developed by Spiders and published by Focus Home Interactive, The Technomancer is a third person RPG in the same vein as its predecessor, the criminally underrated, Mars: War Logs.

A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. So it's a good thing that The Technomancer's weakest link happens to be redeemable. The Technomancer puts you in the shoes of Zachariah Mancer; a newly initiated Technomancer that is contracted to work with a powerful corporation on Mars. Unfortunately, revealing any more of the story would spoil too many of the twists and reveals. Oddly enough, many of the big twists aren't all that surprising, but the smaller, more character specific reveals, are much more surprising. The main story in The Technomancer isn't all that interesting or engaging, and mainly serves as a means to shuffle you along from one place to another.

Luckily, this is easily redeemed by the fleshed characters you meet along your journey. Zachariah isn't alone on his quests. You will also have two companions with you at all times, and you are able to choose from a large, diverse cast to bring along with you. Taking the time to speak to your companions is crucial as it not only will that unlock new quests, but it also allows you to get to know them. Almost all of you companions feel like real people with real goals. Given the desolate nature of the game, you will often hear a saddening story from a companion's past that is genuinely believable due to the writing and delivery by the voice actor. I haven't genuinely cared about a cast of characters like this since Mass Effect 2 from all the way back in 2010.

The world of The Technomancer feels well crafted and each location's culture and populous differ from each other. I can't say that it feels like a living, breathing world as you play because it doesn't. Sure, you will occasionally pass by groups of NPCs in city hubs talking about events that are unfolding, but these interactions are few and far between. Locations can range from giant mega cities constructed by corporations with a government run purely by corporate interest in mind, to slums put together over decades by people with scrap metal they happen to come by, to baron wastelands once inhabited by early settlers of Mars. Once you begin to tire of a city hub, you will be introduced to another filled to the brim with even more lore and quests.

One feature The Technomancer would have benefited greatly from was a codex for all the lore and characters. The world of The Technomancer is one of the most original and interesting I've seen in almost 10 years, but the only way to learn more about the game's lore is to ask certain characters about locations and factions or eavesdrop on NPCs speaking to one another.

Being that this is an open world RPG, you will eventually have to make moral decisions that will affect who lives and who dies or your own personal karma and reputation with other characters. Most of the choices you will have to make are fairly binary that have little lasting impact on you. The biggest punishment you'll get is a lowered reputation level for a certain faction, but that may also cause you to no longer be able to receive quests from the faction you scorned. In fact, there are a few decisions that are some of the most morally ambiguous I've ever seen in a game, especially for some of the companions and quests towards the end.

As a third person RPG, The Technomancer could have gone one of two routes; it could have been a generic cover shooter or it could do something original. Thankfully, we got the latter. Technomancers, themselves, are highly skilled warriors that are capable of using mage-like abilities to control electricity in battle for offensive and defensive purposes. The Technomancer focuses almost solely on melee combat, of which, there are three combat stances/modes: Warrior, Rogue, and Guardian. All of which are just as important as the others.

Warrior allows you to wield a two handed staff that swings somewhat slow, but deals a considerable amount of damage. You won't be able to block with Warrior though. Your only defence is to dodge. Rogue gives the player a short blade in one hand and a gun in the other. The attacks from the rogue stance are quick, but don't deal a lot of damage. The gun in this stance is similar to Bloodborne's as it is more of a defensive weapon to disrupt attacks with. Again, you can't block with this stance, but you can still dodge. Guardian, the final stance allows the player to wield a blunt object and shield. The attacks are about as fast as the Warrior stance, but you can actually defend yourself with the shield.

Initially, it seemed as though all you had to do was tap X until your enemies died, but you'll quickly realize that will only result in your own untimely demise. The enemy AI will adapt if you begin mashing one button and promptly counter you dealing massive damage. So you should be ready to change stances quickly, and adapt to the enemy and situation as you'll find one strategy isn't strong in every case.

Technomancer abilities do seem seem a bit underwhelming with their extent being electrifying weapons and shooting lightning from your hands to temporarily stun your opponent. You do feel a sense of superiority as a Technomancer since you hardly ever face enemies that have similar powers. Although this will amount to nothing if you take the combat as a joke because you will quickly realize that, if you aren't thinking, the enemy can get the upper hand and kill you.

In The Technomancer, exposure to the sun on mars will cause severe radiation sickness and transform people into mutants with deformed bodies and altered DNA. This is something that is explained in the opening cutscene and through a few other cutscenes along with the existence of the mutant factions in the game that have been exposed to the sun. Since The Technomancer already has a day/night cycle, this idea sounds great. You would only be able to leave cities at night to avoid the exposure to the sun resulting in the death of you and your companions. Sadly though, this isn't an actual gameplay feature. The only times that the sun's radiation is any danger to anyone is during cutscenes. Otherwise, it's purely aesthetic. That is such a missed opportunity for a unique gameplay mechanic.

You have no idea how refreshing it is to play an RPG that has the guts to tell you that you can't have every perk and ability in one playthrough. You will have to play through The Technomancer multiple times to see and experience everything it has to offer. For me, that's a proper RPG. You are more than welcome to level up each combat stance and pick new perks, but you will have to choose wisely. Often times you have to choose between perks such as doing more damage in a certain stance or increasing the likelihood of getting a critical hit. You can't have both. The Technomancer also isn't afraid to throw you in a big world and let you figure everything out. After a short combat tutorial, which you can choose to skip, you are on your own. It feels wonderful not being treated like a child and being led around by your hand.

Creating a game with a lived in world, compelling characters, and fully fleshed out combat just wasn't enough for developer Spiders. On top of everything The Technomancer has to offer, you are also given an in depth crafting system not unlike the crafting in Spiders' previous game, Bound By Flame. Almost every item of clothing and weapons can be upgraded and health items can be crafted.

In the world of The Technomancer, you will be able to find varying qualities of metal and leather, and misc items in containers and on defeated enemies in order to craft and upgrade items to survive longer on Mars. The upgrades for articles of clothing typically fall under three levels of damage reduction, disruption, and energy regeneration. Whereas, weapons can be upgraged for either increased damage, increased disruption, or increased critical hit chances. Again, just like the skill system, you can't have it all at once and will be forced to swap out and choose each upgrade.

You will often find yourself digging in trashcans or dead bodies looking for the last ingredient for your upgrade, or scrounging up enough money to afford a recipe to craft better upgrades. The crafting system is much more in depth and involving than I thought it would be and is almost a game in itself. Some enemies may be more susceptible to disruption, and some enemies are mainly susceptible to critical hits, so you will need to swap out your increased damage upgrade for an increased disruption upgrade or critical hit upgrade.

Don't expect the latest AAA lensflare simulator when picking up The Technomancer. Textures aren't anything to write home about, but some of the vistas can be downright breathtaking. There were multiple times where The Technomancer rendered me immobile as I stared at the awe inspiring view. As for texture models, they are serviceable, but in the current year just don't stand up to most games released so far. But if you only care about graphics, please stop playing video games.

The version of The Technomancer I played the most was on Xbox One. Obviously, it wasn't as graphically appealing as on PC, but some of the textures were surprisingly bad. Character and weapon textures were okay, but many of the rocks and buildings in the world looked almost untextured and seemed to be only a flat color. Despite this, the Xbox One version ran smoothly and hardly ever fell below 30 frames.

I mentioned briefly before that the voice acting is delivered well enough to compliment the writing and make characters believable. That is with the exception of whomever is voicing the playable character, Zachariah. His performance is constantly fluctuating between perfect delivery and "that tone has nothing to do with the situation." It's a shame really, because his performance is crucial to keeping players emotionally invested in the story, and I believe that's partially why I found it so hard to actually care about the main story. It's a good thing that your companions and the actual world of The Technomancer make up for that make up for it.

The soundtrack for The Technomancer can only be described as synth slathered supremacy. It is a large conglomeration of many instruments, but seeing how this is a cyberpunk game, synthesizers are the star of the show. The Technomancer knows when to expertly cut through a tense moment with a brooding 80's synthesizer that even Charles Bronson would approve of. And then the game knows when to play a soft melody during an emotional scene. Every track compliments the given situations and never feels out of place.

The Technomancer achieved everything it strived for. A non-linear, proper RPG with an emphasis on storytelling and combat. Admittedly, it stumbled over a few hurdles, but was still able to finish the race gloriously. For me, it's safe to say that The Technomancer is one of the best game of 2016. An indie developer was able to make a cyberpunk RPG to rival Mass Effect, one of the biggest AAA franchises on the market. Take that in, and do yourself a favor, don't miss out on The Technomancer.

As you can see not a lot of news can be announced in an 8 minute long video, but what can be said is certainly dense enough for a recap. That being said, let's begin.

• First of all, the first half of the Direct was presented in a blog/documentary style which showed a man on his way to visit his brother and give a few gifts to his nephews, but all of this was just a framing device for presenting the news in question.
• Pokken Tournament DX was confirmed to be coming to the Nintendo Switch. It was shown to have all of the content from the previous version of the game on the Wii U plus all 4 characters that were added to the arcade version after the Wii U's release and a brand new character in the form of Decidueye. A new pair of support Pokemon (Popplio and Litten) were also confirmed as well as Team Battles (3-on-3 matches), Ranked, Group and Friendly matches (when playing online), and daily challenges. Battles were shown to work in split screen when not playing wirelessly, but it is still unconfirmed if the official Pokken Tournament controller will work with it when in TV mode. The game will launch this year on September 22.
• Shortly after that, they showed off the new 3DS Pokemon game that was in the works being Pokemon Ultra Sun and Pokemon Ultra Moon. The story this time around is much different that what would be expected. Instead of it being a third version of the game or a sequel like what they did with Pokemon Black 2 and Pokemon White 2, the plot is said to be an alternate take on the events of the original games; much like an alternate timeline. The game will launch November 17.
• And finally, the Game Boy games Pokemon Gold and Pokemon Silver were confirmed to be coming to the 3DS via Virtual Console and will be compatible with Pokemon Bank. The games will launch on the same day as Pokken Tournament DX, but it is uncertain whether or not Pokemon Crystal will eventually be released on Virtual Console in the future.

Well that's the skinny folks. I for one am certainly happy as I said in a previous article that I wanted Pokken Tournament DX for the Switch, although I'm also a bit confused on the premise for Pokemon Ultra Sun and Pokemon Ultra Moon. All in all though I'm excited all the same. So until then, I'll be seeing you.

The game evolved with every opening of a chest. From getting basic functions as being able to move to the graphics, colors, layers, and sound design updating in real time. I was so surprised this game was on my phone. Though it took me a while to beat it due to phones being stolen or broke. I finally beat the game.

While doing some research for this review I found out that Evoland was made during the Ludum Dare game jam, an online contest where developers attempt to build a game around a particular theme in just 48 hours. Ludum Dare 24’s theme was evolution. "Instead of doing a game where players can make things evolve, we thought that having the game itself evolve as you played would be a far more original approach," Shiro Games CEO Sebastien Vidal stated to The Verge back in 2013 about the idea behind the game that came from Shiro Games co-founder Nicolas Cannasse.

Evoland Classic ended up winning the competition (out of 1400 games) and quickly gathered a very dedicated and enthusiastic fan base, reaching over 300,000 players in the first few months after its release as a flash game. The success led the Shiro team to make a full game which doubled their dev team and took four months to finish something they could be proud of.

It was a true love letter to the RPG genre. Though it's short, 4-6 hours of gameplay. It made us fans want more, and in 2015 we got Evoland 2: A Slight Case of Spacetime Continuum Disorder. Then last year we finally got it for mobile in 2018. (I'm not sure why it took a whole year to get the game to the Nintendo Switch. I would have figured they would have just ported the PC/OS X version over to the Switch for their birthday last year.) The game promises over 20 hours of gameplay I have put in just over 12 hours and am on level 20. This time around the game does a tutorial in Game Boy green then goes into a Game Boy Color. The game’s story starts out in a similar storyline to The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening. Where you are found by a villager in the woods and woken up by his daughter with no memory of who you are.

The story is an extension of the Evoland humans versus demons. In our second story we find that there has been a great war between the two. You find yourself saving the villager's daughter in the forest where you were found. After you save the daughter she joins you on your journey to find out who you are. This gives you a special ability where she uses her super sword move.

As you journey through the forest you stumble across three demons who are trying to activate an ancient artifact called the Magilith. The only way to activate the Magilith is to summon the forest guardian and harness it's Magi energy. Though the demons find out the guardian is more power than they thought, so it's up to you to defeat it before it makes its way to the village. Though after your victory the Magilith activates and sends you back time during the great war. This leads you on a whole other adventure of trying to get back to your original time. Though as you find out the Magilith always just sends you to another time. In each timeline you become friends with someone new that gives you a new special move. Even though this is a review I don't want to give away the plot to the whole story. I'll tell you this, you become friends with next to the demon thrown and an archaeologist who helps you along the way.

With each timeline comes a different graphics style. The time you start your adventure in is a classic 16-bits over the top layout, the past is an 8-bits over the top layout, and the future is 128-bits (PS 2) angled down layout. As the game goes on it becomes more then a love letter to RPGs. To get from a mountain top to the top of a pyramid the game becomes a top down airplane shooter. Once you get to the pyramid the boss fight is a tribute to Street Fighter II where you have the same moves as Ryu or Ken. In one level you have to play classic Atari games such as Space Invaders, Pac-Man, and Snake to name a few that opens the doors to the next room.

The controls are simple. There are only three buttons: action, jump, and special character swap. The physical buttons are way more intuitive than the touch screen ones. Though you can't remap them, but it still works play with one hand. The layout feel natural and I got through game faster by dying less.

If you can't wait for Link's Awakening and Dragon Quest XI S, or you just want something different in your RPG, give Evoland a try. It just might be the game that holds you over till the one you're waiting for comes out later this year.

Before I even begin, I already know the first complaint that will be made about The Surge. "It's just Dark Souls, but in the future." And while that's right, it's also wrong. It's right in the sense that Dark Souls is also a hack and slash RPG with an emphasis on patience and difficulty, but Dark Souls, nor Demons Souls, were the original pioneers of that subgenre of video games. They merely popularized it. The cherry on this bad comparison sundae is that The Surge having an original story and setting already sets it leagues above a generic medieval dungeon crawler with its only gimmick being that it's difficult.

As Warren, you arrive at CREO, a robotics company desperately trying to reverse the effects of climate change, for your first day on the job. You quickly learn that your character, Warren, is paraplegic. Now how are you supposed to play an action RPG as a guy in a wheelchair? Well, luckily for the player, the position Warren has signed up for at CREO needs him to undergo a painful operation that will give him the ability to walk again as well as giving him near superhuman strength. The catch is that, in doing so, he must agree to have a metal exoskeleton surgically bound to his body.

"Show, don't tell" seems to be the motto for The Surge's story. Similar to many games that follow this narrative style, you enter CREO's facility after it has already gone through hell, and your main goal is to survive the mad house and get out. Just the environment alone does a great job of visually telling you of what happened. It also doesn't hurt that there are occasional audio logs and survivors scattered around to help put the pieces together. While told in a way that has been proven to be great time and time again, the story itself isn't anything special and merely serves as a backdrop for the vastly superior gameplay.

While nothing entirely special at first glance, the visuals of The Surge are quite impressive for a middle market game. From the highly detailed combination of the flesh and metal textures on Warren's newly modified body, to the sprawling, seemingly lived in, facility of the CREO complex, The Surge is a testament to the fact that you don't hundreds of millions of dollars to make a pretty game.

At this point, we're all familiar with combining light and heavy attacks as well as occasionally blocking and dodging to overcome hack and slash gameplay challenges. So what does The Surge bring to the table? Instead of needlessly adding arbitrary gameplay gimmicks or complicating systems that were fine the way they were before, The Surge chooses to refine already tried and true gameplay as well as putting a twist on some to make it its own.

Normally this is the part where I would say something along the lines of, "if you're familiar with Deck13's previous hack and slash outing, Lords of the Fallen, you'll be right at home with The Surge," but that would actually be wrong. If you did, by chance, play the criminally underrated Lords of the Fallen, then you would remember just how slow and deliberate it felt. The Surge is not at all like that. While it's still just as, if not more, deliberate as its predecessor, it's also much, much faster. Think of the nature evolution from Dark Souls to Bloodborne in terms of speed, and that's one of the only Dark Souls comparison that can be made here.

It's the little things that have a place in my heart. Something as simple as targeting seems like something that doesn't need to be improved on or tampered with in anyway, right? Well The Surge does just that and now it's how I want targeting to be in every game I play from now on. There's many things you have to pay attention to in The Surge, and enemy's armor is one of them. The Surge allows you to target individual body parts in real time and make decisions on the fly of where your attacks should land to inflict the most damage.

"Cutting" was, by far, my favorite feature in The Surge's. To cut, you must first build up your energy level by successfully chaining together light and heavy attacks to perform an instant kill. The benefits of cutting also go beyond just an instant kill. Say there's an enemy with a weapon you want. Simply target the body part that the enemy is holding the weapon in and cut it off. The successful cut will result in the enemy dropping said weapon and allow you to pick it up and use it. This also works for armor, so mutilating your enemies is greatly rewarded.

Just having light and heavy attacks is so 2011. Why not have vertical and horizontal attacks as well being able to combine those with light and heavy variants? With the addition of cutting individual body parts, having the ability to choose between vertical and horizontal attacks was definitely a needed option, and we got it. You wouldn't want to swing downwards when attacking someone's legs, you'd want to swing from the side.

Killing enemies rewards you with experience points. Take those experience points back to the designated safe area to level up, but if you die before you make it back to the safe area, you drop your experience points and have to pick them back up, and returning to these safe areas respawns all the enemies. Sound familiar? Well it should be to anyone that's played this kind of game in the last 5 or 6 years. There's nothing inherently wrong with this formula because many developers in the past have proven it to be effective. The problem The Surge has with it though is that it spreads these safe areas out thinner than Assassin's Creed's premise. There's only one or two safe areas, or "MedBays," per level, and these levels are huge. So you're either going to have to trek all the way back to the only MedBay in the level or pray to God that you can make it all the way through to the next level. Having more than one MedBay wouldn't have hurt the difficulty, Deck13.

Starting on the outskirts of CREO's facility, Warren must delve into the heart of a robotics lab in order to escape. As far as level design goes, The Surge offers enough to serve its intended purpose, but still nothing to write home about. The levels go far beyond the samey grey corridors and interiors that you would initially expect from a fictional facility like this, and they even feel lived in, as if they were designed with an actual purpose other than mindlessly murdering enemies scattered around, but nothing ever really stood out to me; or gave me that "wow" moment.

I also couldn't help but feel somewhat let down with the sound department. Now don't get me wrong, whether it's a chainsaw tearing through flesh and metal or bludgeoning unsuspecting crazy people to death, The Surge elevates the sound of death to an art form, but the music is seriously lacking. You would think that a cyberpunk action game would be a great excuse for the developers to throw in some fast, hard hitting synthwave, but with the exception of some occasional ambient tracks and a single Stumfol track, your ears will be treated to musical stylings of nothing ft. nada.

While not exactly the greatest game Focus Home Interactive have ever published, The Surge is an incredible experience and worthy of standing among the greats such as Dark Souls and Bloodborne. The soundtrack and level design leave much to be desired, but I'd be lying if I said that wasn't all made up by the beautifully refined gameplay. The Surge is a win for Deck13, Focus Home Interactive, and anyone fortunate enough to play through this game of the year contender.