Jump to content

UHQBot

Forum Bot
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    39,331

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    25

 Content Type 

Posts posted by UHQBot

    Season 4: Assimilation Patch Notes

    in Apex Legends

    Posted

     

    NEW BATTLE PASS

    Over 100 exclusive items including Legendary skins, Apex Packs, Loading screens, Music Packs, and more! Check out everything in the Season 4 battle pass here.

     

    NEW LEGEND: REVENANT

    Consumed by hate and obsessed with revenge, Revenant uses unnatural abilities to haunt his enemies and defy death. Check out his bio.

     

    PASSIVE

    • STALKER - You crouch walk faster and can climb higher up walls.

    TACTICAL

    • SILENCE - Throw a device that deals damage and disables enemy abilities for 10 seconds.

    ULTIMATE

    • DEATH TOTEM - Drop a totem that protects users from death. Instead of getting killed or downed, you will return to the totem [with X health]

    LOW PROFILE

    • Revenant takes +5% damage.

     

    NEW WEAPON: SENTINEL SNIPER RIFLE

    The Sentinel is a bolt action sniper rifle, effective at medium to long range. If a player presses the "fire select" with a shield battery equipped, the Sentinel will consume the shield battery from your inventory and temporarily enters an energized state.

    While energized, the Sentinel fires projectiles that deal massive damage to shields. The projectiles use different VFX trails, and there is a unique energized firing sound, so all nearby players know that the Sentinel is firing these higher damage projectiles.

     

    The Sentinel has a limited amount of energy that decays slowly over time, and loses a big chunk of juice for each shot. Once the energy runs out, the energized state ends.



    MAP UPDATE

    Our main goal for a map update, on the design side, is to get players to make new decisions.

     

    By the end of a season, you probably have your favorite spot, or spots, to land. You might prefer to rotate out of your drop location in a certain direction which in turns makes a lot of your games feel similar as the season progresses.

     

    Our goal as Designers is to offer new ways for you to approach the game, and in this case the map, so that each drop, rotation, and gunfight feels as fresh as possible. Here are a few things we're doing in Season 4 to hopefully help achieve that.

     

    You can read the full details of the changes in our blog here and you can check out the highlights below:

     

    THE PLANET HARVESTER

    With its large, multi-level design the Planet Harvester is unlike anything else on World's Edge and brings exciting new gameplay options to the game. 

     

    CAPITOL CITY SPLIT IN TWO

    Capitol City was the biggest POI in Season 3, getting the most action right out of the ship. By sending the fissure straight through Capitol City and creating some dead space in between (swallowing up one of the construction buildings as well), we essentially split this area into two separate zones for players to land in and loot: Fragment East and Fragment West.

     

    THE UPDRAFTS

    If you jump into the fissure that cuts through Capitol City you’ll slowly be carried back up from the heated, pressurized air, and allowed to coast across and land on the other side. This is balanced by two things. First, you take 25 damage from the intense heat and embers floating inside. This is a consistent amount of damage every time you drop back down. Second, you travel very slowly, in third person, while moving in the updraft.

     

    SURVEY CAMP

    This is a new, small POI in the snowy fields between the Epicenter and Skyhook.

     

    WEAPON RACKS

    These are guaranteed weapons placed on racks in the small buildings of Survey Camp. You’ll recognize them from Training or the Firing Range. This should give players who prioritize a good weapon over a premier drop location a new decision to make.

     

    RANKED SERIES 3

    For all the info on what's changing for Series 3 check out our blog. Highlights below:

     

    • Moving to Splits per season, ~6 weeks of ranked play before a reset
    • Adding Master Tier, Apex Predator becomes top 500 players by platform.
    • Soft reset and scoring are the same, but soft reset is every split.
    • Dive trails will be moving to a seasonal reward model, but Series 1 & 2 players are grandfathered in.
    • The update to how assists are scored in Series 3 also applies to Revenant’s Silence ability.

    ANNIVERSARY LOGIN GIFT

    For the first week of Season 4 - Assimilation (Feb 4, 2020 - Feb 11, 2020), anyone who logs in during that time will receive the Anniversary Gift, which includes:

     

    • Year 1 Origami Flyer charm
    • Year 1 Loyalty badge
    • 10k XP for your first match of the day (available each day)
    • The Loyalty badge comes in 3 different flavors depending on when you took your first leap from the drop ship, so feel free to flex on all your latecomer buddies.



    LOOT

    NEW LOOT: SNIPER AMMO [10 shots per pickup]

    Designer Notes: Our goal here is to create a deeper, more balanced long range meta. Since snipers shared ammo types with SMGs and LMGs, there wasn't a great way to put ammo scarcity on sniper rifles without really penalizing the more ammo hungry weapons that used the same ammo type. So for Season 4 we’ve added a new class of ammo that only applies to Sniper Rifles that we hope will have players being careful about the shots they take and limit how long they can pressure targets at long range before having to reposition.

    • All snipers now take new ammo type:
      • Sentinel
      • Longbow DMR
      • TripleTake
      • Charge Rifle [now uses 1 sniper ammo per shot. Magazine holds 4 shots]
    • New attachment: extended magazine for Sniper ammo. 

    ENERGY AMMO 

    Now gives 30 ammo per pickup instead of 20. Most ammo players pick up comes from packs that spawn next to energy weapons on the ground. Now that there are only 2 energy ammo weapons in Apex, we needed to up the ammo per brick to keep energy ammo from being too scarce.

     

    REMOVED LOOT: The following items have been removed from the game:

    • Turbocharger hop-up
    • Extended mags for energy ammo [this change went out earlier than intended in the last update and should make sense with other changes in this patch but we wanted to include it here as well for players returning for Season 4 that were not aware].

    GOLD BACKPACK

    • UI update to better convey to the player when they are using or being revived with the perk. 

    WEAPONS

    Designer Notes: We want to shift up what weapons are the strongest. Also, we're aiming to reduce the power of some weapons that seem too strong and give a little boost to some weapons that haven't been performing as well as we'd like.

     

    UPDATE TO IRONSIGHTS ACCURACY 

    Apex guns move around subtly while ADS -- they rotate and sway as you move your aim, they bob up and down and side to side while moving, etc. We have special tech that makes sure the reticle on the optics stays centered even as the gun moves around a bit. However, until season 4, the ironsights on weapons didn't have this tech. That meant that the ironsights reticles could move around with the weapon and actually be slightly inaccurate -- they wouldn't point at the screen center where the next shot would fire. With season 4, we have updated most of the weapons' ironsights to properly stay centered now. Not all ironsights are upgraded yet, but we will be updating the remaining weapons as this season progresses. The weapons that will be updated for Season 4 are:

    • Longbow DMR
    • TripleTake
    • Charge Rifle
    • Sentinel Sniper Rifle
    • Havoc
    • R-301
    • Flatline
    • Spitfire LMG
    • R-99
    • Alternator
    • Mozambique
    • Mastiff
    • RE-45
    • Wingman

    G7 SCOUT

    • Moved from “Sniper” to the “Assault Rifle” class.
      • Now only accepts AR optics and attachments [including barrel stabilizers and stock].
      • Still accepts Double Tap hop-up.
      • Contributes to progress for stats/challenges for AR’s moving forward. 
    • Reduced fire rate 4.5 -> 4.0
    • Increasing time between shots for double tap 0.425 -> 0.475
    • Fixed bug where G7 had 0 ADS air spread, making it the only gun that was perfectly accurate on ziplines, etc.

    L-STAR

    • The L-STAR is no longer a crate weapon and can now be found around the map.
    • Uses energy ammo.
    • Reloading has been removed and the L-STAR will overheat after sustained fire so best to fire in short bursts to manage overheating and recoil. 
    • Damage reduced per shot 19 -> 18
    • Rate of Fire decreased 12 -> 10
    • Less horizontal viewkick when the weapon fires. 

    DEVOTION 

    Designer Notes: The Devotion was chosen to go into the crate for a couple of reasons. Mainly 1) it is an energy ammo LMG, and so is the L-STAR and 2) data shows us that a fully kitted Devotion is actually one of the strongest weapons in the game, and could work at crate power level.

    • Removed from normal loot pool and is now a crate weapon.
      • Magazine size: 54
      • Total ammo stock: 162
      • Turbocharger functionality.

    HAVOC 

    Designer notes: With the removal of turbocharger, we wanted to buff the base havoc. Most notably, we are reducing horizontal recoil and making it easier to control.

     

    • No longer accepts the Turbocharger hop-up [turbocharger has been removed from the game] but can still equip Select Fire.
    • Decreased time between shots when using Select Fire hop-up .77 -> .56

    R-99

    • Reduced damage per shot 12 -> 11
    • Increased magazine size for the first 3 tiers:
      • Base: 18 -> 20
      • Common: 20 -> 22
      • Rare: 23 -> 24
      • Epic: 27 -> 27

    PROWLER

    • Increased damage per shot 14 -> 15

    HEMLOK

    • Increased single-shot rate of fire 5.6 -> 6.4

    WINGMAN

    • Adjusted magazine sizes:
      • Base: 4 -> 5
      • Common: 6 -> 6
      • Rare: 8 -> 7
      • Epic: 10 -> 8

    EVA-8

    • Double Tap hop-up: reduced the delay between bursts: 0.85 -> 0.80

    MASTIFF

    • Fixed an exploit that players discovered and reported where you could rapidly fire the Mastiff.

    GOLD WEAPONS UPDATE

    • The following will be the new set of Gold Weapons for Season 4:
      • Havoc
      • P2020
      • Sentinel 
      • Prowler
      • R-301

    LEGENDS

     

    BLOODHOUND

    • Downing (not killing) players adds 5 seconds to Beast of the Hunt timer. It is possible to exceed starting time with successive kills.

    CRYPTO

    • EMP no longer destroys friendly Gibraltar Dome Shields.
    • Dome Shields no longer can stick to Crypto’s Drone.

    BUG FIXES

    • Fixed bug that was causing players that reached account level 500 to crash or access their inventory or store.
    • Fixed bug where player level text would appear on the badges of level 100 badge when it wasn’t supposed to.
    • Fixed bug for some cases where players were unable to equip weapons from care packages when attempting to swap it with an existing weapon.
    • Fixes for a few bad spots in World’s Edge where players were getting stuck or getting to places they shouldn’t - thank you to everyone that’s been capturing and reporting these issues and keep them coming!
    • Fixed bug where sometimes when the Jumpmaster disconnects then the followers in their squad would float in mid-air and be unable to unfollow.
    • General stability fixes. 

    QUALITY OF LIFE

    • Fixes for cases where approaching the edge of the Circle would make the players screen turn almost all white.
    • Updated colorblind settings based on player feedback.

     

    s41.png

    • Community Request: added a Random Favorites option for unlocked skins that can be found in the Legend customization menu.
      • You’ll see an option to “favorite” skins you’ve unlocked [Y button on consoles].
      • Choosing Random Favorite option from the skins menu will randomly cycle your chosen favorite Legend skins in between matches.
    • Increased the timer for when you can still be credited for an assist after dealing damage: 5 seconds -> 7.5 seconds.

    s42.png

    • Nerfed the Roller that falls from the Loot Drone.
      • Reduced damage.
      • Decreased radius of splash damage.
      • Updated the visual FX to the explosion for better visibility.
    • “Target Compensation” and “Melee Target Compensation” options have been moved to the “Advanced Look Controls” menu.

    PENALTIES AND LOSS FORGIVENESS IN RANKED MODE

    There are some changes coming to loss forgiveness to reduce abuse of the system. Loss forgiveness when a teammate leaves or fails to connect is unchanged, and is working as intended. We will be limiting the RP loss forgiveness when you leave once per day. If you exceed once per day more than three times per ranked series, you lose all forgiveness for the remainder of that series. Once these limits are reached players will no longer receive RP loss forgiveness when abandoning a match, regardless of the reason for quitting. We will continue to display prompts that alert you that leaving will count, and now will alert you when you are about to run out of loss forgiveness games.The scaling penalties are the same as last Series.


    s43.png

    PLAYERS CRASHING WITH DXGI_ERROR_DEVICE_HUNG 

    Some player are experiencing an issue where Apex is crashing with a “DXGI_ERROR_DEVICE_HUNG” error message. We are working closely with NVIDIA to help determine the cause of the issue and provide gamers with a solution (via updated driver or game patch) as soon as possible.

     

    s44.png

     

    Helpful Information When Reporting:

    Graphics card vendor/model (ie: ASUS ROG STRIX RTX 2080)

    Driver version: (ie: 441.66)

    Any pattern to repro? (specific location, certain duration of gameplay, etc.)

     

    MATCHMAKING UPDATE

    With this patch we’ll be pushing out changes globally to matchmaking that we’ve been testing in specific regions. We’re well aware that this has been a contentious topic among players and there’s been some misinformation out there so just to be clear: skill-based matchmaking has existed in Apex since launch and we’ll be continuing to improve it over time.

     

    Let us know what you think in the discussion thread.

    View the full article

    Season 4 Map Updates

    in Apex Legends

    Posted

    The Planet Harvester has split Capitol City apart -- and that’s just the start.

    Learn what you can expect from the latest changes.

     

     

    Hi! I’m Jason McCord, Design Director on Apex Legends. With Apex Legends Season 4 - Assimilation fast approaching, I wanted to share with you some of the design decisions that drove the Season 4 map updates to World's Edge.

     

    Our main goal for a map update, on the design side, is to get players to make new decisions.

     

    By the end of a season, you probably have your favorite spot, or spots, to land. You might prefer to rotate out of your drop location in a certain direction which in turns makes a lot of your games feel similar as the season progresses.

     

    Our goal as Designers is to offer new ways for you to approach the game, and in this case the map, so that each drop, rotation, and gunfight feels as fresh as possible. Here are a few things we're doing in Season 4 to hopefully help achieve that.

     

    The Planet Harvester

    Apex Legends Shattered Forest After

     

    As you drop into World's Edge, you'll immediately see the Planet Harvester, which Hammond Robotics are using to gather precious metals from the core of the planet for reasons unknown. The red beam can be seen from the entire island, giving players a better sense of directionality and understanding of the center of the map.

     

    Anyone who has played Season 3 of World’s Edge knows that Fuel Depot can be scary, especially in late-game. Because this POI (Point of Interest) is the center of the map, changing this location gives players more opportunity to experience the new content more often.

     

    With its large, multi-level design the Planet Harvester is unlike anything else on World's Edge and brings exciting new gameplay options to the game. Fights are largely self-contained as squads will tend to enter the fight through the long hallways that lead to the center of the structure. This should make 3rd parties a little more predictable and hopefully easier to defend against.

     

    Considering the unstable, volcanic nature of World’s Edge, it’s no surprise that the Planet Harvester has caused giant lava-filled faults to rupture, splitting Capital City in two.

     

    Capitol City Splits in Two

    Apex Legends Shipping Container Town After

     

     

    Capitol City was the biggest POI in Season 3, getting the most action right out of the ship. By sending the fissure straight through Capitol City and creating some dead space in between (swallowing up one of the construction buildings as well), we essentially split this area into two separate zones for players to land in and loot: Fragment East and Fragment West.

     

    The large fissure can only be crossed in two locations (a zipline, or a fallen skyscraper bridge). This allows teams some breathing room to control one side after the drop, reducing the risk of running into 3rd parties from the other side of the city. Is the construction site too hot for you? Land in Fragment East and use a Wattson or a Caustic to control the choke points for extra security. Of course, Pathfinder and Octane can both use their ultimates to get their teams across at any location.

     

    The Updraft

     

    The original design of the new fissure had players drop to their death if they had the misfortune of missing a jump. We wanted this gap to matter - for players to fight across and control the bridges as the only way across. This let certain Legends shine (Pathfinder / Octane for crossing, Caustic / Wattson for defending) and created some intense firefights when the ring was approaching. The problem was, a fatal fall felt too punishing. The last thing we wanted was players avoiding the new map changes because they had an unfair experience.

    Now, if you jump into the fissure that cuts through Capitol City you’ll slowly be carried back up from the heated, pressurized air, and allowed to coast across and land on the other side. This is balanced by two things. First, you take 25 damage from the intense heat and embers floating inside. This is a consistent amount of damage every time you drop back down. Second, you travel very slowly, in third person, while moving in the updraft. You are essentially a flying loot piñata for any nearby enemy players.

     

    Competitive integrity is always a big factor while designing new features, and our main concern with this feature was allowing players to escape fights they are losing by sliding into the fissure and sailing away. We think the damage and slow rise make players respect the gap while in a firefight, while, in calmer moments, allowing players to have fun and experiment with this new space without the risk of immediate death.

     

    Survey Camp

    Apex Legends The Cage After

     

    This is a new, small POI in the snowy fields between the Epicenter and Skyhook. This is another camp created to relieve the pressure of locations like Capitol City, Refinery and Epicenter. It also creates some potentially new rotations, like moving through the train tunnel to get to Skyhook.

     

    Because this is a small POI, we wanted to give it a little more of a draw. For this reason, we created Weapon Racks.

     

    Weapon Racks

    apex-legends-screenshot-season4-weapon-rack-01.jpg

    These are guaranteed weapons placed on racks in the small buildings of Survey Camp. You’ll recognize them from Training or the Firing Range. his should give players who prioritize a good weapon over a premier drop location a new decision to make.

     

    We’re always excited to try flipping Battle Royale rules on their heads, and we look forward to seeing how this feature influences where players drop.

    With these updates, as well as a new Town Takeover coming later in Season 4, we hope you are as excited to play the new World’s Edge as we are!

     

    Thank you for playing Apex Legends!

     

    Jason McCord
    Design Director
    Apex Legends

    Let us know what you think on the discussion thread!

     

    Content may change as we listen to community feedback and continue developing and evolving our Live Service & Content.  We will always strive to keep our community as informed as possible.

    View the full article

    Children Of Morta Review – Family Matters

    in Game Reviews

    Posted

    01.png

    Publisher: 11 Bit Studios
    Developer: Dead Mage
    Release: October 15, 2019
    Reviewed on: Xbox One
    Also on: PlayStation 4, Switch, PC

    Children of Morta is a nicely designed dungeon crawler with a huge heart. As you skillfully hack your way through skeleton hordes and fire arrows at demonic ghouls, the lives of the ten people in the Bergson family are explored fully; you watch them bond, struggle, and ultimately grow – from children and parents to magic-wielding gods. This action/RPG strikes an odd balance between showing the purity of family life and the need to sacrifice all to save the world, but it ends up being compelling and thoughtful, giving you plenty of reason to cheer the Bergson's on.

    The writing is top notch from start to finish and unfolds through the soothing voice of a narrator who speaks of the Bergson’s lives as though they are unfolding through a children’s picture book. The visuals follow suit with beautifully animated pixel-art characters atop colorful backdrops. The unique animations used to frame the story moments are impressive and great in number, often including all of the family members in a scene. Even small moments, like the adoption of a new pet, are brought to life in playful and gorgeous ways. The family home is the hub players visit after each dungeon run. Whether you succeed or fail in that run, you are often treated to new snapshots of the Bergson's lives and can hear what they are thinking. It’s a cool touch that again hammers home the family dynamic.

    Click here to watch embedded media

    We learn that this home sits at the epicenter of an ancient evil known as the Corruption. When this force begins spreading across the land, the family is forced into action, beginning with John, the father, and Linda, one of his daughters.

    John functions like a typical warrior with rapid sword techniques, a shield for defense, and area-of-effect magic attacks to damage approaching hordes. Linda is a talented archer brought to life with twin-stick shooter controls. Both of these family members are a blast to control, as are the other four Bergson family members that unlock as the story progresses. All six characters are unique – both in performance and their deep skill paths. The special attacks they unleash are finely balanced and each character more than stands a chance in the dungeons, even when the odds are against them. As you uncover more of a dungeon's map, you don't know what lurks in the shadows. A few enemies may advance on you, and can easily be swatted away with basic attacks. A few steps further, the ground may bubble to life with magic portals, and you quickly find yourself overrun and unleashing everything you have, praying that the cool-down meters on your specials replenish faster.

    Evasive maneuvers are also excellently implemented into combat, allowing each character to dive out of the way of a charging enemy or under a sword's cut if the timing is right. Given how valuable runes and other item drops are, exploring every inch of a dungeon is a good idea, even if you know you may get in over your head at times.

    03_0.jpg

    Developer Dead Mage wants the player to bounce between the playable characters as much as possible and ensures this through a fatigue meter that can greatly deplete a family member’s health for a set amount of time if they are used too frequently. Yes, this can be annoying if you want to use Lucy’s fire magic against a particular boss, but Dead Mage rewards character switching. At specific level milestones, the entire family gains an attribute or bump from a particular character, meaning it’s in your best interest to level all of them up to these valuable points. Even if you suit up as an infrequently used character, they aren’t outmatched in higher-level zones, as the big bumps to health, attack, and other attributes are applied to all family members – another fine touch.

    Each dungeon you enter is procedurally generated and carries light roguelike elements, such as random pickups, trap placements, and enemy formations that can make some runs easier or more challenging. In one run, you may have health canisters lying all over the place. In the next, you may be clinging to a sliver of life with no healing in sight. Both scenarios deliver excitement, as the gameplay never waivers from being fun and challenging. Each run delivers meaningful progress as you keep the gold you collected. This is the currency you use to apply the family-wide attribute bumps. Runs can last between 5 and 25 minutes, with each dungeon concluding with an intense boss fight that has you picking away at a lengthy life meter. These bosses are big, mean, and are a good test of skill.

    Click image thumbnails to view larger version

    06.jpg 09_0.jpg 02_0.jpg

     

                                                                                                                

    The entire experience can be made a little easier by playing with a friend. Local co-op is your lone option for multiplayer, and although enemies have more health, you have the chance of reviving your fallen buddy. This increases your odds of seeing the dungeon to the end. Co-op is fun and makes great use of the different classes, allowing tanks to draw fire while support rains death from a distance.

    I can’t stress just how smartly made Children of Morta is. The narrative flows smoothly in and out of dungeons, the characters have a real life to them, and the gameplay is enthralling and has those addictive qualities that make you just want to keep leveling everyone up. In the 15-plus hours I invested in this adventure, I was thoroughly captivated by everything Dead Mage set out to achieve. The way family comes together for the final conflict is truly impressive.

    childrenofmorta.jpg

    Score: 9

    Summary: Developer Dead Mage has created an action/RPG that succeeds in story, combat, leveling, and the bond formed in a family.

    Concept: Play as six different members of the Bergson family as they use their gifts to rid dungeons of evil

    Graphics: The entire game delivers vast amounts of pixelated animation and striking backdrops. A little hitching occurs when the screen scrolls in specific areas

    Sound: I like how the score changes between action and story sequences. The melodies are catchy, but the true star here is the narrator who you just want to hear more of 

    Playability: All of the characters control well in their own unique ways. Adding a second player changes up the dynamic in interesting ways too

    Entertainment: Dead Mage belts three home runs: one for the story, another for the action, and the last for the deep and interesting RPG elements

    Replay: Moderately High

    Click to Purchase

    View the full article

    Coffee Talk Review – A Caffeine High And A Crash

    in Game Reviews

    Posted

    coffeetalk_screens_9.jpg

    Publisher: Toge Productions
    Developer: Toge Productions
    Rating: Teen
    Reviewed on: PlayStation 4
    Also on: Xbox One, Switch, PC

    When life gets tough, people often reach for what comforts them and provides the extra boost to endure. For a lot of people, that can just be a good cup of coffee; they develop routines around when to get it, find favorite cafes that cater to their style, and get to know the baristas who are serving their beverage of choice. Toge Productions taps into this concept in Coffee Talk, an interactive experience that shows the powerful relationships that can form around a cuppa joe. While this theme makes for some engaging conversations, the writing falls into a tangle of clichés that go exactly where you expect. 

    Coffee Talk is set in Seattle in 2020, but isn’t exactly a representation of the real world. In this alternate reality, creatures like werewolves, vampires, and succubi coexist with humans. Elves are building startups, dwarves are creating automotive empires, and orcs are using computers instead of axes for job satisfaction. You play as the owner and barista of a small coffee shop – one of the few open past midnight. Your job? Fulfill patrons’ drink requests and listen to their troubles.

    It’s important to go into Coffee Talk knowing that it tells an authored story; it’s a visual novel first and foremost. This isn’t a game of choice, and it has no dialogue options. The only control you have to how events sometimes play out is by correctly fulfilling drink orders. For instance, if you find a special concoction, you may be able to help a werewolf contain his rage. The game is more about capturing the relationships that form between a barista and their customers. Many times you’re just watching interactions play out between other customers who have also formed companionships due to their shared interest in late-night coffee.

    For such a text-heavy game, the dialogue is well done, albeit with a few grammatical errors. I especially liked the banter between everyone. It isn’t all fun and games, though. Coffee Talk gets creative and uses its characters to explore various issues in society, from racism to crunch. Sometimes the writing waxes philosophical. For example, it discusses how even if the world was one race, we’d still find some differences among us and use them to marginalize others. 

    Click image thumbnails to view larger version

    coffeetalk_screens_10.jpg coffeetalk_screens_11.jpg coffeetalk_screens_1.jpg coffeetalk_screens_14.jpg coffeetalk_screens_2.jpg coffeetalk_screens_3.jpg coffeetalk_screens_15.jpg coffeetalk_screens_4.jpg coffeetalk_screens_16.jpg coffeetalk_screens_5.jpg coffeetalk_screens_6.jpg coffeetalk_screens_7.jpg coffeetalk_screens_8.jpg coffeetalk_screens_9.jpg

     

                                                                                                                

    I like that Coffee Talk poses these questions, but it does so in predictable, well-worn ways. You have an elf and succubus whose parents want them to marry within their species. A father struggles to let his daughter make her own mistakes, while the daughter can’t seem to grasp how little life experience she has. These scenarios feel too familiar, and they unfold without many surprises. The most interesting storyline centers on Neil, a mysterious being from another planet who is merely looking to breed and enters the world of dating apps. If anything, Coffee Talk feels like a game full of interesting concepts that are only half-realized. I was more entertained with the ideas than their execution. 

    When you’re not chatting up customers, you’re creating their requested drinks, and this is really the only way you can show people you’ve been listening to them. Sometimes, customers say, “Make my usual.” Other times, they say, “Surprise me.” Sometimes they make requests you can’t fulfill exactly, forcing you to improvise. A lot of the later game drink requests require experimentation, and sometimes you’re just fumbling in the dark. At the very least, you can trash a drink up to five times before serving it, and the loading menus sometimes provide hints at how to create the fancier coffees. 

    The specificity required to make some drinks is frustrating. For instance, you get one primary ingredient and two secondary ones. The order that you put the secondary ingredients can alter the drink you’re making. You can have all the right ingredients, but still endure some trial-and-error to craft what you want. And the controls (on PS4, at least) make creating latte art more trouble than it’s worth, to the point where I had to stop bothering with it. Outside of these annoyances, I had fun trying to unlock all the different drink types.

    Coffee Talk is an interesting experience. At times, it struggles with just how far it wants to explore certain topics, sometimes only giving a cursory look at the issue at hand. I was still entertained during my playthrough, and I genuinely cared about the characters and their journeys – even if those journeys don’t take them to unexpected places.

    coffeetalk.jpg

    Score: 7.5

    Summary: Coffee Talk shows the powerful relationships that can form around a cuppa joe, but it does so in predictable, well-worn ways.

    Concept: Step into the role of a barista, creating drinks and interacting with customers, but in a world where humans and fantastical creatures co-exist

    Graphics: Pixel-art visuals give the game personality, and the character designs are imaginative, especially for the orc game designer and nekomimi popstar

    Sound: Basic sound effects and music set the tone, but it’s all pretty minimal

    Playability: Coffee Talk is primarily a visual novel, and easy to pick up and play. Some mechanics, such as discovering drink recipes and creating latte art, take a little more experimentation

    Entertainment: Getting to know your customers is the highlight of Coffee Talk, but some arcs are too cliché

    Replay: Moderate

    Click to Purchase

    View the full article

    Kentucky Route Zero Review – A Surreal Road Trip

    in Game Reviews

    Posted

    krztop.jpg

    Publisher: Annapurna Interactive, Cardboard Computer
    Developer: Cardboard Computer
    Rating: Teen
    Reviewed on: Switch
    Also on: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC

    As Kentucky Route Zero opens, an aging delivery man with a faithful dog by his side pulls his truck into a gas station. The man’s name is Conway, and he needs directions to 5 Dogwood Drive so he can make his final delivery of antique furniture. That’s the game’s narrative frame, but with each passing scene, you learn Kentucky Route Zero is about other things – like community, debts, and uncertainty. Plot beats punctuate the journey, but the evocative scenery, bizarre mysteries, and imaginative writing are even more compelling. Think of Kentucky Route Zero like taking a road trip, but the places where you stop are only half the fun; the other half is deciphering the signs and arrows along the way, contemplating what lies beyond the horizon of the roads you’re not taking.

    If that all sounds too ambiguous and artsy, then this game may not be for you. At its most grounded, Kentucky Route Zero is an adventure game suffused with magical realism. At its most fantastic, it is a collage of pure dream logic. You meet android musicians, a giant eagle, and glowing skeletons. You drive down extra-dimensional highways, watch experimental performances, and question the shape of reality. In short, Kentucky Route Zero is delightfully weird. It is focused intently on ideas rather than traditional puzzles or obstacles – but as a piece of interactive art, it’s poignant and enthralling.

    Click here to watch embedded media

    The story unfolds primarily through text boxes and dialogue choices. You start by controlling Conway at the gas station, but you dip in and out of the lives of many others as the cast expands over the course of five acts. The writing deftly portrays a bleak world with lonely inhabitants, and though your decisions can’t exactly change that, you aren’t just advancing text like a visual novel. Players still have a sense of agency. This can come from something as simple as deciding a mundane detail about a character’s past, like why Conway’s parents were reluctant to let him watch TV. Some choices have immediate outcomes, like deciding which lyrics come next in the song you’re hearing. Other options – particularly in Act IV – are important because they lead to certain scenes at the exclusion of others.

    Kentucky Route Zero’s approach to player choice is fascinating because it is impossible to optimize outcomes. No decision is better than another; you have no good or bad consequences, no scenes are more beneficial than others, and you can’t change the trajectory of the overall story. What you’re left with is the freedom to define the tone and mood of the events and interactions, which is more gratifying and powerful than I expected. How haunted are the characters by their pasts? How guarded are they around strangers? Your answers to those questions may not result in a grand branching narrative, but they still affect your perception in cool ways. It reminds me of a page in a coloring book, where you control the tint and shading, but the black outlines of the big picture are the same.

    Click image thumbnails to view larger version

    01_0.jpg 02_0.jpg 03_0.jpg

     

                                                                                                                

    Also like a coloring book, the blank spaces can be just as interesting as those you fill in. Kentucky Route Zero revels in its strangeness, and rarely pins down details with clear exposition. This intentional vagueness usually frustrates me in games, but I enjoy it here. It works because the game never promises what it can’t provide; it raises questions and presents mysteries, but doesn’t feel like it’s building toward big revelations that never come. Instead, it mixes quiet moments and inexplicable phenomena, then invites your imagination to explore the fuzzy boundaries of the fiction.

    Kentucky Route Zero was successfully crowd-funded in 2011, and the first act launched in 2013. The game is now complete, with the subsequent acts and interludes releasing sporadically over the last several years. Even so, the flow doesn’t feel disjointed; each new act feels like a natural expansion as the world and characters blossom. In fact, they may blossom a little too much; by the end, the characters and story beats are too numerous and diffuse to coalesce into a fully satisfying finale. I won’t spoil it here, but even my relative disappointment at the conclusion reinforces something I love about the rest of the experience: Kentucky Route Zero is about appreciating the journey, not reaching the destination.

    kentuckyroutezerotved.jpg

    Score: 8.5

    Summary: Kentucky Route Zero is delightfully weird. It is focused intently on ideas rather than traditional puzzles or obstacles – but as a piece of interactive art, it’s poignant and enthralling.

    Concept: Deliver some furniture, meet other travelers, and things get more complicated from there

    Graphics: The graphics are simple, but they are used in cinematic and unconventional ways to surprise you

    Sound: Atmospheric sound design sets the right tone, and a few brilliant musical moments are expertly deployed to great effect

    Playability: Characters occasionally get caught up on environments, but movement and interactions are generally straightforward

    Entertainment: Though it seems to be a traditional adventure game at first, this is an enticing and bizarre tale unlike anything you’ve played before

    Replay: Moderately High

    Click to Purchase

    View the full article

    Journey To The Savage Planet Review – A Worthwhile Expedition

    in Game Reviews

    Posted

    Journey to the Savage Planet

    Publisher: 505 Games
    Developer: Typhoon Studios
    Release: January 28, 2020
    Rating: Teen
    Reviewed on: Xbox One
    Also on: PlayStation 4, PC

    Your adventure in Journey to the Savage Planet doesn’t start with much promise; as a member of the fourth-best company in space exploration, you arrive on a remote planet with lackluster equipment, incorrect intel, and insufficient fuel for the return trip. With so much going against you, it’s a miracle you can get anything accomplished. Thankfully, with a planet full of unique wildlife, fun discoveries, and plentiful resources, things aren’t so bad after all.

    The titular savage planet you explore is AR-Y 26. This unassuming name hints at just how little your company thinks of the place. Much to your surprise, not only is it teeming with life, but a giant spire towers over your landing spot, indicating some form of advanced civilization. However, there’s no sign of that species anywhere, so your scouting mission quickly gets a secondary goal of figuring out what happened – a mission that becomes more enticing as you learn about the planet and the creatures that came before you.

    Click here to watch embedded media

    The early objectives in this first-person experience are centered on getting your bearings and scanning the surrounding area, which is about all your equipment allows for. However, exploration quickly proves rewarding. For example, I found (and ate) a mysterious orange goo behind a waterfall, bestowing permanent health and stamina upgrades. In addition to 100 orange goo pods, you also find alien alloy (which can be used in crafting), as well as resources dropped by creatures and caches. Cracked walls, high ledges, and grapple points hint at secrets worth exploring, with lore-based discoveries like alien tablets and explorer logs that provide you with videos and messages explaining what happened before your arrival.

    You can craft a better battery for your pistol, plus thrusters that give you a double jump, but new crafting options open as you complete sidequests. I love having the option to expand the crafting tree to reach more meaningful rewards like an explosive charged shot, more powerful bombs, and even interface overlays that reveal the locations of nearby collectibles. Even if you don’t want to deviate from the main mission, you still unlock handy traversal abilities like the ground pound to smash through brittle floor, or my personal favorite: a grappling hook to swing from specific points like Spider-Man. Each of these upgrades opens new possibilities for exploration, giving you a reason to return to areas you thought you finished.

    Click image thumbnails to view larger version

    eu_1.jpg eu_2.jpg eu_3.jpg gi_2.jpg ao_sceenshot1.jpg ao_sceenshot2.jpg ao_sceenshot3.jpg ao_screenshots_firstperson4.jpg ao_screenshots_firstperson5.jpg

     

                                                                                                                

    As much I enjoy discovering the various secrets, the act of reaching them isn’t always fun. First-person platforming is difficult to get the hang of due to your restricted field of vision, making some platforming sequences harder than they should be. Another problem is the gunplay, which is adequate at best. While your primary weapon is upgradeable with faster reloads, increased damage, and a bigger battery, shooting enemies never feels fun. Aiming is imprecise no matter how you tune the sensitivity, and hitting moving or small targets often proves even more upsetting than the challenging platforming sequences.

    If you’d like to chart the planet with a friend, you can jump into an online co-op session. Players scale to the host’s abilities, meaning your friend who hasn’t played more than a couple of hours has access to all the late-game gear you’ve unlocked. While the two co-op explorers aren’t able to play off each other in any meaningful way, having an extra gun in encounters or an extra set of eyes to spot secrets is immensely helpful.

    Journey to the Savage Planet presents you with a well-constructed world full of fun collectibles to hunt down and interesting wildlife to survey, but the way the world design encourages and rewards exploration is its biggest accomplishment.

    journeytothesavageplanet.jpg

    Score: 8

    Summary: Journey to the Savage Planet provides a fun world to explore from start to finish, even if the shooting doesn't feel great.

    Concept: Explore a colorful and dangerous alien planet to uncover its mysteries

    Graphics: Bright colors and cute monster designs make even the most dangerous sections on the planet a delight to look at

    Sound: Dynamic music reacts during encounters and ratchets up the tension. I regretted choosing the dog character from the start, as I got sick of hearing its whimpers every time I took damage

    Playability: Navigation is easy thanks to an intuitive waypoint system and easy-to-understand controls. The game isn’t particularly challenging, but floaty gunplay and hit-or-miss platforming can make sequences harder than they should be

    Entertainment: With fun discoveries galore, I was always excited to step back onto the surface of this uncharted world

    Replay: Moderately high

    Click to Purchase

    View the full article

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Guidelines Privacy Policy.

  I accept