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Games to Get Excited About

Posted on December 7, 2018 by Azkadelya

Well, it’s that time of year, the time we’re all broke! All the big name games have already come out earlier this year, so December isn’t really a big time for video games to be released. However, there are some good ones coming out so let’s have a chat…

Just Cause 4 – December 4, 2018

This game is taking place in Solis, a South African World. The hero Rico Rodriguez has come here to find out about his past. And as we all know, in a video game that means things will get dicey! Just Cause games are really an excuse to do whatever it takes to complete your mission. I haven’t personally played any of them, but I’ve seen game play and they look like a blast. Lots of action to be had and enormous world maps. This new installment promises to be the most diverse and dangerous world they have had so far.

On this new island you aren’t just finding the truth, you are leading a rebellion, as in all the Just Cause games. Only this time you get a wind suit and insane weather that you can use to help you. The footage of this game is beautiful. The map has all different climates and it promises to keep you on your toes. Without having played any of the previous games, I’d definitely give this one a try.

 

Forza Horizon 4 – Fortune Island – December 13, 2018

Unless you are living under a rock, you’ve heard that Forza Horizon 4 is an amazing game. The driving is fun, tweaking the tuning can be for beginners or experts, and who doesn’t want a car just the color they always dreamed. This barely came out a few months ago and already it is expansion time! This new island is the biggest expansion of any of the Forza games and is promising to beat your expectations. They have new terrains and weather to really change up the driving experience. You can even watch the Aurora Borealis while you drive! If you own the base game, you definitely need to pick up this expansion. And don’t forget, it’s on Game Pass!

 

Silent Night: A Ghost Story for Christmas – December 2018

Until now I was completely unaware there were ghost hunting games. As a lover of horror and creepy – how dare I not know this! Then I found Silent Night. It’s a standalone game from Darkling Room who are the creators of the Crown franchise of ghost hunting games. There isn’t a lot about this game, but the idea behind it and the short trailer make it look like it could be a fun play through. I mean come on, a haunted church and graveyard on Christmas Eve, what could be more exciting? You get to use ghost hunting gadgets and encounter ghosts from all the way back to the Black Plague. This game doesn’t have a set release date yet, but I have definitely followed to find out when it is. I recommend this one for anyone who likes a game that’s a bit different, ghosts, and creepy things!

We all know these aren’t the only games coming out in December, so keep your eyes out for anything that looks good! It never hurts to take a chance on something you think you will have fun with. For those that love Borderlands 2, the VR version does drop on December 14, 2018. You can head over to Steam to find Silent Night: A Ghost Story for Christmas, you can find Forza Horizon 4‘s expansion on the Microsoft store, or Just Cause 4 online and at your local retailer.

That’s all for this month, time to get looking at what comes out in next year! ‘Til then, play what you love!

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Review: MapleStory 2

Posted on November 26, 2018 by Vanri The Rogue

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Developer: NSquare
Publisher: Nexon
Platform: PC

What’s it About?
MapleStory 2 is a free to play MMORPG. It was released in 2015 in Korea, but world wide on October 10th of this year. Anime-style characters can quest through and explore a 3D block world filled with monsters and adventure.

What did I think?
This game is adorable and addictive. I never played the original MapleStory, but I’m not sure if I even need to. The exposition is given to you in detail in the beginning. Two sisters – one good and one evil – keep balance in the universe. The Good sister created a world, however, that was filled with nothing but goodness. The Evil sister feared that the universe would become unbalanced, so she fought her sister. Both sisters died and both good and evil now reside in the world.

Everything about this game is adorable. From the chibi anime characters to the cute little monsters and the 3D block-like world. The colors are bright and happy, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make a kick-ass dark assassin.

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The game mechanics are interesting. It has controller support, but you can’t just use a controller. For example, in any menu, you have to use your mouse. You can use your gamepad to move around, fight and talk to people, but the second you open a menu, you have to switch to your mouse. I’m not a fan of this aspect of it. Either have it be controller all the way or no controller at all.

I can’t speak too much about the story, as I’m not too terribly far into it yet. I’m also not sure if the story is slightly different depending on which class you choose. I decided to start with the Runeblade class, which is kind of like magical melee. I rather enjoy the combat in it. It’s fluid and my special attacks are very powerful and easy to use with low cooldown times.

There’s also a skill point and attribute system that a lot of open world RPGs tend to have now-a-days. This allows you to customize your toon to be just how you want them to be. Do you want a high strength melee fighter, you can do that, just focus your attribute points in strength. Nothing is pre-set, which I love.

Finally, there are also super fun mini-games! These I haven’t yet had the chance to play myself, but I’ve seen some gameplay of them. I’m excited to play some and I’ll be sure to update as I do!

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Do I recommend it?
Yes, definitely. It’s a free to play MMORPG with a compelling story and super adorable graphics. What’s not to love? Go download it and let me know what you think in the comments below!

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Review: Ring of Elysium

Posted on November 19, 2018 by Vanri The Rogue

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Developer: Tancent Games
Publisher: Tancent Games
Platform: PC

What’s it about?
Ring of Elysium is a multiplayer battle royale game. With graphics closer to PUBG than Fortnite, this action packed battle royale certainly keeps you on your toes. Sixty people are trapped on a mountain and must avoid the massive snowstorm, Ymir. The objective is to get to the rescue flight, which can save up to 4 people.

What did I think?
The game itself runs very smoothly. There was no lag, no glitches that I came across. I would have liked the chance to learn what my controls were before being thrown into a match. I know that other battle royales do the same thing, but it’s frustrating when you don’t know what you’re doing and are killed within seconds.

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Like PUBG, you can drive a car or a boat to get to your destination faster. These are loud, however, and can be heard from very far away. I did have an opportunity to snipe someone driving in a car, but I didn’t know the controls and they passed by without me so much as firing a shot.

The customization was pretty cool, though extremely limited. You can go in and change your facial features, but mostly everything is preset. My biggest issue was the lack of diversity. You can only be an Asian man or Asian woman. This being an Asian game in early access, I understand why that’s the case, but I hope that they add more to this as they get closer to a full release.

The ambiance is rather jarring to me. The game itself is very quiet. The only sounds around are natural sounds, like wind blowing and leaves rustling. You can hear people walking if you’re in the same building as them, which is pretty cool. I actually got a kill because of this (which is more than I can say for any of the other battle royales I’ve played). The gunshots are loud, though. So loud that they gave me anxiety. I’m sure I can mess with the sound options, but my chest is still a little tight.

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Do I recommend it?
If you’re into battle royales, definitely check this game out. It’s free to play on steam, and it is currently only available in North America and Asia. If your anxiety is triggered by loud noises or gunshots, I highly recommend you let this one pass or tweak the sound settings to make it not so jarring.

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Fighter’s Block: The Best Game to Play During NaNoWriMo

Posted on November 17, 2018 by Iris the Keyblade Master

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So, show of hands: who is participating in NaNoWriMo this year?

NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. It’s an annual challenge that writers take to create a 50,000-word novel in one month. One epic month where you are not allowed to tell yourself, “This is terrible. I should throw everything out and write it again.” A month of late nights and early mornings, a month of word sprints to see how much you can write in ten minutes, a month where you find yourself cancelling plans with friends because you have to work on your novel, a month of spontaneous plans with friends while you are procrastinating on your novel.

Which I am not doing by the way. I am sacrificing the time that I could be spending working on my novel to help you, my fellow WriMos. Please stop judging me. I have plenty of time to reach my word count goal for today. So there.

So, here’s a fun game that can help you raise said word count each day. I especially love to use it when I know I’m going to have a full schedule during the day, i.e. work and streaming. It’s called “Fighter’s Block.”

“Fighter’s Block” can be found here. You start at Level 1, fighting the “Not-A-Block” monster. And how do you defeat this monster? By writing!

You set a goal for yourself based on how many words you’d like to write. Personally, I like to set my goal for 500 words, but it’s completely up to you. The number of words is the amount of health that your enemy has. As you type in the text box beneath the “battle,” the monster loses health. But when you stop typing, your avatar loses health, and will continue to lose health until you finish mulling over what to write next. So the game forces you to write fast without concern for whether it’s “good enough,” making it perfect for WriMos.

If you need to stop for any reason, that’s not an issue. You can always pause the game until you’re ready to start again. Additionally, you can change the speed of the monster’s attacks, the size of the text, the font, and the color scheme of the page where you’re typing. And the more you write/play, the more you level up, and you can unlock new avatars to use.

All of these settings are great additions, but the real value of “Fighter’s Block” comes from its concept. It provides a fun way to increase that word count and get your thoughts down without worrying about the quality of them. (For now, anyway. Revision comes after the work is finished.) So, if you’re a gamer and a writer, check it out, and have fun!

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Gaming News: Black Friday Edition

Posted on November 16, 2018 by Azkadelya

Hey everyone! It’s November which means it’s almost time for gorging ourselves on Thanksgiving… oh, and that little thing called Black Friday! I’ve found the deals going on this year at Target, Best Buy, Wal-Mart, etc and I’ve laid out the specs for you. Whether you are looking for games or a new console make sure you look here!

Xbox

One X – 1TB – Gold Rush Special Edition Battlefield V – $429.99 at Best Buy

One X – 1TB – $399.99 at Wal-Mart (other bundles $70 off)

One S – 1TB – Minecraft Creators Bundle – $199.99 at Best Buy or Wal-Mart

Controllers – 39.99 at Best Buy and Target – $39 at Wal-Mart

X-Box Live 3 Months – $12.50 at Wal-Mart

Playstation 4

1TB – Marvel’s Spider-Man Console Bundle $199.99 at Best Buy and Wal-Mart

Controllers – $39.99 at Best Buy and Target – $39 at Wal-Mart

Nintendo Switch

Super Mario Kart Deluxe Bundle – $299.99 at Best Buy, Wal-Mart, and Target

Controllers – Starting at $14.99 at Best Buy

Games

Select Games at Best Buy – $19.99, $24.99, and $29.99

Select Games at Target – $15, $25, $29.99, $35

Select Games at Wal-Mart – $12, $17, $25, $35

Red Dead Redemption 2

  • $59 w/exclusive Steelbook at Wal-Mart
  • $59.99 w/collapsible cup at Best Buy

Fallout 76

  • $59 w/exclusive Steelbook at Wal-Mart
  • $59.99 w/Vault boy keychain at Best Buy

Microsoft Store Deals

PC Gaming

HP Pavilion Gaming Laptop – $599.99 at Wal-Mart

  • 8gb memory
  • 1TB storage
  • i5 processor
  • 15.6″ Screen
  • NVIDIA GTX 1050i 4GB Graphics

Numerous deals at Newegg.com – entirely too many to list! Lots of PC’s and laptops with a few hundred off. As well as parts on sale.

I would love to give you more information about PC Gaming, but we all know Steam keeps it’s Autumn/Black Friday Sale pretty well under wraps. It is coming up, so keep an eye out for it! Also, Amazon has their Black Friday under wraps as well, but they already have Pre-Black Friday sales going on, so head over when you get a chance. I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving and good shopping on Black Friday (and Cyber Monday)!

P.S. Please be safe! We all know Black Friday has the ability to get out of hand!

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Staff Favorites: Horror Games

Posted on October 31, 2018 by Crymson Pleasure

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Fatal Frame. I vividly remember the first time my brother and I turned out the lights while playing it… That didn’t last long.
– Oresan Fells

 

 

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I would have to say that one of my favorite horror games is Eldritch Horror. It combines two of my favorite things; the Cthulhu mythos and tabletop gaming. Players choose a character and then set off o try to stop the ancient evil from rising. Players are faced with many horrors and even if they win they will probably not leave the game with all of their sanity. Play if you think you are strong enough, if not when then “Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn.” Happy gaming and always keep sparkling!
-Thia the Bard

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I love Alice: Madness Returns because it’s a twisted Alice in Wonderland. Everything is spooky, crazy, and wonderfully dark. You get to stab mobs with knives, smack them with a horse head or fire upon them with a teapot. Plus, you block with an umbrella. Not to mention the costumes.. Steampunk Alice is the best! -Azkadelya

 

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Damn it, Karen, stop writing on the wall

Layers of Fear is my favorite horror game. The story is engaging, the jump scares are minimal, the building terror is enough to make my skin all tingly, and it doesn’t make me motion sick since it’s basically just a walking simulator.
– Vanri The Rogue

 

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Growing up I got this board game called Nightmare. Very early 90s, mind you. A VHS board game and I loved every second of playing it. I made my neighbors play it with me over and over again. We recently played it on stream and I still love this game, no matter how old I am or it is.
– Crymson Pleasure

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Gaming News: Halloween Events in Games 2018

Posted on October 17, 2018 by Azkadelya

Hey everyone! It’s my FAVORITE time of year! October! Halloween! Black cats and Vampires roam! And hopefully they find their way into our favorite games! I know that all year I look forward to Halloween events so I thought I’d share a few that have great looks and fun stuffs to do!

First up, Fortnite.

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As I’m writing this, we are in week 2 of Season 6 in Fortnite Battle Royale. This season is full of spooky costumes, new pets and challenges to keep you busy. While Epic hasn’t officially said what is going on for Halloween this year, there are big expectations since their original release was around Halloween. There has been some information leaked that there will be Halloween quests for the PVE side, Save the World. Also, they have already decorated for Halloween on the Battle Royale Map for Season 6. You can find spooky ghosts hoisted up randomly on lightposts and houses. There are spooky cornfields in Fatal Fields and a Halloween Store in Retail Row currently. And they’ve already had a few costumes out in the store. I know I’m looking forward to seeing all that they release this year!

Next, Overwatch.

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Everyone knows that Blizzard loves their holidays and this year is no exception. As always with Overwatch, previous years skins are available during Halloween Terror. There are also 6 new skins available this year and a limited-time brawl. Junkenstein’s Revenge is a fan favorite, including mine, where you can rage against your friends or random people. New this year to Junkenstein is the ability to use Brigitte and Tracer. Also, if you feel like dropping some cash on it, if you buy the 50 Halloween Loot boxes bundle you can get 10 free. This even started on October 9, 2018 and goes through the end of October.

Another Blizzard Favorite – World of Warcraft.

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Every year, we get the Hallow’s End event. There are temporary broomsticks to ride, masks to wear, and tons of Inns to trick or treat at. There are achievements for wearing all the masks, eating so much candy you get sick, and interrupting the other sides fun. You get to go burn the opposing faction’s wickerman and you can eat G.N.E.R.D.S and kill them in PVP. It’s always fun to put out the fires and kill the Shade of the Horseman. Make sure you put pumpkins on all races, clean your teeth with toothpicks, get transformed by all the wands, and going to all the Candy Buckets. Most of all, make sure you ready up and kill the Headless Horseman in the Scarlet Monastery. I don’t know about you, but I’m still itching to get his mount! This goes from October 18 – November 1, so don’t miss it!

A new game this year – Monster Hunter: World

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Currently in this game, they have an Autumn Festival going until October 18th. This seems to include their Halloween activities this year and has costumes for your Palico and Poogie; as well as a new dress for your handler. Not to mention, the spooky gear you can get for yourself. There are quests as well which seem to be extended to October 25th due to some issues. If this is your game, make sure you don’t miss this!

P.S. If you already have this game, you got a free voucher on the 5th for a one-time character redesign!

Another MMO, Black Desert Online.

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It isn’t entirely clear what is going on in BDO this year, but if it’s anything like last year there will be quests with hat rewards, event boxes, and possible login rewards. They do already have bundles for sale (IRL money) on their store from previous Halloweens. There are costumes, mount skins, prop bundles, wall décor, a lighting set, a table set, and even a Jukebox available. Some are in limited quantity so make sure you get them while you can!

An honorable mention for Halloween that makes me sad: Ark is foregoing its annual Fear Evolved event because of the new DLC drop the beginning of November – Extinction. Until next time, play what you love!

– Azkadelya

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