Hey there, OASG readers! It’s time for another entry of The Directional Pad and I’m tagging in for October. I’m Angela Moseley, the founder and owner of Damage Control Blog. If you’re not familiar with this column, it is a monthly feature dedicated to video game news and views. My co-columnist, Geoffrey Barnes and I switch months. Last month he had you covered with a roundup of the Tokyo Game Show. This month is a return to game news and some opinion, as there aren’t any large game shows to cover. (Not that I’m complaining.)
Fall is in the air and a flood of highly anticipated game titles are about to hit the market. In short, the holiday buying season is nearly upon us. I hope your wallets are ready. I’m not a huge follower of AAA game releases (Fallout 4 being an exception, but that releases next month), so I’m going to discuss what’s near and dear to my heart.
I’ve been playing Persona 4: Dancing All Night and I’ve been gathering up my thoughts for an in-depth impression for a Damage Control article. However, I don’t mind sharing a few thoughts on OASG. First, this game isn’t for me. I’m a huge fan of Persona 4. I’ve played the PS2 RPG, the Vita remake, both fighting games (Arena and Ultimax), Persona Q on the 3DS, and I watched both anime series. That said, I was planning to skip Dancing All Night because I know I’m not a fan of rhythm games. My boyfriend insisted my collection should be complete so he bought the All Night Disco Fever Edition for me, aka a collector’s edition.
I’ll be blunt- I suck at Dancing All Night. I’m finding it incredibly difficult to keep up with following notes on screen and other cues, as there’s just too much happening at once. Perhaps this game was only meant to be played on a Vita screen, instead of a PlayStation TV with a PS3 controller. Even on Easy I’m struggling to complete songs and I’m glad the game’s story is merciful to players who only care about the story. In that way, the game is similar to the Arena games where anyone can play the game’s story mode, regardless of their skill. I’m not even enjoying the P4 DAN’s story. I could care less about Japanese idols and the game’s emphasis on friendship strikes me as cheesy instead of heartwarming. I’m going to keep playing, but I’ve set my expectations low. To be clear, I don’t think Persona 4: Dancing All Night is bad- it’s just not for me.
Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax is out and so are the reviews. To be honest, I completely missed the boat on any mention of this game. The first time I noticed Fighting Climax was for the sequel Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax Ignition. I saw the TGS trailer, noticed various characters from Durarara!!, Black Bullet, The Irregular at Magic High School, Sword Art Online and more. What really caught my attention was the inclusion of characters from The Devil is a Part-Timer!. I was excited to learn the game was coming stateside (as I had made import plans) and then to my disappointment I discovered we’re getting the first game, not the sequel. This brings up an interesting dilemma: If I want Ignition to come stateside, it would be best to support Fighting Climax. That said, I’m tempted to wait and hope the sequel makes it over, but if sales are low Ignition may not be localized. The game is said to play similarly to Persona 4 Arena, but isn’t as complex. The fact that the game comes from the developers Ecole Software and French Bread gives me pause. They gave us Under Night In-Birth, a game that bored me to tears upon my initial play. Maybe I’ll try Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax, maybe I won’t.
Shin Megami Tensei IV sold well for Atlus. The news that the developer wants to do more with the game isn’t a huge surprise. Some people expected a port of the original 2013 game while others were expecting a sequel. Those who bet on the latter were correct. Shin Megami Tensei IV: Final is a sequel that takes place 25 years after the events of SMT IV. Asahi is the game’s new protagonist who (sort of) cheats death by making a pact with a demon. In addition to new characters and a new plot, Atlus is fixing the problems with demon negotiation that plagued the first game, will allow players to choose their own partners, and has a Neutral Route with multiple endings. (SMT IV, like any mainline SMT game, has a Law, Choas, and Neutral route, depending on what you do in the game.) The announcement of Shin Megami Tensei IV: Final is the kick I need in order to finish the first game. My 3DS was stolen with my copy of the game, so I never finished it, despite replacing both the system and the game. Here’s to hoping I’m ready for SMT IV Final when it releases in 2016.
Odds and Ends
I’m sure you’re tired of my opinions right now, so I’ll get to a quick roundup of October’s gaming news:
The PS4 drops in price- On October 9 the Playstation 4 received a price cut. The consoles now have a MSRP of $349.99 in the United States and $429.99 in Canada. This puts the PS4 on par with the Xbox One. This holiday season is going to be a great time for gamers to pick up a new console.
New trailers for Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem– Atlus released a slew of new trailers for SMT X FE, or Genei Ibun Roku ?FE for fans of this cross-over game.
Tri Force Heroes Demo- Nintendo e-mailed access codes for The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes demo on the eshop to random Nintendo account holders. Check your e-mail to see if you were selected. (Fun fact: Both Geoff and I received codes.)
Super Mario Maker sells a million copies- Technically this news came out in September, but Super Mario Maker is hot stuff. The game has sold over a million copies and will no doubt see more sales with the arrival of the holiday shopping season.
Humble Bundle’s subscription service – Humble Bundle Monthly is a subscription service where for $12 a month, Humble Bundle will deliver a variety of curated games to subscribers. The games can be kept, even after a subscription has been cancelled. Proceeds from subscriptions will go to charitable causes, just like with the usual Humble Bundle deals.
The Oculus Rift is expensive – Are you excited about the future of Virtual Reality and gaming? Then you may have had your eye on the Oculus Rift. The consumer version of Oculus Rift won’t be cheap. The details haven’t been finalized, but the price may be more than $350, which is the current cost of developer kits.
Nintendo and the NX – In a recent Wall Street Journal report, it was revealed Nintendo has started distributing developer kits for the NX Platform. The kit will likely include a console and a mobile unit. Additionally, industry-leading chips will power the new console, which should put it on par with other current gen consoles.
Games pulled from the App store again- The recent iOS 9 update brought numerous changes to iOS, including a slew of games that are now unplayable on the new OS. As a remedy, incompatible games were pulled from the App store until developers can fix them. This includes older Telltell Games titles such as The Walking Dead, The Wolf Among Us, and even Capcom titles like Ghost Trick. If you already downloaded the games, you still have access to them. Oh, mobile.
Nice graphics, no innovation- Brianna Wu, the head of development for Giant Spacekat, mentioned at GamesBeat 2015 that she feels this generation of games are lacking in the innovation department. Graphics are more impressive than ever, but the experiences are largely the same. Her solution? More women in game development to provide a different perspective that could help drive innovation. Sounds good to me. (Personally, I believe larger diversity within the games industry would be fantastic. This is why I love indie games. The platform allows developers to create games that you would almost never see from larger developers, such as Aurion: Legacy of the Kori-Odan, an action RPG based on African mythology.)
Do you think I missed a story that should have been mentioned? Let me know in the comments. See you in December! Until then I’m passing the baton back to Geoff for November.