The Planet Cries Out

Final Fantasy VII: Remake

Genre: Action RPG

Developer: Square Enix Co., Ltd.

Publisher: Square Enix Co., Ltd.

Platform(s): Playstation 4

Dear Square, I love you. No, seriously, like someone get me a new change of pants. This is actually happening. You thought I was excited for VtM: Bloodlines? Pfft! The beloved game from my teenage years has returned…in HD.

After years of talk, photos of what could be, and constant teasers and fan-made trailers, Square officially announced the remake of the infamous JRPG Final Fantasy VII to be released March 2020. This game is responsible for creating one of the most heart-stopping story-lines of all time, along with a cast of unforgettable characters that are still cherished to this day. 

As the gameplay trailer shows, we start off with the same iconic train scene as it rolls into the station at Midgar. The ominous Shinra reactor looms in the distance as Cloud stands tall, Buster Sword strapped to his back and ready to rumble. I was never a big Cloud fan, but damn if he doesn’t look good, spikey hair and all. Hell, everyone looks good (even Wedge!).

So what’s changing and what’s staying the same?

For fans of the original, the battle system is going to be something that may or may not take some getting used to. One of the biggest changes is that the turn based system is no more, replaced instead with a hybrid version of constant action and tactical gameplay. This type of system was first introduced in Final Fantasy XIII, where the characters are consistently moving about the battle field while the ATB (active time battle) gauge fills and players choose their actions (i.e. attack, magic, summon). Unlike FFXIII, however, players will be able to freely attack, dodge, and block incoming attacks which will slowly fill your ATB gauge. This will then allow you to choose an ability such as a magic attack or to use an item.

Cloud's "Cross Slash" Limit Break in action

And yes, Limit Breaks are still in the game and, like the original, fill the Limit Meter when you take damage (Dolphin Blow in HD anyone?).

Another cool new tactic is the ability to swap between characters’ mid-battle. The character you’re not in control of will still fight and dodge on their own, steadily building their ATB gauge for when you want to swap back over to unleash a Limit Break, spell, etc. It’s sort of like XIII’s Paradigm Shift but much cooler.

What made FFVII so memorable was the gripping story and its characters, and thankfully it looks like the story will be sticking to its roots. Barret, leader of the “terrorist” group AVALANCHE tells Cloud that the planet is slowly dying, and Shinra is the cause as they continue to suck Mako (the planet’s life-blood) from the world.

During the original teaser trailer, Sephiroth made his appearance, taunting Cloud (as usual), “Can you bear to see the planet suffer, Cloud?” Another familiar face was also introduced, complete with wisps of Mako and basket of flowers…

Oh, Aerith... Shut up, I'm not crying, you're crying!

And I saved (one of!) the best for last, the newest gameplay trailer including the infamous femme fatale with fists of steel; Tifa “don’t-f***-with-me-or-my-friends” Lockhart. For the love of all the is holy, thank you for giving Tifa a normal cup size… She was putting Lara Croft to shame there for a while, guys. Really.

You can watch the extended E3 trailer here which showcases Sephiroth and Tifa

In short, the remake of one of the most iconic games in RPG history looks like it’s living up to the hype. Pre-orders are available now at several locations, Amazon, GameStop, and Best Buy being a few. There will be two special editions along with the standard (which is just the game itself for $59.99 USD);

 SOLDIER 1^st Class ($329.00 USD) which includes:

·         FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE game

·         Play Arts Kai Cloud Strife & Hardy Daytona

·         Artbook

·         Mini-Soundtrack

·         Steelbook

·         Cactuar Summon Materia DLC

·         Carbuncle Summon Materia DLC

The other option is the Deluxe Edition ($79.99 USD) which includes:

·         FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE game

·         Artbook

·         Mini-Soundtrack

·         Steelbook

·         Cactuar Summon Materia DLC

·         Carbuncle Summon Materia DLC

I just thought of something... Knights of the Round summon... in HD. Holy. Crap. Ugh! Is it March yet? I’m going to be so broke…

A New Challenger Approaches

Google Stadia

Developer: Google

Platform(s): Cross-platform

Release: November 2019 (Founder’s Edition), 2020 (Stadia Pro and Base Series)

When it comes gaming consoles our brains usually go to the dreaded “console wars” between Sony and Microsoft (sorry Nintendo, I love you but…) and how they’re trying to one-up each other. This year, Google has decided to join the ranks and flex their muscles with a new gaming enterprise they have dubbed Stadia, originally known as Project Stream.

So, what exactly is the Stadia? Stadia is Google's new cloud-based gaming platform that allows you to play games across screens instantly. Unlike household consoles, the Stadia is cloud-based and requires no additional hardware (so far, anyway). Similar to how Netflix works, Stadia streams games directly to you no matter where you are. Google claims that, as long as you have a (fairly decent) internet connection and are able to run Chrome, you can access Stadia.

You can watch the official release trailer here:

Back in March, Google vice president Phil Harrison stated, "At launch, we'll support being able to play games across desktops, laptops, TV, tablets, and phones. This new generation of gaming is not a box." Well said, my dude, well said.

Yes, my fellow Apple users, this includes the iPhone.

Mobility aside, Google is releasing their own gaming controller that looks like a hybrid of the Playstation 4 and Xbox One controller. While wireless themselves, the main difference between the three controllers is that the Stadia runs on – wait for it – WiFi! This enables you to easily swap between devices with the controller.

You may have noticed a few additional buttons on the controller as well; the “capture” button (which looks like a little box) and Google Assistant. With a tap of the capture button, you’ll be able to record or screenshot during gameplay and instantly upload to YouTube, kind of like how the Playstation screenshot works just with less steps and recording abilities.

The controller can also be used as a USB gaming pad it wasn’t even made for, i.e. Steam PC users. Pretty sweet, right?

So what kind of power are we looking at, really?

Upon launch, Stadia's cloud hardware will initially use a custom Intel x86 processor clocked at 2.7 GHz, with AVX2 and 9.5 megabytes of L2+L3 cache. It will also use a custom AMDGPC with HBM2 memory, 56 compute units, and 10.7 teraflops of power (this has become my new favorite word, btw). The service will also have a solid-state drive storage and 16GB of RAM shared between the GPC and CPU (this information provided by Wikipedia). 

Again, this is available on your phone.

Back in March, Google revealed only a few of the games that were going to be able to be played on the Stadia, one of which included the graphic heavy Doom Eternal. However, this past June revealed a slew of other games; Bethesda Softworks is looking to release several titles with Stadia's launch later this year including Doom 2016, Rage 2, The Elder Scrolls Online, and Wolfenstein: Youngblood. Ubisoft is also participating and is promising Just Dance, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Breakpoint, Tom Clancy's The Division 2, Trials Rising, and The Crew 2. For a full list of games, please visit Google’s Stadia site here.

List of launch publishers as of June 2019

Interested yet? Cool, let’s keep going! There will be two versions of the Stadia; a free one, and one that costs $10.00 a month (the Stadia Pro). With the basic Stadia you pay nothing, but are able to buy games from the Stadia storefront and play them across your devices. Games will max out at 1080p/60 frames-per-second in the base tier.

With the Pro level of Stadia, you pay $10.00 per month. For that monthly fee, you get monthly games that are yours as long as you keep your subscription and you also get a discount on game purchases, similar to how PS Plus and Xbox Live Gold work. If you decide to end your subscription to Stadia Pro, your saves will continue to exist for games that were unlocked with a Pro account. 

The only catch is, if you want in on the November release you have to purchase their Founder’s Edition. This includes three free months of Stadia Pro for yourself, and three months of Stadia Pro to give to a friend with a Buddy Pass. The Founder’s Edition also includes the exclusive “Night Blue” Stadia Controller, a Google Chromecast Ultra for streaming to your TV, and a Founder’s Stadia Name, all for $129.

Night Blue Founder's Edition w/Chromecast

I’m not gonna lie, the “Night Blue” controller is pretty sweet compared to the standard white/black ones, and I’m a sucker for limited edition stuff ^_^; .

The Stadia Founder’s Edition is available for pre-order now through Google’shome store.

Enter the World of Darkness

Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines 2

Genre: Action RPG

Developer: Hardsuit Labs

Publisher: Paradox Interactive

Platform(s): Windows, Playstation 4, Xbox One

Release Date: Q1 2020

Be it tabletop, PC, or hell even LARPing, White Wolf’s Vampire the Masquerade has made quite the name for itself over the years. Originally a tabletop role-playing game (RPG) released back in the 90s, the World of Darkness received an upgrade to PC in 2004 thanks to Activison and Troika Games. Despite all of its issues (crazy glitches, the Half-Life 2 release) the game was an instant hit complete with its own cult following (myself including).

Now, 15 years later, we’re finally getting a sequel. With a tentative release date of March 2020, VtM: Bloodlines 2 looks to be everything we wanted out of the original times 10. This includes an actual character creation as well as your human’s background story (i.e. were you a police officer or coroner?) that will affect the way other NPCs see you.

Players begin in downtown Seattle where they’re brutally attacked and “turned” during a vampire uprising that’s being called a Mass Embrace. Unfortunately for you, an unsanctioned Embrace is a huge no-no in vampire society. This goes directly against the Masquerade, the vampire code of secrecy to keep all things Kindred hidden from humans.

An investigation is called by the Prince of Seattle in order to understand why this Mass Embrace occurred, and you’re at the forefront (oh, yay…).

While news is still trickling through the cracks about the storyline, at least five of the original Camarilla clans (six if you include the Thinbloods) have been confirmed since May 2019; Brujah, Tremere, Toreador, Ventrue, and Malkavian. Each clan will have two Disciplines (ancient powers) on top of their own personal power that was chosen when they were a Thinblood.

Let’s delve a little deeper into the clans.

The Brujah, or “Rabble” as the Camarilla have so thoughtfully dubbed them, are considered the powerhouses of the vampire clans. They thrive on strength and power, often times showing off to other vampires by taking part in an immortal version of Fight Club. Their Disciplines are Potence and Celerity.

The Tremere are considered the pariahs of the Kindred. Their obsession with blood magic and sorcery makes them difficult to trust, even among their own clan. The Tremere Disciplines are Thaumaturgy (Blood Sorcery) and Auspex.

Obsessed with the beauty of all things, the Toreador are often said to turn only the most accomplished in life believing that they can utilize the Embrace to enhance their art. They are known for their haughty, narcissistic ways, yet the Toreador are visionaries and often sought out for their keen eye for creation. Their Disciplines are Presence and Celerity.

Sweet talkin' Toreador

Known as the clan of blue bloods, the Ventrue run the Camarilla. They are in charge of keeping other Kindred in line, the guardians of the Masquerade. They can be found inter mingled with human affairs, usually as a conglomerate’s CEO or other similar stations of power. The Ventrue Disciplines are Dominate and Fortitude.

Last but not least are the Clan of the Moon; the Malkavian. Known as the crazed lunatics, Malkavian are (cursed?) gifted with the power of sight. “To be of the clan is to understand things no one else does.” Think all knowing oracle who has seen too much and can never look back. You might think them crazy, but in actuality they know a hell of a lot more than any of us truly do… Their Disciplines are Dementation and Auspex.

A screenshot from the Malkavian release trailer. Watch it here.

Unlike the original Bloodlines, the sequel will be mostly played from first person point of view. I say mostly because there will be times where an over the shoulder angle will occur, but those seem to be strictly for story progression sequences. The first person perspective gives this a more intimate feel with the action right in your face (literally). Feeding should be pretty, um, interesting to…watch? Perform? *ahem*

Everything you do in Bloodlines 2 depicts the way the game goes. Every choice, every action, every path you take (*sings* I’ll be watching y-o-o-o-u). Who you were as a human to the choices you made as a Thinblood, to the clan you devote yourself to, everything matters. Can we say replay value?

As of right now (August 2019) only the PC version is available for pre-order with home consoles coming soon. There are three versions you can pre-order with a butt load of goodies in the meantime, including a super sweet (typical!) trench coat; First Blood (basic), Unsanctioned (+24 hour early access), and the Blood Moon Edition (+24 hour early access). Check them out on Bloodlines official site.

Retro, huh?

I don’t know about you guys, but I cannot wait to make me a badass Brujah (let’s be honest, I’m gonna make a Malkavian…) to roam the streets of Seattle and dance my immortal ass off. C’mon, it’s a game about vampires. You know there’s going to be an obligatory club scene...

You can thank Kotaku for this .gif!

For now, you can watch the kick ass extended gameplay trailer from E3 here.

World of Warcraft: Classic

World of Warcraft: Classic

Genre: MMORPG 

Developer: Blizzard Entertainment

Publisher: Blizzard Entertainment

Platform(s): Windows, MacOS

From karate kicking panda bears and time traveling orcs, to winged elves and vengeance spurned demons, World of Warcraft has definitely kept it interesting with each new expansion pack they release. With the latest installment, Battle for Azeroth, the hard earned trust between both factions after defeating the Legion has been shattered, pitting the “boy king” Anduin and Banshee Queen against one another once more. 

However, if rep grinding and mundane world quests have got you down don’t worry; vanilla WoW is back, baby. The best part? If you already have a WoW account, Classic is free to download. 

For those unaware or asking “wtf is vanilla WoW,” it means World of Warcraft before the expansions and graphic upgrades. We’re talking pre-BC (Burning Crusade). That’s right folks, there are no Blood Elves or Draenei (at least not playable ones), no Death Knights or Demon Hunters. 

Not even – gasp! – Horde paladins! 

For those like myself who were around from the beginning, this is a nightmare/dream come true. Nothing was more gratifying than guild raiding Molten Core at 2 o’clock in the morning, laughing hysterically (usually in frenzied frustration) as we wiped for the 5^th time on Majordomo. On a side note, my Giantstalker gear did NOT drop that night, thank you very much…

Anyways… Classic is exactly that, classic Warcraft. It’s bringing back the roots of the game to include original character models and faction races as well as certain raids (Molten Core included). This means that both Alliance and Horde are down to their original 4 race choices;

Alliance – Human, Dwarf, Night Elf, and Gnome

Horde – Orc, Tauren, Undead (Forsaken), and Troll

Luckily enough I (and many other players) had the chance to create a character on one of the 3 realms offered on August 8^th as a “test run”. Players were able to log on and play Classic for the weekend, complete quests, and even level up (ding!) these toons. However, come that Monday these realms were to be wiped and your character deleted. 

So after whipping up a troll warrior I started to dabble a little bit. The starting area was packed to say the least, but thankfully I had no issue with lag at all. I did notice, however, that the option of quest tracking wasn’t available, even with the option checked off in my interface.

Quest tracking allows you to easily locate quest objectives on your mini-map as well as off to the side of your screen so you’re not wandering around for hours trying to find that NPC you were supposed to talk to. I’m not sure if this was because I was in a test realm or simply some fluke of the system. Quest givers were also vacant on the mini-map which usually show up as a gold exclamation point (this was the same for turning in a quest, which is identifiable by a gold question mark). 

Standard (i.e. add-on free) mini-map

They also improved support for widescreen monitors, so instead of the everything looking stretched and distorted in widescreen, it’ll look like it did on your old school screen used to, just bigger (and better).

Despite these hiccups the game ran smoothly with little to no lag. It was fun running around with a hundred or so other players, sharing quest objectives and just generally having a good time. 

One thing is for certain, leveling won’t be as easy as it has been. With no heirloom items to up your experience gain it’s back to dungeon and quest grinding. And remember how annoying it was to run everywhere until you hit level 40 and got your mount? Oh yeah, that’s happening. No more level 20 riding skills or chauffeur mounts. 

Blizzard also stated the original skill trees are being implemented into Classic. Gone are the tiered talent bars as we know it. Don’t know what a skill tree is? Oh my little noob, you have NO idea what you’re getting into… 

BAM! Here you go, a classic Hunter tree:

Please check out Blizzard Watch for a complete breakdown of the skill trees

As of August 12^th (13^th depending on your time zone) Blizzard allowed players to create their characters on a small selection of realms in order to “reserve” your character name. I have to admit, recreating my original troll hunter from 10 years ago (ugh, I feel so old) made me more than a little giddy. Hell, the original log on screen had me giggling like a fan-girl all over again!

World of Warcraft: Classic releases worldwide on Tuesday, August 27^th at 00:01 CEST, but until then here is a list of confirmed realms from wowhead.com 

(The following information was taken from the WoW Head website.)

Realms in the Americas will be:

Realm Name Type Time Zone

Atiesh Normal Pacific

Mankrik                Normal Eastern

Myzrael Normal Pacific

Pagle Normal Eastern

Faerlina PvP               Eastern

Fairbanks              PvP               Pacific

Herod PvP               Eastern

Thalnos PvP               Eastern

Whitemane PvP               Pacific

Bloodsail

Buccaneers RP                Eastern

Grobbulus             RP-PvP Pacific

Oceanic realms will be:

Arugal PvP               Australian Eastern

Remulos                Normal Australian Eastern

EU Realms will be:

Realm Name Type Language

Golemagg               PvP                English

Hydraxian 

Waterlords               RP                  English

Mirage Raceway Normal English

Pyrewood Village Normal English

Shazzrah                 PvP                English

Zandalar Tribe RP-PvP English

Auberdine               Normal French

Sulfuron                  PvP                French

Everlook                 Normal German

Lucifron                  PvP                 German

Хроми (Chromie) Normal         Russian

Пламегор                PvP               Russian

(Flamegor)

All I know is it’ll be nice to visit the Undercity and Teldrassil in one piece again!

(For the Horde! …ahem #sorrynotsorry)

Little Nightmares

Little Nightmares

Genre: Survival-Horror/Puzzle-Platform

Developer: Tarsier Studios (Engine Software Switch)

Publisher: Bandai Namco Entertainment

Platform(s): Windows, Xbox One, Playstation 4, Switch (May 2018)

The nightmarish creatures in developer Tarsier Studios’ Little Nightmares aren’t so little. In fact, compared to our protagonist Six, they’re quite large.

Little Nightmares combines elements of stealth and suspense with mind teasing puzzles to make one hell of a survival horror. The key element of staying alive is remaining hidden in the shadows, I cannot stress that enough. Dark corners, empty boxes, tall bookshelves, anything. If you think you’re well hidden, you’re probably not!

As the game opens, we’re introduced to a blurred female figure donning geisha robes and wearing what loosely resembles a kitsune (fox spirit) mask. Just as the woman turns to face us, little Six jumps awake from what was surely to become a not so pleasant dream (or…nightmare, if you will? Get it? Eh, eh?).  Thus begins our escape from the Maw.

Armed with nothing but an endless lighter and the yellow raincoat on our backs, we begin the game in an empty, leaky room in the bowels of the ship that acts as Six’s “bedroom”. Right off the bat I was struck by how gorgeous this game is, the Unreal Engine truly shining. From the flicker and glow of the lighter, the smooth shadows of plumbing in the foreground, to the many drippy pipes in just this room, the ambiance is simply chilling.

There’s very little music in Little Nightmares, save for when you’re spotted by an enemy, which makes it all the more creepy. That’s not to say there isn’t any sound. The various creatures you meet throughout the Maw make their own brand of sound. For example, the little pointy hatted Nomes you meet seem to make a sort of clicking noise, while the Chef brothers (I think they’re brothers?) sound like a horde of overweight swine that just ran a marathon in the middle of August while shoveling Taco Bell into their mouths…yeah, think about that. Now with headphones on. You’re welcome.

Six’s first encounter with the friendly Nomes of the Maw.

But I digress. Let us return to Six and her journey.

As you make your way through the corridor of Six’s bedroom you come upon a lantern that can be lit using your lighter. These lanterns (and sometimes candles) are placed randomly throughout the Maw. When lit the save icon pops up, however these aren’t save points or checkpoints (which I found out the hard way), but rather part of an achievement called “Light Up Your Life”. For all of you achievement hunters out there you only need to light 20 out of the 26.

Light ‘em up

Further progression has us running into our first antagonist, the Janitor; a blind, dangly-armed individual with the world’s keenest sense of smell. Seeing as how there are zero weapons in this game you must utilize all of Six’s abilities to sneak around the Janitor. Crawling is an absolute must and the various hiding spots (i.e. shadowed corners, empty boxes) are a god send for getting around this Stretch Armstrong wannabe.  

The Janitor giving chase to Six

As if being hounded by this weirdo wasn’t bad enough, little Six is soon crippled by hunger pains. Thankfully a shadowed child takes mercy on us, tossing Six a stale chunk of bread through the bars of their cell. Which made me think…how many other children were on this boat? What were they here for, and why? If you take a closer look at the drawings found in various rooms in the game, one can surmise that some (if not all) of these children were abducted from their homes and imprisoned aboard the Maw.

Crippling hunger gnaws at Six as she struggles to the loaf of bread

(un)Fortunately, the game doesn’t keep you guessing about the “why” for too long. Areas later and we find our friendly neighborhood Janitor wrapping up what appear to be (small) bodies and then hanging them from rotating, ah, meat hooks that are then moved along to the kitchens area. Yeah…

Timmy? Timmy is that you?!

 With Stretch out of the way, our new foe(s) become fairly obvious as you work your way through the galley. Unlike the blind Janitor, the Chef twins have no problem spotting Six scrambling along the soap slicked tiles.

Because why wouldn’t you keep your key on your cutting board?

There aren’t many places to hide in the galley, so you have to be quick. Shattering jars seems to be a good enough distraction as long as you’re smart about it.

Also, can I just say how disgusting the meat grinder puzzle is? Cause seriously, gross.

Anyone care for a bratwurst?

After working our way through the kitchens and guest area (anyone else reminded of Ghibli’s Spirited Away?), we end up in the Lady’s quarters.

Who needs a fork when you’ve got two hands?

Compared to the rest of the Maw, this area is blissfully still and clean. In the distance a woman can be heard humming softly, and upon further investigation we are finally faced with the Lady herself, her tall figure gazing thoughtfully into a…busted mirror?

Hmm…

I sense some foreshadowing afoot

The Lady’s quarters is littered with mannequins, plush furniture, and mirrors… all broken except for one that you just so happen to be able to pick up. Carrying the mirror into a darkened room triggers a boss fight with the Lady and, upon defeat, earns you your hard earned freedom, but not without Six losing something in return…

The Lady, defeated (yay us!)

And so we come to the end my friends. Okay, not really if you got yourselves the DLC with three extra chapters. DLC aside, Little Nightmares has left me and many others thinking; WTF? There are so many questions left unanswered! Who is the Lady and why was she imprisoning all of these children? Who is she to Six, and vice versa? What’s up with the little Nome guys running rampant?

What happens now?

While there’s chatter about a possible sequel nothing is certain. In the meantime, Bandai Namco released Very Little Nightmares for iOS back in April which is set as a prequel to Little Nightmares. I guess that’s just going to have to suffice for now!