Samantha Lienhard's Blog, page 113

My Favorites (& More) Are Back in the New Kingdom Hearts 3 Trailer

After the previous trailer, Square Enix promised an extended Kingdom Hearts III trailer, and they did not disappoint!

They also unveiled the official box art, so let’s take a look at that first.

I love this art. It shows all of the major trios, as well as Naminé, for a total of 13 characters. Does this mean that all of these characters will play an important role in the story? I hope so.

In addition to the 13 characters, it also features a Darkling, a type of Pureblood Heartless introduced in Kingdom Hearts Unchained χ/Union Cross. Darklings are Keyblade wielders who fall to the darkness. The Darkling is holding a star, possibly a reference to Lux.

There is also a cat on the roof below it, although I’m not sure why. A nod to Chirithy, maybe?

A clock tower along the left goes up to 13 instead of 12, with 7 blue lights above the clock face. The hands are pointing to 13 and 7, for the 13 Seekers of Darkness and the 7 Guardians of Light.

I really like this art and all the little details. Now, let’s take a look at the new trailer.

There is so much going on in this trailer.

First, we return to the hopeless chess scene. After Xehanort says “Checkmate,” Eraqus lifts his piece to make another move. This could just mean Sora will be surrounded on all sides by enemies but not give up, but maybe it means the light will act outside of the rules Xehanort thinks exist.

(Either way, it contributes to the growing number of jokes that Eraqus doesn’t know how to play chess.)

Next is the Big Hero 6 section, showing more from that world. This includes a section where Sora is sitting up high with the Big Hero 6 characters eating ice cream (of course), and seemingly has a vision of Roxas and his friends.

We see Riku and Mickey talking in the Realm of Darkness again, and then Sora getting a call that he hopes is from Riku, though it turns out to be Ienzo.

It shows some new scenes from the Tangled, Pirates of the Caribbean (hey, just in time for International Talk Like a Pirate Day, mateys!), and Frozen worlds, as well as Sora finding Eraqus’s Keyblade on the beach. I like to think that Aqua cast the Keyblade out of the Realm of Darkness intentionally before/while falling to the darkness, in an attempt to protect Ventus.

This section also includes Larxene telling a surprised Sora that they have all 13 Seekers of Darkness.

Next, we see Hayner, Pence, and Olette asking to help Sora find Roxas, as they prepare to enter “Another Twilight Town.” Does the digital Twilight Town still exist? Is this part of the solution Ansem the Wise left behind?

There’s another gameplay montage, including the first look at Kingdom Hearts 3’s photo mode, and then things really get interesting.

Ansem says they will have to destroy someone if he wavers from their path, and Xigbar says this will mean finding another vessel. Who do they mean? Sora? Roxas?

Then we see Vexen! I’m so happy that he’s finally been shown. I was concerned Even/Vexen might not be in the game at all. He has yellow eyes, which disappoints me since I wanted him to be a good guy, but at least he’s there. And he’s talking to Demyx! Vexen tells Demyx something about a plan, saying, “This whole plan was his idea.”

(The ambiguity gives me hope that they might be on the good side after all.)

Sora confronts the mysterious cloaked figure from the previous trailer, now revealed to be Riku. Riku has yellow eyes, but which Riku is it? Most people think it isn’t the main Riku, but either the Riku Replica or Data-Riku.

We see Ventus in Castle Oblivion, with Vanitas looking down at him from above. Then it cuts to Aqua in the Realm of Darkness, about to attack.

Last time, there was a brief glimpse of a distant figure who appeared to be Master Xehanort, and it is! This is our first look at Master Xehanort in Kingdom Hearts 3, as he narrates his plans over the next few scenes. People seem pleased with his new voice, so I hope his new English voice actor also does a good job.

The next scene shows non-dark Aqua fight Ansem and his Guardian without the use of her Keyblade. Is it already out of the Realm of Darkness? Is this where she’ll fall?

It returns to the scene we’ve seen of Kairi and Lea talking, and Kairi raises her hand in what might be Lea’s old “got it memorized” pose.

Then we see Demyx entering the lab to greet Ienzo. Demyx’s eyes are difficult to make out, but they appear to be yellow. He is carrying someone wrapped in a white sheet. Who is it? And why would he bring this person to Ienzo, who is on our side?

(Like the ambiguous line I mentioned above, this curious scene makes me hope Demyx and Even are secretly helping Ienzo.)

It cuts to a scene of Ienzo being comforted by someone whose face is mostly obscured, but from what we can see, looks like Ansem the Wise! Did he escape the Realm of Darkness? Is he forgiving his old apprentice for his betrayal?

In the next shot, Saix approaches Lea on the clock tower. This is our first look at Saix in Kingdom Hearts 3. Why is he approaching Lea? Will they fight?

The next part goes by quickly, but the silver-haired man removing his hand from his face looks to me like Terra-Xehanort. Is he back as a Seeker of Darkness? Is Terra fighting back?

Then we see Vanitas standing over Aqua’s body, Keyblade raised to strike. Is this when she falls?

The image returns of Aqua clasping Sora’s hand, followed by Sora falling toward a Dive to the Heart stained glass platform with Ventus’s image on it.

Next, Sora and Kairi sitting together on the island as the sun sets…

And then Lea crying?! This scene has me both excited and worried. These tears might be because he remembered Xion (possibly while talking to Kairi), but what if it’s because he’s going to have to fight Saix?

The final shot is of Roxas taking down his hood.

This trailer is packed with scenes to develop theories about. On one hand, I worry it’s shown too much… but on the other hand, without context for most of these moments, I can’t help but try to imagine how they might all fit together and what they mean.

I’m even more excited for Kingdom Hearts III now than I was before. What did you think of the cover art and the new trailer?

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Finally Played Crash 1 & 2 Thanks to the N. Sane Trilogy

The Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy is available for all major platforms now. I bought the Switch version so I could play Crash on the go.

As I mentioned when I listed the oldest games in my backlog, I started the series with Crash Bandicoot: Warped and never played the first two.

Well, thanks to the N. Sane Trilogy, I’ve now played the original Crash Bandicoot and Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back for the first time.

The main thing that struck me about the first game is that it’s hard. Forget 100% completion and getting all the gems–getting through each level to the end was a brutal challenge on its own. I’m still glad I played it, though, and there was a definite sense of satisfaction from finally getting through a particularly tough section.

(I’ve read that there were some adjustments that made jumps in this version harder than the original, but the overall design is still unforgiving on its own.)

Cortex Strikes Back is much easier, although it still has plenty of challenging sections. Playing it reminded me of back when I played Warped. If I was stuck and dying repeatedly, it was usually because I was intent on getting all the crates or a special gem, instead of just trying to get to the end.

It’s interesting to see the changes from the first game to the second. The first Crash Bandicoot felt a lot different to me, even though the basic gameplay was the same, while Cortex Strikes Back felt like what I remembered. Even the level progression shows that, going from the original’s linear setup to the warp rooms used in 2.

I also found it funny that there’s no in-game explanation for Tawna’s disappearance and Coco’s introduction. As a kid, I’d read the “Tawna ran off with Pinstripe” explanation in a guidebook, so I always assumed it was actually in the game.

Anyway, I enjoyed Cortex Strikes Back a lot, and while the original Crash Bandicoot was tough, I liked seeing the series’ origins. I haven’t decided yet if I’ll re-play Warped in the N. Sane Trilogy, but I’ll eventually give “Future Tense” a try. (Right now, I’ve set Crash aside to play Torna ~ The Golden Country.)

Have you played the first two Crash Bandicoot games, either the originals or through the N. Sane Trilogy? How did you like them?

We’re getting worlds away from Crash Bandicoot here, but I’m the writer for a 3D action RPG currently on Kickstarter. If you enjoy action RPGs (especially JRPGs), please check out Destiny Chronicles and spread the word!

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Luigi’s Mansion 3 Announced for the Switch!

Yesterday’s Nintendo Direct had several exciting announcements, and the one I was the happiest to see came first: Luigi’s Mansion 3 is in development for the Switch.

We discussed the possibility last month, when Simon Belmont’s Super Smash Bros. trailer included Luigi wielding a new Poltergust.

As you probably know by now, I enjoyed the original Luigi’s Mansion much more than Dark Moon. If Luigi’s Mansion 3 follows the original’s style, I’ll be thrilled. If it’s more like Dark Moon, I’ll be disappointed.

Which will it be?

We’ve only seen a short teaser for Luigi’s Mansion 3 so far, and it’s still hard to say. There are elements in the trailer that could point toward either direction. Let’s take a look.

The art at the end shows what appears to be a huge mansion (or possibly a hotel, judging from the rooms we see), which gives me hope that it will take place in a single location like the original. However, there is a cartoonish look to the ghosts that suggests a lighter tone similar to that in Dark Moon.

I went back and watched the original announcement for Dark Moon to compare them, and the Dark Moon announcement had much more of a comedic/slapstick tone. Based on that comparison, Luigi’s Mansion 3 already feels more atmospheric to me.

(They also said right away that Dark Moon would have multiple mansions, although something like that is hard to judge from Luigi’s Mansion 3’s short teaser.)

So what about the structure? The large mansion seems like a good sign, but we can’t rule out the possibility that you still explore it in segmented missions. For all we know, each floor could act like a different mansion.

But the teaser looks good and I’m hopeful that this will be a return to form for Luigi’s Mansion, with a new building to explore in a style closer to the first game. What do you think?

Destiny Chronicles is seeking funding through Kickstarter. If you enjoy JRPGs, please help us out and support this action RPG for the PC, PS4, and Switch.

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Back to Early Adventure Games: King’s Quest VI

I have an odd relationship with the adventure game genre, in that some of my favorite games fit into the genre, but standard point-and-click adventure games often leave me screaming in frustration.

And when I check to see if other players have the same trouble, I usually find a group of old-school adventure game fans disappointed that modern adventure games are so easy.

Because of this, I intended to steer clear of early adventure games… but one of my friends really loves the old King’s Quest series, so I agreed to make King’s Quest VI the next game we’d play through together (following Baten Kaitos, Majora’s Mask, and Baldur’s Gate).

King’s Quest VI seemed to be a fan-favorite, so I was interested in the story, and I was also curious about whether it would be as hard as I expected.

The answer is a bit complicated.

I expected it to be difficult in terms of inventory-based puzzles, but that actually wasn’t so bad. Rather than the sort of Moon Logic combinations adventure games seem fond of, King Quest VI’s puzzles were pretty straightforward.

At the same time, it was much more difficult than I expected in terms of situations where I could make dire mistakes. I had as many save files as I would for a horror game, just in case I got myself into a bad situation and needed to reload. And I definitely didn’t anticipate a section where I’d need to draw a map.

Overall, King’s Quest VI was harder than I expected (and gave me a new appreciation for modern, friendlier adventure games that aren’t actively out to get me), but not in the way I thought it would be.

But you know me, I’m always more about the story and characters than gameplay, so let’s talk about that.

The premise of King’s Quest VI is simple enough–Prince Alexander travels to the Land of the Green Isles in search of Princess Cassima, an evil vizier has taken over the kingdom, and now Alexander needs to find a way to stop the vizier and save Cassima.

It’s basically a huge mish-mash of fairy tales, mythology, and other traditional tales, which I enjoyed a lot. It was fun recognizing story elements and seeing little references… including one to H.P. Lovecraft, since the vizier is named after the writer of the Necronomicon, which made my day.

I also have to give credit to the protagonist. While I’ve seen a lot of adventure games with protagonists who trick and deceive people to get by, Alexander is one of the nicest, most mild-mannered characters imaginable.

So I liked the writing, and because of that, I’m happy I did try King’s Quest VI, even though I didn’t always enjoy it. It’s left me with the feeling that the King’s Quest series is one I’d like to watch someone play, rather than playing it myself.

What are your thoughts on King’s Quest VI?

Don’t forget, Destiny Chronicles is now on Kickstarter. If you enjoy fantasy stories and action RPG, please lend us your support and spread the word!

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Project Judge, New Kingdom Hearts 3 Trailer, Vesperia Date, and More!

I was planning to review King’s Quest VI today, but I woke up to such an explosion of video game news, we need to cover that first.

Not too long ago, we heard news that the development team behind the Yakuza series was working on a new IP, and today they announced Project Judge. Not only that, but it’s already been confirmed for localization in 2019.

Project Judge looks a lot like a Yakuza game, except it follows an ex-lawyer who becomes a private detective.

From the story trailer, it looks like it will have an intense main story, and the gameplay trailer also teases the sort of wacky sub-stories found in the Yakuza games. It also features investigations, since you’re playing a detective.

All in all, the two trailers made Project Judge one of my new most-anticipated games. It looks fantastic!

Square Enix also came out with a ton of exciting news today.

First, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles is being remastered for the Switch and PS4. I played the original Crystal Chronicles on the GameCube, but I never finished it. I’ve actually been thinking about it lately, so this remaster is great news.

Even more exciting, they released a new Kingdom Hearts 3 trailer that shows the Big Hero 6 world for the first time, along with some tiny story teases.

And this isn’t even the full trailer! Apparently an extended version is coming on September 18.

Finally, Square Enix also showed the first teaser trailer for Project Prelude Rune, which we just discussed recently. While it starts with concept art, it also includes a short glimpse of the game and a character who is presumably the protagonist.

And moving on from Square Enix, Bandai Namco revealed the release date for Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition. It will be out on January 11, 2019.

I was hoping for a 2018 release date, but this is fine (although a bit too close to Kingdom Hearts). A special edition will also be available.

There was a lot more news besides this, but these are the highlights that stood out to me. What do you think?

And for some personal JRPG news, don’t forget to support Destiny Chronicles, our action RPG currently on Kickstarter!

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Major Ace Attorney News Coming at TGS?

It’s been quite a while since Capcom confirmed that Ace Attorney would be on the Switch in fiscal year 2018, and we still haven’t heard any more details.

Rumors claimed the Phoenix Wright Trilogy, a second collection containing Apollo Justice, Dual Destinies, and Spirit of Justice, and Ace Attorney 7 would all be announced for the Switch.

Well, we might have an answer in just a few weeks!

The Tokyo Game Show runs from September 20-23, and Capcom’s schedule includes an Ace Attorney panel.

According to the official description, it will cover the latest information about the series and be “unmissable” for fans. That implies we’ll get some sort of major announcement out of it. Motohide Eshiro and Shinsuke Kodama will also be there.

Now, Motohide Eshiro has been the Ace Attorney producer for the past few entries, but Shinsuke Kodama seems to have only worked on Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright and the Dai Gyakuten Saiban games. (My heart hopes this means localization news, but TGS would be an unusual place for that.)

I think this will probably be the announcement of the next mainline Ace Attorney game. Could there be more, like the rumored collections? Maybe, since it sounds like a big event.

What do you think will be announced at Capcom’s TGS 2018 Ace Attorney panel?

Don’t forget to support Destiny Chronicles, our action RPG currently on Kickstarter!

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We’ve Relaunched the Destiny Chronicles Kickstarter Campaign!

A few weeks ago, I showed you the updated combat for Destiny Chronicles and promised that we’d be relaunching our Kickstarter campaign soon.

Now, Destiny Chronicles is back on Kickstarter!

It’s an action RPG inspired by JRPGs, and we plan to release it for the PC, PS4, and Switch. Development on the PC version will be first, followed by the PS4 version and then the Switch version.

This time we have a playable demo so you can check out the improved combat for yourself.

Destiny Chronicles follows Celeste, a knight-in-training whose initiation is ruined when a thief steals the ancient artifact she was sent to recover. Determined to prove herself, Celeste sets out on a journey to catch the thief and reclaim the artifact.

Along the way, she’ll meet a mercenary named Valana and a scholar named Ruby, who join her quest, along with several other characters.

It will be a character-driven game with a story told through visual novel style scenes, and we also plan to include optional character conversations (like the skits in Tales).

Here’s our new Kickstarter trailer:

The Kickstarter page has details on how the combat system will work, information about the world’s history and lore, some of our location concept art, a sample of the game’s soundtrack, and more!

So if you’re interested in Destiny Chronicles, head on over to our Kickstarter campaign to learn more about it, lend us your support, and share the link with your friends.

Feel free to ask me any questions, as well. While I’m mainly involved with the story, I should be able to find out other answers for you. Is there anything you’d like to know about Destiny Chronicles?

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Thoughts on the Spyro Reignited Character Designs

So aside from download concerns, reception to the Spyro Reignited Trilogy has been pretty positive. When it was first announced, I saw lots of praise for the level design and Spyro’s appearance in particular.

Toys For Bob had seemingly accomplished the impressive feat of creating a remake that looks the way we remember the originals.

But the reception to other redesigned characters hasn’t been as good. The star of this blog post is Sheila.

I didn’t pay too much attention to the early redesigns. I don’t remember what most of the common enemies looked like, and while the dragons from the original game have definitely become more fancy, they still look in line with the original.

Sheila, though… looks like a completely different character.

After seeing Sheila’s redesign, I started looking at some of the others. And you know, most of them are fine. They updated Ripto and now he looks great, I think Moneybags also looks fantastic, they’ve definitely made changes to Hunter but he’s still recognizably the same character, and while there’s been a lot of fuss over Elora, I think a few adjustments are all she needs. I’m not crazy about Zoe’s redesign, but it’s not terrible.

(If I missed any major ones, let me know.)

So what happened to Sheila?

My guess is that since Sheila’s original design was so plain to start with, they couldn’t just spruce her up like they could with someone like Moneybags… and so what we ended up with was way different. Of course, we haven’t seen Sgt. Byrd and the others yet, so who knows what they’ll look like.

The good news is that Toys For Bob seems to be taking fan feedback into account and making adjustments. Personally, I hope Sheila’s redesign sees a redesign.

How do you feel about the redesigned characters in the Spyro Reignited Trilogy? Are there any you particularly like or dislike?

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Wild Arms: Million Memories Gameplay Revealed

There was a live stream today about the upcoming Wild Arms mobile game, Wild Arms: Million Memories, which included its first trailer as well as new details.

Million Memories stars the main characters of all the Wild Arms games, along with a new character named Brittany Shrewsbury. It will have many other characters, both new and returning, as well.

You’ll play through main quests, sub-quests focused on characters, and limited time events, so it sounds like the basic mobile JRPG formula. They also showed the gameplay, which puts you in control of a party of three characters, plus one support character, for… action combat?

Here’s the gameplay segment of the live stream, recorded by DualShockers.

Why do this? There are popular turn-based mobile RPGs out there, so why make the Wild Arms mobile game action-based?

So you’ll tap to attack, flick to dodge, switch between characters, and build up special attacks. It’s not entirely clear yet if it’ll be a gacha game or not. ARMs sound like the most natural place for gacha here, so maybe it won’t be too bad.

Still, it’s not what I hoped for from a new Wild Arms game. Maybe it will at least pave the way for a full (and turn-based) sequel.

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Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales is a Standalone RPG

Last year, CD Projekt Red announced that the Gwent single-player campaign would be called Thronebreaker and tell a story about Queen Meve.

Now, they’ve announced that it will be a standalone game called Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales.

They spoke about the game during a financial results presentation, and a user on Reddit compiled the details they gave about Thronebreaker.

Most interesting to me is that while it uses Gwent to determine outcomes, they’re describing it as an RPG rather than a card game. It will feature 30+ hours of gameplay, and if the original Thronebreaker screenshots still apply, it looks like it will have dialogue choices and an isometric viewpoint outside of Gwent battles.

So it’s an RPG spin-off of a card game spin-off of an RPG.

I’m intrigued by this. I still need to play The Witcher 3, and I’ll admit I was overwhelmed by the standalone Gwent when I tried to get into it, but if this is an RPG, I want to know more about it.

My experience with card-based RPGs has been mixed, since I enjoyed Baten Kaitos but on the other hand never want to play Chain of Memories again. Before this comes out, I should probably give Gwent another try.

…or play The Witcher 2 and 3, like I planned to do this year.

How do you feel about Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales?

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