At first glance, Soul Sacrifice appears to be an action RPG of the Monster Hunter style, but as you begin playing it that façade is lifted and an ever-deepening experience is exposed.
Blast of Tempest, also known as “The Civilization Blaster”, is an alternate-earth anime in which magic exists, provided by one of two trees: the Tree of Exodus and the Tree of Genesis. These trees have slept for centuries after the Tree of Genesis overpowered the Tree of Exodus many generations ago.
The Tree of Genesis left the Kusaribe clan to protect it and the world while it slept to recover from its conflict. The leader of the clan is chosen by the sleeping tree of Genesis, and is given power far greater than any of the other members of the clan.
Following up after a few months because, try as I might, I just can’t find reasons to keep going back to Ragnarok Odyssey. I’ve played probably 30-40 hours – which is a very small amount of time for the genre – and I’ve realized that certain aspects that seemed positive in the initial play experience just don’t hold up in the long run.
Today I’m here to talk about a game that has been a long time in coming… a part-reboot and part-origin story for Lara Craft, one of the most – if not the most – iconic female protagonists in video game history. Tomb Raider wasn’t created to support a large story when it first released all those years ago. This has led to a few Tomb Raider games over the past few years that have been… shall we say less than perfect. Okay let’s be blunt, they worked from a gameplay perspective but were utterly awful in story.
So Crystal Dynamic took the initiative. They’ve created a new Tomb Raider game giving Lara a real history, one that may well have the building blocks to start a real franchise – one that can hold up with the new era of action games we find ourselves seeing more and more often. Has this decision paid off, or are we looking at another classic title receiving a well-deserved, but ultimately underserved reboot?
Ah, another JRPG for me to enjoy, just what I like to see. This time we have Atelier Ayesha: The Alchemist of Dusk. This new chapter in the Atelier series breaks free from the Arland nation that has been the focus of the previous 3 titles and moves us to a new land, where Ayesha Altugle lives alone and serves as an apothecary, selling the medicines she makes to a travelling merchant.
Will Atelier be the first truly good JRPG of the year or will it continue with the JRPG curse this year seems to have?
