Warp Zoned Presents
Most Recent: PC
Kickstart This! Elysian Fields, Badminton Warrior, and Zombie Golf
That’s right, folks. Kickstart This! is back with a vengeance after some time away while I completed my own Kickstarter project for The Water Rat, which is hopefully coming soon to a film festival near you. Running a campaign and delivering something to a number of backers is a rich and rewarding experience, and I cannot recommend it enough.
It also takes a massive amount of work, dedication, and the kindness of strangers. Around half of our backers are people I have never met, and that in itself is quite humbling. So why not make a game developer’s day and contribute to their campaign?
This edition of Kickstart This! sees us farming in space with Elysian Fields, smacking shuttlecocks in Badminton Warrior, and slicing the undead in Zombie Golf. (more…)
Square Enix will release Trials of Mana on April 24, 2020
Nintendo just blew away the Internet with possibly their biggest Nintendo Direct ever. Front and center during the presentation was Trials of Mana, an upcoming RPG from Square Enix. The publisher confirmed that Trials of Mana, which is a modern-day remake of Seiken Densetsu 3 (AKA Secret of Mana 2), will be released for the PC, PS4, and Switch on April 24, 2020.
Originally released in Japan as Seiken Densetsu 3 in 1995, and later making its debut in the West with the Collection of Mana on Nintendo Switch earlier this year, Trials of Mana is a full, high-definition remake of the third entry in the classic Mana series, seamlessly bringing the beloved story and characters to a new, modern era of fans with real-time combat, beautiful 3D graphics and updated gameplay. The game tells the story of six heroes as they battle against the forces of evil that threaten a world where Mana has been weakened. Players will craft their own experiences by selecting a party of three from these unique characters as they embark on the adventure of a lifetime to protect the very essence of Mana itself.
Naturally, a new trailer for Trials of Mana has made its way online, focusing on the game’s upgraded visuals, new combat system, character classes, and the brand new English voiceover. Square Enix produced an expanded version of this video for next week’s Tokyo Game Show, and it’s been embedded above.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Switch
Tagged Trials of Mana
Final Fantasy VIII Remastered is here… and so is a new Launch Trailer
Square Enix launched Final Fantasy VIII Remastered for the PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One today, and the publisher also produced a new Launch Trailer for the re-release, which has been embedded above.
While the RPG was a massive hit in 1999, Final Fantasy VIII Remastered marks the first time its been actively available in more than 20 years (save for a short PC print run in 2000). So it’s possible that fans won’t be as familiar Squall as they are with other Final Fantasy protagonists:
About Final Fantasy VIII Remastered
Final Fantasy VIII Remastered celebrates its 20th anniversary by bringing the cherished RPG to modern platforms, featuring newly rendered visuals that bring the game’s beloved characters to life like never before. Players step into the shoes of SeeD recruit Squall Leonhart and resistance fighter Rinoa Heartilly as they work together to save the world from the military nation of Galbadia.Final Fantasy VIII Remastered’s Enhancements
- Battle Assist: The ability to always have maxed out HP and ATB, and trigger Limit Breaks at any time.
- No Encounters: An enemy encounter option that allows players to enjoy the storyline uninterrupted. While enemy encounters are turned off, players can still enjoy the story event battles.
- 3x Speed Boost: Play through the game with three times the speed.
Final Fantasy VIII Remastered is available to download now and it’s been priced at $19.99 on all platforms.
Capcom will unveil Resident Evil: Project Resistance at Tokyo Game Show 2019
Capcom has announced that they plan to unveil Resident Evil: Project Resistance (which is probably just a working title) at this year’s Tokyo Game Show.
The official website for Project Resistance promises that the first teaser trailer for the game will be available to view online at 11:00 AM (Eastern Time) on September 9th. The site also said that fans attending this year’s Tokyo Game Show (which runs from September 12th through the 15th) will be able to watch a gameplay demonstration at Capcom’s booth, as well as pre-register for a chance to test out the demo for themselves at the show.
Resident Evil: Project Resistance is currently in development for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One, and we’ll learn more about it next week.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Resident Evil: Project Resistance
Shovel Knight gets upgraded to 16-bit as Yacht Club Games announces Shovel Knight Dig
Shovel Knight is back! After ceding the spotlight to three members of The Order of No Quarter in Plague of Shadows, Specter of Torment, and King of Cards, the blade-wielding hero is returning in a full-fledged new sequel.
Shovel Knight Dig picks up right where the first game leaves off, as Shovel Knight chases the diabolical Drill Knight down underground in an SNES-styled game that features “meticulously crafted” levels stitched together using procedural generation, so every playthrough will be slightly different. Yacht Club has more details about Shovel Knight Dig, which has been in development for “more than a year,” at their official website:
When Drill Knight and his dastardly digging crew blast apart Shovel Knight’s peaceful campsite and steal his loot, he grabs his trusty Shovel Blade and starts tunnelling after them! Meet new friends and foes, visit strange lands, and outfit yourself in your quest to keep the entire land from collapsing underfoot! Jump, slash, and dig your way down an ever-changing chasm of mystery in Shovel Knight Dig, an all-new Shovel Knight adventure!
Shovel Knight Dig will feature new Knights to battle (including the aforementioned Drill Knight and the mushroom-themed Spore Knight) and other new characters to interact with. But don’t worry, plenty of familiar faces can be found in the Announcement Trailer, which has been embedded above.
Shovel Knight Dig is being co-developed by Yacht Club Games and Nitrome, with Jake Kaufman once again providing the soundtrack. The game still has “quite a ways to go,” so we have no clue when it’ll be released, but we do know that it’s in the works for the PS4 and Switch (and likely the PC and Xbox One as well).
Attendees at this weekend’s PAX West convention will be able to test out Shovel Knight Dig for the first time at Yacht Club’s booth.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One
Tagged PAX West 2019, Shovel Knight Dig
Shovel Knight Showdown will brawl its way to release in December
Shovel Knight Showdown began life as “Battle Mode,” a distant Stretch Goal that was added to the very end of Shovel Knight‘s Kickstarter campaign. But with the platformer’s final expansion nearing release, developer Yacht Club Games has finally been able to more fully turn their attention to the four-player brawler.
For starters, Shovel Knight Showdown has moved well beyond its beginnings as a simple “Battle Mode.” The full-fledged game got a new full-fledged trailer today, with glimpses at the game’s single-player Story Mode, as well as the addition of Mona, Plague Knight’s potions expert. Yacht Club talked more about it on their official website:
Shovel Knight Showdown has grown to be a robust and delightful multiplayer and singleplayer adventure. It’s full of new stories and revelations, goofy humor, great multiplayer level design, beautiful character art, varied playstyles, and frenetic battles. We really put our all into crafting this wholly new experience and we can’t wait for you to give it a shot!
Shovel Knight Showdown will be available as a free download this December if you own Shovel Knight on the PC, PS3, PS4, Switch, Wii U, or Xbox One. It’ll also be available as a standalone download on the PC, PS4, and Switch, and as part of the Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove retail compilation for the PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
Fans who are staking out a spot at this weekend’s PAX West convention in Seattle will also want to swing by Yacht Club’s booth to try out Shovel Knight Showdown before its released.
Posted in News, PC, PS3, PS4, Switch, Wii U, Xbox One
Tagged PAX West 2019, Shovel Knight, Shovel Knight Showdown
Shovel Knight: King of Cards will be released in December
Yacht Club Games delivered Shovel Knight to fans all the way back in 2014, and they’ve spent the rest of the decade fulfilling a Kickstarter campaign promise to produce additional campaigns starring three of the game’s villains. Those expansions did a lot to fill out the world of Shovel Knight and they’ve helped make the main character something of an international superstar.
But now the developers are ready to close the book on Shovel Knight’s first adventure this December with the release of Shovel Knight: King of Cards.
A fittingly jampacked new trailer for King of Cards has been embedded above, as the developer said (on their official website) that the expansion will be the biggest Shovel Knight adventure yet:
King of Cards marks our grandest adventure yet, and we hope the trailer whets your appetite for the banquet of adventure which awaits! It has more levels, mechanics, secrets, and content than any Shovel Knight game to come before it. It’s a spectacle, crammed to the coffers with ideas- it’s the biggest game we’ve ever made, and we can’t wait for everyone to finally, finally play it. We’ve used everything we’ve learned in the past to make this game shine. We hope that you’ll find it both a delightful return and a fitting sendoff to Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove.
Shovel Knight owners will be able to download the King of Cards expansion for free for the 3DS, PC, PS3, PS4, Switch, Vita, Wii U, and Xbox One, though it’ll also be released as a standalone game for the PC, PS4, and Switch.
And if you haven’t dug into the Shovel Knight series yet, Yacht Club will package the original game and all four expansions together into a special retail edition, known as the Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove, for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
In the meantime, fans will be able to test out a demo of Shovel Knight: King of Cards at this weekend’s PAX West convention.
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Switch, Vita, Wii U, Xbox One
Tagged PAX West 2019, Shovel Knight, Shovel Knight: King of Cards
XSEED Games will bring five demos to PAX West 2019
XSEED Games has announced they’ll be making the trip to PAX West for the first time this year, and they’ll be bringing five playable demos for attendees to try out.
Their PAX West lineup of titles includes Edelweiss’s Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin, FuRyu’s Heroland, Cygames and Arc System Works’s Granblue Fantasy: Versus, Grasshopper Manufacture’s Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes – Complete Edition, and G-Mode’s BurgerTime Party!
PAX West 2019 will be held at the Washington State Convention Center from August 30th through September 2nd. And you can learn more about XSEED’s PAX West demo offerings after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Switch
Tagged No More Heroes: Travis Strikes Again, PAX West 2019