All Articles: Life Is Strange: Before the Storm

PS Store This Week: Life Is Strange Before the Storm, Yakuza Kiwami, Resident Evil Revelations, more

Posted on August 30, 2017 by John Scalzo

The first day of school is right around the corner, but you can fill your Labor Day Weekend with new games as the PlayStation Store is back with a massive new update.

Leading the way is the first episode of Life Is Strange: Before the Storm, a prequel to Dontnod’s award-winning adventure game. This time, PS4 players will follow Chloe Price as she navigates Arcadia Bay before the return of Max Caulfield.

PS4 owners will get to experience several grand returns this week as six games will make their own to Sony’s latest console for the first time. Sega will re-release their open world gangster game, Yakuza, as Yakuza Kiwami. Obsidian will bundle together Pillars of Eternity and all its add-ons as Pillars of Eternity: Complete Edition. Capcom will give a fresh coat of paint to Resident Evil Revelations. Nicalis and 34BigThings will race for the finish line in Redout. The creators of Myst are back with Obduction. And the classic visual novel White Day: A Labyrinth Named School will makes it PS4 debut.

Elsewhere on the PlayStation Store, Koei Tecmo will launch their crossover brawler, Warriors All-Stars, for the PS4. And Sony themselves will bring back the Everybody’s Golf series on the PS4 for the first time.

You can learn more about all of these games (and a few other new releases) after the break. (more…)

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Square Enix will bring Final Fantasy, Lost Sphear, Life Is Strange: Before the Storm to Comic-Con 2017

Posted on July 20, 2017 by John Scalzo

The San Diego Comic-Con kicked off today, and Square Enix brought a handful of upcoming games to the Summer’s biggest convention for fans to test out. While attendees won’t get the chance to play Kingdom Hearts III or the Final Fantasy VII Remake on the show floor, there will be plenty of demo stations in the publisher’s booth featuring these titles:

Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age (Now Available)
Platform: PS4
Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age improves upon the 2006 classic Final Fantasy XII, now more beautiful and easier to play than ever. The HD remaster introduces a reconstructed battle design and the new Zodiac Job System, a 12-job character progression system first introduced in the 2007 title, Final Fantasy XII International Zodiac Job System. With updated trophies and share functionalities, as well as stark visual and sound improvements, players both new and returning will experience the ultimate grand adventure through the world of Ivalice in an entirely new and improved way.

Dissidia Final Fantasy NT (Early 2018)
Platform: PS4
Developed in partnership with Team Ninja from Koei Tecmo, Dissidia Final Fantasy NT is the newly announced team-based brawler. The game pits legendary heroes and villains from Final Fantasy’s 30-year history against each other in epic and strategic 3 vs. 3 battles. Players will choose a team from a roster of more than 20 beloved Final Fantasy characters across ten iconic battle arenas and call forth fan-favorite summons. With a deep customization and progression system, players will gain experience points and unlock EX skills, weapons, skins, and more as they develop their favorite Final Fantasy characters, their way.

Lost Sphear (TBA 2018)
Platform: PC, PS4, Switch
Expanding on the beloved I Am Setsuna, the Lost Sphear adventure begins in a remote town where a young man, Kanata, awakens from a devastating dream to find his hometown disappearing. To stop the world from being Lost forever, Kanata and his comrades set out to rebuild the world around them with the power of Memory by manifesting thoughts into matter.

Square Enix will also invite the “key creative minds” behind Life Is Strange: Before the Storm to San Diego for a panel on Friday, July 21. The speakers will reveal “brand new information and insights about their game for the first time,” as well as lead the audience in a live playthrough of the game.

But in case you are on the lookout for new Kingdom Hearts III information, Square Enix unveiled a new trailer (and a 2018 release date) for their hotly-anticipated action RPG during Disney’s annual D23 Expo last week.

Posted in News, PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One | Tagged , , , ,

Life Is Strange: Before the Storm goes back in time on August 31

Posted on June 11, 2017 by John Scalzo

Square Enix has partnered with Deck Nine Games to return to Arcadia Bay this Summer in Life Is Strange: Before the Storm. Announced today during Microsoft’s E3 Press Conference, Before the Storm won’t have any time travel, but you’ll get to spend more time with Chloe Price three years before the events of the original Life Is Strange:

Life Is Strange: Before the Storm is set in Arcadia Bay, three years before the events of the first game in the series. Players will take on the role of a rebellious 16 year-old Chloe Price who forms an unlikely friendship with Rachel Amber; a beautiful and popular girl destined for success. When Rachel’s world is turned upside down by a family secret, it takes this new-found alliance to give each other the strength to overcome their demons.

“The original Life Is Strange brought a new level of depth and real-world emotion to the narrative adventure game genre and holds a strong place in many people’s hearts, including our own,” said Jeff Litchford, the Vice President at Deck Nine Games. “It’s an absolute privilege to work on the next game in the series and it’s our chance to do justice to the series and prove the quality of our unique StoryForge toolset from our very talented team.”

Life Is Strange: Before the Storm is a different game from Dontnod’s recently-confirmed continuation of the franchise, but Ashly Burch, the voice of Chloe, will join Deck Nine to work as a writing consultant on the prequel.

Life Is Strange: Before the Storm will be released as a three-part episodic series, and the first episode will be available for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One on August 31. A Cinematic Trailer for the game has been embedded above, and a second video that introduces the developers from Deck Nine can be found after the break. (more…)

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Deck Nine (formerly Idol Minds) is working on a sequel to a “critically acclaimed franchise”

Posted on May 31, 2017 by John Scalzo

Idol Minds has been operating on the edges of the game industry for over 20 years, and it’s possible that you’ve played one of their games without even realizing it.

In the late 90s, the team produced the final three entries in the Cool Boarders franchise. They also made a splash in 2007 with the release of Pain, a Jackass-like game for the PS3 that was very popular during the early days of the PlayStation Store. But Idol Minds is probably best known as the developer behind the Ratchet & Clank Collection (and Ratchet: Deadlocked HD) on the PS3.

Today, Idol Minds announced that they’re shifting their focus to “narrative-driven” adventure games, and that they’ll be known as Deck Nine Games going forward. This rebrand also coincides with the launch of StoryForge, their new development engine that helps writers, directors, and cinematic artists “focus on telling great stories.”

“With the creation of our new, proprietary toolset StoryForge and the shift in studio focus, we are removing the shackles from our creative team and bringing together our two passions; meaningful storytelling and rich gameplay,” said Jeff Litchford, Deck Nine’s Vice President.

Deck Nine plans to introduce their new identity to public at this year’s E3 Expo, and they’ve partnered with a “AAA” game publisher to unveil a “brand new addition to a critically acclaimed franchise” at the big show.

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