From its insanely long title to its artwork that is equal parts cartoony and metal, Epic Spell Wars of the Battle Wizards: Duel at Mt. Skullzfyre needs no help in the style department. Heck, the game even comes with a cardboard standee of the mountain just for the added ambiance. But does this wizard battle royale have the substance to keep you coming back for more?
(Originally posted on splitkick.com. Thank you to the Splitkick team for the edits!)
Perched atop a lamppost, I spot my targets. Directly below me are three gun-toting foes who have no idea what’s coming to them. I could simply grapple to the adjacent rooftop to continue my mission, but my bloodlust is running high. I ask myself, “Do I want to cloud their vision with a smoke bomb, then stab each of them in the back? Or can I come up with something more clever?” Scanning my inventory, I find just the thing to liven up this party. In an instant, a swarm of ravenous insects showers down on one of my enemies. As the insects make quick work of his flesh, his partners freak out, and accidentally shoot each other in the commotion. Recognizing that my work was done, I slip off into the darkness to continue my quest.
Though it’s a stretch to classify Mark of the Ninja as a simulation, this 2D stealth platformer makes me feel more like a real ninja than any other video game I’ve played before. Marrying concepts from the NES Ninja Gaiden games with the Arkham series of Batman titles, it’s also one of the coolest games I’ve played in 2012.
The tension in the stadium is palpable. It’s the end of the game and the score is tied between the scrappy underdogs at bat and the powerhouse squad on defense. If the underdogs can’t score now, their opposition will surely beat them in extra innings. This is the scenario you and one other player will face in Bottom of the 9th. Do you have what it takes to score the winning run or record the final out?
My history with Hori fightsticks has been spotty at best. I’ve owned four of their entry-level level controllers; two of which broke within a matter of hours, and a third where the joystick wore down with no easy way of fixing it. That being said, durability is not a strong suit of any cheap fightstick from any manufacturer.
Though I have noodled with one of their higher-end fightsticks in the past, the Real Arcade Pro 4 Kai is my first extensive experience with a high-end Hori product. Does this have what it takes to wash away my negative perceptions of the brand? Better yet, can this stick hold its own against the TE line of Mad Catz products?
Exploding Kittens blew up last year on Kickstarter (pun intended), raising over $8 million dollars during its campaign. While that mark makes it easily the biggest board gaming Kickstarter campaign of all-time, it’s heavily presumed that the game itself wasn’t the biggest driver of dollars. Instead, the key selling point appears to be the creators of the Oatmeal web comic, who co-created the game and provide its humour. Because of this, it’s unfair to expect Exploding Kittens to be the best board game of all-time based on its Kickstarter money. Instead, let’s judge it on its own merits.
The Fire Emblem Fates series of games puts you at the heart of a conflict between two rival armies. On one side is the medieval-style Nohr army. On the other is the samurai-style Hoshido. If you buy Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright first, you’ll play most of the game from the side of the Hoshido clan.
With Fates essentially being three different Fire Emblem games launching at about the same time, this is easily the most ambitious effort. Based on my time with the Birthright edition, it’s also one of the best.
(Originally posted on splitkick.com. Thank you to the Splitkick crew for editing this!)
Ever since its 2003 international debut, I’ve been enamored with Fire Emblem’s personal approach to the strategy RPG genre. I love how every unit I manage is a fully-realized character with a unique look and story. I greatly enjoy helping these characters grow as warriors and as people by managing their combat movements and relationships. As things progress, I grow so attached that I feel compelled to protect everyone at all costs, which proves difficult in a series where perma-death can strike in a flash.
On one hand, the fear of death adds a critical layer of emotional weight. However, the stress that comes with losing comrades can be too much to bear for some. I’ve sacrificed dozens of hours of playtime across every entry in the series in order to complete a casualty-free run. Regardless of how you feel on the matter, Fire Emblem: Awakening is the first to implement features to appease both crowds.
More Cash ‘N More Guns is the aptly named expansion for Cash ‘N Guns. No one will claim false advertising on this one, as it certainly contains more cash and more guns. Is this expansion just more of the same? Or does it add to the base game in meaningful ways?
Tsuro is one of the latest physical board games to make the jump to mobile. In it, players place tiles on the board to create a path for their piece to move along. Be careful though, as moving off of the board or crashing into another player will eliminate you from the game. While the board game might be a popular one, is it something you should also pick up for your phone?
In Third Person 