Recently Koei Tecmo has detailed its action-packed demon slaying combat system, including a new Servan type which will aid players during battle, in Gust Studio’s latest title, Nights of Azure 2: Bride of the New Moon.

As Aluche and her battle party set off on their journey to defeat the Moon Queen, they will encounter a variety of devious and dastardly demons; some of which mean to bring them harm and others which wish to join them on their quest. The mighty Striker type Servans are invaluable assets to any battle party, transforming from their demonic forms to powerful weapons which Aluche can wield in battle. Controlling the Striker type opens up a plethora of abilities to aid in combat situations, improving Aluche’s skills in either long range or close combat depending on which particular Servan she relies upon.

Making the most of the eccentric cast of human and demonic companions is incredibly important in securing victory, and players will be able to choose their dream battle party to give them a selection of unique abilities. The beautiful Lilies are able to perform an impressive combination attack with Aluche, Double Chase. When requirements in battle are met this attack can quickly change the tide of the fight, causing overwhelming damage to anyone in its path. Active Skills, used by Aluche, andSpecial Skills, activated by the Lilies, can also offer a boost to Aluche’s team in the form of increased health, attack or defence.

Amidst the waves of demons which plague the land are large fiends — devastating boss creatures which will require Aluche and company to utilise not only their innermost strength, but the environments around them as well. Breaking barrels of flammable liquid, for example, can be used to coat the enemy in flame accelerant so that an elemental fire attack will do considerably more damage! Aluche will encounter a unique selection of bosses from Vallderossa, a giant spider which uses its webs to fight, to the Blue-Blooded Fish Joe, which hides underground waiting for an opportunity to strike.

A selection of post-launch bonuses were also announced today for those who purchase Nights of Azure 2: Bride of the New Moon within 3 months from launch. On the Nintendo Switch players will receive a free download for the Fatal Frame Yuri Kozukata Outfit, whilst those on the PlayStation 4 will obtain the Deception Timenoid Restrains Costume.

To celebrate the announcement, Koei Tecmo has released a captivating new trailer which further details the gripping story of Nights of Azure 2: Bride of the New Moon, alongside a first look at the blood thirsty bosses which stand in the way of Aluche’s goal. Screenshots of the dastardly Striker Servans are also included featuring; Pitz, the piercing bee-type Servan, Aile, a bird surrounded by blue flames, Dampf, the mechanical Golem, Alice, a creature which summons the power of rabbit dolls, Dur, the swift and reliable Servan and Glanz, the crystallized Golem.

Nights of Azure 2: Bride of the New Moon is slated for release on the 27th October 2017, Nights of Azure 2: Bride of the New Moon will be available for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Windows PC via Steam.

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Koei Tecmo today has revealed more information to us at StG on the character relationships and original storyline of developer Omega Force’s latest one-versus-thousands action title and celebration of everything Koei Tecmo, Warriors All-Stars. The game is headed to the PlayStation 4 on the 1st September 2017. An action-packed new trailer (above) for the Tamaki Clan features Zhao Yun, Lu Bu, Wang Yunaji and Zhou Cang from Dynasty Warriors, Oka, Tokitsugu and Horo from Toukiden, Sophie and Plachta from Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist and the Mysterious Book, Opoona from Opoona, and princess Tamaki.

Summoned from a diverse range of worlds and time periods to save a mysterious land at the brink of destruction, the champions of Warriors All-Stars find themselves in the middle of a clash for control. When a magical power source dries up after the king’s passing, princess Tamaki performs a ritual to summon saviours in times of dire need, but her power spirals out of control and scatters them across the domain.

As the legend foretells that the land’s liberator will be crowned its new ruler, Tamaki sets out at once to seek the new arrivals and restore peace to the kingdom. However, so do her rivals Setsuna and Shiki – descendants of the royal family who also vie for the throne. Uncertain of their fate, the champions are split into three separate groups with no choice but to duke it out for dominance.

Within this volatile setting, the player must choose their allies carefully. By engaging in Key Battles and taking on Free Scenarios, players will gain access to their faction’s roster of warriors and craft their dream team. Character choices will affect the course and conclusion of the game, as their friendships are key to how the game’s story unfolds, which is further enhanced with the addition of the all-new Bond system. Relationships between characters can improve by fighting alongside one another and spending time together in the Barracks.

The closer the Bond, the stronger the abilities unlocked to gain an upper hand on the battlefield.

Get your alliances ready now for this coming September!

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On the 10th of December, 2015 PlayStation Australia held a press conference and a lavish evening party to celebrate 20 years of PlayStation. Shane the Gamer’s Darren Price was there.

Sitting unassuming in the middle of the world’s most famous harbour, Sydney Harbour, is Cockatoo Island. The site of a former Gaol and shipyard, the island is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site and events centre.  It was among this bit of Australian history that Sony chose to celebrate a very special part of video gaming history: The PlayStation.

Hosted by PlayStation ANZ Managing Director, Michael Ephraim, select media were treated to a montage of classic adverts and game footage highlighting just how far, over the four generations of the machine, the PlayStation had come since its launch in 1995.

In the mid-nineties Sony’s PlayStation revolutionised the video game console market dragging a niche hobby from the bedrooms of enthusiasts and children into the front rooms of twenty-somethings. The PlayStation brand became the definition of cool and something that it has retained for two decades.

As well as upping the ante when it comes to incredible games the PlayStation 2 also introduced many households to DVD movies with its integrated DVD player, something that the PS3 would also do with Blu-ray movies.

The PlayStation 4 continues the legacy of its forebears in host some of the best video-gaming experiences available today. And just around the corner PlayStation VR promises to bring us the future of total immersion gameplay.

Michael Ephraim, Managing Director Sony Computer Entertainment Australia told the audience: “I’ve had the pleasure of being part of the PlayStation journey here in Australia for the last two decades and I am proud of what we have achieved to date.

I am even more excited about the future. Innovation is in our DNA, and this, combined with a fierce drive to continuously expand the boundaries of play will mean PS4 is the number one console for the entire family.”

Whilst it was a celebration of PlayStation’s 20th Anniversary, the event was a much about PlayStation’s future as it was the past and offered me the opportunity for a sneak peek at what Sony has in store for us over the next year.

The Uncharted 4 multiplayer mode promises to provide players with the pinnacle of the Uncharted series’ unique vertical gameplay. I had the chance to play a bit of the multiplayer beta that was made available to fans that purchased Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection, which features the first three games remastered for PS4.

Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End harnesses the power of PS4, allowing more than double the number of polygons per character than in the previous console generation. Launching next year, it concludes the story of Nathan Drake and is exclusive to PlayStation 4.

Next year Street Fighter V comes exclusively on console to PlayStation 4. The PS4 brings state-of-the-art graphics to the veteran fighting game franchise. It looks fantastic and runs silky-smooth. Definitely one to watch out for next year.

Media Molecule Studio Director, Siobhan Reddy, is considered Australia’s most successful woman in gaming, with accomplishments including Qantas Australian Woman of the Year, being listed as one of Britain’s 100 most powerful women by BBC’s Woman’s Hour and named in Fortune’s 10 most powerful women in gaming.

Her upcoming game, Dreams, promises to deliver more of the unique gameplay that Media Molecule is famous for. Straight off a jet from the US PlayStation Experience, Siobhan was on hand to show us a little of what the game was about.

The ambitious PS4 masterpiece is a place to create anything imaginable, whether it’s games, films, music, or something in-between. The showcase explained how players can go on unique journeys to travel between Dreams as well as construct and use their own custom-made assets along with pre-existing ones. Experiences are limited only by players’ imaginations.

Siobhan said: “I always love coming home to Australia and what better way this December than to celebrate 20 years of PlayStation and reveal Dreams. We are really looking forward to people experiencing Dreams and immersing themselves in its the ever-evolving worlds. We hope both gamers and non-gamers will fall in love with it.”

Next year sees PlayStation embark on an adventure that could change the way we play games and interact with one another, forever. PlayStation VR will allow players to realise their dream of being 100% immersed in their games.

Seeing, of course is believing. Whilst I’ve had a number of VR experiences over the years, from the old arcade cabinets in the 90’s to the Oculus Rift, nothing could have prepared me for the PlayStation VR.

For my PlayStation VR demo I got to try a reimagined version of the classic Battlezone tank simulator. With the VR headset in place, even over my glasses, it felt weightless and very comfortable. My glasses were able to sit naturally and nothing felt like it was pressing against my head. I was immediately transported into the cockpit of an extremely mobile tank looking out through a glass canopy onto a landscape that looked straight out of Tron. Looking around me the control equipment inside the tank looked so real it was as if I could touch it, looking down I could even see pedals real enough to push.

It’s difficult to explain an experience that felt so real. I was there in that tank. Whizzing about a virtual battleground as if it was all real. It was incredible.

I was also glad that even with the tank zipping about and pirouetting around, as I shot at the targets, I never once felt ill – I can’t say the same thing about my last Oculus Rift experience. If this is the quality of experience that you can have with a product still in development, I can’t wait to get my hands on the retail version.

At the recent PlayStation Experience in San Francisco, games including a version of classic rhythm game Rez, Eagle Flight, 100 Ft Robot Golf, Ace Combat 7, Zombie Taxi Game, Eclipse, Distance, Classroom Aquatic and Job Simulator were announced to join Tekken 7, Until Dawn: Rush of Blood, Battlezone and Robinson: The Journey on PlayStation VR.

“PlayStation VR is the single biggest step in innovation I have seen in my career of over 20 years at PlayStation,” said ANZ PlayStation boss, Michael Ephraim.

“It’s a game changer for the industry and is a clear sign of what’s in the store for both the gaming and the wider home-entertainment offering. The one thing I can tell you is you have to try it to believe it. Everyone I’ve seen use PlayStation VR has been blown away and the experience exceeded their expectations.”

There’s never been a more exciting time to be a PlayStation 4 owner, with many exciting things to look forward to. But right now, with the recent inclusion of Presto, the PlayStation 4 provides gamers with access to all of Australia’s streaming video-on-demand services. Presto joins Stan, Netflix, Spotify, Quickflix, and Foxtel Play making the console an essential part of your living room entertainment centre.

Shaun James, Presto TV CEO had this to say, “We’re thrilled to be involved in Sony PlayStation’s 20th anniversary and congratulate them on bringing Australia fantastic interactive gaming entertainment for two decades; and today we’re equally excited to help them elevate their entertainment offering to new heights with the launch of Presto on PlayStation 3 and 4 consoles offering their community access to Presto’s unbelievable premium TV and movies on demand.”

To celebrate their launch on PS4, Presto has curated a special collection of its hit programs, created with PlayStation users in mind and available on devices now. Programs include all seven seasons of The Big Bang Theory, Heroes, The Walking Dead, Entourage, Parks and Recreation, Flight of the Conchords, The X-Files and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

It’s certainly been an exciting twenty years for PlayStation and, from what I’ve seen, it’s not over yet. Happy Birthday PlayStation! I’m looking forward to see what you bring us over the next twenty years!

The post Sydney Wishes PlayStation a Happy 20th Birthday appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

December 2015 marks 20 years since the Sony PlayStation (“PlayStation”) first launched and in true celebratory fashion, the team at PlayStation New Zealand threw together an epic night of tasty treats, slick beats, psychedelic lighting, fantastic gaming stations and loads of room to fully experience just how far PlayStation has come since the debut of the original PlayStation console in 1994.

As a long-time fan of the PlayStation consoles and having attended their media mingling event earlier this year, as well as, the Auckland Armageddon Expo, in which PlayStation made a huge impact, I had no doubt that PlayStation would put together a memorable night to celebrate their 20th Anniversary. I certainly wasn’t disappointed. As I write this now, the happenings of last night is still fresh in my mind and brings a smile to my face as I recollect all the times that PlayStation impacted my life, from childhood through to adulthood.

Now, I’m not a serious gamer. I play games for the fun of it and the bulk of the time, I play alone in singleplayer mode due simply to the fact that I’m not very competitive and, well, I’m technically still considered a ‘noob’. I’m quite happy to shoot at monsters alone, fight or race against the ‘computer’ and solve puzzles without any distractions. In saying that, I don’t feel that my being a noob hinders me from fully enjoying the vast experiences on offer by PlayStation; though I’ve been told that playing multiplayer online will only broaden my horizons.

The team at PlayStation were quite crafty with this event, sending out exclusive invites only to a select few, with no access for the wider public. This gave the event a very special feel and kept the size of attendees down, which made for more breathing room in the surprise location that was picked to host the event.

Because this was my first proper PlayStation event I didn’t quite understand what to expect and went in blind, hoping, very simply, for a good, fun night. Upon getting my invite, I was surprised to find that the address provided led me to some industrial warehouse-like buildings. Surely this wasn’t where a party, the kind PlayStation would throw, would be held? How wrong I was. Arriving at my destination, which was in fact a huge warehouse (if you’ve seen Arrow, it’s one similar to the warehouse used as Oliver Queen’s club, Verdant), I saw a huge line of people waiting to get in and security was tight, not to mention the line of snazzily dressed people waiting to get in.

As soon as the ‘doors opened’, so to speak, we were invited to write down our memories of PlayStation on a beautiful black board, which ended up looking rather eye-catching with everyone’s memories written in a variety of colours. There was also a fantastic display of the PlayStation consoles through the ages, with the 20th Anniversary Limited Edition PS4 console elegantly placed to capture all our attention.

The entire warehouse was kitted out with amazing lighting, from the vibrant electric blue, a colour most gamers associate with PlayStation, to a myriad of other striking colours. A notable mention would be the amazing four-controller button lights spectacularly displayed on the wall behind the stage. What better way to accompany something so visually stunning than with a DJ mixing together some cool sounds to generate a buzz and create that light-hearted and fun atmosphere?

Throughout the entire space were TV screens loaded with some of our favourite video games, from Crash Bandicoot to Uncharted, along with huge gaming stations for Call of Duty: Black Ops III, Star Wars Battlefront, Street Fighter V and a preview section for a game that I’m desperate to get my hands on, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End. Of course, an Anniversary celebration is not complete without important pieces of history on display. On one side of the space were old television sets atop amazing bookcase like cabinets filled with various PlayStation memorabilia throughout the 20 years. It almost felt as if I was back in my uncle’s lounge, finger bashing the buttons of the old PS One controller as I attempted to defeat him in the X-Men: Mutant Academy game.

What I found really awesome was that the night was MC’ed by radio broadcaster, Jay Reeve, who really made an impact. I was also a little bit excited, particularly for my mother who is a bit of a fan, to see Pua Magasiva (Shortland Street) and Ben Boyce (Jono and Ben) at the event, trying out the PlayStation VR (did I mention that PlayStation had an area purely for guests to have a go on their highly anticipated Virtual Reality Headset?) and competing in the Street Fighter V tournament that was on that night.

If all that was not epic in itself, PlayStation ran competitions on the night and ended up giving away their very, very, very gorgeous 20th Anniversary PS4 console, their striking Star Wars Battlefront PS4 console and Guitar Hero for PS4. I must say, I’m a little disappointed that my raffle ticket wasn’t called out for either of the consoles but, boy, just waiting for the announcement of the winner was nail-bitingly exciting.

All in all, it was a fantastic night and PlayStation really outdid themselves in throwing one memorable bash.

*For more pop culture and anime rantings and reviews, check out my blog, The Vanguard.

The post PlayStation Turns 20! appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

It’s ‘one last job’ for Jericho Cross, but will he survive it?

Skulking through the carriages of the Darkwatch prisoner train, he could have not imagined what he was about to unleash.

The Darkwatch is a secret shadowy society that polices and remands all the evil that they encounter.

Now he makes it to the vault, but upon blowing it open he gets the new life he was wanting from the contents inside, but not as even he could have foreseen.

Darkwatch is a horror / western game, and probably the only one to have both themes intermingled.

It successfully and seamlessly swaps from first to third person play, predominantly first person.

The main character, Jericho is a good ole fashioned cowboy train robber, but un-voluntarily becomes a vampire.

Throughout gameplay players are faced with choices on Jericho’s fate. As he battles the bloodlust hunger you can decide to work with alongside the Darkwatch for whom you get enlisted to and use your ever evolving Vampire powers for good, or feed yourself on the souls and blood of those who he saves and beg for your mercy.

As with any law-enforcement officer you will find his duties from balancing justice, to just outright mayhem and gore. With this secretive society there are three main different levels of Judgment and these lead to pivotal ‘Judgment Events’ against Bosses. Ultimately however it does all come down to good or evil and what path you decide for Jericho, which affects the outcome of the game.

It all rests on your shoulders.

The most coveted enemy by Darkwatch was in that vault, Lazarus a supreme Vampire.
It was he who escaped from the TNT explosion in the train and infected Jericho with the blood hunger that now consumes him.

The being that is Lazarus is truly impressive, and you will fight him in level specific intervals, from first person to third person on horseback. Jericho also has a go at a steam powered, gun wielding vehicle.

Other enemies include hordes of Skeletal ‘Spaghetti-Western’ Cowboys, ‘Keggers’ which are skeletal beings with explosive suicidal tendencies (these are quite amusing),  Siren Banshees dressed in their Saloon-Girl best with a shriek to make your ears bleed, back from the dead Snipers, projectile vomiting beasts and more.

The weapon choice in this one is excellent, varied and mostly fitting with the theme. The six-barrel, single shot-carbines, dual pistols, dynamite, Sniper Rifle, shotguns and even a rocket launcher (I’m pretty sure Cowboys did not have these when the West was won).

Melee weapons are also available, if you want that personal touch. Hand, knife and the butt of your rifle or shotgun are always effective.

You also gain the ability of harnessing lightening as a defense when surrounded and the ‘Lazarus’ jump, where you can leap vast distances and descend in a floating manner. True in first person perspective this is not fully appreciated, only when you wish to reach an area otherwise unobtainable.

As you are slowly transforming into a fully fledged Vampire, Jericho’s health will constantly recharge, known as a ‘Blood Shield’. You can alternatively suck the life from the living which gives your perhaps dwindling health bar a Mega boost.

Not particularly a fan of first person, this game had me putting my bias, reserved opinion aside from the start.
I first stumbled across this title over the internet, and while the horror aspect had me interested as soon as I realized it was being coined as a first person my interest waned.

How wrong and shamefully judgmental I was.

It is damn easy to get the feel of the game and after a while (if you are used to third person view as I am) the first person perspective becomes as comfortable as your favourite pair of undies.

Graphically (on either console) it is detailed and indepth and gives a feeling of midnight eeriness.

The grave yard setting was suitably groovy.

Online play on the Xbox supporting upto 16 gamers with modes; Death Match, Capture the Flag, Soul Hunter and more, but not PS2. To compensate the PS2 version has an exclusive mission, the War Train and offers co-op mode and a ‘Splitter Grenade’ weapon.

Styled much like a hunter game, it is unique, dark with a sprinkle of evil humour and whether you play first person shooters or not, this will capture you.

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