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ROBOTIC GAMING MONTHLY – No Skipping On The Battlefield


Trailer time! And the cup runneth over again this month, largely thanks to Sony’s press conference at Paris games Week, so let’s just skip the formalities and jump right into things…

Far Cry: Primal

I’d write a joke here, but since all of the best punchlines involving Primal Rage or radio towers made out of sticks and mud have already been taken, I’ll just say that this stone age take on Far Cry does look quite impressive indeed, somewhat resembling the Shangri-La sections of Far Cry 4 but with more open levels and the potential for more unique combat with primitive weaponry…though I guess that screws me over, since I can no longer rely on my old friend Mr. Sniper Rifle to clear out an entire stronghold.

Doko Roko

Considering that two of my GOTY candidates so far this year – Axiom Verge and Undertale – have been epic old-school adventures with stunning pixel graphics and an emphasis on narrative and mystery, I’d say I feel very confident in backing Eric Mack and his child that is Doko Roko. I mean, if he was just able to create the above all by himself, imagine what a full action-platformer full of that would be like. I mean, holy crap, my jaw dropped just over those 90 seconds alone. And did you see that swordplay, including the .gifs on the game’s Kickstarter page? Eric, you have my full support.

Indivisible

From Skullgirls creators Lab Zero, Indivisible is an absolutely gorgeous action-RPG game featuring a unique blend of platforming and turn-based combat that also showcases some absolutely mesmerizing and astounding graphics and character design. But the developers have also received large amounts of praise from the press for the game’s Indiegogo campaign, thanks to its incredible amount of detail and being up front and honest about how a game like this requires lots of time and money…which is all making me wonder why they’re still struggling to reach their goal with less than two weeks to go. This is why we can’t have nice things, dammit. Just give them your money already!!

Oxenfree

Night School Studio’s Goonies-inspired supernatural adventure game looks like its coming along quite nicely. Gotta love the VHS-style filters they used in the new trailer as well, always a great touch. So it looks like if all goes well, we could adding yet another classic to our long list of great ’80s throwback entertainment. But even without that, how can one turn down such an intriguing and surreal mystery? I can’t wait for it!

Gravity Rush 2

Ah, Gravity Rush. It’s a shame Sony kept ignoring the Vita and spent their time blaming smartphones instead, because then nobody got to appreciate your genius (well, until the announced remake comes out). But hopefully Gravity Rush 2 will get some more attention, thanks to fresh offering of the incredible, unique combat that wowed us last time. God knows Kat and her adventures deserve more praise…

Wanderer

Well, we’ve showcased the crowdfunding campaign for the game with the amazing pixel art, and the crowdfunding campaign for the unique RPG, so about the crowdfunding campaign for the unique RPG with amazing pixel art? Okay, so as the Kickstarter page mentions, it’s also a tribute to Another World-style cinematic platformers, but a combo of all the above suggests one potentially incredible game that I hope to see get funded.

Boundless

Yes, yes, the Minecraft comparisons immediately spring to mind upon watching the above video, and Boundless itself being an ambitious, huge open-world sandbox game itself probably doesn’t help, but come on. Tell me that all didn’t look impressive. Tell me you don’t want team up with a group of fellow tribal chums and take down a massive, blocky destructive machine. I thought so.

Furi

So Furi is a stylish brawler featuring character designs by by none other than Afro Samurai creator Takashi Okazaki (which would explain the large animal head). Mind you, some may not say this is the best sign, given the most recent Afro Samurai game (if we can even call it a game), but what we’ve been shown so far looks quite impressive and action-packed indeed, so I’m willing to take a chance on it. But seriously Takashi, don’t go breaking our hearts again.

Nier: Automata

The Nier sequel announced at E3 now officially has a proper name and a full gameplay trailer, and true to its new title, features dozens of automatons getting wrecked up right properly with some spiffy action sequences. This also means that Platinum Games almost immediately followed up their previous game filled with robot violence with a taste of their next game to feature robot violence. God bless ’em, they sure know what we want!

EctoPlaza

A bit of an older trailer, but I’m kind of kicking myself for not noticing EctoPlaza until it was showcased at IndieCade this year. I mean, a game where ghosts at a luxury hotel duke it out for ectoplasm in a unique variation of Smash Bros.-style skirmishes with an emphasis on local multiplayer? Heck yeah, you can sign me up for that!

Detroit: Become Human

Yes, it’s a new David Cage game. Yes, he mentioned emotions while announcing it. Yes, the whole thing is based off of an old PS3 tech demo. Yes, you are allowed to make fun of it based on the previous statements, but as long as the final product ends up being a lot more Heavy Rain and a lot less Beyond: Two Souls, I’m still willing to check it out. Just don’t botch it up, David.

Overland

Typically I don’t feature any videos with commentary here (I dunno, it’s quirk of mine, what can I say), but I’d say Canabalt creator Adam Saltsman has enough pull that I can make an exception. His new game Overland looks like it aims to be a fresh take on survival games, largely thanks to it’s turn-based gameplay, unique art style, and isometric view, and made a bit of an impression on me. Looks like a fun little romp through the apocalypse indeed.

Vector

I honestly do not get the backlash against EDM. Maybe it’s just because I went through my own electronic music phase in college, or lived through the electronica boom of the late ’90s (like you weren’t listening to some Chemical Brothers or Prodigy back then either), but I’m all for the current EDM boom. So yeah, I guess that means I was a bit excited when it was announced that Avicii (whom most of you probably know as the guy behind “Wake Me Up”) [dubstep Tracey Chapman – Jim] would be getting his own PS4 game. And the fact that it resembles Amplitude and Audiosurf, two rhythm games I highly respect, is a point in its favor indeed.

No Man’s Sky

BREAKING NEWS: No Man’s Sky is still goddamn gorgeous. In actual news, the highly-anticipated indie game finally has a release window of 2016. With that news comes a new trailer, and yes, that is Rutger Hauer himself narrating things. No word yet on whether or not the game will feature any tear-filled rain, though (sorry, I couldn’t resist).

2Dark

Perhaps inspired by how badly Atari has botched up the franchise in recent times, original Alone in the Dark creator Frédérick Raynal is stepping back into the ring to to show everybody how to make an effective horror game. 2Dark’s stealth-based gameplay and retro-ish graphics help make it stand out, but I am particularly loving the cartoonish style that seems to act as an effective contrast to the constant threat of psychopaths on the hunt for you and the kids you rescue. A hopefully terrorizing terrific treat indeed.

Pankapu: The DreamKeeper

Yes, it’s another game with a crowdfunding campaign. What can I say, it was impressive month for them. And really, all I can say concerning Pankapu is that it looks like it mas the makings of an amazing, colorful platformer with a rich story, so support it if you can via their Kickstarter page.

Matterfall

After games like Outland and Resogun, Housemarque appear to be aiming for something bigger in scope with their next game, Matterfall, which appear to revolve around the attack of the killer voxel graphics. The real game and it’s story are probably a lot more grand, but I would definitely play a Housemarque game called Attack of the Killer Voxel Graphics, so whatever the case, this will definitely do indeed.

Prey for the Gods

Yes, your mind probably jumped to thoughts of Shadow of the Colossus based on that image there alone, not to mention the rest of the video. Pretty much everyone’s mind went straight to that. But really, can you honestly say that more SotC-type games is bad thing? I submit that the answer is no, and Prey for the Gods still looks pretty sweet in the end, so case closed (until the game comes out, anyway).

Shardlight

Oh, Wadjet Eye. Never stop with the mid-’90s adventure game goodness, you guys.

Aurion: Legacy of the Kori-Odan

One more game prominently featured on Kickstarter in the past month, but with the twist that the campaign for this game has already ended, and it has been successfully funded. But in honor of such a promising and unique African fantasy action-RPG game reaching its goal, the developers released the above video showing how Aurion has evolved over twelve years, from the says where they had to use pre-existing sprites from other games to the current that helped lead to this success story. It’s just quite interesting to watch it grow…

Friday the 13th

Oh fine, one more, if only because I know you’re expecting it. Plus I kind of need to make up for missing the Battletech Kickstarter last time…

And thus we reach the end of another edition of Robotic Gaming Monthly! Thanks for dropping by, feel free to leave any comments offering suggestions, questions, additional discussions on what we talked about, or messages about how much we suck, and remember, it’s all about the journey, not the destination…especially if the journey has multiple robot sidekicks. So see you next time, and thanks for dropping by!
Previous Editions of Robotic Gaming Monthly:
Robotic Gaming Monthly #17 – Gotta Catch ‘Em All?
Robotic Gaming Monthly #16 – Ain’t Nuthin’ But a She Thing
Robotic Gaming Monthly #15 – Saving The World From Solomon Grundy
Robotic Gaming Monthly #14 – The Post-E3 Edition