On the surface, Victor Vran might appear to be a typical dungeon-crawler action RPG but looks can be slightly deceiving. Unlike many of the projects developed for the genre, Haemimont decided to not focus too heavily on loot and grinding, instead prioritizing real-time combat and weapon classes. As such, Victor Vran plays out like a hack and slash game that just happens to be presented from an isometric an
Minecraft Dungeons is a hack & slash action-RPG in the vein of Diablo where you take a character, beat on monsters, find better gear, and use the new toys to beat on bigger and tougher monsters. The paper-thin plot is that an outcast villager was corrupted by an evil orb of power and down came the smiting, and only a hero etc etc etc. The story is “hit monsters, get loot, search out secrets,” which really is all this genre needs.
There’s probably a good reason people build dungeons. At first it seems like a great plan to construct a subterranean labyrinth, because maybe the kingdom needs a place to store its surplus supplies or random undesirable people. Why build a giant construct from wood and rock when there’s so much unused space underfoot, other than mining being crazy-hard to get right. The point is, eventually all that space attracts things. Big, mean, hungry things that no society can function around. Zombies and skeletons are only the start of the problem, and it doesn’t take long for an evil overlord to come along and put this undead labor to use devastating the countryside. Dungeons are an archaeological trap, useful right up to the point they’re the base for the downfall of the realm, and the ones in Minecraft crafting Guide Dungeons are a perfect illustration of how it all goes horribly wrong.
We’re all familiar with the standard demo format: you play a section of a game (almost always the tutorial up until just before the first boss), and then everything comes to an abrupt halt while a screen either asks you to unlock the full game to continue, or tells you when it’s coming out. If you’re very lucky (as in the case of most Devil May Cry demos) you’ll get to play through a level and fight a boss out of context. This might convince you to get the full game, or tide you over until a game you’ve been waiting for has been released, but either way, it’s almost always stuff you’ll have to redo once the game proper begins.
It’s rare to find a game that’s able to challenge players without ever feeling unfair, but that’s exactly what Outward manages to achieve. Better still, as well as online multiplayer, the game also offers local split-screen which is becoming increasingly rare in the modern age. It’s certainly not without its flaws, but they’re far outweighed by the many, many positi
Each path differs in gameplay as Magnus’s path is a lot more action-oriented with the introduction of Boom Town and ‘griefers.’ Of course, we all know ‘griefers’ from the original game as annoying players who would blow stuff up. Because of this, QTEs (Quick Time Events) are utilized that were so popular in the previous episode to dodge TNT. Ellegaard’s path isn’t as action oriented and focuses more on puzzles and the character focus from the very first episode. There is a lot more dialogue in this path and a lot of it makes up the funnier aspects of this episode. This episode capitalizes on the voice actors that Telltale has gotten together like Corey Feldman (Magnus), who played Mouth in The Goonies, and Grey Griffin (Ellegaard), famous for playing Daphne Blake in the Scooby-Doo cartoon movies that bring the characters to life.
The action from the first episode hasn’t left at all and if anything, managed to speed itself enough where you practically have to do a second playthrough just to catch it again. There are plenty of moments that could have been explained more and it’s upsetting that they weren’t in the short time it took to finish the episode. Things like Olivia’s disappointment in finally meeting her hero and Lukas’ role in Jessie’s group of friends could have been touched upon a little bit more but the fact that they weren’t makes me fear for future episodes. It leaves you with a, “oh, that was it?” feeling that should never be felt while playing any game, especially right when you begin getting into the action and quickness of it all. Hopefully, the third episode will capitalize on a few more important moments within the main character’s development and slow down a little in order to give everyone the attention that they deserve.
Sometimes, though, developers go the extra mile and build a vertical slice to demonstrate their game. This is a lot of work – even re-using assets from the game, you’re looking at many hours of scripting and scenario design – but the payoff speaks for itself. Bravely Default’s demo is essentially its own mini-RPG, with three dungeons to conquer, five bosses to fight, and a whole bunch of enjoyable grinding to do in the interim. It has condensed versions of the streetpass and job mechanics from the main game that allow you to familiarize yourself and get to the fun quickly. The demo may take all of its assets from the main game, but it uses them to craft an experience entirely distinct from it. In doing so, it gets straight to the essence of what makes the full game fun. What’s more, if you master the demo, you get rewards to help you out in the early game, as well as a head start on streetpasses.