Gaming Trend Magazine

Vol. 1 Issue 1

VOICE ACTORS

STRIKE

Insomniac, EA, Disney targeted!

the chaos detailed on pg. 6

Dishonored 2

Inside the Devious Clockwork Mansion Exclusive story on pg. 14

PREVIEW Ubisoft’s new snowboarding game goes to lofty heights

REVIEWS

Shin Megami IV + Rise of the Tomb Raider DLC + • [SectionEdition Title] + Jotun:24Valhalla

Enter: Gaming Trend

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Letter from the Editor Holy hell.

When I was a college freshman, I took an intro class in computer design, and my final assignment was to produce a book or magazine. The magazine I designed then was unfinished.

I felt newly inspired when I enrolled in a magazine design course. But as is often the case for me, my project became much more ambitious than when I had initially set out.

I got behind. I missed deadlines.

And now, here am I, sitting in front of my 32-page magnum opus — a compilation of a semester’s worth of travel, writing and design. I’m still not quite sure how I did it, and I must say, I won’t miss the stress, but I’m enormously proud of the contents inside, and gamer or not, I think you’ll enjoy what you find.

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The Dishonored 2 cover story came out of a trip to NYC in October to preview the game. Trying to find a unique art direction separate from that of my magazine’s was a challenge, but one I think I overcame.

My “house ad” was a fun little project, too.

I knew I wanted it to feel like a game, so it takes inspiration from classic text adventure games, harkening back to the games industry in its infancy.

And I’m also proud of the writing. The stories inside are original content — stories I wrote while trying to balance my courses and parttime job.

So here it is — Gaming Trend Magazine. A labor of love.

Enjoy,

Gaming Trend

Magazine

Vol. 1 Issue 1

Editor in Chief

Hunter A. Wolfe EIC@gamingtrend.com

News Editor

Ali Mowers News@gamingtrend.com

Art Director

Hunter A. Wolfe

Photography

Hunter A. Wolfe

Contributing Editor Damani Johnson

*Some artwork provided by game developers

Contact Us:

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Social Media

Twitter: @GamingTrend YouTube: Gaming Trend

Address

138 Campus Dr. Shippensburg, PA 17257

Phone

(717) 465-8711

Website

www.gamingtrend.com

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ Contents Departments News

● PSX’s Hottest Games 7 ● Voice Actors on Strike! 10

Cover Story

● Dishonored 2 14

Previews ● Steep 18

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Reviews

● Costume Quest 2 27 ● Shin Megami Tensei IV 29 ● Jotun: Valhalla Edition 31

We explore the Clockwork Mansion with our world exclusive coverage of Arkane’s Dishonored 2. 14

Games Index

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ ●Costume Quest 2...............................27 ●Dishonored 2.....................................14 ●Hand of Fate 2.....................................7 ●Horizon Zero Dawn..............................7 ●Jenny LeClue.......................................7 ●Jotun: Valhalla Edition........................31 ●Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse...29 ●The Last of Us Part II............................7 ●Uncharted: The Lost Legacy................7 ●What Remains of Edith Finch...............7

Steep is the extreme winter sports game we’ve all been waiting for.

Read our impressions.

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T R A T S S S E PR Dust puffs around your feet as you enter the chamber, and an ancient mist licks cooly against your face. Torches burn in brazened sconces around the room, and in the center, an elderly man reaches out both hands, one holding a shield, the other a sword.

“Only take one,” he says.

[If you have the Gaming Trend mobile app, you can take both.] > Take the sword > Take the shield > Download the Gaming Trend mobile app and take both You quickly download the Gaming Trend mobile app and the old man smiles. He hands you the items. +1 Sword +1 Shield

D N E R T G N I M A G p p a e l i b o m E C I W T t e g uch content

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News

The Hottest Games at PlayStation Experience 2016

By Hunter Wolfe

This one appeared at PSX in full force. A new demo shocased developer Geurilla Games’ interpretation of open world viewpoints, and a special trailer made it clear that man are no longer at the top of the food chain anymore.

Horizon Zero Dawn launches on Feb. 28.

04

What Remains of Edith Finch The next project from the creators of The Unfinished Swan, Giant Sparrow, tells the story of the Finch family. Whenever a Finch dies, their room is boarded up in memoriam. You’ll play as Edith Finch who will have to navigate the twisting passages between her ancestors’ rooms and discover how they died.

03

Uncharted 4: The Lost Legacy (DLC)

The Last of Us Part II A The Last of Us sequel has been rumored for some time now, but rumor went out the window when developer Naughty Dog released a teaser trailer for its next game. Part II takes

Fans were disheartened when tough-asnails Chloe Frazer was absent from Uncharted 4... until Naughty Dog revealed new story

05

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Hand of Fate 2

Jenny LeClue

The Dealer returns for his revenge in this virtual tabletop, action/RPG hybrid... e?

Want mor

Read our

ions

ress full imp at

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nd.com

GamingTre

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Horizon Zero Dawn

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Sony’s annual conference packed announcements for old and new fans alike, from AAA titles like Uncharted to old-school revivals like Crash Bandicoot.

Move over, Nancy Drew! Jenny LeClue is the world’s next great detective, thanks to the Kickstarter contributors who helped make it happen. According to developer Mografi, we’re expecting at least two or three episodes.

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Voice Actors on Strike!

Fighting for safety, compensation, transparency and respect

S

AG-AFTRA, the union that represents many of the games industry’s voice actors, declared strike today against several major publishers due to unsuccessful contract negotiations.

The union and several major employers, such as Activision, Disney Character Voices, EA, Insomniac, Take 2, and WB Games, among others, have been negotiating talent contracts since February 2015. However, after more than 19 months of discussion, the parties have been put at odds over several major points, including secondary compensation, transparency, and safe working environments.

The Issues According to SAG-AFTRA,

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the Interactive Contract was originally written in 1994, and it believes that the contract in its current form does not reflect the games industry today.

One update the union proposed is secondary compensation — bonuses to be granted based on a game’s sales performance. In this case, SAG-AFTRA proposed a bonus for every 2 million units sold or subscribers to online-only games, at a cap of 8 million units (four bonuses).

Additionally, the union requested more transparency in the audition process. Currently, studios are not required to divulge an actor’s role or the title of the project being auditioned for. SAG-AFTRA proposed that this practice be reversed so that actors can make informed de-

By Hunter Wolfe

cisions about taking a role or to negotiate appropriate compensation.

“SAG-AFTRA has to theTitle] 23 •gone [Section negotiations table with serious concerns affecting voiceover and stunt performers,” said SAG-AFTRA Chief Contracts Officer Ray Rodriguez. “It’s time for video game employers to take our concerns seriously and negotiate a modern contract based on actor safety, industry precedent and best practices.”

Thirdly, SAG-AFTRA is fighting for increased protection of its actors in regards to vocal stress and stunt work. The union’s revised contract would require a stunt coordinator to be present whenever stunts are performed, and it would reduce vocally stressful sessions (eg. painful

death noises and creature voices) from four hours to two at four hours’ pay.

The Picket Line: The strike date is set for Monday, Oct. 24 at 10:30 a.m. when union members will converge on the picket line at EA’s Playa Vista, CA headquarters. SAG-AFTRA advocates are using the hashtag #performancematters to garner support through social media.

The Response: Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) stated that it is going on strike for contractual issues of transparency, vocal stress, and secondary pay, but according to a press release we received from the video game companies’ spokespeople, both parties had already made significant headway on those points prior to the strike.

The issue, then, was not the package, but the terminology, according to Sam Singer, a spokesperson for the video game companies. Singer said the union wanted the contentious Interactive Media Agreement to include the phrase “contingent compensation” as opposed to the contract’s current phrase: “additional fees”.

SAG-AFTRA members picketing the Warner Brothers studios in LA.

However, the video game companies’ press release calls both payment structures “almost identical”.

[We’ve reached out to SAG-AFTRA for further comment.]

The final package offered to SAG-AFTRA included an immediate 9 percent wage hike and up to $950 in additional compensation per game. Scott Witlin, the lawyer and chief negotiator representing the video game companies, said this package looked “almost identical” to the union’s last demand prior to the strike.

That being said, the issues union members are striking on include more than just a pay increase — SAG-AFTRA is also fighting for greater actor safety and company transparency. On these issues, Singer said, “Both the video game com-

panies and SAG-AFTRA had reached substantial alignment on the issues of voice stress, transparency, and additional compensation prior to the union deciding to strike…”

Games Being Struck: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Skylanders series FIFA 17 Lego Star Wars & Lego Marvel 2 Kingdom Hearts 2.8 Uncharted Collection marketing trailers (multiple) Homefront 2 promotional trailer Crash Bandicoot N-Sane Trilogy Team Fortress 2 Brothers in Arms Shadowrun: Hong Kong Blood Dragon Orca Embers of War Project Replay Lucky’s Tale Farlands Project Aries

Jennifer Hale (Commander Shephard) was one of the prominent VAs leading the charge at the picket.

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D E R O N O H S I D

2

S I E G N E V RE 23 • [Section Title]

Inside the Clockwork Mansion pg. 16

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Anatomy of an Automaton pg. 17

New powers and abilities pg. 18

H C T I W A W

hen the original Dishonored launched back in 2013, it was

an overnight success for Arkane Studios, a small French developer that was relatively unheard of prior to the game’s debut.

And now, Arkane Studios is back at it with Dishonored 2, which we got to play at a community event in New York City.

Our demo took us to the Clockwork Mansion, one of Dishonored 2’s earlier levels, where we got to play as both returning protagonist Corvo Attano and his charge, Empress Emily Kaldwin, now fully grown and ready to get stabby stabby.

Exploring Karnaca pg. 19

See the full voice cast pg. 20

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Karnaca is the “Jewel of the South” and combines the original game’s European architecture with a refreshing Mediterranean atmosphere.

Fresh Eyes

A steel carriage powers up the tree-studded slope of a Mediterranean cliffside, and miles below, a coastal city naps in the warm light of a waning sun. I’m not here for sightseeing though; nothing so innocent as that.

Dishonored 2 takes place 15 years after the events of its predecessor and players assume the role of either Emily Kaldwin, the young girl from the first game who now rules as Empress of the Isles, or returning protagonist Corvo Attano, Emily’s Royal Protector. Emily has been overthrown by Delilah, the superpowered antagonist from Dishonored’s Knife of Dunwall DLC, and now Emily’s hunting down those who conspired against her. In the demo we got to play at a community event in New York City, she’s come to take out Grand Inventor Kirin Jindosh, who has locked his competition, returning character Anton Sokolov, in the bowels of his mountain fortress.

Jindosh’s “Clockwork Mansion” is nesFeature • 16 /// 23 • [Section Title]

tled between thick, cherry-colored trees on a mountain that overlooks the city, and after a carriage ride up the rocky slopes I gaze across 23is• instantly [Section Title] the expansive vista. The visual style familiar and yet noticeably improved over its predecessor. The cityscape is speckled with rooftops, and an ocean spray wafts in from the harbor. Arkane’s vision for Dishonored is a “painting in motion”, and it’s been able to bring this vision to life even moreso for its second go-around with the franchise.

Karnaca immediately feels both massive and dense —a lived-in world beckoning to be explored.

“People really loved Dishonored’s art style,” said Harvey Smith, Dishonored 2’s co-creative director. “[B]ut they felt it was outdated [compared to other major titles of the time].”

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Anatomy of an Automaton If you decapitate the Clockworks, they’ll become blind — but be careful, they will still be able to hear you.

The original Dishonored was built using Unreal Engine 3, but for the sequel Arkane rewrote 95 percent of the id Tech engine to serve its purposes — what they call the “Void Engine”. This has allowed them to make each space denser and more vertical.

I absorb the scenery from the edge of a decrepit stair for a little while longer, and then with resolve, I enter the Clockwork Mansion.

Each level in Dishonored 2 bears a unique gameplay mechanic, from a city district grieved by spontaneous, vision-impairing dust storms to a ruined manor in which you can travel between the present and three years in the past.

In our demo, the gimmick is a collapsible mansion with floors and walls that tuck and fold and transform at the press of the button. I’ll have to manipulate the rooms to find Sokolov and, later, Jindosh. In the lobby, I’m presented with one of these room-changing buttons, but this is Dishonored — and there’s always another way in.

Instead of pressing the button, I pull out my crossbow, a returning piece of gadgetry from the first game, and fire a shot at the pointed glass ceiling above me. The pane shatters, and I use Emily’s Far Reach ability to pull myself above the room and into the space beyond.

The Clockwork Soldier’s ability to see both forward and backward simultaneously makes each encounter tense.

You can use the Rewire tool to pit the Clockworks against your enemies.

The Clockworks have wooden panels that hide crippling whale oil tanks.

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Not only is Far Reach handy for teleporting, but with momentum, it can be used to whip Emily far past her point.

Tools of the Trade

In the game’s opening mission, you can choose to play as either Emily or Corvo, and you’re locked to your choice for the rest of your playthrough. There’s incentive here to play the game twice; Arkane has designed both Emily and Corvo to feel unique in the game space.

For example, Corvo has the Blink ability that lets him traverse long distances as if teleporting. Emily’s Far Reach ability allows her to scale the same distances, but enemies can see her as she travels. This makes Blink invaluable for tricky combat situations when you might be overwhelmed with enemies, but if playing as Emily, you’ll want to be a little more calculating when you engage an enemy.

Arkane further differentiates these characters by making them fully voiced protagonists, a feature that was noticeably absent from the first game, but was experimented with for Daud, the main character from the studio’s Knife of Dunwall DLC. Having voiced protagonists allows Arkane to tell two very different stories. Emily is an empress pushed out of her home, and Corvo is an aged man returning to his conflicted homeland. Their characters are informed by how they respond to the game world, such as Corvo reminiscing of an early fishing expedition when he sees a giant squid statue in Jindosh’s lobby. I didn’t care about Corvo in the first game, but his gruff and confident demeanor is growing on me.

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Jindosh is aware of the disturbance in his home, and he begins to taunt me over a loudspeaker, inviting me to an audience with him. I could go speak with him like he wants, but my Emily does things on her schedule. Instead, I drop into a gap in the floor, and Jindosh lauds me for finding the “space behind the walls”.

Clockwork soldiers, Jindosh’s patent robot sentries, lurk in the twisting network of passages beneath the floors, but I don’t engage them. Not yet. Instead, I use Far Reach to skirt around one, and dodge through a window into a lavish hallway decorated with [use description]. Jindosh knows I’m there — he tells me he can sense my weight on the floorboards — and before I can react, the room transforms, and an Arc Pylon appears in the center of the floor. It’s a nasty contraption from the first game that eviscerates enemies that come too close — and it’s the perfect opportunity to play 23 • [Section Title] with some toys.

I use Shadow Walk, a new ability in Dishonored 2, which turns me into a shadowy form that stalks quickly and silently across the floors. My target is a lonely guard who I knock unconscious by pressing the bumper button, but I’ve accidentally alerted other guards — and a Clockwork Soldier hidden behind a nearby wall. Emily’s arsenal is similar to Corvo’s from the first game — she has a pistol with regular and explosive bullets, a crossbow, Arc Mines (like miniature Arc Pylons), and more, but for this dance I select the pistol with explosive bullets. The guards fall quickly, and the Clockwork Soldier collapses to the ground in a splash of nuts and bolts. Around the pile, guards are bleeding out, and I know I’ve just secured an insanely high Chaos Rating at level’s end.

Exploring Karnaca

Just like in Dishonored, Karnaca is combating a plague — bloodflies. The more people you kill, the more bloodflies will appear in later levels.

Non-lethal areas are safe to a point — doing anything overly suspicious will cause NPCs to become aggressive.

The setting in the original Dishonored was largely inspired by Victorian-era Karnaca isBut the “Jewel of the South” and combines London.

Dishonored 2 abandons thethe original game’s European architecture with a refreshing whitewashed walls of Dunwall for the Mediterranean atmosphere. brick and mortar constructions of Karnaca.

In the world of Dishonored, Karnaca is called the “jewel of the south” — a port city that sits at the southernmost point of the world. Karanca is known for its deep silver mines and for the wind turbines used to harness the isle’s strong winds.

Wind plays an important role in Dishonored 2’s gameplay — your enemies are using the turbines to power electric barricades, and to bypass them, you’ll either have to locate and shut down the turbines or find sneaky alternate routes.

Non-lethal areas are a new addition to the game, as well, giving players the opportunity to interact (or cause havoc) with Karnacans in residential areas of the city, some of whom can send players on side missions that stand separately from each mission’s main objective. \\\ Feature • 19 24 • [Section Title]

The Chaos system returns in Dishonored 2, which Smith cites as being one of the major areas the team at Arkane wanted to refine from the original game. In the first entry, pointing the Heart tool at NPCs revealed their secrets, allowing the player to make an informed decision about who to kill and who to spare. The issue, Smith explained, was that the Chaos value for each NPC wasn’t conditional on their morality. This made the Heart an ineffective tool for decision-making, but this isn’t the case in Dishonored 2. For the sequel, NPCs are randomly assigned a morality at the beginning

Dishonored 2 takes place 15 years after the events of the first game, and Emily is no longer the helpless girl she once was.

of each level, Smith says. If you kill a character with higher morality, you’ll receive less Chaos than if you kill a character with low morality.

And your Chaos Rating, ultimately, decides your ending.

“The endings were too binary,” Smith said of the first Dishonored. “The chaos system essentially boiled down to 20 percent [of NPCs].”

He explained that in the original, if a player killed fewer than 20 percent of NPCs, they were rewarded with the “good” ending, and for greater than 20 percent, the “bad ending”. But in Dishonored 2, Arkane has crafted each ending to be specific to your actions in the game, with nearly 20 variations.

After cutting down the butler, I use Far Reach to vault across a damp chasm. Nearby is a waiting room that I must have shifted down here at some point, and its two posh occupants are standing on a balcony overlooking a labyrinthine maze • [Section Title] — a test23 chamber for Jindosh’s sinister

Notable Roles:

• Garrett (Thief) • Mr. Handys (Fallout 4)

Feature • 20 /// 23 • [Section Title]

Erica Luttrell Notable Roles: • Darla (Fallout 4)

THE OUTSIDER

DELILAH KALDWIN

Stephen Russell

EMILY KALDWIN

CORVO ATTANO

Meet the Voice Cast

Erin Cottrell

Notable Roles:

• Quorra (Kingdom Hearts)

• The Penguin (Gotham) • Sam (The Walking Dead)

Notable Roles:

• Ichabod Crane (The Wolf Among Us)

Delilah’s amassed an army of witches that pose a serious threat to players who cross their paths.

Emily’s conspirators is dead.

The demo ends with Sokolov and I back in our little steel carriage. We may be celebrating a small victory, but there’s much more work to be done.

And you’re never really done in a Dishonored game — particularly the sequel. Arkane has developed a game that’s loaded with new secrets to stumble upon, emergent gameplay, and a seemingly infinite number of creative possibilities. And now with two fully voiced protagonists, an exciting new setting, and an improved, more powerful game engine, I don’t need Dark Vision to see that there will be plenty to keep us busy when Dishonored 2 launches next month.

Rosario Dawson Notable Roles:

• Clair Temple (Daredevil) • Elaris (Ratchet and Clank)

DUKE LUCA ABELE

Notable Roles:

Roger Jackson

point in my demo, a representative from publisher Bethesda informs me I’m running low on time, so I choose the latter. Jindosh falls to my feet — one of

MEAGAN FOSTER

Robin Lord Taylor

ANTON SOKOLOV

machinations. The user interface indicates that my objective is just below — Jindosh has trapped Sokolov in the maze.

I spend a few minutes toying with the maze, finally figuring out the correct order to press the panels so as to open Sokolov’s chamber. A Clockwork Soldier roams the maze, and this time... I’m ready. I barrage the machine with a spray of bullets, slip into my shadow form and execute the machine in one fell swoop.

I toy with the maze for a short time, and after solving a small puzzle — which I won’t spoil for you here — a wall moves away to reveal Sokolov’s room. The inventor is inside, but when I approach him, he slips into unconsciousness, so I throw him over my shoulder and am quickly prompted to return him to the carriage I arrived in. But this is a Dishonored game, so I ignore it and stash him inside an elevator shaft. I’ll come back for him later — it’s time to take out Jindosh.

Arkane’s play-your-way approach to level design is exhibited like one of Jindosh’s creations in the laboratory where I find the Grand Inventor.

Jindosh roams around a high balcony protected by two Clockwork Soldiers, and there are a number of ways I can take him out. The non-lethal approach involves knocking Jindosh unconscious, hooking him up to an electroshock machine, and tracking down the power sources in order to fry his brain.

The alternative gets to the point — dispatching the droids and slaying Jindosh in combat. At this

Vincent D’onofrio Notable Roles:

• Kingpin (Daredevil) • Vic Hoskins (Jurassic World)

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r a e !

G Up

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By Damani Johnson

It’s November, and that means it’s prime shopping season. In this month’s Gear Up! feature, contributing editor Damani Johnson breaks down what to spend your hard-earned dollars on.

LoL Tee

This Baron Face tee is cute and comfortable.

Pacman Hoodie A super comfy Pacman sweatshirt. Get cozy by a nice fireplace.

Pacman Suit

Fashionable and nerdy. The perfect combo.

Pokemon Sweatshirt

Here we have this super cool Pokémon sweatshirt. Not only does it look comfortable, but it also has a pokeball on it. How cool?

Portal Leggings

Hylian Shield Backpack

Pacman Vans

This Hylian Shield backpack from Ocarina of Time is a mut-have!

These Portal 2 socks are perfect for Fall — guaranteed to keep you warm while being fashionable.

Check out these His & Hers footwear — Pacman, of course!

Tetris Leggings

These awesome Tetris leggings — wear these at home, lounging around, or while you’re out and about running some errands.

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Developer: Ubisoft Annecy Publisher: Ubisoft Platforms: Xbox One, PS4, PC Release Date: Dec. 2, 2016

SKY’S THE LIMIT W

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STEEP

Steep’s open world is online, and you’ll run into many other players as you shred the slopes.

By Hunter Wolfe

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hen Steep was announced at Ubisoft’s E3 conference this year, it was a blade 23 • [Section of grass in a field already dominated

by Title] AAA titles such as Ghost Recon: Wildlands, South Park: The Fractured But Whole and Watch Dogs 2. But last week, we got to play Steep at a special preview event in San Mateo, California, and despite encountering a few technical hiccups, we walked away from the game impressed.

Steep is an extreme winter sports game developed by Ubisoft Annecy that lets players free roam around stunning mountainsides to explore, complete challenges, or face off in the leaderboards.

Our demo took place in the Swiss Alps, and after a brief tutorial that taught us the mechanics of the game’s four sports — skiing, snowboarding, wing suit flying and paragliding — we were let loose to play as we wanted.

Immediately, it became clear that Steep is about freedom. You start with only a few lines unlocked — paths running down the mountain — and each one has branching paths with their own

branching paths. Once you discover them, you can tacked-on, and I found it better consigned to use fast travel between these points almost instantaonly when watching a replay of my lines. neously, sans loading screen. And if you’re halfThese are minor complaints though when way down a line but want to restart, you only need weighed against everything Steep is doing right to hold in a button to teleport to the top again. This so far. Whether playing solo or with buddies, kind of player agency was present in challenges, Ubisoft nails the sense of freedom you’d expect too; if I got tired of a particularly tricky challenge, I from exploring these terrains in real life. The didn’t have to complete it. I could just fast-travel to game encourages you to go at your own pace another one. and doesn’t punish you for skipping a challenge This sense of unhampered freedom is maniyou don’t enjoy. And on top of that, Steep’s social fested in Steep’s robust lot of challenges, which design makes it incredibly fun to play with friends, cater to a variety of playstyles. Adrenaline-seekers whether competing in the leaderboards or indulgwill like the White Wings challenge, a wingsuit mising in some trash talk. If you were to compare Developer: Ubisoft Annecy to laying tracks on a mounsion in which you only earn points by gliding low to Steep’s development the ground, and players who enjoy a little narrative Platforms: tainside, it’sOne, a little bumpy Xbox PS4, PC right now, but its crafted will appreciate the Mountain Stories challenges, in Release onDate: excellent Dec. snow.

2, 2016 which a mountain guide narrates your trek down certain paths.

These challenges are fun to attack on your own, but like most things, Steep is better with friends. According to game director Arnaud Ragot, social functionality was integral to the game’s design from the start, and it’s implemented well in a couple different ways.

First, you can play the game with up to three friends and compete against them for the high scores in the leaderboards, or if you want, you can simply explore the terrain together. Additionally, if you’re in a party with friends, you can teleport to them in-game, although this feature was broken during our Steep’s world is beautifully crafted, from its hands-on time. snowcapped peaks to its glacial lakes.

Technical issues like this one hindered our experience with the game.

One issue I encountered frequently was navigating the game world via Mountain View, Steep’s world map. To move from point to point, you have to use the analog stick to move a finicky cursor until it lands on the very precise location of a challenge, and in a game that nails freedom of movement, it felt incoherent and frustrating to use.

Additionally, the game has a GoPro feature that lets you skate down the mountain in first-person, but in my experience, the narrow field of view and jerky controls made the experience Wingsuit challenges force you to fight with unenjoyable. In my opinion, it felt a little gravity while also avoiding oncoming obstacles.

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In our inaugural edition, we break apart the month’s biggest releases - from indie smash hit Jotun, which launched on Wii U this month, to the kid-friendly Costume Quest 2.

And these are just the frontrunners it what is shaping up to be a busy (and expensive!) holiday games lineup.

Be sure to write us at feedback@gamingtrend. com and let us know which games you played this month.

Inside 27

Costume Quest 2 (XB1/PS4)

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Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse (3DS)

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SCORING SYSTEM

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100 - Perfect 90 - Awesome 80 - Great 70 - Good 60 - Okay 50 - Meh 40 - Bad 30 - Awful 20 - Terrible 10 - S*** 00 - Don’t Play

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Reviews

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Jotun: Valhalla Edition (Wii U)

Jotun: Valhalla Edition (Wii U)

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Platforms: Xbox One, PS4, PC • Release Date: Oct. 7, 2014

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f Costume Quest 2 aims to evoke the spirit of Halloween, it succeeds.

While the this sequel doesn’t shake up the conventions of turn-based combat, the game is somewhat saved by its brevity — it’s a bite-sized, colorful world designed to be enjoyed like a candy bar: short and sweet.

Costume Quest 2 picks up right where its predecessor’s Grubbins on Ice DLC left off with four cul de sac chums returning home for a Halloween block party. There’s a generous number of references and throwbacks to the first game, but with Costume Quest 2 being so short, I recommend completing the original entry first in order to get more out the game’s 6-10 hour campaign.

Speaking of the campaign, hide your Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, because Dr. Orel White DDS is out to nix Halloween! You play as returning heroes Wren and Reynold, siblings who are sent trick-or-treating through time in efforts to thwart the dastardly dentist’s plans — and that’s about as complex as it gets. Costume Quest

Costume Quest 2 Fun-sized

2 doesn’t explore the far-reaching mechanics of time travel, but rather, it delves just deep enough to present players with entertaining scenarios and encounters throughout the game.

For all its world’s endearing qualities, one would imagine its main characters would evince the same level of personality, but sadly, there’s none to be found. Aside from the “tech girl” (what was her name again?), the only main character who has a shred of distinctive personality is, surprisingly, the villain. Dr. White and every one of the side characters individually have more charm than Wren and Reynold combined – and that’s saying something.

This is a minor complaint, though, because assembling new costumes is much more of a motivating force in the game than progressing Wren and Reynold’s story. Costume Quest 2’s main gimmick is to unlock unique costumes, each with special combat abilities, and some of which allow you to traverse new parts of the game world. Finding these is always a pleasant, albeit shallow, surprise — but this sentiment is true of most of

By Hunter Wolfe

the game’s mechanics, anyways.

The core gameplay mechanic at play is an uninspired turn-based combat system. Costumes and adversaries are each assigned a “type” à la Rock, Paper, Scissors, so putting together your party rarely requires more thought than making sure one costume of each “type” is present.

The only innovation here is the inclusion of Creepy Treat Cards — cards hidden around the map that modify combat encounters with helpful buffs, each beleaguered with timed cooldowns. These permit enough strategic thinking to keep the stale combat from ever getting too boring.

80

+ Brevity + Adorable costumes

- Bare-bones combat - Characters lack character

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Shin Megami Tensei \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ IV: Apocalypse Platform: 3DS • Release Date: Feb. 10, 2016

By Hunter Wolfe

S

hin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse is a strong follow-up to its 2013 predecessor, but it still suffers from the same problems. Apocalypse may boast solid combat and progression systems, but a lot of complaints from the former game are still valid in this entry, such as dull characters and choices that are meaningless for most of the campaign. While fans of the series will be pleased, Apocalypse feels purposefully designed to bar new players from entry.

For its length, you’d expect Apocalypse to tell an engaging narrative, but even at 30 hours in, the story still has a lot of issues.

Perhaps this can be attributed to the protagonist Nanashi’s lack of voice, which painfully stands out compared to the game’s varied cast of characters. Nanashi and his childhood friend, Asahi, are Hunters, members of a faction that protect a futuristic Tokyo from the combating forces of Heaven and Hell, but despite this epic premise, I found it hard to connect with the narrative. Nanashi

(literally “no name”) doesn’t react to events happening around him, and when other characters are onscreen, he’s reduced to a fly-on-thewall becoming less of a character and more of an avatar.

The only thing muddier than the game’s story is its presentation — literally. The textures remind me of looking at the bottom row of letters at the eye doctor’s, and some of the menus can be really tricky to navigate. It’s forgivable considering the limitations of the 3DS platform, but it’s a shame because at its core, Apocalypse delivers solid level design that encourages exploration and, occasionally, backtracking.

(And in case you’re one of the few gamers still holding out for thoughtful implementation of 3D, alas, you’ll find none in here.) Despite this, the character designs for the demons are fantastic, and look every bit as powerful and alien asthey should.

Apocalypse’s levels are well designed, but hindered by the muddy textures.

All of these complaints go out the door when players are in com-

bat — Apocalypse’s main gameplay hook. Nanashi can recruit demons throughout the campaign, level them up, and use them to slaughter his enemies by identifying each one’s elemental weakness. Each new area yields unique varieties of demons, and stumbling across a new demon, pinpointing its weaknesses, and dispatching the appropriate ally to take it out is an addictive gameplay loop.

The combat shines brightest in its challenging boss fights, which require strategic thinking over mindless offense. I found myself grinning when I finally assembled a party that could take these behemoths down,

40

+ Boss Fights

- Unfocused story - Muddy presentation - Representation of women

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Jotun: Valhalla Edition \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ Minor tweaks Platform: Wii U • Release Date: Feb. 10, 2016

I

Jotun arouses the same sensation of reading a storybook before bedtime — it’s a passive experience that strings you along from cover to cover thanks to its beautiful presentation… save for each of the game’s giant-slaying set pieces. And while getting to each of these boss fights turns into a bit of a slog, it’s the demanding action and presentation of these battles that makes Jotun a pleasant, bite-sized romp through Norse mythology.

Jotun tells the story of Thora, a Viking warrior who dies ingloriously at sea but is given a second chance to earn her place in Valhalla. To do so, she must impress the gods by slaying the fearsome jötnar, colossal titans that make up the game’s boss battles. These skirmishes are a delight – each one challenging and different from each other. The fight against Isa, for example, takes place on an appropriately icy battlefield that impairs Thora’s mobility, while the fight against Fe puts her in an earthy arena… surrounded by hundreds of

enemies. For all their difficulty, these fights never seem unfair — especially with the additions of special power-ups you discover throughout the game.

These power-ups, which range from healing yourself to cloning yourself, are scattered around exotic locations from Norse mythology, such as Niflheim or Yggdrasil, but sadly, exploring these areas is never nearly as exciting as their climactic boss fights. Jotun is a short experience — I completed it in about 7 hours — but the game’s brevity doesn’t forgive Jotun’s lazy game design when it comes to its exploration segments.

Criticisms aside, Jotun’s bread and butter is its presentation. The game is hand-drawn, which shines in each of the title’s boss battles — jötnar slash, bash, and dash across open arenas, and it’s tempting to sacrifice some health just so you can see their animations. The environments leading up to each fight are equally pretty, and each one harbors beautiful scenery that makes discovering new viewpoints a more enticing gameplay mechanic than overcoming each

By Hunter Wolfe

location’s environmental hazards.

Jotun: Valhalla Edition introduces the new Valhalla Mode, a streamlined version of the campaign that’s available through the main menu after you beat the game. This feature pits players against stronger jötnar, and even with Thora’s full arsenal of upgrades carried over, these bosses are painfully more difficult than their originals.

Valhalla Mode is a welcome addition to the game, but if you already played Jotun when it launched on PC last year, nothing more is added to the package.

75

+ Beautiful animation + Epic-scale boss fights + New Valhalla Mode

- Unengaging exploration

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