TVL Magazine #11

Latest Reviews! | Developer Features! | Colin & Greg!

The Vita Lounge M A G A Z I N E

Hello Vita Gamers!

but this month It came too late for the last issue, Cyber Sleuth, has been all about Digimon Story owners and Vita which finally arrived to Western more of a ays alw was I t. it's been worth the wai e with my first tim rt sho my but , guy Pocket Monster n missing. Paul Murphy bee e I'v Digimon title is showing me what Kyle's PMurphy1978 out ck che up, it To find out if you should pick nder Fou review on page 22. the 7 other reviews including Crypt of Elsewhere in this issue you will find was t wha from rs nge Ave s LEGO Marvel' Necrodancer, We are Doomed and a particularly quiet release month.

eloper features including a look at As usual we have some more dev t Games (Strength of the Sword Pankapu and interviews with Iven from Celcius Game Studios, which Ultimate) as well as a look at Drifter out more about Siralim and We Are I think looks fantastic. We also find Doomed! n c interview with the legendary Coli This issue also features a fantasti Vita ir the a Funny, who impart Moriarty and Greg Miller from Kind answered our questions. Find out ly kind very knowledge onto us and y y love about the Vita and what the what they've been up to what the he and ita, up with Lars from Your PSV really think about it. We also caught ut deb us s see also astic. This month tells us why he thinks the Vita is fant YOU can tell us about your Vita re whe ure feat e a new Community Voic s.

Renard explains his backlog problem experiences, and this month Adam e? Get in touch!

Want to share your community voic April e and we will see you back here on We really hope you enjoy this issu 11th for Issue 12!

40 Special which will be published PS - Keep your eyes out for our Top es! on what are THE best PSVita gam later this month, with our thoughts

Welcome REGULARS 04 BITE-SIZED NEWS

BITE-SIZED NEWS

THE LATEST VITA NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD!

06 NEW RELEASES WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT TO SEE FOR THE VITA THIS MONTH

07 HOT TEN UPCOMING GAME WE SHOW YOU THE UPCOMING VITA GAMES THAT WE WANT THE MOST

18 COLIN AND GREG

COLIN AND GREG FROM KINDA FUNNY TALK WITH US ABOUT LOTS OF INTERESTING STUFF AND THE VITA, OF COURSE

40 COMMUNITY FEATURE

YOURPSVITA IS BACK WITH US TO TALK ABOUT ALL THE THINGS THAT MAKE THE VITA GREAT

PLEASE CONSIDER SUPPORTING OUR PATREON – IT WOULD REALLY BE APPRECIATED AND WOULD GO A LONG WAY TO SUPPORTING WHAT WE DO! FOR $10 PER ISSUE YOU WILL GET A PRINT COPY OF THIS MAGAZINE DELIVERED TO YOUR DOOR! YOU CAN FIND OUR PATREON PAGE AT WWW.PATREON.COM/THEVITALOUNGE 11 Re 11 Re 13 Re 10 Re 10 Re views views views views views ! Dev ! Dev ! Dev ! Dev ! Dev elope elope elope elope elope r Fea r Fea r Fea r Fea r Fea tures tures tures tures tures ! Late ! Late ! Late ! Late ! Late st Ne st Ne st Ne st Ne st Ne ws! ws! ws! ws! ws!

T T The V T T ita Lo he Vita Lo he Vita Lo he Vita Lo he Vita Lo unge unge unge unge unge M A G A Z I N E

Latest Reviews! | Developer Features! | Colin & Greg!

The Vita Lounge M A G A Z I N E

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M A G A Z I N E

M A G A Z I N E

M A G A Z I N E

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THIS MONTH, ADAM RENARD TAKES THE LOUDSPEAKER TO TALK ABOUT OUR EVER GROWING BACKLOG

43 PATREON STARS

Issue 11 | March 2016

EDITORIAL TEAM Executive Editor / Paul Murphy @pmurphy1978 6

M A G A Z I N E

42 COMMUNITY VOICE

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Editor-in-Chief / Kyle Wakeling @teflontactics Deputy Editor / Charlie Large @CharlieLarge Podcast Editor / Tyler Olthoff @imsohappy77 MAGAZINE DESIGN Art Editor / Jhonatan Carneiro @JhoCarneiro

WEBSITE TEAM Zach Price @MyrishMartyr Liam Langan @liamhangover 9 Colin Byrne @ColinJByrne Kerry-Lee Copsey @Kezz182 Jenny Jones @Kitty_has_Klaws

THE AMAZING PEOPLE THAT MAKE THIS MAGAZIN POSSIBLE. TAKE A MOMEN TO APPRECIATE THEIR AWESOMENESS!

@PSVitaMag CONTRIBUTORS Colin Moriarty @notaxation Greg Miller @GameOverGreggy Benjamin @LastRealGamer Your PSVita @YourPSVita Adam Renard @Renard_Teach

to your

ES

Magazine!

DEVELOPER FEATURES

TOO KIND STUDIO

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10 VERTEX POP 12 IVENT GAMES 14

BENJAMIN EXPLAINS ALL ABOUT PANKAPU'S KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN

MOBEEN FIKREE TAKES TIME OUT TO TELL US ABOUT WE ARE DOOMED

WE CAUGHT UP WITH IVENT GAMES TO TALK ABOUT STRENGTH OF THE SWORD ULTIMATE

THYLACINE CELCIUS GAME 16 STUDIOS STUDIOS

ZACK BERTOK TALKS ABOUT WHAT WE CAN EXPECT OF SIRALIM

WE CHAT WITH COLIN WALSH ABOUT THE SPACE GAME DRIFTER

REVIEWS 22

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Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth

28

Crypt of the NecroDancer

34

Saturday Morning RPG

30

Baseball Riot

36

We Are Doomed

32

A Boy and His Blob

38

Hitman GO: Definitive Edition

LEGO Marvel's Avengers

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thevitalounge.net SPECIAL THANKS Vertex Pop @vertexpop Thycaline Studios @ThylaStudios Ivent Games @IventGames Celcius Game Studios @celciusgs Too Kind Studio - @tookindstudio Limited Run Games @LimitedRunGames and Bandai Namco UK @BandaiNamcoUK

@TheVitaLounge COVERAGE Are you a developer? If you are working on PSVita content and want to get it covered for FREE in either the magazine or on the website, then we would love to hear from you! Please send an email to press@thevitalounge.net and add us to your press lists. If you have a game coming out soon and want us to tell other Vita owners, get in touch!

patreon.com/TheVitaLounge DISCLAIMER The Vita Lounge is an independent PlayStation Vita enthusiast website and magazine. All content featured is used with permission, and is used to promote existing and upcoming titles for the PS Vita. We are not endorsed or affiliated with Sony or PlayStation, or any of the companies featured. Š 2015-2016 The Vita Lounge

BITE-SIZED NEWS First screens for Kick Off Revival The first pre-alpha screens for Dino Dini's Kick Off Revival have been revealed, and although it's still early days that classic top-down charm that you'd associate with the game is very much present and correct. With the Vita in much need of a new football title, hopefully we won't have to wait too long for this one - which is currently set to release at some point this year. We will bring you more news as we have it!

Risk of Rain officially confirmed We knew it was coming following an leak on Twitter two years ago, but now it has been confirmed that the futuristic action/platformer Risk of Rain will be coming soon to the Vita. As the only survivor of a crashed passenger Space Train, you'll traverse a randomly generated environment whilst the difficulty increases based on your time in the game. We can't wait to get our hands on this!

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Uppers release revoked

Space Dave Cancelled

Have you been looking forward to Uppers? The over the top action title was set to be released on April 21st in Japan, but it was announced that due to poor pre-order numbers the game now has a "TBC" date, with more news to follow. Producer Kenichiro Takaki feels that he wants to look into how to make these numbers better and will communicate his thoughts at a later date.

More bad news this month, especially for those that were looking forward to Choice Provision's Space Dave; the publisher has confirmed that the game won't be coming to our console of choice after all, despite only being officially announced four months ago. The reasons for this cancellation aren't completely clear, but what is clear is that the arcade-like expansion to the Woah Dave gameplay just isn't happening for PlayStation Vita.

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New Grand Kingdom Details Are you excited for the upcoming tactical RPG Grand Kingdom? NIS America have announced that the game will be arriving in the West with dual English and Japanese audio this June. Aside from that little bonus, you'll also be able to pick up a limited edition which features a 128 page compendium, the original soundtrack, a parade poster, some decals and a collector's box. Sounds Grand, no?

Yomawari: Night Alone coming West Those excited for some creepy survival horror will be pleased to learn that you'll be able to experience Yomawari: Night Alone later in 2016. The game is set in a strange town where a young girl loses first her dog, then her sister. Whilst deciding to explore herself she finds that she is being stalked, and her surroundings have mysteriously changed in the darkness.

Each month, those with an active PlayStation Plus subscription will receive at least two Vita specific games to play as part of their Instant Game Collection, and in March gamers will be able to download Reality Fighters and Flame Over.

Flame Over

Flame Over is Flaming Jackal's "pyro-guelike" title where you play as Blaze Carruthers, a firefighter called to deal with randomly generated rooms that need some serious extinguishing. Charlie reviewed the game last year and said: "Perseverance pays off for those that wish to take on and tackle the burning inferno that is Flame Over. With tons of replay value and gameplay that will challenge most, Laughing Jackal's fire fighting pyro-guelike is a sure-fire hit for the handheld!"

4.5

Reality Fighters

New starter kits available in Japan Did you ever think that the Vita should come bundled with a useful memory card? Thankfully (although perhaps four years too late) Japanese fans that want to pick up a new Vita can now get everything they need to start in one pack; the starter kit pairing either a Glacier White or Aqua Blue console with a 16GB memory card. Retailing for 19,980 Yen (around $175), these limited quantity bundles could really do with being this side of the world if you ask us.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, Reality Fighters is possibly one of the worst games we have ever reviewed. Brad felt that: "Reality Fighters is a game that does not manage to land many punches. The game won't knock you out with any stellar game mechanics, and instead it gives you round after round of repetitive game play. Trophy hunters will find a few easy Gold and Silver trophies but little else. Reality Fighters has a lot of aspirations but ultimately I can't recommend stepping into the ring with this game."

1.5

Polls Apart!

We asked on Twitter if you were happy with these titles for the IGC. The results are:

@PSVitaMag

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Reality Fighters

Flame Over

Croixleur Sigma

March 1st NA WE KNOW THAT VITA GAMES CAN APPEAR WITHOUT MUCH NOTICE, BUT HERE ARE SOME OF THE GAMES WE SHOULD BE SEEING THIS MONTH!

Ninja Senki DX March 1st EU

Samurai Warriors 4: Empires

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Siralim

Blast 'Em Bunnies

March 2nd EU

March 8th NA / March 9th EU

March 15th NA / March 11th EU

March 15th NA / March 18th EU

Senran Kagura: Estival Versus

Trillion: God of Destruction

Aegis of Earth: Protonovus Assault March TBC NA & EU

Day of the Tentacle Remastered

Letter Quest: Grimm's Journey Remastered

The Vita Lounge Magazine

March TBC NA & EU

March 29th NA

March TBC NA & EU

thevitalounge.net

Ho eN THE VITA GAMES WE ARE MOST EXCITED FOR! YIIK

ackkstudios.wordpress.com @ackkstudios

ATTACK ON TITAN

SEVERED

LEGO STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS

SWORD ART ONLINE: HOLLOW REALIZATION

swordartonline-game.com @BandaiNamcoEU

severedgame.com @DrinkBoxStudios

NEW DANGANRONPA V3

TRILLION: GOD OF DESTRUCTION

ideafintl.com/trillion @IdeaFactoryIntl

@spikechunsoft

AXIOM VERGE

@PSVitaMag

darkestdungeon.com @RedHookStudios

videogames.lego.com/en-gb/lsw-the-force-awakens @LSWGame

@koeitecmoeurope

axiomverge.com @AxiomVerge

DARKEST DUNGEON

ZERO ESCAPE 3

zero-escape.com/coming-soon @aksysgames The Vita Lounge Magazine

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Pankapu

pankapu.com @Pankapu Pankapu: The Dreamkeeper is a 2D episodic Action-Platformer made by the French developer Too Kind Studio. The game was on Kickstarter last year and gathered 53,120 euros, which not only completed the funding goal but achieved also several stretch goals. In this way, new skins, professional voice actors and a PS4 (and XBone) port could be assured.

Unfortunately, the game kept short of reaching the most important goal for us, a PS Vita port of the game. The stretch goal was settled at 60,000 euros. Thus, 6,880 euros would have been enough to bring us this great looking game to our favourite handheld. The developers still want to realize a Vita version and have

opened now a SlackerBacker Paypal page where people can preorder the game. The incoming money counts towards this Vita stretch goal and makes it still possible to make it a reality. The game is sold for a period of three months on the page with the rewards of their Kickstarter.

This means 20 € for the full game, 35 € for the game plus the soundtrack, new skins and your name in the credits, 45 € adds up a digital artbook and 55 € gets you everything mentioned before plus some special Backer sets of weapons and armours. From 70 € to 150 € you can also add physical rewards to your digital goodies, such as a plush, the OST, an artbook or even a signed and numbered

Written by Benjamin

@LastRealGamer canvas of the art director. As you see, around 300 gamers preordering (only) the game now can already make it happen.

So, Vita community, this is a job for us!

Let me tell you about the story of Pankapu. Djaha’Rell is a child whose nights are regularly troubled by nightmares. In order to overcome his fears, his father tells him the story of Pankapu, the Dreamkeeper. The player is then invited to live the adventures of the tiny warrior through the eyes of Djaha'Rell.

The game is a projection of Djaha’Rell’s mind, and it all takes place inside this imaginary world. In this way, most of the characters and situations come from his troubled past, and the player, if he/she is a little bit curious, will find the parallel between these two stories.

This mise en abyme will settle a dual narration. The young player will then follow the adventures of Pankapu, as he would in a traditional tale, while the more mature ones will read between the lines and discover the tragic story of Djaha’Rell, and how he overcomes his trauma.

During his quest Pankapu will bear different Aegis. Each one acting like a specialization and switchable in real time, fully changing the skills and weapons of our hero.

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Every Aegis has a skill tree that can be upgraded to give new powers. These abilities will be unlock as you (re)explore the levels. This system is called Nebula.

All the different levels that you will go through are nonlinear and can be reexplored as much as you want. With the help of your new powers, new paths will appears, allowing you to find hidden secrets all over the dream land Omnia. Moreover, this is how you will find fragments of Djaha’Rell’s lost memory and discover all the mysteries surrounding his life.

The voice acting is planned to be supported by Kai Kennedy (Beowulf in Skullgirls), who seems to be a perfect fit as narrator of the story line.

The gameplay reminds me of Rayman with a stronger focus on fighting; and it feels absolutely great. I played the Kickstarter demo and had a lot of fun!

The demo is still downloadable on their KS page, so check it out on PC. The game is programmed in Unity, a game engine which already showed its usefulness for many Vita games. The list includes titles such as Volume, Teslagrad and the upcoming forma.8. A Vita port of Pankapu seems therefore more than feasible. The developers told me that they are looking forward to a Vita version,

as they think it would be a great fit ‘on the go’. Besides, they were absolutely astonished by the passion Vita players showed them for Pankapu on Twitter.

The game is planned to be produced in episodic format with the first chapter releasing already before the summer of 2016. The whole game will consist of four episodes including two chapters each and a planned full release in summer 2017.

The Vita version will get the full release, if enough backers are found for the project.

The Paypal page will be open until the end of March, so make sure to spread

the word and get your copy with special backer extras as soon as possible. The Vita community may not be the biggest but we are a bunch of dedicated gamers that can make it happen. At the beginning I said 300 people are needed, let’s make it 299, because I’m already in. Long live the Vita, cheers.

SlackerBacker link: tookindstudio.com/en/paypal

@PSVitaMag

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Vertex Pop

vertexpop.com @vertexpop

Mobeen Fikree

@mobeenfikree

Hello Mobeen! Thanks for taking the time to talk to us! Can you tell us a little bit about Vertex Pop and how you got into developing games?

No problem at all. While I’ve been making games for many years, I founded Vertex Pop to bring We Are Doomed to consoles.

It’s been a fun ride so far.

You have just released We are Doomed on the Vita. Can you explain a little about what it is?

WE ARE DOOMED is a twin-stick shooter where you zap polygon baddies with an absurdly overpowered laserbeam.

Your beam is powerful but closerange, so you really need to dive right into the action. You can also charge a SUPERBEAM, which goes all the way across the screen zapping everything it touches in short order.

The entire game is built on a risk/reward mentality. Every mechanic is designed to make throwing yourself into danger pay off. On the other hand, if you just want to 10

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MOBEEN FIKREE IS THE MAN BEHIND VERTEX POP, AND HIS TWIN-STICK SHOOTER WE ARE DOOMED IS NOW OUT ON VITA. WE CAUGHT UP WITH HIM TO FIND OUT MORE.

chill and enjoy the pretty colours, that’s cool too!

What was the inspiration for the game?

It started with a doodle of a massive, overpowered laserbeam in my notebook. That’s what got me onto the computer, prototyping. Over the course of development, everything from the controls, to the look, to the enemy behaviours changed dramatically, but that initial doodle survived.

What made you want to bring the game to the Vita?

Two reasons: First, I love making games for portable devices. There’s something totally magical about seeing your game running on a tiny device that you can just hand to someone. It’s hard to explain, but it feels great.

Second, I feel like the quick load times, short-burst game sessions and the twinstick controls are a perfect fit for the Vita.

Was the Vita version always planned?

Yes, but I also knew it was never going to come out at the same time as the PS4 and XB1. I’m just one programmer, and my games run on a custom-built engine. I didn’t want to rush it.

Are there any notable differences between the Vita version and the PS4 version? What compromises did you have to make to get it on the Vita?

I put a tremendous amount of effort into ensuring that the Vita version looks and plays just like the PS4 version. And it does!

This may not seem like a big deal, after all We Are Doomed doesn’t look very graphically intense. But it’s actually quite sophisticated in a non-conventional way.

All the art is procedurally generated using algorithms in code. This means that the Vita CPU is recalculating thousands of vertices on every frame. I managed to optimize the code until it ran 60fps at native resolution. I’m quite happy with it! thevitalounge.net

Are there any games that have impressed you on the Vita?

TxK is a stunning design and technical achievement. Minter at his finest.

Luftrausers is the kind of tight action game that works so well on the Vita.

Is there anything coming out for the Vita that you are looking forward to?

Keeping on the Vlambeer roll, I haven’t had a chance to try Nuclear Throne on Vita yet. I’ve put a few hours into it on Steam, but I think it’d play better with a controller. Also, Severed looks really cool and totally gorgeous! @PSVitaMag

What’s next for Vertex Pop? Would you consider developing for the Vita again?

Yeah! I’d love to make more action or arcade games designed for the Vita. As with most of these decisions though, it comes down to how well We Are Doomed sells on Vita, and on scheduling. There’s only so much I can do at once! :)

Our final question - which do you think is the better Vita model, the OLED or the Slim?

They’re both great systems… I mean, ultimately it comes down to the games.

But you can’t beat that OLED screen, huh?

We would like to thank Mobeen for his time with this interview.

We Are Doomed is out now and you can read our review on page 36. Have you picked it up yet?

The Vita Lounge Magazine

11

Ivent Games

swordultimate.com @IventGames

HAVE YOU HEARD OF BULGARIAN DEVELOPERS IVENT GAMES? WE CAUGHT UP WITH THEM RECENTLY TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT STRENGTH OF THE SWORD ULTIMATE FOR THE PSVITA, AND MOST OF THE TEAM GOT INVOLVED!

Hello Ivent Games! Thanks for taking the time to talk to us. Can you tell us a little bit about Ivent Games?

We are talking to you today about Strength of the Sword Ultimate. Can you explain to us what it's about?

Georgi: Sure. It all started what feels like a thousand years ago, with me and what it turned out later a very vague idea of the game I'd like to make. And I'd do it all by myself... if I could just find a freelancer willing to do every graphical asset I ask for. Turns out I underestimated the amount of work that was, so I ended up contracting a bunch of people. And they all seemed to do good work on their assigned tasks. That is until a particular weirdo came along and blew my mind.

Mitko: Well, if you need a two-word description, you could call it an arena brawler. However it also has the responsive controls and move set akin to fighter games. It has insane amount of customization that players can experiment with for hours, different armour pieces, weapons and shields give the War Golem specific skills and options, as well as a large variation in stats such as HP, mobility and damage. And you're going to need that, because we've taught the enemies to adapt to what you throw at them and always go for the jugular with everything you got. Every level of this game is a mini-boss battle or above.

And that's just the core single player campaign. In the coming weeks we're aiming to start beta testing multiplayer modes with our amazing Kickstarter backers and that's going to be its own incredible experience. Believe the hype!

This is going to be awesome!

Lyubo: Hello! It's me, the 'weirdo'. So basically what happen was – I got super excited based on the few scraps of work I got to do on the project initially as a freelancer. So I did what anyone would do in my place. I went back for more. In fact I told him to drop everybody else, I was going to do everything as long as I had a programmer willing to code in what I thought should be in the game I'd like to make.

Georgi: It was the perfect match. And we've been at it ever since. In the past year we've been fortunate to welcome officially to the team couple of people, Mitko and Tzetzo, that have been adamant supporters of the project since the early days. They've always been around play-testing different variations of the game and providing game-shaping feedback. But now thanks to a very successful Kickstarter campaign we get to exploit them even further in development, community management, public relations, gaming nights at the office, beer runs, etc.

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Georgi: Excuse him, he gets excited easily.

What games inspired you prior to (or during) development?

Souls was yet to come out and prove our idea of fun through extremely challenging gameplay is still viable. There is no doubt in my mind that without the Souls game affecting the industry as they did, we would've never had the success we had on Kickstarter this year. As for Medievil, I believe that the artists working on it and I have had a similar source of inspiration in the earlier works of Tim Burton.

What modes can gamers expect to experience when playing Strength of the Sword Ultimate?

Mitko: I'm going to let Lyubo go through this one, but I got to interject. And excuse me in advance for getting hyped up over every little thing. All modes, and indeed all the information for the game is delivered in an amazing way over at our kickstarter page. We could talk for hours and it will still be doing your readers a disservice, because the developer comics Lyubo put on there are... and I'm being modest here, the best thing on the internet since the beginning of time. Please imagine me dropping the mic and walking away like a boss... and indeed like I have any creative input on those.

Lyubo: Yeah, that just happen. Moving on. As you know we're going to have both single player and multiplayer this time Lyubo: The two main titles that people around. With campaign and survival mode often compare us to are Dark Souls because of the difficulty and emphasis on in the former, and co-op survival, PVP and Dark Mode forming the latter. Now execution, and Medievil, because of the most of those are self-explanatory, so art style. And we're happy to take those, because they are incredible games. In fact, I'll just do Dark Mode. It's an asymmetric when Souls games come up in interviews multiplayer mode where one side of the usual run of the mill War Golem you're we just nod and accept the comparison, playing all modes with, you as a player even though chronologically when we are familiar with the move list, it's been started developing the game Demon's thevitalounge.net

explained through the campaign mode and further reinforced as reflex memory by all other modes. And on the other side there's a thing we call Dark Swordsman – there are no tutorials on how to use that guy, there are no modes that let you train with him, but if you've faced enough like him you get the chance to try being him and deal punishment on unsuspecting players queuing to play PVP. It's a limited time offer though, because you don't recharge your HP between fights you just keep queuing up fight after fight with that ever-decreasing HP bar until you die and then it's back to playing normal pvp.

definitely be an option and barring any when I do play a mean Techie in Dota2 on unforeseen difficulties, so will cross save/ the PC. play.

Are there any games coming out that you Do you have an ETA for the Vita version? are looking forward to on the Vita?

Lyubo: At this point we're aiming at February 2016 as release window for all versions of the game.

What was the motivation for the Vita version?

Georgi: First and foremost, we'd like to deliver the game to as wide of an audience as possible. We're very proud Have you started work on the Vita version of what we're doing and we think people will enjoy it on whatever their favourite yet? Are there going to be any notable differences between the core version and platform is. That said, we have a couple of Vitas between the four of us, and we the handheld port? absolutely love the device. We'd love to see more awesome games on it, so in a Georgi: I've put some work towards way, we're just doing our part. the Vita, yes. The most of my days go toward the PC build as it's the platform How are you finding working with the we'll be doing the alpha/beta testing on.

Vita?

But some days you just feel like playing around with a dev kit or two. I've had an earlier bare-bones build run pretty much Georgi: It's a wonderful system to develop for. without problems, but I've kept adding stuff and the code got way to messy.

What games stand out for you on the That will need some cleaning up, but I'm confident we'll not be delivering an inferior Vita? version of the game to the Vita. It's a Georgi: Gravity Rush. powerful device and it can handle it.

Many Vita gamers take advantage of Cross Buy/Save/Play. Will any of these things make it into the Vita version?

Tzetzo: Guacamelee!

Tzetzo: Yes!

Lyubo: Sorry, I'm a busy game developer that apparently carries his team of four on his back, I don't have much spare time, but

Mitko: A man of few words. Cross buy will @PSVitaMag

Mitko: Persona 4.

Mitko: I hear great things for a game called Strength of the SWORD: ULTIMATE. I'm looking forward to that. Might be game of the year material.

Do you have anything to say to the Vita fans reading this?

Georgi: Don't lose faith. We're coming. And we're worth the wait.

Lyubo: Love ya, guys! Thanks for the overwhelming support.

Mitko: Shout out to @LastRealGamer on Twitter! He is our biggest Vita fan and he does his best to keep us in the loop with everything that happens concerning the platform.

Tzetzo: Send Vita game recommendations to our twitter, I'm looking for something fun to play!

We would like to thank Ivent Games for their time with this interview! They have asked us to point out that the screens in this feature are not Vita build, but they are committed to delivering the best possible version of the game on all fronts/ consoles. We will bring you more news on Strength of the Sword Ultimate when we can!

The Vita Lounge Magazine

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Thylacine Studios siralim.com @ThylaStudios

Hi Zach, thanks for taking the time to talk to us! Can you tell us about how you got into developing games and Thylacine Studios?

Hey, thanks for the interview! Like many other developers, I’ve wanted to create games since I was very young. Eventually, I found the time and money to fulfil this ambition so I founded Thylacine Studios.

Siralim is our first and only game, but there’s plenty more to come soon!

Today we are talking about your game Siralim. What exactly is it?

You’re the ruler of your own kingdom called Siralim. In short, your duty as king or queen is to explore randomly generated dungeons called “realms” and complete quests. Along the way, you’ll collect creatures to fight for you in battle. You can equip your creatures with enchanted artefacts to grant them new abilities and powers. On your journey, you’ll also find tons of different spells and unique items to allow you to customize your team even more. As a reward for winning battles, you’ll receive some resources. You can invest these resources into upgrades for your castle to unlock new rooms and NPCs, such as a blacksmith, enchantress, a creature egg hatchery, and even a battle arena.

What sort of gameplay can gamers expect to experience in Siralim?

There’s not much of a story to be found, but the depth of gameplay is where Siralim truly shines. There are over 300 creatures to collect, and each one has a unique ability. You can fight with 6 creatures in your party at a time, so it’s fun to come up with interesting combinations. Dungeons and quests are all randomly generated and there 14

The Vita Lounge Magazine

SIRALIM IS A CREATURE-TAMING RPG WITH ROGUELIKE ELEMENTS WHICH IS AVAILABLE NOW ON THE VITA. WE SPOKE TO ZACK BERTOK FROM THYLACINE STUDIOS TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE GAME. are no level caps, so the game can be played forever and you’ll always have something new to do. There’s plenty of room for customization as well. You can enchant your creatures’ equipment using hundreds of different crafting materials, collect spells, upgrade your castle, and much more. Where it lacks in flashy graphics, Siralim makes up for it with deep gameplay.

so that needed to be rewritten as well.

Fortunately, everything turned out well in the end and the game runs very smoothly now!

What games have most impressed you on the Vita?

Soul Sacrifice, Dragon’s Crown, and Muramasa Rebirth are my favourites so far. Unfortunately, there haven’t been too many games that I’ve gotten overly excited about. I think the Vita is an awesome device, though, so I’m really excited to see if Sony does anything with it over the next few years.

What made you want to bring the game to the Vita?

Siralim is heavily inspired by Dragon Warrior Monsters for Gameboy. It was such a great game to play on the go, and Is there anything upcoming for the Vita I’m hoping fans of DWM will be able to appreciate that same nostalgic experience that you think looks good?

I’m really excited about Darkest Dungeon. when they play it on their Vitas.

I’ve played it a bit on PC, but I think it Do you have an update for EU Vita owners would be way more fun on a handheld device like Vita. on Siralim's availability, or is that door firmly closed?

What's next for Thylacine Studios? Siralim It’s coming to Europe for both PS4 and 2?

Vita, hopefully around the time you are Yep! We’re working on Siralim 2 now. reading this! There’s no official release I’m hoping to start public beta testing date yet, but it’s definitely coming soon! in a few months for Windows, and after it’s released we’ll roll it out to all the Did you have to make any compromises other operating systems and platforms, to get the game running on the Vita? including Vita.

A lot of recoding was needed to get it running as intended. Siralim has already Which do you think is the best Vita model, been available for Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, and Android for about a year now, and the OLED or the Slim?

Definitely the Slim! I think it’s an upgrade out of all the different devices I’ve tested over the older model in every way. the game on, the Vita is the weakest by far from a hardware perspective. There was a lot of FPS volatility at first, so I had to optimize the code with Vita in mind.

We would like to thank Zack You wouldn’t expect a game with such for his time with this interview! old-school graphics to have issues, but it Have you picked Siralim up yet? was the calculations behind the scenes We will have a review soon! that were causing problems. Vita also wasn’t compatible with our save system,

thevitalounge.net

Celcius Game Studios celsiusgs.com/drifter @celsiusgs

Hi Colin, thanks for taking the time to talk to us! Can you tell us a little bit about your studio?

Celsius Game Studios is located in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, on the east coast of Canada. We’re fairly small, just two people, with myself doing the business stuff and most of the programming and design work on Drifter and Sven Bergström is doing the art and modelling. Up until 2012 it had been just me working on things having released a couple of games on iOS before I successfully brought Drifter to Kickstarter and I was able to bring Sven on board to help make Drifter as awesome as possible.

DRIFTER IS AN OPEN WORLD SANDBOX SPACE TRADING GAME INSPIRED BY ELITE/PRIVATEER AND STARFLIGHT. WE CAUGHT UP WITH COLIN WALSH FROM CELCIUS GAME STUDIOS TO FIND OUT MORE! included, that just don’t have a lot of time these days to dedicate to familiarizing themselves with a bunch of complicated systems and just want to jump in and start shooting some space pirates.

complicated game than Frontier, but it was still very enjoyable. It also had a fully realized story arc which you could complete, which is something I’m hoping to include in Drifter as well.

The third big influence was Starflight which was a top down 2D space roleplaying adventure game that I originally played on the Sega Genesis. Partly because of this I’m trying to include RPG elements in Drifter and I’m hoping to eventually have planetary landings similar to what Starflight featured. Also, interestingly, Drifter was originally going to be a top down 2D game much like Starflight, except with 3D graphics, but one day I decided to pull the camera back to see what it looked like and I enjoyed We are talking to you today about your the feeling of “being there” so much that I upcoming title, Drifter. Can you tell us what it is about?

For those that grew up in the 80s and 90s, ran with it, and that’s why Drifter is 2.5D! Drifter is an open world sandbox space there is some very obvious inspiration for There are a few other minor influences trading game. Basically the idea is you’re a Drifter. Can you explain these to those but those are the Big Three, so to speak. lone spaceship captain attempting to that are not so familiar? make living flying between the stars. It Well, as you said, the primary inspirations has a procedurally generated galaxy with for Drifter were some of the space games What sort of gameplay mechanics can gamers expect to see in Drifter? tens of thousands of star systems that I grew up playing. Probably the biggest you can explore and it features a influence was Frontier: Elite II, created by As I said before it features the sorts of soundtrack by Danny Baranowsky, a one of the originators of the space trading things people come to expect from these name some of your readers may be genre, David Braben. It featured a massive kinds of games. You’ll be able to trade goods between stock markets in various familiar with. The game has a lot of things galaxy with accurately simulated star people come to expect in these kinds of systems and planets you could land on. It star systems, there’s mining, there will be procedurally generated missions, you’ll be games which I get into a bit more detail was actually pretty sparse, mostly being able to hunt pirates for bounties, you can below but one thing I’m attempting to do an open-ended sandbox with no real with Drifter is to try and make it more goals, but I used to spend hours and hours even become a pirate yourself. Also there’s going to be crafting and approachable than most space games flying my ship between star systems exploration mechanics which I think tend to be. trying to maximize my profits in an should be pretty interesting. Additionally attempt to get a better ship… so I could there will be a standing system that will Don’t get me wrong, I love hardcore space haul more goods to make more profits! effect and be effected by your interactions games, but a lot of them tend to be super with the various factions in the game. So intimidating and I feel like that ends up Next up is Privateer, which was a space turning a lot of people away who might trading game set in the Wing Commander as an example, if you’re doing a lot of space piracy you might be unwelcome in otherwise want to get into these games. universe created by Chris Roberts. systems controlled by the local Also of course there are people, myself Privateer in some ways was a less 16

The Vita Lounge Magazine

So with Drifter I’m basically trying to capture the feeling one might get from playing one of these more super hardcore space sims but in the process I’m attempting to eliminate some of that intimidating complexity while still trying to maintain deep gameplay that a dedicated player can eventually get into.

Interestingly enough I feel like this may be a good reason why I feel like Drifter is a good fit for the Vita because it’s something you can pick up and play as you see fit.

thevitalounge.net

government but you might be able to dock at a pirate base and get access to special missions and items that are only available there.

Finally there are a few things I’ve already mentioned like the story missions and planetary landings that probably won’t make it into version 1.0 but I’m very likely going to release them later as free DLC. Once you've hit that 1.0 version, do you plan to continue supporting and adding to the game? What about the PSN versions?

The plan is to keep supporting the game past 1.0 on all platforms.

The game has a variety of ships to choose from. Do you have a current favourite? Do you plan on adding more as you progress through development?

My current favourite is the starting ship, the Shrike, which features prominently in the game’s promotional materials. It may not be the best ship in the game but I like it a lot. We’ve already got 13 ships in the game and the plan is to have around 20 in when 1.0 is released.

Can you tell us anything about the game that isn't already known?

The development has been pretty open so I’m not sure there’s really anything that’s much of a secret at this point!

full shared space with other players but instead maybe things players do in the game may affect things for all players, like the markets and items shared across the galaxy between all players.

far have been Nuclear Throne, Hotline Miami and WipEout 2048 with WipEout probably being the most impressive from a technical standpoint. Also I have to say it’s really amazing being able to play PSOne games on the Vita and I was finally What made you want to bring the game to able to go back and play Castlevania: the Vita? Are you managing the port Symphony of the Night which is a yourself? surprisingly good fit for Vita.

It always just seemed to be a natural fit for the Vita. Interestingly enough I had When do you think that gamers might be approached Sony at first just before the able to get their hands on Drifter?

PS4 came out specifically about bringing Because Drifter is such a big game and the game to the Vita before the idea of we’re fairly small I’ve always said “when also bringing it to PS4 was suggested! it’s done”. That said I’m currently trying to get Drifter 1.0 done by the spring. As soon I am managing the port myself, and the as 1.0 hits we’ll be pushing to get the game is written in my own engine, game through certification for PS4 and probably because there’s something Vita as soon as we can. I’ve never done wrong with me… haha. Other than that console cert before but assuming it goes it’s actually been fairly straightforward well I’m hoping the game will be available and I’d say the initial attempt to get it up on PSN by the summer. and running maybe took less than a week.

Finally, which is your favourite Vita model, Is development of the Vita version OLED or Slim? progressing well? Have you had to make This is actually kind of tough to answer. I any compromises to the game to get it own an OLED Vita which I quite like a lot onto the handheld? but I think I prefer the industrial design of The game is running fairly well on Vita! the Slim Vita. I feel like if they combined The port is functional and all that’s the screen of the first gen Vita with the missing is the sound and music but I body of the Slim one it would basically be suspect it shouldn’t take very long to get perfect. that working. The HUD is currently causing a weird slowdown that I’m hoping I’ll be able to eliminate by the time the game launches because other than that it’s been running at around 60fps. That We would like to thank Colin said I haven’t had to make any for his time with this interview! compromises as of yet to get the game Celcius Game Studios hope to running on Vita! release Drifter by the Summer,

Do you plan online modes at all to add to the lifespan? A game like this is crying out for the ability to play with others!

I haven’t completely ruled out online play but it would definitely be a complicated What games have impressed you the undertaking and something that would most on the Vita? come after the 1.0 release of the game.

I’d say my favourite games on the Vita so Even then it may not take the form of a @PSVitaMag

and we will bring you more news as we have it! Do you like the look of Drifter?

The Vita Lounge Magazine

17

Colin Moriarty @notaxation

Greg Miller

@GameOverGreggy

Hi Greg and Colin! Thanks for taking the time to talk to us! How are you both?

Greg: Exhausted but good. It’s the usual.

It’s a good thing. One day, maybe I’ll even have time to play games again!

Colin: I’m hanging in there. Ups and downs. Y’know.

It's been a year since you left IGN and formed Kinda Funny Games. How has the last year been for you?

Greg: Amazing. There’s no other word for it. When we were getting ready to launch in 2015, I remember thinking that it was going to be this huge mountain to climb, and it has been, but not in the way I imagined. The audience and the industry “gets” what we’re doing. That’s insane. I remember thinking I was going to have to go publisher to publisher explaining why this rinky-dink organization mattered, but everyone got it out of the gate. Everyone supported us. We’re five best friends making content for our 300,000-plus best friends on the Internet. That’s amazing.

Colin: Professionally, the last year has been nothing short of amazing. Owning a piece of Kinda Funny is the epitome of rewarding, and I’m so pleased we took the risk we did to make doing this full time a reality. We’re not this mega-successful YouTube channel, but we have in spades 18

The Vita Lounge Magazine

IF YOU'VE BEEN ENJOYING AND FOLLOWING PLAYSTATION FOR A WHILE YOU MUST HAVE HEARD OF COLIN MORIARTY AND GREG MILLER, AND THESE LONGSTANDING PLAYSTATION SUPPORTERS QUIT THEIR IGN JOBS TO VENTURE OUT ON THEIR OWN AND COVER THINGS THEIR OWN WAY. WE CAUGHT UP WITH THEM TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THEIR LAST YEAR WITH KINDA FUNNY, AND THEIR THOUGHTS ON THE VITA. what most online communities many times our size wish they had: a dedicated, positive, core group of users who are loyal to us and our brand. And it’s those people we don’t want to let down. I get up every day thinking of them, and figuring out how we can continue to entertain them, all the while growing slowly-but-surely.

have no one else to blame. I’ve failed.

Luckily, in five years, we’ll all look back at the five of us around my kitchen table and call them the “good ol’ days.

Colin: Honestly, not really. I owe everything to IGN. Really, I do. They gave me a shot at freelance when I turned 18.

They offered me a job when I was 22. I’m Is there anything you miss about your 31 now, and I know for a fact I wouldn’t be former roles? here without everything folks there did for me. That will never be lost on me, and I Greg: IGN used to give us free bagels one will always be ride-or-die for that brand, day a week. I could really go for those just like they were for me. They believed again. in me. It could have been anyone they got behind. But it was me. It’s pretty cool, But seriously, I miss having a when you think about it. Heart-warming, specialization and a huge team. What we’re doing with Kinda Funny is awesome even. It’s why paying it forward is so important to me.

-- we’re building something we think is going to be around a long time and long That said, it was time for me to move on. I after us, but IGN was already that thing. simply wasn’t deriving the level of Hundreds of people work there, so you enjoyment I once was out of being a can solely focus on the handful of things member of the traditional games press. I that you’re responsible for, but with a am glad I knew when to walk away, before team of five at Kinda Funny, we’re responsible for everything. There’s only so I really became burned-out and, ultimately, jaded. The daily grind I went many places the responsibilities can go. through then and the daily grind I go through now are so radically different.

And again, that’s great. It’s a thrilling life One isn’t necessarily better or worse than and the pride I have in what we accomplish every day is immense, but as the other one. But I definitely needed to shake things up as I entered my 30’s, and high as the highs are, the lows are even lower. When a thumbnail isn’t working or I’m glad I did. there’s an error in a show or I just can’t get back to all my emails, that’s on me. I thevitalounge.net

At PSX you hosted PS I Love You XOXO live from the show with some prominent PlayStation individuals present, including Gio Corsi and Shuhei Yoshida. Did they let on to any future Vita initiatives, or did you discuss the Vita at length afterwards?

Greg: Ha. Hm. I’ve had plenty of conversations with PlayStation people about Vita. I think the initiative is on developers now. Vita’s still going to be around a while, but I don’t think you’ll see PlayStation going out of its way to support the platform as it moves to PS4 and PlayStation VR. Games are coming -- as we all know -- but now, it’s up to gamers to support devs and publishers making Vita games to make sure we keep getting more. I think Mike Bithell’s comments on the bump Volume saw on Vita matters, and I hope more devs take it to heart.

Colin: I didn’t hear anything particularly revelatory from them about Vita, no. I think that there are developers out there that understand the power of the platform. Quite simply, the handheld is waning, but it’s still powerful with those that have it. Developers like DrinkBox Studios know what Vita can do for their games, and I’m confident we’ll see developers continue to understand this through 2016, into 2017, and perhaps even beyond. Nothing will ever sell millions of copies on the platform, but it’s a platform that has maybe the most dedicated audience of all. This audience knows games, and they buy games.

Release good games on the platform, let folks know it’s there, and it will almost certainly shift some units. In a way, the impetus is on all of us to continue to prove that. Vita’s death will only happen when we’re all ready to give up the ghost.

And that time isn’t yet, right?

@PSVitaMag

You are both massive Vita supporters.

Freedom Wars. When PlayStation showed What are your thoughts and hopes for the us that months before release, I Vita in 2016? remember thinking “Whoa, this could be amazing. This could literally be the game Greg: Patapon Vita. It’s been my hope I’ve been waiting for.” And then, it came since the damn handheld was announced, out, and it delivered. I’m so used to games and I really am starting to think it’s never looking like I’ll love them and then not going to happen. I’d love a Freedom Wars digging them, but Freedom Wars 2, as well, but it’s the same story. It’s so delivered. I’ll never forget going on sad! vacation with Kristine, both of us being addicted, and making a daily ritual out of So, beyond that -- BEYOND! -- I just want going to a local coffeeshop and playing great games. Right now, I have Volume, Freedom Wars together for hours. It’s like Bastion, and LEGO Marvel’s Avengers on this perfect snapshot of why I love that the list to Platinum. That’s a great starting game and girl. point. Let’s get some more quality titles on there. I can’t wait for Severed, NIS is Colin: It’s easy enough to talk about the doing some really cool stuff, and I know games I loved. I mean, where do I begin? there are going to be plenty of indie gems. Escape Plan, Super Stardust Delta, I’m excited for this year. The Vita is old Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Unit 13, Dokuro, reliable to me.

Dragon’s Crown, Killzone Mercenary, Velocity Ultra, Velocity 2X, Rainbow Moon, Colin: I want to see Vita continue to prove Danganronpa, Danganronpa 2, Hotline haters wrong. As it enters its fifth (!) year, Miami, Xeodrifter… the list goes on and I think the Vita is just as powerful a on. platform as it was when I first got my Japanese unit in 2011. It may have only But no, it’s not just about the games sold somewhere around 10 million units alone. It really is about the community. (maybe more, I have no idea), but it’s in My favorite experiences surrounding the the hands of people who truly adore it, Vita have been speaking with and meeting and they deserve to continue to get some like-minded folks who also have a passion games. And they will! for this amazing handheld. We really are a pretty insane group of people, who all We’re not going to see triple-A support on huddled around this device few people the platform anymore, but that’s okay. believed in, and even fewer believe in now.

What I’m confident we will see in 2016 is a But we believe in it. We play it. We love it. continuing stream of quality indie games And it’s that very experience -- of being in and smaller bite-sized titles, and I’m fine this small niche of believers -- that is my with that. I’m loving Volume and A Boy absolute favorite thing about being a Vita and His Blob on Vita right now. Keep gamer. giving me games like that, and I’ll be beyond smitten.

Why do you think the Vita has struggled?

Could you put it down to one thing or is it What have been your favourite Vita a combination of factors? experiences?

Greg: I think it’s a bunch of things. The two Greg: Watching Goldfarb and Kristine get SKUs at launch weren’t a great idea, the obsessed with Persona 4 Golden is up price of those damn memory cards were a there for me, but the No. 1 memory is turnoff to gamers, and -- I know Colin The Vita Lounge Magazine

19

doesn’t agree with me -- I think the touch stuff was a bad move. We as “core” gamers equate touch to mobile and equate mobile to crap.

Look at the PS4. Sony is dominating because it came out at the February PS4 reveal and said “This is a machine for games; we love games.” Touch doesn’t scream that. The Vita is a product caught somewhere between the mistakes of the PS3 and the successes of the PS4.

If Sony would’ve launched the Vita with no touch (or at least downplayed touch importance), triggers, and a message aimed right at the core gamer, it’d be a different ballgame.

Little Deviants wasn’t the message to lead with.

Colin: Hindsight is 20/20, and looking back at 2011 and 2012, it may have been easier to predict Vita’s issues than I had originally thought. In our PlayStationcentric ecosystem, it seemed like the ultimate no-brainer that a successor to the beloved PSP would be exactly what the doctor ordered. But a lot of unfortunate things stacked up against it, namely high memory card pricing and the dominant mindshare of iOS and Android gaming, whether on a phone or tablet.

3DS is a long, long way from dominating like DS did, perhaps for some similar reasons. Vita would therefore not be immune to like market forces.

Vita had (and maybe still has) messaging issues. Is it about “Console Quality Gaming on the Go?” Is it an indie game machine? Does it (and should it) play triple-A games that can also be experienced on a TV? Is it essentially your PlayStation 4’s second screen?

Depending on when you’d ask Sony, the answer you’d get would be different. They simply weren’t consistent in what they wanted it to be. And I truly think it’s a shame, because it really is a remarkable device. I mean that from the bottom of my heart. It’s a remarkable, remarkable 20

The Vita Lounge Magazine

piece of hardware. And it had arguably the greatest launch lineup in PlayStation history, if not gaming history, period.

I’ll never, ever let go of it failing to enter the hearts of gamers. It’s a fucking shame.

If you could choose just one game to come to the Vita, what would it be?

Greg: Oooooo. Hm. I desperately want a Western RPG, so I’ll say Fallout. If you’re talking re-release, give me Fallout 3 or New Vegas. Same can be said for Infamous -- re-release the PS3 games or give me a new one.

Colin: I have to agree with Greg, here. A western RPG would have been great on Vita. Then again, when you really think about it, what I’m most shocked we didn’t get more of are quality JRPGs. We have lots of action-RPGs, dungeon-RPGs, and JRPGs of extremely questionable quality. But when people are looking for something like Persona 4 Golden, in what direction are you really supposed to point them in? That’s always been a headscratcher to me.

In Issue 3 of our Magazine Greg wrote a feature on the "death" of the Vita, and how it has found its niche now. Do you think it is suited in this role, or could the handheld be rejuvenated?

Greg: I haven’t changed my opinion. This is as far at the Vita goes. There is no Destination PlayStation revival like we saw with PSP, and, I think that’s fine.

We love the Vita, and so do thousands of other people. I’ll probably never get Infamous, Fallout, Freedom Wars 2, and so on, but as long as I get awesome stuff, I’m OK with that.

Colin: The Vita has met its limit. In some ways, it’s amazing it made it this far, largely because of the dedicated, loyal following it’s dragged along with it these past few years. It won’t sell that many

more units, and it won’t break out of its niche, indie role for many people. For a few of us, it’s a PlayStation 4 Remote Play device, but really, it is what it is now.

Sony isn’t going to stop manufacturing it, and the company is likely to engender continued support for it for at least the next couple of years. But any chance it had of actual, measurable, market-based rejuvenation is several years behind it, sadly.

But as I always say, if there’s one company crazy enough to follow up Vita with a successor, it’s Sony...

Finally, which do you think is the better Vita model, the 1000 OLED or the 2000 Slim?

Greg: C’mon. The Slim. I loved my OLED Vita, but it was chunky. For me, the portability of the Slim, the better battery. and the ability to play for extended periods of time in bed because it’s so light are game changers. I’ve never been playing something and been like “This is good, but it’d be so much better on a sharper screen.”

Colin: The OLED is the superior model in virtually every way except for maybe better battery life, which has never really been an issue for me in the 4+ years I’ve been a Vita gamer. It’s meatier, it has heft, and the screen is better. I think the Slim is fine, too, and I’ll need to buy one eventually, as my launch Vita is definitely on its way out at this point. But OLED is where it’s at.

We would like to thank Colin and Greg, not only for their time but also their support for The Vita Lounge Magazine. If you don't already, you should really check out Kinda Funny! Colin and Greg host the No.1 PlayStation Podcast PS I Love You XOXO every Tuesday at 9am PT. thevitalounge.net

COMING SOON...

OUR THOUGHTS ON THE

BEST VITA GAMES

very enjoyable, and more than interesting enough to generate that “just a little more” feeling.

Written by

Kyle Wakeling

@teflontactics teflontactics

1 7 48 PSTV

In retrospect, I really shouldn’t have been; but before we get into my thoughts on the game as a whole, let’s take a look at what it has to offer.

1.5 GB Publisher

bandainamcogames.com

@BandaiNamcoUS

Developer

media-vision.co.jp

Released

NA: February 2nd EU: February 5th

22

As a kid, I guess you could say I was a Digimon fan – I collected the cards, and watched the TV show for a season or two – but I wasn’t much for any of the video games I was introduced to. Fast forward a decade and a half, and here I am faced with reviewing a promising looking Digimon game for Vita. Sufficed to say, I was a little bit curious how the series had evolved in its time without me – but I was also a little apprehensive.

The Vita Lounge Magazine

Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth starts with an introduction to EDEN; an online virtual space in which avatars can meet and have fun. As the player, you’ll go to EDEN in order to meet up with some online friends – but through an odd series of events that follow, end up acquiring a hacking tool called “Digimon Capture” as a by-product. A quite self explanatory program (that you can’t seem to get rid of), it allows you to capture digital monsters – which appear in the digital world of EDEN. This is your first real step down the rabbit hole, and from there it only gets weirder; your first Digimon, a ton of battles, a life as a “Cyber Sleuth,” and a bunch of mysterious circumstances following soon thereafter.

The core story isn’t quite at the Persona level of player immersion – but it’s still

As for where the events of the game take place, they’ll span both the real and digital worlds (from the perspective of your character). You’ll visit (in-game) Japanese locations such as the Akihabara, Shibuya, Shinjuku, and Oeda subsections of Tokyo – as well as digital world locations like Kowloon, EDEN branded common areas, and hidden hacker hideouts. There are lots of places to explore, though they won’t all be available from the start and are mostly only useful during cases or plot points. As much as I’d love it to be, this really isn’t the kind of game that gives you much to do outside the important bits.

Moving on to the actual gameplay, we see a mix of four different aspects; the main story, cases at the detective agency, battles, and Digi-Lab activities.

The main story plays out over the course of twenty chapters; small pieces revealed here and there until things ramp up towards the end. This is the only part of the game which offers cutscenes, but aside from that glaring distinction it contains all the other elements present in the other parts of gameplay (battles, visual novel style talking bits, cases, etc). This is the part of the game that the rest of the game revolves around, and as such it’s the most well built and enjoyable of the core aspects.

As for the cases, they’re small missions that are sent in by the people (and Digimon) from the worlds you have access to – their completion offering a reward of both cash thevitalounge.net

and specific items. Some cases trigger story events or are needed to move on, however not all cases must be completed to finish the game (or any single chapter).

Cases present as dungeon-exploration quests, battles against troublesome foes, and/or fact-finding missions – coming across very basic in their scope; that said, if you get lost you can almost always talk to Mirei in the Digi-Lab (or Kyoko in the Detective Agency) for more information.

The meat of any RPG, battles present themselves in many forms – and can be initiated in many ways. In dungeons there are random battles, though there are also ways to instantly stop or trigger battles at any time (using certain hacking skills). Battles can also occur during story events, when interacting directly with non-partner Digimon, in digital lines (when using the connect jump feature), at the Offline Colosseum on the 4th floor of Nakano Broadway, and in the Online Colosseum area of the Digi-Lab – offering you a ton of chances to gain experience

@PSVitaMag

and test your skills.

When actually in a battle, up to three of your Digimon fight against up to three other Digimon (bar team-ups with other hackers). The speed stat of your Digimon will determine the fighting order, and it’ll be shown to you (the trainer) on the right side of the screen. Each Digimon in the battle gets the chance to attack, use a skill (they cost points), guard, change position (ie; move in/out of active battle), or exchange their turn for an item usage.

When attacking or using a skill, the damage of each attack is determined by the amount of points it draws, the expanded rock-paper-scissors system of weaknesses and strengths, and any buffs you link it with.

assortment of tutorials to help you learn, but I think most should find it quite easy to pick up and play or brute force with trial and error.

Looking to the last bit of gameplay – the Digi-Lab – we find the expansion system. The Digi-Lab holds everything a Digimon trainer would need to expand the capabilities of their Digimon; offering a DigiFarm for them to grow on, a DigiBank to manually alter Digimon and their powers, a Coliseum to battle them (locally or online), a Digimon recovery station, a farm-centric shop, and access to previously traversed digilines (travel nodes) in order to train manually.

The DigFarm allows you to train your Digimon through different levels of work (some of which alter the camaraderie Basically, the battle system is nothing stat), use your Digimon to make items, and new by any means, and is pretty much send your Digimon out to find new cases a Digimon-oriented version of the most popular method – so anyone familiar with for you to solve as a Cyber Sleuth. All three of these actions benefit your progression, RPGs should fall in line pretty easily. If and there are only up to five clusters of you’re having trouble the game offers an

The Vita Lounge Magazine

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and scan Digimon (for your index or for DigiConversion) – further progressing towards a solid team whatever you do. It’s my advice that you use the digilines a little here and there to grind and fill out your team; they’re a good source of experience, The DigiBank allows you to store, evolve, devolve, load, or copy Digimon – giving you partners, and items – and should be a host of options for directly manipulating explored fully. the power of your Digimon partners.

Speaking of exploring fully, a game review Evolving a Digimon will increase its is never complete without a chat about abilities and potential directly, though the audio/visual presentation – but your Digimon’s level will be reset as thankfully this Vita title isn’t a problem a result. Devolving will up potential child that beckons too harsh of words. drastically (and often up the amount The visuals in Cyber Sleuth are quite of Digimon you can evolve to), however reduces immediate abilities drastically as eye-catching, if a little rough around the edges at times. It doesn’t always run at well. Loading Digimon will allow you to thirty frames per second, and there are a choose a single Digimon and have them few jaggies to be seen here and there if consume up to five others as experience points – though the value of the Digimon you look for them, but overall it’s a very solid exemplar – with bright colours, fluid as experience varies greatly. Lastly, you can copy Digimon – which entails first scanning them to 100% (or more) by facing them repeatedly in battle, and then using the DigiConvert function to make yourself a copy.

Digimon you can order around (an entire cluster doing a single job) – so you’ll have to use your orders wisely if you want to progress smoothly.

The Online Colosseum allows you to battle via wifi; doing so either ad-hoc, or online.

It has certain requirements for play in order to make it fair, such as an artificial level assignment and a cap on your party’s base strength (via a point system), but in adding these requirements it allows you to test your skills instead of your grinding ability. This isn’t your little brother’s battle mode, that’s for sure.

VERDICT Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth is a blast from the past that has both retained the nostalgia factor, and evolved for modern audiences - offering a roleplaying game that caters to clinging fans and those looking for a new experience alike. You'd be hard pressed to find a better game of this sort on Vita without invoking a certain Persona we'll save you the trouble of selling you on, so unless you're adverse to the genre or universe I'd wholeheartedly recommend you pick it up.

The Vita Lounge Magazine

Looking to the sound, it’s notable that Cyber Sleuth contains original Japanese audio only – so if you’re expecting (or hoping for) English voices then I’m here to burst your bubble. That said, the voices are very clear and well done – and being that I prefer original audio it was perfect for me.

Almost.

There’s currently a bug early in the game that seems to cause voices to not play (present in Chapter 6), and while this is obviously not an intended design option it’s worth mentioning for anyone wanting to know exactly what they’re getting into.

Rounding out the audio exam, I’d like to note that the music and sound effects were top notch. Aside from getting a little annoyed at some of the repetitive noises during extended play sessions, I’ve got no significant cause for complaint – something I’m thankful for as much as you are (I’m sure).

Looking to my final word however, I can’t help but to complain… about how Digimon World: Next Order hasn’t been announced for localization yet. I know you may think that to be a dumb joke, but aside from a few minor issues I really can’t find much else to rip apart. A strong contender in all presented aspects, Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth is a Vita title that everyone should have in their library; and with over eighty hours and counting put in as of this writing, I’m sure it’ll be quite a staple in mine.

The recovery station and the shop are pretty self explanatory, but digilines are the final item of note – allowing you to traverse previously explored digital networks. While in the digilines you can collect items, battle Digimon,

24

motion, and very little compromise. It doesn’t matter if you’re playing on Vita or PlayStation TV, this one will look good whatever your choice.

4.5 thevitalounge.net

Written by

Paul Murphy

PMurphy1978 PMurphy1978 Any semblance of the best LEGO Vita title or is there still some assembly still required?

5 9 20 PSTV 1.3 GB Publisher

warnerbros.co.uk

@WB_Games_UK

Developer ttgames.com

@TTGames

Released

NA: January 26th EU: January 29th

@PSVitaMag

It’s no secret that LEGO games have generally struggled to meet expectations when it comes to the Vita. It’s also no secret that despite a few enjoyable moments, LEGO Marvel Super Heroes struggled to set the world alight with what it offered.

TT Fusion have not been ignorant of the clamour for a LEGO title closer to the console counterpart and recent LEGO titles have certainly improved in quality, so could this be the definitive LEGO game on the Vita?

LEGO Marvel’s Avengers, as you might suspect, is themed around Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, and more specifically the Marvel Cinematic Universe series of films directed

by Joss Whedon. Characters from those films as well as some of the supporting films in the series will be at your disposal as you bid to save the world. Multiple times.

Your adventure begins with a prologue and is the assault on Baron von Strucker’s Hydra base – actually from the second film – and sets the tone for the game very well.

Complete with the same cinematic opening as Age of Ultron and featuring the assembled montage scene, you are instantly thrown into the action. In a lot of ways this makes sense, as it allows you to

get into the game immediately and get used to the action required, dispensing of the remaining forces from Hydra and re-acquiring Loki’s sceptre. These opening missions will explain more about the new teamwork mechanic, which allows two Avengers to combine to produce a special move, allowing progress to the next part of the mission. It’s rather clever and is easily one of the most impressive entrances to a LEGO title that I’ve ever played.

It also makes a lot of sense to start this way, as once you have completed the prologue, you’ll begin the adventure from the beginning of the first film, and as the team are yet to assemble you’ll find yourself playing as Nick Fury, Maria Hill and Phil Coulson (no, his first name is not Agent) as they try to recruit the mighty heroes to save the world from Loki’s treacherous scheme. As a result the Avengers storyline takes a while to get going – including a flashback to the 1940s – so it would have taken a while to get used to the mechanics before throwing them in mid-game. There is quite a lot of variety in the missions and it does a great job of condensing the film into smaller bite sized levels, and most of the key points from the film are present and correct.

Successfully defending New York and defeating Loki then progresses to the new look Avengers Tower and picks up where the prologue left off. You’ll be in the midst of creating the Ultron interface and throwing your party – complete with Mjolnir’s party game – before Stark’s plan for peace in our time goes awfully wrong.

Once again it’ll fly through the majority of the key scenes from Age of Ultron before The Vita Lounge Magazine

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you save the day again, albeit with a mass extinction event sized hole in eastern Europe. Across the campaign you’ll play as the aforementioned S.H.I.E.L.D. characters as well as every Avenger from the films, and you’ll even get the chance to play as Bucky Barnes and War Machine.

Your jaunt across the two big screen adventures sure won’t last you long, but there is something more to keep you playing beyond, and that’s Manhattan.

Game Director Steve Thornton spoke to us recently about listening to fans, and in LEGO Marvel’s Avengers you’ll find In each mission you’ll have five challenges a fully three dimensional open world representation of Manhattan and is to complete, with finishing the mission described as being about 1:1 with the one, collecting a required amount of studs (which is obviously easier with Red console equivalent. Within this hub you’ll be able to mix it up with fifteen challenges Brick help), locating the hidden brick and unique to the handheld version and with character tokens as well as two specific to that mission, usually enemy/health or the largest roster of characters in a LEGO time related. You’ll probably fail to do this handheld so far you’ll have plenty to occupy you long after the end credits have on your first try as you’ll need Free Play rolled. to aid in that – so you’ll be playing these missions at least twice.

The hub is certainly packed, and feels very busy with lots of pedestrians and There is no denying that the game traffic making it feel like a living, breathing certainly feels like a replication of the city and is a very welcome addition to big screen adventures (albeit in a more condensed format) but I couldn’t help but the game, but it isn’t without its own compromises. At ground level the game be disappointed by the fact that there looks and runs very well and you’ll were only 15 missions in the campaign.

26

The Vita Lounge Magazine

be impressed with your surrounding environment, but taking to the skies with a flying character will reveal the limitations in place to get this running.

The draw distance and depth is pretty much limited to your surrounding area with distant buildings silhouetted in a shroud of fog. Locating all of the hidden collectables is certainly going to be challenging. Especially when you consider that there is no collectable Red Brick in the game.

LEGO titles have their own look and style and long time fans of the series will know what to expect here. The levels themselves are enjoyable representations of the events and some of the blurry visuals that have plagued previous LEGO titles are not present here. I’d go as far to say that the opening assault in the prologue is one of the best looking levels that the series has yet mustered, but this standard isn’t maintained throughout.

Some levels, including those in the air (Helicarrier and Sokovia) look particularly

thevitalounge.net

It certainly executes what it intended to do.

ingredients, and it’s not because it’s a bad game as such – you know what you are getting with a LEGO title in that it will be What doesn’t hold are the cut scenes, and The controls are also executed well for the themed around the property, filled with most part, but the extra dimension in play puzzles, character specific challenges and there is a notable disparity between the caused a few issues on the Vita, especially even a dose of humour and this certainly excellent scenes intended for the bigger when using a flying character. Using the feels like a LEGO take on the Avengers release (video/audio quality, animated analogue stick will throw you all over the Universe. My biggest problem with it is fully) and those for the handheld (poorly place when airborne so you’ll want to the length; and I know that there are only animated, no vocal syncing and poor get used to the D-pad for that, and you’ll two Avengers films, but those films were textures) and it mars the experience probably want to avoid the touch based the pay-off from Phase One and Two, somewhat. controls altogether. which were many more films than that.

They could – and arguably should – have This disparity carries over with the audio tapped into these other films to build up too, with some dialogue – which features So, it’s got the open would that everyone has wanted for so long, a huge roster the story – they already delved into one all of the main Avengers voice cast – and is based on one of the hottest movie to give you a level here. It feels light on crystal clear in some places, and muffled content, and possibly short on ideas, ideas or distorted in others. The main Avengers properties there is. This has got to be a which could have materialised from other are all present here, but some of the other shoe-in for best LEGO Vita game, right? titles in the franchise. voices are very clearly not from the MCU, Not exactly. It certainly has many of the most noticeably Andy Serkis’ Ulysses Marvel fans, especially those that love the Klaw.

Cinematic Universe will certainly enjoy what is here, but I have a feeling that they Acoustically the game very much feels will long for more, whilst looking enviously like an Avengers game, with the main at the console version. Ultimately by music from the films present and trying to give us more of what we said correct and chiming in where we wanted, they ended up giving us even appropriate. There are also a few less. other tunes from other MCU films in there too which kick in at times and certainly enhance the overall feel of the package. bland and uninspired but for the most part the standard holds.

VERDICT In so many ways the most ambitious Vita LEGO title yet. Despite this it feels a little empty on content and the short story is very disappointing. Marvel fans will enjoy what's here but it could have been so much more.

@PSVitaMag

3.5 The Vita Lounge Magazine

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Written by Zach Price

@MyrishMartyr MyrishMartyr

7 5 16 PSTV 1.0 GB Publisher

blog.braceyourselfgames.com

@braceyourselfok

Developer

blog.braceyourselfgames.com

@braceyourselfok

Released

NA: January 2nd EU: January 3rd

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The Vita Lounge Magazine

Rhythm games aren’t my forte. I’d even say I’m very bad at keeping beat – I played guitar for years and suffered through staying in time. But from the little gameplay I’d seen of Crypt of the Necrodancer in early 2015, I knew it was a game I had to give a chance, considering its roots are as a rhythm game, yet it isn’t the only factors at play. Boy, am I glad I decided to pick it up.

Necrodancer’s roots are in rhythm; you’ll have to keep beat with the song playing on each of the zone’s levels – all are different with varying beats per minute. However, you’re not the only one keeping that beat.

Being a dungeon crawler RPG of sorts, you’ll encounter various enemies, and those enemies also keep beat in their movements on the zones grid layout. To be effective, you’ll need to learn each monster’s movements. Otherwise, you’ll be punished – and I mean punished.

The dungeon crawler can be grueling at times. Hordes of enemies occupy the levels and if you don’t know their pattern, you’ll be wiped out in a second. It can be hard at times, learning the patterns and making it through to the zone’s boss, but I found it incredibly gratifying. Just like other RPG games, learning how and what to do is an important part of Crypt of the Necrodancer, and I love the constant struggle and finally overcoming that obstacle.

Being a roguelike, everything in the game is randomized – from the dungeon’s layout and enemies to the chest items and even level-end bosses. It’s another thing I loved; you never know what’s around the corner and you have to be cautious at all times – there were times I’d open a door and get killed immediately.

There are two types of loot in the game: gold and diamonds. Gold is used as more of an immediate reward – you can only spend it in the dungeon. There is a store vendor who sells anything from food to restore health to weapons and armor. However, you’ll only have that within the dungeon; it won’t carry over between deaths. Diamonds are spent outside of the dungeon on new characters, items to appear in chests, chest types themselves or on permanent health increases. This is where you’ll see the RPG elements that are in the game.

Naturally, you can’t discuss a rhythm game without mentioning the music, and it’s fair to say Necrodancer has some of the best game music I’ve heard in the past few years. It doesn’t limit itself to a genre, so it’s easy for anyone to pick up the game and not be instantly turned off by the game’s basic premise. One of my favorite moments was encountering the randomized bosses and realizing that the music was tailored to their individual appearances/themes – Death Metal naturally had a metal soundtrack. Sadly, one of the biggest missed opportunities is the fact that there isn’t any option to use custom music as the soundtrack, as you can for the Steam version. Obviously Steam makes it a tad easier, but Vita does have a music app, which the game could utilize. It’s thevitalounge.net

not detrimental to the game, since there is already that variety, but it would have been awesome to have it.

There’s a huge amount of replay value in Crypt of the Necrodancer. With all the random bosses you encounter, you’ll want to fight against each and defeat them.

On top of that, the game is so enjoyable and fun that it was hard to put it down, even though I often found myself getting destroyed. I loved it though, and I took it as a learning experience to understand

what I was doing poorly. (Note: if you don’t want to suffer as I did, Necromancer does offer a training zone that replicates the enemy types for each zone so you can learn their movements and attack patterns easier.)

VERDICT Crypt of the Necrodancer is a game that easily lives up to expectations. Combining rhythm and RPG elements in a way I didn't know could work, the game is addicting and will have you continuously coming back for more.

@PSVitaMag

In all, I would say Crypt of the Necrodancer lived up to my expectations, easily. I loved the roguelike elements and the diversity the game offered, and even though it beat me down many times, I found myself returning for more like a masochist.

It offers a variety of game mechanics, which allows it to be enjoyable to myriad gamers. I didn’t have any issues of note, gameplay-wise nor technical. If the game has piqued your interest, go buy it. It will live up to that interest.

4.5 The Vita Lounge Magazine

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different areas, with triangular sections of the level that will send the ball directly horizontal or vertical – meaning that you’ll have to think with strategy in order to make the most of the environment that the level provides you. There is never a guaranteed way to complete a level so trying different approaches can be the difference between success and failure.

Written by Liam Langan

@LiamHangover liamlangan

0 4 12 PSTV 26 MB Publisher 10tons.com

@10tonsLtd

Developer 10tons.com

@10tonsLtd

Released

NA: January 19th EU: January 19th

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The Vita Lounge Magazine

Baseball Riot is the latest effort from developer 10tons, a studio who have quite a few PlayStation Vita titles under their belt. Is this one a home run for the studio or does it fail to make first base?

Lets find out!

Arriving less than a year later than Tennis in the Face – 10tons’ previous Vita title – spiritual sequel of sorts Baseball Riot is here and features a very similar storyline to its predecessor.

You play as once popular Baseball player Gabe Carpaccio, who unfortunately suffers an injury that ends his career. It is when energy drink company Explodz Inc buys the team he used to play for that the team’s members suddenly become possessed by the energy drink and Gabe takes it upon himself to snap them out of it.

The gameplay, for the most part, remains largely unchanged from that of Tennis in the Face – your goal is to aim the ball so that it takes out as many enemies as possible, however this time there is also the additional goal of collecting three stars which are randomly scattered throughout the level. You can aim the ball at various

Another new addition to Baseball Riot is the different enemy types in the game and this time around you can’t just simply knock them out with a baseball to the face, as some enemies now have different ways in which you need to hit them with your baseball. For example, some enemies will wear fully padded front armour, which means that you can only hit them from behind whereas other enemies wear baseball gloves and if the ball hits the glove the ball will vanish.

One thing I highly praised about Tennis in the Face back when I reviewed it was its cartoon style visuals, and it’s the same thing with Baseball Riot, the same graphical style is used here and it looks just as good in this game, with the new character designs a particular highlight.

One of the main changes I didn’t like here however was the new soundtrack, Tennis in the Face seemed to have more memorable tunes compared to Baseball Riot. I found that I had muted my Vita after around the first half an hour of playtime due to finding the music quite annoying and repetitive.

If you found Tennis in the Face to be an easy game, then you’ll be quite shocked by by the change in difficulty that Baseball thevitalounge.net

Riot presents. A lot of the levels here will require more thinking and patience to get past them, although there is also the fair share of easier levels, the difficult levels far outweigh the easier ones.

Baseball Riot’s main issue is a problem that i’m starting to have with a lot of Vita games – it feels like we’re getting a lot more ports of mobile games that you can find cheaper on places like the App Store and the Google Play Store – it would be a lot nicer to see to see more games built

primarily for Vita. A major example of this lies with the games pricing, the game can be bought for £2.99 on the Apple App store, but will cost players £3.99 on the PlayStation Store, I personally think the game would be better received if there was some parity with the price.

VERDICT Baseball Riot takes what I consider to be a fantastic foundation and then tries to add too much to it, and in turns fails to make the impression that it could have done as a successor to a far superior title.

@PSVitaMag

Personally if I had to choose between the two, I would spend my money on Tennis in the Face if I was new to the series as it is the more fun and accessible of the two titles. For returning players, Baseball Riot tries to add new features and attempts to be more difficult and unfortunately this is where it loses it’s appeal. The game tries to hard to add too much in the way of additional features and content and forgets about what made the original the hidden gem I consider it to be.

2.4 The Vita Lounge Magazine

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So is the game a successful port and, if you’ve never played it before, is it worth playing a game from 7 years ago?

Written by

deathskitten

@Kitty_has_Klaws Deathskitten

0 0 21 PSTV 1.3 GB Publisher

majescoent.com

@Majesco

Developer

wayforward.com

@WayForward

Released

NA: January 21st EU: January 21st

32

The Vita Lounge Magazine

A Boy and His Blob is a simple and classic tale of good versus evil.

Blobolonia has been invaded by an evil Emperor! Poor innocent blobs going about their daily tasks have been cruelly locked away in cages, no longer able to frolic around in the open plains doing whatever it is normal blobs would do…

Before you begin to shed tears at the thought of their horrid plight however, fear not, Blob has come to the rescue! He has travelled through space to get to Earth in the hope of finding help. It is on Earth he finds the game’s protagonist, a young boy, and together they set off on an adventure to dethrone the evil Emperor.

The game is a 2D puzzle platformer which was originally released on the Wii in 2009.

The game itself is a re-imagining of the 1989 NES classic A Boy and His Blob: Trouble on Blobolonia. If you’ve played the game previously on the Wii then note that, other than having trophy support and scaled up visuals, nothing new has been added.

The opening cutscene of the game unfortunately didn’t bode well. The edges of the characters are quite jagged which makes Blob look surprisingly hairy.

Fortunately when you’re actually playing the game the graphics really are beautiful.

The backgrounds are colourful and detailed and, apart from the cutscene mentioned above, work really well on the Vita screen.

I was really impressed by the lighting, the backdrops and even the animations when enemies are defeated.

The story of the game is minimalistic but heart-warming. The young boy is asleep in his tree house when he sees something come crashing down from the sky. He goes to investigate and finds Blob. There isn’t really much talking between the Boy and Blob but you can feel the friendship between them.

You can communicate with Blob in a limited number of ways. You can call to Blob to get him to come over to you, if he’s jumped into a nearby abyss you can whistle to get him to turn into a balloon which allows him to float towards you and also pass through walls. You can also scold him, although with Blob being as cute as he is I always felt bad doing that! You also have the ability to hug Blob which looks adorably cute. The only useful interactions are calling and whistling.

Scolding and hugging was originally supposed to be part of an ’emotion system’ but this was abandoned during development. Thankfully, even though it serves no purpose, the animations for the thevitalounge.net

once I fell to my death or died touching an enemy on what should have been a fairly easy jump. Part of this may have been The controls are simple, you control the intentional, the boy is only about 6-yearsBoy by moving with the analog stick and old and realistically would be slightly jumping with X. You will need to work with Blob to overcome the game’s various clumsy, but it doesn’t make it any less frustrating. The AI of Blob is also, at times, puzzles, you do this by feeding Blob irritating. You’ll throw a jellybean to get different flavour jellybeans to make him transform into various useful items. There Blob to transform but he won’t transform exactly where you want him to. are 15 different things he can become; he can become a ladder to help you reach high platforms, an anvil which can be used There are four worlds in total, each with to squish enemies, a cannon to shoot you around ten levels. Levels aren’t massively long but hidden in every level are three over great distances and even a space hopper which you can use to bounce over chests and finding all three will unlock a challenge level bringing the total up to 80 objects or enemies. levels. You don’t have to complete all the In each level the game has already picked challenge levels to finish the game but doing so unlocks lots of gorgeous concept which jellybeans you have access to and art and story boards. new transformations are given to you without any kind of announcement or The levels are fairly linear especially at introduction. I think it would have been the beginning. The game holds your hand nice if you could have discovered new a little too much with big signs in the jellybeans yourself instead of just been background showing you the direction to handed a new selection in each level. go or which jellybean to use. The difficulty does gradually increase and some of the At times the boy feels slightly clumsy to challenge levels can be quite tricky. None control especially when jumping across of the levels are very long but collecting platforms or over enemies. More than in-game hug were left in.

VERDICT A Boy and His Blob is a beautiful and heart-warming game with a classic 2D platformer feel. The game is not particularly long and most of the puzzles are not particularly challenging but its charm and beauty make it a worthwhile experience. The boss fights are fun and some of the challenge levels will keep you busy for a while. Plus free hugs!

@PSVitaMag

all treasure chests might take a couple of goes.

At the end of each world there is a boss fight with one of the evil Emperor’s minions. I really enjoyed the boss fights, sometimes it took me a while to figure out the bosses attack pattern and how to beat them but it always felt really satisfying when I finally worked it out.

I did notice some very occasional slowdown in some levels but overall (apart from the jagged cutscenes at the beginning) I would say that the game has been successfully ported over to the PS Vita. The game does unfortunately suffer from some mildly annoying AI and clumsy controls but I still think it’s worth playing.

The puzzles are fun, boss fights feel exciting to overcome and the challenge levels will keep you busy for a while.

A Boy and his Blob is just beautiful and it oozes charm. It also has a hug button… more games should have a button for hugs.

3.6 The Vita Lounge Magazine

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to 4 times. This creates a limited scope for fighting and can really mess up your plans when one of those attacks misses.

Written by Zach Price

@MyrishMartyr MyrishMartyr

2 3 52 PSTV 347 MB Publisher

mightyrabbitstudios.com

@TheMightyRabbit

Developer

mightyrabbitstudios.com

@TheMightyRabbit

Released

NA: January 26th EU: Not Released

34

The Vita Lounge Magazine

My Saturday mornings during my childhood in the ‘90s were filled with waking up before 7 a.m., grabbing some breakfast and anchoring down in front of the television to watch the slew of cartoons that came on. Some may not think of it as the pinnacle of the Saturday morning cartoon block, but it was pretty great.

Saturday Morning RPG tries to emulate the actual pinnacle: the ‘80s. Though it may be able to recreate some of the nostalgia of your childhood, the game falls apart on multiple RPG levels.

Saturday Morning follows the story of Marty, a teenager who discovers a notebook in his dream and ends up having to fight against the infamous Commander Hood from marrying his girlfriend. However, he awakens to find that the dream is real: Commander Hood is threatening his real life and the notebook is his only means of saving the town.

The game’s battle system is tied to the notebook; you collect stickers along your journey, and you choose five of them to display in your notebook for stat bonuses.

When you engage in battle, you have a limited time to scratch the stickers – each one has different levels of “scratchiness” – and gain those bonuses. You also choose five patches to use in your notebook, which will be the attacks you use during battle.

The problem with the patch system is that the vast majority are underwhelming and you have a limited use for each – roughly 3

One of the coolest aspects of the turnbased RPG is its battery multiplier. There are three types of batteries and each gives your next attack a multiplier effect.

What makes it so special is that you can’t abuse it; the more you use them, the less of a multiplier you get. So you really need to learn what enemies are weak to and whether or not the battery is needed. Sadly, that’s the end of what was good about the gameplay. I often found the random enemies you’d encounter before the boss way harder than the actual boss, excluding the final boss. They were more challenging, better designed and lasted longer. RPGs should ramp up toward bosses, not necessarily be impossibly hard, but make it feel like you’ve progressed in the game and get better.

Some of the things I loved about Saturday Morning RPG was the game’s music and areas. A staple of the RPG genre is its awesome soundtrack, and Saturday Morning doesn’t disappoint. The music gets very amp-y and the boss music is superb.

There are many different areas in Saturday Morning RPG: ranging from Antarctica to space. Each has its own unique design and layout. They aren’t carbon clones of each other and makes the world seem real.

Due to its 1980s influence, Saturday Morning RPG makes multiple homages to series from the decade. Commander Hood is a clear reference to “G.I. Joe” and Marty, the protagonist, is referring to “Back to the Future”; he even has a hover board. Some thevitalounge.net

they don’t give enough meat to hold you over. The RPG can be completed in roughly seven hours, but there are some options after completing the story: Arena and Endless modes. Sadly, they are just replicas of what was already available in the story, Arena replicates boss battles and adds nothing, or, as in Endless’ case, The game’s length was my biggest disappointment. It features five episodes, you will already have your desire be each rather short – even with the multiple satisfied after the multiple battles you side quests that are available. The side had to sit through to complete the game. quests are fun and actually give some tough choices, like killing someone, but of the references are endearing and made me genuinely laugh; however, some were miss and seemed like lowball jokes. To truly appreciate the game and its humor, you would need to be alive during the era or have knowledge of its popular culture.

VERDICT Saturday Morning RPG relies heavily on nostalgia, something that works if you're familiar with the '80s but fails miserably if you aren't. It is a decent RPG with a few problems that will turn away hardcore genre fans, but leaves something that the occasional fan will like and blow through with ease.

@PSVitaMag

Saturday Morning RPG is an interesting phenomenon. While it has some fun moments and nostalgia, it does fall short in it’s most important aspect: RPG ramping. It’s difficult determining who to recommend the game to; on the one hand RPG naysayers won’t like it to being with, but diehard RPG fans won’t find enough substance. If you lie somewhere in the middle of that spectrum, and you find some joy in ‘80s television/movies, then Saturday Morning RPG may just be for you.

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period if you can fill the relevant meter by collecting cubes that defeated ships will drop.

Written by Charlie Large @CharlieLarge Chaz3010

1 4 7 PSTV 35 MB Publisher

vertexpop.com

@vertexpop

Developer

vertexpop.com

@vertexpop

Released

NA: February 9th EU: February 9th

36

The Vita Lounge Magazine

Although the twin-stick shooter is not an over-populated genre on the PlayStation Vita, those titles that do fall into this category are some of the best available.

With games such as Super Stardust Delta, Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions Evolved, Dead Nation and Resogun available, have the developers titled We Are Doomed as an outlook towards how their game will fare amongst these genre giants? Carry on reading and all will be made clear.

Developed by Vertex Pop, We Are Doomed is as simple as a twin-stick shooter can get.

You control a circular ship and fly around shooting other, various-shaped ships in an attempt to stay alive as long as possible.

Controlling your ship is as simple as moving the left-analogue stick in the direction that you wish to travel, whilst shooting by pushing the right-analogue stick in the direction that you wish to fire. This means that you don’t have to worry about the controls as you focus on flying about the screen avoiding contact with the enemies that are out to get you.

Your ship’s weapon is a long, laser beam that will obliterate all of the ships in your path with a couple of hits. This weapon behaves as powerful as it looks, with a noisy, neon brightness about it that can also be temporarily upgraded to a Superbeam that gives you a bigger, more powerful laser that will last for a short

There are a variety of enemy types in the game, and each type is distinguishable due to its colour and movement. There are ships that will shoot at you, ships that will home in on you, ships that will multiply and even ships that just move about aimlessly. Your aim is to destroy them all in order to obtain as high a score as possible before they can defeat you.

There are two game modes available in We Are Doomed, a Wave mode and an Endless mode. In Wave mode, there are thirty waves that increase in difficulty and enemy count for you to battle through, with four lives given to you for you to try and make it as far as possible before you see the Retry screen. The first twenty waves in this mode are relatively easy, but the difficulty soon ramps up the closer you get to the final waves. Luckily, Vertex Pop have built a check-point system into the game – allowing you to start from either Wave 11 or Wave 21 once you have beat them. This allows for you to play fewer levels in your bid to get to the end, but will mean that your high-score will suffer if you are aiming to top the leaderboards. The second mode in We Are Doomed is an ‘Endless’ mode.

Pretty self-explanatory, this mode tasks you with surviving for as long as possible – building up as high a score as you can.

With only these two modes on offer, it is safe to say that it didn’t take long for me to become bored of We Are Doomed. I did get briefly addicted to high-score chasing, and this is something that is further driven thevitalounge.net

With no variety in gameplay and two very similar game modes, We Are Doomed does nothing to innovate nor does it I did enjoy the audio-visual style of the bring anything unique to the genre. It is a game, with bright colours, abstract shapes shame as, with a little bit more personality and a synth-soundtrack combining to and features, We Are Doomed could have make a game that looks like the lovechild been so much more. Unfortunately, when of Geometry Wars, TxK and Don’t Die, Mr there are other titles in the genre that Robot. This certainly is one of the only real offer so much more in both quality and longevity it makes it hard to recommend positives to take from the game, as even though the look isn’t unique, it does have Vertex Pop’s release over any of the other games available in the genre. a distinct feel about it. by the online leaderboards that the game features, but this soon wore thin.

VERDICT We Are Doomed is a great looking twin-stick shooter that is unfortunately lacking in all other areas. With only two (similar) gameplay modes and one solitary weapon you will find yourself soon becoming tired with this title. It begs the question, did Vertex Pop name the game based on how it could affect their reputation? Either way, after half an hour with We Are Doomed I found myself thinking I Am Bored… @PSVitaMag

2.1 The Vita Lounge Magazine

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Written by Charlie Large @CharlieLarge Chaz3010

9 3 4 PSTV 528 MB Publisher

square-enix.com

@SquareEnix

Developer

square-enix.com

@SquareEnix

Released

NA: February 23rd EU: February 23rd

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When Hitman GO was announced for mobile devices, it seemed to be a strange turn for the series – taking a third-person, assassin’s sandbox game and turning it into board game. This may sound like Square Enix have gone mad but, surprisingly, the strategy and complexity involved with solving the perfect ‘hit’ translates brilliantly to the puzzle boards you will play through here.

There are seven puzzle boards in total in Hitman GO, five of them have been created from scratch by Square Enix Montreal and two are based on levels from previous Hitman titles. Each board is broken into stages, with fifteen stages to play through on the five original boards and eight stages in the other two – giving you 91 in total to make your way through.

These stages start off relatively easy, with the first area serving as an introduction to how the gameplay works. This eases you into the action, which sees you manoeuvre a chess-piece like Agent 47 around an area whilst avoiding guards as you move toward your goal. As you progress and unlock later levels, these guards change from being static pieces in the earlier stages to pieces that will patrol around the board in later levels – which means you will need to plan your route based on the paths that these guards take.

Whilst the boards start with simple A-B paths to take from the start to the exit, you will soon find the complexity ramping up – with stages that require keys to unlock doors that block your progress, trapdoors for you to utilise to move to another area of the board and rocks, tennis balls and tin cans that you can use to throw in order to get a guard’s attention and move them away from their current path.

I really enjoyed the mechanics at work in Hitman GO, and found myself watching and learning the habits of the guards on each board so that I could plan my moves through the stages. This gave the game a tactical feel, and with a turn-based, chesslike element to the gameplay and art-style this fitted perfectly.

Similar to a game of chess, when you overcome a guard, their piece will be knocked over and then moved to the side of the game board – stored there with the other fallen pieces that you have outsmarted during play. To take a guard out of the game you will need to land on the attack his spot on the board from either behind or from the side. You will have to be smart about your movements, as these guards can do the same to you if you are not careful. If you enter a guard’s line of sight, they will move for you and take you out – which will result in you failing the mission and returning to the start of the board. Luckily, the boards don’t take too long to complete, so if you do fall at the last hurdle you won’t have too much to replay.

With all your attention required to watch the on-screen action, the controls are simple enough for you to be able to play thevitalounge.net

without thinking about what you are pressing. You move Agent 47 around the board using the left analogue stick, and you can use any items that you find with a press of the X button. There is a hint system available that can be accessed any time during play with a press of the Triangle button, but using these will mean that you will miss out on a trophy if you are going for the very achievable Platinum. The right analogue stick can be used to move the camera, allowing for you to get a closer look at the board so you can best plan your way around the stage.

order to fully complete the game. This is no bad thing, and with each stage being relatively short I didn’t mind going back and playing a level multiple times in order to tick off each possible objective.

Another benefit of going back into each stage multiple times is that you can appreciate how good the aesthetic of Hitman GO is. The game looks great, with the ‘Definitive Edition’ in the title pointing towards the improved graphics that are present in the PlayStation versions over the original mobile release. The boards are beautifully detailed, with bright and Like most other mobile games, Hitman vibrant colours present throughout the various boards on offer. The audio GO‘s levels use a ‘3-star’ objective style is also on form, with ambient sound format. You will get the first of these for just competing a stage, with the other two that matches that of the atmosphere awarded by meeting certain criteria during you would expect in the environment you are currently in and the character a level. This can range from complete movements accompanied by a wooden, the level without killing any enemies, shuffling that sounds just like you would completing a stage in a certain amount imagine a wooden figure moving across a of moves, collecting a suitcase that may game board. When you do make it to the be off the standard route or killing all final stage of the board and your target enemies on your way to the exit. These is in sight, the haunting sounds of Ave objectives add an extra challenge to the Maria will play as you work your way to proceeding, and will mean that you will complete your hit. have to replay the stages in the game in

VERDICT Hitman GO: Definitive Edition is a brilliant puzzle/ strategy game that sees the bald assassin make his debut on the PlayStation Vita. Although it may not appeal to everyone, those that do play it will find an enjoyable game that is entertaining yet challenging.

@PSVitaMag

Although I didn’t mind the challenges on offer, some people may be put off by the requirements when unlocking the next set of stages. You will need to complete a set number of objectives in order to open the next board, and a little later on it can get tricky to unlock the next board – especially if you are avoiding the use of hints in order to get that platinum. Another thing that I found to be annoying was the removal of the move counter that was present in the mobile version. Although this sounds trivial, its presence made it easier to keep track of how many moves you had made in the missions that task you to beat them in a certain number of turns.

Hitman GO: Definitive Edition works perfectly on the PlayStation Vita, and its move from mobile platforms to the handheld is a welcome one. It is a clever game that mixes the spirit of Agent 47’s previous outings with a board game setting that is unique yet seems a perfect fit. There are a few minor niggles to be had with the bald assassin’s first outing on the PlayStation Vita, but nothing that detracts from the game. Now here’s hoping that Lara Croft GO isn’t too far behind!

3.6 The Vita Lounge Magazine

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yourPSVita

yourpsvita.com @yourPSVita

LARS THORMEYER IS THE MAIN MAN BEHIND PSVITA DEUSTCHLAND, BETTER KNOWN AS YOUR PSVITA. AS THE VITA TURNS 4 HE EXPLAINS WHY HE LOVES IT SO MUCH.

Since buying my PS Vita, I’m regularly asked why I play it. Often labelled as having no games, no exclusives or no players – and generally portrayed in a negative light by the media, you can see why people ask me these questions.

However, I keep playing, and there are nine big reasons that keep me coming back for more on this understated device – and I’ll take you through these reasons now.

IT’S PLAYSTATION TO GO From the very beginning I was always a fan of handhelds.

Early in my childhood I had a GameBoy and played the hell out of it with games like Super Mario and Zelda. Many years later the PSP replaced it, which also had a lot of great games, and I enjoyed playing on the trip to school while my friends were copying homework.

It was natural progression that I, as a handheld fan, would have to pick up the Vita. Even though the name wasn’t as aptly picked as the PSP, it is a piece of hardware made by Sony PlayStation and Sony always stands for quality.

IT LOOKS LIKE A REAL CONSOLE In contrast to smartphones and their additional accessories, with the PSVita I have a full console in my hands, which additionally looks very stylish. The PS Vita won the Red Dot Award for innovative design for a good reason!

IT FEELS LIKE A REAL CONSOLE! Apart from the design, I have the feeling of a real console in my hands. Twin analog sticks, the comfortable feeling in my hands, a decent weight without being too heavy and most importantly the buttons. I love the feeling you can only get by tapping and pushing buttons and I can do this without any additional accessories.

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ALWAYS READY TO PLAY One of the best things with the Vita is that I can easily play and stop my games without worrying about my current state.

Suspending games and being able to pick up where I left off with the added benefit of minimal effect on the battery life is a major plus point for me.

PLAYING GAMES AS AND WHEN THE MOOD TAKES ME For me it is important that I feel the atmosphere during my gaming session. That atmosphere is essentially the most important element to me when playing ambitious titles. When I play my Vita I want to shut myself off from everyday life, diving into the developers’ creations. Gaming is a hobby and Vita fills that need fully.

VARIETY Even now, people do not know that the Vita is actually blessed with many great games across multiple genres. Whether it’s a strategy game, RPG or platformer, there is no genre you cannot play on the PS Vita. Whether you want something that’ll last a while or entertain you for a short period of time, the Vita’s library has something for everyone and meets my needs completely!

BEST ON VITA Recently I played Hotline Miami on the PS4 and something didn’t feel right. The reason was simple - this game was best on PS Vita. It’s not unique to Hotline Miami – the Vita has many titles that play better on the handheld. Don’t believe me? Try a few examples yourself and see if you prefer it too!

THE EVER GROWING BACKLOG This argument that the PS Vita has no games should be dismissed by now. Even without the additional titles from PS Plus each month, with every week that passes there are new, high-quality games arriving. Many may be a few years old – such as Bastion – but the calibre of these games remains despite their age.

STRONG COMMUNITY Has there been a more passionate and tenacious collective than the PS Vita community? Doubt the Vita fans at your peril and this amazing unity of gamers show that they are willing to force reactions like they have with Freedom Wars, Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth, the Limited Run Games titles and multiple Kickstarter campaigns. They also stand together through the bad and good times as evidenced by recent delays with Banner Saga, Volume, New ‘n’ Tasty and many more games that took their time.

THESE ARE THE MAIN REASONS WHY I LOVE THE PS VITA, AND WHY I GET SO MUCH OUT OF IT. DO YOU HAVE ANOTHER REASON? WHY NOT SHARE IT VIA OUR HASHTAG #PSVITASTORIES ON TWITTER! @PSVitaMag

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Adam Renard

@Renard_Teach

I frequently look at lists of upcoming games and think about which ones I plan to buy. I believe that most avid gamers do. We dream of what it will be like when we finally get our hands on the latest Drinkbox Studios game (sorry, they are my favourite indie team) or that localization we have been waiting for. When those games hit the store or the digital front we are there with bells. Ready to play, and support our favourite handheld, it’s younger cousin (or older if you are still leaning on the PS3), perhaps even your Mario box of choice, or the Halo machine.

However, when we do so, there is always someone left behind to join an ever growing population of games. Very few friends I know do not have this stockpile of circles or a digital trust fund. Should the games industry dry up tomorrow, seeing all the games in stores be recycled into shelving units and the digital front be permanently right clicked and saved onto a file on a laptop at Sony, Microsoft,

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BACKLOG TROUBLE - PADDING AN EVER GROWING CUSHION all? Well, that depends on what type of or Valve (That’s how it works, right?), we are covered. Why? Our trusty backlogs are player you are. If you sip little bits of games like someone enjoying a fresh there as a net for us to fall into. cup of coffee, but only take one or two But why do we do this to ourselves? Why sips before moving on to a different cup, do we become historians of this medium, sure. However, if you are the Indiana Jones of trophies and they all belong in cataloguing games that we believe will one day put smiles on our faces if all else your museum, then I am sorry to say that fails? Will we ever get to all of them? Well, some of them are just going to look pretty on your shelf, and that is okay. the answers to all of these questions and more is really pretty simple. We like games. They make us happy and knowing It is my thought that the important thing here is having realistic expectations and we have a couple, few, or even several focusing in on what you like most. If it is a dozen in our back pockets comforts us. point of escape for you, collect away, but give your first and perhaps only attention Sony, Valve, and Microsoft have done a to those you know you will like the most. wonderful job of adding weight to our Don’t feel bad about the characters collections. PlayStation Plus has put so hoping for a turn, odds are you didn’t pay many games in folders on my Vita and much for them. I could go into supporting into my PS4 library that if I ever feel the the developers you like and respect, but need to pick something new up, I don’t that is a topic for another day. have to look very far to find it. Even if none of those games look appetizing, it is likely that there is something on sale with The bottom line here is that this is an amazing time to play games, especially on a hefty Plus discount. our favourite little handheld. Play what you want to play most. What is left is your At last count, I had 31 cushion that will comfort you until the games on my Vita’s Vita is actually a thing of the past. Enjoy, memory card. There are another 19 that are coming friends. that I am interested in. That is 50 games...just on Vita... which I play for 20 minutes To share your community voice and to an hour before bed. tell your own PSVita story get in touch via magazine@thevitalounge.

Insert meme of guy holding net for your chance to get featured in game logos here. ‘How do next month's magazine! We want to I play all these games?’ hear and cover your experiences!

Could you even play them thevitalounge.net

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The V The V ita Lo itaTLh The V The V The V The V The V The V Vg unge oeun it it it itea Lo it it it ungea Loungea Loungea Loungea Loungea Loungea Loun M A G A Z I N E

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Andrew

MuggleMind

My PSN isn't related to Harry Potter, honest.

1 3 It was the name of my first D&D character way back in 1976. I'd meant to use "muddledmind", but wrote it wrong (I was only 11, so that's my excuse). Vitawise, I play mine every day, usually travelling to and from work.

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Diehard Vita 4 5 supporter6 since day zero. Collector of every US physical copy. My top 3 Vita games are Uncharted, Gravity Rush, and Danganronpa.

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