‘s
Vitamag
REVIEWED!
Welcome
Hello Vita Gamers!
al bus, you wait It's just like waiting for the proverbi e support at the for Square Enix to start throwing mor together! e clos ve Vita and two great releases arri to be included late too ved arri World of Final Fantasy was early this issue, but Dragon Quest Builders er! cov enough and beautifully adorns our
REGULARS Paul Murphy PMurphy1978
Founder about Dragon You can read what Jenny had to say g reviews of 6 other games, includin Quest Builders on page 21 along with Special Gigs, Criminal Girls 2: Party break Tokyo Twilight: Ghost Hunters Day Way Heroics as well as the fabulous One Favors and Mystery Chronicle: Darkest Dungeon among others. the Sengoku Otome, so if you were in We also have an import review for Kyle t wha see on title then you can market for a new beat-'em-up acti should import it or not. you r the whe thought about it, and
also have some more fantastic As long-term readers will know, we Cat Studios (Darkest Dungeon) and Cow developer features with Red Hook up ght cau also We es. gam about their Studio (Demtrios) explaining more ect, the Kickstarter for her ambitious proj ut abo os Ram tin Mar with Cristina to t wan you if you are a developer and Rogue Raiders Online. As always, touch! to many Vita owners, please get in e gam feature your upcoming Vita on the Joetsu PSVita trigger grips, Rounding off this issue is a feature a s, and latest news - topped off by as well as our hot picks, new release . Club ita community PSV feature from the LATAM based Vita next e, and I hope to see you here again I really hope that you enjoy this issu time on December 12th!
WANT TO JOIN OUR AWESOME PSVITA TEAM OF ENTHUSIASTS? WE ARE LOOKING FOR NEW TALENT FOR THE WEBSITE AND THE MAGAZINE! IF YOU ARE INTERESTED, PLEASE VISIT WWW. THEVITALOUNGE.NET/JOBS FOR MORE DETAILS! PLEASE CONSIDER SUPPORTING OUR PATREON – IT WOULD REALLY BE APPRECIATED AND WOULD GO A LONG WAY TO SUPPORTING WHAT WE DO! FOR $9 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
M A G A Z I N E
M A G A Z I N E
M A G A Z I N E
M A G A Z I N E
04 BITE-SIZED NEWS
BITE-SIZED NEWS
THE LATEST VITA NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD!
06 NEW RELEASES THESE GAMES ARE RELEASING THIS MONTH. ANYTHING FOR YOU?
07 HOT TEN THE VITA GAMES COMING SOON THAT WE ARE MOST EXCITED FOR!
08
WE LITERALLY GOT HANDS-ON WITH JOETSU'S TRIGGER GRIPS
11 PLAYSTATION PLUS WHAT'S NEW IN THE IGC THIS MONTH?
12 WHAT'S KICKING? WE FIND OUT MORE ABOUT ROGUE RAIDERS ONLINE FROM CRISTINA MARTIN RAMOS
35 THESE ARE THE BEST VITA GAMES RELEASED SO FAR THIS YEAR. HOW MANY DO YOU HAVE?
36 COMMUNITY
WE FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE SOUTHAMERICAN VITA FANSITE, PSVITA CLUB
38 PATREON STARS
THIS MAGAZINE WOULD NOT BE POSSIBLE WITHOUT THESE AWESOME PEOPLE! THANK YOU!
The Vita Lounge Magazine ‘s
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EDITORIAL TEAM Executive Editor / Paul Murphy @pmurphy1978 Editor-in-Chief / Kyle Wakeling @teflontactics 8 6 7 Deputy Editor / Jenny Jones @Kitty_has_Klaws MAGAZINE DESIGN Art Editor / Jhonatan Carneiro @JhoCarneiro
REVIEWED!
Issue 19 | November 2016 WEBSITE TEAM Timmy Garrett @timmygarrett40k Reece 9Heyworth @rheyworth07 Brandon Crisp @crispyn64
@PSVitaMag
CONTRIBUTORS Ethan Zeigler @dandycrocodiles Tyler Robertson Charlie Large @CharlieLarge (Vitamag+) Jasper Bekema (Vitamag+) Brad Gruetzmacher @vongruetz (Vitam Brian Sharon @ThatBShar (Vitamag+)
to your
Magazine!
DEVELOPER FEATURES
14 RED HOOK STUDIOS
16 COW CAT
DARKEST DUNGEON IS A CHALLENGING RPG ABOUT THE STRESSES OF DUNGEON CRAWLING. WE SPOKE TO RED HOOK STUDIOS TO FIND OUT MORE.
DEMETRIOS: THE BIG CYNICAL ADVENTURE IS OUT THIS MONTH AND IS A FUSION OF THE POINT AND CLICK GENRE AND VISUAL NOVELS. WE SPOKE TO FABRICE BRETON TO LEARN MORE.
REVIEWS 18
21
Sengoku Otome: Legend Battle
Dragon Quest Builders
thevitalounge.net
SPECIAL THANKS Red Hook Studios @RedHookStudios Cow Cat Studio @DemetriosCowcat Cristina Martin Ramos @Rogue_Raiders ) PSVita Club @psvita_club mag+) Limited Run Games @LimitedRunGames and Play-Asia.com @PlayAsia
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26
Darkest Dungeon
28
Tokyo Twilight Ghost Hunters: Daybreak Special Gigs
30
Mystery Chronicle: One Way Heroics
32
Psycho-Pass: Mandatory Happiness
Criminal Girls 2: Party Favors
@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. © 2015-2016 The Vita Lounge
BITE-SIZED NEWS Steins Gate; 0 releasing later this month
Zero Escape: The Nonary Games announced and includes 999!
Steins;Gate 0 is a brand new story from an alternate world timeline, following Okabe Rintaro as he realizes that he can’t save the one he loves, and falls into the blackness of depression. He gives up all that is important to him in the wake of this tragedy, and in the process ends up endangering all of humanity.
Now that Zero Time Dilemma is out in the wild and ready to round off the series, it’s time to go back to its roots – and visit a remastered version of where it all started.
His only hope is that his friends Mayuri, Farris, Daru, Moeka, Luka, and Suzuka can bring him back from the darkness – though how they attempt it you’ll have to find out for yourself. Fusing new characters and old, time travel and artificial intelligence, Steins;Gate 0 looks to be a worthy successor to the visual novel everyone loved – and promises a darker storyline that will blow your mind.
Spike Chunsoft has announced that Zero Escape: The Nonary Games is headed to PlayStation Vita sometime next year, bringing to you the first two games of the Zero Escape series; Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors (999) and Virtue’s Last Reward (VLR). This will be the first time that 999 will be available on PlayStation Vita, and in celebration of that it has been rebuilt from the ground up to feature high definition graphics and both English and Japanese voice-over tracks. This is the way that 999 should be played, and it’s the way that it’s coming to our favourite handheld next year.
Steins;Gate 0 is set to release November 25th in Europe, and November 29th in North America.
Akiba's Beat coming to EU PQube has been in touch to announce that they’ll be handling the publishing of action RPG Akiba’s Beat in European territories, aiming for a Q1 release like North American publisher XSEED Games.
Akiba’s Beat is due out in North America and Europe during the first quarter of 2017, with a Japanese release date still up in the air. Keep an eye out for more details as that release window edges ever closer! 4
Vitamag
thevitalounge.net
Asdivine Hearts headed to Vita this Winter Set to be the first Kemco RPG on PlayStation, Asdivine Hearts is a fantasy RPG set in the titular land of Asdivine – your job as the player being to travel across a vast world with four companions, searching out a threat to the world’s peace.
Asdivine Hearts is headed to PlayStation Vita sometime this Winter, so watch for it.
Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath to get the Limited Run Games treatment
Active Soccer DX headed to Vita
Limited Run Games will be bringing Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath into our world as a physical entity! Details haven’t yet been announced for the release, but you can be sure we’ll be here to fill you in when they hit!
Since EA Sports stopped releasing Vita versions of the FIFA series, we’ve suffered from a lack of Football titles. We have Dino Dini’s Kick Off Revival on the way and now we have learned that Active Soccer 2 DX will also be with us before the year is out.
As for the game itself, our very own Johnathan HardingRathbone gave it a thorough work-over back in the day and notes that "While Stranger’s Wrath is not perfect, it’s a fantastic game that shouldn’t be missed and it won’t dent your wallet either. It contains a longer story and more gameplay than some full retail titles on the Vita, and I can safely say you probably won’t ever see another game quite like it. Download it, embrace it and prepare to lose your life for a few days, because Stranger’s Wrath will suck you in until it’s done with you!"
Want a new football title for your Vita?
Developed by Rome-based studio The Fox Software, Active Soccer 2 DX is a top-down arcade football game which provides “a fast-paced arcade experience” with “responsive easy-to-learn/hard-to-master controls”. Our press release explains that YOU will have full control of the game with no scripted goals, no CPU-driven decisions and will provide a complete career mode with international leagues, cups and championships.
Oceanhorn headed to Vita in 2017 FDG Entertainment have confirmed that their “Zelda-like” title, Oceanhorn is coming to our portable’s library – and we hear it’s quite good to boot. Best described as a fusion of The Legend of Zelda, Final Fantasy and the Mana series, the developer expects to have the game ready in Q1 next year. @PSVitaMag
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NOW WE ALL KNOW THAT SOME GAMES CAN APPEAR OUT OF THE BLUE AND RELEASE ON OUR FAVOURITE HANDHELD WITH ONLY A FEW DAYS NOTICE, BUT HERE ARE THE KEY TITLES THAT WE CAN EXPECT THIS MONTH!
Root Letter
November 1st NA
Demetrios
Steins;Gate 0
Slain! Back from Hell
November 25th NA & 29th EU
Vitamag
November 8th NA & EU
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II November 11th EU
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Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization
November 15th NA & EU
November TBA NA & EU
thevitalounge.net
Ho eN THE VITA GAMES WE ARE MOST EXCITED FOR! YIIK
ackkstudios.wordpress.com @ackkstudios
NEW DANGANRONPA V3
@spikechunsoft
SWORD ART ONLINE: HOLLOW REALIZATION
swordartonline-game.com @BandaiNamcoEU
ATELIER FIRIS: THE ALCHEMIST OF THE MYSTERIOUS JOURNEY
@koeitecmous
STEINS;GATE 0
@PQubeGames
MUSOU STARS
@koeitecmous
SALT AND SANCTUARY
ska-studios.com/salt @skastudios
TOKYO XANADU
@aksysgames
DRIFTER
celsiusgs.com/drifter @celsiusgs @PSVitaMag
VALKYRIA: AZURE REVOLUTION
@SEGA Vitamag
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Written by
I'm not one for grips usually. I definitely prefer PMurphy1978 to go "au naturel" with PMurphy1978 the Vita, but there's no denying that at times remote playing the PS4 is a bit of a pain with the lack of triggers, and that's something that this grip from Joestsu attempts to help with. First impressions from the packet aren't the best, to be honest, it seems incredibly lightweight and testing the triggers initially made me wonder how effective they would actually be.
Paul Murphy
That all changed once I put my Vita into it, with an incredibly snug fit suddenly giving the Vita more shape and comfort -
comfort I didn't realise that I needed - whilst those triggers that had little give suddenly seemed very effective - it only needs to stroke the touchscreen to register that it was being pressed. I tested out the grips with some Fallout 4, Rocket League and FIFA 16, with the latter becoming actually playable; the rear touch by default was how you sprint and being able to actually run effectively now when playing meant that I can now win matches instead of it being rather pedestrian. I even spent hours playing Rocket League with my daughter, using the newly transformed Vita as an additional Dual Shock 4 controller. Aside from the screen, I didn't really notice. I suppose the best endorsement that I can give these grips is that they've stayed on the Vita since I have had them, and even keep them on when playing the Vita. If you are looking for a new grip, or want to make remote play more useful, you should definitely consider getting this.
Written by
I've never really been a fan of remote play, I tried @Kitty_has_Klaws it when I first got a PS4 Deathskitten and found that having to play games using the rear touch pad as a substitute for the L2/R2 triggers a pathetic experience. Your fingers don't naturally rest there like they do on a normal dual shock controller. The whole experience is like trying to complete an Olympics gymnastics routine with your fingers. By the time you've worked out where your fingers need to be to get it to work you're already being scored a big fat zero by the judges, it just doesn't really work. Which is where the Joetsu trigger grip comes in handy.
Jenny Jones
even when your not remote playing it makes sense to leave the grip on. There's openings on the grip so that you can access all the buttons along the top as well as things like the headphone port, memory card slot and USB port along the bottom. This means that once on you only really need to take it off if you're playing a PSVita game that requires you to have access to the whole of the rear touch pad. I did find it a bit of a pain to take the grip off as it does fit on really really securely and when taking it off I always worried that I was going to break it, thankfully the grip is stronger than it looks.
This little bit of plastic fits onto your PSVita and covers the very top of the rear touch pad. It has two touch sensors which, when you squeeze the L2 or R2 triggers on the grip, touches the rear pad as if they were your fingers. Basically it makes the PSVita feel a lot more like a dual shock controller. My initial thoughts when getting the grip out of the box was that it was a lot lighter and thinner then I was expecting. The PSVita fits into it very snugly with a reassuring click and once in place it feels very secure so you know it won't move about when you're playing. Because the grip is so light it doesn't add much additional weight to the PSVita which for me is a big bonus. From the front and sides the PSVita looks really natural with the grip on. The rear of the grip however doesn't have the sleekest design. There are two protrusions at the bottom which are a bit angular and not the prettiest things to look at. When holding the PSVita though they provide the perfect resting place for your hands to grip. The triggers themselves are an attractive gun-metal colour with L2 & R2 engraved on them, they feel a little bit spongy when pressing them but when gaming I didn't have any problems once I'd got used to how they felt.
I spent a fair bit of time playing Watch Dogs, which has a remapped control system, basically they swapped the L1/R1 with the L2/R2 when playing on the PSVita. So you aim with the L1 instead of the L2. The grip is still handy though as you need to use the L2 to bring up the weapon wheel. It feels so much easier and more natural to remote play with the grip on. Although this accessory is sold as something to be used with PS4 remote play I feel I also need to mention how good it is at playing classic PSOne games. I played through Tomb Raider Chronicles, previously I'd really struggled to get Lara to crouch but now with the grip on it works instantly every time.
I'm still not sure I've really been converted on Remote play but I know that I'll definitely be using the grip when I play PSOne games and as it's so comfortable I've been leaving it on most of The Joetsu trigger is surprisingly comfortable which means that the time even when just playing normal PSVita games. 8
Vitamag
thevitalounge.net
I’ve never really seen the attraction in having a grip on my PS Vita – why would I want to tarnish my beautiful handheld with something that adds bulk and a plastic look to the sleek design of the Vita that doesn’t serve much purpose? Well, it’s not often that I admit this, but the Joetsu trigger grip for the PlayStation Vita has proved me wrong! When I first opened the packaging, I thought the grip looked a little flimsy. The triggers felt rather loose and the mechanism that comes into contact with the rear touchpad did not seem to move at all – I thought I had been sent a broken set! Luckily, this wasn’t to be the case, and once the grip was attached to my Vita it was all plain sailing from there!
Written by
whilst still keeping your Charlie Large thumbs on the analogue @CharlieLarge sticks? Not for me and my Chaz3010 human hands it is not! I guess what I’m trying to say is thank you to the developers that did not put any time or effort into considering alternate Remote Play control schemes. :P The games that did use the rear touchpad for L2 and R2 functionality however worked a treat. FIFA 17 instantly became a lot easier to play on the PlayStation Vita (seeing as EA gave up making native games for it a long time ago), The Witcher 3 played like a dream as did Shadow of Mordor and Diablo 3. Even things like Remote Play and PSOne Classics were instantly made better with these grips – switching through items in Metal Gear Solid is now something that you don’t need to have the patience of a saint for!
The Joetsu grips clung to my Vita Slim like there was no tomorrow – they fit so well that it was difficult to take them off at times. This wasn’t too much of an issue for me though as I rarely needed (or wanted) to remove my Vita from the Trigger Grips. There have been times that I have found the Vita a little uncomfortable to hold, getting feelings of cramp in my palm from long gameplay sessions. These grips eradicated that feeling and made it feel like I was holding a slightly larger Dual Shock in my hands with my fingers naturally falling into place due to the grips making the Vita replicate a controller that I An added bonus is the impact these additional triggers make have spent the past twenty years or so manhandling - so top to PS Vita games. Borderlands 2 is massively improved, and marks for the form factor! strafing in Ratchet and Clank is now rather easy compared to the hit-and-miss, rear touchpad stabbing activity it was before. The first thing I did with the grips once they were attached is fire up my PS4 and dive straight into Remote Playing – which Overall, are these Trigger Grips worth your hard earned cash? is where I encountered my first problem. Now don’t get me Has this sceptic been convinced otherwise? The answer wrong, the trigger grips are great but the difficulty I faced here to both of those questions (if it isn’t already obvious) is a is finding a game that hasn’t been ‘optimised’ for Remote Play. resounding yes! Even if not all of the PS4 games work that I looked at the shelf-full of PS4 games that I have and thought well with them, you will still find a lot that do before you ‘which ones would most benefit from having L2 and R2 buttons even consider the PSOne and PlayStation Now titles. Finally, added to Remote Play’? there is also the added benefit of this particular grip fitting your hands like a glove – so if you do find that holding the The answer is, it turns out, not the ones that I initially thought… Vita for long periods of time causes you cramp then worry no more, this grip makes the Vita feel great in your hands! The first genre I thought of was the FPS. So I picked up Destiny and popped it into my PS4 only to find that the L2 and R2 buttons were mapped to the Vita’s L and R triggers and the L1 and R1 functionality had been moved to the front touchscreen – so that was a no-go and neither was Fallout 4 which threw up a similar issue. Then I tried Driveclub, thinking again that the additional triggers my Vita now had would be perfect for some accelerating and braking. Again I was wrong; these had been remapped to other areas of the Vita. Bloodborne? Nope, From Software do not use the rear touchpad at all in their title – making this beautiful yet brutal game all the more difficult! On one hand it was great that these developers had considered Remote Play when designing their game’s control scheme, but on the other hand is it really easier and more intuitive to have to touch the top corners of the front touch screen then using the rear touchpad to throw a grenade/accelerate @PSVitaMag
This article was sponsored by Play-Asia, who kindly provided the grips for us to review. If you like the look of the PsVita 2000 grip we suggest you give them a visit at www.play-asia.com/ l2r2-button-grip-cover-for-pch2000-black/13/708qs3 – both because they’re a quality import dealer, as well as because they’ve been kind enough to help us out!
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Written by
Kyle Wakeling
I hate grips. They're bulky, they often fit my hands worse than the original controller, and they tend to feel cheap in the hands. I always feel like I'm going to break them when I handle someone else's gaming grips, and as such I tend to avoid them like the plague. @teflontactics teflontactics
Then, along comes this Joetsu trigger grip.
Other games I tried included Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, and Killzone: Shadow Fall - and the triggers worked fine there as well, though their use was less important to gameplay due to awkwardly implemented remote play control schemes. It seems like a lack of those standard controls everyone hated has come back to bite us, as it's not easy finding titles in my library that even use the back touch. I definitely didn't see that coming!
Speaking of frustrations, I'm a bit weary of the way these triggers are attached and molded - though they certainly seem It doesn't look like much when you pull it out of the plastic, but to hold up under the strain of use. That said, they look like once it's firmly affixed to your Vita it's like they were born to they might pop off the unit, and feel mushy when pressed. I be united. More comfortable to grip than an OLED Vita alone assume the latter part of this complaint has something to do (and I actually find that comfy), it molds perfectly to the hand with simulating the touch of a finger on the back pad (the way and feels like it's made out of more sturdier plastic than it it integrates the L2/R2 triggers), but to be honest it's a little seems when apart. The tiny hinges are strong and barely move hard to get used to and makes me wonder if there isn't a better when prodded with reasonable "grabbing your Vita" force, and feeling option somehow. fortunately the grip's cradle hugs the portable so tight that there's no rattle. Slight trigger awkwardness and their low usage case with regards to my personal game library aside, consider me In games that support a default remote play layout, the grip converted; I've had this bad boy installed for a few months now works great at simulating basic R2 and L2 button presses (read; and don't see myself ever removing it any time soon. I hate not pressure sensitive). I gave it a thorough workout on the grips, but this is the exception to the rule - and when those PlayStation 4 title Mitsurugi Kamui Hikae where they're used extra controls come into use they definitely come in handy. for both a finishing move and block, and it was just like using a DualShock 4 - commands executed perfectly every time. Recommended!
This article was sponsored by Play-Asia, who kindly provided the grips for us to review. If you like the look of the PsVita 1000 grip we suggest you give them a visit at www.play-asia.com/ l2r2-button-grip-cover-for-pch1000-black/13/709ikh – both because they’re a quality import dealer, as well as because they’ve been kind enough to help us out!
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thevitalounge.net
Letter Quest Remastered
Pumped BMX+
3.9
3.9
“Letter Quest Remastered: Grimm’s Journey is a really fun blend of side-scrolling puzzle game with RPG elements. It’s simple to get into but will keep you coming back time after time to play one more level and level up your cute little Grim Reaper or try to beat your previous score in Endless mode. If you like word games then you should definitely give Letter Quest a try.” – Jenny Jones
“Pumped BMX+ is a great addition to the PlayStation Vita. Although some people may be put off due to the fact that it originates from a mobile title, if you look past this you will find a game that plays like a cross between OlliOlli and Trials – which is no bad thing! Pumped BMX+ doesn’t need these comparisons though, as on its own it stands out as great game that is perfect for gaming on the go!” – Charlie Large
Last month's games!
Polls Apart!
Last month we received Actual Sunlight and Code: Realize - Guardian of Rebirth in the Instant Game Collection. Here's what some of you had to say about them!
November's IGC titles for the PSVita are out now! Which are you most excited to play?
Source: Twitter poll, 457 votes @PSVitaMag
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Red Hook Studios
darkestdungeon.com @darkestdungeon @ RedHookStudios
Hello Red Hook Games! Thanks for taking the time to talk to us today! Can you give us a little background into your studio and how you started developing games? We got started in 2013, specifically to make Darkest Dungeon. It had been an idea that Creative Director Chris Bourassa and Design Director Tyler Sigman had been tossing back and forth for quite a while, and the timing finally lined up for them to be able to focus full-time on development. Both principals have over 14 years in the industry, and wanted to partner with similarly experienced developers in order to keep the team small, and work as efficiently as possible. We collaborated with two fantastic engineers - Keir Miron and Pierre Tardif, as well as technical artist/animator Brooks Gordon. We also partnered with Stuart Chatwood for music, Wayne June for narration, and Power Up audio for sound design and effects. During Early Access in 2015, we brought on community manager John Lindvay. You have just released Darkest Dungeon for the Vita. Can you tell us a little bit about it? Porting the game to Consoles has been an interesting experience. Darkest Dungeon was originally designed for mouse and keyboard - it’s also a numbers heavy game. We like to joke, “I’ve never a met a tooltip I didn’t like!”. PC lends itself to this genre readily - you can move the mouse over any element on the screen and get the information you need. On a console however, there is no real way to do a cursor that feels good. Consequently, we worked to allow players 12
Vitamag
DARKEST DUNGEON, A CHALLENGING GOTHIC RPG ABOUT THE STRESSES OF DUNGEON CRAWLING HAS JUST RELEASED ON THE VITA. TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE GAME WE CAUGHT UP WITH THE DEVELOPERS, RED HOOK STUDIOS. to quickly jump from point to point making sure information is accessible in a way that doesn’t require a hundred button inputs. We think we did a pretty good job on this, though on first interaction it can feel a bit unwieldy, but over time you get the hang of it and see the logic behind it. We’ve gotten a fair amount of feedback on the usage of the back touch screen - something we felt worked internally. However, players don’t seem to like it too much and we will be looking at alternate approaches. What gameplay mechanics will gamers experience in Darkest Dungeon? Darkest Dungeon is a turn-based dungeon crawler, with a twist: Stress. Many dungeon crawlers are about powerful adventurers slaying monstrous creatures, but in Darkest Dungeon your party members are vulnerable humans who are subject to the psychological toll of being assaulted by the terrors in the dark. As stress mounts they will be tested; cracking and crumbling under the pressure, or (much more rarely) drawing power from within themselves and rising to the occasion. Combat features all the trappings you’ve come to expect in a turn-based game: positioning, status effects, Damage over time, inventory management, etc. Upon completing an expedition, heroes are returned to the player’s home base - a squalid Hamlet that must be rebuilt over the course of the campaign - do you upgrade the blacksmith in order to better quip your heroes, or do you favour spending your upgrade currency at the
Tavern, so heroes can drink away their stress more efficiently? Everything in Darkest Dungeon is a trade-off! What was the inspiration behind Darkest Dungeon? We wanted to look at the classic fantasy RPG through a different lens, and ask the question “What would a life of dungeon delving really do to someone - what is the true cost of adventuring?”. With this as our thesis, we looked to the works of Lovecraft, Poe and Howard for narrative tone; we also drew inspiration from Mike Mignola, Guy Davis and Chris Bachalo on the art side. Films and television such as Aliens & Band of Brothers do a great job of showing what can happen when a small group of people are put under extreme duress - precisely the feeling we wanted to re-create in a turn-based RPG. Exactly how much is there to discover in Darkest Dungeon? There are 4 dungeons, each with their own set of monsters, interactive objects, and traps, as well as secret rooms, groups of location-agnostic roaming enemies and minibosses that can pop up anywhere! Each region also features 2 unique bosses, whose twisted backstories you unlock over time. The fifth and final area - the titular ‘Darkest Dungeon’- is a series of four completely unique, handcrafted dungeons with specific, story-driven quests. There are hundreds of trinkets to be found, a ruined village to rebuild, and 15 different character classes to learn and master. And of course, we have the talented voice work of Wayne June who drip feeds lore into the game for players to begin piecing together the story... thevitalounge.net
Beyond content - Darkest Dungeon is about discovering how to manage risk. Capitalize when things are going your way, and mitigate damage when you hit a rough patch. Procedural elements and permadeath combine to keep the gameplay unpredictable, and the stakes high. How players themselves react to the stress of the game is a key takeaway - we get so many great player stories about how their party or particular character succeeded or failed, and that to us is the real experience we want players to have.
a small studio with just two engineers so having the added man-power as well as people familiar with the platform/ code was helpful in getting the port done on time. Lucky for us the game was up and running really quickly, so the biggest hurdle was performance on both systems but primarily on the Vita. We are happy with the final performance of the game on the system.
What are your thoughts on the Vita as a system? Are there any games that stand out for you? Are there any notable differences between Community Manager John Lindvay: I'm only a recent owner of a VITA so I don't the PlayStation versions? The games are identical as far as content have much to say about which VITA is better as I only know the one I have which is concerned. Nothing was removed for is the slim. As for games I use it mostly the VITA version of the game. The only for RPG games while I am traveling. difference between the two consoles is Recently been working through Persona some slight control changes and the UI. We did our best to make the game legible 4 Golden. I beat the game once before on PS2, but getting to play this version has on the VITAs small, yet beautiful, screen. been a treat! How did you find developing the Vita What's next for Red Hook Games? version? (Or if it's being developed by Well the first thing is supporting the new someone else, how are they finding it) We partnered with Sickhead Games on the platform through launch to ensure all Vita and PS4 versions of the game. We are our new players are having an excellent @PSVitaMag
play experience. That means resolving all crash issues that players face as well as listening to feedback and tweaking things like the controls or UI. Once we feel good about where everything is we then will get started on the list of backporting features/changes/improvements we did during the porting process, such as controller support. Then after that we have our previously planned Mod Support for PC, and all the while continue working on our first DLC, ‘The Crimson Court’ which we have set for early 2017. This also doesn’t include all the side projects like physical merchandise that we’ve been itching to get rolling. There a lot of work still to be done! No rest for the wicked.
Red Hook Studios, and in particular their community manager John Lindvay, for the time with this interview. Darkest Dungeon is out NOW and you can read our review on page 24. Have you picked it up yet? Vitamag
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WHAT'S KICKING? Rogue Raiders
dangerousalone.com @Rogue_Raiders
Thanks for talking with us! Can you tell us a little bit about your studio and how you got into developing games? Hi! I'm Cristina Martin Ramos of Dangerous Alone, currently developing Rogue Raiders Online for the PS Vita here in Madrid, Spain. As a lot of "old" game developers I'm mostly self-taught, started programming with an Amstrad CPC 464, then moved to a 486 PC, from BASIC to C/C++ and some assembler, and soon I started to develop for video consoles, which I love. Now it's been more than ten years since I started programming games as a profession. After working on some games for the PS Vita, I really wanted to create something unique, something great for this console. Publishers were no longer interested in the platform, but many fans asked me to try crowdfunding. So I created the indie studio Dangerous Alone, went to twitter to ask people, and the idea of the game started to grow from the community itself. 14
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ROGUE RAIDERS ONLINE IS A PROPOSED ACTION/RPG FEATURING FOUR PLAYER CO-OP IN A SCI-FI SETTING WHICH HAS RECENTLY LAUNCHED ON KICKSTARTER. AS IT'S SET TO BE A PSVITA EXCLUSIVE, WE HAD TO CATCH UP WITH THE DEVELOPER CRISTINA MARTIN RAMOS TO FIND OUT MORE. You have recently announced Rogue Raiders Online for the PSVita. Can you tell us a little bit about it? Rogue Raiders Online is a sci-fi Action RPG game with strong emphasis on exploration and cooperative multiplayer. Players will create their own character and venture alone or in up to a four raiders team exploring worlds, getting jobs done. The main idea of the game is a co-op experience in an hostile environment. So it's not going to be the standard "lets be friends" approach but more of a "we need to cooperate in order to survive". You're not a knight in shining armor but rather a rogue with his own agenda. I wanted to create an unique universe, which the players would love to visit and explore. more than the traditional combat and shooting of many games, I want to introduce other mechanics and give them importance too. I feel like too many games are focused on killing things and doesn't put the same effort in other parts.
You have just launched the game on Kickstarter, which runs until November 23rd. What is the target funding you are looking for, and what stretch goals do you have? The base goal is 33.000 euros, with that I will be able to make the game with the basic set of features. The first stretch goals will add support for the most demanded extra features, like more languages, ad hoc support, PvP modes... some goals are currently secret, so the only way to discover them is to keep backing the game! Is the games development dependent on the Kickstarter? Or will the game still be made? Publishers are no longer interested in funding a PS Vita title. I can get a deal for distribution, but it's impossible for me to get the game done without Kickstarter. That's why I went to the platform. thevitalounge.net
What has been the inspiration behind Rogue Raiders Online? My main inspirations are the Action RPGs from the NES: Zelda, Faxanadu, Battle of Olympus... They featured an open world, with a simple yet fun gameplay, and the sense of exploration and progression felt great. I want to recapture that feeling in Rogue Raiders Online.
afterwards I've been playing a lot of them. I've quite enjoyed games like Persona 4, Tales of Hearts or "smaller" RPGs like Sorcery Saga.
Why do you think the Vita has struggled? From an user perspective there are some things about the console that I think could be done better, like using SD card memory instead of a custom one so expensive, having a HDMI output, and a What made you want to develop Rogue better way of dealing with savegames Raiders Online for the Vita? when you want to delete a game. But I I had the opportunity to work on some don't think they are really a deal breaker. Vita games and I fall in love with the Both PS Vita and 3DS were released console. It has a great architecture, during recession and both struggled at an impressive OLED screen and lots first to make sales. Nintendo pushed of memory (something unusual in the console support more aggressively handhelds). After those games, I was and was able to overcome the problem, left with the feeling of wanting to do while Sony was just like "Vita isn't selling? something more personal, that really Well, let's concentrate in PS4". I wish they pushed the hardware. had someone inside the company that Have there been any games that you have believed in their handheld. I think that enjoyed or been impressed by on the Vita? Vita could have done a lot better if Sony were really invested in it. Uncharted and Gravity Rush were the games that impressed me most during the launch. I'm an avid RPG gamer, so @PSVitaMag
Which of the two Vita models do you think is the best, the OLED or the Slim? The original, although I like the rear panel of the slim better, the OLED screen is unbeatable. When do you think we might get our hands on Rogue Raiders Online? I plan to reach Beta in December 2017, being an online title it will need to be fully tested before release, so expect Rogue Raiders Online to be released in February 2018.
We would like to thank Cristina for her time with this interview! Have you backed Rogue Raiders Online yet? Head to the link below if you are interested in supporting the game! kickstarter.com/projects/ saffron/rogue-raiders-onlineaction-rpg-4-player-co-op-for Vitamag
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Cowcat
demetriosgame.com @DemetriosCowcat
Thanks for talking to us! Can you tell us a little bit about your studio and how you got into developing games? Hi! I'm Fabrice Breton, a 32 year-old French guy who studied programming and decided to quit his job one day to "live the dream" of making video games!
DEMETRIOS: THE BIG CYNICAL ADVENTURE IS AN UPCOMING ADVENTURE GAME FROM FABRICE BRETON, SET TO RELEASE THIS MONTH. A FUSION OF THE POINT AND CLICK GENRE AND VISUAL NOVELS, WE CAUGHT UP WITH FABRICE TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE GAME.
What games have inspired development of Demtrios? This project is actually a remake of an unreleased game I made when I was fifteen, in 1999! It started as a fan game of the Broken Sword series - so now you know the main inspiration! I played them on the PS1 and when I got my first PC, I So basically, the "COWCAT" studio is just What will gamers encounter when started working on an adventure game of me. I've made almost everything myself - playing? How much is there to see and do? my own. the art, the programming and even some Lots of idiotic situations, some funny musics! game overs (which have no consequence, It was complete - but back then, it was but you can collect them!), 10 mini too much difficult for a boy with no This was a lot to learn, especially for a first games throughout the story, 38 trophies marketing skills to release a game on the commercial game. including a Platinum, and more generally, market. Now the situation is different! fun things to do! I've really tried to let You are currently working on Demetrios. the players have some freedom of action. The remake improves on pretty much Can you describe what Demetrios is Sometimes the NPC characters will even every aspect of the original. about? react to the stupid actions you've done! Demetrios is a funny adventure game, What made you want to bring the game which is a mix between the Point & Click The game never takes things too to the Vita? and Visual Novel genres. So it consists seriously, even when the situation is. When I posted the Kickstarter back in in a (silly) story, solving puzzles with It's deliberately made as a combination October 2015, I mentioned that I wanted an inventory in first person view, and of amateurish (the choices, the childish to bring the game to consoles in addition talking to weird characters! You play as humor...) and professional blend, which is to PC. These were stretch goals. Bjorn, a slob of an antique dealer living something you don't see everyday! in Paris. One night, he gets robbed and It turns out the PS Vita version was, by knocked out after coming home drunk. In terms of length, it takes between 8 and far, the most requested! So I changed Waking up, he decides to conduct his 12 hours to finish it on a first playthrough. the goals to put the Vita version first. own investigation with the help of his The Kickstarter was funded, and while it neighbour Sandra. Obviously, this affair To give you a better idea, there are more didn't collect enough money to reach the isn't a simple one and he ends up involved than 130,000 words in the script, and it Vita stretch goal, I really wanted to do it. in mysteries and ancient secrets! has been translated into 6 languages Making a console game is a childhood (English, French, Spanish, Italian, German, dream, and I feel Vita players love fresh With a simple and addictive in-game hints Russian) so it was quite a feat! and fun games! system (through the use of hidden cookies 16
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that you can collect on screens), I've made sure it can be enjoyed by both novice and expert players. The game has received a lot of praise by people who don't usually play Point & Click games because they find them boring - Demetrios was made with fun in mind!
thevitalounge.net
How have you found developing for the Vita? I used Game Maker Studio for making the game, which is a development tool similar to Unity. It has a PS Vita export, which facilitates porting games to consoles - but that doesn't mean it's magical!
It's clearly meant for big companies with several services to handle things, not small indies.
the best colours and contrast. I have to say I was amazed to see how my game looks on that screen compared to the poor colours on my computer screen!
But I don't mind - I expected it. You need to warrant getting your game on a popular That said, the Slim has micro-USB game console! And this barrier helps to connexion, which is so much more filter the quality games. practical, and better battery. So... 50/50 situation? The game originally had 1080P graphics, What games have impressed you most on and in order to fit in memory I had to the Vita? scale them down to the Vita resolution (544P). This changed coordinates of all the I'm not a person who gets impressed graphics elements which had to manually by technical achievements, but by great stories or unique ideas, so I'll mention fixed. some visual novels like the Zero Escape series and Danganronpa. They're so I encountered issues to optimize the game, especially in terms of loading times. addictive! Sony doesn't give technical details but When will Demetrios be released? while the GPU is pretty good, the CPU of the Vita is slow. It's probably on purpose, I'm hoping for a mid/late November release. This is my first console dev to save battery, but it's still a shame for experience, currently I'm trying to make it games like mine which would only need pass certification. Check the PSN, it might small bursts of processing power when loading a new room. Thankfully with some be there already! code optimization, I managed to cut the Will the game be PSTV compatible? loadings from more than 10 seconds to Yes! Actually I had to buy a PS3 controller 1-2 seconds. to perform the tests, unfortunately my own PS3 controller broke a few months I also had to exchange with Yoyo Games (makers of Game Maker) to fix a few bugs before... At least I can play on PS3 again! with the Vita export (which hasn't been used a lot, I think only 3 or 4 Game Maker What's next for you and your studio? We would like to thank Fabrice games have been released on the Vita so If the game does well on the Vita, I might for his time with this interview. consider porting it to PS4 too! And far) Fabrice would like to thank obviously, I have begun pre-production of Twitter user and PSVita superanother title, for which I'll take even more Finally, the whole process for publishing fan @LastRealGamer for his risks. This will probably take a few years a game on console is complex, especially help and support in getting to develop, but it will be one of a kind! for a one-man dev. Several regions with a Vita Dev Kit for the game! different contacts, many acronyms and Demetrios is released later this Of the two released Vita models, which do things you're supposed to know but not month. Will you be picking it up? you think is best - the OLED or the Slim? clearly explained, bits of info scattered, a lot of technical requirements, forms to fill... My devkit is OLED and it definitely offers @PSVitaMag
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that interweave and reveal the background for a final conclusion. Along the way you’ll play through action sequences as all the characters in the game, and hear a ton of dialogue you won’t be able to understand without a firm knowledge of the Japanese language… but that’s just the story mode.
Written by
Kyle Wakeling
@teflontactics teflontactics
4 13 15 PSTV 2.3 GB
Publisher Planet G
Developer
shirogumi-nmd.com
Released
JP: August 25th NA/EU: Not Released
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Sengoku Otome certainly isn’t a new series, and it’s actually been around in one form or another for a fair while – the anime having released back in 2011, and a set of a half dozen or more pachinko (Japanese slot machine) games coming before that. It’s a series that’s set in the Sengoku era of the Japanese culture, but with the twist that everyone human is female; even the greatest warlords. While this beat ’em up action game and the anime that came before it seem to share a lot of similarities, the game is either alternate universe or some sort of “return” as the anime’s protagonist and a few other key characters seem different in some very key ways. Ignoring the artistic liberties, changes, or omissions, what you have here is a game about trying to save the little people from a big evil, and fighting other warlords along the way. Let’s go through it the best we can. First up is the story, and while it doesn’t come through perfectly due to the language barrier, the body language and anime scenes paint a pretty good picture of the basics. Without ruining it for you, there are four concurrent adventure-style storylines
There’s also arcade mode, which is a quickly completed mode with the game’s largest range of difficulty. Unlike story mode which runs a singular difficulty level, arcade mode allows you to pick from easy, medium, and hard type difficulty levels – the hard level much more difficult than the story bits, and the easy level at least moderately easier. You’ll choose a character and take them through a half dozen levels of no-dialogue action, able to continue if you lose in a very arcade-like fashion. This mode can be completed in around twenty minutes if you don’t die, and it’s the easiest mode to jump in to for a little action, but if you want the full roster of character choices you’ll need to complete the entirety of story mode first. Additionally, there’s versus; a mode where you can play ad-hoc, picking the players and connecting to another player for a duel. The added bit of fun here is that you can also use the versus mode solo, simply using it to set up your ideal battle conditions and then going in against the computer. Options, options, options! If you’re unfamiliar with the game (or are looking to learn the basics without a story or goals in your way), there’s also a training mode. Here, you’re able to set up the conditions however you like – using the mode like a sparring ring, or simply trying to execute moves on a motionless being. thevitalounge.net
The options for scenarios and conditions are quite varied when training, but you’ll need some serious trial and error and/ or a guide to set it up as there are a lot of Japanese characters in your way.
missions you’ll be able to purchase illustrations, movies, sound, and game content; the “gallery” name making more sense when you realize that it’s also how you view what you’ve bought.
Thankfully, gameplay in general isn’t so complicated, though it will require some thinking and planning instead of just button mashing. Just like most beat ’em ups these days, circle is a (short) dash move, square is your standard attack, and triangle is your distance attack (which is also able to be charged). The right trigger can be combined with square to grab your enemy at extreme close range, tossing them across the map; using the right trigger and triangle however will launch your enemy into the air, enabling you to dash to them no matter the distance for a solid attack rally. Lastly, the left trigger is block – unless it’s combined with the right analog for dodging, or the right trigger to initiate your “super mode.”
Being that there’s no dressing room or upgrade system in place, your options for purchases in the gallery are obviously very limited. That said, the illustrations (at least) seemed worth a buy – and I’d recommend you start there. I couldn’t for the life of me figure out what the game content did (or added) however, so unless you want to add “mystery” to the genre you might want to save that bit ’til last.
Super mode (as I’ve taken to calling it since I can’t read the proper name) enhances your attack strength for a short time and allows you to unleash a single super-powered attack move. Unleashing this flashy attack move (via the two triggers and “X”) will nullify super mode whether your attack connects with your opponent or not, so make sure to have them incapacitated or catch them off guard if you don’t want to waste it! Speaking of catching you off guard, the next topic we need to cover is the gallery – but don’t let the name fool you, as this gallery doubles as the game’s storefront. Using the points rewarded for completing
@PSVitaMag
Looking to the presentation of it all, Sengoku Otome: Legend Battle is a pretty good looking game for the most part, but it does suffer from the dreaded jagged edges problem – especially regarding the character models. Aside from these apparent low resolution asset issues however, the game runs like a champ; not once did it feel like it was dropping frames or slowing down during the action. While high quality graphics are nice, smoothness
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of play is the bit that really matters in these kinds of games, and Sengoku Otome: Legend Battle holds up quite nicely in that regard. As for the anime cutscenes included, they’re clearly very high quality – and actually look better than most cutscenes I’ve seen on the system. At first glance I didn’t notice any obvious colour banding, compression artifacts, or pixelation in the animation… and the art looks fantastic. I was actually very surprised at how high quality it was, and even in comparison to the 2011 anime it looks like a big step up. You’ve simply got to love the above-andbeyond attention to detail in that regard, as it reinforces the fact that the game isn’t just a cash-in on the series’ name. The sound in the game is very fitting, if not completely accurate to the anime. I’m not sure who the voice actors are for either, but they don’t seem to be the same on any of the stand out characters – though that didn’t ruin my enjoyment. The substitutes weren’t bad at all, and I only ever really noticed the difference in passing (or when Nobunaga speaks, as
she’s very distinctive in the anime). Sound gameplay, but it gives you the options to wise I was happy; but it wasn’t perfect, or keep coming back to something “new” – exactly what I expected. a quality that other games in the genre often forget to plan for, but this one The game however, was pretty much services quite nicely. exactly what I expected aside from the tweaks in gameplay style. The tweaks Now we just need an online multiplayer aren’t a bad thing though, as I don’t want patch (and a just-as-unlikely localization) clones of games I like, I want things that and we’re golden, right? stand out in good ways. Senran Kagura Pfft, who am I kidding; import, import, has its characters and thorough backimport! story, Valkyrie Drive has its over-the top lewdness and its fast-paced gameplay, and Sengoku Otome: Legend Battle has its slower pace and more methodical gameplay style. They’re all faces of the same die (so to speak), but they offer you a different focus alongside that beat ’em up core; and Sengoku Otome: Legend This review was sponsored by Battle seems like it fits on the mantle just Play-Asia, who kindly provided as much as any of the others. the import copy for us to review. If you like the look of Sengoku Should you buy it? If you enjoy beat Otome: Legend Battle we suggest ’em ups for the gameplay, then yes you you give them a visit at www. should. You might not understand the play-asia.com – both because story, but you’ll certainly be able to enjoy they’re a quality import dealer, the action, and you’ll definitely be able as well as because they’ve been to lose yourself in the sheer options of it kind enough to help us out! all. This game not only hooks you with its
VERDICT Sengoku Otome: Legend Battle is a Japanese import that isn't as unplayable as it seems; it's easy to figure out the controls, there are plenty of non-dialogue bits, and the action is aces. It's not as button mash friendly as some of the other titles in its wheelhouse however, and will require some thought to play - so keep that in mind.
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4 thevitalounge.net
Written by Jenny Jones
@Kitty_has_Klaws Deathskitten
7 10 2 PSTV 269 MB Publisher
square-enix.com @SquareEnix
Developer
square-enix.com @SquareEnix
Released
NA: October 11th EU: October 11th
@PSVitaMag
I’ve never really been interested in games like Minecraft; I like a game with goals and objectives, so being plonked in the middle of a world and told to just build stuff doesn’t really excite me. I need a reason to continue or I quickly lose focus and get bored, so that’s where Square Enix’s Dragon Quest Builders comes in! At first glance it looks like a Minecraft clone, but thankfully it is so much more than that. It’s an easily accessible game with strong RPG elements, charming characters, a strong narrative as well as a world that is a delight to explore and craft in. The game takes place as an alternative ending to the first Dragon Quest game. Instead of the Hero being victorious, the evil Dragonlord has won and the world has been plunged into darkness. You begin the game by waking up inside a crypt, your memories gone and only the voice of a spirit to keep you company. You get told that you’re special, as you’re the only person in the world with the power to create and build. It is up to you to bring light back to the world and save humanity, and as such you’re given a banner of hope and told to go forth and build. Upon planting your banner firmly in the ground a great shaft of light is released and people across the land are attracted to the beckoning light. Your journey has just begun…
The mechanics of the game are fairly simple, but upon placing my first block of dirt in my base I felt hooked. This little patch of land was mine to turn into the fortress of my dreams! The first person to come to my mini-empire was Pippa this sweet, but slightly beard obsessed person, was my first friend in this strange land. The game has a very simple character creation mode, but even with the only choices being male or female and a choice of hair and eye colour it’s amazing how little time it took for me to feel connected to my little builder and her cheeky responses to people. There’s a diverse range of characters to meet and some pretty amusing conversations can occur between them all.
Dragon Quest Builders has a fairly simple game play loop; you’ll go out and explore nearby lands to find new materials, build rooms and items for your base, and help your fellow villagers. They’ll then give you new quests and you’ll go out exploring and building again. It sounds like a really simple game, but I can’t emphasize enough just how enjoyable and rewarding it is. You never quite know what you’re going to find when you go exploring – maybe a poisoned lake, an abandoned mine, or even a pyramid. At one point I came across an old ruined castle and I seriously had to drag myself away from it as I really wanted to try to rebuild it, or replicate it at my base! There’s loads to see and exploring thoroughly will reward you with new items, hidden quests, and blueprints for rooms. After completing certain quests you’ll also gain access to teleporters which will warp you to nearby islands, giving you even more places to explore. Vitamag
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It’s important to stay well fed in the game, as you have a hunger meter which gradually reduces over time. If it reaches zero then you’ll slowly begin to lose health. At the beginning of the game you’ll mostly just be foraging for food, but you will soon learn recipes that will allow you to cook tasty meals – filling more of your hunger meter, and offering bonuses like restoring HP or buffing your stats. Thankfully the villagers will be a great help with your hunger (no, I don’t mean that you can eat them….). Build them a crude kitchen with a chest, and in turn they’ll cook food and leave you little treats in the chest. Other rooms like workshops will also inspire the villagers to be productive and leave little gifts for you. It feels like a nice little thank you for saving them and building them a safe home. I was initially a little worried about inventory management as you can’t really carry much, but thankfully it doesn’t take long until you can build a ‘colossal coffer’. You can store a hell of a lot in here and as an added bonus you can access it even when far away from your base. This makes exploring a lot more efficient as you don’t have to keep trekking back to off-load all your materials. The camera can be a bit of a pain at times, out in big open spaces it’s fine but as soon as you get into tight spaces such as a mine or rooms with a roof it becomes difficult to see what your doing. You can zoom the camera in by pushing it into the ground (which makes it zoom in close to you), but it would have been nice to have a bit more control over this.
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Another, very minor criticism that I have is that there isn’t a quest log. You can re-speak to villagers to remind yourself what you need to do, but when I’m out in the wild and have gotten distracted with exploring a new area it would have been nice to have some kind of log to refer to. The game does provide you with a few orbs which you can place down anywhere to act as markers on the map, but it’s simply not as easy as having a quest log. Combat in the game is quite simple; you have a sword or club and swing it at enemies, and your only way to defend is to move out of the way of incoming attacks. It’s a shame that the combat wasn’t slightly more developed, but it’s also obvious that the combat isn’t really the game’s main focus.
Your Builder doesn’t level up and so the only way to get stronger is by crafting better weapons and armor. You can also eat Seeds of Life to increase your HP, which you’ll receive from completing quests or find hidden around the world. Occasionally your base will also be invaded by monsters. Some villagers will hide when this happens, but others will join you in fighting against them. Although I never felt in any real danger from these little skirmishes, it did feel good to see the villagers rise up with me to defend the base. Because normal fights against monsters are fairly simple it’s easy to become complacent which can trip you up in boss fights. End of chapter boss fights happen at your base, but none of your villagers can come and help you. The way you’ve built your base up can be a help or a hindrance to you. The second chapter boss consisted of a condor flying around the base which you need to hit with your ballista to knock out of the sky. Sadly I hadn’t quite built my ballista high enough so it couldn’t hit him, I ended up hastily building a tall tower in the middle of my infirmary. This was tricky to do when I had waves and waves of enemies trying to kill me! Sadly my village was pretty much destroyed by the end of that fight and I didn’t quite have the heart to rebuild (don’t worry villagers, I promise I’ll come back and rebuild one day!).
thevitalounge.net
As mentioned above, the game is broken up into chapters and each chapter begins in a different part of the world. Initially it can be a little disheartening to realize that you lose all the materials, equipment, and HP stat boosts that you’ve obtained in the previous chapter. When this happened the first time I felt a bit despondent as it was
a little unexpected, but thankfully it didn’t take me too long to come to terms with it. Each chapter feels like a new adventure with new materials to gather, people to meet, recipes to learn, and quests to complete. Also, each chapter’s save is stored separately so you’ll always be able to go back for a quick visit if you miss everyone!
and adventure! There’s plenty of recipes to learn, quests to complete and bosses to fight. Exploring every island will keep you busy for a long time and building your perfect base to show off in Terra Incognita will keep you busy for even longer. I’ve had great fun with Dragon Quest Builders and I know that I’m going to keep playing for a very long time.
After completing the first chapter you’ll unlock Terra Incognita mode which is the game’s free play mode. By completing various objectives in the story chapters you’ll unlock new recipes and new islands to explore. There’s no multiplayer in Dragon Quest Builders but you are able to share your creations in this mode. Some of the ones I’ve seen so far have been pretty impressive, ranging from beautiful gardens to expansive inns, floating castles and giant hero statues. I’m really looking forward to seeing some more creations in the future. If they don’t inspire you to see what you can build then nothing will!
Dragon Quest Builders is a great mix of RPG and construction/crafting game. It’s a simple game full of charm, personality
VERDICT Dragon Quest Builders is part RPG, part construction game and loads of fun. It's full of charm, personality and adventure! There's plenty to explore, recipes to learn, quests to complete and bosses to fight. This game will have you addicted to it for a very long time.
@PSVitaMag
4.8 Vitamag
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attack.
Written by Reece Heyworth @rheyworth07 CHEAT07
2 8 42 PSTV 592 MB Publisher
redhookgames.com @RedHookStudios
Developer
redhookgames.com @RedHookStudios
Released
NA: September 27th EU: September 27th
24
Vitamag
Darkest Dungeon is like a nightmare, you feel like you’re always in danger, there’s an underlying tension all the time and, when you eventually mess up, you realise you’re fine ready to try again. Darkest Dungeon is a dungeon crawling strategy RPG where you take control of an estate with a monster problem where you recruit heroes to help fight the menace – sending them off to their inevitable doom in the search of treasure and clues to the mystery of this damned estate. The gameplay loop is straightforward in concept, you recruit a band of heroes of various skills, form a party of up to four and send them to a dungeon to explore. Either through retreat or completion of the quest the heroes return with their loot and experience. The nuances that Red Hook games have added are where this game excels. First up is the perma-death, if your recruited heroes die whilst out on a quest that’s it, no reviving, no retry option, they’re gone for good and they join your ever expanding graveyard. It adds extra tension whilst out on a quest knowing one mistake is all it can take to lose a party member. Thankfully this won’t ruin your game as you’ll always be able to recruit more heroes and train them up via easier quests but it doesn’t make it any less of a body blow when you lose your best guy to a heart
Yes, your party members can succumb to heart attacks, this is all thanks to the other key feature in the game; stress. Whilst out on their ventures your party members can become stressed through various factors such as an enemy landing a critical blow or setting off a trap while travelling through a dark corridor. When your characters stress meter fills up their resolve will be tested and the character will gain a quirk, for example they might become paranoid and distrustful of their allies sometimes attacking them instead of the monsters. These can quickly turn a battle against you as your members suddenly start infighting or cowering instead of obeying your commands. The effects of resolve being tested aren’t always bad though, sometimes a character will gain a positive boost which can help keep the battle from overwhelming you. Once the stress meter fills the first time it will start to fill again, this time however if the character gets too stressed and the meter fills up their body will give out on them and they die. The game requires you to manage the stress levels of your characters as well as their health which forces rotation amongst your party and being extra careful when out adventuring as even a full health character that has become too stressed can become a liability. The stress each character gains carries over even once you leave the dungeon and return to the estate. Thankfully at the estate you can pay and have the characters partake in stress relieving activities such as meditation or taking a trip to the local thevitalounge.net
you’ll be managing the stress of your heroes as well as their health so even if you survive a battle the damage may still be done. You’ll be managing a party of four, the heroes will be arranged left to right and the attacks you can utilise will be determined by where you’re positioned in the party. Positioning is hugely Finally just to give you that little more to important when setting up the party, your manage, each character will have varying melee fighters will be useless at the back for example or if you have no one with personality traits which will affect your ranged attacks then good luck hitting that party during your travels. One character, annoying enemy throwing his goblet at for example, might be a kleptomaniac the back. Each character can only take a and as such will try grabbing everything that isn’t nailed down whether it’s booby- certain amount of moves with them so carefully planning out which moves to trapped or not. Another example could take to cover a variety of situations, often be that your character is an expert in a you can find yourself ambushed and your certain dungeon and gains a boost to party order changed so you’ll need to be their combat ability in that dungeon. It’s able to deal with the unexpected. another layer for you to consider when you send out a party and it all adds up to a very personal adventure and story with a Combat is turn based, each character will take their turn to attack or use a stat lot of depth for you to dig into. buffing move, there’s no way to clearly tell Diving more into the moment to moment what character’s turn is next so planning experience you’ll be spending a lot of your ahead is difficult. The flow of combat is time in the battle system. Thankfully this smooth though and the tide of battle can is really intuitive and delivers a surprising turn quickly creating exciting fights with a real tension. amount of depth. As mentioned before brothel – whatever floats your characters boat. While they’re busy letting go of their stressful endeavours though they can’t be used in your party so you’ll be forced to rely on other members of the party, as such a well-rounded party will be necessary if you want to make progress.
VERDICT Darkest Dungeon is an excellent strategy RPG for the Vita, it's gameplay feels right at home on the handheld and despite some minor niggles the game truly shines as one of the great games this year. Any fan of RPG games should definitely give Darkest Dungeon a look.
@PSVitaMag
For all the great depth and design decisions present the game isn’t without its minor problems. My major gripe is the UI for the game, on any given screen there is a lot of information present and with the small real estate on the Vita screen this can be a real issue when trying to read text on the screen or find useful information, it’s a small issue that eventually you get over and become accustomed to. My only other problem is the controls, when trying to do simple things such as deciding your party for a quest, you have to hold a shoulder button, use the stick to select a character, while still holding the shoulder button you then have to choose their position in the party then press X to confirm. Heaven forbid you want to check the stats of a character before placing them in the party though, it all feels way too fiddly and whilst workable it should be so much better. Despite these fiddly problems though the game is still great to play and with a great visual style and hours of content to get through, Darkest Dungeon is a fantastic game and the gameplay is perfect in short or long stints for the Vita.
4.5 Vitamag
25
Written by Jenny Jones
@Kitty_has_Klaws Deathskitten
1 21 22 PSTV 1.3 GB Publisher
nisamerica.com @NISAmerica
Developer nippon1.co.jp
Released
NA: October 11th EU: Not Released
26
Vitamag
Criminal Girls 2: Party Favors is a game about a group of young women with a tale of redemption and friendship… and also punishment and sadomasochism… The first game, Criminal Girls: Invite Only, was a port of a 2010 PSP title and was a unique dungeon crawling RPG with some rather naughty mini-games. Criminal Girls 2 is very similar to the first game but with a few much needed improvements. The game starts off very similar to the first – you’re a Programme Instructor in Hell and it’s your job to help a group of delinquent girls reform. Delinquents are girls who have yet to commit a crime but are heading down a dark path in life, so they are given this one last chance to save their souls before being eternally damned. The Reformation Programme consists of a journey up through the Hell Spire which will push the girls to their limits by testing their spirits and forcing them to acknowledge and repent past mistakes in life. Initially I was a bit worried that the game would be a carbon copy of the first, but thankfully the game does move off the beaten path of the first fairly quickly. Something seems to be happening in Hell. Convicts have begun causing trouble and so the Hell spire has gone into lock down with defensive systems activated…not a good time to be taking a group of stubborn,
unruly and rebellious girls on a trip around Hell to try to save their souls! It also seems that you have a traitor in your midst, one of the seven girls is not who she seems and is actually a Convict. You bump into another Programme Instructor who unfortunately decides that your whole group is a security threat and so throws you down to the depths of Hell. So much for the relatively simple process of travelling up the Hell Spire, now you need to get out of Hell first… The girls are initially reluctant to open up to you, let alone work together with a group of other delinquent girls. But slowly through the course of the game you begin to find out more about them and the reasons behind why they need to be reformed. I really enjoyed finding out more about them and watching them change from a group of angry, argumentative girls into true friends. They are an interesting group of characters which really made me want to progress through all the dungeon floors in order to try to save them.
Criminal Girls 2 is a big improvement over the first in terms of the graphics, the dungeon backgrounds are much more detailed, vibrant, crisp and interesting to look at. There are some fairly standard dungeon themes used, such as Hellfire, which as the name suggests is full of fire and lava, but also some more unique backgrounds like Bloody Hell which looked like a giant picnic area strewn with the corpses or teddy bears. While walking around the dungeons or in battle the characters are displayed in a really cute chibi style. Enemy designs seem to have been mostly recycled from the first, they look more detailed but it’s slightly thevitalounge.net
some of the artwork has been re-drawn for the Western regions to enable it to get past some countries ratings boards. I think the re-drawn artwork is a nicer While the game plays out as a fairly standard RPG dungeon crawler there is a alternative to the pink fog although little twist in the battle system. Instead of I’m sure that there are plenty who will disagree with me and think that they being able to freely choose which attack should have kept the Japanese artwork to use the girls will instead each offer and gone with an adult only rating. up a suggestion and you then decide who will act. If you don’t like any of the The mini-games do serve a purpose suggested actions then you can swap a (besides being a bit of pervy eye candy), new girl in or use an item to refresh the actions suggested. It’s a novel system and motivating the girls gives them access to new battle skills. Each time you go up most of the time the girls will do a good a rank in one of the mini-games you’ll job at suggesting useful actions, such as guarding when a boss starts to power up, be given a choice of one of two battle but sometimes it can be really frustrating skills. Depending on the one selected the when you want to use a certain attack but girl will become more ‘S’ or ‘M’. In battle you can coach the girls, which involves the girls won’t suggest it. either scolding, praising, sympathising or There’s no equipment in this game which worrying. Their S/M ranking will affect how they react in battle to the coaching means that your level and what items and can cause a temporary increase in you have to hand are really important. attack power or defense. This does unfortunately mean that you will end up having to do a little bit of grinding before some of the boss fights. Some of them just feel down right unfair and frustrating, bosses which frequently hit your whole party with status effects which stop you from doing anything and then continuously heal themselves are really annoying. Thankfully there weren’t too many bosses that seemed to spam heal. Sometimes it can feel more down to luck then anything else, as sometimes you can be easily wiped out only to try the fight again and find that the boss is now not spamming the same attacks that were decimating you the first time round. disappointing that there weren’t more new enemy designs.
One of the things that the Criminal Girls series is known for is it’s mini-games to ‘motivate’ the delinquents. This time around the girls are no longer obscured by pink fog in strategic places and instead
VERDICT Criminal Girls 2 has improved on many things compared to its predecessor; it has better graphics, mini-games, no pink fog, a more interesting story and better characters. It's still a game that is going to raise eyebrows if you try to play it in public but as long as you don't mind being branded a pervert (both by people in the real world and by the girls in the game) then you should give it a go. @PSVitaMag
There are a variety of mini-games that you’ll be given access to, you can whip, pinch, electrocute and throw goo at the girls to motivate them. It’s probably slightly worrying just how much I enjoyed throwing goo at the girls… I’m not sure I really get the game logic behind why throwing slime at a girl ‘motivates’ her but it was fun to try to hit the targets. While the mini-games are a bit more diverse and fun compared to the first game they still unfortunately run into the same problem as the first game. Having to repeat the same mini-games with all seven girls makes it a bit monotonous and repetitive. Also rubbing the touchscreen will make you look like a pervert, at one point my boyfriend looked over at me and said that it looked like I was furiously masturbating…so probably not the best game to play on public transport… Overall, Criminal Girls 2 is actually a pretty fun RPG, it has a unique battle system, vibrant & beautiful dungeon floors to explore and an interesting story. The characters are well written and each girl has her own unique personality. The biggest flaw in the game is that it can be a bit grindy in the later levels and getting continuously hit by negative status effects needlessly drags out the length of some battles. Some people are always going to look down on this series because of the minigames and the sadomasochistic theme. But don’t worry, the game is very quick to point out at the beginning that it’s all completely consensual. So phew! No need to feel slightly seedy, it’s consensual and therefore everything is ok.
3.9 Vitamag
27
Written by Ethan Zeigler
@dandycrocodiles DandyCrocodile
1 8 45 PSTV 1.5 GB Publisher
aksysgames.com @aksysgames
Developer
arcsystemworksu.com @ArcSystemWorksU
Released
NA: September 20th EU: September 21th
28
Vitamag
Tokyo Twilight Ghost Hunters: Daybreak Special Gigs is an odd duck. This is largely due to what the game is, but also in part because of the decision to localize the title so soon after the release of the first game. The game has definitely been changed, and largely for the better, but whether the changes are large enough to justify a purchase is a more difficult question to answer. TTGH:DSG definitely has an amazing premise and aesthetic. With its gorgeous, painting-like character and monster sprites and detailed, almost photo-realistic locations it’s absolutely beautiful to play. Punk and rock music play in the background throughout the game and the trophy list is chock-full of references to classic rock songs and horror movies. The story, which entails a transfer student getting swept up in the day-to-day adventures of an occult magazine that periodically exorcises ghosts, takes heavy cues from anime. Each chapter in the game is like an anime episode and even goes so far as to include an opening and ending animation. Everything about these is fantastic and really elevated my enjoyment of the game. Within each chapter the cast sets out to investigate a complaint of supernatural
phenomena. While the ghosts in the chapters basically serve as a “monster of the week” that are soundly defeated, the setting in each varies greatly. In my time with the game I helped out a newly-single bachelor, a boy in the hospital, seniors in an assisted living home, and more. Each of these small vignettes were well-written and fairly poignant, with new character sprites as well as guest characters that were able to be permanently recruited if all the proper choices were made throughout the chapter. Where Tokyo Twilight falls short, however, is in the conversation and battle systems. At certain points during the story, you will be presented with a wheel with various pictures on it. Hands shaking, a head with a question mark on it, a heart symbol. No explanation is given. After choosing one of the five options, another five are given, this time corresponding to the five sense. Eyes, hands, nose, etc. This means that when this wheel appears there are 25 possible outcomes of your choice. The catch is that the outcome changes depending on context. Selecting the same two choices in different parts of the game had me attempting to kiss, bite, or just stare blankly at the person with whom I was conversing. This wouldn’t be a big deal if the options were more consistent or if they didn’t effect character affection levels, and thus recruitment potential, but since they do it was nothing more than an annoyance. The battle system in the original Tokyo Twilight received very mixed sentiments, and for good reason. It plays out sort of like a strategy game, with your characters moving like pieces on a minimalist game thevitalounge.net
board in pursuit of an invisible ghost. The use of traps allows for a variety of functions, such as serving as a decoy, preventing a ghost from passing a certain location, and radar to allow you to see the ghost if it’s in the vicinity of the device. Before a battle, suggested traps are laid out for you to save time, but I found that eventually this was a huge waste of money as the traps were regularly poorly positioned or useless for the particular ghost I needed to hunt. Actually fighting the ghost is the most difficult part of battles. Because your characters and the ghost move simultaneously, you see the places where the ghost might move during each turn. It is on the player to maneuver the characters so their attack ranges cover all these potential spaces so that a hit can be landed. All this must be done within a turn limit. This results in a battle system that looks pretty bland and can be quite frustrating as ghosts sometimes like to move to the one space your characters couldn’t manage to cover. Even a shakeup in the battle system in the later chapters couldn’t completely save the battle system.
The option also exists to leave the office and head to a couple of places. The first is the lab, where a member of the team can craft new items, traps, and equipment for you if you have the necessary ingredients and funds. The second is the general store. While the items in the store aren’t that great, their lottery system is. As you take on investigations and spend money while out, you earn lottery pulls. 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place can nab you some nice items and equipment, but pulling a “special” slip gives a keychain which can be used before battle for handy special effects like a percentage increase in experience or money. The changes from the first game are the reason for this game’s very existence. The biggest of these is the addition of the titular Daybreak chapters. These are side stories that reveal more information
Sidequests can be taken on in the form of additional exorcism requests. Winning the battles in these nets you additional experience points and money, both of which are essential if you want to be able to handle the story battles more efficiently. Battles also earn TP, which lets you train character skills that allow the setting of a higher number of traps, earning more EXP, or even just being luckier. For even more TP gain, you can play a mini-game that functions like a simpler version of the regular battles, just without trap setting.
Battles have been retooled a bit, giving out more EXP and TP as well as allowing for extra attacks if you haven’t spent all your AP for a particular character’s turn, and a bestiary has been added to view ghosts that have been defeated. A few typos have been fixed here and there, a few new animations have been added, and the ghost placement in a few chapters has been adjusted. If you did play the original version of Tokyo Twilight, having your save file on the Vita unlocks an extra keychain for battles that gives an extra 2 turns in battle. All in all, it’s difficult to recommend TTGH:DSG to everybody. If you’ve played the original game the new content here might not be enough to get you to buy the game again, since it is largely the same and the new chapters don’t reveal that much. If you’ve never played the original, this is definitely the version to get but the difficulty curve might present a challenge to newcomers, not to mention it’d likely be much cheaper at this point just to grab the original game instead.
VERDICT Tokyo Twilight Ghost Hunters: Daybreak Special Gigs is a beautiful game that absolutely nails its themes and atmosphere. However, it falters heavily with its experimental and bland battle system. Newcomers who didn't play the first game might enjoy this ghost hunting visual novel/SRPG mashup but those who played the first game likely won't find enough new content to justify a purchase. @PSVitaMag
about the optionally recruited character from the chapter, as well as about the chapter’s main ghost. The stories themselves are nice additions, if you get the chance to see them. Failing to recruit an optional character will permanently lock you out of seeing their Daybreak chapter, so it might be best to play this one with a character recruitment guide just to be on the safe side. The most unfortunate parts of the Daybreak chapters is easily the crazy difficulty jumps. At times I would grind my characters up to handle the story chapter only to be met with a Daybreak chapter that had enemies 12 levels higher than what the story required.
3.5 Vitamag
29
Written by Tyler Robertson
6 10 13 PSTV 1.2 GB Publisher
spike-chunsoft.co.jp @SpikeChunsoft_e
Developer
activegamingmedia.com
Released
NA: September 13th EU: September 14th
30
Vitamag
The PlayStation Vita has allowed a ton of indie developers to showcase smaller titles and has helped games find an audience. Mystery Chronicle: One Way Heroics from Spike Chunsoft falls nicely into this category, as it will appeal to the JRPG crowd, the roguelike dungeon crawling crowd, and possibly even the Spelunky crowd. It is a mix of these three genres that meshes in an odd but satisfying way that is perfect for quick, on-the-go playthroughs, but also for the hardcore and the lootcrazed as well.
Mystery Chronicle: One Way Heroics is technically a spin-off of the Mystery Dungeon series. If you’re a fan of the series, you can tell pretty much right away due to the tone and feel of the game. It is also based on a free-to-play game of the same subtitle that was released in Japan a few years ago that dealt with the same mechanic of moving from left to right with forced scrolling. So yes, the gist of the game is that you’re a warrior sent to save the world from an unrelenting threat called the Shine Raid, which is this wall of light on a slow but devastating path. To stop it, you have to destroy the one who created it; an evil Fallen Angel called Alma. It is somewhat of
a short and sometimes unfulfilling trip, but along the way, you can find side quests that will lead you down new paths which unlock new characters, items, and mini-boss battles. We won’t spoil anything for you, but they are definitely cool to find because they are unexpected and could happen at any point on your journey. The quality of your trip is determined by the procedural generator that makes up a new world every time you start a new game. This can mean that right out of the gates there are tons of enemies or nothing much the whole way, so in this sense it is disappointing because you never know if you’re going to get a good world or not. It is too bad, but the fact that you will get to retry again in just a little while makes it more bearable. The overall aesthetic of One Way Heroics is probably one of its best features. The art is great, with all of the characters as 2D sprites, and the world is seen from an isometric, 2.5D style camera angle. It has a charm to it that is kind of cute, with funny characters and an interesting world. The music makes your adventure all the more epic too, with classical instruments that change dynamically based on setting and situation. It all comes together for a very classic JRPG feel that almost any gamer can get into. When it comes to gameplay One Way Heroics is both fun and well constructed. With each move you make, whether it be taking a step or swinging your sword, the Shine Raid inches one “block” closer, forcing you to press on. You can choose from a bunch of different characters, some will have to be unlocked first, with each having their own set of skills, weapons, thevitalounge.net
and abilities. The play styles of each of them vary drastically, so testing them out and finding the right one for you is something to do if you’re looking to reach for those high scores. A few of the characters are even little nods to some of the other games that Spike Chunsoft has developed. A school student (and later Monokuma himself) represents the various Danganronpa games that they’ve made, as well as a character who is reminiscent of a Shiren the Wanderer character.
from your Dream Vault and do a few other things before you head out. When you upgrade your castle, you add rooms with various purposes and NPCs that can help you get a jumpstart on your mission. For example, there is a chef room that I added who gave me extra food that could heal me on my journey. Things like this, as well as rooms where energizing plants grow, can help you get better and more efficient with each playthrough.
Mystery Chronicle: One Way Heroics does a good job of taking three genres that do not usually fit together, and making a fun, intuitive experience out of them. It has heaps of character, with a beautiful art style and an interesting gameplay loop. If you need a game to tide you over on the bus trip to work, or even something to sink your teeth into for a good amount of time, One Way Heroics is definitely something to check out.
You’ll also keep your money, as well as your Genesis Stones, which upgrade your perks, and allows you to get new classes The world of One Way Heroics is and Specials. The more you play, the procedurally generated, just like any more money and Genesis Stones you will roguelike, so each run is different. This have, so the more you want to customize, allows for a ton of replayability, and to get passed the complaint that there is no the more you’ll have to grind. In the end, progression made in games like these, One Way Heroics is best suited for the they have what’s called a Dream Vault, hardcore audience. There is a ton of stats which after each death allows you take for you to min/max, abilities and options some of your items with you into the next to customize, and high scores to beat. life. This is a novel concept for a game like this, and it has proven itself very useful on After all that, you can battle against other multiple occasions for me. Another way players, but since it’s release, this feature to progress is through the upgrading of has been unavailable. Check back when it your castle. Each run begins at the castle; does become available for an update. a kind of hub where you can pick up items
VERDICT Mystery Chronicle: One Way Heroics fits the Vita well. Its gameplay focuses on short, fastpaced playthroughs for on-the-go play. If you've been itching for something similar to Spelunky, but also love the Mystery Dungeon series and the JRPG genre, One Way Heroics is a neat combination of all three.
@PSVitaMag
3.5 Vitamag
31
the right ones in order to avoid a less than happy ending.
Written by crispyn64
@crispyn64 crispyn64
4 15 16 PSTV 1.7 GB Publisher
nisamerica.com
@NISAmerica
Developer
5pb.jp/games
@5pbgames
Released
NA: September 13th EU: September 14th
32
Vitamag
Throughout gaming history, licensed games have had somewhat of a poor reputation. While there are a few outliers, more often than not games that feature intellectual property from other media have a tendency to be, well…total crap. In plain obnoxious fashion, these games tend to use beloved characters and worlds to bait fans into purchasing it, yet they lack the passion and ingenuity that essentially created the fandom in the first place. Now, it isn’t to be assumed that the creators of Psycho-Pass: Mandatory Happiness had less than noble motivations for making this game. Nevertheless, the result was a buggy, nonsensical, restrictive, and tiresome experience, one that completely misunderstood the things that made the original anime so fantastic. Starting with the gameplay, Psycho-Pass: Mandatory Happiness is plentiful when it comes to decisions. In addition to your choices shaping the way the story plays out, they also will affect your hue. For those unfamiliar with Psycho-Pass, your hue is essentially a color tracker of your mental state. The cloudier your hue is, the more likely it is you’ll have criminal tendencies. If you’re unlucky enough to have criminal tendencies, the government will capture you and put you through rehabilitation, assuming that you’re not so far gone as to call for containment or elimination. In short, your choices will change your manifested mental state, and so you will want to make
Anyway, the quality of these decisions are more reflective of the games overall writing, and I’ll get to that later. For now, let’s talk about performance issues. It shouldn’t be hard to run a visual novel on PS Vita. Many games that don’t even tie itself to one genre have already optimized their visual novel aspects, ensuring that image quality is high and load times are near nonexistent. Sadly, that is not the case for Psycho-Pass: Mandatory Happiness. When other characters appear on screen to say something, their voice lines and character art must be loaded which causes a minor delay. This becomes extremely annoying in scenes where every character is given lines despite the fact that the same group conversation could’ve easily been held by two people. The dialogue is often just the entire cast chiming in for no apparent reason other than to remind us that they exist. The game is also buggy, and I found myself reloading saves because of freezes on more than one occasion. And if all that wasn’t embarrassing enough, the character art is quite low in resolution. This might not seem like a big deal, but it’s made painfully obvious with the close-ups in the game that focus on the eyes to evoke a sense of determination, and is consequently undermined by the fact that it looks like a lazy Photoshop. Oh, and I would’ve liked to share with you an example, but the game doesn’t allow screenshots to be taken. The aesthetics of this game are much like its writing: completely oblivious to the tone, boundaries, scenery, and emotions that were purposely conveyed in the anime. thevitalounge.net
Every crime in Mandatory Happiness is committed in broad daylight, in the most mundane of locations. An abandoned library, an abandoned apartment, and an abandoned high school, all of which are fairly clean, well-lit, and hiding no deep, dark secrets. This is in direct contrast with the locations in Psycho-Pass the anime, which for the most part are grandiose and dark. Even when a case does take them to a private school in the show, the building and surroundings aren’t given such a bright and cheerful color palette because that would be antithetical to the themes of which the show is working with. The color palette that the game uses also makes the characters stick out in an uncomplimentary way. See, most characters in Psycho-Pass have a corpsegray skin color, and this of course signifies in a sort of ambiguous way that there is a lack of life in these people due to the Sybil system of which they serve under. But now they just look weird and out of place because of the brightly mundane backgrounds they stand in front of. As for the soundtrack, the game borrows some music from the original series but mostly consists of new songs that are pretty unmemorable, except for the ones that feature an obnoxious and repetitive chorus. Those are hard to forget just because of how annoying they can be. Before delving into the narrative, let me first address newcomers to the series. This is not the place to start. Mandatory Happiness focuses on three new characters rather than the entire supporting cast that surrounds them. It’s hard to gather any appreciation for these
@PSVitaMag
characters because they’re given such basic depth and motivation. As for the main focus characters, they’re story and “secret” connection with each other is obvious and laughable. There are many holes that can be poked through this plot, and overall the game is not worth your time and money if you’re looking for something with smart and precise plotting, deep and fascinating characters, a compelling and philosophical narrative, or just pretty pictures and voices.
but an assortment of widely spread blood and chunks. And you’re telling me a little child abuse is going to dampen their spirits?
Anyway, the protagonists newly added to the series are put in a position that makes no sense. Nadeshiko is an emotionless new recruit that suffers from amnesia, and that’s about as deep as her character gets for a while. Her hidden backstory is excruciatingly obvious, as her ties from a past life are abundantly and clumsily It’s a bit surprising just how off-based this hinted at throughout the entire game. Her head hurts and her heart rate becomes story is when portraying its already abnormal whenever she’s around two established characters. Especially in the specific characters. Huh. What a weird case of the Enforcers, who are the coincidence. The other new character is essential hounds of the police named Tsurugi, and he’s a more brawn department. All of the supporting cast is given virtually no depth and only exists as than brains kind of Enforcer. These two a visual touchstone to the original series. are given all the power for no good reason as soon as they join the force, and are What’s really objectionable is their relied upon to make every important inconsistencies as characters in comparison to the anime, as displayed by decision they come across. It makes virtually no sense from a narrative their few emotional reactions within the standpoint, but it fits the confines of a game. One example in particular is when the group is examining the crime scene of visual novel easily. Taking an easy approach like this is just another way a suspected child abuse. This of course causes everyone, including the latent Psycho-Pass: Mandatory Happiness criminal Enforcers, to clench their fists in confines itself from being remarkable or disgust. Now, I’m not going to argue that worthwhile. child abuse isn’t disturbing. However, it should be expected that the Enforcers Speaking of unremarkable, it’s time to would not be troubled by this small bring to light the main antagonist and the incident. Why? Because these are people spree of lackluster crimes that branch that have seen horrors beyond any from him. Alpha is a rogue Artificial average person’s dreams, people that Intelligence programmed with the goal of hunt and kill criminals like beasts. And obtaining happiness for all humans. This “kill” is putting it lightly. They annihilate is of course incredibly ironic, considering perpetrators, using brutal weaponry to he leaves nothing but pain and despair in explode their targets from the inside out, his wake. His first conclusion is that drugs leaving nothing left of the human being make people happy and unleash their
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The game is about happiness. It’s about the pseudo-philosophical pursuit of happiness and understanding where it comes from. Alpha, the AI bent on bringing happiness to the world, struggles to find this meaning and only in the end finds a very simple and contrived Before I finish, I want to delve a bit into answer. His path is a nonsensical the individual crimes that occur in this story. All the cases are pathetically weak, one for multiple reason. One reason is that if real AI were to exist and go and none of them even hold a candle to rogue, theoretically they could very well the most banal case you can find in the anime series. This goes back to the game dominate humanity in a matter of days. Considering this is essentially what Alpha not understanding the things that made trying to accomplish, because he wants the original anime so great, and in this case it’s the utterly heinous crimes being to ensure happiness and the only way committed. In Psycho-Pass, the criminals to ensure that is to control everything, Alpha’s reign would be almost a foregone aren’t just criminals. They’re villains, and conclusion. But for some reason, Alpha they’re capable of some truly monstrous acts, ones that I will probably never forget is not an entirely logical entity. Alpha is given emotions, which is somewhat of an for as long as I live. One great example oxymoron considering that emotionalism I can think of in the anime is the girl is supposed to be the dividing factor who creates art from the bodies of her between man and machine. Still, mutilated classmates and hides them in public parks for pedestrians to eventually somehow Alpha finds himself having these emotions, and he allows himself uncover. Psycho-Pass is supposed to to be controlled by them in a way that be dark, and in comparison Mandatory should be unbecoming for a theoretical Happiness might as well be about being of super-intelligence. He allows friendship and rainbows and puppies. himself to be swept up in rage, clouding pent up inhibitions. Then after his first couple experiments fail, he decides free will is the problem and stripping it from humanity is the proper solution. So he relies on more drugs as his solution.
VERDICT Poor performance aside, Psycho-Pass: Mandatory Happiness is just a miserable experience that lacks any understanding of what made the anime it was based off of so special.
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his judgement and fueling his not entirely thought-out desires. In the end, he just makes for a brash and unintelligent villain. While it’s okay (if not encouraged) to stray from the beaten path of AI narratives, Alpha is just not in any way a compelling example of the possibility of Artificial Intelligence with emotion. Newcomers should probably just watch the anime instead, considering that this game doesn’t provide a compelling narrative, enticing visuals, interesting dialogue, or plausible character depth. Longtime fans of the series should be especially displeased with this display of ineptitude in storytelling and design. Psycho-Pass: Mandatory Happiness understands absolutely nothing of what made the original series so beloved, and should not be subjected upon those with even the cloudiest of hues.
2 thevitalounge.net
DIRECTORY A RECAP OF THE BEST GAMES THIS YEAR
ZERO TIME DILEMMA
4.9
4 1216 987 MB
STEAMWORLD HEIST
4.8
2 1326 142 MB
SEVERED
4.5
@PSVitaMag
4.8
7 10 2 269 MB
4.6
6 12 6 225 MB
1 7 48 1.5 GB
4.5
0 6 9 81 MB
7 5 16 1.0 GB
ODDWORLD: NEW 'N' TASTY
4.5
AXIOM VERGE
4.8
8 0 21 372 MB
DOWNWELL
RISK OF RAIN
CRYPT OF THE NECRODANCER
DIGIMON STORY: CYBER SLEUTH
4.5
DRAGON QUEST BUILDERS
5 9 22 1.2 GB
4.5
7 10 5 41.1 MB
VOLUME
4.5
8 6 10 904 MB
LEGO STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS
4.5
3 8 35 1.5 GB Vitamag
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PSVITA CLUB ARE A SOUTH-AMERICAN BASED VITA COMMUNITY AND WEBSITE COVERING MANY DIFFERENT ASPECTS FOR THE VITA FOR A PREDOMINATELY LATIN AMERICAN AUDIENCE. WE CAUGHT UP WITH THEIR TEAM TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT WHAT THEY DO AND THEIR LOVE FOR THE VITA! Can you tell me a little bit about yourselves and how you got no games in the console because, to put it blunt, there was no into gaming on the Vita? one to tell them otherwise. DARKANTYS: I have been a video game addict ever since I was a kid, I was the type of kid that used to be grounded all the time because I broke curfew in order to play a little extra when no one was watching, I owe my English language to videogames since they were my only teachers, and I have been a videogame collector of all consoles to date starting from the NES all the way to the PS3 and Xbox. Regarding how I got in to gaming on the Vita, I remember seeing someone at work playing one. Back in the day I used to play portables all the time and seeing the Vita with console-like graphics won me over right away, I managed to buy one used from another co-worker really cheaply and the rest is history. MAGUSAR: Originally I had a manga publisher in Peru, but it didn’t receive the response that I was expecting. Nevertheless, the fact that I still love Anime and Manga remained, due to this I loved the PSP and its Japanese catalogue, I remember that I was on the line the first day the PSVita came out, ever since then I have enjoyed every minute I can have with the console and its games, I would love to raise awareness of it as much as I can. How did PS Vita Club come about and what is your role there? DAKANTYS: PS VITA CLUB was formed back in October 17 of 2014, back then there was a small group of admins pulling the strings here and there, however the main creator which was Magusar run in to some issues after the whole group got disbanded due to different situations, so he remained by his own doing what he could, little by little he was able to keep the group alive by incorporating people here and there to help, because of this I got to know the page and because I did my research on my own I decided to send some news to them in order to help them out, they decides to contact me to join the group and ever since we have been gathering people and pushing ourselves as much as we can, nowadays we are one of the biggest Latin America communities for PS Vita, having a fully-fledged page, doing reviews, articles, social media and soon enough (if time allows it) broadening our horizons in to YouTube as well. MAGUSAR: The main reason why we started this is because Sony didn’t provided support to the Vita, in Latin America news regarding this were close to nil, there are almost no comments regarding it in Spanish and people tend to believe that there are 36
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So we decided to create PS VITA CLUB, at the beginning we were just a community destined to share our passion with the PS Vita Gamers, but little by little we decided to take the lead and to promote the console and games by ourselves. DARKANTYS: Magusar is the editor-in-chief, I am the Public Relations Officer and translator. Rodasaresti is the Senior Editor and Community manager. Our group consists of 9 people in total, but the three senior editors are the ones who supervise everything and help whenever is necessary in any task (reviews, social media, news, etc.) What content do you cover on PS Vita Club? RODASARESTI: We cover a wide arrange of subjects, mainly news, reviews, articles, opinions and community posts. DARKANTYS: Our main focus is always news and reviews mainly, covering everything PSVita related and providing awareness of games related to it, our score for games goes from 1~10 also providing insight as to why we provided such score. Articles seldom happen but are a main part of our coverage as well, this include Top 10s, and media related to the platform such as "music from PSVita games available in Spotify" or "why should you buy a vita". In community post, we post links and information provided in order to strengthen the already existing community such as "gaming nights for specific games" or sharing PSN nicks in order to connect others to play online. thevitalounge.net
We always aim to respond and interact with our readers as much as we can, there have been certain cases were a request to share images or information regarding a game is made, if it is possible, we share this information with others in order to have people available to play online as much as possible. What have been your favourite Vita experiences? RODASARESTI: To be able to play console type games on the go has been my case, to continue my adventure anytime I want and wherever I want is what I consider the best experience. MAGUSAR: For me it has been to be able to play hunting type games with my friend while chatting on party. This has been by far the most fun I had in the console. DARKANTYS: There have been several games that I consider a great experience for me, to pass several hours a day with quality games is the best for me (Soul Sacrifice and Virtues Last Reward being the best in my case) I love good stories, and the PSVita has fulfil my desire to play fully-fledged games on the go while enjoying every part of them and with good graphics (mind you) is the reason I cannot stop playing and supporting this wonderful console to the end.
Which Vita model do you think is best? The original OLED Vita is the best for the three of us, no doubts! What do you think has gone wrong for the Vita? MAGUSAR: I think that what happen to the Vita is that it tries to be more that it needed to be, with its dual camera, dual touch screen and gyroscope, things that are rarely use correctly and that only made the console more expensive. That and the fact that whoever did the marketing plan for the system was a complete moron XD Can you explain how the Vita is represented in your market? RODASARESTI: We barely see any physical game here in Latin America, meaning that the only way we can get them is through Amazon or Play-Asia which lead us to the next problem, taxes for some countries are exaggerated making it even worst, the best solution to some is to relay on digital media but.... memory priced are way too high. We suffer way too much because of this
DARKANTYS: Latin America is seen as poor sales in the market, however since we depend on the digital and internet market, we tend to buy from the states or Asia in order to receive a lower price, meaning in other words that, those sales are not counted as such, but I can assure you that we have several followers with tons of games and that buy whenever they can, but since the What is it about the Vita that you love the most? (NA) marketplace is the one used for those with no PSN in their MAGUSAR: When I was a kid I always wanted to play those Japanese games that never end up coming to the west, and now country.....the numbers go to (NA) and that is one of the main I can! I love the fact the PS Vita has a lot of different games even reasons for the (LATAM) market barely promotes the vita here, higher prices and it’s not available in all (LATAM) countries. without Sony's support, I like to experienced different stories, different worlds, different systems. How can Vita fans best follow your content? RODASARESTI: The screen, Japanese games, the amazing graphic DARKANTYS: Any social media will do, our biggest one is quality that it has (for being portable), it’s something difficult to Facebook but we also have Twitter. We can also be followed via our main domain. answer clearly as there are many factors that make it my favourite console to this day. DARKANTYS: Pretty much what I mentioned before, quality /psvitaclub /psvita_club psvitaclub.com games made with story on mind, everything about it is quite exuberant to be honest, the best in my case will be the GODSEND double sticks that it has, FINALLY we are able to have All three of them are updated every day, Facebook for all the updates, Twitter for short and concise links and news and our games using double stick in a portable console, now if we only website for reviews and everything else, with full explanations had clickable sticks… and also pictures and video links. What upcoming games are you looking forward to playing? Where do you think the Vita will go in 2017? MAGUSAR: For me it will be Fate/Xtella. DARKANTYS: We believe that it will continue on the path that it is currently, with great support from the players and third RODASARESTI: For me it will have to be Summon Nights 6. parties, little by little getting more localizations from Asia and support from people who love it. DARKANTYS: no doubt about it, for me its Bloodstained. @PSVitaMag
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