Dungeon Defenders expands again

A brand spankin' new class of defender is available right now for PC DD players. Dead or alive, you're not getting past her.

Mount & Blade Napoleonic era? Yes please!

Some awesome news on the Mount & Blade front: a big DLC expansion is taking the game and plonking it in the Napoleonic era.

Another chapter for The Bard'sTale

The iOS version of The Bard's Tale reboot has been getting some love lately in the form of the classic first entries in the series. Get ready to download again because episode 2 is ready.

Review: Ys: The Oath in Felghana (Steam)

In the gaming community, many are quick to discourage remakes, writing them off as past glories. It’s often justifiable when you consider how many companies throw on some extra jazz and label it a new game. Nihon Falcom is above such lethargy, however, as Ys: The Oath in Felghana proves. It truly is a new beginning in every aspect, perhaps to the point where the originally solid game it’s based on is unneeded.

Wandering traveller Adol Christin heads to Redmont, the home of his friend Dogi. He ends up having to halt the threat of a nearby evil and slay some rabid beasts along the way. You’ll learn about Dogi’s relationship with his childhood friend Elena and help the townsfolk sort our their problems.

In all honesty, the story isn’t too engaging. It has the standard share of drama and comedy relief, but will by no means the center of your attention. This may be worrisome given half the game’s genre and how text-heavy the game can get with its unskippable cutscenes, but the action more than makes up for it.

It’s no easy task transforming a sidescroller into a cutesy 3D world full of life, but Oath in Felghana pulls it off with such tact that the mechanics of original seem utterly archaic. The addition of a new dimension allows for more dungeon pathways, improved combat, enhanced platforming, and numerous other major changes. 

Adol is now quite the athlete, pulling off triple mid-air sword slashes and thrusting his blade earthward to dispatch of beasts. After a bit of progression, he also gains the ability to develop various magic powers that augment his jumping ability or roast hordes of foes with massive waves of fire. The magic lacks the precision of the sword combat, so it takes some getting used to, but a lot of the entertainment value here is largely derived from the otherwise tight control scheme.

The action doesn’t stop with simply slaying foes – Adol needs to traverse dungeons and master the art of platforming. The developers have cleverly allowed your sword slashes to influence mid-air movement, so you’ll often need to calculate timing for your jumps and slashes. Dungeons aren’t too much out of the norm in terms of what you’d expect from an RPG. You’re expected to solve some puzzles and collect a dungeon item in order to progress to the boss.

Speaking of which, bosses may be the highlight here. You might be able to blindly mash your way through the hordes of foes when playing on a low difficulty, but the bosses require much more dexterity. You need to constantly adapt to the changing patterns and attacks thrown at you by the demonic giants. Best of all, bosses have more attacks on higher difficulty settings. Subsequent playthroughs will feel fresh thanks to the adaptive bosses.

Despite the emphasis on action, the game still has its RPG elements on occasion. Outside of story progression, you can shop and upgrade weapons, collect gold, explore towns, and solve various side quests. It’s definitely worth noting, though, that the level up system is dynamically influenced by the action. The faster you dispose of beasts, the quicker your experience bonus bar increases, simultaneously encouraging action at every moment and reinvigorating the age-old task of grinding.

The game will probably only run you about 10 to 15 hours with the side quests et al, but there’s very little padding - every minute is worthwhile. As I mentioned earlier, you’ll want to crank up the difficulty and go through the game again.  

As you’d expect, it’s quite a visual upgrade from the original 2D sidescroller. Packed with 3D environments and vastly improved character artwork, it shows instantly that this is the definitive version. There’s a bit of an empty MMO vibe going on, but that only makes it appear more accessible. You’ll still appreciate the more subtle effects, such as the way Adol dismembers seemingly comical enemies (impressive, considering the complete lack of blood).

The soundtrack is a lovely mix of upbeat classical melodies and more modern metal. As with the visuals, it’s quite striking upon first listen. The fast beats in dungeons are strangely invigorating, propelling you to keep those enemy death combos piling up.

Ys: The Oath in Felghana is essential material for anyone remotely interested in action RPGs. Aside from the fossilizing story, every other aspect ties together with such elegance that it surpasses the term “remake”. The required specs are minimal too, so here’s an excuse to start playing PC games if don't already.

-Clark A

Our Scoring Policy

Auto Club Revolution races into beta

The open beta phase has officially waved the flag as it opens up for Eutechnyx's online racer- Auto Club Revolution.

Review: Dragon Crystal (3DS Virtual Console)

I never owned a Game Gear. History will tell me that I made the right choice in sticking with the Game Boy rather than going with Sega’s handheld, but it did mean I missed out on some good games. One of those games, as I’ve just discovered, is Dragon Crystal.

The Nintendo Download brings some soccer... in 3D

I know,  I know, 3D? On the 3DS? Yes, stunning but true. And there's more.

Blades of Time demo drops onto XBL/PSN

One of Konami's newest offerings, third person hack and slash Blades of Time now has a time-bending demo available on Xbox Live and the PSN.

Black Knight Sword to show at PAX East

Grasshopper Manufacture's next... masterpiece... will be on display in all its super bizarre, gory glory as part of a pretty impressive lineup from publisher Reverb.

GIFT launches with some novel DLC

What is the world coming to? The new digital novel GIFT has been released along side a promotional Minecraft level featuring settings from the spooky tale.

PlayStation 4 to ditch used games? Good on Sony

The rumour is that the yet-to-be-formally-announced PlayStation 4 will not allow the playback of second hand games. As controversial as this view is going to be: I’m proud of Sony for taking a stand.

Digital games market to double in value in Asia-Pacific over four years

A new report from analyst firm, Ovum, has determined that the Asia-Pacific digital games market will more than double in value over the next four years.

Review: Deadly 30 (PC)

Headup Games’ Deadly 30 came out of nowhere, and though it’s a tiny, throwaway little game, it is a lot of fun.

MonkeyPaw Games has kick started the most awesome Kickstarter yet

In the wake of Double Fine Studio's insanely successful Kickstarter project, many developers and publishers, indie and large alike, have seen the $$$ signs.

The 10 greatest horror games

So I'm making my way through the Silent Hill HD collection at the moment (read my first impressions here). And naturally that's got me thinking about all the great horror games that I've played over the years.

It's a difficult genre to get right, and certain famous horror games have lost their way over the years. So, in honour of the genre (and to get my mind off the horrors of Silent Hill), here's the ten games that I believe are the best I've ever played:

Play Android Apps on your PC? Yes, you can

A software team, BlueStacks, have come up with a way for people to play Android games on their PCs. Creatively called "App Player" it works on Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7, and can be played in both windowed or full screen mode on PC.

Wheels of Destruction gets new date & sale price

 Gelid Games' Wheels of Destruction shaping up to be a very nice looking car combat title. Now the PSN exclusive has a release date and a sale price that'll make Plussers smile.

Review: Skyscraper (PS2 Classics on PS3)

It was around the time of the PS2 that the console FPSer really started to take off. Games like Goldeneye 007 and Perfect Dark on the N64 proved that the genre could be fun on a console, but the dual-stick set up, coupled with the processing power to make the action visceral and dynamic, finally saw the genre hit its stride.

Review: WWII: Battle Over the Pacific (PS2 Classics on PS3)

The PS2 Classics currently available download on the PSN are a bit hit and miss. Some are genuine classics, like Donald Duck Quack Attack. Others are dismal, like Seek and Destroy. WWII: Battle Over the Pacific might not be memorable amongst the really classic PS2 titles such as Final Fantasy X, but it does have a genuine claim to be an understated little classic.

Review: Hunters 2 (iPad)

Rodeo Game’s Hunters 2 is a brave attempt at doing the tactics RPG style and throwing in a few fresh elements to the mix. Unfortunately it is up against some really, really tough competition, such as Call of Cthulhu: Wasted Land and Battle Academy.

Review: Football Director (iPhone)

Football Director has plenty of history behind it. First appearing on the ZX Spectrum, this management simulator has been around for a long while and has now resurfaced on the iOS, based upon the current 2011/2012 season. Coming up against a fair bit of competition from games such as the Football Manager series, it comes out as a surprisingly strong contender.

Review: Dr Mario (3DS Virtual Console)

Dr Mario is a little puzzle game that has, unlike Tetris, not really gone anywhere in the years since its original release. The reason? It’s just far too simple, and fails to give people a really compelling reason to come back for more.