QCF: Fear Effect Sedna

This review was freelanced by Jon McAnally. You can find more reviews and articles written by him over at https://dontfeedthegamers.com/author/jonmcanally/Follow me on the Twitterverse @McAnallyJon

fter a seventeen year chasm in time, the Fear Effect crew is back. Back in the late 90's/early 2000's, the Fear Effect saga brought players to a cyberpunk world full of espionage, digital terrorism, and a unique story brought together by the team of Hana, Glas, Rain, and Deke. While the original title and its sequel, Retro Helix, may serve as a nostalgic gaming experience, there were some major imperfections as far as gameplay and controls. Fear Effect Sedna comes jam-packed with the nostalgia, but is the gameplay overhaul better than what its predecessors could do?

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QCF: Moss

n the media that we digest, there exist a plethora of fictional worlds that remain with many of those who have visited them for years on after, purely through the magic of that universe’s inherent intrigue. Video games in particular, have been able to craft exceptionally memorable settings because of the advantage of interaction that they can offer to the players who travel to their worlds, and the introduction of Virtual Reality has opened up a whole new plane of possibilities for world building.

Fledgling developer Polyarc recognized this potential, and sought out to produce a fantasy realm that permeated a larger-than-life sense of adventure that utilized all of the horsepower that the PlayStation VR peripheral could output with their puzzle-based platformer, MOSS. Even though there aren’t many contemporaries that can compare to the ambitious scale of Polyarc’s premier release, to begin with, the team was still able to produce a charming journey with a distinctive identity of its own, and follow through on a promising start towards what may be the first true killer-app that the PlayStation VR has seen since its launch.

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Bullet Heaven, Episode #205 - Sol Divide: Sword of Darkness for NSW

ome games have a pretty bad reputation but more than once on Bullet Heaven we've shown that sometimes it's not as bad as it seems. But Sol Divide? Who knows how it'll fare... but! Zerodiv has brought it to the Nintendo Shmup, and it's time to see if it shines, or if it gets eclipsed. How does it stack up?

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Bullet Heaven, Episode #204 - Steredenn: Binary Stars

ike it or lump it, the Nintendo Switch is now the console to own if shmups are your thing. We looked at a shooter called Steredenn in episode 138 and we really liked it. Now, Steredenn is back with a new release on the Nintendo Shmup -- err, switch -- complete with new player ships, enemies, visuals weapons and even a new co-op mode! How does it stack up?

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Bullet Heaven, Episode #203 - Pawarumi

e have had some games come to be more requested than others. awarumi is just one of those titles, with many people requesting that we take a look at this Aztec-themed vertical PC shooter. Taking cues from games like Radiant Silvergun and Ikaruga, how does manufacture 43's south-american-styled shmup hold up? Let's take a look!

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PPR 108

fter just over a decade of service, the Wii Shop Channel is going to be largely inaccessible next week. All of those choice, $5-$10 Virtual Console titles that easily retail for hundreds of dollars in their physical vintage forms will be cut off from purchase in what ostensibly be a virtual catalog that you’ll never be able to order from again, or even see again once the channel is completely taken offline next year.

We have taken it upon ourselves to talk about the history and impact of the Wii Shop Channel, and what it did for the digital distribution model that took off in the sixth generation of video games. The gang also makes it a point to curate the must-have titles of software library that anyone would be remiss to the pass the chance on before they’re gone for good. We also talk about Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Yakuza 6, Luigi’s Dick, Soul Calibur 6, and more, so be sure to download this episode and take some notes on the recommendations!

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QCF: Secret of Mana

ack when RPG’s were barely beginning to pick up in sales with western gamers in the 16-bit era, there was a humble release from a little-known company by the name of SquareSoft, named Secret of Mana—it revolutionized the genre for years to come.

Even 25 years after its initial launch on the SNES, the game has been ported time, and time again for the modern generation, with waves of new players also falling for its vibrant color palate, sprite work, and timeless action-oriented battle system. Strangely enough though, for all of the re-releases that Secret of Mana has seen, the game has never received a full-fledged remastered release on modern consoles up until now, with Square developing a new 3D rendered-revision exclusively for PlayStation 4, Vita, and Steam.

While the core gameplay from Koichi Ishii’s classic has still managed to have aged gracefully, the game engine’s translation over to a 3D-rendered world and models aren’t anywhere near as elegant as it should be, resulting in an admittedly beautiful, but undeniably underwhelming version of the beloved RPG.

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PPR 107

ormally, we’d start humming the tune of “Happy Birthday to You” to the Nintendo Switch, but we fought the urge as to not upset our lawyers who to…oh, there’s been an update? Excuse us for a moment….

*steps off to the side* “Yeah, uh-huh, Oh shit so it’s been settled? That’s great! I’ll go back and spread the good news!”

Hey y’all! It’s time to get turnt! Because we can all sing the Birthday song again without fear of a lawsuit! We’re going to put that shit into EVERY podcast now, you just wait and see!

On a more serious note, thee PPR gang gets together to celebrate the first anniversary of the Nintendo Switch’s launch with discussion about the current state of the system and its software library, and the upcoming releases slated for the platform later this year. We also talk about some bummer news with the impending liquidation of Toys’R US stores across the nation , and the Trump Administration’s ridiculous smoke and mirror tactics towards the gun violence issue plaguing America by targeting the media of Video Games as a scapegoat to blame. We also cover Metal Gear Survive, StarForce, Marvel Vs Capcom Infinite, Moss, DragonBall FighterZ, the Secret of Mana remake, and more!

Mail us at our new email Mailbag@presspauseradio.com, leave a voicemail at 469-PPR-TALK, and be sure to stop by at our Forums if you haven’t already registered and post your thoughts about the show. Finally, make sure to rate and subscribe to us on iTunes and YouTube, follow us on Twitch page and Twitter, and finally take part in our Facebook and Steam group!

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