QCF: The Floor Is Jelly

n paper platformers seem to be the most basic of videogame genres. With very little other than ‘get to A from B by jumping’ at its core design it could be one of the most simplistic game premises ever made. Still the genre has lived strong through new and creative takes on the central ‘jumping’ mechanic. Moreover, games like VVVVVV and Fez have proven that there’s a lot of complex dimensions yet to be explored in this beloved videogame style.

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Life Through The Pixel Glass-02/20/2014

id everyone enjoy his or her V-day celebration? Or was it all just a straight lonely hearts club of farts for you? Well, everyone can rejoice either that it’s all over now, no more tears or upset stomachs filled with powdery garbage chalk hearts, it’s back to the basics and the really important question out of everyone’s mouth— who got in on that Titanfall Beta? It’s pretty nifty right? Well, I’ll share some words on that at some point, but now’s a better time more than ever to give you all another Life Through The Pixel Glass to cleanse the palate before we share some thoughts on the Microsoft’s exclusive Hype-Train.

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QCF: Ultionus: A Tale of Petty Revenge

ould you remember a time when games were hard? Sure, the 8-bit era or even the onset of the 16-bit generation would fit the bill, but I’m talking difficult here, like “Hey mom can you give me another dollar’s worth of quarters” hard; aren’t too many you may who care to remember those moments now is there.

Sure, titles like Super Meat Boy have written the love letter to the demanding skill and frustration of video games, but generally most of these messages romanticize all of the aspects of pleasure that deride from the teeth grinding challenge of video games, and never any of the horse shit that comes along with it. The question is how could both sides of this coin be faithfully represented for both the purist, and masochist?

Last Dimension steps in with Ultionus: A Tale of Petty Revenge as their answer and while it may not appeal to everyone in both of those groups, it’s the best one I’ve seen yet to come close to being that answer.

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QCF: OlliOlli

he snap of your deck as the concave flips around your feet, and the shock of landing clean against the ground, sending tremors through the soles of your feet; these are one of the few highs that skateboarding can induce, and it’s been some time that it’s been relevant in video games. While The Birdman took a stab at endorsing the concept of a plastic peripheral that was intended to heighten the appeal skateboarding in video games through physical simulation, the results were far less than stellar, and EA has done little to nothing with its SKATE series since the last entry underperformed in sales back in 2010.

Leave it to an independent studio by the name of Roll7 to introduce one of the most graceful return-to-forms for the genre; OlliOlli is one of the best thumb-twitching reasons to own a Vita.

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Late To The Party: Tower of Fortune

hen you ingrain yourself in the culture of video games, giving in to the lifestyle it can manifest, then there’s one consistent rule of thumb that should be understood if anything else; video games do not stop for you, they stop for no one, and they will continue to move by the numbers with every passing day. There’s no shame in it, even the most privileged individuals who can afford the time and money for their favorite past time will find themselves cast on the sidelines when it comes to certain games; it’s honestly one of the best assets from the gaming community and how connected we all are with each other.

That’s why we ‘re introducing this new feature, Late To The Party: a feature profiling our impressions and overall thoughts on individual games that we initially missed on our radar during their launch run, and why they’re worth mentioning now. It just so happens that I have a game for this inaugural feature too; Tower of Fortune, it’s something else.

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QCF: The Wolf Among Us-Episode 2

t the conclusion of the first episode of The Wolf Among Us, Sheriff Bigby Wolf was utterly shocked at the grisly scene waiting on his front doorstep. The sirens of police vehicles rotating and swirling around his expressionless face, his eyes however telling a tale larger than the storybooks of their origins. The heroes and villains of some of the most well-known fairytales were actually real, and living amongst normal human beings in New York City. Unfortunately for these refugees, the real world begins to overtake their way of life, leading to crime and unfortunate circumstances. Several sleepless nights have passed since the incident, and now Bigby must block out the haunting visions of what had been lost and begin to find answers.  His search will not be easy, as his anger begins to bubble to the surface all while strings are still being pulled in the background that will affect everyone in the Woodlands.

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Bullet Heaven HD, Episode 92 - Crisis Force (FC5#5)

onami has been a video game industry mainstay for almost as long as video games have been around. They were also behind several iconic NES and Famicom games back in the systems' heyday. One game that never quite reached mainstream legendary status at first was Crisis Force, released in 1991. With its Japan-only, Famicom only release, it has garnered quite a reputation in the decades since its release... but how does it stack up?  

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QCF: Ys: Memories of Celceta

This Review was Frelanced by Johnathan Sawyer; you can find his other work here.

s: Memories of Celceta is a new version of Ys IV, replacing Ys IV: Mask of the Sun as the new canon. It is a complete reimagining of what takes place in the past Ys IV games, with some similarities and nods to those releases (characters, music, locations, etc.), but is otherwise a brand new game. This release is the fourth Ys IV game; the other three were developed by Hudson Soft (Dawn of Ys), Tonkinhouse (Mask of the Sun), and Taito (Mask of the Sun: A New Theory), whereas this one was developed by Falcom themselves. The story, the graphics, music, and gameplay were completely overhauled, matching and surpassing what was seen in Ys Seven. This entry gives more light onto when and why Adol Christin (a.k.a. Adol the Red) decided to become an adventurer. Despite being the canon for Ys IV, it takes place chronologically before Ys III / Ys: The Oath in Felghana.

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