QCF: Shiness: The Lightning Kingdom

nterest in JRPG games is still steadily climbing, and it despite some of the more lukewarm titles recently released that have tried to take advantage of the genre’s resurgence, the demand for the style has not slowed down. Seizing this opportunity, a studio named Enigami took to KickStarter to fund their idea Shiness: The Lightning Kingdom; a game that empathized the traditional nuances of classic 16-bit JRPG with a presentation that boasted the production value of a modern anime.

Receiving additional support from the CNC after their Kickstarter campaign was successful, the game has quietly released on storefronts, with little to no marketing, and to that effect, little to no fanfare either…

Which is a shame because while the title may scream “DeviANT Art: The game” at first glance, the unique combat system, and world-building offered in Shiness: The Lightning Kingdom is something that’s surprisingly memorable, and definitely worth a look for anyone who’s looking for a new JRPG to dump some time into.

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QCF: Crash Bandicoot: N Sane Trilogy

hile there are dozens upon dozens of gaming franchises that are languishing in obscurity these days, none have quite sparked the sort of fiery demand that Marsupial Mascot Crash Bandicoot has. The once revered Sony icon had recently resurfaced as a cameo character in the latest Skylanders entry, and the fan service in response proved that plenty of folks had still held onto their memories of the edgy Jorts-wearing furball fondly, which didn’t go unnoticed by Activison or Sony.

Wisely banking off of the nostalgia of the Bandicoots earlier titles during his prime, the two companies had finally decided to pull the trigger, Crash Bandicoot: N-Sane Trilogy, exclusively for the PlayStation 4, a remastered collection of the first three titles newly developed from the ground up by Vicarious Visions.

The question here however was never whether or not Crash Bandicoot could be brought back but rather, whether or not he SHOULD be—many of the charming elements of the series are also some of the same rough-edged quirks that relegate the games into being the clumsy 3D relics (pun gratifyingly intended) that they ultimately are.

While there are few conventions that haven’t aged well, and a few new glaring issues that weren’t there before, the trilogy still manages to iron out a lot of the wrinkles of the originals, delivering a wonderful compilation of the Bandicoot’s early outings that both fans, and new comers alike.

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QCF: Valkyeria Revolution

ven after nearly 10 years since its initial release on the PlayStation 3, the impact of SEGA’s Valkyeria Chronicles still resonates throughout the tactical RPG scene to this very day, continuing to be sold on Steam after the windows version hit the store recently.

Since then though, the property’s transition into a full-fledged series has only propelled it further into niche territory, with two direct sequels releasing exclusively to Sony’s struggling handheld at the time, the PSP, and the other not even making it out of Japan. Hell, there was even some bunk-ass mobile game that didn’t last for more than two years before it was kicked off the market, and servers shut down—Valkyeria’s true claim to fame still bellied onto the original in the states.

Shooting for the chance that lightning will strike twice, as SEGA brings on Media.Vision, the same developers responsible for the Wild Arms and Chaos Rings series to create Valkyeria Revolution; a spin-off sequel to the franchise that’s available on both console, and portable.

While the premise in this venture certainly is interesting, Valkyeria Revolution seems to have left behind most of the qualities that made the Valkyeria experience so charming and likable in the first place.

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Bullet Heaven, Episode 178 - Battle Garegga Revision 2016 (PS4)

n episode 4 of Bullet Heaven, we took a look at Battle Garegga on the Sega Saturn. But we've always felt that it was a little... lacking. With the release of Battle Garegga Revision 2016 on the Playstation 4 though, the time has never been better to get down to the nitty gritty and give Battle Garegga its proper due, now with new modes and features!  

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PPR Presents Play Play: Yooka-Laylee

t was almost twenty years ago that a bear and bird captured the heart of nearly every cartridge-based gamer around—and that reverence for Banjo-Kazooie lives on to this day.

So much so that there’s been a noticeable void in the collectable platformer genre for the current generation that seems to be reserved for anything that’s 8-bit or 16-bit when it comes to retro tributes. Luckily, a group of ex Rare developers saw that gap, and decided to form their studio named Playtonic Games, crowd sourcing interest for a next-generation collectathon titled Yooka-Laylee, and man did that thing make a whole lot of money the moment it hit the internet—people were famished of this kind of adventure.

Well, the wait’s over, the game’s here, and while it might be George’s favorite game of 2017 so far, there are some problems that Ser and him just can’t help but address; here’s our Play Play for Yooka-Laylee.

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!

QCF: Skylanders Imaginators

t some point, I think we all knew that this “Toys to life craze” was going to hit its peak much like the way Guitar Hero did around the sixth of seventh iteration—as much as we all want to deny it, we knew.

Skylanders Imaginators is a testament to that; a sequel that that promises an ambitious premise, and fails to deliver on anything more than just another Skylanders game, and that’s when the game doesn’t return to some gross old habits the series worked hard to break either.

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QCF: The Walking Dead Season 3: A New Frontier

f there’s one thing that Telltale has proven as a game developer in recent years it’s that they can offer an experience that’s close to the chest for any given property and its respective fandom. Among all of the licenses they’ve tackled however, there’s one particular adaption that truly represents the pedigree of the studio more than any of the other games they’ve helmed, and that’s the Walking Dead.

The third season picks up years from where we left off from the last time we saw Clementine, and while returning players are presumably breathing a collective sigh of relief to see her face grace the screen once more, Season Three’s “A New Frontier” isn’t centered on the steadfast teenager’s struggles in the post-apocalyptic world—we have a new player on the field.

More importantly, the first two episodes are quick to build upon a theme that effectively instills a growing sense of tension in each and every turning point crossed; legacies are bullshit, and nothing is sacred to those who want to survive.

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QCF: Final Fantasy XV

he passage of time can sure be weird; it only seems like yesterday that we were talking about the Final Fantasy Versus XIII on the first episode of Press Pause Radio, an episode that was first recorded in 2009, where we talked about a game that was initially revealed at E3 in the year 2006…

Let’s think about that for a minute. We currently live in a generation where we’re treated to annual releases of upcoming titles, and triple AAA games that don’t take any more than three years at most for production. Yet here we are, the long-sought appearance of Final Fantasy XII Versus is here, only as Final Fantasy XV, an upgrade from spin-off to a main entry to the series.

Now this is the part where I tell you whether or not I think it was worth the wait, and well, to sum it up in a manner of words, yes—it was truly worth each and every year of the wait in a surprising turn of events.

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