GVN Quick Pick Round 4!

It's been a long time since I have done one of these. So here are two games I think you should definitely check out. I am not going to limit it to one system like I have in the past with each Quick Pick. Let's Begin.


Implosion: Never Lose Hope
Nintendo Switch

Implosion is a hack 'n' slash action game that was ported from iOS and Android systems.  The gist of the game is that humanity had escaped to the stars after the XADA came out of nowhere and nearly wiped them out.  Now humanity uses War-mechs to take on the XADA and ensure the survival of the human race.  Implosion is a very simplistic action game with two attack buttons and special attacks that can be registered to an assigned button.  You even have a dodge that allows you to evade some nasty attacks.  Combat and controls are relatively smooth for the most part.  There are times when you might get stuck in an attack animation and cant dodge a crushing boss attack.

GVN Live Plus 6-26-2017

THIS SHOW CONTAINS SPOILERS! Watch at your own risk.

Post show content that took place after GVN Live went off the air.  In today's GVN Live Plus segment, Nick and I go deep into Spoiler territory as we talk heavily about Final Fantasy XV.

GameJam - Dungeon Explorer w/ Gamer Keith

On tonight's GameJam, The Gamer Keith joins me once again for Dungeon Explorer. A RPG Gauntlet style game full of craziness.  Watch as we come to grips with how much we suck and grind level and gold to get somewhere.

GVN GameJam w/ Rico - Phantasy Star Online BB

Rico plays PSO BB for the first time ever. He is joined by myself, YsFanatic and Mav as we guide him through to Caves 2.

GVN Editorial: Overrated Games - ChronoTrigger

WARNING - This article will contain spoilers about plot elements in Chronotrigger. Read at your own discretion.

Game Rant: Magic in Games

Lately, I've developed a habit of judging games by how they handle their magic system. Being a mage by preference, I can quickly determine when I will not enjoy magic in a game. Surprisingly, quite a few games manage to get it wrong, at least in my opinion.

GVN Review: Brave Battle Saga: Legend of the Magic Warrior (Sega Genesis)

Brave Battle Saga: Legend of the Magic Warrior
Sega Genesis
Developed by Chuanpu
1996

Brave Battle Saga, or "Barver" Battle Saga if you prefer, is a turn based RPG from a company you never heard, nor did it receive any official release outside of Taiwan, China and other various parts of southeast Asia.  It received a fan translation once it began circulating as a rom in the mid 2000's.  Eventually like tons of other Genesis games that never got an official Stateside release, it found itself a physical release as a reproduction cart.

Game Rant: Ar Nosurge

Potential Spoilers, you have been warned.

I have been a massive fan of the Ar series since I first found out about it back around 2009-2010. Epic music, well investigated characters, and well executed story have kept me coming back ever since.

Thursday Nite Flashback returns!

I kicked of the return of Thursday Nite Flashback by playing some Phantasy Star II for the Sega Genesis.  I plan on playing this game to completion every thursday night.  Phantasy Star 2 is another game that I got really far into but gave up playing after my save file mysteriously disappeared.  Here's a video of part 1 of my long play session.  It's mostly just some simple grinding.

Game Rant: Cinematography

With cutscenes being a major part of games these days and I feel that games tend to put more into simple power than technique. In doing so, they miss out on the ability to create some truly epic experiences.

Top 25 Sega Genesis games final day. Games 5 - 1

Here it is the final 5 of the list.  Feel free to share and let me know what your top 25 games are in the comment section below.  Check out yesterday's list of games 10 to 6.

5.) Gunstar Heroes

Diehard Gamefan Review: Risen 3 (PC)

DHGF Review: Risen 3

"Frustration, enjoyment, confusion and disappointment. These are the range of emotions I went through as I marched my way through Risen 3: Titan Lords. I never had the opportunity to play the first two games, but they have the reputation of not being well received by the general public. However, I went into Risen 3 with an open mind, hoping to see if the game may actually be the diamond in the rough and send the franchise in the right direction. Is there room for improvement? Can the third game in this franchise make a huge leap of improvements like The Witcher 2, Two Worlds 2 and Gothic 2 did for their respective franchises? Does the saying, “third time is the charm” apply to Risen 3?"

GVN Quick Triple Review: Final Fantasy III (PC), Rayman Legends (Xbox One), Watch Dogs (Xbox One)

This is a new style for me to try out.  Sorry, I didn't really have time to dedicate to writing a full review for each of the games below but I really wanted to cover them.  So this felt like a reasonable compromise.

GVN Review: Dark Souls 2

Having played the original Dark Souls and its predecessor Demons' souls I was looking forward to the newest iteration of the series. Overall, it turned out reasonably.

GVN Review: Bravely Default

Bravely Default was a game that I just happened to come across some time ago. A Square Enix game with a new IP supposedly based on the Final Fantasy 3 job system. Needless to say I had to take a look.

GVN Review: Pokemon X/Y (Nintendo 3DS/2DS)

 

Pokémon X / Y



Developer: Game Freak
Publisher: Nintendo
Genre: RPG
Release: Oct 12th, 2013

I've had a fickle relationship with the Pokémon Franchise.  I got Pokémon Blue along with my Gameboy Color for Christmas back in 1998.  My siblings and I become heavily engrossed in the game and spent hundreds of hours on it.  I continued with getting Pokémon Gold a couple years later and I will state that out of all the Pokémon games to date, it was the best of the bunch.  I played the Pokémon games that released on the Gameboy Advance but they didn't captivate me as much as the first two.

GVN Review: Shadowrun Returns (PC)

Shadowrun Returns (PC)
Genre - Tactical RPG
Developer - Harebrained Schemes
Publisher - Harebrained Schemes
Release - July 25th, 2013

After a very successful kickstarter campaign the wait was finally over for a new shadowrun game from the creative mind of franchise creator Jordan Weisman.  I am filled with excitement and delight to finally have a new Shadowrun game from what feels like eons of waiting since the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis versions.  There was a Shadowrun game that came out a few years ago, but I pretend that abomination doesn't exist.

GVN Review: Shin Megami Tensei: Soul Hackers

Potential Spoilers, you have been warned.

Soul Hackers is an interesting take on the SMT series. It truly felt like a totally different game from most of the rest of SMT. However, it has a lot of unfinished ideas.

Diehard Gamefan Review: Evoland (PC)

My latest review is live over at Diehard Gamefan for the nostalgia trip, Evoland.  How is the game that tries to make you play through the evolution of the genre?

"Evoland is a little indie title that chronicles the evolution of the Japanese RPG genre from the monochrome days of the Gameboy to the high resolution days of today.  To call it a game is slightly misleading, as the game is more of an experience of how games have advanced in the last 25 years.  Evoland‘s beginning is rather odd to begin with.  Unlike games like 3D Dot Game Heroes or Half Minute Hero, which provide a full gaming experience in the guise of a retro themed game, Evoland merely provides us with an incredibly short trip that plays strongly to nostalgia."

http://diehardgamefan.com/2013/04/22/review-evoland-pc/

GVN Review: Etrian Odyssey IV

Potential Spoilers, you have been warned.

I first got into the Etrian Odyssey series about a year or so ago when I picked up EO III. I had been wanting to play it for a while but never really got a chance to before then. I wanted to play a turn based RPG and that's what I got.