Week o Games, 5/3: Patapon 2, Klonoa Wii, (Jag. Alliance DS in 2 wks, my bad)

slash000

Another week, another 7 days of new game releases!

Welcome to the 62 edition of G&T's newly traditional "Weekly Games Release Thread!" - Week 5/3 - 5/9!

Where we discuss what we're looking forward to, what we're going to buy, and what we're just now realizing is being released this week that we had forgotten about!

NDS

nevermind this wont come out till the 19th


Jagged Alliance - may 19th sorry




Puzzle Kingdoms




Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian

Imagine: Music Fest

PC

Crysis: Maximum Edition


Fallout 3: Broken Steel

Evochron Legends
Nancy Drew Dossier: Lights, Camera, Curses!
Plants vs. Zombies
Sherlock Holmes Chronicles

PS2

nothing

PS3

Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust

PSP

Patapon 2

Wii

Klonoa




New Play Control! Donkey Kong Jungle Beat


Fantasy Aquarium World

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
The Destiny of Zorro

Xbox360

Fallout 3: Broken Steel (dlc?)

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian

WiiWare/VC

dunno yet

XBLA/XNA Community

dunno yet

PSN

dunno yet

A few good games:


Jagged Alliance comes out for Nintendo DS. edit: nope sorry this comes out in 2 weeks on Mahy 19th. May 19th ships May 20 on shelves. Sorry sorry! Word on the street is that it's awesome.

There's also the Puzzle Kingdoms game for NDS; I dunno if it'll be any good but it tries to be conspicuous about being from the creator of Puzzle Quest..

PC gets some kind of new edition of Crysis, called Maximum Edition. It's the game + Warhead.

PC and 360 also get apparently an expansion for Fallout 3 called Broken Steel.

PSP is getting Patapon 2. But the box only includes a voucher to redeem the game via PSN (and a manual).

Wii gets the Klonoa remake. Looks good, and it's only $30.

Wii also gets the Donkey Kong Jungle Beat New Play Control game. Also only $30.




That's about it for this week.

langfor6

New Fallout 3 DLC is always fun, assuming it isn't borked on release.

Might have to look into this Jagged Alliance game as well.

Ah_Pook

whats up with that puzzle kingdoms game

slash000

Ah_Pook wrote: »

whats up with that puzzle kingdoms game

I can't find much on it but this:

preview:

http://www.gamesradar.com/ds/puzzle-kingdoms/preview/puzzle-kingdoms-is-super-hardcore/a-20080909134741237065/g-2008072916233635048

Last year, Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords became an unlikely addiction for a ton of otherwise hardcore gamers. Seamlessly blending the casual gameplay of Bejeweled with traditional RPG mechanics like leveling, turned-based battles, magic attacks, and a decent story (for those who paid attention), Puzzle Quest practically introduced a new genre. Now, Infinite Interactive, the developer that created Puzzle Quest, brings us another game of the same ilk - Puzzle Kingdoms – another puzzle-RPG blend that takes place in the same world as Puzzle Quest.

As much as we love Puzzle Quest, with two releases under its belt (Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords and its expansion, Puzzle Quest: Revenge of the Plague Lord) and one on the way (Puzzle Quest: Galactrix), we’re afraid the franchise might already be in danger of stagnation. So we wanted to know, what makes Puzzle Kingdoms any different? Read on to find out how Kingdoms is attempting to take the Puzzle-RPG genre to the next level.



You've finally got your hero to level 40 after hours of sidequesting and you're sort of starting to regret choosing the Warrior class (yes, Druids are way better). Bummer. Classes still play a large part in Puzzle Kingdoms, but instead of being stuck with just one hero, you can collect a whole roster of them to level up and customize as you choose. You could even have one of each class if you wanted.

This means that you can choose your hero strategically based on the type of enemy you're fighting. You can also stack your heroes in order so that if one falls, the next can step in and take over the battle.



Again, we can't overstate how much we love Puzzle Quest, but sometimes we can't help but feel it's a guilty pleasure. Let's face it – it's still basically Bejeweled. Kingdom's puzzles look familiar; you’re still matching colored tiles (six colors in all), which earn you mana that allow you to attack your opponent, and you can still do direct damage by matching attack gems (in this case, they look like swords rather than skulls).



But there are a few key differences that set Kingdoms apart. The most obvious is that you no longer have to match tiles in rows – any tiles that share a side will form a match. Less obvious, but perhaps more importantly, you no longer have to make a match to make a move. In Puzzle Quest, only moves that make a gem match are valid; if you fail to make a match you’re penalized and lose your turn. Here, you’re not limited by having to match tiles each turn – if you have a larger strategy in mind, you can use your turn to shuffle pieces accordingly. This frees you up to think more about long term strategies, meaning you don’t just have to figure out what the best possible move is right now, but consider layers of moves.



Instead of simply having a roster of spells to choose from, Puzzle Kingdoms allows you to recruit different types of troops to assist you in battle. In the demo we saw, troops seemed to function somewhat similar to how spells did in Puzzle Quest – each unit (soldier, peasant, archer, etc.) takes up one slot in your hero’s inventory, and each needs a specific amount of mana to attack.



But instead of simply being analogous to a list of attacks, troops have additional properties to take into account. Soldiers can only attack enemy units in the front of your enemy’s queue, while archers’ attacks can reach any of the enemy’s troops, although it’s random which unit gets hit. You even have to be strategic about how you order your units in battle – landlocked units (e.g. foot soldiers) at the top of the queue are going to get hit with enemy fire first. Do you throw a bunch of cheap-to-deploy meatshields in first, or risk a more costly unit in the hopes he can withstand enemy forces and protect the other troops?

While it does retain many of the core gameplay mechanics as Puzzle Quest, Kingdoms has an added depth that’s clearly geared toward serious gamers. Resource allocation plays a bigger role – it actually costs money to deploy troops, and when you lose them they’re gone for good. You can’t just play willy-nilly and barely eke out wins, because you’ll run out of money if you’re throwing troops away needlessly.


You can also load units up with powerful equipment, but that costs money too, so how much do you spend on each? There’s definitely a lot more wiggle room to explore different strategies here, but to what extent this affects the gameplay is still hard to say.

We’re still uncertain if Puzzle Kingdoms will match the sheer addictiveness of Puzzle Quest, but we’re certainly eager to see more. Look for more coverage here as we get closer to its early 2009 expected release, but until then, head here for exclusive screens of the puzzle action.

Apparently it's the same people that made Puzzle Quest. As indicated conspicuously on the boxart, of course.

Kelor

Wait wait wait Jagged Alliance is out this week? After the thread we have for some reason I had it in my head that it was still a ways off.

Mark me down for that and Klonoa.

cj iwakura

FYI, Klonoa's already out as of last Friday. Not easy to find, but it is available.

lowlylowlycook

I made the JA DS thread and I still don't believe it exists.

Next we'll learn that the tooth fairy is real.

maximumzero

Klonoa is totally bought.

I might also pick up Donkey Kong, as it's something I missed out on the Gamecube, and I went ahead and did the intend to buy survey on Club Nintendo.

I picked up Pikmin this week so I need to get that started.

It's a shame Mario Tennis didn't come out as well as it should have.

Edit: I'm gonna have import a European copy of Patapon 2 one of these days.

Edit 2: Between Klonoa and DK this is like the week of platformers.

Bartholamue

DKJB was insanely fun on the Gamecube, but I think something will be missed with the wiimote interaction. That game was just...made for the bongos.

Mustachio Jones

slash000 wrote: »

Ah_Pook wrote: »

whats up with that puzzle kingdoms game

I can't find much on it but this:

preview:

http://www.gamesradar.com/ds/puzzle-kingdoms/preview/puzzle-kingdoms-is-super-hardcore/a-20080909134741237065/g-2008072916233635048

Last year, Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords became an unlikely addiction for a ton of otherwise hardcore gamers. Seamlessly blending the casual gameplay of Bejeweled with traditional RPG mechanics like leveling, turned-based battles, magic attacks, and a decent story (for those who paid attention), Puzzle Quest practically introduced a new genre. Now, Infinite Interactive, the developer that created Puzzle Quest, brings us another game of the same ilk - Puzzle Kingdoms – another puzzle-RPG blend that takes place in the same world as Puzzle Quest.

As much as we love Puzzle Quest, with two releases under its belt (Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords and its expansion, Puzzle Quest: Revenge of the Plague Lord) and one on the way (Puzzle Quest: Galactrix), we’re afraid the franchise might already be in danger of stagnation. So we wanted to know, what makes Puzzle Kingdoms any different? Read on to find out how Kingdoms is attempting to take the Puzzle-RPG genre to the next level.



You've finally got your hero to level 40 after hours of sidequesting and you're sort of starting to regret choosing the Warrior class (yes, Druids are way better). Bummer. Classes still play a large part in Puzzle Kingdoms, but instead of being stuck with just one hero, you can collect a whole roster of them to level up and customize as you choose. You could even have one of each class if you wanted.

This means that you can choose your hero strategically based on the type of enemy you're fighting. You can also stack your heroes in order so that if one falls, the next can step in and take over the battle.



Again, we can't overstate how much we love Puzzle Quest, but sometimes we can't help but feel it's a guilty pleasure. Let's face it – it's still basically Bejeweled. Kingdom's puzzles look familiar; you’re still matching colored tiles (six colors in all), which earn you mana that allow you to attack your opponent, and you can still do direct damage by matching attack gems (in this case, they look like swords rather than skulls).



But there are a few key differences that set Kingdoms apart. The most obvious is that you no longer have to match tiles in rows – any tiles that share a side will form a match. Less obvious, but perhaps more importantly, you no longer have to make a match to make a move. In Puzzle Quest, only moves that make a gem match are valid; if you fail to make a match you’re penalized and lose your turn. Here, you’re not limited by having to match tiles each turn – if you have a larger strategy in mind, you can use your turn to shuffle pieces accordingly. This frees you up to think more about long term strategies, meaning you don’t just have to figure out what the best possible move is right now, but consider layers of moves.



Instead of simply having a roster of spells to choose from, Puzzle Kingdoms allows you to recruit different types of troops to assist you in battle. In the demo we saw, troops seemed to function somewhat similar to how spells did in Puzzle Quest – each unit (soldier, peasant, archer, etc.) takes up one slot in your hero’s inventory, and each needs a specific amount of mana to attack.



But instead of simply being analogous to a list of attacks, troops have additional properties to take into account. Soldiers can only attack enemy units in the front of your enemy’s queue, while archers’ attacks can reach any of the enemy’s troops, although it’s random which unit gets hit. You even have to be strategic about how you order your units in battle – landlocked units (e.g. foot soldiers) at the top of the queue are going to get hit with enemy fire first. Do you throw a bunch of cheap-to-deploy meatshields in first, or risk a more costly unit in the hopes he can withstand enemy forces and protect the other troops?

While it does retain many of the core gameplay mechanics as Puzzle Quest, Kingdoms has an added depth that’s clearly geared toward serious gamers. Resource allocation plays a bigger role – it actually costs money to deploy troops, and when you lose them they’re gone for good. You can’t just play willy-nilly and barely eke out wins, because you’ll run out of money if you’re throwing troops away needlessly.


You can also load units up with powerful equipment, but that costs money too, so how much do you spend on each? There’s definitely a lot more wiggle room to explore different strategies here, but to what extent this affects the gameplay is still hard to say.

We’re still uncertain if Puzzle Kingdoms will match the sheer addictiveness of Puzzle Quest, but we’re certainly eager to see more. Look for more coverage here as we get closer to its early 2009 expected release, but until then, head here for exclusive screens of the puzzle action.

Apparently it's the same people that made Puzzle Quest. As indicated conspicuously on the boxart, of course.

I played the PC demo. They changed up the puzzle aspect a bit, and while I was confused by it at first, it was actually pretty devious. Still subject to random bullshit and cascades and all, but it was fun. Think Puzzle Quest plus Heroes of Might and Magic and you're not too far off. You pick different hero units to lead your army of four units into various battles. It's HoMM-lite with a puzzle grid instead of a hex-based map.

Graviija

Broken Steel will make for a perfect post-finals reward.

RainbowDespair

slash000 wrote: »

That's about it for this week.

No. No, it's not. You included it in the PC game section, but the best game coming out this week didn't get a sentence to itself? For shame!

Plants vs. Zombies
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0N1_0SUGlDQ

It's apparently a highly polished and fairly innovative take on the Tower Defense genre with a lot of humor, and tons of content. It's by Popcap (makers of digital crack like Peggle), it's a mere $10, and it's available on Steam. Heck, if you preorder on Steam, they throw in a free copy of Heavy Weapon Extreme (haven't played the PC version, but the 360 version was excellent). All of the early reviews have been extremely positive (Edge Magazine UK - 90%).

In short, unless you're completely broke like me, you have no excuse not to buy it.

Steev

I made a thread about it already, but might as well mention here that Space Invaders Extreme comes out for XBLA on Wednesday.

TyrantCow

damnit, fuck.

i'm still playing galatrix and i don't know why. it's like... i keep hoping it will get better somehow - constantly wishing "why can't this be more like the first puzzle quest; but, slightly more involved. in the battle between the spaceship vs. pre-chosen classes, the classes won (in my opinion). I have no attachment to my spaceship compared to my giant spider riding druid that would call down the heavens against his enemies.

now... they've gone and tried to get some more SRPG in to a bejeweled clone... or is it some bejeweled in to a SRPG?

regardless, i think i may fall prey to the purchase.

Mustachio Jones

The srpg similarities fall upon pointing and clicking on the area you want to attack. It's really pretty much the same as it was in the first puzzle quest, except the combat mechanics are a bit more involving. Figuring out who attacks who with what kind of damage, plus spells and such, it gets pretty cool. You go from tower to tower to town sweeping your advance, and buy troops.

Dodge Aspen

Intrigued by Space Invaders, and Klonoa.

TyrantCow

yeah, Space Invaders is pretty good, i'd pick it up for xbla if i didn't already have it for DS

and, if i had a nice TV.

RainbowDespair

Wow, 3 XBLA games this week. Space Invaders Extreme, Arkanoid Live, and Zombie Wranglers. 800 MS points a piece.

Steev

Arkanoid Live? I've heard nothing about this game. Tell me more.

TyrantCow

can anyone point me to any information on the Puzzle Kingdom game? release date?

my searching of the intertrons is fruitless, and their official site crashes my firefox -- wait, so it's made by the same people; but, published by someone else? i'm feeling a bit hesitant.

Dodge Aspen

I LOVE Breakout style games. Arkanoid Live is very intriguing. Also, WTH is Zombie Wranglers.

chrono_traveller

Kelor wrote: »

Wait wait wait Jagged Alliance is out this week? After the thread we have for some reason I had it in my head that it was still a ways off.

Mark me down for that and Klonoa.

I'm confused about the Jagged Alliance release date too. Amazon has it coming out the 19th as does Gamestop. Does the OP know of a source thats releasing it this week?

Mustachio Jones

TyrantCow wrote: »

can anyone point me to any information on the Puzzle Kingdom game? release date?

my searching of the intertrons is fruitless, and their official site crashes my firefox -- wait, so it's made by the same people; but, published by someone else? i'm feeling a bit hesitant.

It's been out on Steam since last week, and I think it's out on Wednesday this week for DS.

It's developed by Infinite Interactive (same guys as all the other Puzzle games) and published by Zoo Publishing.

$20 price tag on Steam, not sure of DS. Imagine it's the same or $30.

Brainiac 8

Did anyone pick up Klanoa. I'm hoping it does well enough to get them to redo the second game.

slash000

is Arkanoid Live just a port of the Arkanoid DS that was released by the same people as Space Invaders Extreme?

Brainiac 8

Yup, they are just Live versions of the DS titles.

brynstar

I'm pretty excited about Space Invaders Extreme. I loved the portable version, and from the looks of the Giant Bomb quick look, Backbone has done a good job of creating the 360 port.

Plus, it has new backgrounds done by Jeff Minter!!!

cloudeagle

Kind of amazing at how this board went from "Puzzle Quest, fuck yeah!" to "meh" on their new releases.

Brainiac 8

I'll be buying Space Invaders this week...I'm still undecided about Arknoid though. It's just not the same without a slider controller.

TyrantCow

cloudeagle wrote: »

Kind of amazing at how this board went from "Puzzle Quest, fuck yeah!" to "meh" on their new releases.

i'm still all 'fuck yeah!'; but, i don't play many puzzle games (never played bejeweled until the first puzzle quest) so i don't think i burn out as quickly.

RainbowDespair

For those people who are on the fence about Plants vs. Zombies, it's gotten a 90% from every review site that's reviewed it so far on gamerankings.com: Eurogamer, PC Gamer UK, Edge Magazine UK, and GamePro (technically a 4.5/5 but same thing).

I just got my copy via Goozex (somebody gifted me the game in exchange for points) and I'm looking forward to getting off work and playing it (played the 60 minute demo already; loved it).

Kris_xK

Kelor wrote: »

Wait wait wait Jagged Alliance is out this week? After the thread we have for some reason I had it in my head that it was still a ways off.

I think everyone thought it was a ways off.

If it actually comes out this week, it'll be the greatest birthday present ever.

chrono_traveller

Kris_xK wrote: »

Kelor wrote: »

Wait wait wait Jagged Alliance is out this week? After the thread we have for some reason I had it in my head that it was still a ways off.

I think everyone thought it was a ways off.

If it actually comes out this week, it'll be the greatest birthday present ever.

I asked this on the last page, but I don't know if no one knows or just didn't see. Does anyone know where the OP gets his list from? Both Amazon and Gamestop both have it coming out in 2 weeks (the 19th). Was wondering if there was some other source that the OP/others know about that says differently?

Kris_xK

chrono_traveller wrote: »

Kris_xK wrote: »

Kelor wrote: »

Wait wait wait Jagged Alliance is out this week? After the thread we have for some reason I had it in my head that it was still a ways off.

I think everyone thought it was a ways off.

If it actually comes out this week, it'll be the greatest birthday present ever.

I asked this on the last page, but I don't know if no one knows or just didn't see. Does anyone know where the OP gets his list from? Both Amazon and Gamestop both have it coming out in 2 weeks (the 19th). Was wondering if there was some other source that the OP/others know about that says differently?

OP is probably going off of this listing

slash000

Shit. It's gotta be the 19th. My bad.

RainbowDespair

And to add to the 90% flood, IGN also gave Plants vs. Zombies that score. I'm a little shocked; not that it's getting good scores, but that every single review is giving it the exact same score (6 reviews on Metacritic, all 90%).

slash000

is there a thread for it?

RainbowDespair

slash000 wrote: »

is there a thread for it?

Oh yes.

http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showthread.php?t=86836

Kelor

slash000 wrote: »

Shit. It's gotta be the 19th. My bad.

Damn you I was all excited!

Though to be fair all the vendors that had listings for it on Ebay had it dated for the 5th I think.

TyrantCow

FYI Puzzle Kingdom is $20

B:L

slash000 wrote: »

Shit. It's gotta be the 19th. My bad.

Slash what have you done your mistake has killed 3DRealms and Duke Nukem Forever