Day 1 of EGX 2015 kicked off yesterday and while sat this morning with my aches and pains (I’m getting too old for this, I’m sending Cyborg next year), I was sorting through what games I saw there that I wanted to write about first and there was a stand out winner in that regard

Tears of Avia is a turn based tactical RPG with a core focus on build crafting. We want to make a game where the party composition, skills, items and strategy that you design are just as fundamental to the game play as the battle itself. We are coupling this with a dynamic story system that delivers a unique experience each time you play.
It’s Kickstarter started a couple of days ago and, as of writing right now, has 26 days left on it. BUT, it has already been Greenlit on STEAM, so thats a great sign of the games popularity already.

Now, I love a good JRPG, I’m a long term Final Fantasy fan (7, 8, 9 and 10 especially), and Tears of Avia gives me a FF7 vibe off the bat, but it changes things up with a slick RPG combat system, a fresh take on skills and beautiful graphics and effects
The game looks stunning, even the prototype build the team from CooCooSqueaky, the system was slick and it was beautiful to watch other people play the game and get excited about what they were doing.

So, whats the game about? Well, lets head over to the kickstarter page and get the info:

 

Over 200 years ago a war was waged against the floating city of Avalon lead by the demonic overlord Vylenkine. A powerful mage stood up against his evil forces and cast a spell that would seal the portals to the demonic realms forever. Except… there was a problem. The city froze and crashed along with the love of his life, Avia. For hundreds of years he has been seeking a way to free Avia with little success. That is until you came…

 

The trailer is gorgeous and tells the story in suitable anime way and the character models and enemies look like they were dragged smoothly from some of the best animes to come out of Japan
In fact, if this story isn’t picked up by Manga, they are missing a trick

Tears of Avia is set for a Jun 2017 release so far, with kickstarter backers at certain levels getting beta access (£30 or more pledge) and lots of other perks

Back this one if you love a classic JRPG

EGX 2015 kicked off today with Total War: Warhammer. Over the course of the presentation, the developers at Creative Assembly provided new insight into several aspects of the game. Starting out, the team showcased the Lord, Hero and Legendary units. These units can be used to bolster your troops in combat, to plot on your behalf on the campaign map, and as fearsome combatants in their own right. A lot of time was spent discussing the customization available for these characters. They have their own skill trees and items that they can equip to be used in a variety of different ways.

The presentation then moved on to a live gameplay demonstration, and it was impressive to say the least. The battlefield was massive, with hundreds of units moving about. For me, one of the most impressive moments of the demo was the seemingly simple entrance of a giant. This massive unit lumbered into the battle and swung his axe, sending an entire line of dwarves flying through the air like ragdolls. Considering that it was happening in engine in real time, it was an impressive moment. Artillery individually load and fire, flamethrowers spew arcs of incendiary death over the heads of oncoming greenskins. Visually, Total War Warhammer is turning out to be very impressive. Its a promising game with a strong license and Creative Assembly are clearly devoted to bringing the authentic Warhammer experience into the game.

For more on Total War: Warhammer stay right here on Sanitarium.FM

When you talk about operating systems right now, mostly you’re talking about Windows 10 and the upsides and downsides of Microsoft’s latest offering. However that doesn’t mean that others aren’t doing well in their own ways and right now Linux is looking good with the number of games on Steam that support it at 1,500 which is an all-time high.

Of course, that’s nowhere near the ones that are only-compatible with Windows (13,621), but it is a step in the right direction with Steam offering the ability to narrow down game selection by operating system. With Kickstarter and Greenlight both going strongly and the indie game scene going from strength to strength the number of games that work for the penguin logoed OS are only set to increase in future, which can only be a good thing. The fact the Steam Machines that will be releasing soon work on a Debian-based SteamOS GNU/Linux operating system won’t hurt that number increase either.

The latest update to the first-person survival game The Long Dark has come along with a number of large changes, including the addition of a new region – Desolation Point. Desolation Point also happens to be the name of the update.

Described as “a stretch of coastal highway pockmarked with the abandoned remnants of a formerly thriving whaling industry,” Desolation Point can be found somewhere beyond the end of the Coastal Highway, past the Commuter’s Lament. Along with this changes include the ability to properly place items rather than just dropping them all, metal forging to enable creation of a few simple tools and the Survival Panel has been replaced by a new Status screen that has access to the Backpack, First Aid, Bedroll and Fire-Starting functions. The weather system has also been overhauled to make transitions between different weather states smoother and adds visual cues which makes predicting different weathers much easier. There’s also the addition of five different sandbox game slots with a single save slot each along with the usual tweaks and fixes.

Fortunately old saves will still be compatible with the update, so if you’ve a save with a lot of hours ploughed into it you can still play without fear of losing everything you’ve worked for so far.

Rocket League is a good example of a simple game concept done really well. Good  controls, physics and general good fun factor means that the game has passed a million sales on Steam and has become a growing eSport. Now the game’s developers have announced the next DLC.

Psyonix announced the DLC, Revenge of the Battle-Cars in a trailer. It’s due for release in October and will add to the game two “fan-favourite” vehicles from Rocket League’s predecessor, Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars: Scarab and Zippy. There’s also aesthetic content in the form of new paint types, decals, rocket boosts, toppers, antennas and wheels – all to be gotten hold of for $3.99 or the “regional equivalent” of that price.

At the same time there will be two new arenas (Urban Station (Night) and Utopia Coliseum (Dusk)) added free to the game regardless of whether or not you own the DLC as well as new Country and Community flags for you to use.