Savior Gaming

Friday Monster- Kraken

Continuing my weekly monster post, last week I bought you something from close to home with the Trotterhead and this week I want to bring you to the open seas by releasing the Kraken.

The history of the Kraken is well established in lore from Scandinavia sailors, to Clash of the Titans where Zeus himself controlled it. It’s worth noting however that in traditional Greek mythology the Kraken itself does not appear. (Sea monsters do exist just not that one specifically)

Known to resemble a giant octopus or giant squid the power of a kraken is so immense that it easily sinks the biggest ships simply by wrapping its testicles around it and squeezing. Why it does this is also under much debate, some say it is simply a dumb creature that mistakes the boats for food,others that it simply is defending its territory.

Interesting enough the Kraken while believed to have been about a mile long with a body that could be mistaken for a body of land, it is the one mythical creature that not only could be based on a real creature, it was also based on a giant version of 2 real creatures that were thought to not exist for a time that later were proven do in fact exist.

While humans have known about octopuses (yes that is the plural of octopus, despite popular belief octopi is not. I’m as shocked as you) there the Giant Pacific octopus wasn’t really known about then.

The record for one of these is 30 feet and 600 pounds

The chances of one of these taking down a ship is obviously pretty small, though I suppose it might take down a row boat. If you have never seen something like this and it climbed up on your boat it would scare the hell out of you and to have it described to you would be pure nightmare fuel.

The second candidate and far more likely however was a creature discovered within the last decade or so and hunts whales. I am of course speaking of the giant squid.

Unfortunately this one probably didn’t live long

The giant squid is a living monster, fully capable of fighting a sperm whale,and winning. The longest giant squid was about 43 feet, while sperm whales are about 60 feet. With a ship in the 1700 and 1800’s only being about 75 feet at the most for big ones, it’s easy to see why catching sight of one of these rare things would cause the scare it has.

This is part of what makes the Kraken so scary especially back then. It wasn’t really far fetched,most people that lived by the sea probably saw an octopus or squid. They also knew fish further out into the sea were much bigger. So why couldn’t there be a massive monster out in the deep sea waiting to rip a ship apart?

The Kraken is easily one of the scariest monsters in history because it is both easy to see where it came from,and that it wasn’t too far off from the truth. I hope you enjoyed this one,best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

New Nightmare psychological thriller Stray Souls comes to PC and Consoles in 2023

Fans of the horror genre have something new to look forward to when Jukai studios and Versus Evil release Stray Souls later this year.

Dive into the mind of Daniel, a teenage boy who inherits a home from his estranged grandmother. As he moves in, Daniel meets the enigmatic Martha who knows more about the house than he would expect. As night falls, dark secrets hiding within the dwelling and Daniel’s past come out of the woodworks – secrets Daniel cannot seem to outrun…

I personally can’t wait to check this one out when it releases on PS 4/5 or Xbox series S/X. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

The Legend of Heroes:Trails to Azure (New review)

NIS America was kind enough to once again toss us a review copy of this one,much like they did the first installment of the Crossbell series, The Legend of Heroes Trails From Zero Review and that is always appreciated.

The first thing you need to know about getting into this, you don’t technically NEED to play Zero to play Azure. You can read through much of the in game text and such to get a general idea but to be honest you are much better off playing these two games in order.

The second thing you need to know,if you want to play them both you are probably looking at 40-50 hours each. And it is worth every hour of it.

The story starts up about a month after zero ends and continues the saga of a corrupt government, admittedly seemingly less so at first. It doesn’t take long for things to go bad however. This isn’t strictly true, there is a lot of lore packed into this one. Long conversations and some of it is quite heavy. I don’t say any of this as a bad thing, the story is quite amazing and easy to get into.

Graphically the game does show its age and the sound does leave much to be desired at times. The voice acting and the music could be hit and miss, nothing that takes away from the enjoyment of the game but it does exist and would be dishonest to pretend it didn’t get up to some weird things at times.

As we all know any RPG is only as good as the combat. The combat reminds me a lot of the original Grandia. You walk around the map,and touching an enemy changes the battle screen and from there you can move around to fight enemies. It isn’t quite a tactics style battle, the battle maps are way too small for that but it is turned based and and positioning does matter for a lot of reasons. It is really well done and a lot of fun, but depending on how you play it can feel a bit slow. Thankfully quality of life improvements have been added that have taken care of that.

To be short and sweet about it,the game is highly recommended especially to anyone that enjoyed the Cold Steel series. 8/10, best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

The Guise Trailer

Indie publisher Ratalaika Games, together with talented developer Rasul Mono, is delighted to announce The Guise, a stylish and dark Metroidvania fairytale about a boy trapped in the body of a monster! Coming on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Microsoft Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch it is due to hit digital stores with a release date of 17th March.

Setting the Scene

The Guise is a distinguished looking game in which ‘evil’ has apparently already won the day. In the world, where the player is taken, there is almost no light and no hope for anything good. Dying settlements, dark forests, winding dungeons, and deadly valleys full of demons are abundant.

The action begins in a children’s home, perhaps the only bright and warm place in the game. It is there in the room of the owner of the orphanage that a boy named Ogden finds a strange mask that turns him into a monster. The game is based on Ogden’s new appearance, his new abilities, and his relationships with the unfriendly world that surrounds him. The goal of the frightened and bewildered Ogden, who has become a monster, is to regain his human form. The player’s goal is to get the most out of the monster’s appearance.

An ancient conspiracy of local gods prevents Ogden from turning back into a human, and almost everything alive and inanimate is against him staying in the monster’s skin. The player must get used to his new body, master new abilities, and try not to lose the remnants of his humanity.

Winning Takes All
You, the player, assume the role of Ogden, our hero, who has animal agility, monstrous strength, and abilities that are not available to ordinary people. You will have to learn various skills, such as running on the ceiling, finishing moves, acid spitting, bomb belching and a lot more As in any ‘metroidvania’, to obtain a new ability, the player will have to defeat a certain boss. For example, after Priscilla, the rat queen, dies, we will be able to climb walls and run on the ceiling, which will open up access to new locations.

Venture Forth
There are a number of exciting and challenging side quests, some of which are related to the life of the orphanage (although Ogden has become a monster, the children in the orphanage still see him as a friend). For example, one quest is to help a mad cultist who wants to destroy the remaining angels in the world.

The world of The Guise consists of seven large regions, each with 10-20 interconnected locations. Some locations have multiple paths thanks to forks, multiple entrances, and exits. All closed exits can be unlocked by obtaining a certain ability (for example, after getting the “Spider Legs” ability, the player can overcome a water-filled gap by simply running along the ceiling above the gap). Secrets, hidden passages, and secret rooms containing various treasures are scattered throughout the world.

Features/Elements:

Beastly Abilities

Cool Battles

Great Challenges

Monsters!

Appealing Graphics

Atmospheric Music

Finders Keepers

Exploring the game world, the player will gain access to resources that strengthen the protagonist. Thus, in hidden chests or as a reward for side quests, the player will find amulets that complement his combat abilities (for example, he can stink up the area, causing damage to those around him). And the reward for defeating enemies will be their eyeballs – the local currency – which can be spent on improving the abilities obtained from the Eye Collector.

In this hostile world, almost everything is out to get you!

Monster Friday -Trotterhead/Trotterkopf

Last week I started this new series with Monster Friday Wendigo and this week I wanted to continue with something much lesser known,and from my home state of Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania dutch,who are oddly German, bring us the legend of Trotterhead. (Trotterkopf in German)

Trotterhead is less a creature and more of a spirit but if what it is often debated. Some say it was the spirit of a witch trying to do harm while others say it was actually a spirit sent by a witch for the same reason. Either way you kind of need to upset a witch for this thing to show up and bother you.

As for where this thing would live or what it would eat, obviously one would think they don’t live anywhere but allegedly you could visit 2 of these creatures in Quaker Cemetery on Quaker Church Road in Perryopolis Pennsylvania. I have never been there myself,it’s in western PA and I’m in the North East, but I know the stories of the place. Apparently you disrespect the cemetery they will push you down and do all sorts of scary stuff.

Is this real or just the story of old time religious folk? My guess would be the latter, but they are interesting none the less. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

New Age of Wonders 4 Reveals Upcoming Expansions and Premium Content

Age of Wonders 4 invites players to rule a fantasy realm of their own design, in a blend of strategy, role-playing, and turn-based combat. Powerful Wizard Kings have returned to the realms to reign as gods among mortals, and players will rise to challenge their rule using Tomes of Magic to unleash arcane destruction and evolve their armies, gaining new abilities and forms. For the first time in the series, players can create their own custom factions, and leave their mark on countless worlds through each choice they make.

In the Age of Wonders 4 Expansion Pass, players will receive the following content:

Archmage Attire: The Wizards of Magehaven dress to impress, representing their grand personalities and ambitions. This outfit pack unlocks a new set of clothing you can wear as a whole, or to be mixed and matched with other in-game items. The Archmage Attire pack will be available instantly with the launch of Age of Wonders 4 for all Premium Edition players.
Dragon Dawn: Embrace the power of the Ancient Dragon Lords in the Age of Wonders 4: Dragon Dawn Content Pack. From your Dragon Throne, forge empires inhabited by reptilian minions and use draconic magic to evolve your people into dragon hybrids. This content pack includes a new Dragon Ruler type, a Reptilian Form, and New Tomes of Magic, and will launch in Q3 2023.
Empires and Ashes: The empires of mortals resurge after the devastation brought forth by the Wizard Kings! In the Age of Wonders 4: Empires and Ashes Expansion, players fuse magic and steel to unleash devastating war machines to drive the Godir back into the Astral Sea. This full expansion, slated for launch in Q4 2023, includes a new Culture, new Tomes of Magic, new Empire Building options and a new Story Realm.
Primal Fury: Channel Nature’s Spirits in the Age of Wonders 4: Primal Fury Content Pack. Create races using new beastly forms and a primeval culture, with new Tomes of Magic that tap nature’s hidden powers and the Fey realms. Your surroundings will be able to contain new forms of wildlife, creatures and bountiful resources. Primal Fury will become available in Q1 2024.
Eldritch Realms: The Age of Wonders 4: Eldritch Realms Expansion opens portals to realms filled with arcane marvels and unspeakable horrors. New forces threaten the rule of the Godir of Magehaven. With new strange monsters, new racial forms, magical realms and locations, this full expansion will bring a new dimension to the game in Q2 2024.
In addition, pre-orders of both the Standard and Premium Editions of Age of Wonders 4 will award players with an additional ruler and armor set: Aric Rex, a Tigran High King, and his elegant Lion Plate armor, Imperial Cape and Athlan Crown. Age of Wonders 4 can be pre-ordered today for a suggested retail price of $49.99 / £41.99 / €49.99 for the Standard Edition, and $89.99 / £74.99 / €89.99 for the Premium Edition.
For more information about Age of Wonders 4, visit https://www.paradoxinteractive.com/games/age-of-wonders-4/about.
In addition, pre-orders of both the Standard and Premium Editions of Age of Wonders 4 will award players with an additional ruler and armor set: Aric Rex, a Tigran High King, and his elegant Lion Plate armor, Imperial Cape and Athlan Crown. Age of Wonders 4 can be pre-ordered today for a suggested retail price of $49.99 / £41.99 / €49.99 for the Standard Edition, and $89.99 / £74.99 / €89.99 for the Premium Edition.
For more information about Age of Wonders 4, visit https://www.paradoxinteractive.com/games/age-of-wonders-4/about.

New Redemption Reapers on the Nintendo Switch Review.

As always with these things I like to start out by saying a huge thank you to Binary Haze Interactive for tossing me a Redemption Reapers review copy for this one. I always appreciate it, and it is always a lot of fun playing a new game from a new company.

Redemption Reapers is a tactical role playing game that takes on a darker tone than most. The game starts out with you playing as Sarah, who is attempting to make up for some past mistake. This mistakes makes her and the Ashen Hawk brigade hated, for some reason. They are also one of the only groups fighting the Mort. The Mort are simply put a group of creatures hell bent on destroying basically any living thing it comes across.

I will admit, I do not really know what the Mort are or why they are killing everyone. You sort of just get dumped into that, and they never really explain it very well. It is ok though because in games like this the combat usually makes up for it.

I say usually but this time that isn’t really true. You will be limited in characters, five them. This is really a good thing because weapons upgrades are expensive and require resources and money all of which are mostly found during battles. These battles can be long, with one little mistake making you start all over again. This isn’t because they are all that hard exactly, each character can only heal once unless you have them use these special spots on the map, which usually don’t have more than two.

These problems with combat are made worse since the main way the game gets more advanced is it simply tosses more enemies in the way. Thought you had problems keeping your starting three characters alive when it was six enemies? Try it with ten enemies and four characters.

The game isn’t all bad however. The game is beautiful. The cut scenes are well done, the character images are probably some of the best the Nintendo Switch has to offer. That isn’t enough to make me say hey go buy this game. At the $50 price tag, you are going to want to wait for a sale. This one is a 5/10, best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

New Blast Brigade vs. the Evil Legion of Dr. Cread – Pre-order about to begin [PS4/PS5/Switch]

My friends at strictly Limited Games have once again sent over an exciting opportunity to get your hands on a limited edition physical copy of their upcoming title . I have of course simply copy and pasted all the info they passed along to me so you guys can see for yourself and have all the links they provided me. As always supplies will probably go fast, so best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

2 March 2023 – Strictly Limited Games, in partnership with MY.GAMES are delighted to announce the pre-order start for exclusive and highly limited boxed editions of Blast Brigade vs. the Evil Legion of Dr. Cread. This exciting release of the upcoming retro indie platformer is scheduled to launch in autumn 2023 and eager collectors can already pre-order their exclusive Limited Edition, starting on Sunday the 5th of March!

These editions will only be available at Strictly Limited Games and will be the only physical version of the game.

About Blast Brigade vs. the Evil Legion of Dr. Cread:Blast Brigade is a unique blend of Metroidvania and twin-stick run and gun, with a shot of Megaman elements, featuring 4 playable characters with unique abilities and personalities, between which the player can swap at any time. This being a Metroidvania, these abilities are naturally necessary to progress through the interconnected world, as well as discover secrets and materials to upgrade your workshop. And you really want to, because this game won’t be a walk in the park. Even normal enemies can kill you if you are not careful, and for the bosses, pattern memorization is key. Don’t say we didn’t warn you. Speaking about the world, Blast Brigade manages to stand out here as well, leaning heavily into 80s spy movie tropes with its archetypal characters and the classic setting of a tropical island housing the super villain’s base. Combined with its bright Saturday morning cartoon style graphics and fourth-wall breaking humor, Blast Brigade really manages to stand out in the sea of samey action-platformers.

Features:ASSEMBLE THE TEAM! Switch between four playable heroes with unique abilities and weapons!AMAZING ABILITIES! Use a grenade launcher, grappling hook, and сhakram-teleporter to beat foes and challenges!CRUSH BOSSES! Take down hybrid monstrosities, giant robots, ninjas, and other evil minions!METROIDVANIA WORLD! Explore, backtrack, and trailblaze non-linear routes through gorgeous, interconnected biomes!

Monster Friday-Wendigo

I have decided to do something a little different and set aside Fridays to sort of look into and discuss a different creature, monster, or supernatural entity. So if you like the series please let me know and enjoy our first entry, the Wendigo.

The story of the Wendigo goes back to the Native Americans and the people of the First Nation in Canada. One of the many stories goes like this. A hunter or group of hunters were out one winter day to get food and became lost, probably in a storm. Due to the weather, they were unable to find food or a way home and eventually became lost, hungry, and cold. Eventually, a hunter succumbed to his hunger and ate another hunter or human. This resulted in a sort of curse that made them constantly hungry and wanting nothing more than human flesh never able to get enough to eat.

How they look varies widely, some myths have them being human-like in appearance others have them being more animalistic but they are almost always much larger between 10-13 feet tall, and despite being almost skeletal in appearance because of them always starving they are much stronger and dangerous than they appear. They also traditionally have an almost demon-like appearance. Some say green skin with no fur, others say they have fur. They always seem to have large teeth and a large head and unparalleled strength, for comic fans try to imagine being a human trying to fight the incredible Hulk.

Their habitat is usually said to be the Atlantic coast and North America, most notably Canada and the upper part of the United States such as North Dakota tho it isn’t uncommon to hear stories in Pennsylvania from Appalachia. If you know, you know. If you don’t stick around and I will eventually get to it being from PA myself or you can check out TikTok, they will happily tell you about how they don’t go out at night, and if you hear voices or cries for help in the trees to definitely ignore them.

Now how do you kill a wendigo? Here is where the fun begins, the lore here is vastly different, and knowing what we do about these huge cannibal bastards none of them would be easy. Some of them are as straight-forward as grab a weapon and beat/stab/shoot them to death. Others state you will require a silver weapon. These are the easiest examples. Another example was that you need to subdue it somehow, cut out its heart and set the heart on fire. This one seems to be the most difficult because a few others I came across also require fire but they simply tell you to use something flaming to burn the heart within the creature or set the thing on fire in general. Either way, we should probably hope these things aren’t real or we at least don’t have to deal with them. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory, and just in case, happy hunting.

The Caligula Effect: Overdose is finally coming to the PS5 This Year!

Many of you may remember when I reviewed The Caligula Effect: Overdose on the PS4 in what seems like the distant past. The Caligula e Effect is now coming to the Playstation 5 in 2023. For those that may be new to the game it follows the go-home club on club on their quest to break out of a fictional world they are trapped in and return to the real world.

The battle system is unique in that you can actually see what will happen before it happens and plan each move to create combos and possibly interrupt the enemies plans to prevent otherwise devastating outcomes. Definitely keep an eye on The Caligula Effect: Overdose coming to Playstation 5 later this year, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.