With the worry that the Nintendo Wii is going to be relegated to the casual mini-game fan, it's nice to see that there are publishers out there willing to keep things interesting on the system with mature titles and original IPs. Up and coming publisher is approaching both of these categories with a unique survival horror game called.The game is still very early in development, so much so that all had to show on the title was a very short teaser trailer that offered up brief snippets of enemies and environments. But we had a chance to talk with the company about the game itself and what makes it a unique development on the system. Takes place in the 1980s where you're on a quest to find your lost brother, who went missing after a climbing expedition up in the Himalayas. Along the way up the mountain you'll start uncovering the horror of things to come: something indeed went wrong in the Buddhist community on this mountain, and the mountain has become cursed. The game takes the idea of mountain climbing seriously, putting a lot of emphasis of the elements into its gameplay.
The higher you go the tougher the climb due to the thinner air. You'll suffer altitude sickness which will cause hallucinations – sort of a play on the idea that Silicon Knights applied in Eternal Darkness where the player will be unsure whether what he's seeing in the game is actually happening or a trick of the mind. It's also been said that the game will constantly keep things moving up: your goal is the summit of the mountain, so the camera will always keep that in view of the player to always taunt them that that's where they'll need to be going. The developers are also using true Himalayan references in the game design to add to the overall atmosphere - how the Buddhists bury the dead is an image that could haunt players for weeks. Though no gameplay was revealed at Games Convention, the teaser trailer did hint that there will be gesture controls to fight the spirits that will attack your character in his quest to the mountain's summit.
Cursed Mountain is set in the late 1980s, due to the lack of technology available in the time period. The entire course of the game takes place on a mountain in the Himalayas named Chomolonzo, which the natives call 'the Sacred One'. The storyline of the game is heavily influenced byBuddhism and Tibetan folklore. Nov 06, 2018 Seconding Fatal Frame and Yomawari series. For both series all the games are very recommendable and good choices. Also for PS2 there's older game called Kuon - very odd one but does satisfy well the need for Japanese mythology, especially for the older setting.
More will be revealed on Cursed Mountain as it gets closer to its First Half 2009 release date.
Action RPG featuring an Irishman fighting demons in feudal JapanReviewed on: Nvidia GTX 970, Intel Core i7 3770k, 16GB RAMPrice: $50 / £40Release date: Out nowPublisher: Koei TecmoDeveloper: Team NinjaMultiplayer: Online co-op and PvPLink:I’ve been down this cursed mountain path more times than I care to count. Wwe immortals free download for pc. Each time, I’ve managed a stupider fatal mistake than the last. I’ve dodged away from literally nothing, falling to my death.
I’ve been knocked off the same cliff by a bandit with a spear. I’ve anticipated spear guy, but too early, allowing him to poke me in the face. But finally, I make it to the end of the road. There’s a small hole in the cliff face to the left that I’ve been eyeing. As I approach, I don’t notice the squeaking that should have warned me, too thrilled with my progress.A cloud of bats fly right in my face, a flurry of teeth and wings and I’m suddenly stumbling off the cliff again. The time after that though, I manage to lure spear bandit in front of the bat cave and he’s the one tumbling off and the smarter person (me) is left alive.
Nioh makes turning the blade on the levels themselves just as satisfying as parrying its host of decomposing demons.Nioh’s is an action game primarily about becoming familiar with enemy attack patterns, managing your Ki (read: stamina), and evading or blocking attacks while looking for an opening to strike. With a selection of samurai-themed weaponry, you’ll fight through gauntlets of enemies in pursuit of the boss at the end of each mission. Its environments are grim or stormy and levels require methodically exploring spaces to find shortcuts and secrets. Its enemies are weird and grotesque and boss fights are prolonged tests of patience and dexterity. Elevators are activated by switches in their floors. Doors inexplicably open from only one side. If this sounds familiar, we’re on the same page.I want to dodge away from framing Nioh only as “Dark Souls but samurai,” but I’ve enjoyed it so much specifically for the ways in which it elaborates on the deadly and demanding action combat that the Souls series popularized.
Nioh brings its own punch to the party by adding badass spirit animal summons, chaining combos, and fighting stances to a combat system that would have otherwise felt too derivative. Although the port to PC has a disregard for keyboard controls bordering on outright rude, Nioh's swift, layered combat was worth retraining my muscle memory for. The Ki to victoryAll five weapon types in Nioh have a high, medium, and low stance that can be swapped at any time, each with its own attack combos and a different focus. High stance does more damage but is often slower while low stance reduces the Ki consumed by dodging and has quicker attacks. I enjoy how each weapon having so many possible combos might encourage experimentation but being the creature of habit I am, I stuck entirely to the kusarigama, knowing that my one tool was versatile enough to get the job done. Why try a sword when my sickle on a leash can handle anything I throw it at?Yokai Realm zones are the best kind of battlefield hopscotch. Demons, from the horned hulks to the cycloptic children, all have an attack that places a distinctly demonic, misty looking area-of-effect on the ground.
While standing in it, they become stronger and you can’t regenerate Ki.Nioh’s combat stays fast-paced and gratifying, bringing a rhythm to fights that isn’t possible with only a lock-on-and-dodge system.One solution is to play “the floor is lava” and just deal with multiple AOEs piling up. The better option is a Ki Pulse. After attacking, there’s a short window to recoup some of the spent Ki with a button press. More importantly, a Ki Pulse can cleanse the influence of a Yokai Realm if it’s triggered while standing in one.Between swapping stances mid-fight and learning to weave pulses between my attacks to keep my Ki topped off, Nioh’s combat stays fast-paced and gratifying, bringing a rhythm to fights that isn’t possible with only a lock-on-and-dodge system. Tracking your enemies’ Ki, adjusting stances, and unlocking additional combos for each weapon all add extra layers to Nioh’s combat, turning it into a unique system rather than a borrowed one.
And with all that extra complexity, Nioh does a great job meeting the standard for easy(ish) to learn and difficult to master.AmateurasuNioh’s combat is dodgy, in a good way, but the levels can be touch-and-go. I was initially disappointed in the level design, but the zones get better throughout. The early levels—an abandoned village and mansion courtyard—rely on open spaces (looking at you, horrible mountain pass) where the end goal is often visible from the start, obstructed by a convenient swath of fire, a sheer cliff face, or a one-way door.Seeing the objective through the slats of a fence and knowing I’d have to dance through the labyrinth of angry demons and rooftops, I initially felt like I was being taunted, not tested. By the third and fourth missions, the plot descends into underground zones that were able to weave together connections between different segments of each level in more interesting ways.Jumping down into a previous tunnel through a hole I hadn’t originally noticed over my head is more satisfying than unlatching the opposite side of the door I wish I could have just kicked open. Enemy placement mostly adds to the effect by providing obstacles but few surprises.
I’ve gotten the occasional jump scare from an unexpected demon, but rarely the euphoria when I anticipate the bandit with the bow was standing there to lure me onto a trap plate.Levels are loosely arranged to tell a thin story set in Japan. England and Spain are fighting over some mythical power source called Amrita. William—formerly a pirate hired to locate the stuff—escapes the Tower of London, is separated from his guardian spirit by a guy with serious tattoos, and spends three years on a ship before landing in Japan where he inadvertently becomes the first western samurai. Nioh’s William is an Irishman, but he’s based on William Adams, the first English sailor to land and subsequently get stranded in Japan.The history is interesting but Nioh mostly just uses it as half-hearted character motivation rather than imparting anything really cool. There’s a weird tonal mismatch between serious samurai stuff and these shiny, pastel spirits that William sees floating over everyone’s shoulders, apparently a side-effect of his Amrita-tracking abilities.
Also, there’s a guy who keeps a cat in his coat. A real cat, not a spirit cat. There’s a spirit cat too, though. It’s Japan so the cat quotas must be met. Port authorityNioh’s PC port lacks any reasonable support for typical desktop peripherals, but it’s playable if you’re willing to spend some initial time adjusting. The resolution settings are only accessible in the launcher, not the in-game settings. Fortunately, pressing “play” on Steam now defaults to opening the launcher, not skipping it, an update which appears to have happened on release day.The keyboard controls, as some kind of sick joke, are only listed in a PDF manual.But the keyboard controls, as some kind of sick joke, are only listed in a PDF manual, also found in the launcher.
You’ll want that manual handy because despite supporting a keyboard (but not mouse controls), the entire interface will still display controller buttons in the menus and action prompts. Fortunately for me, I’ve always used controllers in action games. Unfortunately for me, I wasn’t a fan of the default control scheme or any of the alternatives.Even after customizing mine, Nioh still displays the default button prompts in-game. I refuse to say how many times I’ve dodged to my death because I swapped the action button and dodge button.
It was several hours before I managed to stop reflexively pressing the prompt shown on screen. Be warned, swapping buttons in the control layout also swaps them for their menu uses, the cherry on top of an inconvenient sundae.
Image 6 of 6The good news is that even though Nioh forces you to cap your framerate at either 30 or 60 fps, I get a steady 59 on my mid-range system with all graphical options set highest. I only drop into the 40s during boss fights with particularly busy environment effects and during cut scenes which are rendered at 30 fps. It’s not of inspiring quality, but is serviceable enough given that Nioh’s face isn’t its main feature.Nioh’s versatile and rhythmic action combat makes getting through each mission worthwhile. I haven’t taken full advantage of the possibilities offered by the various weapons and combos, but I know others will enjoy crafting and testing builds. And after finishing the main quest, Nioh offers twilight missions (harder versions of completed missions), clan battles, a Diablo 2-style loot grind, and a new game plus to tackle.
It's massive, and most of it is worth seeing, some stinker levels aside.The greatest disappointment is the sloppy job porting control inputs and relevant UI for the PC. Knowing how important customization is for keyboard players, I dread the task of convincing friends to play a game that otherwise would have needed no advocate.