Your world has been plunged into madness by a mysterious Mist surrounding Shin Mikado Academy. In order to save your friends, you must enter the Otherworld to challenge the seven Pactbearers who are corrupting the academy. Develop your Ego and embrace the power of your madness to gain strength. But take care not to delve too far, lest you risk losing yourself.

Sound awesome? Well then you might be a fan of JRPG’s. Then check this beauty out:

Monark is out now and you can check out this trailer to see if it’s your jam.

Monark and the Deluxe Edition is available now on PS5 and Switch.

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Aaaaah Gran Turismo 2. Someone set it up for a lunch break at school on a projector and everyone was blown away by how realistic it all looked. From then on many old ass gamers like me came to expect the gold standard with the Gran Turismo series. Amazing graphics, amazing racing, and getting an overpowered car so you could blitz through courses without any skill. The series was peak racing.  

Then came Gran Turismo Sport. Our only PS4 Gran Turismo game and it was … underwhelming. It supposedly got better post launch but I had tried, enjoyed it a bit, and moved on. I mean Forza Motorsport and Forza Horizon had blown me away from the get go. With that being the case, why go back in case an average game got good.

Well now we have a PS5, and with it a Gran Turismo 7. All the pressure was on to deliver here, and for the most part, Polyphony has done so.

Jumping into the game I was met by some clunky menus as I tried to figure out how to play the warm up game Music Rally. This has you making your way through some races where the car, the song and the track have been pre-defined. It is a nice way to relax, enjoy some music, and get stuck back into the series. It had some weird things where it refers to beats, and the music timer pulses to a beat so I tried to figure out if I was supposed to do something with that, maybe tap accelerate. Nah, turns out that is nothing but flashy and you need to get to the end of the course as quickly as you can.

This is an incredibly minor annoyance, but it was an annoyance, and my first intro to the game. So it wasn’t a great start. Fortunately it gets way better.

Gran Turismo games have normally thrown you in the deep end. There is the list of races, you need the right car and right licenses and then you can get stuck in. Here you are guided a bit more. There is kind of a campaign feel to it where you visit a cafe and they provide a menu of cars to earn by doing certain races. This is how you unlock new tracks to tackle.

I like this for a few reasons. First of all the menus are themed and it tells you little stories about the cars you have unlocked and their places in motoring history. What this does is it gives a purpose to all the racs you are doing, which previously the games lacked. You kept racing because you wanted to keep racing. This is awesome and I certainly enjoy it, but it would have also been cool if the option was there to go and do the races the way the old games did. That way you can bounce between the styles of learning about the history, and enjoying race progression.

One other annoyance I found was that most of the races have a rolling start. So this means that when you take over the cars have all been driving already. This is cool for variation but I enjoy races that start from a stop.  There is nothing more exciting than pinching those first couple of spots when a race starts because you have overpowered your car with mods. This is especially important when you have only focused on the power like I have and can’t steer the car for shit.

Give me more standing starts please.

Another annoyance is the credit system. You are going to need some serious money to buy some cars and so there will be grinding. This isn’t new, I have spent years doing boring endurance races over and over again to earn some cash. What is new is annoying quirks like not being able to sell duplicate cars. Instead you just remove them from your garage.

There is something inherently wrong about spending heaps of money to buy your cars but the system has you give them away as opposed to being bale to sell them. Like bang em down to half price since you are selling them after driving them off the lot. But nothing? That’s daft.

There is also a roulette system where it gives you bonuses which can net you some cash. The problem is that cash pales in comparison to the cost of some of these cars. The good news is you can spend some of your real world money to buy them … in this full priced game.

It’s an annoyance that will probably only hit the handful that really want to grind out a collection of cars. But still dumb.

One of Gran Turismo’s greatest aspects and most controller breaking ones is the license system. As you go you will need to make sure you complete your licenses or the races will be locked off. If you haven’t played a Gran Turismo before, each license has a series of short tests. This may involve hitting a certain corner or a couple of corners using predefined cars. You get graded based on time giving a bronze, silver or gold trophy. You only need bronze to continue, which is hard enough at times, but those silvers and golds get tempting. I spent a scary amount of time trying to knock .05 seconds off one of my times.  

Fundamentally if you enjoy Gran Turismo games then this will be for you.

The game is fun, and it feels like the real Gran Turismo game we have been waiting for. The history lessons are awesome, the racing is awesome, so much of the game is awesome. Sure it has some shortcomings, and I kept trying to reverse time (I have played a lot of Forza games since Gran Turismo 6 was released) but fundamentally it is a great game that fills an important slot in the PlayStation library.

The post Gran Turismo 7 Review appeared first on 8-Bit Island.

At State of Play Tango Gameworks revealed their new trailer for Ghostwire: Tokyo.

It gives an exciting preview of the mystical action and fascinating world players can look forward to!

Ghostwire: Tokyo is an action-adventure game that challenges players to master the powerful arts of Ethereal Weaving. They will do this while working to defeat the menacing Hannya and his followers, the Visitors, who have invaded Tokyo. These supernatural entities roam the stunning world of Ghostwire, creating a stunning atmosphere that is a love letter to Tokyo, its curiosities, and secrets.

Players who digitally pre-order the Deluxe Edition of Ghostwire: Tokyo from the PlayStation Store will gain early access to the game on March 22, 2022. They will also receive access to the Streetwear Outfit Pack, Shinobi Outfit, and Kunai Weapon.

Ghostwire: Tokyo will be available worldwide for PS5 and PC on March 25, 2022. 

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The indie hit Paradise Killer will be arriving on Xbox and PlayStation on March 16, 2022.

Paradise Killer was originally released in September 2020 for PC and Switch. The game received overwhelmingly positive critical acclaim. People raved about its vibrant open-world, lore, striking aesthetic, soundtrack and unique non-linear gameplay.

The Xbox Series X|S and PS5 versions will see the detective adventure expanded and improved with a suite of current-gen console feature support including 4K60, ray tracing, super-fast loading, Xbox Smart Delivery, haptics and a ‘day/night’ lightbar cycle for the PS5’s DualSense Wireless controller, and much more. It will also be available for Xbox One and PS4. Just less fancy.

All available versions of Paradise Killer, including the PC and Switch versions released in 2020, will also feature brand-new content which includes new music, mysterious new beings, quests, rewards, collectables, and Steam achievements for PC players, as well as general performance enhancements. Alongside this exciting new content, the game will release on the Epic Games Store for the first time.

Kaizen Game Works will also release a new compilation album alongside the game on March 16. Entitled “About That… Paradise Killer B-Sides” the album will feature new tracks composed by Barry “Epoch” Topping which will be featured in the new version of the game*, vocal arrangements, remixes and bonus tracks.

The full track listing is as follows:

1. Moonrise Rapture
2. About That…
3. Unlimited∞Luv
4. Misunderstand
5. To The Heart [Vocal Version]
6. House of Bliss [Vocal Version]
7. 08:00 ~ Another Last Day
8. Leaving [Piano Arr.]
9. Lady Blue [MEEBEE & Okumura. Remix]
10. Christmas With U
11. About That… [Instrumental]
12. Paradise (Stay Forever) [Instrumental]

*Not all tracks on the compilation album are included in the new update.

An open-world murder mystery, Paradise Killer takes place on the sun-drenched, dream-like world of Paradise Island, where, on the eve of the island’s rebirth as Perfect 25, “investigation freak” Lady Love Dies has been summoned from exile to solve the crime to end all crimes; the sinister murder of the island’s council.

On an island full of bizarre characters, immortal worshippers of dead alien gods and dark conspiracies, how will you navigate the rich world of Paradise Killer to uncover the elusive truth?

The post Paradise Killer is coming to PlayStation and Xbox next week! appeared first on 8-Bit Island.

It is not an understatement to say I adored Horizon Zero Dawn. I went in skeptical as I wasn’t always the biggest fan of open world games. Games like the Witcher series couldn’t hold my attention despite multiple attempts. What I found though was a game open and expansive, that played like a tight third person action game, with an engaging story and world.  

So can you guess which game I was looking forward to most in 2022? That’s right, Pokémon Legends: Arceus. Not actually, the real answer was of course Horizon Forbidden West. But do go play Pokémon Legends: Arceus. It’s really good guys.

The game throws us back in with our old friend Aloy. The blight in the world is spreading, killing everything it touches. So, a reasonably important issue that should be dealt with sooner rather than later. Aloy is trying to do that by looking for a Gaia backup that will make all the machines good again.

This will make the world habitable for life, so kinda handy.

When she returns to camp after an unsuccessful hunt she discovers one of her old friends has set a trap resulting in Hades being released and headed west. We soon discover that the Forbidden West is an area obscured by a wall. Here a new group of people, the Tenakth, call home. It turns out that for generations the Tenakth and Carja were at war where…well the Carja were bastards that caught and killed a lot of them. This has changed a little and the Carja have been giving heaps of reparations to the Tenakth to try and make good. 

It so happens that they are about to provide a new treasure chest of “we’re sorry” money. With gates opening and leaders present, this is a chance for Aloy to try to get passage to the west. A bunch of events happen, and Aloy winds up in no man’s land. It turns out on top of the drama between the three Tenakth clans, there is also a breakaway group. They are causing all kinds of havoc and death.

So here we have a fun time for Aloy. She wants to go find the parts of Gaia to save the world before everything and everyone dies. This should be a challenge on its own but she has to face a bunch of hurdles like regional politics and religions getting in the way. This frustrates Aloy who is trying to save everyone, and also deal with a new threat that has arisen.

Dun dun dunnnn…

If you enjoyed the story in the first game you should keep enjoying this. It’s a solid sci-fi story in an extraordinarily amazingly built sci-fi world. Like the first game I find the whole world so damn interesting. Seeing details like ancient containers (the boots of wrecked and rusted cars), ancient ruins (a hotel that is beyond repair), and so much more adds this awesome layer of mystery to the world. On top of this world is the world that grew from it, and this beautiful mix of primitive and futuristic makes it a treat to explore and learn more about.

The game is loaded with side quests. This can vary from glorified fetch quests and killing quests, but they are usually soaked in details that help expand the world. These all add a heap to the world, and I found myself regularly wanting to complete them and get distracted from the main story.

Saving the world is important, but this tribe needs water and they will get it trading machine hearts.

The game generally still feels good to play as well. The controls took me an hour to adjust to, but once you nail that gameplay feels smooth as butter. Flicking between weapons and ammo types on the wheel clicker makes combat so damn fun. This is important because you need that to be seamless as you rip off chunks off and kill massive machines.  

There have been other crucial additions like excess inventory going to your stash removing a bit of that monotony. Though picking up everything in the world gets old fast. And other aspects have been added like gliding. So after you climb a massive tower you can glide down now rather than having to climb back down.

The game isn’t as bug free as I have hoped.

Unlike the first game, or at least my memory of the first game, the game isn’t free of bugs. There were minor things like NPCs getting stuck on objects, which were fortunately minor because each time it happened I was able to run forward to the next point of the quest and it carried on. There were other quirks like a machine moving out of the silent strike range, including when walking closer to me so instead of an assassination I hit the machine and started a massive battle.  

But more annoyingly there was an issue where the frame rate would drop like crazy so the whole screen was stuttering. I was knee deep hunting an annoyingly fast machine when it happened the first time and I didn’t want to find out the hard way how long it was since an auto save so I powered through spending 30+ minutes on a junt that should have been five. I tried changing to performance mode, put the PS5 to sleep and woke it up, all kinds of stuff. It was only sorted by saving, closing and relaunching the game.  

I even waited this long to see if they would be ironed out at launch with a patch but nope. It’s not a buggy mess, but it’s still a pain in the hole. I didn’t need to be fighting bugs as there were plenty of machines to fight.

Regardless of some polish issues, Horizon Forbidden West is an amazing game. I love the world they have continued to build. I love the clan politics, and I love how annoyed Aloy is with clan politics. And I even love the kangaroos equipped with whips. Play Horizon Forbidden West.

The post Horizon Forbidden West Review appeared first on 8-Bit Island.

Tango Gameworks and Bethesda revealed that their upcoming action-adventure game Ghostwire: Tokyo will launch on PlayStation 5  and PC on March 25, 2022

Ghostwire: Tokyo is an action-adventure game that challenges players to master the mystical arts of Ethereal Weaving while working to defeat the menacing Hannya and his followers, the Visitors, who have invaded Tokyo. These supernatural entities roam the stunning world of Ghostwire, creating a scintillating atmosphere that is a love letter to Tokyo, its curiosities, and secrets.

Ghostwire: Tokyo will transport players to an intriguing world filled with characters from Japanese legends, folklore, and tales. These stories have inspired many of the unusual creatures you will encounter, giving Ghostwire a true-to-Tokyo flavour. Crafted by the inventive minds at Tango Gameworks, players will traverse Tokyo’s ultra-modern cityscape, discover iconic landmarks, and uncover secrets hidden throughout it.

Players who venture off the beaten path will also find charming characters in need of assistance, countless spirits in need of rescuing, and unexpected purry friends who can exchange rare finds for generous rewards. Optional stories in Ghostwire are not the usual side content fare, but rather lovable tales that further flesh out the game’s world and vision.

PS5 players who pre-order the Deluxe Edition of Ghostwire: Tokyo will gain early access to the game on March 22, 2022. They will also receive access to the Streetwear Outfit Pack, Shinobi Outfit, and Kunai Weapon. 

Ghostwire: Tokyo will be available worldwide for PS5 and PC on March 25, 2022. 

The post Ghostwire: Tokyo is launching on March 25, 2022 appeared first on 8-Bit Island.

God of War (2018) answered one of gaming’s hardest questions, what can you do with a game franchise that was beloved by many teenagers for its childish sexism and unnecessary violence? Obviously, the general answer is let it be an object of its time, beloved for its strengths and a reminder of what gaming was like.

Well Santa Monica Studio took it another way by making it a strong, interesting story that is as much of an emotional journey for the player as it is for Kratos. Also, unnecessary violence, it is God of War of course.

Now that emotional journey is on PC.

 If you didn’t own a PS4 or a PS5 and therefore this is the first time you might try playing God of War, then you are in for a real treat. The game kicks off with our old friend Kratos living in the frozen expanses of Midgard with his son Atreus. His wife has died, and they plan to spread her ashes from the highest peak in the realms. Unfortunately, he gets attacked at his home by someone with special abilities and now Kratos’ quiet life in hiding becomes a lot more difficult as the Norse Gods become aware of him.

Suddenly a nice hike up the highest mountain to spread some ashes is complicated as the Gods don’t like the Greek God of War in their midst. One area the game massively improved on is the action. It is much closer and more intimate than the older games. Kratos is equipped with an axe he can fling around, and he unlocks a lot more equipment as the game progresses. If you haven’t played yet, I don’t want to ruin that for you.

There are some light RPG elements as you can collect gear which can also be upgraded. Slot in some runes in for extra buffs and you have yourself enough customisation for you to spend too much time poking around a menu.  This does add some depth to the game, as we discover the complexity that Kratos has developed as he learns to be less of an ass hat to his son.

God of War also achieved an extraordinary feat of having no loading screens.

The opening screen which appears to be a static image literally moves into the opening cut scene when you choose to start a new game. It is a technical marvel. Then there is the fact that the game looked absurdly good when it was released on PS4. Then running it on PS5 hardware this absurdly good-looking game got more absurdly good looking. Well with as much power under the hood as you want with a PC, it gets better.

If you have played the game before then this package doesn’t offer too much more. If you have a beefy ass PC and want to make it prettier for your next playthrough, then it will achieve that. The real value here is for PC gamers to play this absurdly excellent game for the first time. So go play it PC gamers. Like now.

The post God of War PC Review appeared first on 8-Bit Island.

If you had been itching for m\ore info about Forspoken like I have been, then great news. Not only do we have a new trailer, but also we only have to wait 6 months to play it.

Forspoken has a worldwide release date of May 24, 2022.

The new trailer was unleashed at the Game Awards. It was introduced by Forspoken star Ella Balinska, who plays protagonist Frey Holland, and actor Pollyanna McIntosh (The Walking Dead series), who has joined the cast as the ruthless Tanta Prav.

Forspoken will harness the full power of the PS5. It will demonstrate Luminous Productions’ philosophy to provide a gaming experience like never before. This will be done by fusing together the latest technology with creativity. 

Forspoken will launch on the PS5 and PC (via STEAM, Epic Games Store or Microsoft Store) on May 24, 2022.

The post Forspoken has a new trailer and a release date appeared first on 8-Bit Island.

Do you wish your headset would vibrate your face? How about wishing that you had a slick colour coordinated stand to charge your controller? How about a device to call into work and vconvince them you should stay at home gaming?

Well Razer is here to sort you out. Well for the first two anyway with their Razer Kaira Pro and DualSense charging stand.

Check out the details below on how you can kit out your PS5!

Razer Kaira Pro

The Razer Kaira Pro Dual Wireless Headset with Haptics unleashes more immersion.

It is Razer’s first wireless headset made for PS5 that is powered by Razer HyperSense. HyperSense is an intelligent haptics technology that delivers rich, lifelike touch sensory feedback based on audio cues, allowing gamers to submerge their senses in full tactile gameplay. The Razer Kaira Pro is equipped with the Razer TriForce Titanium 50mm Drivers. This helps deliver absolute clarity while being light enough to ensure comfort over long periods of use.

Some of the core features of the Kaira Pro include:

• HyperSense for touch-sensory feedback and heightened immersion
• TriForce Titanium 50mm Drivers for high-end audio performance
• Detachable Razer HyperClear Supercardioid Mic for powerful, lifelike audio
• SmartSwitch to toggle between 2.4 GHz and Bluetooth
• Powered by Razer Chroma RGB, customizable via the Razer Chroma RGB Mobile App

The Razer Kaira Pro comes in at a tidy $369.95 NZD.

Razer Kaira

Completing the PS5 headset line-up is the Razer Kaira Dual Wireless Headset. Whether on console or mobile, gamers can enjoy unrivalled convenience when gaming with Razer SmartSwitch, which allows for seamless switching between 2.4 GHz and Bluetooth devices.

Some of the core features of the Kaira include:

• TriForce 50mm Drivers for high-end audio performance
• HyperClear Cardioid Mic for enhanced vocal clarity
• SmartSwitch to toggle between 2.4 GHz and Bluetooth

The Razer Kaira has the more affordable price of $184.95 NZD.

Quick Charging Stand

Also being announced today are the Razer Quick Charging Stands. The stands were thoughtfully designed in a range of matching colors to suit the galaxy-inspired PS5 DualSense Wireless Controllers. The Razer Quick Charging Stand rapidly charges controllers to reach prime power levels in under 3 hours and ensures minimal gaming downtime for PS5 users. It is available in White, Black and Red colors to achieve a seamless look.

You can charge your Dual Sense in style for $93.95 NZD.

The post Razer has unleashed a wireless PS5 headset and a DualSense charging stand appeared first on 8-Bit Island.

It is easy to make and sell a platformer to me. Give it beautiful graphics that look like an animated movie, fun platforming, and a story to tug at my heartstrings. Well Ember Lab, you sold me on Kena: Bridge of Spirits.

The sweet story we need right now

In a beautiful land Kena is a spirit guide. Spirits that are lost and need help moving on to the next land become dangerous, Kena helps them move on by kicking their asses. Well sometimes that’s how she does it, it is a video game after all.

The story has Kena headed towards the Sacred Mountain Shrine … for reasons. She comes across the cheeky spirits Beni and Saiya who she wins over by being Kena and discovers their older sibling Taro needs her help. As the story unfolds she helps a few people, and discovers a little more about the mysterious darkness around the land. This darkness is causing a lot of havoc including blocking pathways and creating enemies to be beaten, because again… it’s a video game.

To help her with this mysterious darkness she enlists the help of the rot. If that is throwing you off, it threw me off too. Even now the name ‘rot’ keeps feeling like it should be the name for the darkness. Instead they are cutesy little black spirit creatures that can be adorned with hats…because cute. But also they can be used to destroy the decay, baddies, and help with puzzles.

All of this cutesyness is rounded out thanks to the sweet and caring personality that Kena exudes.

A simple but fun game

In a lot of ways Kena: Bridge of Spirits reminded me of a PS2 era game. The world is connected through a lot of connected corridors. Jumping is limited as you can’t jump through the bushes or anything. Sometimes you can’t jump on scenery even when it looks smaller than something you can jump on.

Despite this, I actually didn’t dislike it. The gameplay was relatively simple and the funneled areas to explore help the game flow. This results in a relatively short game where you can backtrack and complete puzzles but it helps cut down some of the faf. This would also help some younger gamers because despite some more adult themes, the presentation is built so that adults and kids will both be able to enjoy this beautiful story.

Combat is limited to dodging, swinging with a light or heavy attack, firing a bow and eventually throwing bombs. There isn’t too much depth to it, and in game the responses to trying to defend can be a little clunky. Outside of these specific situations the gameplay is simple but fun, and that helps enhance the feel of the game.

A treat to the heart and the eyes

Kena has an amazingly sweet story to enjoy. There is nothing overly new here, but it has been rearranged to feel new enough. In this way it is a cracking story that has been wrapped up in one fantastic looking wrapper. The graphics department of this studio has made it look so much like a movie and with Kenas sweetness she feels like it should be.

On top of the world looking like a treat, it sounds like one too. There is some solid voice acting work that helps set the tone, but also an utterly beautiful soundtrack. Sometimes you don’t notice a soundtrack as it has been blended beautifully into the surroundings, other times you notice it because it is out of place. Every so often a soundtrack will stand out for doing something right, and I adored the soundtrack behind Kena.  

Short and sweet

Kena: Bridge of Spirits is an absolute banger of a game. If you aren’t going to hunt down every collectible and rot in the world, you can easily bang it out in a week. The game’s length absolutely serves to make it better by not losing the tension with too much faff. It is easy enough that the family can enjoy it, and sweet enough that… the family can enjoy it.

Seriously go play Kena: Bridge of Spirits.

The post Kena: Bridge of Spirits Review appeared first on 8-Bit Island.