Megan Haley | Geekscape

Geekscape Games Reviews ‘Etrian Odyssey 2 Untold: The Fafnir Knight’

by Megan HaleyAugust 11, 2015

With so many RPGs out on the market for portable systems, it’s easy to let some slip through the cracks. Despite word of mouth being strong for the Etrian Odyssey series, I had never had a chance to pick one up before, (or any first person dungeon-crawler for that matter). Taking on such a huge game can be intimidating to some, but thanks to Atlus and their newest 3DS release, Etrian Odyssey 2 Untold: The Fafnir Knight, and its new features to make the game more accessible to beginners, I decided it was finally time to dive in. After over 50 hours later, and what I discovered was a deep adventure with seemingly limitless content to uncover and a rewarding level of difficulty, but not without a few snags along the way.

Being the first Etrian Odyssey game I’ve ever even glanced at, I had a lot to orient myself to. Drawing and marking your maps is an integral part of properly exploring this game. Cartography is something I have never even considered the possibility of being a fun thing to do. Of course, I have been known to obsess over making sure that I uncover every darkened pixel of the map of [insert choice of RPG here] so I had an idea of how much time I would be spending with the map tools. The rewards are well worth the tedium though, as it will save you tons of time on back-tracking through the later floors trying to find certain items, locations or enemies if you have marked them previously.

From what I understand, the map-making elements in this latest Etrian Odyssey have been made much more accessible through animated map icons, such as the bridge icon that lets you know whether a bridge is up or down and what side it needs to be accessed from to be lowered or raised. You also have the ability to leave yourself notes on elements that you have found, there are a ton of different colors to mark your map with, and it is always visible from the lower touch screen of the 3DS. Auto-mapping is also super useful and saves you a ton of time while exploring by automatically drawing walls and floors where you walk.

As useful as the auto-map feature is, I ran into a snag within the first 20 minutes of the game. Auto-mapping is automatically turned to ON from the beginning of the game to help first-timers successfully complete the only mission in the game where completing your map matters at all. While exploring the cartography features and trying to map all of the little squares how I thought they should be, I attempted to fill in every square that’s auto-generating green with the red color and draw walls in places that made sense to me. Flash-forward to the next two hours full of despair, as I re-draw the map over and over, running back and forth to the town to see if it will let me turn in the mission as completed. I finally conceded defeat when I hit hour 3, asking my Geekscape compatriot to start a new file, and lo and behold, auto-mapping took care of the mission necessities and he was able to turn in the mission within the first half-hour. And the lesson of the day for this game is: Don’t be overzealous with your map-making. Not only so you don’t tire yourself of the game in the first hour, but there are a ton of floors to map.

With the first mission fiasco behind me, Sir KagoMegan and party continued on through the world, fighting in random battles, finding hidden items and secret events along the way. The game has a nifty color coded danger bar that alerts you with a short quip from one of the characters in your party if an enemy is about to pounce. This comes in handy when you are trying to avoid the large, stronger enemies that circle certain paths on the map, referred to cleverly as “F.O.E.”s. If you enter a random encounter in the visibility range or path of an F.O.E. (depending on the type), they will move towards you every turn until the random battle ends. Early in the game, it can be as good as a game over if you accidentally engage a F.O.E. before you’re ready to face it.

To defeat some of the stronger enemies in the game, you’ll need to enter battle with a sound strategy. Typical of a lot of RPGs, you may organize party members in FRONT or BACK lines according to their talents. Archers, healers, mages are best suited to the back row as they have the range, need to be protected and often have less defense and health while more defensive characters and strong attackers with melee weapons go in front. Of course, the choice on how to utilize your characters is entirely up to you, as you have the option to change a character’s weapon specialty and upgrade tree at any time in the game back in town.

Every character also has what are called FORCE abilities, which will be integral to your battle strategy when fighting some of the game’s more challenging enemies. For example, Ariana’s FORCE ability allows her to extend her ORDER command, which includes healing, attack up and defense up, to the entire party, as opposed to a single character or line of allies. FORCE BREAK will allow you to use a powerful move, but you will not be able to use your FORCE move again for that character until you return to town, so it should be used as a last resort.

The most efficient way to restore your Force Gauge is to stay at the hotel in town. Every time you stay, there is a chance to get extra dialogue with characters currently in your party. These are fun little additions which sometimes add a nice unlockable, animated picture to your in-game gallery. In town, you can accept extra missions, purchase new equipment and even cook recipes for useful stat bonuses in dungeons. In the bar where you accept your extra missions, you can access all of the DLC you have downloaded which includes a bunch of optional boss fights if the regular grind is just not enough of a challenge for you.

Grimoire stones are introduced a couple of hours into the game. They are created randomly through battling enemies and can produce a variety of skills including enemy skills, some of which can be quite useful early on. Grimoires allow the character that equips them to take on a new ability that they don’t have or enhance any ability that they do have available. You can visit the town to trade Grimoires with other players through Streetpass using stones you don’t need. You will also get the occasional random visitor with a nice stone or two, so make sure to check that area frequently.

The level of challenge that I experienced while playing Etrian Odyssey was refreshing to say the least. Being a person who enjoys a solid challenge in their games, I was thoroughly impressed by the level of strategy that I had to employ just to progress through the story of the game. There was never a sense of being over-leveled for any dungeon, and all of the bosses required a good amount of time and effort to beat, but it really just made me feel like I truly earned every victory. After almost 50 hours into this game and I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface. Etrian Odyssey is a fun, exploration-driven dungeon-crawler with great characters, and a crap-ton of content, which is sure to satisfy RPG lovers for a long, long time. Whether or not you’re new to the series or are a dungeon exploring veteran, you’d do well to check out The Fafnir Knight.

Verdict: Buy

Final Score: 4/5

E3 2015: MGS5 ‘Metal Gear V: The Phantom Pain’

by Megan HaleyJune 19, 2015

Konami seems to be the center of consistent controversy in the gaming world over the last few years. Fans were shocked when the news broke all the way back in 2013 of the creative decision to pick Keifer Sutherland as the new voice of Big Boss over the classic Snake/Big Boss actor since the debut of the Solid series, David Hayter. Along with the announcement and whirlwind cancellation of the highly anticipated Silent Hills coupled with Hideo Kojima’s abrupt release from the production company, hardcore fans’ confidence on the future of their beloved Konami franchises have been shaken. What does the future hold for the beloved franchise with creator Hideo Kojima off of future projects? Well, we didn’t get a hands on at the show with what seems to be his final game with Konami, but from what we saw of the live gameplay demo, things are actually looking pretty “solid.”

If you weren’t a big fan of Ground Zeroes, you are in for some disappointment, unfortunately. Even the presenter during the live demo confirmed it will be much of the same. There is a main base referred to as the ACC, or Arial Command Center, where you prepare for a number of different assignments. From here, you can customize your weapons to a minute amount of detail with “practically limitless” possibilities. You can also look at pictures of your teammate, Quiet, (among other things), which are pinned to the wall, or look through your missions and collected arsenal. The game is an open world map with mission-based objectives which can be completed in any order. One new feature of the game is to bring along a side-kick character. We were introduced to D-Horse and D-Dog which could be taken onto the field to assist Boss with completing his mission objectives. You also have the choice of a vehicle to bring with you. We were shown a tank and a jeep, the latter of which was ultimately chosen alongside the D-dog and a morning drop.

Speaking of, when you set off for a mission, you will have the option of a drop time. You can choose to be dropped right that moment in in-game time, a morning drop, or a night drop, which will ultimately affect your mission. While you are out on the field, realistic weather conditions, including sandstorms, can limit visibility while altering the way you will play at random and in real-time.

When Boss was shown driving in the jeep, it was seamless and smooth. The landscape had gorgeous detail and you could really feel the heat of the desert area where the player was dropped. Once the mission target was reached, there was some dialogue that occurred on how to best complete the mission objective for that location. Verbal cues would trigger when objectives were met and advice was given from your base as the mission progressed. D-Dog had the ability to locate enemies from a distance and attack and stun enemies without alerting them to Boss’ presence. Combining this with the extremely dynamic combat, the audio and visual qualities and the return of the classic “CQC” take-down ability makes defeating enemies a truly satisfying experience.

The Fulton Device originally introduced in MGS: Peace Walker also makes a return. In the demo that was shown, the player was tasked with capturing a Russian interpreter to be taken back to base and tasked with translation of enemy conversations. Mission objectives and targets of interest will be mapped and marked by your HUD as they are discovered. Occasionally, you might come across a friendly in peril, and you have the option to rescue them and Fulton them out of harms way and back to base.

One feature includes collectible music recordings that you may find throughout the open world. During the demo, one such cassette was found after using a stealth take down on an enemy soldier and nabbing it from his radio. A la GTA, you can play the tunes you discover at will during your mission. From what we have been shown, they include a few fairly well-known songs.

The wait is almost over, Metal Gear fans. The game will be available for retail release worldwide on September 1st, 2015. Likely being the last “true” Metal Gear game, it’s one that fans won’t want to miss out on.

E3 2015: Hands On With ‘Yoshi’s Woolly World’

by Megan HaleyJune 19, 2015

Despite what many deemed a lackluster E3 conference, Nintendo still has a solid lineup for 2015. One of their best titles at the show this year is Yoshi’s Woolly World. Developed by Good-Feel, the same company that brought us Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, Wario Land: Shake It!, and the Streetpass games Mii Force and Battleground: Z, Woolly World brings the same family-friendly story, gorgeously creative visuals and adorable characters we’ve come to expect from a Yoshi title, along with solid platforming, exploration and collecting.

One of this game’s most fun features is it’s multi-player aspect (1-2 players). I’m always looking for games with a solid local multi-player with a good challenge such as Donkey Kong: Country Returns or Donkey Kong:Tropical Freeze. That being said, this game definitely fits the bill, with some surprisingly difficult stages to enjoy with a friend, (or a Yoshi amiibo if human interaction isn’t your thing, but more on that later.)

I was able to run through a stage of coop with our very own Josh Jackson. Fans familiar with previous games featuring Yoshi will recognize the feel of the control scheme right off the bat. You have your usual tongue abilities; eating enemies and throwing them or creating balls of yarn that vary in size and strength (like the eggs in previous games), throwing said balls of yarn, and the ever-useful flutter jump and ground-pound abilities. One of the main aspects of the game is to create the world around you by gathering yarn from blocks and by eating enemies and using them to fill in the gaps in the stage to create platforms and discover secrets. You have the ability to eat some of the world around you to uncover more coins, lives and secrets.

The stage we played was pretty straight forward, classic platforming. You can throw the yarn balls at blank outlines to fill them in and create the stage around you to progress. You also have the ability to use your teammate as an impromptu projectile by eating them and making them into an egg to hit far-off buttons and such. If you enjoy playing as fast-paced as we like to, some of the most fun bits will come from near falls and saves using your yarn on the fly. However, keep in mind that friendly fire is on, so watch where you shoot! Also, if you leave each other behind, the slower teammate will be teleported to the other, which makes active team work an important piece of effective gameplay. Flutter-jump mastery is also the key to finding secrets that may be out of reach and maneuvering around the woolly world efficiently.

On top of the game’s very own woven, plush amiibo, there will be an array of amiibo support for characters from other games. The Yoshi amiibo create a CPU controlled partner for coop stages. In addition, Nintendo has teased that you can use all of your other amiibo besides the Pokemon to outfit your Yoshi with different patterns based on the chosen amiibo.

Yoshi’s Woolly World will be available on the Wii U October 16th in America. Feel free to check out our preview of last year’s demo, and make sure to check out the trailer below!

‘Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls’ Release Date Announced For NA And EU!

by Megan HaleyJune 7, 2015

NIS America has finally announced a North American release date for the next game in the Danganronpa series. Traditionally a text-based adventure, the newest installment takes a crack at the action-adventure style of gameplay. North America be getting the game on the 1^st of September, while the EU has to wait a few more days until September 4^th. The game will be released on the Playstation Vita as both a physical and digital release on the Playstation Store.

Taking control of Komaru Naegi, the sister of Danganronpa 1‘s main protgonist, and first game survivor, Toko Fukawa, the two girls must fight through an army of Monokumas as they attempt to escape the despair ridden Towa City. Coming in both standard and a collector’s edition exclusively through the NIS online store, this ensures that whether or not you just want to experience the game, or horde all of the merch you can find, either way, you’re covered!

The only reason I’m full of despair is knowing that we’ll have to wait for a few more months! Until then, check below for the latest trailer to hold you over. What are your favorite moments of the series for the five people who still have their Vita?

Watch the ‘Swords and Soldiers II’ Launch Trailer!

by Megan HaleyMay 18, 2015

On May 21st, the sequel to Ronimo’s Swords and Soldiers releases on the Nintendo eShop for Wii U. In this colorful 2-D real time strategy game, take control of vikings, demons and Persians in both campaign and multi-player modes. If you want a taste of what Swords and Soldiers is all about, you can download the first game on the 3Ds and Wii eShop as well as most major gaming platforms.

Take a look at the launch trailer below:

Were you a fan of Swords and Soldiers? Are you looking forward to the sequel? Be sure to let us know in the comments below!

Silver Mario Amiibo Coming To Stores On May 29th!

by Megan HaleyMay 18, 2015

A new flavor of Mario amiibo has a release date, to the delight/chagrin of hunters across North America. The silver-colored plumber is scheduled to be available for purchase, trade, or bartering of your first-born on May 29th along with the wave 4 Smash Bros. and Splatoon sets of amiibo. So prepare those overnight bags and running shoes and remember to pack plenty of snacks.

Major retailers are said to be stocking them both in-store and online for the suggested retail of 12.99. The functionality is the same as regular and gold edition Mario amiibo already available, so if your purchasing concern is with playability, save yourself the time and frustration and hop over to your local game retailer and purchase the readily available and much more colorful version.

As veteran hunters are aware, it’s likely to sell out immediately. Are you planning on fighting the crowds on release day for silver Mario, or any of the other upcoming amiibo?

‘Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth2’ Delayed On Steam

by Megan HaleyMay 18, 2015

The release date of the newest Hyperdimension Neptunia game has been pushed back for Steam users. On July 2nd, the Playstation Vita port will be available for 50% off the retail purchase price for the first few days, according to a press release from Idea Factory. This will be our first chance to see Nepgear and company in all their 1080p glory

Our own Josh Jackson fell in love with the game when it was released for Vita (read his review of Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth2). For more info on the Steam release, check out the press release below, and let us know if you’re planning to add this to your Steam collection!

About Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth2: Sisters Generation 20XX – Gamindustrifaces a dire crisis. Shops are boarded up, creators are overworked and starving, and death looms over all Gamindustrimen. But the CPUs refuse to let this be game over for their world!Gamindustri had severed its ties to the chaotic Lawless Realm long ago, and yet… Ever since the advent of ASIC – the Arfoire Syndicate of International Crime – morality has all but vanished. As much as 80 percent of all students are rumored to worship a being known as Arfoire. Parents, despite knowing it to be a poor deity to worship, have gone ahead and allowed their children to do so. Even the governing bodies of the world have turned a blind eye to it, rather than crush the crisis in its infancy. Well, basically, Gamindustri was pretty messed up, you guys. Ahem.

Thus did Gamindustri fall into complete and utter disarray. Those who tire of living in this corrupt world are sent to wander the Gamindustri Graveyard, forever lost.

Key Features

-Gamindustri in 1080! Experience all the humor, turn-based battle, and crazy HDD transformations of Re;Birth2with the sheen of 1080p excellence!

-Four or More for War! Have up to 4 characters on the battlefield, and 4 more on the sidelines, ready to jump in and give their support!

-Stella goes Rogue! Send Stella out to brave Gamindustri’s dungeons in this realtime mini-game and she’ll collect all kinds of treasure for you – you just sit back and eat pudding! Be careful though, because if she dies in the dungeon, she’ll lose all her special gear!

-The World’s your Oyster! Customize the Gamindustri experience with Plans, which allow you to do things like increase/decrease enemy difficulty, change the items you’ll receive from a dungeon, and more!

-Build-a-Sword! Use Idea Chips and Blank Discs to create custom equipment that can open up new worlds of skills for you!

Anime Expo 2015 Announces New Guests!

by Megan HaleyMay 16, 2015

The Anime Expo 2015 guest list is rapidly growing approaching the upcoming convention. Taking place over the July 4th weekend (July 2-5), this marks the 23rd year for the Southern California convention. As the current largest anime, manga and Japanese Culture convention in North America, AX never fails to bring in some of the biggest names in Japanese culture and voice acting for panels, signings and events.

In their most recent press release, Anime Expo has announced the latest set of guests attending the convention. From voice actors, to influential manga creators and animation artists, this year’s lineup is looking to offer something for every attendee.

Check out all the new additions below and keep on the lookout for more news as it’s released at Geekscape.net and Anime-Expo.org.

Julietta Suzuki-Creator of Kamisama Kiss

Julietta Suzuki’s debut manga Hoshi ni Naru Hi (The Day One Becomes a Star) appeared in the 2004 Hana to Yume Plus. Her other books include Akuma to Dolce (The Devil and Sweets), Karakuri Odette, and Kamisama Kiss (Kamisama Hajimemashita), which is published by VIZ Media.

In partnership with VIZ Media, we are so excited to have Suzuki-sensei attend Anime Expo this year! She will be participating in a panel, as well as autograph sessions throughout the weekend.

Satelight’s Thomas Romain and LeSean Thomas (Cannon Busters)

Joining the AX 2015 guest line-up, Thomas Romain of Satelight is best known for his mechanical design on Space Dandy, and LeSean Thomas, recently spearheaded the Cannon Busters: The Animated Series Pilot Kickstarter.Together, LeSean Thomas and Thomas Romain will present a panel with updates about Cannon Busters, including a first-look at the project and Q&A. They will also both be participating in autograph sessions throughout the weekend.

Welcoming voice actresses, Sandy Fox and Cristina Vee

Joining Anime Expo 2015, Sandy Fox (Chibi Usa in Sailor Moon, Kyoko in Akira, Lady Aska in Magic Knight Rayearth) and Cristina Vee (Homura in Madoka Magica and Morgiana in Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic) will both be participating in Q&A panels and autograph sessions.

Will you be hitting up Anime Expo this year? Who are you excited to hear? Anime Expo hits the Los Angeles Convention Center from July 2nd-5th, 2015

Geekscape Games reviews ‘Final Fantasy Type-0’ (PS4)

by Megan HaleyApril 16, 2015

For so many years, Final Fantasy had followed the traditional JRPG formula. You take control of a diverse group of characters, fight some monsters, and save the day. Tactics was one of the first games in the series which began to deviate from that norm, expanding the catalogue into turn-based-strategy territory. Then along came the MMOs, then the sequels and remakes, the movies, the music games, etc. With the announcement of the upcoming Dissidia arcade fighting game (which looks amazing by the way), there are seemingly no boundaries for the iconic franchise. With each new installment of a game bearing the Final Fantasy name, you’re never quite sure what you’re going to get, so when I sat down with Type-0, I was prepared for anything.

Final Fantasy Type-0 is one of three main series that make up the collective Fabula Nova Crystallis which includes Final Fantasy XIII and XV, along with their sequels and companion games. Much like the Ivallice Alliance, which consisted of the Tactics series, Final Fantasy XII and Vagrant Story, the games all have ties to the same lore, rewarding the diehards with multiple references. Type-0 introduces its place in the lore through a drawn out opening cutscene and a fairly short Mission battle. Unless watching Chocobos die a slow, painful death for 20 minutes is a pastime of yours, it’s a really odd way to kick off your game. Afterwards, you are free to roam around your main base of operations, a training ground/school called Academia. If this sounds familiar, then rest assured, this is as far away from VIII’s Garden as it can get.

Your party consists of twelve playable characters from Academia’s Elite Class Zero. Each member of Class Zero has a unique weapon specialty; anything from swords and guns to a Soul Calibur-esque blade-whip that would make Ivy jealous. Each character also has a set of upgradable skills, some of which are latent. These include providing an increase in maximum dodge-roll limits, and some are equip-able abilities, such as unique weapon attacks and different types of magic. Some time into the game, you will be introduced to the Altocrystarium, which can be accessed in Academia or at any time from the options menu. Here, you can trade collected Phantoma collected through battle for magic and special move upgrades. However, be aware that with each stat you upgrade, it will reduce a different stat’s efficiency so you will need to plan upgrades accordingly. Depending on your taste for action, you will likely realize a combat favorite or two.

During random battles and missions, you will take control of the character that you have assigned as your lead (or the first character in the party list if that one dies) plus the next two characters at the top of your party list. After defeating an enemy, you will need to target them to absorb their Phantoma and items, should they be carrying any. You’ll realize pretty quickly that having a character with area magic such as Blizzard will be essential for mowing down low-level random encounters. One fantastic feature of Type-0’s battle system is the ability to time your attacks for massive damage, often after your enemy performs a powerful attack or spell. I got a real kick out of tactically defeating level 55 Behemoths with characters less than half their level. If at any time a character is defeated in battle, you can swap them out for another until all of your twelve are used up. There is no real traditional escape option, so make sure you’re as prepared as you can be before heading off to battle.

Mission battles in towns will allow you to experience an interesting feature of battle within Type-0. Before Mission Battles, you may enable a feature which allows characters with names based on the game’s developers to join your party at random during a Mission. These characters disappear after a set time, which can be extended by defeating enemies, bosses and advancing through the mission. They will also gather SP, which can be used to trade for items back in Academia making their usefulness last beyond developing the game you’re reading about. If you’re more of a lone wolf, you can choose to disable the option if you’d rather go it alone. Though it sounds pretty cool, I found the feature to be a bit intrusive and restricting, although the characters themselves can be quite useful in a tough battle. However, if you happen to be controlling a character you don’t particularly want to play with for extended periods of time, you’re stuck with them until the time-limit runs out and your original playable party member returns to battle.

You’re given a set amount of time to explore the world until Mission Day, which will advance the main story. Talking to NPCs within Academia with a bright green exclamation point over their head or interacting with marked locations will trigger an Event. Events take up 2 hours of your time until Mission Day and will awards an item for completing them. Most of the time, you will usually get some mundane flavor text regarding a no-name NPC you happen to be chatting with. Sometimes, however, these interactions will trigger a short in-game cut-scene including various members of Class Zero. Some of these events are character-specific, and they usually tell you what character you need to trigger the Event.

Certain marked NPCs will have various Tasks for you to complete. Tasks are usually very straight forward and they don’t take away any time from your Mission Day countdown, unlike Events. Fetch-quest type Tasks can be completed without too much extra hassle, but Tasks where your party is asked to defeat certain enemies or numbers of enemies out in the field require you to use up the game-standard six hours for exploring the over-world in order to complete.

On that subject, here’s a tip that made managing Missions more enjoyable. Every town on the over-world map usually has at least one NPC with a Task for you to complete. However, if you are working on completing a hunting request, it is advisable to complete it before attempting any from townspeople. Towns can also hide unmarked NPCs with a hidden task for you to complete. Sometimes the task will be spread among multiple NPCs, so it’s I’d suggest talking to as many of them as possible. Certain towns also have salesmen who will buy any extra Phantoma off of your party for a pretty fair price, so be sure to remember where you find them!

If you’re a fan of the lore of Fabula Nova Crystallis, make sure to be on the lookout for L’Cie crystals lying around the game. You can turn them into a specific hidden character in a certain town to hear the last words of the L’Cie they belong to. There are more than 40 to collect and they can be found almost anywhere, offering an interesting nod to those who were engrossed by the universe introduced in FFXIII.

Aside from the main battle system, occasionally you will need to participate in territory wars in the over-world to capture territories and towns from the enemy. Mog’s tips will be essential for completing these scenarios effectively, in addition to tons of patience. This battle system takes away from the flow of gameplay, feeling completely different compared to the normal battle system. It can get a bit a bit frustrating if you don’t like or are not used to the style of gameplay.

Speaking of side modes, Chocobo breeding also makes a return in Type-0. When you visit the Chocobo Ranch through the central portal in Academia, you will eventually be given a sort of “starter set” of Chocobo. From there you can breed by using various types of greens as per the norm where the series mainstays are concerned. Different greens may yield new outcomes of Chocobo with interesting battle and travel specialties, so it’s best to stock up on greens where you can and try different combinations at the ranch every few in-game hours. Don’t worry too much about running out of birds to breed either. They can be found running wild on the over-world map, just waiting to be caught.

Final Fantasy Type-0 has a LOT of content. Like, a lot. Be prepared to spend many an hour at your console of choice searching caves for Task items or defeating wave after wave of random encounter enemies, harvesting rare Phantoma for upgrades. Personally, I felt pretty detached from the story as a whole, but found the battles, Missions and Tasks to be the most enjoyable part of the game. It seems that this installment tried to be a little bit of something for everybody, and no matter how you choose to spend your time in the world of Type-0, it’s definitely worth your 60 bucks.

Final Score- 4.25/5

‘RWBY’, ‘Hailoid’ And ‘Dead Fantasy’ Creator, Monty Oum, Passes Away At 32

by Megan HaleyFebruary 3, 2015

In a statement on their website, Rooster Teeth has confirmed that Monty Oum, the animator behind the popular Hailoid and Dead Fantasy fan films, in addition to creating the American made anime, RWBY, has passed away due to complications from an allergic reaction during minor surgery.

Oum first caught the attention of gamers when his Halo and Metroid crossover film, Haloid, went viral. From there, the artist got picked up as an animator for Midway, working on titles such as Afro Samurai, before eventually becoming an animator at Rooster Teeth, namely as a contributor to their popular Red vs. Blue series. After becoming known for his much acclaimed fan works, Oum finally split off into original properties, creating RWBY as part of the RT network, developing a cult following amongst the anime fandom.

His sudden death is one that’s felt throughout the gaming world, showing how much of a mark one can make with such little time with only a little imagination, some big ideas and a wealth of ambition. While I’ll always remember him as the one who made Dead Or Alive look as amazing as I always knew it was based on its deceptively deep lore, the mark he’s left us between his multiple projects will have a lasting effect, making us wonder how many amazing projects could have been born if he was affording another 32 years.

Oum is survived by his wife, Sheena. His family is accepting donations at their GoFundMe page to help cover outstanding medical bills. Outside of donating, Rooster Teeth said it best when writing,

“In lieu of flowers or gifts, we ask that you simply do something creative. Use your imagination to make the world a better place in any way that you can. If you know Monty like we do, then you know he would certainly be doing that if he were able to.”