Devil May Cry 5
Ready for more of the stylish hack-n-slash action game that continues to captivate? Dante’s back again trying to track down the source of a rash of attacks after being hired by the mysterious “V”. Nero is also back, working out of a mobile Devil May Cry agency housed in a dope van. The game brings back its kinetic gun/sword gameplay style with the added wrinkle of being able to use different Devil Breaker abilities with Nero’s robotic arm. These strong attacks are limited, but you can refill from items you find along the way. It’s an interesting addition since there’s a sort of economy for how desperate you are to use these strong attacks. And of course the huge boss fights are back. The demo of Devil May Cry 5 has you fighting a Goliath and has very Devil May Cry entry sequence. Fans of the series should look forward to the latest entry in the series.
You can catch Devil May Cry 5 this March 8th on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
Please enter the url to a YouTube video.Young Souls
Young Souls is the story of two teenagers abandoned by their parents. Not only do they feel outcast by their parents, but the townsfolk in their new home aren’t exactly welcoming. As long as they have each other though, everything should be fine. That is, of course, until they find a portal to another world and are the only ones who can save Earth. The game is a classic sidescroller beat-em-up where you start at the beginning of an area and beat enough bad guys to get to the treasure at the end. You can upgrade your gear with loot you find in each dungeon. The most remarkable thing about the game are the graphics — hand drawn 2D graphics and animations in a simple, but strong art style. It’s an absolute treat to look at. The gameplay is simple, but engaging and the only issues so far are lag spikes when in hectic combat. It’s not the greatest experience to try and pull off an attack, have the screen freeze for half a second, then be on the ground afterward. That being said, there’s not a release date for the game yet, so there’s still plenty of time to iron out the bugs. If you liked the Scott Pilgrim game or any classic beat-em-up, you’ll definitely love Young Souls.
Please enter the url to a YouTube video.
Magequit
Magequit is an arena brawler in which you and up to 9 of your friends face off as wizards trying to grow their beards the longest by eliminating competing wizards. Each round, wizards gain a new spell to use against their foes until every button has a spell mapped. When gaining a new spell, the wizard with the smallest beard gets to choose first, which has a rubberbanding effect, not allowing any player to get too far behind and have no hopes of catching up. The movement of the wizards is also relatively slow, adding tension and anxiousness to each match.
Magequit is a wonderful party game to add to any library, so much so that you should consider picking it up even if it’s just in early access right now.
Please enter the url to a YouTube video.Check out more of our coverage from PAX South 2019 or find additional convention coverage! Let us know what you think on Facebook or Twitter @SubCultured, and join in the conversation on our Discord channel!
Jump Force, Skellboy, A Fold Apart
Splitgate Arena Warfare, World of Horror, JackQuest, and Disjunction
Daku Con 2018 Photo Gallery
Daku Con 2018 Convention Recap!
PAX South 2019: Splitgate Arena Warfare, World of Horror, JackQuest, and Disjunction
PAX South 2019: Jump Force, Skellboy, A Fold Apart
Nan Desu Kan 2018 Photo Gallery
Minit
Devolver Digital’s been on the forefront of publishing interesting indie titles and their latest is no exception.
Minit is about as minimalist as you can get — NES level fidelity, black and white colors, and chiptune sounds. In this game, you only have one minute to live and must complete tasks within that one minute before dying and respawning at your house. Any key items you collect in that time will stay with you, so you’re able to unlock more and more of the game each time, but you still only have one minute.
It’s an adventure puzzler — think Link’s Awakening — with a cool twist that’s definitely worth watching.
Coming to PC and “maybe consoles” mid 2017.
Beat Cop
Beat Cop is the story of Jack Kelly, a detective who has been disgraced and thus demoted to a beat cop.
The player will write parking tickets, catch petty thieves, and try to make the neighborhood a better place. Or you can take bribes, encourage dissent, and get rich off of the suffering of the community all while trying to find out who framed you for murder.
The gameplay is like a point and click adventure game, except the game is always running even if you aren’t. It’s totally possible to be called to be in two places at once and just have to make a judgement call on which is more important. It’s a really interesting game that’s part Papers, Please, part LA Noire.
Beat Cop is coming to PC this spring.
Strikers Edge
Striker’s Edge is a game with a simple concept — throw projectiles at your opponent until they die.
The system is reminiscent of Windjammers in that there’s two sides separated by a barrier and you have to use your reaction time, prediction, and special abilities to try and outplay your opponent. There’s not a tacked on story mode, no city building side quest minigames, just intense 1v1 or 2v2 action.
Striker’s Edge is coming to PS4 and PC in 2017.
Want more PAX South 2017 coverage? All you had to do was ask!
Monster Boy, Warlock’s Tower, and Has Been Heroes
Prisma and The Masquerade Menace, Sundered, and RiME
Arms, Splatoon 2, and Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Aquaman is the Embodiment of “Fine”
REVIEW | The Punisher Season 2
Sub Cultured Heads to PAX South 2019!
REVIEW | The Batman Who Laughs – #1
Sub Cultured is Heading to DakuCon 2018!
Monster Boy
Monster Boy started as a Kickstarter project called “Flying Hamster.” Since then, the team welcomed Ryuichi Nishizawa and turned the game into Monster Boy, based off the Wonder Boy in Monster World, a mashup between the Wonder Boy and Monster World series. Please go look those up if you have no idea what we’re talking about.
The player takes control of Jin, a boy who can transform into five different monsters to solve puzzles and take down enemies with a variety of abilities. This platformer hearkens back to old school platformers in the 80s and 90s — simple gameplay, peppy music, bright visuals. Like a Saturday morning cartoon video game that you set your alarm for.
Monster Boy is simultaneously releasing on Nintendo Switch, PS4, and Xbox One later this year.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQ6DYSf5VNE
Warlock’s Tower
Some game developers try to emulate the style of classic pixel games and achieve something between nostalgia and amusement. Then you have a game like Warlock’s Tower, which just looks like it’s always been a Gameboy game and dares you to tell it otherwise.
The graphics of Warlock’s Tower look exactly like an original Gameboy game being played on the Super Gameboy player, complete with being able to change main color from green to orange yellow. All of that helps Warlock’s Tower in the charming area, but the underlying gameplay is really cool, too.
At it’s core, Warlock’s Tower is a puzzle game in which you take control of a mailman trying to avoid monsters and deliver a letter to the warlock of the titular tower. Each move you make takes away one life, but there are tokens on each floor to increase the number of lives you have. It’s a puzzle to be able to figure out which tokens to get at what time and using what directions. The game even has Twitch integration so you can interact with your chat while you play.
Warlock’s Tower is out now for PC.
Has Been Heroes
Has Been Heroes is a Roguelike inspired by Plants Vs. Zombies.
Oh, what, you need more?
In the game, you’ll take control of three characters, each with their own lane. Each character has a different number of attacks, attack power, and control of spells. It’s up to the player to time their attacks accurately, swap characters, and utilize spells cleverly to fight back hoards of enemies.
At first, it takes a bit to get used with character switching and the concept of enemies having points with which to block your attacks, but very quickly, you’re pausing the game less, attacking with one character, swapping another in after the shield is broken to follow up with a health attack, and using spells on the fly. It’s satisfying to feel in control, but also like your heart is in your throat trying to figure out if your abilities will be off cooldown before the next enemy reaches you.
Has Been Heroes comes out March 28th for Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One, and PC.
Want more PAX South 2017 coverage? All you had to do was ask!
Prisma and The Masquerade Menace, Sundered, and RiME
Minit, Beat Cop, and Strikers Edge
Arms, Splatoon 2, and Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Daku Con 2018 Photo Gallery
Daku Con 2018 Convention Recap!
PAX South 2019: Splitgate Arena Warfare, World of Horror, JackQuest, and Disjunction
PAX South 2019: Jump Force, Skellboy, A Fold Apart
PAX South 2019: Devil May Cry 5, Young Souls, Magequit
Nan Desu Kan 2018 Photo Gallery
Arms
If you watched our live stream of the Nintendo Switch announcement, you will know that we did not have a kind word to say about Arms.
After having played the demo at PAX South, I may as well be Shrek – because now I’m a believer. For a game with such a strangely picked title and looking like the least fun game on Wii Sports, Arms has no business being as good as it is. The controls are responsive, the customizing of characters feels good, but isn’t overwhelming, and above all else, the game is really fun. I also have a feeling the developers knew it was kind of a goofy game. I mean, it’s called Arms and one of the characters is called Master Mummy. Someone is in on this joke.
The game is also surprisingly deep with strategy, given how much jumping, dashing, cancelling, and your special can really make or break a fight. Overall, it’s quite fun and actually gives you a bit of a work out if you’re competitive. The only downside is you need two pairs of Joycons to play it, and jeepers, those are expensive.
Arms will be out at launch for the Nintendo Switch on March 3rd.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7s3UB_8dFM
Splatoon 2
Did you like the first Splatoon? Good, because Splatoon 2 is just like that, but slightly better.
Remember when Left 4 Dead came out, then a year later Left 4 Dead 2 came out and it was almost identical, but had better stuff in it? That’s exactly what’s happening here. Splatoon is a great game that just didn’t reach a wide enough audience because the Wii U’s sales were so poor, so it’s actually a great idea to add some stuff to it and release a sequel on the Switch where the user base will be, presumably, much larger.
There’s not much different between the two games, other than the addition of the Splat Dualies, dual pistols that focus more on PvP than painting the ground. They give you the ability to dodge roll, which is pretty powerful especially if your opponent is using the gyroscope and having to contort their torso just to see you.
Splatoon 2 is out this Summer for Nintendo Switch.
Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
It’s hard to say anything new about Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. That being said, videos don’t quite do it justice.
We’ve watched trailers and gameplay videos showing the opening scene of Link coming into the world for the first time. It was impressive seeing it the first few times, but actually experiencing it live, immersed by the sound, experiencing that transition into the cut scene is like the first time you realize Final Fantasy VII doesn’t just take place in Midgar. Seeing Death Mountain way in the distance and knowing you can go there is mind boggling.
The game isn’t without its faults — some button mapping could use some work and if we’re being nitpicky, the lines on the edges of textures can be a little jagged — but none of it even comes close to tainting the sense of adventure, freedom, and wonder felt from the first time you pick up the controller.
In the short demo, we only activated a tower, fought some bokoblins, and did part of the magnesis shrine, but the world felt alive. The concerns about it maybe being too open and sparse may still prove to be correct, but at the present, no Zelda game has given us this many goosebumps since Ocarina of Time.
You can play Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild on either Nintendo Switch or Wii U March 3rd.
Want more PAX South 2017 coverage? All you had to do was ask!
Monster Boy, Warlock’s Tower, and Has Been Heroes
Prisma and The Masquerade Menace, Sundered, and RiME
Minit, Beat Cop, and Strikers Edge
Daku Con 2018 Photo Gallery
Daku Con 2018 Convention Recap!
PAX South 2019: Splitgate Arena Warfare, World of Horror, JackQuest, and Disjunction
PAX South 2019: Jump Force, Skellboy, A Fold Apart
PAX South 2019: Devil May Cry 5, Young Souls, Magequit
Nan Desu Kan 2018 Photo Gallery
Little under two weeks away. It’s the very first time PAX has ventured this far south in the United States, and we are almost blue in the face from excitement. Those of you unfamiliar with PAX, or Penny Arcade Expo, should envision a video game geared convention started by the creators of popular webcomic, Penny Arcade, packed wall to wall with gaming enthusiasts and this is the first time it’s expanded outside of Prime (Seattle), and East (Boston).
In lieue of a string of celebrity guests, PAX conventions center around us, the gamers, with an exhibition hall full of publishers, developers, and creators of video games, table tops, or hey, if you just want to hang out, a BYOC (Bring Your Own Computer) area.
Sub Cultured will be there soaking in the first year of PAX South 2015. Four of us attending are of a varied level of gaming enthusiast, and as such, our excitement levels are all over the board, making it hard to pick just a few things to focus on, as you can tell from our list of “TO DO/SEE” things below! Come soak up some of the panels and be sure to say hi!
THURSDAY – 1/22
This may not be an official event, but on the off chance any of you happen to make it into San Antonio early, we INSIST that if you are of age, you join the bar crawl, aptly dubbed A Shot of Ice and Fire. Please. Do it for us. Pledge allegiance to whichever King, stab people in the back, and get drunk off your Westerosi ass in the name of video games!
Friday – 1/23
2025: When the Grannies Will Play – 10:30am – 11:30am – Armadillo Theatre
Haven’t you wondered what the gaming world will be like in the future? Maybe we’ll end up in a dystopian “Ready Player One” story? Maybe we will be on our proverbial front lawns preaching the ways of NES. Who knows.
Towerfall Ascension Tournament – 3:00pm – 5:00pm
Self explanatory, but it will be fun seeing people lose their utter shit at this game (think Smash Bros., but 8-bit, and with arrows!).
Take This: When to Step Away from the Screen – 5:30pm – 6:30pm – Bobcat Theatre
Tons of us live attached to our feeds, so it’s important to know when to take a breather! This panel will discuss how to recognize when being connected is doing more harm than good and provide practical advice on what to do when things get too intense.
Women in Geek Girl Media – 7:30pm – 8:30pm – Armadillo Theatre
Our very own Mia will be on this panel with a slew of wonderful, kick-ass ladies discussing the future of media.
Video Game Jeopardy – 8:30pm – 9:30pm – Bobcat Theatre
Rumored to be more difficult than those in the years past, sweet Colby is basically peeing himself at the thought of being there. (The rest of our team will mostly be yelling “Canada!” as any and all answers. Feel free to join us.)
CONCERT – 8:30pm – 12:00am – Main Theatre
Musical acts include Freezepop, MC Frontalot, and the Minibosses!
Saturday – 1/24
Video Game & Anime Music with NateWantsToBattle – 10:30am – 11:30am – Armadillo Theatre
YouTube sensation/musician Nate will wow us with his prowess in music as we all stumble sleepily to the early morning panel and serenade those of you willing to crawl out of your hotel beds at this ungodsly hour.
The L337 Life of YouTube Gamers – 12:00pm – 1:00pm – Armadillo Theatre
Top YouTube gaming stars reveal how to become a massive gaming channel, what it’s really like to play video games for a living, and what it takes to stay on top!
Polaris Presents: FriendZone Live – 1:00pm – 2:00pm – Bobcat Theatre
The popular weekly stream will go LIVE, and the gang will struggle to stay on topic.
CONCERT – 8:30pm – 12:00am – Main Theatre
Musical acts include Returners, OneUps, and Paul and Storm.
Sunday – 1/25
Love of Crafting -Texas Edition! – 10:00am – 11:00am – Bobcat Theatre
Video game related cosplay usually includes making a bunch of props, and we have no idea how to make them. Hopefully, this panel will help us out.
Inside Gearbox Software – 10:30am – 11:30am – Main Theatre
Texas natives Gearbox Software will be showing a special behind-the-scenes look at Borderlands and other upcoming Gearbox titles!
Games & Film: Bitter Enemies, Playful Friends – 3:00pm – 4:00pm – Armadillo Theatre
Not sure if we’ll ever recover from some truly bad video game movie adaptations, but with the announcement of the game heavy Ready Player One, this panel can shed some light on hopes and dreams for future big screen endeavors.
There’s yet to be much in the way of publisher booths announced, but with PAX East a mere two months after PAX South, there’s no way of knowing what is in store.
Are you guys planning on attending PAX South? There are still tickets available for the show running January 23rd through January 25th at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio, Texas. We hope to see you there, and if you’re so inclined, check us out on our Twitter feeds, where we will be updating as much as possible! Be sure to follow the main hub, @Sub_Cultured, for a little bit of everything! Leia (@ladyvader99) will be attending every panel she can fit into her schedule. Want to play an Instagram challenge? Go lurk Mia (@xomiamoore) and Kimmie (@killerr_queen) while they play the challenge on the con floor under the hashtag #PAXSoufSC!
Daku Con 2018 Photo Gallery
Daku Con 2018 Convention Recap!
PAX South 2019: Splitgate Arena Warfare, World of Horror, JackQuest, and Disjunction
PAX South 2019: Jump Force, Skellboy, A Fold Apart
PAX South 2019: Devil May Cry 5, Young Souls, Magequit
