It’s the 2D action RPG we talked about a while ago, back when it was on Kickstarter.
Aurion’s Kickstarter campaign was successful, and it’s available now on Steam! (When it comes to my experience with crowd-funded games, here’s another success for the list.)
Back when Aurion was on Kickstarter, I played through the first half of the demo to get a feel for it. Even though I was using the somewhat-awkward keyboard controls, it was a lot of fun.
And now, thanks to Tales of Zestiria (see, good things have come from it), I have a controller I can use when I’m ready for my full Aurion playthrough!
It’s great to see a game I supported come to life, and don’t forget that Aurion’s combat style is both reminiscent of fighting games and inspired by the classic 2D Tales games… which I also still need to play. One thing at a time!
What do you think of Aurion: Legacy of the Kori-Odan? Are you planning to play it?
In unrelated news, if you never got to read my comedy novella The Accidental Zombie, you can now pre-order the new and improved version, The Zombie Mishap.
Tales of Berseria will be out on August 18 in Japan, and its cover has been revealed.
Personally, I love how this looks and hope the English box art is similar. The close-up reminds me of Tales of Destiny, which I still need to play.
Berseria will have three pre-order bonuses, at least for its Japanese release. One is a behind-the-scenes look at the game involving the voice actors, and we don’t know the other two yet. (Maybe it will have tiered bonuses like Zestiria did on PC?)
First print copies will also come with a code to download “Special Dramatic Chat: Melon Gumi Chapter,” which sounds like it’s a special bonus skit.
Limited and special editions of Berseria were also announced for Japan.
To go with all this information, we’ve got a new trailer to watch, too! It shares many elements of the previous trailer, but is much longer. That one made me hope Berseria will patch up the problems with Zestiria’s lore, and now I have more reason than ever to believe that.
Let’s take a look.
It might also interest some fans to know that Hideo Baba is not the producer of Tales of Berseria, although he’s still credited as the IP General Producer and the IP Supervisor.
I don’t know if Baba is really to blame for why many fans feel the series has lost something, but it’ll be interesting to see if Berseria feels different without him.
Anyway, there are a few new faces in this trailer, including one who was recently revealed as a party member.
He’s a 1000-year-old Malak, a pirate who serves as deputy to Aifread, and he’s known as the “God of Death.” Oh, and his name is Eizen.
Yes. That Eizen.
If you’ve played Tales of Zestiria, you already know a bit about Eizen and probably have suspicions about what will happen. This should be interesting… and it’s another sign Berseria may repair Zestiria’s holes.
See, most of my issues with Zestiria involved the story feeling rushed: character motivations, plot points, and backstory details left unexplained.
Between Artorius and Eizen, we should at least get a few answers. It seems like Zaveid will put in an appearance, perhaps to resolve his loose ends, as well.
And if Eizen is a Malak known as the “God of Death,” could we even get expanded lore on the “angel of death” concept Zestiria never bothered to detail?
It makes me wonder if the writers cannibalized Zestiria’s story to save bits for Berseria… but either way, I’m feeling hopeful Berseria will fix Zestiria’s mistakes. We’ll have a better idea in August, once it’s out in Japan.
When I talked about Kingdom Hearts Unchained χ last Wednesday, I said I’d “take a quick peek” when it came out.
And I did.
Or you know, maybe I played it for seven hours.
There is something very addicting about Kingdom Hearts Unchained χ, even if the story so far has slowly meandered through Disney worlds without much else.
It doesn’t bog you down with complicated mechanics like a lot of mobile RPGs do. Gameplay is simple, but fun.
The missions are short, too, so short it’s easy to keep saying “Just one more…”
And it also avoids the forced waiting many mobile games love so much.
Like those games, Unchained χ has energy (AP) you spend to play levels, and it recharges over time. Unlike those games, which often make earning energy a pain to encourage you to spend money, Unchained χ is extremely friendly about it.
Early missions don’t cost much AP. Your AP refills when you level up, which is often. You also increase your maximum AP through use of the Avatar Coins earned from missions, which makes it easier to do more missions… and to celebrate the game’s English release, missions cost half the normal amount of AP.
The result? So far the only time I worried about AP was when I tried special event missions early on. Otherwise, Kingdom Hearts Unchained χ has been more than happy for me to keep playing and playing…
Just in case it remembers it’s part of a larger story I don’t even want hints of spoilers for, I’ll stop soon.
Remember Aurion: Legacy of the Kori-Odan?
