Operation Backlog Completion 2026

Trials of Mana Demo Out Now, Resident Evil 3 Demo Out Tomorrow

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Mar 182020
 

A week ago we talked about the Final Fantasy VII Remake demo, but that isn’t the only one of April’s big-name releases giving fans an early taste of the gameplay.

The Trials of Mana remake, which is due out on April 24, has a demo available now from Steam, PSN, and the eShop.

I have the Switch version of the demo downloading even as I write this. I’ve only played one Mana game, Sword of Mana on the GBA, although I did get the recent collection of the original trilogy. The Trials of Mana remake looks pretty good, so I’m excited to give the demo a try and see how it feels.

Meanwhile, Resident Evil 3 is also getting a demo tonight/tomorrow. It looks like the PSN and Xbox release of the demo will be earlier than the PC version, and it’s already available in New Zealand and Australia.

Unlike the Resident Evil 2 remake demo, it doesn’t appear this one is limited in any way. I’m even more excited to try this demo once it’s available. RE2make got me hyped for this remake, but I’m still a little nervous that Resident Evil 3’s greater focus on action might come on too strong. Here’s hoping the demo feels like a survival horror game. I’m hoping for some locked doors and puzzles.

(Now that I think about it, it’s interesting that April has 3 high-profile remakes coming out, all with demos.)

Are you planning to play either the Trials of Mana demo or the Resident Evil 3 remake demo (or both)? Have you already played them? Share your thoughts in the comments!

New Final Fantasy VII Remake Screenshots: Honeybee Inn, New Characters, and More!

 Video games  2 Responses »
Mar 162020
 

Today, Square Enix revealed a bunch of new Final Fantasy VII Remake screenshots, as well as some new details.

The major focus of this update is the Wall Market area and the Honey Bee Inn, although the post starts out with new images of Tseng, including his render.

From there it details Don Corneo and then several new characters. Andrea Rhodea, who was shown in past trailers, is the owner of the Honeybee Inn, as well as a dancer. He has “the authority to approve women for Corneo’s auditions.” The next new character is Leslie Kyle, who works for Don Corneo. Next is Madam M, a woman who runs a hand-massage parlor in Wall Market and also has the authority to approve women for the don’s auditions. Finally, the last new character introduced is Chocobo Sam, a Wall Market Chocobo handler and gambler who can also approve women for the auditions.

That repeated mention of characters who can approve women for Don Corneo’s auditions strikes me as a pretty interesting detail. It makes me wonder if you’ll need to pick one of the three to impress in order to see Corneo.

Of course, it could make you meet all of their approval or simply a world-building detail, but right now I’m imagining a scenario where you do quests to help out Andrea Rhodea, Madam M, or Chocobo Sam in exchange for being approved.

The next section of the post talks about Barrett’s combat abilities and the Enemy Skill Materia, which gives you a chance to learn enemy abilities.

And then it’s on to more beautiful, dazzling screenshots!

Several screenshots of Wall Market, the introduction of the Corneo Colosseum, and of course several screenshots of the Honeybee Inn, as well as Tifa, Aerith, and Cloud all dressed up round out this section of the article.

All of these areas look so beautiful, and I can’t wait to explore them in-game.

The final screenshots are of the Beginner’s Hall, the new Jukebox feature that lets you play songs you acquire, and the Leviathan summon.

Final Fantasy VII Remake looks great, and now it’s less than a month away. I’m excited to see what the rest of the game has in store (and I was never even a big fan of Midgar). What do you think about the latest Final Fantasy VII Remake screenshots and details?

I Finally Played All the Final Fantasy XV DLC Episodes

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Mar 132020
 

Amid last month’s flurry of romance games, I also took the time to finally play something else: the rest of the Final Fantasy XV DLC!

I played Episode Prompto right when it launched, but even though I always intended to buy and play Episode Ignis and Episode Ardyn, I never got around to it.

Then Final Fantasy XV came to Game Pass for PC with all its DLC included, so I decided this was the best opportunity to catch up.

And since I had all the DLC in my hands, why not start with Episode Gladiolus after all?

Episode Gladiolus

I originally skipped Episode Gladiolus because it didn’t interest me, and it’s by far the weakest of Final Fantasy XV’s DLC. There’s not much story here, just Gladio fighting Gilgamesh to become stronger. It wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t great. The best part was probably its remix of Battle at the Big Bridge.

Episode Ignis

Then I moved on to Episode Ignis, which I was especially looking forward to since Ignis is my favorite of the four Final Fantasy XV protagonists.

Episode Ignis has more of a focus on story, and it also isn’t as linear as Episode Gladiolus, instead giving you a city to explore, reclaim sectors of, and find treasure in. Exploring the city was pretty fun, and the story had some epic moments. Some of the story content reminded me again of how strange certain storytelling gaps in the main game felt, but Episode Ignis on its own was awesome and well worth playing.

Episode Ardyn

Finally, it was time to play Episode Ardyn. This is the one I was most excited for, and learning Episode Ardyn was included with the game on Game Pass was the tipping point that made me finally play the DLC.

Episode Ardyn has an even heavier focus on story and lore than Episode Ignis did. It lays out more details about the world and its history and focuses on Ardyn’s change into the villain we know him as. Some parts felt a little rushed, and I think it would have greatly benefited from a longer length. Pretty much everything in Episode Ardyn’s story made me say, “This would be much more effective if it was more gradual.” It’s still enjoyable in this shortened form, but it makes me think about what could have been.

Oh, and it gets bonus points for Verstael. Young Verstael is everything I wanted from him.

He’s even better here than he was in Episode Prompto. I don’t understand how the main game squandered Verstael and all his mad scientist potential, but he makes up for it here.

Anyway, like Episode Ignis, Episode Ardyn does eventually put you in a more open area where you can battle enemies and capture sectors. It was really a lot of fun, and I’d rank it at the top of all the DLC.

I’m happy I finally played the rest of Final Fantasy XV’s DLC, and my final ranking would be Episode Ardyn > Episode Ignis > Episode Prompto > Episode Gladiolus. Have you played the Final Fantasy XV DLC episodes? Which was your favorite?

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