Review: Liberation Maiden

Plot:
Liberation Maiden is a full-scale 3D sci-fi shooter created by critically acclaimed developer Goichi Suda. An invading country is stealing all of Japan’s energy. The player controls Shoko Ōzora (voiced by Kana Hanazawa), a high school girl who became President of Japan after her father’s assassination, as she enters the mech Kamui to fight back. It features animated cutscenes created by Studio BONES and the main theme song, “Day of Liberation” performed by Marina.


 

General Information:
Genre: Shooter, Action
Developer: Grasshopper Manufacture
Publisher: Level 5
Designer: Goichi Suda
Release Date: 3DS October 25, 2012, iOS March 7, 2013
Platform: Nintendo 3DS, iOS
ESRB: T
Website: Click Here

Review:
The other day I bought a Nintendo gift card, redeemed the code and logged into Nintendo eShop. That’s when I saw this title “Liberation Maiden” and checked out the trailer. I was very impressed with the animation so I bought the game. The reason why I’m telling you this story is because, I never heard about this title before that day. The game was cheap which surprised me. The quality of this game is pretty high, I mean as I started the first stage I had to go back and check the game price. It’s worth every dollar.

The graphics and animation were awesome. The mecha you pilot is incredible. I’ve never played a better pilot/Mecha/shooting game in my life. I might be exaggerating there, but for those that are familiar with good flight/shooter games, it’s as good as the Dreamcast games from that genre. I was a bit disappointed that the language was only English. I would’ve loved to hear the story in Japanese.
I almost forgot to mention the gameplay. The game is played by the touch screen and moving pad on 3DS. The game is short, it’s pretty easy to beat. Though there was this one stage that I struggled in, because I couldn’t find the enemy but once I did it was easy to finish. I strongly recommend this game. If you don’t have a 3DS, it’s now available on Apple App Store. The game is incredibly fun and so refreshing. It has amazing graphics and the gameplay feels old school which is the best! It’s a must get.

Rate: 4/5

P.S. For those that already played the game I’m happy to tell you that there is a sequel visual novel of the game titled Liberation Maiden: SIN and it will be released for PS3.

Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn – Patch 2.2 Preview + 55th Letter from the Producer

   Impatient altermaniacs, gather ‘round! As for those who would like the future to remain unspoiled, skip this post as it OOZES SPOILERS EVERYWHERE.

   In this post we’re going to pan over the all the wonderful additions to look forward to in the upcoming FFXIV patch, Through the Maelstrom, that is scheduled to grace us on March 27^th. It’s been a busy year for the development team, from the Japanese release of the PS4 version to the beta testing for the upcoming April14th release, the next phase of which to commence on April 4^th, and the Steam release to the upcoming F.A.T.E. convention in Sapporo, Japan (If you’re looking for a winter vacation this year, that would be the place to go.) and yet the good folks spared no effort in teasing us with previews of what’s to come. So, in the same spirit, this is aimed for all those who haven’t yet set foot in Eorzea as well as those who dared abandon it (I’m looking at you, Tanky) so there was never a better time than now to get into the game. Below is a brief summary of said attractions.

-        Lord of the Whorl: Leviathan Primal Battle

   Behold his majestic grandeur! The all-too-familiar esper is to be added to the list of primals to fell, along with a Hard and Extreme mode. Summoned by the Sahagin tribes of the Indigo Deep, there’s no telling how the battle will take place and we’re left with a whole lot of speculation. What is known is that the battle will require a party of 8 and we will be rewarded with pretty decent weapons, sneak-peeks of which and more details can be found ove~r yonde~r.

-        Hildibrand’s Side Story

   Our beloved detective of unbound charm and charisma and his endearing sidekick, Nashu, seem to have gone off on a plot tangent of their own after an evidently successful addition to the storyline last patch. Case of the Thieving Duelist will be the next episode of the duo’s epic misadventures and I am clueless as to how ex-zombie-Hildibrand will outdo himself after his last grand endeavor of helping a random old citizen remedy his tragic baldness…

-        New Dungeon: The Lost City of Amdapor

   An entirely new dungeon is set to be added! The Lost City of Amdapor will require a light party of four at lvl50 (avg. item min.lvl55) and having completed “The Ultimate Weapon” as a prerequisite. Whether or not it relates to the beautiful Amdapor Keep dungeon and how is, again, open to speculation.

-        New Hard Mode Dungeons: Halatali & Brayflox’s Longstop

   Pretty self-explanatory; Halatali and Longstop have been added to the list of pimped-up dungeons that are now available in hard mode. They have the same requirements and prerequisites as the Lost City of Amdapor, in addition to having completed the original difficulties, of course.

-        New Beast Tribes & Quests

   Praise the Twelve, we will longer be restricted to the rough desert terrains of the Amalj’aa or the frustrating deliveries of the ever-stoned hippies of the Sylphlands in our quests to amass tomestones and reputation. We will, in fact, be running trivial errands for not one, but two additional beast tribes. Yay! Both settlements located in La Noscea, the new beast tribes will be the Kobolds of the 789^th Order Dig and the Sahagins of Novv’s Nursery. As for the level requirements, the former’s will be 41 while the latter’s will be 44 and both can be unlocked in Limsa Lominsa. They’ll also have their own sets of rewards and designated vendors. Sneaky-peekies here.

-        Glamour Prisms

   I’m sure I speak for the majority when I say this is a much needed additional feature to the gear system! Glamour Prisms are the new items that will enable the long-awaited vanity feature, in which you will be able to don your favorite pieces of gear while preserving the stats of another. Producer/Director Yoshida was nice (and perverted) enough to demonstrate how this will work in a series of screenshots.

   According to the guide, the Base Item will be the currently-equipped gear whose attributes you want to keep while the Mirage Prism Item will be the gear that you appear to wear. After you’ve projected your mirage gear you will not need to keep it in your armory and can stash it away. However, it’s required to be at the same or a lower level than your base gear. I imagine, if implemented strategically, this will be greatly beneficial for PVPers who like to play dirty at the Wolf’s Den and put on a misleading disguise.

-        So Much More!

“master recipe books for crafters, gardening for free company estates, new hair styles, retainer ventures, big fishing, a challenge log, new mounts, and more. Disciples of War and Magic may also want to dust off their relic weapons if they aren't still using them, as an opportunity to unlock their true powers will present itself.” So exciting! More details on the patch and future development plans can be viewed in the script to the latest Letter from the Producer. Players should go ahead and finish up their current quests, get their relics and their affairs in order and prepare for a host of new content come the 27^th. I for one have tragically fallen behind and only recently managed to get my first Allagan swag…so here’s to a weekend of hardcore dungeon raiding!

Cheers and happy gaming,

your fellow maniac

Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn - Little Ladies Day

   Ever since the launch of FFXIV 2.0 last September, it seems as though the Squeenix team is bent on keeping us consistently plastered to our screens, getting one event over with only to be met with another and, as if that wasn't enough, the patches just keep on coming. There’s never a dull moment in Eorzea!

*no endorsement has taken place in this post whatsoever*

   The latest of such attractions happens to be the brand-but-not-exactly-new annual Little Ladies’ Day, an event perhaps familiar to some players. It seems to be the Eorzean equivalent to either Hinamatsuri (Ladies' Festival) or Hanami (Flower Festival) or a combination of both. Although, having seen different events in the game on Christmas and New Year's celebrations, it's quite possible this current event will focus on the "ladies" side and there will be another "floral" event soon enough. Either way, this was a most visually aesthetic event, with charming cherry blossom trees adorning the streets of the three major cities and an air of elegance all around.

   Whatwith the aforementioned frequency of events and equally demanding life events I was only able to start fairly late into the event so there’s very little need for an in-depth guide to the quests and I’ll keep it simple. Going in for the first quest in Old Gridania, I noticed the designated vendor had pretty much all event items available from the start so it wasn't the gotta-get-em-all type of event like the past Heavensturn celebration event where you went slaving away for random never-again-worn horse heads.

   What you do end up earning, however, is this extremely adorable dolled up little shrine-maiden-looking wind-up to add to your collection of kawaii minions.

   And of course, like all previous events, it comes with an official screenshot contest, entries for which can be viewed here, BUT the prize will not be the same old dreaded Ahriman choker! Instead, it'll be a Mandragora choker...hah! So go get shutter-happy and snap some shots.

Intro: Plug In & Play Nice!

   Here's to a new blog and the founding of a precious baby group. We Altermaniacs are a growing community of gamers, otakus and techies who share common principles of mature, pleasant, and most importantly unprejudiced gaming. We believe that fun should not entail aggression against a certain group of people and that gaming is as much of a social experience as real life and should therefore be conducted as such. In other words, how you play is who you are. So play hard, play happy and play nice :)

   Future goals involve conventions, competitions, event coverage and hopefully much more, so be sure to subscribe and stay tuned!