By Anonymous on Apr 04, 2015 11:44 pm
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare players have killed 2,591,920,137 zombies in the game's Exo Zombies mode, developer Sledgehammer has announced. Sledgehammer revealed the number in a new infographic that includes a bunch of other interesting figures collected from the game since it was released in November 3, 2014. For example, if you've played the game's multiplayer mode you probably could have guessed that the most popular weapon type of choice among players is the assault rifle, followed by SMG, heavy, and sniper weapons. Since launch, players have used 2,249,728,574 grenades. 44 percent of those were regular frag grenades, followed by semtex grenades, which accounted for 35 percent. Players have also boosted enough times to circumnavigate the earth 14,000 times. You can find the full infographic below. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare's second expansion, Ascendance, is available now across Xbox One and Xbox 360. The add-on--which includes new maps, weapons, zombies content, and more--will be available for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, and PC in about one month, in accordance with Microsoft's exclusivity arrangement with Activision. 
By Anonymous on Apr 04, 2015 10:27 pm
A 3D artist that goes by the name Game time has created a beautiful homage to the first BioShock in Crytek's CryEngine 3. The short scene, which you can watch in the video above, recreates the opening of the game, when the player first enters the underwater city of Rapture through a lighthouse in the middle of the ocean. The first BioShock was released in 2007, and was created with a heavily modified version of Unreal Engine 2.5. Needles to say, CryEngine 3, which was released in 2009 and is still used today to power games like Evolve and Star Citizen, gives BioShock a serious visual upgrade. Now that I've seen it, I kind of want a remastered BioShock. "I loved working on this project, because it forced me to push myself further, having to learn Zbrush for the sculptures and becoming more involved with CryEngine's Trackview, Flowgraph and audio systems," Gametime said on the project's Art Station page. "I would like to further push this scene in the future by involving the player into the animations and extend the scene to Rapture itself." You can find more high quality images of the scene here.
By Anonymous on Apr 04, 2015 10:02 pm
If you watch any TV or online videos, odds are that you've seen one of the many advertisements for Game of War: Fire Age featuring Kate Upton. Those ads would appear to be a massive success, as the game now generates daily revenue of about $1 million, according to the LA Times. The ads, featuring a Game of Thrones-y vibe and Kate Upton in a variety of low-cut outfits doing things like riding a horse or taking a bath, first showed up in November. They've since gone on to be aired more than 9,000 times, often during sporting events (as with the Super Bowl ad above) and other programming with heavy male viewership. According to developer Machine Zone, the free-to-play game's in-app purchases--which range in price up to $100--have doubled since the advertising campaign started. This has come at a cost, as ad-tracking firm ISpot.tv estimates the airtime's price as $80 million. Still, they've helped Game of War to stand out on the extremely crowded iOS and Google Play app stores, and to take hold of the second spot on the iOS App Store's chart for highest grossing games. It even topped Clash of Clans at one point to take the top spot, according to AppShopper, making it the only other game that can claim that recently. Game of War is a multiplayer strategy game that plays similarly to Clash of Clans, allowing you to build an empire, team up with friends, and battle against other players. It was originally released back in July 2013.
By Anonymous on Apr 04, 2015 09:33 pm
 Microsoft has announced that it will cease production of Kinect for Windows v2 sensors, but don't worry. The company will still support the device and you'll still be able to buy an Xbox One Kinect sensor and connect it to your PC with the $50 adapter Microsoft announced in October last year. "Microsoft remains committed to Kinect as a development platform on both Xbox and Windows," the company said. "So while we are no longer producing the Kinect for Windows v2 sensor, we want to assure developers who are currently using it that our support for the Kinect for Windows v2 sensor remains unchanged and that they can continue to use their sensor." The adapter is now available through the Microsoft Store. Combined with the $150 price of a standalone Xbox One Kinect brings the total price ($200) in line with that of the standalone Kinect for Windows v2 sensor. You'll get an equivalent experience no matter how you get Kinect hooked up to your computer, though you will need a USB 3.0 port and Windows 8 in order to make it happen. "We are excited to continue working with the developer community to create and deploy applications that allow users to interact naturally with computers through gestures and speech, and continue to see the Kinect sensor inspire vibrant and innovative commercial experiences in multiple industries, including retail, education, healthcare, education, and manufacturing," Microsoft said.
By Anonymous on Apr 04, 2015 09:30 pm
 From ladder attacks, to regaining health from dead enemies, to breaking out of grabs--here are seven advanced tips to help you truly master Bloodborne.
By Anonymous on Apr 04, 2015 09:30 pm
Whether or not you've already finished Bloodborne and are starting your New Game + playthrough, there is a good chance some of the game's more obscure mechanics may have passed you by. As with From Software's previous games, the heady days surrounding the release of Bloodborne are when the community experiments and makes exciting discoveries not detailed in any instruction manual or walkthrough. Beginner's tips have already been well covered with the likes of this starter guide, so instead, here are some more advanced tips that will help you gain further mastery over Bloodborne's combat. Note: This article spoils certain areas and enemy types from the later half of the game.
 1. You can attack while climbing a ladderThis is simple to pull off, but I wouldn't be surprised if you've never tried. Just press R1 to punch upward, or R2 to kick downward. It's rare that you'll ever need to use this, since NPCs don't seem to climb ladders all that often, but if you get into a PVP stoush over climbing space, this will definitely come in handy. Just don't run out of stamina while on the ladder, or you'll fall to your death.
 2. Your Trick Weapon transformation is also an attackThough pressing L1 to transform your Trick Weapon while idle looks cool, it's even cooler when you fluidly integrate that transformation into a combo. If you're in the middle of striking an enemy, you can press L1 to perform an attack that also transforms your weapon into its other mode at the same time. This is especially useful if the distance between you and the enemy suddenly changes, and you don't want to let up your barrage of strikes.
 3. You can restore the health lost from blood bulletsIf you press up on the D-pad, you can create some extra bullets from your own blood at the cost of a portion of your health. However, that health lost has Bloodborne's regain system applied to it--which means you can restore most of that health if you attack any nearby enemy immediately after creating those blood bullets. Free ammo is always useful!
 4. You can add gestures to your notesWhen using the Notebook to jot down a note, press R1 a couple of times to find more options. You can add a second set of words to your note, and you can also add a gesture which other players will see in spectral form when reading your note. I've found that adding the "Point" gesture is most useful here, because it actually saves the direction you're looking in when you start writing the note. As such, it's possible to literally point out secrets and specific pathways for other players if you line yourself up just right when writing a note.
 5. You can break out of grab attacksAround the time you reach the Forbidden Woods, you'll encounter enemies that grab you and deal a lot of damage while you're unable to move. If you quickly alternate between pressing L2 and R2, you can break out of the grab slightly quicker. Additionally, you'll be in a different state when breaking out of the grab. Without pressing L2 and R2, you'll end up knocked to the ground and it takes seconds to get back up. If you do press L2 and R2, you'll throw the enemy off you and will immediately be able to take action.
 6. You can reassign the controlsThanks to the PS4's 2.50 System Software Update, you can now reassign every button on the DualShock 4 controller. This is especially useful for Bloodborne, because it means you can move the sprint/dodge button from circle over to L1. Personally, I've always found it frustrating that I can't sprint and control the camera in the Souls series, because I need to take my thumb off the right stick to hit circle--but now I can! It makes even more sense to do this in Bloodborne because many of the bosses are best tackled without locking onto them, so having full camera and sprint control makes these battles more bearable.
 7. You can regain health from dying enemiesBloodborne's regain system allows you to restore health by immediately attacking an enemy. For each successful strike, you'll restore a little bit of HP. It's natural to assume that once the enemy you're attacking dies, you'll no longer be able to siphon health from it--but if the regain system is still active, that's not the case. Enemies who are performing their death animation can still be attacked to regain health. So, if it's safe to, keep whacking away at collapsing corpses to maximise your use of the regain system.
By Anonymous on Apr 04, 2015 09:30 pm
The scene: it's right after the latest Nintendo Direct. I'm hunched over my laptop, humming with excitement over trailers for new Fire Emblem games. I love Fire Emblem. Fire Emblem: The Blazing Sword was my first tactical role-playing game. I devoured every game in the series. There were four years between the last two Fire Emblem games released in North America. I played 2013's Fire Emblem: Awakening like someone who had spent years trudging through the driest desert and suddenly came upon water. I played it through three times, only once on Classic permadeath mode, because I accidentally lost Donnel and there was no way in hell I was forging ahead without him and decided I couldn't bear to lose anyone else. I am not a collector. I'm known to purchase the rare oddity of merchandise connected to video games and franchises I like, but I'm never of the mind to break the bank on them. I never cared for amiibo, but now they fill me with rage. It is the rage of someone who has loved and lost, through denial. If you don't care about amiibo, it's easy to dismiss others' fervor for them. That is, until you catch that fervor against your will.  I knew Lucina and Robin, the Fire Emblem amiibo, were coming for months. I had already missed out on Marth and Ike the first time around, because I was so swamped with life things that I missed pre-order windows. I eventually shrugged it off, thinking, "I don't need to spend $26 on these when I bills to pay." Right? RIGHT? Back to the present. The morning after the Nintendo Direct I walk into work at nine. My desk neighbor, editor Peter Brown, tells me that GameStop pre-orders for the new amiibo start at noon. He already has the GameStop webpage open to the amiibo section. I mean, there's no harm in just pre-ordering them. I'll pop the site open around noon, grab a Robin and Lucina, and then learn how to main them in Smash to justify the purchase. No big deal. They look pretty, I love the game, I love the characters, so what's $26, right? But also going up for pre-order at noon was Ness, a GameStop exclusive amiibo. I do love Earthbound... If I'm going to buy two amiibo, I might as well through a third on there. Fast forward four hours. Peter and I are tense in our seats, frantically refreshing a web page that has been displaying a maintenance message for an hour. Peter is quiet. I am a loud, angry mess, shouting at my screen, groaning, frantically checking NeoGAF and the amiibo subreddit and Twitter for news of what's going on. People are already Tweeting that Lucina and Robin are completely sold out. I feel sick. I shout across the office to News Editor Justin Haywald, who is having the same problem. He stares sullenly at the broken GameStop webpage, shaking his head. I refresh Twitter again. I send my boyfriend this text message:  But do I REALLY not care anymore? In four hours I went from "maybe I would like these tiny plastic toys" to "I HATE EVERYTHING BECAUSE I CAN'T HAVE THESE TINY PLASTIC TOYS." But why? I'm normally a reasonable human being. But in the span of a morning, I went from feeling indifferent to amiibo to utterly outraged that I could not purchase the ones I want. Most amiibo buyers fall into three types of categories: hardcode collectors that want them all, hardcore fans of certain franchises that just want one or two figures, and the casual who aren't that picky. I was firmly in the latter camp until the announcement of the Yoshi Yarn amiibo, which fueled my interest in the Fire Emblem amiibo and sent me into a tailspin of need. The people in the hardcore collectors and fans camps are the ones waiting outside brick-and-mortar retailers at 8 a.m. for a noon pre-order because this is their passion: they collect, it is their hobby. These tiny rare things enrich their lives. I argue that the hardcore collectors are more intense than the hardcore fans, as the hardcore fans aren't the ones spending $13 a pop on 50-plus amiibo. But why are some of them so hard to find? Nintendo only manufactures a certain number of each amiibo. Therefore pre-orders of amiibo act differently than other pre-orders. Horribly, sadly, differently. Normally pre-orders are a way to inform retailers and companies how many units of a certain product to order. If the demand is there, the supply will increase. But with amiibo, it's like a restaurant reservation; there are a limited number of tables to sit at, so if you didn't make reservations fast enough won't be getting a fancy dinner that day, or in this case a tiny plastic toy. Last December, Nintendo issued a statement saying the scarcity of some characters is deliberate. "We will aim for certain amiibo to always be available. These will be for our most popular characters like Mario and Link," reads the statement. "Due to shelf space constraints, other figures likely will not return to the market once they have sold through their initial shipment." Then and now, Nintendo has offered no further details on what characters will be harder to find. I think Nintendo is failing to read its audience here. It's clear there's a high demand for all amiibo. Isn't the idea to get these out to the most number of people, so more Nintendo fans can have the full experience? People may be more willing to buy a game if they also have access to the amiibo that go with it. Isn't it better to enrich someone's playtime with Code Name: STEAM by making sure they can access Marth and Lucina amiibo? Wouldn't it just make more money for Nintendo if everyone who owned Super Smash Bros. could also buy the Villager and Rosalina? You would think it would be better if more people could play the game to its fullest limits. Hold onto your butts.Another thing that bothers me a bit about this whole amiibo craze: Hardcore collectors purchase amiibo and keep them in their boxes. They are never played with. And for every collector with an amiibo pristine in his box, there is a kid out there who really wanted to play Smash with a Fox or Ike amiibo and can't, because they don't have hundreds of dollars to drop on eBay. Makes you feel kind of guilty, doesn't it? It's like that line from Toy Story: Toys are meant to be played with. It makes the whole thing seem really gross. I'm watching grown adults waste their energy on chasing toys; I'm watching them lose their minds on Twitter because they can't buy a Greninja figure. I keep thinking about the little kids at home that just want to play Smash Bros. with Greninja and can't because they didn't get in line at a GameStop at 6 a.m. to get one. The whole situation is weird to me. I'm not blaming collectors, but I do think eight-year-olds are probably less understanding about supply and demand woes. There are two ways to point blame here. Nintendo's been feeding both the Wii U and 3DS with a steady stream of releases the past year, and it looks like 2015 and 2016 could be more great years for software. The company has embraced DLC, launched an online store, and been forward-facing in a lot of its more recent endeavors as far as consumers are concerned. Except when it comes to rare goods. Remember what happened with the Majora's Mask New 3DS XL? Nintendo was mum after the disaster, and they've been mum about the Wave 4 woes as well. There's aren't enough amiibo to go around, and Nintendo seems oblivious to this, like they genuinely don't know or care that their fans climbing over one another for tiny plastic versions of their most beloved characters.
As for that second point of blame, that's us. We did this. We did this to ourselves and we love it. We rail against Nintendo and retailers for squeezing us out of buying these toys, and we readily do it again and again and again. We allow this to happen. We stand in pre-order lines for hours, huffing and puffing about the wait and how we took off work to wait the entire time. We crazily refresh websites for hours, crashing an entire company system with our hunger for tiny Charizards. The amiibo fever exists because we make it so, passing it along to one another like kids on the playground pass mono. Stop placing your lives on hold to pre-order a plastic figure the size of your middle finger. That figure won't put bacon on the table or keep you warm at night. Stop waiting in lines for hours and just go to the store to get them when it's convenient for you; don't feed the hysteria. But back to me. At 3 p.m. I gave up hope that I would get my Lucina and Robin amiibo. When Justin told me he was planning to get up at 4 a.m. for the Toys R Us online pre-orders, I sadly responded that I would not be joining him. In one day I had caught amiibo fever and completely burned it out, discouraged and disgusted at myself. The day after the amiibo fiasco, I am exhausted. I don't own any amiibo and I don't know that I will ever consider purchasing one ever again, even if I think it's a cool addition to a game I own. I can't bring myself care as deeply as I know other people do, because the heinous, enthusiasm-killing atmosphere surrounding the amiibo market has driven me away. Nintendo is limiting its amiibo market by limiting access to the amiibo people want; that's a lot of sad fans and a lot of dollars lost. People want certain amiibo because they love certain series, because Nintendo has created something that they enjoy and adore and they want to deepen their connection to that franchise. By deliberately making fans fight for a chance to buy an amiibo, you're dividing the community and your audience. So please: don't get so riled up over amiibo. Although if anyone bought an extra Lucina, I will happily take it off your hands.
By Anonymous on Apr 04, 2015 09:30 pm
 After spending some time with Slenderman: The Arrival and Slenderman: The Eight Pages Mary researches the beginnings of the faceless figure and what makes him so creepy.
By Anonymous on Apr 04, 2015 09:17 pm
 Video game accessory maker Hyperkin has announced plans to release a new device that will essentially turn your smartphone into a Game Boy Color. It works quite simply: Plug your iPhone 6 Plus (and, in the future, other smartphones) into the Smart Boy and it'll allow you to play Game Boy and Game Boy Colors cartridges. The Smart Boy is equipped with the standard Game Boy set of buttons, while the phone's screen is used to display the game. The Smart Boy has a built-in battery that can be charged by the phone; with a 6 Plus, gameplay is said to last for five hours. The Smart Boy was originally announced earlier this week as an apparent April Fools' joke, but is now set to become a real thing due to the strong response to its reveal. "A lot of you were speculating that the Smart Boy is an April Fools' Joke. Well, it sort of was," Hyperkin wrote on its Facebook page. "We 'leaked' it with the initial intent of testing the market, seeing whether or not it should be something we'd actually make, under the guise of an April Fools' Joke. "Looks like you awesome folks ACTUALLY WANT IT, so the Smart Boy is now in development! Thank you all for your enthusiastic responses!" The original announcement notes that the details and image above are for a conceptual design, meaning features could change between now and the time it's released. As for when that will be, or how much it will cost, there's currently no word. It's also unclear what Nintendo's reaction will be to this. We know it likes to protect its intellectual property, but Hyperkin already offers the well-regarded Retron 5, a device that allows you to play games from a number of systems--NES, SNES, Game Boy, Genesis, and more--on your TV in high definition. 
By Anonymous on Apr 04, 2015 09:04 pm
The closed beta test for StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void kicked off earlier this week, and you might very well be in without realizing it. At this stage of the beta, Blizzard won't be sending out beta keys. Instead, it says it'll directly provide access to Battle.net accounts, something which won't necessarily provide you with any indication that you're in. Luckily, there's an easy way to check. In the Battle.net desktop app, simply click on the region-selection drop-down menu (located just above the Play button) and look to see if you have anything listed under an "In Development" section. If so, your account has been given the go-ahead to start putting Legacy of the Void through its paces. If you aren't in, you should make sure that you've indicated that you're interested in StarCraft betas on your Battle.net profile (something you can also do for Blizzard's other franchises). Beyond that, there's little you can do to help your chances of getting in--testers are selected based on things like systems specs, recent StarCraft II activity, and luck. In the future, there will be giveaways that provide access. Alternatively, if you bought a ticket to BlizzCon (the event or a Virtual Ticket) or the StarCraft II WCS 2014 Global Finals, you'll be getting "priority access" before people who have simply indicated they're interested in the beta. Because beta keys aren't being distributed right now, only the account that bought tickets to any of the aforementioned events will get access, even if you bought multiple tickets. The lack of beta keys also means one other thing: If you're notified about a way to receive one, it's a scam. There's no time table for how long the beta will run for. Even if you don't get in, those who do have access are free to stream and talk about the experience, so there won't be any shortage of details to come in the weeks and months ahead.
By Anonymous on Apr 04, 2015 08:30 pm
 Block N Load draws from games like Minecraft, Team Fortress 2, and League of Legends to create a high energy shooter built around base defense and creative construction.
By Anonymous on Apr 04, 2015 08:06 pm
Recently, Grand Theft Auto V players discovered an exploit that allowed them to bring some of the game's single-player-only cars into the game's online mode, but Rockstar has put an explosive end to this practice. As first discovered by Reddit, Rockstar recently patched the game to make the Duke O'Death vehicle explode as soon as you get into it. The armored muscle car is an overpowered vehicle from the game's story mode, but you can only drive it in the online mode by taking advantage of the exploit. As you can see in the video above uploaded to YouTube by xKoingWolfx, it's a satisfying method to deal with cheaters. It'll be interesting to see if players discover a whole new set of exploits once the game hits PC on April 14. If you're looking forward to that version, you can pre-load GTA V on PC starting April 7.
By Anonymous on Apr 04, 2015 07:54 pm
If you didn't get your hands on the Bloodborne Collector's Edition but still want to be able to listen to the soundtrack, you'll be able to buy it later this month. Sony has announced that Bloodborne's soundtrack will be released on April 21. It'll be available both digitally on Sumthing.com for $10 (or $.99 per track) and on CD, the latter of which may be of interest even to Collector's Edition buyers, who only received a downloadable version of the soundtrack. The album is comprised of 21 tracks (preview them all on Sumthing's website) from the game's score totaling almost 70 minutes. Its composers include Yuka Kitamura (Dark Souls II), Tsukasa Saitoh, and Nobuyoshi Suzuki, in addition to two guest composers: Ryan Amon (Elysium) and Michael Wandmacher (Twisted Metal). The performances were done by a 65-piece orchestra and a 32-piece choir. The video above offers a behind-the-scenes look at a recording session for one of the songs, "Cleric Beast," which plays during the game's first tense boss fight. Bloodborne was released for PS4 on March 24. For more, check out GameSpot's review and our guide to taking down the game's bosses.
By Anonymous on Apr 04, 2015 07:30 pm
Mortal Kombat X developer NetherRealm has released a trailer showing off Goro, the half-man, half-dragon, four-armed fighter. As you can see in the trailer above, Goro still has all of his signature moves, including spitting fireballs, holding fighters up with one set of arms while pummeling them with another, and readjusting spines in terrible ways. Goro will be playable in the game for people who preorder Mortal Kombat X. NetherRealm plans to make Goro available as a DLC fighter in the future, but has yet to announce a date. Check out all the other DLC characters included in the Kombat Pack, which comes with the Mortal Kombat X Kollector's Edition by Coarse, Limited Edition, and Premium Edition. Mortal Kombat X launches April 14 for Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, and PC.
By Anonymous on Apr 04, 2015 03:49 am
In the world of Dyscourse, I have a Bachelor of Fine Arts which has taken my career no further than the coffee shop. And while I might be an internationally renowned barista, I don't have the skill set to ensure surviving a plane crash on a remote island. Just a couple months past my 25th birthday, I certainly don't have the life experiences needed to manage a group of mentally unraveling survivors. But that's where the no-longer-proverbial tailspin of life has jettisoned me. I hold not only my survival in my hands as I fend off starvation, dehydration, wild animals, and the basest human survival instincts; I've become responsible for five other lost souls, and I don't know if I can handle this responsibility. It's raining, and we've been on this island for three days now. Teddy makes me uncomfortable. His paranoid delusions get worse every day. He's convinced that Garrett--the chubby, sad, and lonely gamer--conspired with the government to crash our plane. He insists that we build a signal to escape the island, but we have to take care of food and water first. We found water yesterday, but in his excitement, Garrett found himself covered in leeches, and he ran into a rock as he tore the bloodsuckers from his body. It will be a while before I forget the image of those parasites squirming on his body. But now, he won't stop babbling incoherently. He seems to think he's in a massively multiplayer game. I hope he isn't concussed. Things don't stay this genial for long.And Steve nearly died today. I think on some level he wanted to. His cigarette lit the jet fuel around the fuselage, and if he hadn't jumped at the last second, the rain would have put his fire out, but lightning struck the exact spot where he'd been standing. Steve looks like he needs a hug, though I wish he would stop pouting and do something productive. Not that Louise was any more helpful. I don't know where we'd be if it weren't for her husband, George. I think he's the only sane person left--besides me. Maybe I'll talk to him tonight before we go to bed. Well…we'll talk if our shelter at the beach holds up. This storm is getting bad. That is just one of many stories that unfold in survival-adventure game Dyscourse. Imagine Lost as a cartoon in which Jack was a girl and all of the psychological issues of everyone else on the island were amplified to eleven, and you'll get a feel for the tone and style of Dyscourse. After crash landing on a remote island, you play as Rita--a girl whose personality and leadership style you're free to shape however you choose--and it's up to you to lead you and your fellow survivors to rescue…if you can avoid being eaten by jaguars or dying of hunger first. A BFA is not the best skill set for a remote island plane crash.Dyscourse is a game about choice and light environmental exploration. Although you're free to roam the island and engage in a handful of basic adventure-game staples--finding tools, solving simple puzzles--Dyscourse's best moments are of the "choose your own adventure" kind. For anyone frustrated by many of the false choices in Telltale's Walking Dead series, Dyscourse takes branching paths to nearly ludicrous lengths--though enough playthroughs will reveal the limitations of even this game's systems. You make difficult decisions at every turn. Do you search for water, or food? Do you rescue the flares that could signal rescue, or save a beloved survivor's life? Do you try to save a woman attacked by jaguars, or let her die to ensure your own survival? Dyscourse lets the consequences range from immediately apparent to long-term mercies and cruelties. The endings are limited to three major scenarios, but the details surrounding them feel nearly infinite. Beyond offering consistently anxiety-riddled conundrums for how you live on this island, Dyscourse succeeds on the back of charming and clever writing. Although every Dyscourse playthrough invariably takes a turn towards darkness--particularly the one where I intentionally made the worst decisions I could--the game's style is lighter than most survival fare, and I lost track of the number of times when the game made me laugh out loud. Although all the characters but Rita and kindly farmer George seem irreparably broken, you grow to care about your troupe of island-dwellers through the sincerity of the game's writing. It's unfortunate that Dyscourse takes cheap shots at Teddy's clear schizophrenia and plays it for the wrong sorts of laughs. Don't get your hopes up, Teddy.The game's storybook visuals, where characters and environments feel like they were lifted from a felt-crafted stop-motion cartoon, may not initially appeal to you, but they work well within their context. In one playthrough, a character had his arm ripped off by a jaguar, and anything resembling realism would have destroyed the tone. The moment made me audibly gasp, and the severity of the game's situation hit home very quickly, but it wasn't unnecessarily and graphically violent. Dyscourse's writing and sense of place is so strong that when the game ends as suddenly as it does, it's natural to want even more. Any individual playthrough shouldn't take more than an hour or so. And though the game offers you many options on how to play, there's little reason to return after having seen all three major endings because you'll learn how to game the system to your favor…though in Dyscourse's defense, I never had a successful playthrough in which every survivors was rescued. My best playthrough still experienced two casualties. Yes, Rita is missing an arm now. Dyscourse has charm and personality to spare, and though you can peel back the layers of its systems if you spend enough time replaying it, few games make your choices feel as meaningful and impactful as this one does. Throw in an excellent musical score, and it's not difficult to mark it as one of the most aesthetically pleasing titles of 2015 thus far. It's rare that I would want to spend more time on a desert island, but Dyscourse left me craving slightly more of those agonizing days and nights.
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