Koei Tecmo

Koei Tecmo’s mission to introduce new audiences to famous anime series continues with Berserk and The Band of the Hawk, chronicling the life of lone wolf mercenary Guts and his many battles. Berserk is a button masher’s dream, with hordes of enemies on-screen at one time and combo counters reaching into the thousands. For Koei Tecmo and developer Omega Force it’s unfortunately a step backward, as the innovation in movement that came with Attack on Titan has been replaced with the familiar scheme, which is a disappointment.

The ultra-popular Attack on Titan anime series has finally made its way to the video game world, with the minds behind the Dynasty Warriors franchise --- Omega Force and Koei Tecmo --- charged with the transition. I was hesitant to truly get excited for this new game, as I didn’t think Attack on Titan fit well into Omega Force style of game, but I’m happy to say that playing the game has proven me wrong... for the most part.

I worried a bit about Koei Tecmo taking on Attack on Titan. The publisher’s previous foray into the anime realm, two games based on Fist of the North Star, really underwhelmed me with monotonous gameplay and rehashed ideas. I went into my hands-on demo for Titan expecting to write about more of the same things I’d played before, but I left the demo completely surprised. Attack on Titan is a bold new direction, and if it pans out it could be a new era of success for the company.

Koei Tecmo and Nintendo may have skipped out on taking the Wii's Project Zero: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse out of Japan, but the House of Mario decided to cave to fans' demands and give Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water a digital release for Western audiences. As the Silent Hill and Resident Evil series have started to stray and stumble in maintaining survival horror, Maiden of Black Water ups the frights. This new Fatal Frame purposely maintains a slow burn in order to properly build up suspense, bringing back the ghostbusting gameplay of the Camera Obscura, which now utilizes the Wii U's GamePad to exorcise the dead. In an era when survival horror has skewed into action-oriented gameplay or defenseless first-person perspectives, Maiden of Black Water is a welcome, old school-style callback to survival horror's glory days. Unfortunately, Fatal Frame 5 suffers from simple control issues pertaining to its core gameplay that should've easily been ironed out. Despite its solid attempts at spirit photography, there are some basic parts of Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water that feel underdeveloped, which can ruin the overall shot.

Team Ninja and Koei Tecmo had to work around the technical constraints of the older Nintendo 3DS models for Hyrule Warriors Legends by making some cuts.

It's time to rally the Survey Corps (or Scouting Legion or whatever else it was awkwardly translated to) and get ready for another Attack on Titan game.

Both Toon Link and Helmaroc King are making the jump from The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker to Hyrule Warriors Legends on the Nintendo 3DS.

Koei Tecmo is considering shipping the girls out West, as Dead or Alive Xtreme 3 could be localized if the demand is there.

Link, Zelda and the rest of the Hyrule Warriors gang are going portable while a few new characters join the fight.

When the spirits of the recently deceased are holding a grudge around you (puns intended), a picture is worth a thousand screams.