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Kickstarter Spotlight: The Great Gaias

My child hood was spent gaming, and some of my favorite gaming memories are waking up as early as I could to play my favorite jrpgs (Final Fantasy 4, 6 & Chrono Trigger).  I absolutely loved the concept and genre.  I played most of the U.S. releases and would often replay my favorites.  That is why I think everyone should take a look at this weeks Kickstarter spotlight, The Great Gaias.

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The Story

“The Great Gaias is an ancient tome authored by the Gods that is able to reincarnate the souls of ones who have led a life that was supremely influential and helped shape history. The First Men, the Chosen Ones, having been granted immortality by the Gods and free will, were charged with the governance of lesser man and ruled justly and righteously their new city called Validus. After years of prosperity, a stranger from the east, Grindelwald Maultor, brought magic to the First Men, and with this new-found power came tyranny.

Using this mighty gift he corrupted the immortal First Men, transforming them to wickedness. The Gauf, as these ten immortal warlords were named, waged a bloodthirsty war against the other free folk of Tenat.  It wasn’t until the Warriors of Old, souls birthed from The Great Gaias, battled Validus, and pushed their forces back, imprisoning the immortal Gauf and Lord Maultor within an ancient Tower of the Gods.

Peace has reigned for a millennia, but a new age is dawning in which an ancient magic is returning to the world. The souls of the Great Gaias have all been reborn into existence once again, and the seals of the ancient tower are weakening. It is up to a small group of unlikely adventurers to uncover the past and fulfill an age-old prophecy that will undoubtedly shake the very foundations of the modern world and shape the direction of a new age.”

The Features

The Great Gaias is a throwback to the jrpg video games I loved growing up and is being developed by people who seem just as passionate as I am about the genre Horizon’s End.

  • Exciting player classes
  • No Leader
  • Dynamic Boss Fights
  • Interesting story line
  • Raise by use skills
  • Player created city
  • Over 50 playable hours
  • Crafting
  • Multiple Endings

And many, many more.

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Why Back It?

It is obvious that the folks at Horizon’s End care deeply about this project and the genre.  They are offering something that although a throwback, will stand on it’s own if the project is backed.  Not only that but I admire the story regarding the development status, specifically the come back story that could come from this when Hurricane Sandy is factored in.

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If you like the project take a look at the official Kickstarter page and show some love to a great gaming genre and awesome looking game.

Want More Check The Kickstarter!

Xbox One vs PS4 – Here’s What I Am Getting

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The console wars have been quiet for the most part of this year, but since the unveiling of Microsoft’s new console, the Xbox One, things have heated up quite a bit.  There were many questions lingering around the web and a ton of rumors regarding the console.  At E3 2013 Gamers expected Microsoft to deliver answers and ease some of their troubles, they answered most of the questions but according to feedback on twitter it didn’t help Microsoft’s cause.

So let me stop with the history lesson and tell you a bit why I decided to pick up the Xbox One at release vs the Play Station 4.

Confession

Actually before we begin you should know a few things about me.

  1. I am a big fan of the Xbox 360, and Play Station 2 consoles.
  2. I am the primary income provider for a family of 4.
  3. I am a gamer, and will hopefully be purchasing the PS 4 in 2014 *crosses fingers*.

Clearing the Air

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Let’s address the two primary concerns that most people tend to have with the Xbox One.  (Note I am leaving out the required Kinect complaint because MS said that it can be turned off/paused and the system still run.)

  1. Will not function if left without internet for more than 24 hours.  This is a bit of a disappointment because I used to travel for work quite a bit, and was fond of bringing my 360 with me and playing in hotel rooms.  Since I travel on the cheap I do not always have internet access.  However my internet at home fairly powerful and my ISP offers relatively great up times.  So while I am not thrilled at this, I am okay.
  2. Xbox One offers game companies the option to deny resale of games.  Here is another area where I am okay with.  I tend to buy games new and haven’t rented for awhile so I am not really out a whole lot.  I do however borrow games with friends.  Since the Xbox allows a limited one time loan of a game it makes things more difficult in this arena.  I am not happy about it, and hopefully Microsoft will hear our complaints and adjust this policy.

So… Why are you spending more money again?

It may be a crazy notion but I am going with the company who is doing more to expand the industry, in a word the XBox One is innovative.  The Play Station 4 seems like a great console, excellent hardware, finally a redesigned controller – but as someone who creates things I have hard time thinking that developers are going to be able to break the mold with the PS4.  I feel that the biggest innovations and the most mind blowing projects are still to come, and the XBox One is going to get us one step closer to that mind blowing gaming experience I am addicted to.

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There are other reasons as well, I am dying for a new home theater setup.  The Xbox One has all the features I could want with built in DVR, the HDMI input port to avoid input switching, integrated Skype and Twitch TV, multi tasking, etc… etc…

It simply does more, with the added benefit that the Kinect has been overhauled completely to remove most of my complaints and expand on its ability to operate in poor lighting conditions and read things like heart rate and facial features it seems again like developers are going to be able to do more.

The Play Station 4 doesn’t provide the same WOW factor that the XBox One does, again I hope to get one sooner than later I am fine with waiting until the first price drop and pick one up cheaper than the $399 price tag it currently sits at.  My PC will do everything it, the PS4, will for the time being and still process faster graphically and other wise.

How Soon We Forget

As far as reliable online service goes Xbox Live is light years beyond the play station network.  It wasn’t long ago that my PS 3 was in an off state for months for fear that hackers would steal everything I owned (slight dramatization).  Seriously though, the entire PSN service was down for months, and while Sony made good by offering a few free games Xbox Live is giving games away on XBLA for subscribers and promises to continue the trend.  Also as of late XBLA has been price matching the crazy sales that Steam has been using to boost it’s player space.

Hardware Breakdown

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Facebook Game Giveaway

We are giving away one of my favorite games at 500 likes on Facebook.  Along with a Let’s Level Up T-Shirt.  Have you liked yet?  If not do so now!  (pretty please).

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Kickstarter Spotlight: Civility

Civility:

Civility is a city management board game that pits players against each other in a race to expand your city to it’s ultimate stage.  It is still on kick starter at the moment and has not quite yet met it’s funding goals.  The game itself seems very interesting, and even in its early stages of development looks like it could be a lot of fun to play.  Warning I can’t quite comment on how the game plays because I have yet to play.  I do hope in the future I will be able to obtain a copy and let you all know first hand how great it is.

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What really drew me to this project is the obvious passion and work that has gone behind Ryan and his team.  They seem likable and I truly want their project to succeed.  In the end that’s what this site is for is to bring another voice for these games to you in hopes a few of you might like it enough to back it.

From Kickstarter

Civility is a board game for 2 to 4 (or 2 to 6 with optional expansion added on) players where players get to pick a city to control. There are 5 cities to choose from in the base game – Early Men, Fantasy, Modern, Utopian, and Medieval and 2 more so far with optional add-ons – Zombie, and Clone.  Each city has 4 unique abilities and different starting strengths.

A few examples –
Fantasy’s magic abilities allow them to manipulate dice each turn.
Medieval was a dark time so their starting technology and health is very low but their army starts off strong.
Utopians are a peaceful and advanced bunch so their technology and education start off very high but their army is very low.

Different cities will require completely different strategies and planning.  This, along with different status goals needed to win each game makes for a vastly different experience each time you play Civility.

Want More Info Check Out The Kickstarter

Kickstarter Spotlight: Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition

Kickstarter Spotlight

As part of an on going effort to bring you current information about gaming we will be featuring a different kick starter project every Monday.  Our hopes is to spread word about great projects to other gamer’s who may be interested in supporting the project.  This week – Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition by Chaosium.
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Answering the Call

It is hard to be a gamer and not know the great Cthulhu, forever hiding in the great shadows he casts we wait for the inevitable.  Where the ancient will wake from his slumber and devour us all.

If you have never played the Call of Cthulhu by Chaosium previously you are missing out on an excellent horror role playing game.  It is absolutely one of my favorite genre to run as well as play in.  While looking for a first Kickstarter spotlight I thought there could be nothing better than for LLU to spotlight than the seventh edition.  Chaosium has produced great books in the past and offered me many hours of enjoyment with my gaming group.

The project is already funded by has some interesting stretch goals with an estimated release date of October 2013!

Want More Info Check Out The Kickstarter

Features

New game supplements to enhance role playing experience.

Streamlined features to avoid getting stuck: Idea Role mechanic overhauled.

New Chase mechanics for a more exciting take on chases.

Enhanced character generation.

Delve deeper into the Mythos!

Project Info

Name: Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition

Type: Role Playing Game

Developer: Chaosium, Inc.

Genre: Horror RPG

Release Date: October, 2013

Cryptic Delivers Big With Neverwinter

Dungeons and Dragons fans should be pleased with Cryptic’s Neverwinter MMO is a new free to play role playing game, where players take up arms to defend the city of Neverwinter within the Forgotten Realms.   The game is very polished especially for a beta, and I have had a blast with it.  Check it out the video and then head over here to register.