Fall 2013 (Part 11) - More Adventuring On The Nexus
The Witcher: Shrouded Silence
The Witcher: Shrouded Silence is an open world RPG/stealth title developed by CD Projekt Red exclusively for the Google Nexus. The game follows the storyline of the first two TTL games based on The Witcher, which came out significantly earlier than they did IOTL and were released both for the Xbox and the PC. It's the first Witcher game to be released in many years, and thus has a decent amount of hype behind it, though it differs significantly from any OTL Witcher game, especially The Witcher III. The game features Geralt of Rivia as its protagonist, and though it takes place in a large, open world with many different quests to do, it has a focus on assassination and stealth, making it almost a sort of Witcher/Assassin's Creed hybrid title in a number of ways. Players still control Geralt as they would in one of the classic Witcher RPGs, and he has significantly more techniques and skills available to him, with the game's combat playing somewhat similarly to that of OTL's Witcher III (one of the things the game does in fact have in common with OTL's game). Geralt can engage enemies out in the open, but is much more efficient when sneaking up on them, and the game has not only a stealth meter, but gives Geralt equipment that he can use to muffle his movements and decrease his detection range. He also has a number of Witcher signs available to distract or disable enemies, and these will prove crucial to Geralt during the game's combat. Graphically, the game isn't as impressive as OTL's Witcher III (being developed for a less powerful console), but is still quite impressive for the Nexus, with detailed character animations and a wide variety of environments. Geralt's voice actor in Shrouded Silence is Travis Willingham, who plays him somewhat differently than Doug Cockle's OTL performance (Geralt is noticeably less raspy, for example). Triss Merigold, who appeared in the first two Witcher games, doesn't appear in this title, but Yennefer of Vengerberg appears in the game, initially in an antagonistic role but later being revealed as Geralt's primary ally and eventually his lover, and she's voiced by Laura Bailey, who uses a British accent for the role. The game sees events conspiring to force Geralt into becoming an assassin for a powerful lord, Daragal, who holds sway over a massive territory and who has threatened Ciri's life to force Geralt's hand. These assassinations culminate in Geralt being forced to assassinate Yennefer, who has not only proven herself to be a thorn in the lord's side, but also a powerful witch being pursued by multiple factions, and who might be responsible for the massacre of an entire army. As Geralt looks for a way to avoid killing Yennefer, his one time true love, he also looks into the matter of the massacred army, and learns of another powerful witch, a woman named Edelshyre, who may instead be responsible. As this is going on, Geralt also finds himself performing various other missions, assassinations and otherwise, until he is eventually cornered into being forced to fight Yennefer. He and Yennefer battle one another, but because of the information Geralt's found, and because of an illusion he's arranged, he's able to avoid killing Yennefer and get her alone, and this kicks off the second part of the game, in which Geralt works with Yennefer to assassinate Lord Daragal, while at the same time, putting a stop to Edelshyre, who is raising up a powerful coven of deadly witches. Geralt assassinates Daragal and then teams up with Yennefer to kill Edelshyre and a monstrous horror she's unleashed, ending the threat to the realm once and for all. The game ends with Geralt bedding Yennefer as the two celebrate their victory and Geralt's freedom.
The Witcher: Shrouded Silence scores well with critics, due to its stealth gameplay, variety of quests, and production values, but it's a far cry from being the massive hit that OTL's Witcher III was, with scores averaging in the low 8s. Instead, it's considered a decent WRPG with strong stealth mechanics that continues the series' reputation for good games, but is mostly underwhelming in terms of sales on both the Nexus and PC. It doesn't sell as well as The Witcher or The Witcher II, but it does manage to sell enough to turn a small profit for CD Projekt Red, which has also been working on a proper Witcher III during this time. That game is expected to debut toward the end of the 2010s, and will likely be the first Witcher game to go multiplatform ITTL.
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Rogue's Story V
Rogue's Story V is an open world RPG and the first game in the series for the Google Nexus. Like previous games in the series, it allows players to create their own character (with a wide variety of customization options, and the choice between a fully voiced male or female protagonist, a series first) and embark on an adventure where they can choose from a wide variety of possible moral alignments. Rogue's Story V takes place in the world on the cusp of an industrial revolution, where nine magical treasures hold the key to obtaining great power. After they start going missing, the player becomes embroiled in a grand adventure where they can choose to help steal the treasures or help find them, with each treasure holding its own special properties and playing a role in the game's story. Of course, as is par for the course, the player doesn't have to embark on the main quest, and is free to choose any number of side quests that will take them to the far corners of a vast world. Rogue's Story V features both melee and magic combat, and also an increased amount of gunplay compared to previous series games. Magic plays a much larger role than it did in the previous title, and can be combined with weapons to create a whole host of varying effects. There are dozens of quest lines available in the game, with the main quest making up less than 10 percent of the available things to do in the game. Like other games in the series, Rogue's Story is more lighthearted than most contemporary WRPG titles, and has a Teen rating, with minimal blood and gore. It has a very adventurous feel to it, with grounded but still somewhat fantastical characters with a wide variety of personalities and abilities, all of them voice acted and many of them able to be romanced by the player character regardless of gender. Guilds make a comeback in a big way, playing a huge role in how the main treasure plot plays out, but also having roles in many different side quest lines as well. There are 24 different companions in the base game, with 10 more introduced via DLC (which is more extensive than any other DLC in the series, expanding the size of the game by nearly 50 percent). The game's main quest follows the gathering of the nine special treasures, four of which have already been stolen. As it turns out, three have been stolen by the Magus Family, a family of ancient magic users who despise the world's technological advancement and seek to use the treasures to end the industrial revolution, while the fourth has been stolen by a world famous thief who simply wants to sell it for money but is unaware of the power it holds. The Magus Family ends up being the game's primary antagonistic force, while the thief can end up being a trusted companion to the player or even a potential romantic interest, but is also capable of becoming an enemy. Once the nine treasures are brought together, they unleash an ancient evil that has either fallen under the control of the Magus Family or is an independent force for evil. Either way, it must be defeated if the world is to be made safe again. Once this evil is defeated, the player is free to embark on as many side quests as they wish, continuing to write their own story.
Rogue's Story V is released in December 2013, and is praised by critics, to a similar extent to the previous two games in the series. It's nominated for a few year end awards, but doesn't manage to win anything significant, and in a year of strong WRPG releases on the Nexus, ends up being somewhat forgotten despite being a good, solid game (like every other game in the series). It also achieves strong sales, over a million worldwide, making a healthy profit, but even though it's one of the franchises that remained exclusive to the Nexus via Google's deal with Microsoft toward the end of the Xbox 2's lifespan, it isn't seen as a majorly significant franchise for them, especially after games like Miraculous Ladybug prove to be significantly better. The series isn't a money sink, but also isn't doing much to sell Nexus systems, and its fate is left somewhat up in the air as Google determines what to do with it next. Google doesn't want to stop making Rogue's Story games entirely, but after the fifth game did little more than meet expectations, a shake-up for the series could be in order.
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Google Developing "Massive Online RPG" For The Nexus, Could Be Released In 2015
Google has announced via a conference call to shareholders that the company's game development studio is in the early stages of development on what is said to be a "massive" open world MMORPG for their Nexus console. The game, about which few details have been released other than that it will make heavy use of the Nexus' second screen capabilities and that some portion of it will be able to be played on players' mobile phones and tablets, is said to take place in an enormous world and is intended to help drive sales of the Nexus while also appealing to an increasing number of role playing game fans who have gravitated to the system because of games like A Song Of Ice And Fire and The Witcher: Shrouded Silence, both popular offline RPG titles for the console. The game won't be based on an existing IP, but is said to be an entirely new franchise that will launch with "significant" multimedia support. Google recently announced a partnership with Blockbuster's streaming service to develop media properties based on the company's original video game franchises, and this new MMORPG is expected to be one of those tie-ins, with a television drama expected to launch either before or at the same time as the game.
The Google Nexus has seen its sales spike over the past couple months, leading into the Christmas holiday. It enjoyed an extremely successful Black Friday, with North American sales rumored to have topped those of Nintendo's Reality console, and games such as A Song Of Ice And Fire and Miraculous Ladybug have been major contributing factors. The Nexus is also said to have a rapidly growing and burgeoning online community, with games such as The Covenant 5 and Deep Black enjoying large player bases. The arrival of a new online property on the Nexus, if the console sustains its rapid growth, could be one of the biggest hits of its generation. However, as emphasized before, the game is early in development, and doesn't even have a codename, let alone a confirmed title. A public announcement of the game could come at next year's E3, where the Nexus is expected to have a major presence.
-from a December 18, 2013 article on Games Over Matter
The Witcher: Shrouded Silence is an open world RPG/stealth title developed by CD Projekt Red exclusively for the Google Nexus. The game follows the storyline of the first two TTL games based on The Witcher, which came out significantly earlier than they did IOTL and were released both for the Xbox and the PC. It's the first Witcher game to be released in many years, and thus has a decent amount of hype behind it, though it differs significantly from any OTL Witcher game, especially The Witcher III. The game features Geralt of Rivia as its protagonist, and though it takes place in a large, open world with many different quests to do, it has a focus on assassination and stealth, making it almost a sort of Witcher/Assassin's Creed hybrid title in a number of ways. Players still control Geralt as they would in one of the classic Witcher RPGs, and he has significantly more techniques and skills available to him, with the game's combat playing somewhat similarly to that of OTL's Witcher III (one of the things the game does in fact have in common with OTL's game). Geralt can engage enemies out in the open, but is much more efficient when sneaking up on them, and the game has not only a stealth meter, but gives Geralt equipment that he can use to muffle his movements and decrease his detection range. He also has a number of Witcher signs available to distract or disable enemies, and these will prove crucial to Geralt during the game's combat. Graphically, the game isn't as impressive as OTL's Witcher III (being developed for a less powerful console), but is still quite impressive for the Nexus, with detailed character animations and a wide variety of environments. Geralt's voice actor in Shrouded Silence is Travis Willingham, who plays him somewhat differently than Doug Cockle's OTL performance (Geralt is noticeably less raspy, for example). Triss Merigold, who appeared in the first two Witcher games, doesn't appear in this title, but Yennefer of Vengerberg appears in the game, initially in an antagonistic role but later being revealed as Geralt's primary ally and eventually his lover, and she's voiced by Laura Bailey, who uses a British accent for the role. The game sees events conspiring to force Geralt into becoming an assassin for a powerful lord, Daragal, who holds sway over a massive territory and who has threatened Ciri's life to force Geralt's hand. These assassinations culminate in Geralt being forced to assassinate Yennefer, who has not only proven herself to be a thorn in the lord's side, but also a powerful witch being pursued by multiple factions, and who might be responsible for the massacre of an entire army. As Geralt looks for a way to avoid killing Yennefer, his one time true love, he also looks into the matter of the massacred army, and learns of another powerful witch, a woman named Edelshyre, who may instead be responsible. As this is going on, Geralt also finds himself performing various other missions, assassinations and otherwise, until he is eventually cornered into being forced to fight Yennefer. He and Yennefer battle one another, but because of the information Geralt's found, and because of an illusion he's arranged, he's able to avoid killing Yennefer and get her alone, and this kicks off the second part of the game, in which Geralt works with Yennefer to assassinate Lord Daragal, while at the same time, putting a stop to Edelshyre, who is raising up a powerful coven of deadly witches. Geralt assassinates Daragal and then teams up with Yennefer to kill Edelshyre and a monstrous horror she's unleashed, ending the threat to the realm once and for all. The game ends with Geralt bedding Yennefer as the two celebrate their victory and Geralt's freedom.
The Witcher: Shrouded Silence scores well with critics, due to its stealth gameplay, variety of quests, and production values, but it's a far cry from being the massive hit that OTL's Witcher III was, with scores averaging in the low 8s. Instead, it's considered a decent WRPG with strong stealth mechanics that continues the series' reputation for good games, but is mostly underwhelming in terms of sales on both the Nexus and PC. It doesn't sell as well as The Witcher or The Witcher II, but it does manage to sell enough to turn a small profit for CD Projekt Red, which has also been working on a proper Witcher III during this time. That game is expected to debut toward the end of the 2010s, and will likely be the first Witcher game to go multiplatform ITTL.
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Rogue's Story V
Rogue's Story V is an open world RPG and the first game in the series for the Google Nexus. Like previous games in the series, it allows players to create their own character (with a wide variety of customization options, and the choice between a fully voiced male or female protagonist, a series first) and embark on an adventure where they can choose from a wide variety of possible moral alignments. Rogue's Story V takes place in the world on the cusp of an industrial revolution, where nine magical treasures hold the key to obtaining great power. After they start going missing, the player becomes embroiled in a grand adventure where they can choose to help steal the treasures or help find them, with each treasure holding its own special properties and playing a role in the game's story. Of course, as is par for the course, the player doesn't have to embark on the main quest, and is free to choose any number of side quests that will take them to the far corners of a vast world. Rogue's Story V features both melee and magic combat, and also an increased amount of gunplay compared to previous series games. Magic plays a much larger role than it did in the previous title, and can be combined with weapons to create a whole host of varying effects. There are dozens of quest lines available in the game, with the main quest making up less than 10 percent of the available things to do in the game. Like other games in the series, Rogue's Story is more lighthearted than most contemporary WRPG titles, and has a Teen rating, with minimal blood and gore. It has a very adventurous feel to it, with grounded but still somewhat fantastical characters with a wide variety of personalities and abilities, all of them voice acted and many of them able to be romanced by the player character regardless of gender. Guilds make a comeback in a big way, playing a huge role in how the main treasure plot plays out, but also having roles in many different side quest lines as well. There are 24 different companions in the base game, with 10 more introduced via DLC (which is more extensive than any other DLC in the series, expanding the size of the game by nearly 50 percent). The game's main quest follows the gathering of the nine special treasures, four of which have already been stolen. As it turns out, three have been stolen by the Magus Family, a family of ancient magic users who despise the world's technological advancement and seek to use the treasures to end the industrial revolution, while the fourth has been stolen by a world famous thief who simply wants to sell it for money but is unaware of the power it holds. The Magus Family ends up being the game's primary antagonistic force, while the thief can end up being a trusted companion to the player or even a potential romantic interest, but is also capable of becoming an enemy. Once the nine treasures are brought together, they unleash an ancient evil that has either fallen under the control of the Magus Family or is an independent force for evil. Either way, it must be defeated if the world is to be made safe again. Once this evil is defeated, the player is free to embark on as many side quests as they wish, continuing to write their own story.
Rogue's Story V is released in December 2013, and is praised by critics, to a similar extent to the previous two games in the series. It's nominated for a few year end awards, but doesn't manage to win anything significant, and in a year of strong WRPG releases on the Nexus, ends up being somewhat forgotten despite being a good, solid game (like every other game in the series). It also achieves strong sales, over a million worldwide, making a healthy profit, but even though it's one of the franchises that remained exclusive to the Nexus via Google's deal with Microsoft toward the end of the Xbox 2's lifespan, it isn't seen as a majorly significant franchise for them, especially after games like Miraculous Ladybug prove to be significantly better. The series isn't a money sink, but also isn't doing much to sell Nexus systems, and its fate is left somewhat up in the air as Google determines what to do with it next. Google doesn't want to stop making Rogue's Story games entirely, but after the fifth game did little more than meet expectations, a shake-up for the series could be in order.
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Google Developing "Massive Online RPG" For The Nexus, Could Be Released In 2015
Google has announced via a conference call to shareholders that the company's game development studio is in the early stages of development on what is said to be a "massive" open world MMORPG for their Nexus console. The game, about which few details have been released other than that it will make heavy use of the Nexus' second screen capabilities and that some portion of it will be able to be played on players' mobile phones and tablets, is said to take place in an enormous world and is intended to help drive sales of the Nexus while also appealing to an increasing number of role playing game fans who have gravitated to the system because of games like A Song Of Ice And Fire and The Witcher: Shrouded Silence, both popular offline RPG titles for the console. The game won't be based on an existing IP, but is said to be an entirely new franchise that will launch with "significant" multimedia support. Google recently announced a partnership with Blockbuster's streaming service to develop media properties based on the company's original video game franchises, and this new MMORPG is expected to be one of those tie-ins, with a television drama expected to launch either before or at the same time as the game.
The Google Nexus has seen its sales spike over the past couple months, leading into the Christmas holiday. It enjoyed an extremely successful Black Friday, with North American sales rumored to have topped those of Nintendo's Reality console, and games such as A Song Of Ice And Fire and Miraculous Ladybug have been major contributing factors. The Nexus is also said to have a rapidly growing and burgeoning online community, with games such as The Covenant 5 and Deep Black enjoying large player bases. The arrival of a new online property on the Nexus, if the console sustains its rapid growth, could be one of the biggest hits of its generation. However, as emphasized before, the game is early in development, and doesn't even have a codename, let alone a confirmed title. A public announcement of the game could come at next year's E3, where the Nexus is expected to have a major presence.
-from a December 18, 2013 article on Games Over Matter
I'm just trying to think of what Lucas would've done with them.