Video Game Review: Yu-Gi-Oh Rush Duel: Dawn of the Battle Royale

The newest video game in the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise just hit the Nintendo Switch not too long ago. It is Yu-Gi-Oh Rush Duel: Dawn of the Battle Royale.

Dawn of the Battle Royale is based on the current Yu-Gi-Oh Sevens anime. Rush duels are a feature on the show which is the selling point for this game. If you do not know what rush duels are, you are in for a treat. Rush duels limits the field down so both players would have only three Monster Card Zones, and three Spell and Trap Zones. The key here, is that you can normal summon monsters from your hand as many times you want during your turn. And at the start of each turn, you draw cards from your deck until you have five in your hand.

Once you know the basic rules, you are able to play. Being a veteran of Yu-Gi-Oh, I can say that the flow of duels are very fast when you have a rush duel. There were multiple times where my duels would end in less than 15 turns.

As you progress through the story, you will gather cards and in-game currency to buy more cards. Unlike in past Yu-Gi-Oh video games, the way to acquire these cards are based on rarity. That means it is a long grind to get the cards you want because the decks you begin with are too basic.

Speaking about the cards, there are fan favorites such as Blue Eyes White Dragon, Dark Magician, and others. But their iconic artwork along with several of the classic cards have been altered. I do not know why this decision was made, but I got used to it after a few plays.

I also like that the duel puzzle mode from past World Championship games returned on Dawn of the Battle Royale. This time, they are all under specific ranks and they are quite challenging. Especially for the duel puzzles that have different win conditions.

Overall, Yu-Gi-Oh Rush Duel: Dawn of the Battle Royale is a nice addition to the Yu-Gi-Oh video game franchise. Rush duels are for the ones who want the current TCG simplified and shorter. If you are a first time player, I would recommend playing this game that could introduce you to the genre before going pro with the current TCG format.

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Here is How You Can Gain Access to Edit Your Deck Early in Yu-Gi-Oh Rush Duel: Dawn of the Battle Royale

Every Yu-Gi-Oh video game featured a deck editor. This is so you can create your own decks to your own preference and style. However, on the recently released Yu-Gi-Oh Rush Duel: Dawn of the Battle Royale, this option is not available at the start.

This is because on the Japanese release of the game a few months prior, you would have to finish the main story in order to unlock the deck edit option. This could take hours of grinding and months to do if you do not have time. Luckily on the latest patch, a solution was revealed.

In order to unlock the deck editor option, first you will have to defeat Number Six on the main story mode. Then you will have to go to the Student Council Room. On the left side of the map, there is a door. Have your character stand in front of the door. Once your UI disappears, enter the Konami Code. And there! it is unlocked.

Now with this unlocked, you can build as much decks as you want at least one hour into the game.

Be sure to check out my review of Yu-Gi-Oh Rush Duel: Dawn of the Battle Royale next week.

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Video Game Review: UnMetal

If you were to tell me that in 2021 that there will be 2D stealth action video game, I would say that you were wrong. UnMetal is not only that game, but it is also a great experience.

UnMetal is a unique take on the genre where the inspiration comes from Metal Gear for the MSX. The story of UnMetal is told by a commando named Jesse Fox who becomes a prisoner after he is wrongly accused of committing a crime. He must find a way out of a military compound where he is trapped. He finds that there is more at stake here than just a simple arrest. What at first appears to be a conventional espionage story soon develops into a satire of action movie and game concepts. He must use everything at his disposal to reach the bottom of the situation, including his wits and fists.

There are nine chapters in UnMetal. If you played Metal Gear Solid: Ghost Babel for the Gameboy Color, you get the idea on how this is structured. Sneak and hide away from the guards while you solve puzzles that moves the story forward and encounter the boss of the chapter.

During my time with UnMetal, There were some interesting gameplay mechanics that I believe surpassed MSX’s Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake. Jesse Fox is able to hide behind walls, roll forward, combine weapons and items, carry guards, and search for guards belongings. When you are close to going to another part of the screen, there will be red arrows that will indicate where the guards are on the next screen. The bigger the arrow, the closer they are to you.

Speaking of the guards, there were times that you can hear their conversations that could give you clues depending on the situation. This is also expanded during the story as some of the multiple dialogue choices you can choose from can make select situations easy or hard. For example, before one of the boss battles, I was given three options on a question. I choose one of the options and the battle was difficult. When I went for another option when I tried again, it was less difficult. But It however, was not more easier. I like the decision of putting these sudden decision making choices in UnMetal.

Each time you level up, you can choose which statistic can also be leveled up too. The list of items and weapons are a ton to find and choose from. You will also have to figure out which items to combine to progress the story. Something I will add too based on my experience, is that there were times that I used the radio for conversations and the guards that were close to me actually heard it. I was accustomed to the way the system worked in Metal Gear so it caught me by surprise be on UnMetal.

I finished UnMetal’s story at around 16 hours and it also took me an additional 30 hours to 100% UnMetal’s challenges. For an independent game that takes inspiration from the classic Metal Gear series, the developers went above and beyond to bring back the authentic stealth experience back to 2D. UnMetal is truly a fun game and is totally worth the money!

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Square Enix’s E3 2021 Presentation Proved That They Are Out of Touch

This year’s E3 marked the first time since 2019 that Square Enix showcased a presentation. The two year long wait at the biggest gaming conference of the year should have been worth the wait. But it fell flat really quick.

The first reveal was Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy. I will admit that I was intrigued and interested since it is a single-player experience. But knowing how Marvel’s Avengers was handled, I could not let my guard down. The gameplay is not too bad. But did this need twenty minutes of airtime that could have went to something else? What was Square Enix thinking?

Those twenty minutes could have been towards any news on Final Fantasy XVI or Project Triangle Strategy. But we got nothing of those upcoming titles. In fact, the first showing of any Final Fantasy games, were the “2-D Pixel Remasters” of Final Fantasy I-VI. Who asked for this? I love Final Fantasy, but these should have came to consoles in one package instead of buying them individually on mobile or Steam.

Stranger of Paradise Final Fantasy Origin is the upcoming “Souls” inspired game set in the Final Fantasy universe. When I read the rumors of Square Enix possibly developing this take of Final Fantasy, I was curious. And then the awful dialogue of the characters about Chaos screeched my ears. At least Garland’s voice actor from the Dissidia Final Fantasy series somewhat saved that mess of a trailer.

This did not help due to the fact that the demo of Stranger of Paradise was corrupted and unplayable when you downloaded it. I have not seen a mess from Square Enix like this since the original launch of Final Fantasy XIV back in 2010.

The final nail in the coffin was the next offering of Marvel’s Avengers. Even with a diminishing player base, the War of Wakanda expansion includes Black Panther and the Wakanda location that will progress the story. The question is, why was this not in the original launch of the game in the first place?

The hits keep on coming with this year’s E3 and Square Enix should be embarrassed of themselves for pulling off a bad atrocity of a presentation. Hopefully they can recover from this.

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TOHO Games Announces Release of Mobile Game “Godzilla Destruction” April 27

April 14, 2021 (Tokyo) – TOHO Games, the game label of Toho Co., Ltd. (Japan), today announced the upcoming release of mobile game “Godzilla Destruction” on Tuesday, April 27, revealing key art and a promo video as part of the announcement.

“Godzilla Destruction” is an exciting and easy to play mobile game where players become the King of the Monsters himself and embark on a global rampage. Players control Godzilla with the tap of a finger to crush historical buildings in cities across the globe.

In the new promotional video, Godzilla can be seen using his humongous body and devastating Heat Ray to topple major buildings around the world like toy blocks. This video gives fans a taste of the exhilarating action they can expect in “Godzilla Destruction”. Meanwhile, the key art (below) features the colossal Godzilla crossing the ocean as he advances toward a burning city shrouded in smoke. This powerful image depicts the heart-pounding moment the King of the Monsters makes his almighty presence known to the trembling human world.

This latest announcement follows last month’s reveal of three Godzilla Games for mobile worldwide, arriving this year: “Run Godzilla” (already available on mobile worldwide), “Godzilla Destruction”, and “Godzilla Battle Line”. As Godzilla’s path of destruction has carried “Godzilla vs. Kong” to the top of the box office, fans can look forward not only to the release of “Godzilla Destruction” but to the U.S. premiere of the anime TV series “Godzilla Singular Point” later this year.

The pre-registration campaign for the mobile game “Godzilla Destruction” is now open. Additional information on pre-registration and on “Godzilla Destruction” can be found below.

■Pre-registration

To pre-register, do any of the following:

(1) Follow the official Twitter: @GZ_destruction

(2) Follow the official Facebook: @GZ_destruction

(3) Pre-register on Yoyaku Top 10 (*Exclusive to Japan) 

Registration link:

iOS: https://yoyaku-top10.jp/u/a/MzE0MTI

Android: https://yoyaku-top10.jp/u/a/MzE0MTM

★Special Pre-registration Campaign Open!

Pre-register via Twitter or Facebook to receive special game-related gifts through your social media account!

All kinds of new gifts will be given away every week through social media.

Don’t forget to register to receive these limited edition gifts!

Godzilla Destruction

     Become Godzilla and crush cities underfoot! Step inside the monstrous body of the legendary Godzilla and terrorize all corners of the world!

Destroy cities across the globe in this exciting and easy to play game!

▼Become the King of Destruction                                        ▼Take on powerful bosses!

with the tap of a finger!  

Game title: Godzilla Destruction

    Genre: Action, Shooter

   Price: Free to play (with optional in-game purchases)

Compatible devices: iOS, Android

    Release date:

April (subject to change), various countries

Worldwide release (including Japan): Tuesday,April 27 (subject to change)

 Pre-registration: Via Official Twitter, Official Facebook, Yoyaku Top 10

  Official website: godzillagames.jp (*For info on all three games)

Official Twitter: @Gz_destruction

    Official Facebook: @Gz.destruction

2020 Gaming Holiday Gift Guide For Under $100

The holiday season has been great to the gaming community for decades. This holiday gift guide for gaming will be beneficial for the parents that do not know what to buy for their children when it comes to gaming. It will also be great for the ones that can get someone they know something that they do not have. Since it is gaming related, the person receiving the gift will be happy.

What I will also add, is that this holiday gift guide will have reasonable prices that are under $100. There is no way I would have a $500 price tag for any of these gifts. All of the items that are featured, will have their respective links.

SEGA GENESIS MINI ($85 at Walmart)

Nintendo had a successful run with the NES Classic and the SNES Classic Mini. There were others that tried to duplicate the same success, but none of them were at the level of Nintendo. Only one of the many retro-mini consoles outside of Nintendo was well received by fans and that is the SEGA Genesis Mini that was released in 2019. SEGA Genesis Mini remained faithful to the original and has a great lineup of classic SEGA Genesis titles.

elago AW5 Airpods Pro Case GameBoy Edition ($16.99 at Walmart)

There are tons of variations of airpod cases that are on the the market that are video game related. But none capture the feel of a GameBoy than this one. It is also reasonably priced and it also supports wireless charging.

Lexma Phantom Gaming Starter Kit with Headset ($67.99 at Target)

The Lexma brand produced a number of great successful gaming keyboards. But this starter kit not only comes with the keyboard, as it also features the headphones and mouse. This is a great starter kit on a great budget level if you are getting this kit for someone that would like to break into PC Gaming.

Go Retro! Portable Game Player ($34 at Target)

A portable game player with over 200 games is a nice deal. Of those retro games, the most popular ones are Mega Man 2, Burger Time, and Tetris.It is essentially NES on the go!

Fortnite V-Bucks ($7.99-$79.99)

Fortnite rised to become one of the most popular games in the world. It is also free to play and you can play on any device as possible. Gifting someone V-Bucks would save the person money and time grinding for the in-game currency. With the amount of events per season Epic Games has with Fortnite, the V-Bucks would be beneficial!

Pull-N-Go Case for Nintendo Switch ($29.99 at Gamestop)

The carrying case for Nintendo Switch is expensive. But havig a two for one case that can also store controllers and accessories for the same price, is a steal right there. Nintendo always gets it right when it comes to cases for portable devices. You would not want to miss this on your shopping list.

PAC-MAN Arcade Alarm Clock ($13.99 at Gamestop)

In today’s world, our phones can be our alarm clock. But having an arcade alarm clock that has PAC-Man sound effects is awesome and I would want to have it on my dresser next to my bed.

Star Wars themed Custom XBOX One/PS4 Controllers ($39.99 each at gamer2go)

Gamer2go produces custom controllers for XBOX and Playstation. You can make one to whatever artwork you like for a little over $100. But their current sale, is all of their XBOX One and PS4 controllers that are Star Wars themed. All of the controllers are $39.99 so I would get this good sale if I were you.

Avolusion 3TB HDD ($68.88 at Walmart)

Storage is important. Especially when it comes to gaming consoles. In today’s landscape of gaming, there are so many updates and DLC’s that one console can handle. Extra storage is up to 3TB is worth the investment. You would not have to worry about deleting a large amount of data just to download a game. And what is also great about this, is that it can expand the lifecycle of your own console. Compare this price to the others that has the same number of storage, this is the best option.

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Super Mario 3D All Stars Is A Power Down From A Poison Mushroom

When Nintendo announced that a collection of the best Mario 3D platformers would arrive on Nintendo Switch, I was excited. That is, until I found out that it would be an extremely limited run. It boggles my mind that Nintendo decided to do this for Super Mario 3D All Stars because after March, there will not be a way to get a copy, or download this game.

Super Mario 3D All Stars consists of Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, Super Mario Galaxy, and the official soundrtack for all three titles. What is great, is that you can play these as you remembered them when you were younger. But that comes with a cost. More specifically, Super Mario Galaxy.

Galaxy’s original release was on Nintendo Wii in 2007. At that time, motion controls was the standard and it is required for some of the controls of Super Mario Galaxy. You can play it with your joycons as if you played it on your Wii.

But if you use your Pro Controller, the gyro motion will distract you from playing the game.When the pointer is out of focus, you will have to press the R trigger button to center it. It gets really annoying when you have to do that every few seconds especially when you are on a boss battle.

Super Mario 64 plays the same exact way as I played it on the Nintendo 64. The controls felt very respinsive as I was playing. It seems like this version of Super Mario 64 is the version that patched all of the glitches from the original version.

I am fine with that since I am not a speedrunner. I only care to finish the game with 120 stars. Something that I wish that was supported for this version, is for full screen support. This was possible on the Wii Virtual Console port of the game, but not here. I still love Super Mario 64!

The last game of the collection is Super Mario Sunshine. For some reason, this version of Sunshine kept all of the glitches that were found on the original Gamecube release. You would think that Nintendo would patch all of these issues, but they did not do that. Another problem I had with Sunshine, is the clunky controls, and the upscaled brightness that will make your eyes burn like you are taking a look at the flash from Men In Black. There are also textures that I noticed that are in the wrong place when I am using FLUUD. If you want your ears to bleed too, it will pick up most of the sounds at the wrong time.

Whoever was in charge of porting these three games into one package, needs to get their license for porting video games revoked. This is Mario’s 35th anniversary and there should have been more effort to making this collection mean somethimng. Don’t get me wrong, I love all three of those games when they were first released, but the technical issues outweigh over what was supposed to be a celebration.

The lack of Super Mario Galaxy 2 in this collection is also puzzeling since that is the sequel to the first title.Mario’s party for Super Mario 3D All Stars has finished faster than a mini game on Mario Party. And Luigi did not have to do anything to win this time.

But when you take those negatives out, you can play this collection and it is for all ages whether if you are a veteran, or a newcommer. What the Mario franchise has done to bring generations together for many years will continue for years to come. Let’s hope when the 40th anniversary comes up in five years, their next celebration collection will be better than this collection.

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The Games That was Revealed at Nintendo Direct Mini

Today’s Nintendo Direct Mini was to showcase the upcoming updates on previously announced Switch games. These games are from third party developers and publishers and it was only ten minutes long. Here are the updates from those games that were shown on today’s Nintendo Direct.

CADENCE OF HYRULE

Impa, Aria, Shadow Link, Fredrick and Shadow Zelda join DLC Pack 1. DLC Pack 2 will add 39 songs that will be composed by FamilyJules, Chipzel, and A_Rivall. These songs will be remixes of classic Zelda songs. DLC Pack 3 titled Symphony of the Mask will be a new story involving Skull Kid from Majora’s Mask as he will also have abilities based on what mask he has on. The three DLC Packs will launch today as a season pass. However, DLC pack one will be available for purchase today and the second and third pack will be available for purchase later this year.

WWE 2K BATTLEGROUNDS

We finally got some gameplay footage of this upcoming WWE 2K Battlegrounds game as WWE Superstars Big E, Cesaro, Asuka and Kofi Kingston. Here on the footage that was seen, we can see the character abilities on the screen, how will the matches play out, and even some of the entrances from Jeff Hardy, Andre The Giant, and Stone Cold Steve Austin.

SHIN MEGAMI TENSEI III REMASTER AND SHIN MEGAMI TENSEI V ANNOUNCEMENT

Both coming in 2021, Atlus announced that there will not only be a remaster of Shin Megami Tensei III which was first released in 2003, but Shin Megami Tensei V will also be released in 2021 as the next entry of the series.

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Norman Reedus Delivers Update on The Walking Dead Onslaught

Official VR Game of “AMC’s The Walking Dead” Enters Final Stages of Development

Survios Inc. and AMC revealed today during the UploadVR Showcase that The Walking Dead Onslaught, the official VR game of AMC’s The Walking Dead, has entered the final stages of development and confirmed that a gameplay reveal will be coming later this summer. Accompanying the announcement was a video greeting from TheWalking Dead star Norman Reedus, who recently wrapped his voice recording as Daryl Dixon for the upcoming title. The game will also feature voice work from cast members Melissa McBride (Carol) and Josh McDermitt (Eugene).

You can see below of Norman Reedus’ announcement of the final stages of development.

The Walking Dead Onslaught is scheduled to launch later this year on Playstation VRSteam VR, and Oculus Rift. For the latest information, follow Survios on Twitter and Facebook.

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This PC Port of Super Mario 64 Looks Amazing

Super Mario 64 is one of the most influential video games of all time. Over the years, it was rereleased on the Nintendo DS, Nintendo Wii, and Nintendo WiU. The demand of a full remake has been discussed among the community within the last few years since a Nintendo Switch port has not been in production.But this user made it seem possible for it to be played on PC.

This version of Super Mario 64 is upscaled in graphics and in resolution. It plays the same exact way as the original without any slowdowns. It also removed the Nintendo 64’s linear filtering which was also a great decision. Just look at the textures on Peach’s Castle from the intro. It looks amazing. And it is also in 60fps. YouTube user Unreal (Not relatted to Unreal Engine), and so far, everyone loves what they are seeing. Although this mod was also made and released, Nintendo sent that user a DCMA takedown since Nintendo owns the IP rights. That mod does look absolutely great in it’s own right, but it is this high resolution port that takes me back to the original and improved the graphics to the level of how we see it on the Final Fantasy VIII Remaster.

There are other options in this mod that enables cheats, and removing the draw distance. Before you know it, you could see the full mod in action from start to finish.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27bw7lLSRls&feature=emb_title

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