10-22-2019, 02:26 AM
The Weekender: Hold My Strategy Edition
<div style="margin: 5px 5% 10px 5%;"><img src="https://www.sickgaming.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/the-weekender-hold-my-strategy-edition.jpg" width="2208" height="1240" title="" alt="" /></div><div><div><img src="https://www.sickgaming.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/the-weekender-hold-my-strategy-edition.jpg" class="ff-og-image-inserted"></div>
<p>It’s been a bit of a mixed week – I’ve been trying to go back and look at some historically performing content and see what I can do with it, as well as testing the waters with things like the <a href="https://www.pockettactics.com/guides/call-of-duty-mobile-tips/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>CoD Mobile</em> guide</a>, and skimming some stuff off reddit. The <a href="https://www.pockettactics.com/guides/mario-kart-tour-challenges-guide/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Mario Kart Tour</em> Challenges</a> article is still proving quite popular at the moment, so you may see that float to the top of the article list quite regularly.</p>
<p>Happy to say though that with most of that out of the way, I can start refocusing on some of our favoured topics. Quite a few games have been released recently that are more relevant to the core readership, so will be getting reviews sorted for them pronto.</p>
<p>Just as an FYI – I’m going to be at PDXCon next week from Thursday, so end of week posts might be a bit sporadic. It’s also unlikely that they’ll be a Weekender update next week, but if anything mobile focused comes out of the event I’ll be sure to write it up.</p>
<h2>Out Now</h2>
<p>There’s actually been a couple of new Apple Arcade games releases over the past week or so. <a href="https://www.pockettactics.com/guides/apple-arcade-game-list/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">We’ve updated our master list</a> and added a ‘new’ tag to the newcomers, so check them out if you’re still looking for new games to try. We’re a little bit behind on our reviews, but we’re sticking with the batch-approach for now.</p>
<h3>Xenowerk Tactics (<a href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/xenowerk-tactics/id1469037103?mt=8" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">iOS</a> & <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pixelbite.xwt" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Android</a>) – $6.99 – <em>Full Review Pending</em></h3>
<p>You know what? I’m really, really glad this game exists. I noticed the other day we’d only reviewed four games between August/September, but after some digging I realised that’s about right, because there’s been nothing in the premium space worth covering lately. <em>Xenowerk</em> reads like it was made for us, and from what we’ve tested so far it’s a pretty decent real-time tactics game. It’s single-player only, but you control a squad of mercenaries who work for a corporation, and it’s basically your job to clean up their messes. It involves squad development and base management and all that <em>XCOM</em>-like goodness.</p>
<p>It’s free to try on Android – you get to play the first part before paying the full price as an IAP to unlock the rest of the game. On iOS it’s premium up-front. We’re going to try and get a full review on the table ASAP for you.</p>
<iframe class='youtube-player' type='text/html' width='980' height='552' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/IVXqyk3S6SY?version=3&rel=1&fs=1&autohide=2&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&wmode=transparent' allowfullscreen='true' style='border:0;'></iframe>
<h3>Versus: Unfriendly Frenzy (<a href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/versus-unfriendly-frenzy/id1356765125?mt=8" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">iOS</a>) – $3.99 – <em>Review In Progress</em></h3>
<p>It’s been a strangely good week for strategy gaming on mobile, with <em>Versus: Unfriendly Friendly</em> also releasing this week. We’ve already got Michael working on a review so hopefully that will drop next week. <em>Versus</em> is a real-time strategy game that boats outlandish factions and units and ‘fast-paced’ action. There’s a 29 level solo campaign, and you can play head-to-head against someone on the same device, which sounds interesting.</p>
<iframe class='youtube-player' type='text/html' width='980' height='552' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/8ny1TNTSIeg?version=3&rel=1&fs=1&autohide=2&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&wmode=transparent' allowfullscreen='true' style='border:0;'></iframe>
<p>And yeah, there’s another free-to-play gacha battler game, this time based on the <em>Digimon</em> franchise. It’s called <em>Digimon ReArise</em> (<a href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id1471605207" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">iOS</a> | <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bandainamcoent.digimon_rearise_ww" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Android</a>) I’ll be honest guys, I’m kinda burned out on this stuff at the moment so we’re going to wait and see with this one. If it proves popular maybe we’ll look into it in more detail but I’m not in any rush. Here’s a trailer anyway:</p>
<iframe class='youtube-player' type='text/html' width='980' height='552' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/WD5ttx_QEJc?version=3&rel=1&fs=1&autohide=2&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&wmode=transparent' allowfullscreen='true' style='border:0;'></iframe>
<h2>Updates</h2>
<p>A few things to update you one, some of which we accidentally forgot about:</p>
<h3>Black Desert Online Mobile (<a href="https://apps.apple.com/app/id1477186880" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">iOS</a> & <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pearlabyss.blackdesertm.gl&hl=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Android</a>)</h3>
<p>MMO’s are an odd prospect on mobile – for the longest time, the term was appropriated by developers who made trashy F2P games, but as mobile tech improved it’s now quite possibly to put actual, ‘legit’ MMOs onto mobile devices. <em>Black Desert Online</em> is a fairly popular Free-to-Play MMO that’s been around for quite a few years now. It’s managed to walk that line between given players worthwhile content to engage in, and offering a business model that sustains them. Their freemium stuff is mainly cosmetics, although you can buy some shortcuts. I played it on PC for a spell and I actually had quite a lot of fun with it. The only thing was I didn’t think it facilitated party-play that well, but it may have improved since then.</p>
<p>We’ve known it was coming to mobile since E3, but what I forgot to mention a couple of weeks ago is that pre-registration is now available on iOS and Android. The mobile version is due to land in December 2019.</p>
<iframe class='youtube-player' type='text/html' width='980' height='552' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/7rrIBXJWOuQ?version=3&rel=1&fs=1&autohide=2&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&wmode=transparent' allowfullscreen='true' style='border:0;'></iframe>
<h3>PS4 Remote Play App (<a href="https://apps.apple.com/app/ps4-remote-play/id1436192460#?platform=iphone" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">iOS</a> & <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.playstation.remoteplay&hl" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Android</a>)</h3>
<p>Playstation recently updated their core PS4 Firmware to Version 7.0 this week, and with that came an update to their <em>Remote Play</em> app. The nuts and bolts of this latest update means that Android users beyond Sony Xperia phones can now get in on the action, and iOS users can now use their Dualshock 4 controllers with the app.</p>
<p>For Android, you just need to be running Android 5.0 or higher although if you have Android 10 installed, you can also get in on the Dualshock action by connecting your controller to your phone via Bluetooth.</p>
<p>You’ll need to have iOS 13 to be able to use your controller on that end of things. You’ll also be able to choose whether or not the on-screen controls remain visible as well as choose whether or not to lock the orientation.</p>
<h3>Heroes of Steel RPG (<a href="https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/heroes-of-steel-rpg-elite/id840230884" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">iOS</a> & <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tresebrothers.games.heroesofsteelelite" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Android</a>)</h3>
<p><em>Ticket to Earth</em> isn’t the only game to seemingly get a fourth episode update this week. The Trese Brothers have taken a break from constantly updating <em>Star Traders: Frontiers</em> to release the “final” episode for their Heroes of Steel RPG, the Siege of Sur-Relliar Glacier.</p>
<p>Here’s the full change-log, if you’re still interested in playing this game:</p>
<blockquote>
<ul>
<li>Epic end-game conclusion to the tale of the 4 Harbingers</li>
<li>Battle across 7 new brutally challenging dungeons and maps</li>
<li>Lock blades and magic with multiple major bosses across the climactic siege</li>
<li>Face 15+ new monster types — Ice & Fire Drakes, Orcin Ravagers, Thorn Shamans, Unrequited Blades and more</li>
<li>Loot 100+ new amazingly powerful weapons, armor and magical gear across the final dungeons</li>
<li>Once beaten, you may invoke a New Game+ mode to replay the final dungeon and bosses again! (and again!)</li>
<li>Fixed all issues with late-game bows named “FIX ME” and crafting out of Fierhold</li>
<li>Fixed crash with “Great Flats” level loading in some situations</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<h2>Sales</h2>
<p>Only two sales of note this week:</p>
<ul>
<li>First up, following <a href="https://www.pockettactics.com/articles/ticket-to-earth-episode-4/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the release of Episode 4</a>, <a href="https://www.pockettactics.com/reviews/review-ticket-to-earth/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Ticket to Earth</em></a> has been discounted by $1 on iOs. Not Android.</li>
<li>Kingdom: New Lands is an intriguing side-scrolling management/strategy game where you must try to survive against hordes of enemies that only attack at night. It’s half price on <a href="https://apps.apple.com/app/id1118513354" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">iOS</a> and <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nl.noio.kingdom" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Android</a>.</li>
</ul>
<p><em>Seen anything else you liked? Played any of the above? Let us know in the comments!</em></p>
</div>
https://www.sickgaming.net/blog/2019/10/...y-edition/
<div style="margin: 5px 5% 10px 5%;"><img src="https://www.sickgaming.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/the-weekender-hold-my-strategy-edition.jpg" width="2208" height="1240" title="" alt="" /></div><div><div><img src="https://www.sickgaming.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/the-weekender-hold-my-strategy-edition.jpg" class="ff-og-image-inserted"></div>
<p>It’s been a bit of a mixed week – I’ve been trying to go back and look at some historically performing content and see what I can do with it, as well as testing the waters with things like the <a href="https://www.pockettactics.com/guides/call-of-duty-mobile-tips/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>CoD Mobile</em> guide</a>, and skimming some stuff off reddit. The <a href="https://www.pockettactics.com/guides/mario-kart-tour-challenges-guide/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Mario Kart Tour</em> Challenges</a> article is still proving quite popular at the moment, so you may see that float to the top of the article list quite regularly.</p>
<p>Happy to say though that with most of that out of the way, I can start refocusing on some of our favoured topics. Quite a few games have been released recently that are more relevant to the core readership, so will be getting reviews sorted for them pronto.</p>
<p>Just as an FYI – I’m going to be at PDXCon next week from Thursday, so end of week posts might be a bit sporadic. It’s also unlikely that they’ll be a Weekender update next week, but if anything mobile focused comes out of the event I’ll be sure to write it up.</p>
<h2>Out Now</h2>
<p>There’s actually been a couple of new Apple Arcade games releases over the past week or so. <a href="https://www.pockettactics.com/guides/apple-arcade-game-list/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">We’ve updated our master list</a> and added a ‘new’ tag to the newcomers, so check them out if you’re still looking for new games to try. We’re a little bit behind on our reviews, but we’re sticking with the batch-approach for now.</p>
<h3>Xenowerk Tactics (<a href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/xenowerk-tactics/id1469037103?mt=8" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">iOS</a> & <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pixelbite.xwt" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Android</a>) – $6.99 – <em>Full Review Pending</em></h3>
<p>You know what? I’m really, really glad this game exists. I noticed the other day we’d only reviewed four games between August/September, but after some digging I realised that’s about right, because there’s been nothing in the premium space worth covering lately. <em>Xenowerk</em> reads like it was made for us, and from what we’ve tested so far it’s a pretty decent real-time tactics game. It’s single-player only, but you control a squad of mercenaries who work for a corporation, and it’s basically your job to clean up their messes. It involves squad development and base management and all that <em>XCOM</em>-like goodness.</p>
<p>It’s free to try on Android – you get to play the first part before paying the full price as an IAP to unlock the rest of the game. On iOS it’s premium up-front. We’re going to try and get a full review on the table ASAP for you.</p>
<iframe class='youtube-player' type='text/html' width='980' height='552' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/IVXqyk3S6SY?version=3&rel=1&fs=1&autohide=2&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&wmode=transparent' allowfullscreen='true' style='border:0;'></iframe>
<h3>Versus: Unfriendly Frenzy (<a href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/versus-unfriendly-frenzy/id1356765125?mt=8" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">iOS</a>) – $3.99 – <em>Review In Progress</em></h3>
<p>It’s been a strangely good week for strategy gaming on mobile, with <em>Versus: Unfriendly Friendly</em> also releasing this week. We’ve already got Michael working on a review so hopefully that will drop next week. <em>Versus</em> is a real-time strategy game that boats outlandish factions and units and ‘fast-paced’ action. There’s a 29 level solo campaign, and you can play head-to-head against someone on the same device, which sounds interesting.</p>
<iframe class='youtube-player' type='text/html' width='980' height='552' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/8ny1TNTSIeg?version=3&rel=1&fs=1&autohide=2&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&wmode=transparent' allowfullscreen='true' style='border:0;'></iframe>
<p>And yeah, there’s another free-to-play gacha battler game, this time based on the <em>Digimon</em> franchise. It’s called <em>Digimon ReArise</em> (<a href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id1471605207" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">iOS</a> | <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bandainamcoent.digimon_rearise_ww" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Android</a>) I’ll be honest guys, I’m kinda burned out on this stuff at the moment so we’re going to wait and see with this one. If it proves popular maybe we’ll look into it in more detail but I’m not in any rush. Here’s a trailer anyway:</p>
<iframe class='youtube-player' type='text/html' width='980' height='552' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/WD5ttx_QEJc?version=3&rel=1&fs=1&autohide=2&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&wmode=transparent' allowfullscreen='true' style='border:0;'></iframe>
<h2>Updates</h2>
<p>A few things to update you one, some of which we accidentally forgot about:</p>
<h3>Black Desert Online Mobile (<a href="https://apps.apple.com/app/id1477186880" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">iOS</a> & <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pearlabyss.blackdesertm.gl&hl=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Android</a>)</h3>
<p>MMO’s are an odd prospect on mobile – for the longest time, the term was appropriated by developers who made trashy F2P games, but as mobile tech improved it’s now quite possibly to put actual, ‘legit’ MMOs onto mobile devices. <em>Black Desert Online</em> is a fairly popular Free-to-Play MMO that’s been around for quite a few years now. It’s managed to walk that line between given players worthwhile content to engage in, and offering a business model that sustains them. Their freemium stuff is mainly cosmetics, although you can buy some shortcuts. I played it on PC for a spell and I actually had quite a lot of fun with it. The only thing was I didn’t think it facilitated party-play that well, but it may have improved since then.</p>
<p>We’ve known it was coming to mobile since E3, but what I forgot to mention a couple of weeks ago is that pre-registration is now available on iOS and Android. The mobile version is due to land in December 2019.</p>
<iframe class='youtube-player' type='text/html' width='980' height='552' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/7rrIBXJWOuQ?version=3&rel=1&fs=1&autohide=2&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&wmode=transparent' allowfullscreen='true' style='border:0;'></iframe>
<h3>PS4 Remote Play App (<a href="https://apps.apple.com/app/ps4-remote-play/id1436192460#?platform=iphone" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">iOS</a> & <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.playstation.remoteplay&hl" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Android</a>)</h3>
<p>Playstation recently updated their core PS4 Firmware to Version 7.0 this week, and with that came an update to their <em>Remote Play</em> app. The nuts and bolts of this latest update means that Android users beyond Sony Xperia phones can now get in on the action, and iOS users can now use their Dualshock 4 controllers with the app.</p>
<p>For Android, you just need to be running Android 5.0 or higher although if you have Android 10 installed, you can also get in on the Dualshock action by connecting your controller to your phone via Bluetooth.</p>
<p>You’ll need to have iOS 13 to be able to use your controller on that end of things. You’ll also be able to choose whether or not the on-screen controls remain visible as well as choose whether or not to lock the orientation.</p>
<h3>Heroes of Steel RPG (<a href="https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/heroes-of-steel-rpg-elite/id840230884" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">iOS</a> & <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tresebrothers.games.heroesofsteelelite" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Android</a>)</h3>
<p><em>Ticket to Earth</em> isn’t the only game to seemingly get a fourth episode update this week. The Trese Brothers have taken a break from constantly updating <em>Star Traders: Frontiers</em> to release the “final” episode for their Heroes of Steel RPG, the Siege of Sur-Relliar Glacier.</p>
<p>Here’s the full change-log, if you’re still interested in playing this game:</p>
<blockquote>
<ul>
<li>Epic end-game conclusion to the tale of the 4 Harbingers</li>
<li>Battle across 7 new brutally challenging dungeons and maps</li>
<li>Lock blades and magic with multiple major bosses across the climactic siege</li>
<li>Face 15+ new monster types — Ice & Fire Drakes, Orcin Ravagers, Thorn Shamans, Unrequited Blades and more</li>
<li>Loot 100+ new amazingly powerful weapons, armor and magical gear across the final dungeons</li>
<li>Once beaten, you may invoke a New Game+ mode to replay the final dungeon and bosses again! (and again!)</li>
<li>Fixed all issues with late-game bows named “FIX ME” and crafting out of Fierhold</li>
<li>Fixed crash with “Great Flats” level loading in some situations</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<h2>Sales</h2>
<p>Only two sales of note this week:</p>
<ul>
<li>First up, following <a href="https://www.pockettactics.com/articles/ticket-to-earth-episode-4/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the release of Episode 4</a>, <a href="https://www.pockettactics.com/reviews/review-ticket-to-earth/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Ticket to Earth</em></a> has been discounted by $1 on iOs. Not Android.</li>
<li>Kingdom: New Lands is an intriguing side-scrolling management/strategy game where you must try to survive against hordes of enemies that only attack at night. It’s half price on <a href="https://apps.apple.com/app/id1118513354" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">iOS</a> and <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nl.noio.kingdom" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Android</a>.</li>
</ul>
<p><em>Seen anything else you liked? Played any of the above? Let us know in the comments!</em></p>
</div>
https://www.sickgaming.net/blog/2019/10/...y-edition/