I’ve written about Outerplane in a previous post and even voiced my excitement. I enjoy gotcha games and have been looking for a game to fill the void Dragalia Lost left behind. I’ve been playing Outerplane since launch, but today I decided to uninstall it. After running out of the free energy you get for starting the game, it becomes a grind I wasn’t enjoying.
Outerplane is an anime-themed gotcha game for Android and iOS devices. The game has a story, but it is a generic and poorly written isakai anime that doesn’t matter. I gave up on reading it pretty early on. The only real draw this game has is the art style. If you like anime and don’t mind the fan service, this game will have something worth collecting. The problem is that the grind is dull, and you will eventually come to a point where you will need to spend money to get the characters you want. There are probably guides out there to make the grind more manageable and efficient; I suggest you look into those before starting this game. The pull rates for the banners are bad, but that is to be expected for the genre. I can’t tell you how predatory the cash shop is, but there are $30 skin packs which feel steep for me. I am not shaming anyone who buys skins for games. I’ve spent a lot of money on skins over the years. If you think this game gives you a $30 value and the skin pack makes you enjoy the game more, go for it, but I don’t think Outerplanes is worth $30 in its current state.
I found the gameplay to be too simple. The voice acting and animation are fantastic until the novelty wears off, and you realize the game is rather shallow. I encountered some frame drops and stutters in the beginning and while the performance got better over time, there were still noticeable visual issues. None of the issues were game-breaking, but they are worth mentioning. I played on an iPad Pro and iPhone 12 and encountered the same issues on both.
As far are the combat goes, Outerplane gives the illusion of strategy with its gear, facilities, combo, special attacks, and type advantage systems, but this is all just stuff you’ll need to grind for. If you grind long enough, the strategy doesn’t matter unless you’re doing hardcore endgame content, but good luck getting to that point. I will commend the game for having a nice battery-saving auto battler mode to make the grind more manageable, but it still felt like a job to get the materials I needed to move to the next piece of content. I needed to punch in daily and let my phone idle as my team completed dailies, story missions, and farmed for materials before running out of energy and waiting to do it all over again later. I am sure that spending money makes the grind a little easier, but this game wasn’t fun enough to spend money on. I don’t spend money on Gotcha games. I’m just addicted to the thrill of pulling for a digital character and the disappointment that comes after when I don’t get it.
Outerplane is made with a specific audience in mind, but I am not included in that group. The game isn’t fun, the story is bad, and the grind is worth the time you put into it. I suggest you skip it because there are better gotcha games out there. You can download the game for Android and iOS devices, but make sure you look up guides. The key to success in any gotcha game is efficiency.
This week in the Digimon TCG: July 3rd
I know I am a little late on this update but it is a holiday weekend for me. This week’s update will heavily feature Premium Bandai collections that might be worth getting if you enjoy the exclusive promos they offer. Premium Bandai is where you go to get the official high-quality collectibles of your favorite IP’s that fall under the Bandai umbrella. It is more expensive than the traditional Bandai merch, but they are worthwhile additions to any collection. Check out the official website and say goodbye to your money.
Royal Knights Binder Set [PB13]
The Royal Knights Binder and promos shipped. I didn’t order this piece of merch and kind of regret it. The Binder is $50, which is pricey for a binder. It comes with 10 9 slot pages and eight alt art promos. The promos are all so pretty! My complaint is that you only get one copy of each of these promos. If you wanted to play with copies of these cards in your deck, you would have to buy additional binders, but I guess you wouldn’t want to play with pieces this nice. It is still a pretty binder, and worth it if you just collect the game.
I love the art on the binder and how it gathers all of the royal knights together in a pretty epic pose. The gold boarder makes it pop. It really looks like a premium product, at least based on the picture.
I’m starting off with my favorite of the promos from this set. Gabumon looks so cool here! I love the colors and the Omnimon in the background. The foiling for this is going to look so pretty in a binder, but it has a solid search ability if you want to play with it as well. Too bad you only get one copy.
I love the Agumon is mid Pepper Breath. The shading also reminds me of the retro art from the old cards and it really makes Agumon pop.
This Dracomon is so cute! I love the expression on its face and the dragons that swirl around it. It has such a great color scheme and the foiling is going to look so good.
Beezlemon Deck Box Set
The Beelzemon Deck box and the Brown Digimon Card game deck box sets have also started shipping out if you pre-ordered these back in November. The boxes are $40 each, which is a lot more reasonable when you consider you get a nice looking deck box and 12 full art cards. This set comes with six different cards, but you get two copies of each. You could have either bought both deck boxes for the playset, or been fine with just one. These would look so sick in a deck, but you there’s nothing wrong with keeping them safe in a binder. The deck box design is fine, but the card art is sick!
Starting off with my favorite, this MagnaKidmon is just amazing. I love the charging shot effect, the cool expression on its face, and the pose is fantastic. I wanted to get these boxes just for this card.
This Magidramon is beautiful. I love the paint brush style its drawn in. I like how it looks like its about to breath fire and cause more destruction. Look at how the world just burns into ash. The Gallantmon in the foreground and the Omnimon in its hand are such a nice touch. They emphasize Magidramon’s scale and power, and both are terrifying.
Beelzemon Premium Binder Set
The Beelzemon/Beelstarmon Binder set is available for pre-order until August 1st, or until supply runs out. The binder is $100, which again is kind of pricey for a binder, but it might be worth it for the promos. The binder comes with two copies of four new alt cards that you are going to need if you are running a Beelzemon deck. I love that there is two copies of these, but I wish it were a playset for $100. Whether you play with them or keep them in the binder, these cards are beautiful.
Tamer Goods Set: Angewoman & LadyDevimon
Here is something I wish I’d preorder back when it was live. The Angewoman & LadyDevimon playmat set have shipped. The set is $40 which is fine considering you also get a playset of the exclusive alt art cards. Its a beautiful set, and I regret not getting it.
![May be an image of card and text that says 'Cost play 6 DIGIMON 6000 DP napp அகி Cost pu 3 Lv.4 Lv.4 3 INJAPAN AD When Digivolving You may trash card in your hand to reveal the top cards of your deck. Add yellow and 1 purple card with [Angel], Archangel], or [Fallen Angel] in their traits among them to your hand. Place the remaining cards at the bottom of your deck in any order. Teet Lv.5 ST10-12R R 01 LadyDevimon Ultimate Virus Fallen Effect Your Turn All of your yellow Digimon gain Retaliation (When this Digimon is deleted after losing battle, delete the Digimon it was battling.)'](https://scontent-sjc3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/347585590_699489382189005_3395572686392949268_n.jpg?_nc_cat=109&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=zt3XNFern-IAX9lrfSg&_nc_ht=scontent-sjc3-1.xx&oh=00_AfAKYnJK_SankaI_A8_pKFv9n89QDTHmWn7IVEYFnCID7w&oe=64A81559)
That’s it for this weeks update. There were a lot of cool alt cards that I would love in my collection, but I unfortunately missed out on them. Maybe one day. If you’ve been enjoying these updates, don’t forget to like, comment, subscribe, and share this with your friends. See you next week!
Solarpunk: The beautiful survival game that might be worth looking into.
If you enjoy the survivor game genre, you might want to look into Solarpunk. Destroying its Kickstarter goals, this beautiful game is looking like the relaxing experience I am always down for. Players can build and design unique bases, gather resources, craft gadgets, and fly airships! The trailer gave me some serious Stardew Valley vibes, and I can play Stardew Valley for hours.
Solarpunk promises a vast open-world sandbox experience that you can share with your friends, or brave on your own. Although the game looks beautiful and relaxing, there are survival elements you should pay close attention to. Players will have to worry about health, hunger, thirst, and dangers that roam the wilderness. Solarpunk is making a lot of promises without having a finished product. I am sharing this preview because the game looks cool, but I am always weary of Kickstarter promises. Don’t get me wrong, I will keep watching this project closely, but I’ll need to see more of the game before I fomo in. Nevertheless, the devs have laid out a realistic roadmap and made impressive partnerships that ease my doubts a bit. We’ll have to wait and see how the devs deliver.
The game is set to launch sometime next year on PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, and PC via Steam. Don’t forget to add it to your Wishlist.
Nimbus Infinity: An unimpressive anime mech sim you are better off not getting
I was sent Nimbus Infinity as a review code, and while I am very grateful for the opportunity, I will not let it sway my opinions. This will be my honest review of the game.
Nimbus Infinity is an anime-inspired mech combat simulator available now for PC.
Peace in Japan is threatened when a hostile foreign force invades with an army of mechs, drones, and ships. The world now turns to a high school boy to save the world and achieve world peace. Luckily the hours he’s put into video games have made him an ace pilot for a power unreleased prototype mech. Take to the skies and repel hordes of barely distinguishable enemies and experience that can only be described as disorienting. Do you have what it takes to save the world?
I had fun with this game for the first few minutes until the novelty wore off. The combat could have been interesting if it didn’t get so repetitive and the missions weren’t boring. The game’s lack of polish makes combat feel cumbersome. It was almost impossible to know where I was going, what I was doing, and what I was fighting because everything is poorly rendered. The mech you control will sometimes stutter out of existence, while the enemies around you are nearly indistinguishable. The tutorial and random voice lines will suggest that different enemy types exist, but I can’t confirm if that’s true. This is annoying because each enemy type requires a different strategy, but I could never tell the enemies apart. Was I fighting drones? Spaceships? Other mechs? Who knows? You can customize your mech better fit your playstyle, but I never bothered because it didn’t matter.
The lack of polish wouldn’t have been a problem if the game was fun. The story is a bad generic anime sewn together by boring missions that feel like they take an eternity to complete. The story hits all the bad anime tropes, and it becomes so predictable that I was able to skip entire scenes and still understand what was going on. I have quit better anime for less. The voice acting is inconstant. There is some decent voice acting sprinkled randomly throughout the campaign, but most of it isn’t good.
The characters are generic and forgettable. The main character is the generic male protagonist that you can find in any poorly written anime. He is naturally gifted, cocky, and everyone will love him because he is so cool. While he isn’t the worst male protagonist, I am struggling to remember him. The rest of the cast exists to fall in love with him and are less distinguishable.
Nimbus Infinity isn’t worth the $14.99 it’s asking for on Steam. The story is boring and the combat isn’t polished enough to be fun. Maybe it will get better as they roll out updates, but I can’t recommend the game in the stage it is in now. The Steam Summer Sale is going on until July 13. I recommend you buy something else instead.
Stray Fawn’s newest city builder takes to the skies and looks like a lot of fun. Airborne Empire coming to PC and Mac!
I enjoy village builders a little more than I should. I may not be good at them, but I have been known to no life them when given the chance. It is the reason why I uninstalled City Skylines. I would never get any work done otherwise. Because of my unhealthy love of the genre, I am always looking for a new fix.
Today I saw the trailer for Airborne Empire, and this game looks like a lot of fun! The art style is beautiful, the flavor is interesting, and it is coming to us from our friends at Stray Fawn. They’re responsible for The Wondering Village, another village builder worth looking into.
Players in this game must build an empire in the sky. They collect resources, gather treasures, and defend against marauders. I am always down for another village builder, but the defending against hostiles is what gives this game its hook. I know I won’t be good at this game, yet it draws me with its siren’s call.
Airborne Empire comes to early access for Mac and PC in 2024. Add it to your Wishlist to stay up to date on all the updates.
Fort Solis: A spooky sci-fi mystery coming to PS5, PC, and Mac this August.
I just watched the Fort Solis trailer, and it looks like the spooky sci-fi mystery I need in my life. A mining team on Mars has gone missing, and it is up to Jack Leary to find out what happened. Explore an abandoned mining base as sand storms rage and strange things happen around you. What happened here? To the team? Will you be next? You’ll have to play the game to find out.
Based on the trailer, the game looks creepy. The abandoned mining rig is giving me Dead Space vibes, and I didn’t have the courage to finish any of them. Admittedly, I have never finished a horror game, but maybe I’ve never played a good one. I don’t do good with horror, but I am willing to try with Fort Solis.
For the record, I don’t have an issue with horror movies or books, just horror games. Maybe it’s irrational, but something about having control of the horror freaks me out more than passively watching it happen to someone else. That said, I am working on getting a review code for this because the trailer has me interested. I will probably play with all my lights on, but I will power through. I am always down for a good mystery, and the game looks pretty good too. Let’s hope I hear back from them soon.
Fort Solis is a horror mystery sci-fi game coming to PS5, PC, and Mac on August 22nd.
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This week in the Digimon TCG: June 25th
This week, we got previews for more of the full art cards from the Alternative Being(EX-04), set and they are beautiful. This set has some very cool cards that you are going to want to add to your collection. Alternative Being is in stores now, so make sure you grab a couple of packs from your LGS or TCGPlayer if they don’t carry Digimon. Don’t forget to subscribe and share if you’ve been enjoying these updates!
Alternative Being(EX-04) Full Art Cards
I’m starting off with the cutest card in this set. I need this card badly and am just about ready to sell my soul for a play set of these. If this isn’t the card that moves boxes, I don’t know what is. Sure there are some cool Greymons to chase, but how can you say no to this face?
This card looks so sick! I love the mayhem in the background and how coolly ZeedGarurumon is landing, like he is ready to cause his own mayhem. It also has some solid bounce abilities you might want to add to your deck.
I love the glow effect they added to the metal armor and weapons. I love how this looks like a painting and the heroic prescience the artist gives ChaosGallontmon. Its got removal and a chance to play it free? Sign me up.
This set does a great job with these heroic poses. This looks like it could be on the cover of comic book and would look so sick in a binder or a slab. It also has some solid removal.
The artist does a beautiful job at making BlackMegaGargomon feel massive with this one. It is raining down death and destruction with such a nonchalant expression. I love it. I love it, and the effect isn’t bad either.
The foiling for this card is going to look so good in person. I love the moonlight effect washing over Kuzuhamon and the spirit flying around it.
Another cute card I need in my binder. It’s got a solid search ability and card destruction is always nice.
This Omnimon is amazing and the foiling is going to looks pretty. I love the zombified jankiness of this form! The mummy wraps, the tethered cape, and the eyes on the cannon and sword all give it a very Frankenstein monster vibe that I am here for. It’s a purple card with solid removal and a chance to play it for free? Say no more!
Royal Knights Pre-Release
Versus Knights comes out July 21! Make sure you check with your LGS to see if they are running any pre-release so that you can pick up these cool promos. I need this Psychemon!
More Ultimate Cup Results
And for those interested in the competitive scenes. Always check your LGS for a local scene, and head over to the official site to sign up for events near you.
North America
Looks like Green and Purple are consistent contenders in this format across all regions. Might be the safest bet to buy into green, or getting the Beelzemon deck and fix it up.
Latin America
Looks like blue is making a splash in Latin America this time around.
Event Calendar
Brotato: The cutest arena shooter you’ll obsess over
I was sent Brotato as a review code. While I am very grateful for the opportunity, I will keep my review honest.
Brotato is a top-down arena shooter available now on Steam. Play as a potato and survive endless hordes of aliens. This game has no story. You choose a potato and do your best to survive.
The mechanics are simple, move the potato around the arena, and your potato does the rest. You start each round by choosing a potato. Each potato has unique skills and traits that affect the gameplay. Usually, they’ll have a boost in a stat at the cost of another and some kind of gimmick. You unlock additional potatoes by playing the game and unlocking achievements.
As you kill aliens, you pick up XP to level up your character and currency to buy upgrades. At the end of each round, you chose an upgrade for every level you gain and buy items or weapons from a shop. The upgrades and items you choose from are random. While some of my runs were easier than others, I felt the RNG was fair.
The character auto-attacks, so you only have to worry about the movement. I preferred using a controller, but do whatever is comfortable. Where this game gets complicated is in the choices you make for upgrades. These choices affect how strong your potato gets, so choose wisely. Often, you will have to choose between picking up the resources you need to get stronger or simply surviving the round. As simple as this game looks, it can get pretty technical.
I loved Brotato! The art is cute, the music is great, and the gameplay is fun. It was hard to put this game down because the more I played, the more I obsessed with my strategy. This is a great casual game to pick up because it is engaging enough to keep your attention, and you can return to it without having to remember anything. Brotato is $4.99 on Steam, but it is on sale for $3.99 until June 30. Grab your copy today! The game has been announced to for the Switch, but no date has been set.
The award winning visual novel, Harmony: The Fall of Reverie, is out now!
Harmony: The Fall of Reverie is a beautiful-looking visual novel that I am very much excited to try. I was impressed by the initial announcement, and I am always looking to get into another visual novel. Since the announcement, the game has earned a few awards and achievements that have kept me excited for this game.
Harmony: The Fall of Reverie lets you play as Polly, a young woman who suddenly discovers she has the gift to travel to a new world, Reverie. In Reverie, Polly becomes Harmony and now has the responsibility to the next Aspiration to be the heart of humanity. As Harmony, you must make difficult choices, befriend different people, and be the catalyst to a beautifully drawn narrative. The game promises multiple endings, decisions that matter, a fantastic soundtrack, and a powerful story. I will have to see how well the game keeps its promises, but at the very least, I am interested.
Harmony: The Fall of Reverie is out now for PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, and PC via Steam for $24.99 across all platforms. I should receive my review copy any day now, so stay tuned for my full review.
Pokemon 151 set now available for preorder!
Best Buy and Target has put up their Pokemon 151 bundles up for pre-order. The set has already sold out on the Pokemon Center site, so now might be a good time to pick up a few of the bundles before the release on November. This set is beautiful and the bundles have enough incentive to get collectors excited. I know it is going to be very hard for me to buy into this set, but I am trying. Give me a follow if you’ve been enjoying my updates, and don’t forget to share this with your friends!
151 Elite Trainer Box ($49.99)
- 11 Pokémon TCG: Scarlet & Violet—151 booster packs
- Each booster pack contains 10 cards and 1 Basic Energy.
- 1 full-art foil promo card featuring Snorlax with a Pokémon Center logo
- 1 full-art foil promo card featuring Snorlax
- 65 card sleeves
- 45 Pokémon TCG Energy cards
- A player’s guide to the Scarlet & Violet—151 expansion
- 6 damage-counter dice
- 1 competition-legal coin-flip die
- 2 plastic condition markers
- A box to hold everything, with 4 dividers to keep it organized
- A code card for Pokémon Trading Card Game Live
151 6pk Booster Bundle ($26.94)
Includes six booster packs from Pokémon TCG: Scarlet & Violet—151
151 Ultra Premium Collection ($119.99)
- 1 etched foil promo card featuring Mew ex
- 1 full-art foil promo card featuring Mewtwo
- 1 etched metal card featuring Mew ex
- 1 playmat
- 1 deck box
- 1 metallic coin featuring Mew
- 6 damage-counter dice
- 2 plastic condition markers
- 16 booster packs from Pokémon TCG: Scarlet & Violet—151
- A code card for Pokémon TCG Live
151 Binder Collection ($24.99)
- A binder with 20 9-pocket pages
- 4 Pokémon TCG: Scarlet & Violet—151 booster packs
151 Alakazam ex Box ($21.99)
- 1 foil promo card featuring Alakazam ex
- 1 foil card featuring Kadabra
- 1 foil card featuring Abra
- 4 Pokémon TCG: Scarlet & Violet—151 booster packs
- A code card for Pokémon TCG Live
151 Zapdos ex Box ($21.99)
- 1 foil promo card featuring Zapdos ex
- 1 foil card featuring Electabuzz
- 1 oversize foil card featuring Zapdos ex
- 4 Pokémon TCG: Scarlet & Violet—151 booster packs
- A code card for Pokémon TCG Live
151 Poster Collection ($14.99)
- 3 foil promo cards featuring Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle
- 1 poster with a Scarlet & Violet—151 theme
- 3 Pokémon TCG: Scarlet & Violet—151 booster packs
- A code card for Pokémon TCG Live
151 Mini Tins ($9.99 ea)
- 2 Pokémon TCG: Scarlet & Violet—151 booster packs
- 1 cool coin featuring an Energy symbol
- A Pokémon art card showing the art from this Mini Tin—you can collect and combine all 10!
- Selection is random