Show Me Your Poker Face! Poker Night at the Inventory (1 AND 2)

Titles: Poker Night at the Inventory 1 & 2
Genre: Card Game (Poker)
Developer/Publisher: Telltale Games
System: PC, Mac OSX (both games), PS3, 360 (Poker Night 2 only)
Release Dates: November 22, 2010 (original), April 23rd, 2013 (2)

Poker... with characters from various video games and other big franchises... well, now that's something to think about.

Poker Night at the Inventory puts you against four notable characters in a battle of cards, Texas Hold 'Em style (with the second game adding Omaha Hold 'Em in the mix). The first game features you going up against Max from the Sam & Max series, Strong Bad from Homestar Runner, The Heavy from Team Fortress 2, and Tycho from the Penny Arcade webcomics.

In Poker Night 2, you opponents this time are Brock Sampson from the [adult swim] animated series The Venture Bros., Claptrap from Borderlands, Ash Williams (not to be confused with Ashley Williams of the Mass Effect series) from the Evil Dead movies, and Sam from Sam & Max. GLaDOS from the Portal series also makes an appearance in this game, serving the role as the dealer.

The cast of Poker Night 2. 

The general gist of Texas Hold 'em poker is this: each player is dealt two cards, turn by turn each player can choose to call the amount the previous player put out or raise in order to earn more money. Players can fold if they feel that their hand is inferior to that of the others.

After all bets are done, the first three cards of the river go out, and the process repeats until there are five cards out on the table. The player with the best hand wins the pot.

And just when you think the game is all about money, you best think again. Each character has a special item that you can obtain which can be used for another game.

In the case with the first game (and probably the second), each of the character has a special item that they can put up as part of the bet, and if you win the bet, that item is yours. In the first game, obtaining a special item will grant you bonus weapons and gear in Team Fortress 2.

Winning more poker matches allows you to unlock extra tables and cards based on each character's series. In Poker Night 2, they made special areas/maps for all 5 characters.

If you're looking for something fun and/or want to learn about playing poker without using real money, then both Poker Night games are a choice for you, and both are $5, with pre-ordering Poker Night 2 (on Steam) will grant you the original Poker Night free of charge.

Thanks again for reading!
-Anthony-

Gotta Conquer Them All! - Pokemon Conquest! (Part 1)

Title: Pokemon Conquest
Genre: Tactical RPG
Developer: Tecmo Koei
Publishers: Nintendo, The Pokemon Company
System: Nintendo DS
Release Date: June 18th, 2012

It's one of the VERY RARE events in which one of Nintendo's main franchises decides to have a cross-over game with another series of games that isn't the Smash Bros. series. Pokemon Conquest is a game that combines the game play and strategy/tactical adventure of Nobunaga's Ambition with Pokemon.

The story of the game takes place in an area known as Ransei, where a legend states that if one nation has control over all seventeen of the kingdom's regions (which are based on all 17 Pokemon types), that the creator of the region will return once more. 

The Ransei region, the setting of game. The landmass itself is based on the legendary Pokemon, Arceus.

As stated previously, the goal of the game is to conquer all 17 nations of Ransei. You start off as a hero/heroine of Aurora, an area that specializes in Normal-type Pokemon. Like in Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness, your starter Pokemon is an Eevee.

Unlike in Pokemon games where normally, you would send out a Pokemon and face an opponent 1-on-1 (or 2-on-1/2-on-2 for Double Battles), you and your allies each send out one Pokemon and that Pokemon is the only that can be used for that battle until all enemies are defeated. There is also a handful of different things that differ from normal Pokemon rules:

                             - Each character can vary in the number Pokemon the can have (most 8, least 2).
                             - Up to 6 characters can be in one nation at a time.
                              - Pokemon evolve when they reach a certain energy level
                              - Oddly enough, warlords themselves can also "evolve"
                              - Pokemon may sometimes leave a character's party
                              - Characters may also leave the army if not used at all
                              - All Pokemon will only have one attack to use.
                              - Warlords and other characters can use special abilities to aid the party

Now that's some of main things to look out for in this game. There's a lot, but once you start playing, you'll understand the mechanics quite easily.

A battle in the Fire Nation, Ignis, home to Fire-type Pokemon.

I think that I'm going to put a stop for now, and have a Part 2 for this entry as well, since there's a lot to talk about, and I haven't been feeling well. So stay tuned!