FIFA 21 Goes Outside the Box With New Rulebreakers Promo

FIFA 21, EA Sports

In recent years, FIFA 21 has used the Halloween season to run their Halloween scream promo in Ultimate Team. However, this year the team at EA is changing things up in big ways with their new Rulebreakers promo. This year, the team has implemented a new stat upgrading system, which lets them play around with players in fun new ways. They've fully taken advantage of that system with Rulebreakers. Some of the game's best players have been transformed and will allow you to fill new holes in your squad. Check out the first team below.

As we've come to expect in FIFA 21, the top tier players from Rulebreakers mostly come from the Premier League. However, while that's a little less exciting, it's awesome to finally get a meta, Harry Kane. He's one of the best strikers in the world but has always been lost in the FIFA meta due to his lower-end pace. Now, he's a devastating player that will make England proud.

Sticking with the EPL, fans can also pick up an 88-rated Aymeric Laporte. Like Kane, Laporte has received a massive pace increase while taking a slight decrease to his defending. Fortunately for those of us who don't run a Prem team, every other player in the squad comes from another league.

The other three big-ticket players are Douglas Costa from the Bundesliga and Dries Mertens and Radja Nainggolan from the Italian Serie A. Costa gets a massive boost to his shooting, which is a year too late to stop the memes. Mertens, on the other hand, lost a bit of his dribbling, while getting his shooting boosted. And Nainggolan is yet another player with a new injection of pace at the expense of most of his defending.

Manuel Lazzari rounds out the Serie A piece of the squad. His shooting has gone up by a whopping 21 points, which is just unreal. Meanwhile, La Liga fans can look to pick up either Lucas Ocampos or Marcos Llorente. Llorente, in particular, is probably going to be pretty popular.

Rounding out the squad are the Eredivisie's Denzel Dumfries and Ligue 1's Benjamin Andre and Hassane Kamara. But the fun's not over. In objectives, players can earn an absolutely disgusting version of the Bundesliga's Nordi Mukiele. Expect to see him in a French hybrid squad near you very soon.

However, the most interesting player in the whole promo so far is Inaki Williams. He's in SBCs, but it's a little different than usual. Your reward for completing is a player pick between two different versions of Williams. One boosts his dribbling, while the other sees his shooting jump up. It's a very interesting addition that I hope EA continues to explore throughout the year.

FIFA 21 is available now on PC, PS4, and Xbox One. The Rulebreakers team one is in packs now.

 

The post FIFA 21 Goes Outside the Box With New Rulebreakers Promo by Ricky Frech appeared first on DualShockers.

Nintendo's Treatment for the 30th Anniversary of Fire Emblem is Frustratingly Lazy

Fire Emblem

Alongside 2020 being the 35th anniversary of the Super Mario Bros franchise, it is also the 30th anniversary of Fire Emblem. To celebrate, Nintendo has announced that it is bringing Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light to western audiences for the first time with an official English localization. Additionally, there is a 30th anniversary Limited Edition that includes a bunch of fun goodies. It may sound good so far, but the game will only be available for a limited time until March 31, 2021, similarly to Super Mario 3D All-Stars.

Previously, I thought that the direction that Nintendo was going was to bring all the 3D Mario games to Switch following the release of All-Stars. But after seeing the way they are handling Fire Emblem's 30th anniversary, I'm worried that Nintendo is doing the bare minimum for those who have supported these franchises and Nintendo as a company for several decades.

Not only is Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light a limited time title, but it is only getting a digital release, unlike 3D All-Stars. Nintendo's first-party titles are notorious for physical copies going up in price over time, making this situation even more frustrating for those like me who are physical collectors. I can see from one angle as to why Nintendo did not do a physical release for Fire Emblem by selling the game for only $5.99, and since it won't take up enough space to warrant a physical cart. But then why make it available for only a limited time? 3D All-Stars' physical release made sense to a degree because they released three 3D Mario titles for only $59.99, and it is rare that we see ports–let alone a three-pack bundle–of classic games like this. But this is the first time the original Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light is coming to the west. Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon released back on the Nintendo DS as a remake that was generally well-received at the time, but even then: why not just port Shadow Dragon as a proper release instead?

Super Mario 3D-All Stars is also not the only part of celebrating 35 years of the Super Mario franchise. Last month, the anniversary got its own dedicated Nintendo Direct, multiple new games like Super Mario 35, Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit, and the upcoming Game & Watch handheld. By comparison, the release of Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light feels underwhelming to celebrate the milestone for Fire Emblem, even if it's brand new to the west. It is true that Mario is Nintendo's mascot, but surely they could have done much more for Fire Emblem as another one of their longtime first-party series. Simply put, it makes it look like they don't care.

Fire Emblem as a series was introduced to many in the west for the first time through Super Smash Bros Melee with the addition of both Marth and Roy. Even though there were many entries in the series leading up to Fire Emblem: Awakening–which saved the series from dying outside of Japan–Nintendo could have used this opportunity to bring those older titles that very few have played to the Switch. This especially feels like a missed opportunity after the series' most recent entry, Fire Emblem: Three Houses, which has expanded its popularity even more. Since its release on the Switch last year, Three Houses has become the second most successful entry commercially in the entire franchise and still has the ability to become the highest in due time.

In general, it is great to see that we're getting something new from Fire Emblem on Switch, but there were definitely better choices that could have been made to honor the series for its 30th anniversary. Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance was one of the first entries in the franchise to make it out west back on the GameCube. The title starred Ike, who is probably best known to western audiences when he was a new character in Super Smash Bros Brawl on the Wii. He received a sequel on the same platform called Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn, and since then, neither title has been ported to a newer system despite fans' requests for it. Even if it was a limited-time release, it seems crazy to think that Nintendo wouldn't release a dual-pack of Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn with how much of a success the Switch has become in recent years. Both of those games are hard to find and even if you do find them, they're more expensive than the cost of current Nintendo first-party titles.

I don't want to sound ungrateful, because we who are in the western audience are getting a new Fire Emblem game for the very first time, even if we already had access to its remake. But there are still titles in the franchise that haven't been released outside of Japan at all, and a few that require a much-needed port. With both Zelda and Metroid having significant anniversaries next year as well, my expectations have dimmed on what Nintendo will have to offer once the time comes around. I understand that Fire Emblem is one of Nintendo's more niche first-party franchises in the U.S., but I think there have been enough examples in the past to show that whatever Nintendo gives us, we will not hesitate to take it.

Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light releases for Nintendo Switch on December 4, and will be available for a limited time until March 31, 2021.

The post Nintendo's Treatment for the 30th Anniversary of Fire Emblem is Frustratingly Lazy by Cameron Hawkins appeared first on DualShockers.

New Fallout 76 Trailer Offers a First Look at the Brotherhood of Steel in Appalachia

Fallout 76

The Brotherhood of Steel has finally reached Appalachia. A new trailer released by Bethesda today shows Fallout's iconic faction moving into the beautiful countryside Fallout 76 players call home in the game's latest expansion, Steel Dawn.

This is the first trailer released for Steel Dawn, the sixth expansion for Fallout 76. Originally named Fractured Steel, the expansion is set to release this December, despite the "coming soon" at the end of today's trailer.

While it's not entirely clear what players will be able to do with the Brotherhood of Steel besides stamp out mutants and trudge around the wasteland in badass armor, the trailer's description on Youtube does provide some clues. Players can look forward to meeting Brotherhood of Steel Paladin Leila Rahmani and her troops, sent to Appalachia all the way from California. Their goal is to establish a new chapter, a mission that players can either assist the BoS with or thwart. Steel Dawn will also scatter new NPCs throughout the game's settlements, along with new weapons and armor from the Brotherhood's vast energy-weapon arsenal.

Besides those tidbits, it's not entirely clear what interactions players will have with one of Fallout's key factions. That being said, players shouldn't expect anything too revolutionary. This expansion seems explicitly content based – it won't be changing up any of Fallout 76's systems like the Wastelanders expansion did.

Today also just happens to be the day the bombs drop in the Fallout universe, October 23. To celebrate the day the bombs fell, Bethesda has put together a week of excitement that includes free access to Fallout 76. If you want to try the game out, now's the best time.

The post New Fallout 76 Trailer Offers a First Look at the Brotherhood of Steel in Appalachia by Otto Kratky appeared first on DualShockers.

The State of PlayStation Coverage at DualShockers

PlayStation Network Online ID Change DualShockers Blacklist PS4 PS5

Update: Hey all — over a year later, and we are within striking distance of next gen and the future of PlayStation. As you might expect from this article, we also are not in the tranche of gaming outlets that have received a PS5. While we can't say for sure why this continues to be an area of conflict between us and the Sony PR team, we want to acknowledge it and remind our audience exactly what the problem is.

With that said, keep your eyes on DualShockers for a full review of the consumer-builds of the launch lineup and PS5 hardware, free from any burdens of pre-release embargo rushes or unseen launch issues.

Original story follows:

Good morning all, and Happy Thursday! This is Lou Contaldi, friendly neighborhood Editor in Chief over at DualShockers. Many of you all are undoubtedly keeping your eyes peeled for Days Gone reviews that should surface within the next hour — we are too. Unfortunately, you won't be finding pre-release review coverage for Days Gone at DualShockers, and we'd like to offer a quick explanation and glimpse into our relationship with PlayStation.

We've had a few discussions in the past about the transparency of DualShockers and content creation — we want to be upfront with our readers in our successes, flaws, accomplishments, and shortcomings. This includes our move to using affiliate links (and the transparency that comes with it), our stance on editorial freedom, and freely requesting help in shaping the future of website design. We are as much a part of the DualShockers community as we are content creators here (many of us starting off as readers ourselves) and think that honesty is the best policy.

days gone review

Many readers and third-party partners alike have been asking about our review and preview coverage on PlayStation titles. With a name like DualShockers, we obviously attract a hefty PlayStation following — even though we definitely cater to all consoles in the market — and pride ourselves on often exhaustive coverage of upcoming PlayStation-exclusive titles like Death Stranding, The Last of Us: Part II or Persona 5 The Royal. So it's almost natural that a lot of community members and friends have been asking where our preview coverage is. Especially when other outlets get hands-on time with Days Gone or MLB: The Show 19.

The Main Points

In full transparency, you likely won't be seeing any pre-release preview or review coverage for Sony published games at DualShockers. (Sorry!) That is, not unless something majorly changes in our existing relationship with PlayStation, and this isn't anything new.

The good news: this isn't going to shift our current depth and breadth of PlayStation coverage. For the better part of a decade DualShockers has maintained limited (if any) access to PlayStation events and titles.

We aren't changing how we have been operating day-to-day and we will be reviewing both Days Gone and future PlayStation published titles as soon as they release commercially. However, we hope this will definitively answer past, present, and future questions from our community and partners on why Sony-published reviews, previews, and interviews come so far after standard press embargoes.

Why Discuss PlayStation Access Now?

This is perhaps an unusual message from DualShockers. We normally dodge industry talk that dive into the politics of games press. Also, we don't intend to make these open-air addresses for all games that we don't get in the future. However, given how many of our readers come to DualShockers for our PlayStation news coverage and how many questions we tend to get on this, the Editorial Board believe that quick clarification is necessary. Hopefully, it will even cut the rumors that we are on PlayStation's payroll. [Narrator's voice: We aren't.]

This isn't a column to point fingers at a publisher or their PR department. We aren't trying to cause a backlash, nor are we under the grand belief that we could. We are first and foremost PlayStation enthusiasts and we certainly don't know where our media blackout with PlayStation originates from. It existed far before my tenure on the DualShockers team roughly five years ago. In fact, it's been the biggest mystery of my editorial career. We've speculated on a million different reasons: did we insult the PlayStation Vita? Did we cover a rumor or leak that landed us firmly outside of PlayStation's good graces? Had an editor accidentally shoulder-checked Shuhei Yoshida on the E3 show floor?

Put plainly… we just don't know. Despite reaching out to PlayStation for some clarification, trying to remediate our relationship, and everything short of couples counseling, we are in the dark when it comes to anything related to our relationship with PlayStation. And we've largely exhausted our efforts to fix this. With a new console generation slowly peeking over the horizon, we wanted to keep you in the loop on what you can expect to see (and more importantly not see) on DualShockers.

PlayStation Pros and Cons

Please note, this isn't us griping over early access to games and events. We fully believe that every developer and publisher, including PlayStation, can pick and choose the publications they choose to work with. It is often strategically necessary and prudent to make sure sites and influencers with the largest readership or providing more favorable coverage get priority. It's the nature of the industry. We similarly do our own share of picking-and-choosing on what games we choose to cover. Sometimes, it's strictly business.

There is also often benefits to us acting as consumers, without concern about our access. Buying games out of pocket at launch often gives us the time for more comprehensive deep dives into games and the material, free from rushed embargo deadlines or strict review conditions. Additionally, we have managed to deep-dive more fully into shifting controversial policies and coverage that other press sites are more hesitant to embrace.

Even still, limiting access to review, preview, and event coverage often ends up hurting our audience. For that we apologize. Perhaps sometime soon we will be able to give pre-release analysis and coverage to help fans, consumers, and enthusiasts (much like us) make decisions on what games best serve their time and hard-earned dollar.

At the end of the day, we hope to shed a light on our coverage. Specifically, why we can't provide our often most-anticipated PlayStation-published reviews with other Metacritic approved outlets. Or why our coverage sometimes skews to preview other publishers' titles and interviews more prevalently. Either way, we will still be doing our same exhaustive news coverage of PlayStation exclusives that we have been doing over the past half-decade.

Looking To The Future

We hope that we can continue to build and repair our relationship with PlayStation. We are huge fans of the company, products, content creators, and everyone we've had the pleasure of working with across all branches of the studio, especially in PR. Until that happens we will do our best to continue navigating around a lack of access to games, events, and personnel — the same as we have over the last five years.

Finally, thank you again everyone reading this for your continued support of DualShockers. Thanks in part to our new website design, our tenth anniversary is shaping up to be our strongest year ever. We wouldn't be here without the constant support of our community and readers. And at the end of the day, we are just happy to connect and create content gamers like us.

The post The State of PlayStation Coverage at DualShockers by Lou Contaldi appeared first on DualShockers.

Genshin Impact Version 1.1 Improvements Include Artifact Menu Filters, Portable Teleport Waypoint

genshin impact liyue characters official key visual crop feature version 1.1 improvements story

On October 23, miHoYo announced several improvements for Genshin Impact (PC, PS4, Mobile, soon on Switch, PS5). These improvements will be implemented with Version 1.1 of Genshin Impact, scheduled for November 11. Let's take a closer look at these upcoming changes.

First off, miHoYo again addressed players feedback concerning the lack of key bindings/controller setup in Genshin Impact. Key bindings/controller setup will be added to a certain extent in Version 1.1. However, these functions are still in development, and will be fully implemented in a later version.

Next, version 1.1 of Genshin Impact will add new filters for Artifacts based on their basic attributes. This is crucial and a great addition. Moreover, small character avatars will appear on the weapons and Artifacts, to show who is equipped with what.

Next up, players will be able to set up Teleport Waypoints at places they frequently visit with a new item. This item will be available for free.

Last but not least, the maximum of Original Resin players can store will be raised from 120 to 160 in Version 1.1. The Original Resin requirement for the Weekly Battle Pass mission will also be decreased from 1600 to 1200.

That's all the new improvements listed for the Genshin Impact Version 1.1 update. It's interesting to note Chinese and Beta Test players have been asking for months for several of the improvements listed above. However miHoYo only addressed this feedback now. We brought up several hypotheses explaining why.

A new Genshin Impact event, "Adventurers, Assemble!" was also teased for October 27, 2300 UTC-5. (Click here for a table with other time zones).

Be sure to check the beautiful photos of the Genshin Impact x Huanglong National Park collab. We have a guide for the ongoing Klee gacha banner. Version 1.1 launches November 11, Version 1.2 with Dragonspine on December 23. Version 1.3 is scheduled for February 2021. You can read in detail about each update here and here.

The post Genshin Impact Version 1.1 Improvements Include Artifact Menu Filters, Portable Teleport Waypoint by Iyane Agossah appeared first on DualShockers.

Minecraft Will Require a Microsoft Account to Play Soon

Minecraft Bedrock update

Years after acquiring the bit-based phenomenon, Microsoft is finally shoring up Mojang and its title Minecraft by making Microsoft accounts mandatory to play.

Announced in a blog post on the official Minecraft site, the switch to Microsoft accounts is akin to "moving house" for developer Mojang. "When you outgrow one place, you move on to the next," reads the post.

So what benefits will players actually get from playing their games with Microsoft accounts attached? There are actually a few decent ones. Enhanced security for accounts that comes with two-factor authentication is at the top of that list. Players will also have all their PC Minecraft titles tied to the same account. So far, that's just regular ol' Minecraft and Minecraft Dungeons, although the developer coyly adds "who knows what we'll do next?" The last two new features are also the most innocuous: improved parental controls and chat and invitation blocking, which are more of a standard requirement for games with massive online potential like Minecraft.

The shift to a Microsoft account is mandatory for all Mojang games, and if you don't like it and decide not to migrate your account, you could lose access to your games. "If you don't make the move, in several months you won't be able to log in anymore – which means you won't be able to play either" reads the blog post. While moving to a Microsoft account isn't mandatory yet, it will be be sometime early into 2021.

This change also only applies to players of Minecraft Java edition, not its cross-platform focused Bedrock edition. If you need an extra bit of encouragement to switch your account over sooner rather than later, players that get the change done and log in with their Microsoft account will get access to a special cape, a little bit of fashion to go with all the extra functionality.

The post Minecraft Will Require a Microsoft Account to Play Soon by Otto Kratky appeared first on DualShockers.

Video Game Characters + Photoshop 2021's Neural Filter: What's the Worst That Could Happen?

Recently, Adobe pushed out its 2021 version updates for a number of its Creative Suite programs. These yearly updates include brand new features, significant updates for tools, and more. One such addition with Photoshop this year is the cloud-based AI Neural Filter.

With this new filter, a simple adjustment on a slider bar can make someone in a picture smile, look angry, surprised, and even turn and look in another direction. It's pretty wild stuff, but it also can result in some hilariously freakish abominations (it's still in beta). So what better way to play with this new feature than trying it out on some popular video game characters!

Using the new AI Neural Filter in Photoshop 2021, you can take a look at our various video game creations below.

JAX from Mortal Kombat 11

The buff, burly, and partially cybernetic powerhouse may look serious, but thanks to the filter, his frown is turned upside down, and he looks younger by a couple of decades. Not even Shang Tsung has that power!

 

Jin from Ghost of Tsushima

Jin went through a lot in Sucker Punches' latest game, to say the least. With the power of artificial intelligence, we can peer into the future and see what Jin will look like as a happy old man! Truthfully, this adjustment is one of the better ones of the bunch, I think.

 

Creepy Italian Guy from Assassin's Creed 2 Remaster

The nightmare-inducing meme king himself, Creepy Italian Guy's only hope of salvation now is Photoshop…it's kind of an improvement? I guess?

 

Lara Croft from Tomb Raider

Puberty is very kind to some people, just look at Matthew Lewis who played Neville in the Harry Potter movies! Apparently, Photoshop's Neural Filter believes that the Tomb Raider herself underwent a similar majestic transformation during those years.

 

Aloy from Horizon: Zero Dawn

Looking once more towards the future, Aloy is known to take down monolithic robo-dinos with ease. It looks like this exercise routine will serve her well into old age, leading to a happy life as a matriarch elder. She may need some dental work done, though.

 

Sephiroth from Final Fantasy VII Remake

Sephiroth has always been known as a pretty boy, but I'm pretty sure the Neural Filter legit thinks that he's a lady. Thickening his hair, taking off some years and some toggling with the happy and surprised sliders, and Sephiroth looks a bit like a model. Behold, Ladyroth!

 

Arthur Morgan from Red Dead Redemption 2

The rootin'-tootin'est man in the West gets the AI treatment too. The filter doesn't play nice currently with headgear, confusing it with his hair. Trust me, you don't want to see the pictures from when it thickened his hat thinking it was his hair (*shudder*).

 

The Peter Parkers from Marvel's Spider-Man

Whether you fall into the camp of preferring the original model or the new model in Marvel's Spider-Man, both are impressive. Myself; I'm more of an original guy. But with the power of the filter, it reveals that maybe Insomniac should hold on getting rid of the model completely.

If the filter is anything to go by, just age it up a bit, tweak the hair, and you have a pretty good Uncle Ben. The new model though is still a little upset that people aren't a fan. He appears to be rather shaken by the whole experience.

This new AI-driven filter is fun to play around in, but is still very much a work in progress (as you can probably tell). It doesn't do so well with non-human characters, as it failed when I tried Ratchet from Ratchet & Clank, Crash Bandicoot, and even Joker from Persona 5. Hopefully as this feature continues to develop, it will eventually allow anthropomorphic creatures to be tweaked or new options overall get added. Until that time comes, we will just have to entertain ourselves with human characters.

Photoshop 2021 is available now to anyone that owns a license to the Adobe Creative Cloud.

The post Video Game Characters + Photoshop 2021's Neural Filter: What's the Worst That Could Happen? by Scott White appeared first on DualShockers.

The Art of Hades Showcases the Talent That Went Into This Beautifully Vibrant Game

Hades is simply one of those games that you could spend hours soaking in its visual beauty. More than just a hack and slash title, Hades has acquired unprecedented success for its interesting storylines, stunning voice-overs and also unique character representation but one of the key sticking points for Supergiant Games' roguelike, underworld title is the sheer amount of artistic talent that's piped into this steller dungeon crawler. Set in the gritty and looming Underworld of Greek myth, Hades still manages to provide a palette of electrifying colors and this is all thanks to the incredibly talented and innovative artists that make up the team at Supergiant.

Thanks to Kotaku, we get to have an in-depth look at The Art of Hades in which many believe it to be one of the best-looking games of 2020. Having played the game myself, I can honestly say that I happen to agree with the folk who can't get enough of its rich artistic endeavors and its array of striking Olympian gods. For those of you that maybe haven't heard much about Hades, allow me to give you a quick run-down: players control Zagreus, the son of Hades, as he attempts to escape from Underworld to reach Mount Olympus, at times aided by gifts bestowed on him from the other Olympians. Each run challenges the player through a random series of rooms populated with enemies and rewards, and the player uses a combination of their main weapon attack, dash power, and magic ability to defeat them while avoiding damage to progress as far as possible. While Zagreus will often die, the player can use gained treasure to improve certain attributes or unlock new weapons and abilities to improve chances of escaping on subsequent runs. For those who enjoy a less punishing adventure, Supergiant implemented a feature called God Mode which will make you more resilient to damage and a little tougher still each time you die.

Now, onto the art. JenZee, illustrator and concept artist currently working as Art Director at Supergiant Games, has created concept art and illustrations for projects such as Bastion, Gaia Online, A Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings, Call of Cthulhu, and Warhammer. As you can see in the images below, JenZee has created some amazing characters for Hades that include Artemis – the Olympian Goddess of the hunt and the wilderness. She offers boons to Zagreus which gives his abilities the chance to deal with Critical damage. In addition, she also offers boons that improve Cast abilities. Cerberus – a massive three-headed dog charged with guarding the gates of the Underworld to prevent the dead from escaping. He is also a household pet and a very good boy. JenZee's art also sees images of Zagreus, Hermes, Nyx, Asterius the Minotaur, Hades, and Theseus, former hero and king of Athens.

Also included in the art of Hades is Joanne Tran, Environment Artist at Supergiant. Joanne previously worked at EA Visceral and Sledgehammer Games, where she produced stunning and incredibly moody environment concepts for those studios' spectacular first-person shooters. Joanne's renowned environmental talents are easily pin-pointed in her work in Hades, as shown below. We can see some amazing environmental level design that's awash with stunning colors and incredible details that make all of her work pop straight out of the screen.

 

Last in the wonderful artwork of Hades is Paige Carter, 3D Artist at Supergiant Games who has previously worked at Daybreak Games on H1Z1 and Just Survive and also modeling assets for Disney Merchandising. Here we see Paige take Hades' character concept illustrations and brought them to the surface in-game whilst also breathing life into Supergiant's vision of the Underworld of Hades, where her well-honed skill soon took the look of their fourth game to the next level. You can see Paige's creative talents run through characters that include Achilles, a demi-human hero known for his role in the Trojan War, Charon, the boatman of the river Styx, responsible for ferrying deceased souls across the river and into the underworld, Eurydice, a deceased oak nymph and the former wife of the musician Orpheus, Hypnos, the embodiment of sleep and one of Nyx's many children, Nyx, known as the "Mother Night", who is the personification of night and a resident in the House of Hades, and lastly Thanatos, the personification of death.

Cosplayers around the world are huge lovers of Hades due to it's diverse and colorful characters so Supergiant including an image of the many weapons used throughout the game is a massive bonus seeing as they can now have a much better point of reference and an up-close and personal view of the intricate design for use on their very own cosplaying adventures. What's also very cool is that Supergiant's official Twitter account added a short video detailing the opening menu screen for the game laid out by the games' UI and VFX artist Josh Barnett. You can check out that video below.

Supergiant's latest masterpiece has already seen a huge success, selling more than 1,000,000 copies and already selling around 700,000 copies in early access. Hades initially launched into early access in December 2018 and since then, we've had updates that include The Long Winter in which brought Demeter, the Goddess of Seasons, into the game and also new boons, Guan Yu, a unique new aspect for the Eternal Spear and a fishing rod that allows players to fish in the Underworld. Hades is out now on Nintendo Switch and PC. If you're interested in getting to know a little more about this roguelike game, make sure to check out our review of it where we ended up giving it a big fat 10/10.

The post The Art of Hades Showcases the Talent That Went Into This Beautifully Vibrant Game by Rachael Fiddis appeared first on DualShockers.

Here's Why Genshin Impact Is Increasing The Maximum Amount of Original Resin to 160

On October 23, mihoYo announced that Genshin Impact (PC, PS4, Mobile, soon on Switch, PS5) in its Version 1.1 update, will upgrade the Original Resin cap from 120 to 160. Version 1.1 is scheduled to launch on November 11. That's great news, but why miHoYo decided to do this?

Original Resin is the Stamina system of Genshin Impact. Stamina is a thing in nearly every gacha game, and basically limits the players' play time per day, limiting the amount of times you can run dungeons or fight bosses for example. Stamina recharges over time, so you can't farm indefinitely, unless you pay up. Genshin Impact work the same, though it's a bit more original as the game never feels like it's deciding when you can play and when you can't. As you have a whole open world to explore, and you can still fight bosses for fun, only paying Original Resin to get the bosses' drops. This is a pretty nice system clearly missing in games like Phantasy Star Online 2, which doesn't let you have fun with any mission at any time.

However, it's almost been a month since Genshin Impact released, and many players have been sending feedback to miHoYo regarding the Original Resin system. Genshin Impact became a surprise hit at launch worldwide, though it's yet to be seen if its popularity will last. Many players not necessarily accustomed to gacha games picked up Genshin as well, with some regularly sending negative feedback on the Stamina system. Which could explain the change.

What's pretty strange though is that miHoYo has been receiving similar negative feedback about the game for months now, through Chinese players, and through Closed Beta Test players. Not only on the Original Resin system but on various aspects of the game, such as the badly designed Artifacts menu UI, or the very low drop rate for five star characters. And yet miHoYo didn't budge until now. And only communicated now that some improvements for the Original Resin and the Artifacts UI are coming. On comments in Chinese platforms such as Bilibili, some of the Chinese players felt like their feedback has been ignored for months. Perhaps the huge amount of new players made miHoYo realize they should indeed change the Original Resin system a bit. The in-game survey from October 10 must have heavily influenced this decision too:

It's also interesting to note this change to the Original Resin system and the various improvements were first announced in Chinese and English on Twitter, while the Japanese announcement only came around 7 hours later. Usually, it's the English version of the Genshin Impact official announcements that are trailing behind the Japanese ones. Further hinting those improvements were highly motivated by English-speaking players' feedback. As such, seeing all of the above, it's possible some Chinese players will start thinking miHoYo prioritized American and West European feedback over them. Worsening miHoYo's reputation among some Chinese players.

Seeing nothing changed until now, I personally didn't expect this improvement at all, but it's definitely great.  In any case, it'll be interesting to see how the situation evolves from now on. Hopefully, Genshin Impact will receive further changes making the lives of all players easier. I personally believe the 0.6% drop rate for five stars characters will never change. But now, maybe some small changes to the gacha system could happen if we keep sending feedback.

Genshin Impact Version 1.1 is expected to launch on November 11 with a new event. Version 1.2 is expected to launch on December 23, and will add another event and the new Dragonspine area. Version 1.3 is scheduled for February 2021. You can read in detail about each update here and here.

The post Here's Why Genshin Impact Is Increasing The Maximum Amount of Original Resin to 160 by Iyane Agossah appeared first on DualShockers.

Epic Games Store Halloween Sale Includes Discounts on Borderlands 3 and Red Dead Redemption 2

Epic Games Store Halloween Sale 2020

We're almost one week away from Halloween and the same as every year, different stores and companies try to celebrate it in various ways. Epic Games Store is going to offer discounts on some games during its Halloween Sale starting from today until November 5th.

Although it's Halloween Sale and you might expect discounts only on horror games, Epic Games Store has special offers for games from various categories. Probably the biggest hits that you might plan for grabbing are Borderlands 3 and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order with 50% off, Red Dead Redemption 2 with 40% off, and Mafia Trilogy with 15% off.

If you are interested in indie titles, there are lots of them currently discounted in Epic Games' Halloween Sale. From some of the lately launched games like Mortal Shell and Hades to some old ones like Inside and Thimbleweed Park.

Multiplayer games are also in the sale, with Rainbow Six Siege receiving a 60% discount on its standard version. If you are into co-operative ones, Remnant From the Ashes and World War Z are also available for cheaper prices through Halloween Sale.

It's yet to be seen whether Steam will have the same type of sales in the coming days or not, but if you don't prefer playing on Epic Games, you'd better keep an eye out for other stores until Halloween day.

Epic Games Store also offers Custom Quest 2 and Layers of Fear 2 for free this week. Blair Witch and Ghostbusters: The Video Game will be the next free games of the store.

The post Epic Games Store Halloween Sale Includes Discounts on Borderlands 3 and Red Dead Redemption 2 by Mehrdad Khayyat appeared first on DualShockers.