Rocket League PS5 and Xbox Series X/Series S Enhancements Detailed By Psyonix

Rocket League One Million

Going on five years strong since its release, Rocket League has continued to build an extensive player base around the world and on numerous different platforms. With the next-gen consoles on the horizon, players looking to continue scoring goals and playing with friends in the car-soccer title will continue to be able to play on the PS5 and Xbox Series X/Series S, with developer Psyonix detailing what to expect from its next-gen enhancements.

Ahead of the new console launches, Psyonix has officially released more details on the next-gen enhancements coming to Rocket League. Breaking down the updates in a new blog post, Psyonix announced that Rocket League will support 4K/60fps on Xbox Series X, 1080p/60fps on Xbox Series S, and 4K/60fps (checkerboard) on the PS5. Additionally, the developer noted that the Series X version will also have the ability to play in 2688×1512 resolution at 120fps, while the Series S version can run at 1344×756 resolution at 120fps, but the PS5 will not support a high framerate mode for the game at launch.

Psyonix noted that the game's performance and visual settings will be dependent on which platform you're playing on, and that options to switch between its "Quality" and "Performance" modes (which prioritize resolution or framerate) will be available in an update later this year. Additionally, the studio also confirmed that player progress and cosmetic items will carry over by linking an Epic Games account.

Rocket League is available now on PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC, Mac, and Linux, with the game also receiving next-gen enhancements for PS5 and Xbox Series X/Series S.

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Genshin Impact Official Twitter Apologizes After Auto Retweeting A Dick Joke

Genshin Impact campaign

The Japanese twitter account for Genshin Impact (PC, PS4, PS5, Mobile, soon on Switch) recently got trolled into retweeting a dick joke through its follow and retweet campaign. Ever since the JRPG's launch on September 28, miHoYo is organizing a release commemoration Twitter campaign in Japan.

Each day, those who follow and RT a specific tweet on the Genshin Japanese twitter get a chance to win some prizes. Including goods of the characters like acrylic stands, mouse pads, postcards, badges. Then there are 10K Yen Amazon gift cards up for grabs. And last but not least, autographs from the game's seiyuu (Japanese cast). Genshin Impact is full of highly popular and talented seiyuu, so even those who aren't actually playing the game are competing for these signatures.

Each week, the Genshin account sends a huge wave of automated tweets, notifying those who won the RT campaign, and most notably, those who lost. These automatic tweets @ every account who participate in each campaign, always including the Twitter users' handles. The Genshin Impact Twitter account sends tens of thousands of tweets this way every week, making the account's feed pretty unusable if you check the tweets & replies category. This also explains why the Genshin official account is already over 2 million tweets.

Seeing all that, someone decided to pull a prank on the Genshin account, by participating in the campaign with a Twitter account named "tintin_4545_19". In Japanese, you could read that as "chinchin shikoshiko iku", basically "dick fapfap cumming". It's the kind of dumb horny teens joke similar to writing "boobs" with your calculator. Inevitably, when the next batch of auto tweets for the campaign were sent, the dick joke account got its own @ tweet (now deleted) from the Genshin account:

The tintin_4545_19 account was deleted soon after participating in the campaign, which made the automatic tweet from the Genshin account appear as a normal tweet instead of reply, thus showing up on the main "tweets" feed.

Thousands of Japanese twitter users ended up retweeting the tweet before it was deleted. The official Genshin account then followed with an apology, reading:

"Apology and report regarding the "Genshin Release Commemorative Campaign": After midnight, November 7, a problem occurred with our auto reply function to notify the campaign's participants. We deeply apologize for the inconvenience caused to those who were on Twitter at that time."

The joke in itself is inoffensive, but it's interesting to note miHoYo's professionalism, addressing even pranks like these and trying its best to make the game an even bigger success. Only time will tell if Genshin manages to stay popular and relevant over the months.

In far less important news than this twitter dick joke, Genshin Impact will receive its first big update this November 11, version 1.1: A New Star Approaches. You can read more about it with our past coverage.

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Phil Spencer Releases Message to Celebrate Xbox Series X/S Launch Day

If you haven't heard, that there Xbox Series X and S have both released around the globe today, officially kicking off Microsoft's move into the next generation of consoles. To coincide with launch, one of the most notable faces at Xbox has released a new message.

Over on Twitter, the official Xbox account shared a new video message from the company head, Phil Spencer. In his speech, Spencer thanked fans for their support but also acknowledged that today is somewhat bittersweet given the challenges that have been present in 2020. Regardless, Spencer said he wanted to take the opportunity to celebrate with fans around the globe regardless of where they might be engaging with the Xbox ecosystem.

You can find Spencer's full message here:

In its entirety, the message from Spencer wasn't one that contained any key pieces of information, but it was good to see him make a statement in collaboration with the release of the Xbox Series X/S. Perhaps more so than any other console manufacturer, Spencer over the years has always been someone that likes to speak directly to consumers in this manner. It's nice to see that even moving into the next-gen, this trend will seemingly continue.

For more on the Xbox Series X/S launch, you can check out the celebration stream below that will be starting at 2:00pm EST/11:00am EST. Conversely, you can also check out our own review of the Xbox Series X.

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PS5 Remote Play is Now Available on the PS4

After a long wait, the PS5 is almost here to bring PlayStation fans into the next generation of gaming. Launching this Thursday, the PS5 will mark the end for the PS4 generation, but if you happen to still be keeping the system on hand, you can give the system a new life to stream next-gen games remotely.

Coming ahead of the launch of its next console, Sony has launched a new PS5 Remote Play app that is now available on the PS4, which should automatically appear on the console's dashboard. You can take a look at the app in action below:

Like the app originally available on the PS4, the PS5 Remote Play app will allow users to stream games from their next-gen console to the PS4 and play with the DualShock 4. In order to remote play PS5 games, you'll have to enable the feature from the newer console beforehand in the system settings. Additionally, it was also confirmed by Video Games Chronicle that PS5 Remote Play is not supported on the PS Vita, which is probably a bummer for anyone that still has the handheld. But at least you can still play JRPGs on it pretty well.

With next-gen in sight, the PS5 Remote Play app offers an incentive for those that might want to hold on to their PS4s to use the console as a secondary streaming device. Having used Remote Play myself a number of times on my laptop or phone with the PS4, it's not a bad idea to consider putting the PS4 in another part of your home if you're looking for a different place to play your (soon-to-be) new favorite next-gen games.

The PS5 will launch on November 12, 2020 in select countries, followed by its worldwide launch on November 19, 2020.

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Cloudpunk Review — Missed Opportunities

Cloudpunk

It's always tough to simulate a certain type of job in a video game and keep it from getting repetitive for players. Of course, every job has its own unique details, but you can't find any job in the world that isn't trapped in a cycle of its own kind. However, when it comes to video games, your main goal is to create a highlight of different scenarios and place them in the best order possible to deliver an enjoyable and diverse experience. Cloudpunk tries to put you in the role of a futuristic delivery-woman, but it often fails to achieve its pursuit as an enjoyable gameplay experience.

Cloudpunk reminds me of Night Call in some aspects, as both games try to follow various storylines defined by the nature of the jobs they are simulating. In Night Call, you're an ordinary taxi driver and face various people with different stories every night. However, when you unintentionally choose to get yourself involved in those stories, the game starts to show off its narrative potential. The same goes for Cloudpunk as well. Working for a futuristic delivery service, you get to meet different people and transport various cargo from point A to point B, but sometimes you have to get yourself into some trouble to avoid even bigger problems.

Unfortunately, both games sacrifice gameplay for a better story, though at least Cloudpunk handles this in a stronger way than Night Call. It seems as if Cloudpunk is only using certain gameplay mechanics to tell a story, and it doesn't matter how well those mechanics have been organized. The main thing you do in the game is drive your futuristic car between the lawless skies of a Blade Runner-style city. As you work more and more, you can get new parts for your vehicle and can buy some new furniture for your tiny home. You should also make enough money each night to fill up your gas tank and repair your car if it's too damaged.

Each delivery that you make has its own story behind it. Sometimes the game gives you the choice to finish a job in the way you want, though you have to consider the outcomes. Unfortunately, the world-building in Cloudpunk just doesn't feel satisfying enough. I don't have any problem with the cube-like graphical style of the game, but the world feels empty and repetitive most of the time. The design of the tall buildings and skyscrapers are varied and gorgeous, and it feels different each time you get out of the car to deliver a package to a destination, but it doesn't feel the same when driving.

Cloudpunk Review

While driving on highways, you can barely find crowded places full of vehicles; most of the time, it's you and a lot of empty roads. When there's no crowd in the city, how could driving be a challenge for you? This is especially true in a game like Cloudpunk where there are no certain avenues or streets or alleys. An issue like this could be less apparent with stronger driving gameplay, which Cloudpunk had the potential for. But unfortunately, the driving itself is boring enough that you always wish to reach your destination as soon as possible to see what happens with the new delivery instead of enjoying a ride in the high skies.

Despite all those gameplay issues, Cloudpunk has a good number of varied missions that most of the time bring in new characters with their own complicated stories. Some of them are filled with sarcasm that aims at a bunch of hilarious Twitter-like cultures of the modern world, and they exactly hit the spot. Overall, the game features a strong and structured storyline with skilled voice actors, and it's the only thing in Cloudpunk that can secure your connection to the game until the end of it. That is, if the technical issues allow you to finish your missions properly.

After all those problems I mentioned previously, at least you might've expected a sustainable and strong technical performance, but I'm sorry to tell you that Cloudpunk is probably going to wear you down. The biggest issue that I faced while playing the game was a very strange bug that kept reshowing missions that I had already done on the map and HUD several minutes after finishing them. That was still something bearable for me until the game started replaying all the dialogue between characters from the beginning.

At one point, I was delivering new cargo to a new destination, but I was hearing the dialogue between the protagonist and her chief from the very beginning of the game. I've never ever seen anything like that in a game before. I mean, how is someone expected to finish this game with a bug like that? As of right now, the bug is still there, even though the game has received some updates since its release.

Even if Cloudpunk isn't a technically broken game, it's a mediocre experience that can only satisfy those who play games looking for deep, interesting storytelling. But with so many frustrating bugs, you can't understand anything from the story from a certain point on. I can only recommend playing it once these technical issues are resolved. For me, Cloudpunk was totally against what I thought it would be. It's a flawed experience in every primary aspect that a video game should represent and proved to be an even bigger failure on the technical front.

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FIFA 21 Injects Some European League Fun Into Latest Promo

FIFA 21, EA Sports

FIFA 21 just kicked off their annual Road to the Final. As expected, it's full of some class players that could get upgraded if their teams advance in the Champions League. Today, EA Sports added some new players to the mix from the Europa League. While not as numerous as the Champions League players, there are some absolutely filthy players included. Check them out below.

Obviously, the big addition to the FIFA 21 FUT meta is going to be that Aubameyang. He's already a deadly striker, and Arsenal is undefeated thus far in their group. With his upgrade as close to a lock as you can get, expect this card to cost a pretty penny. Leicester City's Wilfred Ndidi is another near-lock to get an upgrade. Leicester has yet to lose a game and has only been scored on once.

Lille's Renato Sanches will also likely go through. Plus, his 82-rated inform was already incredibly popular. Expect to open the pocketbook wide if you want him in your team for the upcoming weekend league. Bruno Peres is an interesting look as well. He plays right-back for Roma and is Brazilian. That means he plays in a league that desperately needs more right-backs. Add in his Brazilian nationality and he's very linkable. Roma is likely getting him that upgrade, so he could quickly become the best player at his position in the Italian league.

The last player added to packs today is Leverkusen's Moussa Diaby. His team's advancement isn't as sure of a thing as the players above. That said, you're not going to turn down a pacy winger for the Bundesliga if you pack him.

Finally, EA has added Nice's Youcef Atal into SBCs. Nice probably is a relative longshot to advance in their group after their showing thus far. That said, he's cheap and probably my favorite player in career mode. So, I'm doing him without question.

It'll be interesting to see if EA keeps up the same release cadence when they bring the next set of Champions League players on Friday. If so, expect another set of Europa League players sometime next week.

FIFA 21 is available now on PC, PS4, and Xbox One. The game is on next-gen hardware but won't get its next-gen update until December.

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FIFA 21 and Star Wars: Squadrons Lead the Way as Top PS4 Downloads in October

FIFA 21, EA Sports

In its final month as the sole PlayStation platform on the market, Sony has today announced the big winners on the PS4 in terms of digital sales for this past month.

Shared over on the PlayStation Blog, Electronic Arts has proven to be the big winner on the digital charts for October with FIFA 21 and Star Wars: Squadrons being the top-sellers on the North American PS Store. While Fall Guys surpassed Squadrons on the EU storefront, the latter wasn't too far behind and ended up appearing in third. Rounding out the top five games for both regions, other titles like Crash Bandicoot 4, Madden NFL 21, and NHL 21 found their way in the mix.

When it comes to the PSVR category, it should come as no shock that Beat Saber ended up again being the best-seller in each respective region. The Walking Dead: Onslaught and Vader Immortal ended up appearing relatively high on each, too.

Last but not least, the free-to-play charts for October were again filled with the usual suspects. Rocket League, Rogue Company, Genshin Impact, Call of Duty: Warzone, and Fortnite were some of the many games appearing in the top-5 spots across both the United States and Europe.

You can check out the full top-20 list for both the U.S. and EU PS4 charts down below.

US
1 FIFA 21 FIFA 21
2 Star Wars: Squadrons Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout
3 NHL 21 Star Wars: Squadrons
4 Madden NFL 21 Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time
5 Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time Minecraft
6 Ghost of Tsushima Watch Dogs: Legion
7 Watch Dogs: Legion The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
8 Minecraft eFootball PES 2021 Season Update
9 NBA 2K21 Ghost of Tsushima
10 Grand Theft Auto V Mafia: Definitive Edition
11 Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout Days Gone
12 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Need for Speed
13 Call of Duty: Black Ops III Grand Theft Auto V
14 Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
15 Red Dead Redemption 2 Assassin's Creed Odyssey
16 Watch Dogs 2 Far Cry 5
17 Mafia: Definitive Edition Metal Gear Solid V: The Definitive Experience
18 Assassin's Creed Odyssey Thief
19 UFC 4 NHL 21
20 The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope

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Borderlands 3 New Trailers Detail Next-Gen Upgrades and Season Pass 2

While initially released last year on current-gen consoles, PC, and Google Stadia, Borderlands 3 is now gearing up for "next-level mayhem" on the next-gen consoles for launch this week. Players on PS5 and Xbox Series X/Series S will be able to bring their looting and shooting adventures to the new consoles with the next-gen upgrades for Borderlands 3, with Gearbox giving a look at what to expect from the mayhem.

Developer Gearbox Software has released a pair of new trailers for Borderlands 3, with both videos highlighting the next-gen versions of the game (called the "Next-Level Edition") and the new content being added into the game's Season Pass 2.

You can take a look at both new trailers below:

The next-gen upgrades for Borderlands 3 are available for free to players that own the game on PS4 or Xbox One and provide a number of enhancements from the original game, including support for 4K/60fps, three and four-player splitscreen co-op, and new cosmetics. Players will also be able to carry over their save files and progress from the current-gen versions of the game over to PS5 and Xbox Series X/Series S, allowing you to pick up where you left off.

Alongside the next-gen enhancements, the second trailer focuses more specifically on the game's Season Pass 2, which adds several new pieces of content. The second Season Pass will introduce both a Designer's Cut and Director's Cut that will introduce additional content and missions alongside new ways to play, such as the brand new Arms Race mode.

Borderlands 3 is available now on PS4, Xbox One, Google Stadia, and PC, with the game also coming this week to Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and PS5.

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Maneater PS5 Launch Trailer Shows The Game is Back for Another Bite

Maneater PS5 Launch trailer

Maneater launched on PS4, Xbox One and PC in May this year. The ShaRkPG enjoyed its moment in the spotlight thanks to its unique and chaotic underwater gameplay, fun sense of humour and intriguing upgrade system. While its popularity may have fallen by the wayside, the game is getting a second bite at the action, as it releases on next-gen/current-gen consoles this week.

To accompany Maneater's foray onto the PS5 (as well as the Xbox Series S and Series X) Sony has released a new launch trailer for the game, which is just as funny and action-packed as you'd expect.

The trailer showcases just how powerful you, the shark, can become, with a glimpse at a range of attacks and abilities you can use throughout the game. These include deflecting bullets, returning an explosive tank to sender and electromagnetic pulses.

When the game hits the PS5 and Series X, it will be capable of 4k/60fps as well as having "lightning fast load times". It will also have special DualSense support on the PlayStation 5.

We reviewed the game when it came out, scoring it a 6/10, saying that "Maneater isn't a bad game by any means, but it never does anything beyond its simple elevator pitch."

With the Xbox Series S and X already in consumers hands and the PS5 just mere days away, the launch trailers are coming thick and fast. Today we got a look at Yakuza: Like a Dragon's PS4 launch trailer which is an absolute romp and shows off just how crazy the game is.

The other major launch trailer we got recently was that of Spider-Man: Miles Morales. The game launches along with the PS5 on November 12 and already looks outstanding. The recent trailer offers a deeper look at Miles' struggles, his special abilities and some of the adversaries he will be facing along his adventure.

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The Pathless Review — It's About the Journey

the pathless

The ability to instill a sense of wonder and exploration in a player is not something easily done by a game. There are so many open-world games today that feel like they'd be better suited as a linear series of missions because the worlds they're set in don't tell a story of their own. The Pathless is a perfect example of an open-world game defined by a world that justifies its own existence.

The Pathless comes from Giant Squid Studios, the developers behind 2016's ABZU. Grammy Award-Nominated composer Austin Wintory makes a return to give another Giant Squid game a fantastic soundtrack. The team's progression from ABZU to The Pathless is pretty clear: both games have the player exploring an ancient and forgotten world and have a heavy emphasis on player discovery. Giant Squid games aren't worried about telling complex narratives. Instead, their focus is on atmosphere and narrative themes.

The Pathless tells the story of a skilled archer known as the last Hunter as she journeys across an isle on the edge of the world, a place where the realm of man and the realm of spirits intersect. Her goal is to reclaim the light and lift the curse that has been put on the world by the Godslayer. To do this, she's tasked with freeing the gods from the curses the Godslayer put on them.

The gameplay for The Pathless is unique. It's something I've never seen before and works in a way that when I was done, I felt like I had been doing it for years. In order to move quickly around the large island, the Hunter needs to refill her sprint meter by shooting talismans that have been scattered across the world. There are thousands of talismans littered everywhere so there are rarely any moments when you're gunning it through a forest or an open field that you're worried about running out of juice.

the pathless

When I first started the game, I was worried about how that mechanic would work. Speed and accuracy are not things that typically go hand in hand, so to remedy that, Giant Squid threw accuracy out the window. There is no aiming mechanic in the game which means that hitting targets isn't about your precision, but instead your timing. This mechanic works outstandingly well and is the absolute highlight for The Pathless.

The talismans you shoot give you a burst of forward momentum in addition to refilling your meter, so, for example, if you're trying to get across a large canyon quickly, you need to time out your jumps as well as exactly when you want to hit each target. If your timing is wrong, you might find yourself falling. While it might be a minor setback, missing a jump isn't the end of the world all thanks to your eagle companion.

The eagle is a useful tool for traversal and puzzle-solving while also serving as the Hunter's lone companion. The emptiness of the world is made apparent from the moment the Hunter sets foot on the beach. The world is strewn with the skeletons of those who came before who occasionally have messages for the Hunter to read which give the player a glimpse into what life is like outside the island as well as what has been lost. It has some interesting world-building that helps enforce some of the themes the game is trying to convey.

the pathless

The main loop for The Pathless is centered around exploring the world to find offerings for the gods. This lifts the dark aura around them and allows the Hunter to get close enough to free them from their curse. To get offerings, you have to solve puzzles that are placed throughout the world.

The pacing starts to be an issue when looking at the puzzles themselves. While slowing things down every now and then helps me appreciate the moments when I'm whipping around mountains, I would have liked some puzzles to incorporate the movement mechanics from the rest of the game. Most puzzles revolve around lining up hoops to shoot through or finding blocks to weigh down buttons. While the puzzle design is generally pretty good, the lack of integration with other mechanics makes them feel disjointed and sometimes slow.

The game is purposefully obtuse in where the next puzzle lies which is something I like. Other than using the Hunter's "spirit vision" to get an idea of where to go next, exploration is up to you. There's no minimap or HUD so the world has a sense of wonder and mystery to it that's akin to Breath of the Wild—the main objective is always clear, but so much of the fun in The Pathless comes from the journey.

Because of its obtuse nature, the game can last as long as you want it to. If you're feeling adventurous, you don't have to keep the story going and can spend as much time as you want in any given area to find all the secrets hidden within it. It would probably only have taken me four to five hours to finish if I were just blazing through the story, but similar to Breath of the Wild, that's not really the point.

the pathless

The only downside to spending a lot of time exploring the world are the sections when a corrupted god will surround you with their dark aura causing you to be separated from the eagle. These sections totally kill the pacing and just aren't very fun. You have to avoid being seen by the god by moving very slowly to get to your eagle. It's weird to me that the game would take away the unique flow of its traversal to railroad the player into an uninteresting stealth section.

The boss fights with the corrupted gods themselves are, however, epic and feel larger than life, but they all start to blend together towards the end. The first fight was invigorating and exciting and I couldn't wait to see what other kinds of encounters there would be with the different gods, but I was disappointed to find out that they all are pretty much the same.

the pathless

My biggest critique of The Pathless is that most mechanics aren't taken far enough. The incredible movement mechanic is only used to get you from place to place and doesn't end up meaning a whole lot in terms of puzzles or boss fights. There's a section in each fight where you chase the god through a burning forest and it's the highlight of the entire game because you're using the skills you've learned from moving about the world in a much more tense environment. Now, mistiming a shot might mean being hit by a fireball or losing momentum and letting the god get away. However, those sections are few and fleeting.

At the end of the day, the traversal alone is enough for me to recommend The Pathless. It's just fun to get from place to place using your bow; everything else is just a bonus. The overall story is good with performances from Laura Bailey and Troy Baker, the different environments are vast and beautiful, and while the puzzles have a wide range of difficulty, they're still fun to figure out. It's just a shame that there's no synergy between each individual gameplay loop. The Pathless is absolutely worth your time if you're looking for a game with a sense of adventure and a rich atmosphere.

the pathless

Oh, and you can pet the eagle, 10/10.

Editor's Note: Petting the eagle is a 10/10 experience, The Pathless is an 8/10. 

The post The Pathless Review — It's About the Journey by Peter Hunt Szpytek appeared first on DualShockers.