Genshin Impact 1.3 Teases Bough Keeper Dainsleif World Quest
The full details for the All That Glitters version 1.3 update in Genshin Impact (PC, PS4, PS5, Mobile, Switch soon) include a peculiar line, the addition of a new World Quest "Bough Keeper: Dainsleif".
In Genshin Impact, World Quests can be found as you explore the world. While they're all optional, they often have very important piece of info on the story's background, can tease future developments. Or hint at new characters. As such, we could learn a little bit more about Dainsleif in Version 1.3. It's even possible the Traveler protagonist might end up meeting Dainsleif for the first time.
Who is Dainsleif in Genshin Impact ?
【キャラクター紹介】
過去と未来の交差点
ダインスレイヴ CV：津田健次郎「その旅の意味を理解しているのならば、俺を見極め、判決を下せ、俺を超えてみせろ——」#miHoYo #原神 #Genshin pic.twitter.com/GYEwtkroNE
— 原神（Genshin）公式 (@Genshin_7) September 27, 2020
Dainsleif was first revealed by miHoYo at Tokyo Game Show 2020, a few hours before the official launch of Genshin Impact on September 28. Dainsleif is officially described as "the confluence between the past and future" and as a "mysterious man who claims to have knowledge of fate itself".
That's not all. Dainsleif is also the character narrating the Chapter Storyline Preview trailer. Which revealed in which order future regions will be added in the game. It also revealed Dainsleif is from Khaenri'ah, a place outside of the seven regions of Teyvat, the world of Genshin Impact.
Collected Miscellany – Dainsleif Reveals Albedo's Origins
Moreover, Dainsleif is also the character narrating the Collected Miscellany videos, which breaks down a new character's gameplay. During these videos, Dainsleif often talks about the background of said characters, hinting he knows a lot. In particular, Dainsleif revealed that Albedo is also from Khaenri'ah.
In Japanese, Dainsleif is voiced by Kenjiro Tsuda, who also voices Seto Kaiba in Yugioh. Which is much more than enough reason to wish to learn more about him if you're an otaku. Besides a myriad of roles, Kenjiro Tsuda also voiced Sam Bridges in the Japanese dub of Death Stranding.
In English, Dainsleif is voiced by Yuri Lowenthal, a very popular voice actor even I: a French otaku who barely ever listens to English dubs, has heard of.
In any case, we'll be sure to tell you more once we've seen with our own eyes the "Bough Keeper: Dainsleif" World Quest in Genshin Impact Version 1.3.
miHoYo detailed all the buffs coming for Zhongli. The time and dates of all the events in Version 1.3 have been published. Lastly, miHoYo shared the details of the Xiao and Keqing gacha banner.
In case you missed it, miHoYo also gifted its employees a mountain of hardware including Switch and PS5 consoles, following Genshin's success.
The post Genshin Impact 1.3 Teases Bough Keeper Dainsleif World Quest by Iyane Agossah appeared first on DualShockers.
Resident Evil Art Director Reveals How Tall Lady Dimitrescu Really Is
After captivating Twitter and the gaming world with her brilliant looks (and height), the truth about Lady Dimitrescu of Resident Evil: Village has been revealed. That's right, the question of exactly how tall the game's vampiress really is has finally been answered. Ok, yes, we did publish an article already that looked into how tall Lady Dimitrescu is, courtesy of Kotaku's Ash Parrish. However, that was just some internet sleuthing. This is the real deal, the word from the horse's mouth.
A message from Tamonori Takano, the art director of Resident Evil: Village first details the team's reactions to the collective thirst of the internet over Lady Dimitrescu. "Most recently," reads the message, "Lady Dimitrescu and her daughters have received a fair amount of attention, far more than we anticipated. It's great that they're able to take the spotlight as icons of Resident Evil Village." Apparently, the attention given to the Lady, known on the internet as the "Tall Hot Vampire Lady" made the team "extremely happy."
Here is a tweet with the descriptive text, for those who need it.
pic.twitter.com/bR1Ydt5buP
— Resident Evil (@RE_Games) February 2, 2021
After thanking fans of Lady Dimitrescu, Takano answered the burning question that so many have been asking: just how tall is Lady Dimitrescu? "If you include her hat and high heels," reads the message, "she's 2.9m (approximately 9'6″) tall. There you have it, folks. No more sleuthing or wondering required.
But 9'6" is pretty hard to visualize, especially considering that you've probably never met anyone that tall. Here are some fun facts to help you understand just how tall Resident Evil: Village's Lady Dimitrescu really is.
The tallest man in the world, Robert Wadlow, was just shy of 9' tall, coming in at 8'11.1″. The tallest woman in the world, Sandy Allen, was 7'7″. One user on Twitter also pointed out that Lady Dimitrescu is nearly as tall as Dragon Ball Z's Broly, the Legendary Super Saiyan, who stands at 3m tall, or 9'8″.
The post Resident Evil Art Director Reveals How Tall Lady Dimitrescu Really Is by Otto Kratky appeared first on DualShockers.
Judgment Heads to PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Google Stadia This Spring
With its release in 2019, Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio's Judgment gave players a mystery adventure with the style and flair of Yakuza. It also happened to be DualShockers' Game of the Year winner in 2019. If you happened to miss out on it the first time, you'll have the opportunity to jump into RGG Studio's title with its upcoming release on new platforms this spring.
Publisher Sega of America has announced that Judgment will release for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Google Stadia on April 23, 2021. The title's next-gen release will run for $39.99, and will also offer 60fps performance, improved load times, and all of its DLC released to date.
We happened to review Judgment pretty highly here at DualShockers when it released for PS4 in 2019. Our reviewer at the time, Logan Moore, noted that Judgment offers fans of the Yakuza series an adventure with plenty of surprising twists and turns to enjoy. Thankfully, the game's upcoming next-gen release will give a new audience of players to play it for the first time with some next-gen flourishes very soon.
"Judgment is much greater than the sum of its parts. Getting lost in the city of Kamurocho as you solve cases, make friends, and punch thugs into oblivion never stopped being fun even if the missions you sometimes have to do aren't that engaging. It was easy to overlook most of the issues that I may have had with Judgment just because of how much consistent fun I was having over the course of my experience. While Judgment was my first foray into this world of Yakuza, it most certainly won't be my last."
Judgment is available now on PS4 and will be heading to PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Google Stadia on April 23, 2021.
The post Judgment Heads to PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Google Stadia This Spring by Ryan Meitzler appeared first on DualShockers.
Nippon Ichi Software Teases Its First New Game Announcement of 2021
Nippon Ichi Software, developer of the Disgaea series, regularly does teasers and countdowns before a new game announcement – this is the first one in 2021.
Nippon Ichi Software on February 1, started teasing a new game with a teaser video on YouTube. The teaser starts with a message stating jump scares and flashes are included. It's definitely not as bad or as scary as this sounds, but be sure to keep that in mind before watching the video.
Nippon Ichi Software New Game 2021 Teaser
The teaser most notably shows was seems to be a prison. And an eerily smiling silhouette in formal attire worn in western countries. Yes, I mean a suit.
A teaser site and a Twitter page were opened as well, with the first tweet asking gamers to try and guess the game's title, which ends with "ki".
やぁ、よい子のみんな
愛と勇気のエンターテイナー
『●●●き公』だよまずは最初のエンタメ！
『●●●』の部分には、何が入るでしょうか？ハッシュタグ
『#新作ゲームｘｘ撲滅』で
探偵みたいに予想してみて欲しいナ♪ヒントの映像も観てみてネhttps://t.co/XCfyoZsey0
— ●●●き公 (@nis_bokumetsu) February 1, 2021
The twitter account also teases in its banner the silhouettes of 14 characters. Could've included a 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim reference here if they were thirteen.
The Twitter account is titled "nis_bokumetsu". Bokumetsu looks like an abbreviation of our upcoming game's title. The boku part must mean 僕 "I". The "metsu" part must be the 滅 kanji, which means destroying, annihilating, etc. This definitely looks like a dark-themed game. And seeing the 14 characters and the prison, it's likely we're in for a typical Japanese Battle Royale death game.
No platforms are listed yet but this Bokumetsu game is highly likely coming to PS4 and Switch. These are the platforms Nippon Ichi Software always develops on nowadays.
Moreover, it's important to note Nippon Ichi Software releases several new IPs a year. Some of those get localized, such as rhythm game Mad Rat Dead, which includes tracks by xaki from Umineko. Others stay in Japan, such as Yuri horror visual novel game Yoru, Tomosu.
The American branch NIS America is also still steadily localizing new Falcom games. Ys IX: Monstrum Nox, the latest entry in the legendary action RPG series, is out in English this week, February 2, on PS4. Ys IX is also coming to Switch and PC via Steam in Summer 2021. You can read much more on Ys IX: Monstrum Nox with our extensive past coverage on the game.
Finally, Disgaea 6 has just launched in Japan on PS4 and Switch. It's coming in the West exclusively on Switch, in Summer 2021.
The post Nippon Ichi Software Teases Its First New Game Announcement of 2021 by Iyane Agossah appeared first on DualShockers.
Genshin Impact – Xiao And Keqing Gacha Banner Event Guide
On February 1, Genshin Impact (PC, PS4, PS5 Mobile, soon on Switch) revealed its latest time-limited Gacha banner for All That Glitters, with Xiao as its featured character. Xiao is an Anemo user, and the third Polearm playable character ever, following Xiangling and Zhongli.
The Xiao banner will have boosted drop rates for the following four star characters: Diona, Xinyan, and Beidou.
As usual, there's still a pity counter in place. Players get a guaranteed five star at 90 pulls, with a 50% chance for it to be Xiao. The pity counter carries over from one Limited Banner to another. Moreover, take a look at your last five star character pull on the current Limited Gacha Banner. If it wasn't Ganyu, the featured character of the banner, then your next five star pull is guaranteed to be the featured character. Which would be Xiao in this case.
Diona and Xinyan are good Support characters if you need a Cryo or Pyro party member respectively. Beidou can be a bit tricky to use with her counter mechanic but is one of the funniest characters to play. At the end of the day though, everything depends on the Artifacts you'll equip them with and how you decide to build them.
The Xiao gacha banner in Genshin Impact, Invitation to Mundane Life, will begin with Version 1.3 on February 2, which should be live at 5 PM ET. (Click here for a time zone conversion table). The banner will last until February 17.
As already detailed in the past, Xiao can most notably enact Plunging Attacks without suffering from fall DMG. Moreover, the higher he attacks from, the higher the damage. Xiao's Elemental Skill is a charge which can also be triggered in mid-air. And his Elemental Burst greatly increase his DMG, range, jumping power, and converts all his attacks into Anemo attacks. You can read the full details and check out some Xiao gameplay with our past coverage.
Lastly, regarding Xiao, remember that none of the data that you might have seen in leaks is final. Xiao will be different in the main game compared to how he was in the NDA Closed Beta Test for Version 1.3. (Or in Closed Beta Test 1, where he was playable with Ayaka).
Next up, miHoYo revealed the Epitome Invocation weapon banner that will be ongoing alongside the Xiao banner. Lastly, the four star characters featured in the Keqing gacha banner were revealed as well.
The five star weapons featured for Xiao's weapon banner are the Primordial Jade Cutter, and the Primordial Jade Winged-Spear.
The Keqing Gacha banner, Dance of Lanterns, will begin February 17, The banner will end on March 2, 2021. It features Barbara, Ningguang, and Bennett.
The weapon banner for Keqing wasn't revealed yet. We should have another post up in two weeks with it, slightly before the Keqing banner starts.
Note that Keqing is already obtainable in the game through the permanent Standard Banner. This will be a much less expensive way to get her though, as the Standard Banner will give you a random five star character or weapon at 90 pulls.
Personally speaking, as always, I'd recommend refraining from spending money on Genshin Impact's gacha, saving Primogems for weeks and not gunning for every single featured character. There are much better alternatives to spend your cash on with the monthly Battle Pass and the Blessing. And as usual, I'd also suggest avoiding the weapon gacha banners. As you'll never know which of the two featured weapons you'll pull. Only the whales, master of all seven elements of Teyvat, can pull on those. At the end of the day, remember to enjoy the game, play it the way that makes it fun for you, and don't put too much trust in the Vtubers or purely SEO-driven guides like these.
Genshin Impact Version 1.3, All That Glitters, will have several events ongoing this month. Be sure to check the specific dates for each one of them. miHoYo also published the final lists of buffs coming for Zhongli and Geo characters. miHoYo has also been gifting new hardware to its employees following Genshin Impact's success.
The post Genshin Impact – Xiao And Keqing Gacha Banner Event Guide by Iyane Agossah appeared first on DualShockers.
Google Aims To Shut Down And Refocus Its Stadia Development Studios
The writing was on the wall for quite some time. It looks as though Google is now shifting focus away from Stadia as it announces plans to shut down its internal game studio. The announcement comes from a statement posted to Google's blog site. The post goes on to state that a shift in focus for Stadia will assist with keeping it sustainable. Which in non-business conglomerate terms generally means that it has not been as lucrative as they hoped. However, Stadia's cloud gaming service will continue as they still want to promote the use of it by third-party developers.
Stadia Games & Entertainment was founded to produce first-party content for the cloud gaming platform. From the offset, Google had its hands full with bringing a new platform into the already crowded ecosystem. Many issues have plagued it since it was announced such as a lack of new content and complaints of the service simply not functioning as promised. While public perception has more so turned more positive, it seems that Stadia's in-house studios were feeling the brunt of it.
Industry veteran and head of Stadia Games & Entertainment Jade Raymond has also departed Google as per the announcement. She will be joined by many of her colleagues at Stadia as "most of the SG&E team will be moving on to new roles" according to the blog post. Many of whom will either be finding homes at new studios or elsewhere within Google.
Stadia as a cloud gaming service will still go on unimpeded from this development. Google intends to continue supporting its player base and will still allow them to play all of their games. So no titles will be dropped from the library if they happened to be first-party games. From here on out, Stadia will lean more heavily into third-party content and exclusives following the shutdown.
The saga of Google Stadia rages on. Perhaps longer than a lot of us have even anticipated. Whatever comes next will determine how the cloud gaming service carries on. with more similar services coming forward, let's see if Google has it in them to keep up.
The post Google Aims To Shut Down And Refocus Its Stadia Development Studios by Camilo Olmedo appeared first on DualShockers.
BlizzCon 2021 — Here's What Could Be Announced at the Free Event
Today, Blizzard Entertainment is revealing some of the goodies you can get as part of their BlizzConline event. As you'll recall, last year's BlizzCon was delayed due to COVID-19, so now the whole thing has moved online and is free. Of course, if you want, you can slap down some cash and get different digital goods. That's cool and all, but what might Blizzard actually announce once the event kicks off? Well, first check out your BlizzCon invite below, and then we'll get into it.
Wherever you are, whoever you are, your formal invitation to #BlizzConline awaits.
Open it here: https://t.co/8w4cdZP23Q pic.twitter.com/zanXbBpIBN
— Blizzard Entertainment (@Blizzard_Ent) February 1, 2021
Diablo 4 Will Make an Appearance
This one is essentially a lock. Blizzard has been continuously updating fans over the last year with new info. If Diablo 4 doesn't show up at BlizzConline something has gone horribly wrong. As we've seen in the updates, things are tracking well as Blizzard continues development and testing. I think expecting a release date is a little bullish, but it could happen. The more likely outcome is that we get a new class or two announced.
Personally, I'm hoping they bring back the Assassin from Diablo 2: Lord of Destruction. After all, they're already bringing back the Druid from that game so why not go all the way. We will likely also be getting another magic-based class, making the Necromancer an intriguing option. Of course, they could make up something new altogether, which I'd be fine with.
Diablo Immortal Releases During the Event
Memes aside, it sounds like people who have gotten their hands on Diablo Immortal are liking it. I've been pre-registered for it for about a month now, so the release date seems to be relatively close. With this being a fully digital event, it makes sense to have something for everyone to hop into.
Now, I don't know if Immortal can light the world on fire, but I'm very interested in finally checking it out. If they can deliver a fun, on-the-go experience, I'm more than down for it.
Overwatch 2 Could Reappear
Overwatch 2 seems a little more nebulous than Diablo 4. It's a new game, but also works with the old game so that no one is left behind. I don't know. It seems like a confusing release plan that's only going to hinder sales. I could see Blizzard using this BlizzCon to sort of repitch the game in a way that makes more sense.
That said, I think Overwatch 2 has to show up here. Outside of Diablo 4, it's the only big game Blizzard has on the docket. Unless they just have something crazy (more on that in a bit), this seems like the other tentpole game they'll rally around
One Big Surprise
Obviously, we're going to get updates for Hearthstone and World of Warcraft, but those aren't that exciting. I think Blizzard will want to go big here. If BlizzCon was originally only going to be us seeing Diablo 4 and Overwatch 2 again, I wonder if they wouldn't have just canceled the event outright. Since they moved it, I think they have something massive to announce.
Now, if I were a betting man, I'd say the reveal is related to Vicarious Visions becoming a part of Blizzard. We know someone has been working on a Diablo 2 remake, so that could show up in this spot. But who knows? Maybe Blizzard will drop something truly spectacular and new to wow us all.
BlizzConline runs from February 19-20. Be sure to check back for news from the event.
The post BlizzCon 2021 — Here's What Could Be Announced at the Free Event by Ricky Frech appeared first on DualShockers.
God of War to Receive 4K/60FPS Enhanced PS5 Patch Tomorrow
Sony Santa Monica's 2018 reboot of the God of War franchise was one of the PS4's most beloved titles. The story of Kratos and his son resonated with fans and the slick and satisfying gameplay was lauded by all. As part of the PS5 announcement trailer, Santa Monica Studios announced a sequel to the game, tentatively titled God of War: Ragnarok for release this year. Now, to tide fans over until that releases, it's been confirmed that the reboot is being upgraded.
A Santa Monica Studios blog post confirmed that tomorrow, February 2, 2018's God of War will be receiving a free patch. The patch "replaces the current video graphics mode option with a new default setting that will offer the best of both performance and resolution to our PlayStation 5 players!" The update will be coming to the PlayStation Plus Collection version of the game too.
Within the post, Santa Monica Studios confirms that the new patch will allow players to play the game in 4K Checkerboard Resolution at a silky smooth 60 frames per second. Something which many fans have been crying out for. Should players choose to, they can select the Original Performance Experience setting, to play the game as it was on PS4.
God of War: Ragnarok is set to be one of the PS5's biggest releases this year, should it hit its release date. The game scooped up DualShockers' Most Anticipated Game in the fan vote during last year's game of the year awards.
Unsurprisingly, we scored the original game a 10/10 in our official God of War review, saying: "Ultimately, God of War is the perfect example of how it's possible to revolutionize a beloved series while improving it massively, in a way that does not feel unnatural."
The post God of War to Receive 4K/60FPS Enhanced PS5 Patch Tomorrow by Sam Woods appeared first on DualShockers.
Xbox Celebrates Black History Month By Amplifying Black Creators And Content
The video game industry at large has not always been the most inclusive or diverse community. But strides have been taken in recent years by many studios to try and make it a better place for the many everyone within it. Now that we are officially in Black History Month, Xbox has detailed its push to bring its Black voices to the forefront. Throughout this month and further, they aim to bring more of its content and creators to the forefront that exemplify the values of the Black community.
A collection of video games and films have been curated to be front and center in the Xbox Store. Films such as Black Panther and Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse are a few of the picks on display. Also, Telltale's The Walking Dead and Watch Dogs 2 are some of the games on display. All of the selected content was chosen as they were deemed to best exemplify Black stories and storytellers. The full lineup of spotlighted content is available on the Xbox marketplace.
Xbox will also be hosting a series of weekly streams over on Twitch as well. Each stream will highlight Black game creators, actors, and streamers within the community. Giving more attention to Black talent in the industry is always a topic of derision among some. The reality is that they deserve a space within the wider games world. Allowing them the platform to do so will only make it better and more inclusive for everyone in the end.
This announcement also follows a previous statement from Microsoft at large to combat racial injustice. The company previously came out in support of the Black Lives Matter movement and has aimed to increase inclusion and diversity company-wide. They have also donated a sizeable amount to the movement as well as to the NAACP in support.
More and more studios have announced pushes to ensure a safe space for its Black community. Standing with these members is a small but helpful step along the way towards solidarity and inclusion. It's something that the industry has a long way to go on but it's surely a step in the right direction.
For more information about Xbox and their further offerings during Black History Month and beyond, their official statement has all of the details.
The post Xbox Celebrates Black History Month By Amplifying Black Creators And Content by Camilo Olmedo appeared first on DualShockers.
Apex Legends Hit Highest Peak of Players on Steam Last Weekend
Apex Legends has been hugely popular ever since its release in 2019. The squad-based battle royale has had seven successful seasons and is gearing up for an eighth. Apex was only recently made available on Steam in November 2020 to kick off Season 7. As of Saturday, the game hit an all-time high of concurrent players on the platform.
According to Steam Charts, an online application that helps collect and represent data on every Steam games' player base, Apex Legends had a peak of 129,928 concurrent players on Saturday, January 30. This is the game's highest record of players at once yet, but it seems like the record will be beaten again in the coming weeks. Apex has been growing more and more popular on the platform as time has gone on, and with the debut of Season 8 starting tomorrow, it's likely that the numbers don't stop here.
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Looking at Apex's player base over its entire lifecycle on Steam backs this up. It clearly had a dip in mid to late December, potentially caused by less free time as a result of the holiday season, but ever since the start of the new year players have flocked to it. In January of 2021 alone, the game has had an increase of 7,297 new players and that number is likely to rise once Season 8 finally drops tomorrow.
The new season of Apex Legends adds a new Legend, Fuse, to the mix along with a new weapon and a new map. You can check out Fuse's abilities in this article about the latest gameplay trailer. Respawn Entertainment found itself in a controversy earlier this month over Fuse's design. It seems as though much of his character design was lifted from an indie game, BulletVille, that EA had worked with previous to Fuse's announcement. You can find that article right here.
Stick with DualShockers for all things Apex Legends.
The post Apex Legends Hit Highest Peak of Players on Steam Last Weekend by Peter Hunt Szpytek appeared first on DualShockers.