Former Street Fighter producer Yoshinori Ono appointed President of Delightworks
In a sudden and frankly surprising turn of events, Yoshinori Ono has been officially appointed President and COO of Delightworks, the company behind mobile phenomenon Fate/Grand Order, upcoming fighter Melty Blood: Type Lumina, and recent disaster Sakura Wars: Hanasaki Maidens.
Yoshinori Ono previously worked with Capcom for almost three decades, before leaving the company in the summer of 2020. During his time with the developer/publisher, Ono worked on top brands including Resident Evil, Onimusha, and Dead Rising, but his greatest achievement remains his incredible resurrection of the Street Fighter franchise. At the center of 2008's Street Fighter IV - a title his bosses at Capcom had zero faith in - Ono almost single-handedly brought the legendary series back to the masses, a move which helped reignite the entire fighting game genre, particularly with mainstream audiences. As such, Ono is deservedly respected by both players and those within the industry.
Capcom Arcade Stadium is getting paid 'invincibility' DLC
Yesterday, we reported that radical retro compilation Capcom Arcade Stadium was making the leap from Nintendo Switch to PS4, PC, and Xbox One. Since then, the publisher has made several addendums to the announcement, including the reveal of some pretty tacky paid DLC.
Capcom extending its Resident Evil Village demo availability to a full week
While very few had a problem with the well-received demos for Capcom's upcoming Resident Evil Village, many were left frustrated with the publisher's decision to release the taster trial in slight, 24-hour windows. It appears that Capcom has heard the criticism loud and clear, taking it on board for Village's third (and final) demo event.
As of Saturday, May 1, Resi fans will once again be able to creep the boards of The House of Demitrescu, only this time the demo will remain available for an entire week, with servers open until Sunday, May 9. It should be noted that the demo is still limited to a single hour of gameplay, but now players will at least be able to take that hour at their own convenience.
Furthermore, the demo will be made available on all Resident Evil Village platforms. So whether you're playing on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC, or Stadia, you can get your fill of the sequel's sinister locales - and their sinister-still occupants - ahead of the game's official launch on May 7. Personally, I'm yet to find the opportunity to check the demo out, but after hearing rave reactions from my colleagues, I'll be sure to tiptoe through its cobwebbed corridors this coming weekend.
Dread X Collection: An imperfect collection of unchained creativity
[I'm a huge fan of bite-sized games. The goofier and weirder, the better. I had heard of Dread X Collection before, but I'd never really taken a closer look at it until Mr. Knives conveniently put this blog together covering the series. Immediately after watching these trailers, I went ahead and bought them all. Some of it seems like standard indie horror fare, but a lot of it looks like it goes to some pretty fun places. - Kevin]
Think about how cool it would be to have a bunch of wildly different games in one collection. Think Heavy Metal. Think The Animatrix and Love, Death, and Robots. Think of video game anthologies, which were almost non-existent outside the occasional retro compilation that seems to come out every generation until the release of The Dread X Collections.
Forget Shades, goats are my mortal enemy in Nier Replicant
The world of Nier Replicant is full of dangerous mysteries. In its opening moments, you fight swathes of malevolent creatures determined to strike you down.
Yet none of them draws my ire as much as those damn goats.
I'm still working my way through the opening hours of the original Nier's remake/"version update;" for more on the rest of the game, check out Chris' writeup on Nier Replicant ver.1.22474487139..., the very long version of a game I'm just going to call Nier Replicant from here on out.
Throughout the beginning of protagonist Nier's tale, I've had to fight escalating monstrosities: both fearsome beasts and malfunctioning machinery, as well as dozens upon dozens of Shades of varying size and strength. I was certain one Shade in particular was going to be my white whale; it shows up a few hours into the game, hanging out in one of the major throughways between towns, and it has a habit of one-shotting you with its surprisingly powerful hits. Yet once I recruited the help of Kainé, it was simply a matter of keeping my distance and firing off magical lances until it fell.
There is one adversary that seems to constantly get the upper-hand on me, though. Alongside the obvious aggressors in Nier Replicant's overworld, there is also wildlife. Usually they're just fodder, a simple resource that needs to be slashed or blasted with magic and subsequently harvested, so I can bring the ingredients back to town for a side quest.
Goats do not mess around, though. Some animals will attack if you get too close, but nothing hits quite like a surprise kick from a goat. And if you get anywhere within the vicinity of these goat's rear legs, they will laser-target your skull and bring two devastating hooves to bear on your poor, hapless self.
The other night, I was powering through some side quests, stockpiling cash for a new weapon I wanted to buy from the shop. At several points I had to make the trip from my home to the desert kingdom of Facade. While the desert holds its own dangers, the road that takes you there has one chokepoint that seems tailor-made to funnel players into the crosshairs of an angry goat.
And Nier's goats don't just kick you and call it a day. While you're still trying to stand up after having your day ruined by a farm animal, said goat is already squaring up for a headbutt. These goats are really looking to teach Nier a lesson, it seems.
Suffice it to say, by my third time getting wall-splatted by these jerks during sprints between towns, I just started blasting them with magic. They have very low health, but they always return. I know they will. And when I least expect it, when I'm just lazily flitting between hub areas for a few ingredients, that's when their hooves will strike.
All that said though, I'm really digging Nier Replicant. Be sure to read the message its creators put out ahead of launch, and if you do pick it up, be extra cautious of the goats. They might just seem like another resource, but they will absolutely ruin your day.
Abandon your individuality in EA's The Urbz: Sims in the City
In 2000, while humanity was crawling from the wreckage and trying to rebuild after the devastation of Y2K, The Sims exploded on the PC. It was an opportunity for people to look down upon their creations, trap them in the pool until they drown, and have absolutely useless children. It was massively popular, as you'd expect from a product that allows you to watch someone pee, and sold millions of copies.
In typical EA fashion, they immediately began to plot new ways to whore out their cash cow. So, they ported the game to consoles with fresh, 3D graphics and made even more money. Then they did it again with The Sims: Bustin' Out, which I'm not going to make fun of because it was sort of awesome. Riding high from that, they decided that the franchise wasn't vacuuming money out of people's pockets fast enough, so they decided to spin the series off.
They chose to move the game from the weird Edward Scissorhands depiction of suburbia and into the urban jungle where everyone listens to the Black Eyed Peas and the partying never stops. The result was The Urbz: Sims in the City, and if this is the first time in years you've heard the title mentioned, I'm not surprised.
Dying Light 2's lead game designer answers some community questions, including the lack of firearms
Dying Light 2 recently resurfaced after a quiet spell, and with it, the devs behind the game are starting to answer some questions fans have had about the parkour-infused action game.
In the first of a new AMA series, Dying Light 2's lead game designer Tymon Smektała addressed a number of common inquiries, including the size of the game's map and the impact of choices on the narrative.
One point that's come up a few times before but is still pretty interesting is the lack of guns. As Smektała says, "There are no firearms in the world of Dying Light 2." While the zombie action game will have ranged weapons, like bows, more modern or conventional weaponry looks to be out of the question.
He does describe an additional weapon the player can craft that's like a cobbled-together shotgun, which will offer a shotgun blast but with low durability. Basically, it sounds like traditional guns won't be littering the zombie-infested world of Dying Light 2.
The action sequel bounced back earlier this year with some new updates, following a reveal it determined was a little early. There have been some delays, as well as the departure of Chris Avellone over allegations last summer, but it sounds like Techland is now ramping up towards some more news. Here's hoping for a new look at the expansive game soon.
There's a reason NEO: The World Ends with You isn't called The World End with You 2
It was one of the biggest surprise announcements of 2020. After more than a decade of fans pleading and Square Enix teasing, we learned last summer a sequel to The World Ends with You was in development. For those like myself, it was a moment to rejoice. Long had we waited, and even with rereleases of the original title on new hardware with new content, the further away we moved from the debut of the original title, the less confident I became that we'd ever return to Shibuya and the Reaper's Game.
Turns out, I wasn't the only one doubting it could happen. Last Monday, I sat down over Zoom with the creative team behind NEO: The World Ends with You to discuss the game, its characters, its story, and how, after 14 years, we were finally getting one of gaming's most requested sequels.
Apex Legends' Arenas is a new, round-based permanent mode
Apex Legends has toyed around with different modes since its launch, but it's adding a permanent one to the rotation with its next season. Arenas is a new take on the Apex Games, focused on rounds and team-against-team combat, rather than the sprawling battle royale.
Detailed in a trailer and blog post today, Apex Legends' Legacy update will add the Arenas. Hosted by Titanfall 2's Ash, these games pits teams of three against each other. It's a fight to wipe the opposing team out, with no respawn points. You duke it out until a team hits at least three wins with a two-round margin win.
There's also a buy phase between rounds, in a move reminiscent of tactical shooters like Valorant and Counter-Strike, where players can opt for certain weapons, upgrades, and pick-ups. The action takes place in new spaces, the arenas of Arenas, as well as some familiar locales cut out from existing battle royale maps.
Some outlets have already had some hands-on time with the new mode, and it sounds like a blast. I've personally tired a bit of the battle royale grind; I got my fill from hours upon hours of PUBG and Apex Legends. This new mode seems way more my speed, taking some cues from the likes of Counter-Strike while still keeping the abilities and personality of the Legends intact.
Oh, and we got another glimpse of both the new weapon—the Bocek compound bow—and new Legend Valkyrie, the daughter of Titanfall 2 Pilot Viper. Not only does that modified jetpack look sick, but it sounds like she has lines inspired by her father's short-but-memorable appearance.
It all arrives next week when Apex Legends' Legacy update goes live on May 4, 2021.
Outriders dev People Can Fly acquires Phosphor Studios
Polish studio People Can Fly, fresh off of the success of its sci-fi shooter Outriders, has announced that it has acquired U.S. outfit Phosphor Studios. The Chicago-based outfit is the third American studio in People Can Fly's portfolio, and its seventh overall acquisition.
"Taking over the Phosphor Games' team is simply an execution of our strategy," announced PCF CEO Sebastian Wojciechowski. "With the variety of ongoing projects, we need well-seasoned, ambitious professionals to bring our plans to fruition. Considering Phosphor's team experience and quality I'm sure they will be a great addition to the PCF family and will facilitate our growth. Welcome on board!"
Phosphor Studios, which describes itself as a purveyor of "dark, quirky, and whimsical games," is known for creepy titles such as 2011's Dark Meadow and 2017's The Brookhaven Experiment. The studio will now work with People Can Fly on its upcoming releases and projects under the new moniker of People Can Fly Chicago.
"A new chapter opens for our team," said Phosphor CEO Justin Corcoran of the acquisition. "We are very excited to be joining People Can Fly to open a brand new studio. Our goal is to strengthen PCF's presence in the US and help build People Can Fly as a global brand."
Dragon Quest Builders 2 is coming to Xbox Game Pass next week
The journey of the apprentice builder and his amnesiac friend Malroth is coming to Xbox, and it will be headed to Game Pass as well.
Square Enix and Xbox confirmed today that 2019's Dragon Quest Builders 2 is coming to Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S (via backward compatibility) on May 4. The sandbox builder-RPG will also come to Xbox Game Pass for console, cloud, and PC on the same day.
Dragon Quest Builders 2 is a follow-up to 2016's original spinoff, which combines Minecraft-like block-stacking and crafting with some RPG tenets and an overarching narrative. New to the sequel was a large island that acted as your home-away-from-home, as you and Malroth went island hopping in search of new denizens and materials.
It was a pretty solid sequel, and something about the building in Dragon Quest Builders keeps me coming back. The ability to build specific rooms with functions that your town's citizens will fill, like making food or arming themselves for battle, makes the cities you build feel alive. Game Pass owners looking for a building kick should absolutely give this one a shot next week.
Ghosts 'n Goblins Resurrection hits PS4, PC, and Xbox One June 1
Nintendo Switch remaster Ghosts 'n Goblins Resurrection is getting set to bring its twitchy platforming action to multiple platforms in June, when the glossy new edition of Capcom's 1985 arcade will come leaping onto PS4, PC, and Xbox One.
"Did you know?"
The amount of Zelda: Breath of the Wild posts I could start with that phrase...and in some cases, I have! Four years on, and we're still discovering stuff together as a community. Oh no, not another Breath of the Wild post! I promise you, you probably didn't know about this one. A few of you probably did, and you're welcome to comment about it.
So ajsayshello shared this neat discovery on Reddit, and they pitched it with such a good title too: "Cool detail I just ran across." Isn't that how all of these Breath of the Wild revelations start? Well, it just so happens that you can perfectly view all four Divine Beasts on the highest point of Link's abode in Hateno Village (the same one that has an interesting and familiar past): the chimney.
It's a small detail, but a really cool thing I had never seen before, or noticed. And I've climbed to the top of the chimney! This has to be deliberate, as it was Link's destiny all along to help cure them and get Hyrule back in line.
It perfectly encapsulates why I'm still writing about Breath of the Wild all these years later. These community discoveries legitimately blow my mind and enticing me back into its world.
You can see all 4 divine beasts from the top of the chimney on Link's house [Reddit]
Deathsmiles, Cotton, Psikyo, and Strikers among the shmup headlines out of Daikanshasai 2021
This past weekend was a very exciting one for shmup fans, as it saw the 2021 edition of Japan's Shooting Game Daikanshasai presentation, bringing a full magazine of headlines regarding the timeless and beloved shmup genre — one of the most niche and enduring mediums of video game since the humble Space Invaders launches back in 1978.
While yours truly has definitely fallen a little behind the times with this adrenaline-filled genre, I'm so happy that it still has a global community of followers in the modern gaming environment. So let's take a look at some of the news that came out of this year's event. Thanks to Gematsu for translated information taken from the weekend's stream.
Ubisoft is taking more time to release big Assassin's Creed Valhalla updates to avoid more bugs
Have you ever played an Assassin's Creed game and thought "this probably needed a little more time?" For once, Ubisoft agrees.
Valhalla has been suffering from a number of bugs for a while now, which came to a head when an update was rolled out in March, and rolled back completely due to huge glitches. It was a watershed moment, and one that made Ubisoft realize that they couldn't just keep churning these out, with the publisher admitting: "recent title updates may not have met your expectations or been up to our standards."
We already knew that the first major DLC, Wrath of the Druids, was bumped to May 13, but now we know why. Ubisoft is evidently overhauling their entire testing system, which will now grant their team an extra week of preparation before updates roll out. Probably a good idea!
Their new developer blog explains that previously the game ran on a four-week title update release cycle, which will now shift to five weeks. Here's the rub: "Creating Title Updates is a complex and time-consuming situation for our dev team. We are always striking a balance between including as many fixes for known issues as quickly after spotting them as we can, while also providing new and exciting content for players that may not run into issues at all."
New planned fixes include plans to bring back the missing fish (which won't be fully resolved until June, but will be "partially" addressed with the next title update), and updates for two quests: In the Absence of an Ealdorman, and Pig of Prophecy.
You can also check out the revised road map below.
Assassin's Creed Valhalla - Update Pipeline [Ubisoft]
Capcom Arcade Stadium brings coin-op classics to PS4, PC, and Xbox One next month
Capcom has announced that its retro-infused celebration of its formative years, Capcom Arcade Stadium, will be bringing its catalog of classics to the PS4, PC, and Xbox One platforms on May 25, following on from its release on Nintendo Switch back in February.
Godfall might be coming to PS4, and I hope it's a smoother launch
Oh my God, Godfall is probably coming to PS4.
That wasn't a dramatic declarative statement, mind! Because this very niche, very odd action game isn't worth freaking out over. Although I enjoyed it for what it was, it ended up being a strange oddity of a PS5 launch game, seemingly released just to hit the target of a new console launch.
Since November 2020 it's kind of sat there in Sony land (as well as PC), and it looks like it's still going to be staying under Sony's purview. According to a PEGI rating, Godfall should be coming to the PS4 this year. As a reminder, a window of six months of exclusivity was always expected (it was stated as much via official marketing, but we don't know the details), so a release might be imminent.
With "just" a PS4 version in tow, it seems like Sony might be keeping it as an exclusive indefinitely, but at least it's heading to more platforms. Quirky or not, there's more chances to preserve this game in some shape or form. It's going to be a "remember this?" type of story a decade from now, like a lot of forgotten console-launch action romps.
Godfall [PEGI] Thanks John!
A Ratchet & Clank-focused State of Play is on the way
We just got a new look at the upcoming Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart this morning, but that isn't the only one we'll see this week.
Sony has announced a new State of Play for Thursday, April 29 at 5 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. PT. In today's PlayStation Blog, it says there will be more than 15 minutes of gameplay to show, as Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart will be the focus of the show.
For those who don't just want to see Ratchet and Clank venture through dimensional portals though, there will be some other news. On Twitter, PlayStation confirmed that there will be updates on "a pair of upcoming indie titles."
The most recent State of Play showed off some rad-looking indie games, including Sifu and Solar Ash, so hopefully there are some surprises in store for Thursday as well. You can catch the stream on PlayStation's Twitch and YouTube channels at 5 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. PT.
Skullgirls will reveal its newest DLC character next week
It's 2021, and plucky punch-up Skullgirls is in as strong a position as it has ever been. Despite not being the biggest brawler on the block, Autumn Games' excellent tag-fighter has endured against the odds to remain one of the slickest fighting games available, almost a decade on from launch.
And "SHOWTIME" is set to continue with the arrival of the game's first season pass, bringing new fighters, stages, music, and other features to the super-stylized release. Having already welcomed Annie of the Stars to its roster back in March, Autumn Games will reveal the identity of the second character getting set to throw hands on Thursday, May 6.
Oops, someone designed another cool looking Switch UI mockup with folders
The Switch UI has been surprisingly dormant since it was released.
While it gets the job done in some respects, it lacks a lot of modern features like folders and other perks. Plus, the menu sound design is a huge downgrade compared to the Wii and Wii U. So every few months someone takes it upon themselves to upgrade the UI with a fan mockup: and I have to say, pretty much all of them are on point.
Take this one from Redditor Frieznburg. It's still elegant and clean, like the current official UI, but it allows users to add games to folders that look uniform with the other game icons. What I really like about it is that it showcases the "hours played" data right there on the main page when you highlight a game, as well as the release date. For reference, they used Figma to craft all this.
This isn't as drastic as some other redesigns, so I suspect that a lot of folks are going to be down with it. One common complaint when it comes to fan mockups is that they're "too busy or superfluous," and to some extent, I do agree that the official setup does look great when juxtaposed to the somewhat messy PS5 OS, or the Xbox interface.
But still, there is a way to add both functionality and flair to the Switch UI, and I'm eagerly awaiting the day that Nintendo actually implements some of these features.
Switch Home Redesign (Fan-Made) [Reddit]
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart trailer introduces Rivet
Sony Interactive Entertainment, alongside Insomniac Games, have released a brand new — and very impressive — gameplay trailer for the upcoming platformer Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, which will see the steampunk duo return for another exciting adventure this summer, exclusively on PS5.
(Update) You can unlock this free freaky World of Warcraft monkey charity pet now
[Update: Daisy has also been unlocked via the million dollar stretch goal. Just head here to redeem her for free. You have until August 1, 2021 to claim the rewards for this initiative.]
Look into the eyes of that monkey. He totally wants to eat your player character after you sit down to take a nap. But he's a charity item! So it's probably wholesome. Still...I'm watching you.
Wait where were we! Oh yeah, talking about World of Warcraft freebies. As part of a drive for Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), a monkey pet named Bananas is now free for everyone. They were part of the $500,000 goal, with a further stretch goal of $1 million.
At the moment, the drive is sitting at just under $700,000 at publication, so it'll probably take a bit more time to finish out. Note that the Daisy pet can ride on your back though, it seems, so I'm a little more interested in that perk. Oh, and it doesn't look like it wants to murder you.
You can grab Bananas here from the Battle.net Blizzard Shop, in the pets section of World of Warcraft. It's right there at the top, for free, and listed first. The next stop on the charity train is Daisy the sloth at the $1 mil mark. Eventually, that should get unlocked through the same means and will be available in the Blizzard Shop.
Bananas Unlocked! Claim Yours Today and Donate to Unlock Daisy [Battle.net]
Mortal Kombat saw a $22.5 million opening at the U.S. box office
This weekend saw the U.S. opening of Warner Bros.' long-in-development adaptation of its gory fighting franchise, Mortal Kombat. And, all things considered, the film has been a success, pulling in domestic box office sales of around $22.5 million USD.
As noted by Deadline, this is the highest opening for an R-rated movie since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has understandably left cinema sales reeling over the past 13 months. Mortal Kombat was screened in almost all re-opened theaters (estimated to be around 60% of the U.S. total) and is available to stream at home on paid service HBO Max — though the money made via the latter is not taken into account.
Brush up on your suplexes for Tecmo's Tsuppari Oozumou
I don't have much to say about the sport of sumo. It's really old and has held onto many of its traditions. It's also not difficult to get the gist of. Push the other rikishi out of the ring or knock them off their feet. Because of this, size is a major advantage and that gives us the typical image of a sumo wrestler: a rotund mass of human. Immovable objects that walk like men.
It's interesting to me, but not enough that I've gone to the effort of actually seeking it out. If I want a dose of Japanese culture, I typically turn to dating simulators and my Famicom. What luck! Crossover! Way back in 1987, Tecmo released Tsuppari Oozumou, a simulation of the sport. Sort of.
What video games would you love to see localized?
Cblogs of 4/17 to 4/23/2021
-Egg&Brewsterjr gives thanks for the fan translation of Marvelous: Mohitotsu no Takarajima.
-BRAV0 F1VE reviews indie game Narita Boy.
-Gamingnerd looks back at the history of the Metal Slug franchise on its 25th anniversary.
-Lord Spencer writes a report about 11 games as part of his PS1 REVIEWS blogging series.
-Dinoracha reviews Animal Crossing: New Horizons on the Switch.
-Gamingnerd looks back at the history of the Wonder Boy franchise on its 35th anniversary.
-Lord Spencer updates his PS1 REVIEWS List where you can suggest games for him to review.
-Mr. Knives share his thoughts on the Dread X Collection of bit-sized games.
-Osc updates us on the progress of their hobbyist game.
-ABowlOfCereal continues the discussion on balancing Guardian Heroes.
-ChronoLynxx opens another TGIF open community forum thread.
Nightdive Studios does important work. Sure, there are a lot of companies out there that are all about remaking and remastering old games, but few of them dredge the bottom of the swamp for games that lay forgotten by time. It's one thing to resurrect a game that was near and dear to many, but it's another thing to dust one off that a lot of people may have missed out on. Not everyone remembers Strife or Forsaken, but they're no less deserving of a remaster than, say, Kingdom Hearts.
This time they've dug up a body that I recognize, but I swear I don't know how it got there. Shadow Man is a 1999 game from Acclaim that landed on the PC, N64, PS1, and Dreamcast. I recall seeing it on the rental shelf enough that I at least remember it, but I think it was too out there for my young mind, so I never picked it up. This is my first visit to Deadside, and I almost wish I dropped in sooner.
Whatever you may think of the new Mortal Kombat movie, it was made with the fans in mind
The new Mortal Kombat was always going to be a hard sell.
Not only do you have the stigma of video game movies lingering throughout the industry (I don't think Detective Pikachu completely "solved" it), but you have the nostalgia for the 1995 original to compete against.
It's an uphill battle for sure, and we spoke to director Simon McQuoid, Lewis Tan (Cole), and Mehcad Brooks (Jax) about that Sisyphean theatrical journey.
How Chicory: A Colorful Tale fuses creativity and colors with Zelda
2018's Wandersong was a game about a bard, who used the power of music and singing to change people's lives for the better. There were grander stakes for sure, but at its core, it was about helping people and singing. A lot of singing.
Developer Greg Lobanov is back, but rather than dulcet tones, he's turned to brushstrokes and watercolors with Chicory: A Colorful Tale, an upcoming game about painting the world. The titular Chicory is a hero, a legendary artist who wields the powerful and magical Brush. You don't play her; you're just her number-one fan, who cleans up after Chicory's messes, until one day Chicory vanishes and you're left in possession of the Brush in a world that's suddenly devoid of color.
Review: NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139...
Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days. I think about that title a lot.
It may not even be the weirdest game name. But it stuck in my mind as one of the quintessential "Square Enix" titles in recent memory.
The thing is, NieR actually earns the right to be weird. So I'll type out NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139... just this once! Because the game deserves that respect.
Don't forget, Resident Evil Village is opening up the castle demo on Saturday
After last weekend's first of two demo slices for Resident Evil Village, I feel like we're a bit better equipped to handle Capcom's ridiculous constraints. Tomorrow evening, the castle portion will be playable — but only for a limited time in-game and a limited time in real life. Let's do another rundown.
Plenty of people pre-loaded the PS4 or PS5 early access demo for Resident Evil Village only to realize that it wasn't playable by the time they showed up and settled in. As it turns out, you have to be online to play, and if you fall outside Capcom's strict access window, the demo won't let you do anything.
As you can see in this demo schedule, there's an eight-hour window in which PS4 and PS5 players can fully launch the castle demo, and it starts on Saturday, April 24 at 5:00 p.m. Pacific. The double-whammy caveat is that within this window, you only get 30 minutes of playtime with the castle.
As we learned with the earlier demo slice, which was a cutscene-filled trip through the village with one tense but short lycan encounter, the 30-minute timer does not stop once you're in the game proper. That means you should figure out your preferred settings — like whether or not you want ray-tracing on PS5 — while you're still on the main menu. Once you're in, the race is on, even during cutscenes.
Capcom reiterated that there's one demo for Resident Evil Village, so if you played the village experience last week, you won't need to download a new client to access the castle section this weekend.
On the PlayStation Blog, producer Tsuyoshi Kanda says we'll see the "beautiful inner workings of the castle, the stronghold of the illustrious Alcina Dimitrescu and her bloodthirsty daughters."
"One of the major motifs of this area, and the game in general, was creating environments filled with beauty. When players aren't running for their lives, we wanted to create a setting that they could enjoy by venturing through and slowly taking in all the sights and scenes. Of course, every picture of beauty hides a face of terror. Players may also find themselves beneath the splendor in an underground prison, tiptoeing past cold cellar bars that offer a sharp juxtaposition to the warmth found up above."
The article also includes what I'll just refer to as a "claw gif." You can peek if you want.
Remember hearing Mr. X thud around and trying to pinpoint precisely where he was in the police station only to have him still get the jump on you? I'm ready for those same vibes in Village. (I think.)
If you're unavailable on April 24 or you don't have a PlayStation console, there will be another chance to try Resident Evil Village on Saturday, May 1. All platforms and both of the demo areas will be included.
If you were hoping for Twisted Metal III to be mediocre, your wish is granted
Twisted Metal was an institution on the PlayStation. Much like the landmark titles Tony Hawk's Pro Skater and Resident Evil, it exploded its genre, resulting in a bevy of pretenders. For Twisted Metal, it was vehicular combat; average, everyday cars with guns taped to them battling it out for supremacy. Games like Interstate '76 and Carmageddon would step up to try and take the throne over the next decade.
It was followed up a year later with Twisted Metal 2, a game that had a significant impact on my childhood. It was creepy, edgy, and the right amount of goofy. Discomforting cutscenes, creepy characters, lots of fire; it fit with the mid to late '90s theme of pushing the limits of taste. It was also really, stupidly fun.
But then developer Singletrac got bought up and the rights to Twisted Metal stayed with Sony. They passed development onto 989 Studios, a division of theirs that normally just acted as a publisher. Their first result was Twisted Metal III, and we're going to need the jaws of life to get through this wreckage.
Happy ten-year anniversary, Portal 2
[Narrated by Josh Picard]
The year is 2011, and the haunting, distant sounds of the Aperture facility are reverberating through our unfinished basement. My brother's at basketball practice, I have free reign of the Xbox. I've spent the past half hour trying to solve this puzzle, but I'm not getting up until I solve it. "Hello, who's there?" the turrets chirp at me.
They always kind of creeped me out, but I push it aside and… aha! I climb up to the tallest platform in the room, throw myself off with reckless abandon, and land my portal at the last second. Now I'm hurtling through the air, and land gracefully in front of the exit. I pump my fist, celebrating my victory, and feeling like the smartest kid in the world.
Warframe's fan convention TennoCon is doing it digital again this year
Like many of last year's conventions and trade shows, TennoCon, the yearly event that celebrates all things Warframe, had to go all-digital in 2020 due to Covid-19. Because we're still months, if not years, away from nipping this pandemic in the bud, TennoCon 2021 is following suit as Digital Extremes revealed the streaming event will take place on Saturday, July 17.
Just as it was last year, TennoCon 2021 will be free to all, with multiple panels planned for the day-long stream, as well as a community art show and a cosplay contest. While the full schedule of events has yet to be announced, you can throw down some cash early to buy this year's TennoCon Digital Pack and Merch Pack for $24.99 and $44.99, respectively. A bundle of both packs is also available for $64.99, but it can only be redeemed on PC.
This year's charity partner for the event has also been announced. Digital Extremes will make a donation to the Unity Project for Relief of Homelessness with funds raised by the sale of its TennoCon packs. The Unity Project provides emergency housing and shelter for people of all genders age 18 and up in London, Ontario, Canada.
TennoCon 2021 [Warframe]
Konami's '87 shmup A-JAX is this week's Arcade Archives release
Believe it or don't, there are still plenty of old-school shmups yet to join Hamster's enormous Arcade Archives release. At least this week's sees one more knocked off the list, with the arrival of Konami's '80s hybrid-shmup A-JAX, now available to download on Nintendo Switch.
Released in arcades in 1987, (before making the leap to home computers under the title Typhoon), A-JAX puts players in the pilot seat of a "Tom Tiger" helicopter and a "Jerry Mouse" jet fighter (I don't know either) as they fire-and-forget their way through alternate vertically scrolling and into-the-screen shmup sequences. Set in the future times of 2007, it is up to Earth's remaining military forces to liberate the planet from alien invasion, blasting swarms of enemy ships out of the skies while gathering power-ups and other alt weaponry.
A-JAX is a title I remember well, not in its arcade form but certainly in its Typhoon ZX Spectrum form. Today, it's still a pretty playable example of the classic shmup, although the switch between top-view and into-the-screen isn't convincing, with the forced perspective on the latter just feeling a little false. It's still a neat little title, though one might question its $8 price tag. It should also be noted that A-JAX is also available on Konami's Arcade Classics Anniversary Collection.
Check out the action in the video below, courtesy of YouTuber World of Longplays.
Humble Bundle to cap how much money from each purchase goes to charity
My Steam library is far larger than it should be given I'm primarily a console player and I don't even own a gaming PC. But several years ago, it exploded in size when a coworker got me into Humble Bundles. Before then, I'd buy the occasional PC title, usually heavily discounted. With the bundles, I saw it as a fantastic opportunity to purchase a hell of a lot of games that I would ultimately never play while also supporting some of my favorite charities.
I'll admit, whenever I bought a bundle, I didn't give much of my money to the developers or Humble Bundle itself. I'd always move the slider to ensure as much of my purchase as possible would go to charity. Is that a dickish way for me to treat the developers who made their games available through the service? Absolutely. But back when I bought into Humble Bundle, that's just where my priorities were.
Come next month, that will no longer be an option.
As announced on its official blog, Humble Bundle will begin experimenting with a new system that replaces its well-known sliders with two donation options: Default Donation and Extra to Charity. With Default Donation, a $25 purchase will give $21.25 to the publisher, $1.25 to charity, and $2.50 to the Humble Bundle platform. If you select Extra to Charity, the publisher cut will be dropped to $20, Humble Bundle will get $1.25, and the charity will receive $3.75. Basically, you're choosing between a 5% donation or a 15% donation to charity.
For developers, this means a more consistent amount of money from each bundle they participate in. For charities, well, you should probably just start donating money directly to your favorite non-profits. The switch to the new allocation system is set to happen around the end of May alongside some changes to the interface for bundle pages.
A note about sliders and our bundle pages [Humble Bundle]
Whatcha been playing this week, Destructoid?
Have you had your jab yet? I haven't had my jab yet. This seems pretty weird, as most of my American pals have had theirs, as have my British pals, as have my family. And I'm as old or older than all of these people. Well, except for my parents. I wonder if my clinic has forgotten my number... me, their No.1 customer. I have my own parking spot and everything. The worst part is, in 15 years when you all turn into raving psychotic killers ala Blue Sunshine, it'll be up to me to find a cure to save you and the entire world... And I'm really tired.
Oh, also, welcome to the weekend...
Destructoid community stream night is live on Twitch
Hey again! Tonight I'm doing a first-time entirely blind playthrough of Resident Evil 2 on Destructoid's Twitch channel starting at 9:00 p.m. Eastern.
Aside from Resident Evil 7, I haven't played any other games in the series, and I'm excited to see how this game compares. I frequently (and lovingly!) dunk on scary games; most aren't up to snuff for me and are easy to get through, but a couple made their mark. RE7 was phenomenal up until about halfway through before I felt I saw it caving to common weaknesses in the genre. RE2 looks super cool as well and I can't wait to see what's in store! Puzzles and horror ahead. Hope to see you there!
A bit about me: As I was growing up, my older brother shaped my interests in games and fantasy culture. We were obsessed with dragons, fantasy books, world and creature building, you name it. Most of our time was spent hanging out and chattily imagining things. We dipped into Pokémon when I was six with trading cards, figurines, and books, but even our very first video games on our Dad's computer were split right down to the controls; he would do movements and I'd do action buttons. Over time we tried dozens of games, however RuneScape, D&D, and Pokémon always stuck with me the most.
It's been almost two years since I first started streaming. I tend to stream all sorts of games now, but my favorite genres came to be RPGs, puzzles, adventure, and strategy -- bonus if it's fantasy-themed or an MMO that I can play with my friends and an instant favorite if the atmosphere is just right! Alongside trying new games together, my heart is in our bubbly banter while we all talk it up in chat. I'm so happy to have met people who have the same passion as I do for all these games and cool hobbies.
But how did I get here? A while back, Destructoid hosted its "So You Think You Can Stream?" contest. It was my first time entering any type of serious contest, but I still wanted to shoot my shot and really get out there. Although I didn't win, I was elated to hear that my audition stood out and there was an opportunity for me to come on board to stream alongside Dreezy on the Dtoid channel.
Come catch me live at Destructoid's Twitch channel every Friday at 9:00 p.m. Eastern! Let's chat it up about anything and everything while playing cool games! I hope to meet you there. :)
Scarlet Nexus' brain-powers are on full display in two new gameplay trailers
Bandai Namco's action-RPG Scarlet Nexus is set for the summer, and today we got some new looks at what it will look like to smack enemies around with your brain powers while playing as its protagonists.
In the first cut, Yuito takes on a big enemy called the "Slippy Chinery" by using Pyrokinesis on it. Like I've always said, when in doubt, fire is probably the way forward.
And while Yuito can do plenty of rad-looking slams and mind attacks, fellow controllable character Kasane can also use telekinesis, taking out groups of monsters (called "Others") at a time.
Bandai Namco has been slowly trickling out more about Scarlet Nexus leading up to its June 25 launch date, including looks at some of its massive battles and the gameplay outside of those scraps too. It's got a fantastic look to it, and after the success of other stylized action games like Astral Chain, maybe this is a next-gen mind-masher to look out for.
Scarlet Nexus comes to PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC on June 25, 2021.
It Takes Two just hit a well-earned one million sales
Since launching on March 26, Hazelight's co-op adventure game It Takes Two has sold a million copies across PC and consoles, and it's "still going strong," according to the developer. You love to see it.
Wow!!! Just found out #ItTakesTwo has sold over 1 million copies and is still going strong!
— Hazelight Studios (@HazelightGames) April 23, 2021
Thank you so much for all the love you’ve shown our game, it means the world to us â¤ï¸
As a bigger, bolder, and more inventive follow-up to A Way Out, it'll be interesting to see where these two games end up, sales-wise, once the dust settles — I feel like It Takes Two is only getting started. Quick throwback for context: in 2018, A Way Out cleared a million sales in "just under two weeks."
It Takes Two looked fun and varied leading up to launch, it got high marks from critics, and the word of mouth from the general public has been overwhelmingly positive so far. I've seen people call it a game-of-the-year contender, and while I'm not quite at that level of enthusiasm, I had a wonderful time tearing my way through oversized household locales as a shrunken-down dad doll. It's a perfect long-weekend, nothing-else-going-on game that you can really sink into. For $40, I have no regrets.
I can't imagine Hazelight or EA are anything but happy with these early figures, so I hope I can get my wish — please keep the "co-op only" games coming, folks. There's a real audience for these meaningful shared experiences that let both players have their own unique-to-them standout moments.
It's just a matter of time before we play It Takes Two again and swap characters. With the way the puzzles, abilities, and even whole sections of any given level vary for P1 and P2, it's gonna feel weird!
Here's how to get 200 My Nintendo Platinum from the Pokemon Snap site
New Pokemon Snap is coming very soon to Switch, and in case people didn't know about it, Nintendo just put up a new series of Platinum Point quests.
Here's a quick explainer on how to earn 200 Platinum.
Call of Duty: Warzone hits 100 million players as franchise celebrates 400 million total sales
This past week has been one of the biggest in the history of the Call of Duty series. Activision's legendary franchise, which remains the standard-bearer for the shooter genre (at least from a branding and success standpoint), has been dropping explosive headlines daily.
Most of the excitement has been centered around the popular battle royale title Call of Duty: Warzone, which dropped a literal bomb on the multiplayer locale of Verdansk. After the recent zombie infestation became too much to contain, some shady authority decided to go all Return of the Living Dead on us, hitting the big red button and leveling the entire district. In the blast's aftermath, the retro-themed "Verdansk '84" has risen, signifying the merging of CoD: Warzone with CoD: Black Ops: Cold War.
Valorant will take a sunny vacation with its next map, Breeze
The next Act of Riot Games' tactical FPS Valorant is on the way, but rather than a frigid Icebox, things will get a little brighter. Next week, the Agents of Valorant are headed to Breeze.
A new map, Breeze, is launching alongside the Act 2, Episode 3 battle pass on April 27, 2021. Today, Riot showcased the new locale, set on a remote island within the southern part of the Bermuda Triangle. Totally normal place to have a gunfight.
Senior game designer Sal Garozzo said one of the main goals for Breeze was building "larger and more open spaces with longer sightlines" than other maps in the Valorant pool at the moment. While that sounds great for snipers, it also opens up the potential for some Agents to use their abilities in new ways—long-reaching sight-denial moves, like Viper's Toxic Screen or Astra's ultimate, probably come in handy for those long lines.
There's also a new battle pass to dump experience into, with new gun skins, player cards, gun buddies, and sprays to pick up. As always, there is a free track and a paid track for $9.99, and the pass will run from April 27 through June 21, 2021.
As Valorant nears its one-year anniversary since launch, it's managed to establish itself as one of the competitive FPS games to watch right alongside Counter-Strike and Rainbow Six Siege. What more might be in store for this game will be fun to watch, though if the long lifetime of League of Legends is any indication, it's here to stay for quite a while.
Valorant's new battle pass and map go live next week on April 27, 2021.
Here's a look at the Fallout 76's big new Locked and Loaded update
It's been a long time coming, but Bethesda is basically ready to launch the next big update for Fallout 76: Locked and Loaded.
Everything is good to go for April 27, and it's been tested in the PTR for quite some time and is bug-free enough to launch. Let's start with the new video showcasing the finalized features.
All five Shantae games are on Switch now, commemorating nearly 20 years of history
The Switch just turned four this past year, which means that it has quite a hefty amount of history already.
It's hard to believe that it's been around that long, but publishers have been drawn to it like a prospector to a gold mine: as evidenced by the 30-40 games that flood the eShop each and every week. Also, if there's a game that can possibly be ported to it, it probably exists.
That list is growing all the time, and now it includes all five Shantae games throughout WayForward history. With the original hitting Switch just yesterday, the catalog is complete.
Sexy, sexy Hades sweeps up at the DICE Awards 2021
The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences (AIAS) has revealed its winner's list for the 2021 iteration of The DICE Awards, celebrating some of the fine releases that hit the market during last year — arguably one of the best gaming years in recent history.
The list reads as a who's who of 2021's finery, with awards dished out to Naughty Dog's The Last of Us Part II, Sucker Punch's Ghost of Tsushima, Square Enix's Final Fantasy VII Remake, Nintendo's Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and Activision's Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2. Even VR got in on the action, with an appearance by Valve's Half-Life: Alyx.
The big winner of the evening, however, is Supergiant Games' fantastic roguelike Hades, which walked away with five awards in total, including the coveted Game of the Year. Hades is going to need a bigger mantelpiece, having already won a glut of honors, including five BAFTAs and Destructoid's very own Game of the Year 2020. Well deserved.
You can check out the full list of winners below. The full DICE Awards ceremony is available for viewing over on the official Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences website.
Of course Bungie is making Destiny 2 transmog a grindy chore with microtransaction shortcuts
I can't say I'm surprised at this point that Bungie would take a concept as old and as simple as transmogrification (cosmetic changes) and "Bungiefy it." They've done it so many times in both Destiny 1 and 2 that I'm immune to it.
Did anyone expect the long-awaited transmog system to go swimmingly?
Mysterious 'countdown' site appears as Judgment launches on PS5, Xbox Series X, and Stadia
It's a one-two blow of news from Team Yakuza's violent detective thriller Judgment, which launches today on PS5, Xbox Series X, and Stadia. In fitting with the occasion, Sega has opened a mysterious website, which is counting down the hours to a forthcoming announcement.
The simple site, which features support for multiple languages, features a single fish-eyed image of the fictional district of Kamurocho, which plays host to both Judgment and the legendary Yakuza franchise. A foreboding clock counts down to "Judgment Day," which will apparently take place on May 7, 2021. Looks like Sarah Connor was wrong all along.
A huge Monster Hunter Rise update is coming soon, along with a stream
A whole lotta folks got into Monster Hunter Rise this past month, and now they're going to be riding on the typical Monster Hunter wave of free content.
That first wave is coming very soon, as Capcom has confirmed that the free Version 2.0 update will be coming soon, and will include Apex Rathalos and Chameleos, as well as "much more." That will actually debut on April 27 at 7AM PT, and you can find the link to the stream here.
Thankfully, Capcom is giving us a little heads up from a practical point of view even if Version 2.0 is still shrouded in mystery. They're warning players that you'll need roughly 0.9GB of space to install it if you already have the game housed on your Switch; or 1.5GB of space in total for new players. Handy!
With Iceborne being so successful, it's highly likely that Capcom already has a big expansion up their sleeve, possibly after the PC edition launches in early 2022. The Switch is only growing in popularity, and Monster Hunter is constantly cracking the top 10 all-time Capcom best-seller list these days, so they want to keep the good times rolling as long as possible.
Rise should be healthy for the rest of the year, but expect it to blow up again with the PC edition.
Monster Hunter Rise [Twitter]
Cyberpunk 2077 sold over 13.7 million copies in 2020
CD Projekt RED has announced that it sold 13.7 million copies of Cyberpunk 2077 in the final few weeks of 2020, quickly making the future-noir RPG the Polish developer's best-selling release to date. Of this number, 56% of sales were on PC, 28% came from PS4, with the remaining 17% on Xbox One. Overall CDPR's profit grew 558% year-on-year.
After an expensive development process and several delays, CDPR's sci-fi adventure arrived in December 2020 in a famously disastrous state — at least in regard to its console editions, neither of which had been offered to news outlets for review. Plagued with technical issues, Cyberpunk 2077 would find itself removed from the official stores of platform holders such as PlayStation, and would even be served class action lawsuits from grumpy shareholders.
Apologies were made as the publisher scrambled to repair the hammer blow to its then pristine reputation for polished, high-quality releases. Through its rapidly-launched "Help Me Refund" program, CDPR received requests for only 30,000 refunds out of 13-million-plus sales (though this figure does not account for refunds made directly through other platforms, such as PlayStation Store, for example).
Sony is trying to ramp up its PS5 hardware output
Sony has stated that it is making efforts to increase production on its tough-to-find next-gen hardware, PlayStation 5. Speaking in an interview with Nikkei Business (as translated by VGC) CEO Jim Ryan talked of the issues Sony faced has in both the manufacture and worldwide distribution of the new console, already six months into its lifespan.
"There are several reasons why PS5 was hard to come by," said Ryan. "Supply under the new coronavirus was very complicated, and we had to limit distribution to online. The supply and demand for semiconductors is also tight worldwide. We are asking our suppliers to allow us to increase production, which will flow into the market this year."
It's a surprisingly paradoxical situation, as while the PS5 has been a difficult console to purchase in almost all global territories, Sony's fancy new box has still bagged the title of fastest-selling console in U.S. history, with an estimated 4.5 million units sold in 2020 and well over six million units sold in total. In regards to software, PS5 is still struggling to get out of the starting blocks, with Housemarque's upcoming Returnal being the brand's first major exclusive in months.
Ryan also touched upon this subject of exclusive games, stating his belief that the PS5 platform would eventually see more "more dedicated software than ever before", while not ruling out the possibility of further studio acquisitions. It has been a staggered start for gaming's new dawn, more so than even previous gens. But with each new generation, console lifespans only increase — and as such it remains very early days for PlayStation 5.
