Titanfall 2 and other EA games get an FPS Boost option on Xbox
The back catalog has been growing on Xbox, and several Electronic Arts games are getting a little boost to their performance on newer consoles.
Earlier this year, Microsoft detailed FPS Boost, a new tool for making older games run even better on Xbox Series X and S. A few games, like Bethesda titles Fallout 76 and Dishonored already got their FPS Boost. Today, several EA games are joining the lineup.
Battlefield 1, 4, and V; Mirror's Edge Catalyst; Plants vs. Zombies Garden Warfare, Garden Warfare 2, and Battle for Neighborville; Star Wars Battlefront and Battlefront II; Titanfall and Titanfall 2; and Unravel 2 are all getting support for 120hz on Xbox Series X. Battlefield 4, Unravel 2, the first Battlefront, both Titanfall games and all three Plants vs. Zombies games are also getting 120hz support on Xbox Series S, and Sea of Solitude gets a 60hz boost on both consoles.
You can find the full list of games supporting FPS Boost, as well as which games have it turned off by default, on this blog post. Considering that all these games are also in Xbox Game Pass Ultimate thanks to it adding EA Play, that's a bunch of newly FPS-boosted games to play.
If you were feeling nostalgic for Titanfall 2 thanks to the crossovers happening right now in Apex Legends, well, here's your shot to play it in glorious 120hz.
Hand of Fate 2 and Alien: Isolation are free on the Epic Games Store
The Epic Games Store is giving out two freebies this week — one title you've no doubt already played (if you were ever going to try it), and one you might've missed that's worth a fair look. Today through April 29, 2021, you can claim Alien: Isolation and Hand of Fate 2 for free for your bustling PC library.
This isn't the first time Alien: Isolation has been free on the Epic Store, but it's worth highlighting just in case. Plenty of people adore this first-person horror experience — it has one of the tensest "stalker" enemies you'll ever encounter — and I adore the lived-in craftsmanship of the world, doubly so given that it's such a beloved movie property done right. That said, I've always found Isolation to be too stressful and long-winded to warrant a replay. Several years later, I still feel like once was plenty.
I do love revisiting player photos from time to time, though. What a looker.
I haven't played the lesser-known of these free games, Hand of Fate 2, but I'm intrigued by its nontraditional structure as a "living board game" blended with real-time fantasy action combat.
Here's how Destructoid reader TreasureCat summed up Hand of Fate 2's central hook last week: "It's not really a roguelite, but you do go play it by embarking on structured quests (runs) where you acquire equipment and resources while navigating randomized events. The gameplay is a one part board game, where you manage resources and play simple games that mix together skill, chance, and preparation and then one part Arkham-style third-person action combat encounters." Like I said, intriguing!
As for next week (April 29 to May 6), it's a weird one by Epic's standards: Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms, otherwise known as the D&D clicker game. This idle RPG is normally free, so this promo is really for a bunch of champions, chests, and two familiars — a supposed $100 value. To get these items, you just have to log-in during that period to claim the Epic Champions of Renown pack.
[Image credit: DARKBLADEXE]
PlayStation is giving out 10 fantastic PS4 games for Play at Home 2021
[Update: Today (April 22) is the last day to get nine free PS4 games from Play at Home 2021. So long as you show up and claim them from the PlayStation Store by 8:00 p.m. Pacific, they're yours to keep — no subscription needed. PlayStation VR owners, in particular, shouldn't sleep on this deal.]
We had heard that more free-to-keep PS4 games were coming soon from Sony after the Ratchet & Clank giveaway (which you can still claim today!), but I can't say I was expecting 10 more titles to show up for the Play at Home promo. It's not just about quantity, either – these are all quality releases.
You'll be able to grab nine games from March 25 at 8:00 p.m. Pacific until April 22 at 8:00 p.m.
- Abzu
- Enter the Gungeon
- Rez Infinite (PlayStation VR optional)
- Subnautica
- The Witness
- Astro Bot Rescue Mission (PlayStation VR)
- Moss (PlayStation VR)
- Thumper (PlayStation VR optional)
- Paper Beast (PlayStation VR)
Sony is also kicking in one of its own: Horizon Zero Dawn: Complete Edition. You can add the robo-dino-hunting adventure to your PS4 library for free from April 19 at 8:00 p.m. Pacific until May 14.
Unlike the usual monthly "free games," you do not need PlayStation Plus for any of these.
Play at Home 2021 also has an "extended" 90-day trial for Funimation/Wakanim. If you're a new member and you want to go on an anime binge to end all binges, you have from March 25 to April 22 to take them up on the offer. I'll leave recommendations to the readers – they know what's good.
To give you a little bit more context on how much I like the games on this list, I own everything here except for Paper Beast – and the only reason it's on my yet-to-play list is that I've been on a VR break lately. Subnautica is one of my all-time favorites, Astro Bot is PSVR at its best, and Horizon Zero Dawn is a crowd-pleaser. I'm envious of anyone about to carve through these games for the first time.
Clone Hero streamer shreds full combo of a seemingly impossible song
If you haven't played Guitar Hero since the days of "Through the Fire and the Flames," well, things have come a long way. Modding communities have sprung up and developed new, incredible, seemingly insurmountable challenges. And the only thing better than an impossible challenge is seeing someone thrash it.
Clone Hero competitive player and streamer "CarnyJared" has been working on nailing a 100% Full Combo, or FC, of a custom track called "Soulless 6." It's part of the "Soulless" series of charts, and well, once you see him start playing it, you'll get why it appeared impossible.
It has been tech FC'd before—basically, playing Full Combo'ing it in segments—by another player, though that took not just breaking it up into individual pieces, but swapping guitars and stances. Jared's run is one straight go of it, start to finish.
Though the era of plastic instruments might have faded, it's clear there are still players out there ready to push these guitars and charts to their absolute limits. You can find CarnyJared's Twitch channel, where he livestreamed the FC run and more, here.
Dead Cells has a new difficulty curve and more mutations to play around with
[Update: Dead Cells' Whack-a-Mole update released today on PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.]
New weapons? More mutations? Hard-hitting balance tweaks? Where do your eyes dart when scanning the patch notes for a major Dead Cells update? It probably depends on your goals for the game and where you're at with them. For folks stuck in Boss Cell hell, the revamped difficulty curve is a big deal.
In today's Whack-a-Mole update, the difficulty in Dead Cells was rebalanced again:
- BC0: Health fountains in every transition.
- BC1: Health fountain every other transition, with one minor flask when the fountain is missing.
- BC2: No more health fountain, one minor flask in every transition.
- BC3: One minor flask after the first boss and before the second.
- BC4: No more health in any transition, enemies teleport to your position.
- BC5: No more health, enemies teleport, malaise added.
For those who haven't kept up lately, these changes are meant to make things "easier."
Elsewhere in the Whack-a-Mole update, we're getting three amusingly beefy weapons: a doom-inflicting Tombstone, a last-hit-chaining Oven Axe, and a hold-to-charge club called the Toothpick.
There's also three tempting mutations to mull over, two of which speak to me as a tactics player:
- No Mercy (colorless): Instantly kill enemies that are under 15 percent health – and bosses under 7.5 percent health – by hitting them with a weapon.
- Barbed Tips (tactics): Inflict damage per second to foes based on how many arrows are stuck in them.
- Point Blank (tactics): Close-range attacks have scaling bonus damage.
So uh... I think barbed tips might be a little busted. from r/deadcells
How do you unlock the new mutations and weapons? They're drops! According to the wiki, you can get No Mercy from Slashers, Barbed Tips from Toxic Miasmas, Point Blank from Corpulent Zombies, Tombstone from Swarm Zombies, Oven Axe from Oven Knights, and Toothpick from Ground Shakers.
The team has tried to stamp out seed-related crashes for good, touched up the Malaise mechanic (including new icons to "give you a better idea of what's about to hit you"), and made it so Legendary items scale "based on the sum of your two highest stats" and Legendary status doesn't raise an item's level. That said, those last two reworks are "very subject to change." Dead Cells doesn't stand still.
As always, it's worth poking around to see the minutia. For instance, it may not be a headliner for a lot of players, but a new accessibility-focused hold-to-chain-attacks toggle sounds pretty sweet.
As noted on Reddit, the Whack-a-Mole update should be ready for consoles in the next three to four weeks. If you're a Dead Cells mobile player, that version just got The Bad Seed DLC – it's $3.99.
Back to the grind we go!
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.
Latest Apex Legends trailer teases Ash and the Arenas
It looks like a new way of duking it out is coming to Apex Legends. Today, Respawn Entertainment premiered the launch trailer for its upcoming Legacy update, narrated by a familiar voice for Titanfall fans.
Following the reveal of Valkyrie earlier in the week, today's trailer is narrated by none other than Ash—a former antagonist of Titanfall 2—who seems to be getting in on the battles. Alongside her is a tease of the Arenas, which seems like it could be a new game mode coming to Apex Legends.
Ash has been taking part in the broader Apex Legends lore for some time now—there's even an easter egg with her that recently got added—but it looks like she'll have a pretty direct role in what's to come. "Welcome to the Legacy of the Apex Predators," she says in the trailer as she's standing over a bank of controls. "Welcome to the Arenas."
The full gameplay reveal of Arenas is coming on April 26, and it's tagged with the line "go beyond battle royale," which raises some interesting questions about what type of game mode Respawn might be going for.
Whatever it is, seeing more ties to the Titanfall universe in Apex Legends has been pretty exciting so far. Between Valkyrie taking to the skies in her father's stead and Ash getting involved in the Games as well, plus all the potential backstory and lore possibilities, it's nice to see Titanfall's legacy continue on in myriad ways through Apex. I, uh, guess I'm reinstalling it now?
Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection demonstrates Ryu Hayabusa's ninja rap
We're still almost two months away from the launch of Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection, which sees three classic titles from the Ninja Gaiden franchise remastered and collated for those who like their action-adventures a little on the sadistic side.
Nier Replicant's creators share a special message about the 'version upgrade' ahead of its launch
The remaster-remake-relaunch of the first Nier game is due out tomorrow, and creative director Yoko Taro has some words to share about it.
Ahead of the launch, Square Enix has shared some messages from both Yoko Taro and producer Yosuke Saito, originally sent to reviewers who were covering the game. And, much like you'd hope from Yoko Taro, the message is not your bog-standard marketing release.
Yoko Taro calls Nier Replicant ver.1.22474487139... a "version upgrade," rather than a remake or remaster. Drawing comparisons to Square Enix's own work on Final Fantasy VII Remake, the creator says it would be "terribly inconvenient" to be compared to such a massive game, and so he went with "version upgrade." (Consequently, Yoko Taro says the big string of numbers is something he just "stuck on randomly," so don't worry too much about it.)
You can read the letter in full below:
Hello there everyone, YOKO TARO, Creative Director of NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139... here.
This game is a "version upgrade" of a title released 10 years ago under the name of "NIER". That's right, it's not a remake or a remaster, it's a "version upgrade".
In the beginning I only intended for it to be a remaster you know. With some improved resolutions and that… But once I started saying that I would like to tweak the models a bit, or that I wanted to fix up the backgrounds etc., we were soon looking at a lot of fixes and improvements.
I mean, Square Enix recently did that remake of FINAL FANTASY VII right? I saw that and I thought it would be terribly inconvenient to be compared to such a massive blockbuster, so that was when I decided to call Replicant ver.1.22… a "version upgrade".
Incidentally, the big string of numbers on the end of the title was just something I stuck on randomly, so I wouldn't think too hard about it if I was you.
And another thing. In recent years, when I have been around Square Enix, they always give off this palpable aura of enthusiasm as if to say "Look! NieR:Automata (the previous thing I made) did well, so NieR Replicant will also sell now". I would like to take this opportunity to tell Square Enix to take a good hard look at reality. Only the names are similar and the content of the two games is completely different, so it's not really going to sell all that well now, is it lads?
I mean, come on, I made it! Automata selling was a fluke, and all my other stuff has hardly sold anything worthy of note. If you really do go ahead and manufacture all these discs and then store them in a big pile in a warehouse somewhere, the only thing we can do with that will be to have a good game of frisbee. Although, I mean… that does sound like fun and all…
Right now, at this very moment, some guy from the Square Enix marketing team is looming behind me and his glare is saying "YOKO you bastard, just promote the game properly for a change!", but meh, not much that can be done about that now is there? Let's all just give up and call it a day. I mean, you really don't understand anything in this game until you play it through multiple times right? And the reviewers will find it pretty hard to do that in the limited time they have…
So, more importantly than that, let's all just go home early and be nice to our parents, Mm, yes, that would have a much more positive impact on the world I think.
Producer Yosuke Saito also commented on calling it a "version upgrade," though he says regardless of what Yoko says, he personally doesn't believe it does "justice to the level of quality that the team has achived." Here's his full message:
Hello everyone. It's "long time no see" for some of you, and I guess "nice to meet you" for others. My name is Yosuke Saito, and I am the producer of NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139...
Thanks to all you fans out there, NieR:Automata became a massive hit, and this game was developed under great pressure from that past success.
We are calling it a "version upgrade", but regardless of what Mr. YOKO says, I personally believe that moniker doesn't do justice to the level of quality that the team has achieved!
Having said that, NieR:Automata's big success was honestly somewhat of a miracle, so I don't think we will be selling quite that much… However, if we don't shift a certain amount then Mr. YOKO and myself will be forced to travel the world, selling the game out the back of a van. Ah, and Mr. Okabe will have to come along too!
So now you know this, please keep on supporting the NieR series.
Please, anything but the van…
Nier Replicant is out tomorrow for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Steam. You can check out our review of the "version upgrade," which went live this morning, here. As Chris notes, there aren't too many games like those in the Nier series. I'm personally still happy to keep supporting whatever this creative team gets up to, and keep on keeping them out of the van.
The Last Blade's Hibiki brings quiet ferocity to Samurai Shodown next week
Two of SNK's weapon-heavy fighters are getting set to lock horns next week, as Hibiki Takane prepares to cut a swathe of destruction through the roster of Samurai Shodown. The Last Blade's junior samurai will join the SamSho roster as a paid DLC character April 28.
The next Battlefield is coming later this year, with a reveal coming 'soon'
Electronic Arts confirmed today that two Battlefield games are in development. Alongside a new Battlefield for console and PC, there's also a standalone mobile game on the way.
In a blog post, DICE general manager Oskar Gabrielson broke down the two games. The next Battlefield is currently set for this holiday season, later this year. While the blog notes all-out military warfare and game-changing destruction, the Battlefield staples, Gabrielson also writes that it's brought to life with "the power of next-gen consoles and PC." A reveal for the new Battlefield game is coming "soon."
The mobile game, meanwhile, is in development at Industrial Toys, working closely with DICE. The completely new Battlefield game will be a standalone game for smartphones and tablets, and is currently set for 2022. It's entering a testing period phase ahead of next year's launch, and more details are expected soon.
With two Battlefield games on the way, that's a whole lot of massively multiplayer destruction. It's been a little while since the last Battlefield, and with some new console hardware, I have to say I'm excited to see what DICE and the various teams like Criterion, DICE LA, and Gothenburg are putting together.
Biomutant is almost here, new trailer shows off its striking fantasy world
It seems like a decade since we first heard about THQ Nordic's genetic-splicing adventure Biomutant, even though it has, in fact, been just four short years. But the development cycle is finally at an end and Experiment 101 is ready to release its curious fantasy title on the world.
THQ Nordic has released an atmospheric new trailer focusing entirely on Biomutant's huge, beautiful open-world. Said world is in dire straits, however, due to a suffocating pollution that is chewing away at the Tree of Life, the roots of which provide the land with the nutrients it needs in order to survive.
The player's custom character is tasked with exploring this world, searching out the Tree of Life roots and protecting them from destruction. Sounds simple enough, but each root also happens to be guarded by one of the land's six tribes, and a little democracy, compromise, or perhaps even violence will be in order if the tree is to be restored to its former glory.
You know it's going to be a slow week when Nintendo touts Immortal: Fenyx Rising DLC as not only the marquee Nintendo Download option of the week, but the only headliner.
We've all been through those days on the 3DS and Wii U, but the Switch typically has something flashy to offer every week. I mean, see for yourself and read the near-decade eShop weekly posts I have logged here. Sadly, Shantae, despite being re-released several times, didn't even get the respect of a top spot.
But I'm changing that! The original Shantae is out on the Switch natively this week without any Virtual Console shenanigans, as is Picross S6: those games will never go out of style. Oh, and all of the stuff below.
Ubisoft is publishing a run of Assassin's Creed Mr. Men and Little Miss books. Yes, really
The newest day in the Weirdest Timeline sees Ubisoft's stealth series Assassin's Creed cross over with Roger Hargreaves' 1970s children's book series, Mr. Men. As spotted by Rock, Paper, Shotgun, the two brands are collaborating for a range of six titles based on the time-hopping mass-murder franchise.
"By mixing the Assassin's Creed sense of adventure and history with the colorful and delightful designs of the Little Mr. Men, these books will appeal to both young and adult readers," said Ubisoft in the announcement. "Follow Mister Ezio, Little Miss Kassandra, and Little Miss Eivor, as they each try to complete their own missions in the first three books of this series!"
Mister Ezio! He's a killer! But Mr. Men is a cutesy thing for kids! Much Random!
The new Immortals: Fenyx Rising DLC basically turns the game into Diablo
Immortals: Fenyx Rising has been out since last December, and it's enjoyed a nice little niche between the typical open world Ubisoft fare and its inspiration: Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
But in true Ubisoft fashion they can't just leave the game alone and complete, there has to be some form of DLC to peddle. First we got A New God in January, then Myths of the Eastern Realm in March, and now April is giving us what might be the most unique add-on yet: The Lost Gods.
The minute-and-a-half trailer below is actually a very good elevator pitch for what to expect, with the new top-down view serving as the main hook. As is generally the case with Immortals add-ons, it focuses on a new character (Ash) in an attempt to build up the lore of the game while providing players with a side story.
The new view and a different combat system are great ideas to sell players on the pack piecemeal, but of course there's a season pass if you want that. It actually feels like a unique DLC, in other words.
Boomerang X put my air-dashing shooter reflexes to the test and I'm so into it
I'm not sure how I missed Boomerang X seeing as how 1) it's a Devolver Digital joint and that still counts for a lot, and 2) it's a stylish aerial-focused arena shooter, but man — it's so cool. I jumped into a very generous preview build recently and couldn't put the game down until I'd done, well, everything!
It took a bit for me to latch onto the mechanics given that they're doled out piece by piece and things start out really simple, but I was immediately into the idea of playing as a bandaged-up protagonist who, in my headcannon at least, must look like Mac the Knife, the mummy from Captain Commando.
Washed ashore on a mysterious abandoned island, you'll leap (and I mean leap) around until you quickly find an all-important weapon — your one and only for this reflex-intensive platforming shooter. It's a mystical boomerang that can one-shot shadowy figures and automatically come back to you. In the right hands, with your targets' weak points lined up just so, it's devastating. But you can never sit still.
Once Boomerang X comes into its own, you'll be able to dash toward your boomerang, and at that point, you never need to touch the ground again. It takes a while to get the hang of it, but it's so, so satisfying.
Phantasy Star Online 2 New Genesis is coming a lot sooner than we thought
The Final Fantasy XIV really nails the "producer live letter" format, which is basically a fireside chat of everything going on with the game at different intervals. It's a very easy-to-follow concept and I dig the non-produced, realism of it. Well, Sega just held one of its own today for Phantasy Star Online 2 New Genesis, and it was super enlightening and gave us a ton of details for the upcoming game.
First up, New Genesis will arrive in June of this year, and it will be a global launch. That's huge, as there is no lead time (like say, years) for the Japanese version; everyone is getting it. It's very important to understand here that the team does plan on providing global patches, so unlike the current version of PSO 2 was with the western launch, there will be no "lag time" between updates. There's also going to be a "starter package" out on August 19, which will contain codes for nine in-game items, plus a "Limited Edition," with a mini soundtrack and new artwork.
You can watch the full hour-ish presentation below. As a note, it does have English voiceovers in this global version of the stream, so you can fully along without wonky YouTube subtitles.
Oh, and we also got some PSO 2 basic news today. As of June 2021, it will be caught up with the Japanese edition! So we'll have full Phantasy Star Online parity in just a few months.
Sega's Sakura Wars mobile game has been a costly catastrophe, will shut down six months after launch
I believe this is what you call "cutting your losses." Sega has announced that it is shutting down mobile title Sakura Kakumei: Hanasaku Otome-tachi (Sakura Revolution: Hanasaki Maidens). The free-to-play gacha game, which launched in Japan in December of last year - will be switching off its servers on June 30, a pithy six months from release.
"Since service launched, we have worked hard planning and managing events, improving game systems, and so on in efforts to provide better service," said Sega in an official statement. "But after considering the environment surrounding the game, playability, and future developments, we have unfortunately come to the decision to end service."
Meet Alex Chen in Life is Strange: True Colors' opening scene
Square Enix has released a short teaser for its upcoming graphic adventure Life is Strange: True Colors. The new game, the latest entry in the award-winning series, will launch on PlayStation, Xbox, PC, and Stadia platforms on September 10.
The short clip introduces us to new protagonist Alex Chen, as she discusses her hopes for a better life, living alongside her brother, in her new home of Haven Springs. Sadly for Alex, fate has more complex plans in store, and her arrival at the sleepy locale will be an eventful one, bringing new personalities, challenges, and hazards into her mysterious world.
I was tired of Fall Guys, but Squads mode pulled me back in and I'm hooked again
Somehow, Season 4 of Fall Guys has already been out for a month. That whole time, I've been meaning to check in — the futuristic low-gravity levels looked fun — but I kept pushing it off. After adoring Season 1, bouncing off of Season 2, and missing most of Season 3, it wasn't that hard to procrastinate.
On a whim, curiosity got the better of me and I spent a couple of hours with Season 4 today.
Challenges? Huh? If you haven't peeked at Fall Guys in a while, you might have questions.
You know you've been on a real break when a once-familiar main menu suddenly feels overwhelming.
As much as I like the new stages and variations on the original obstacle courses, the biggest surprise to me is just how much I enjoy Squads mode. It has single-handedly renewed my interest in (trying to) keep up with Fall Guys again, which is funny, because it wasn't even a blip on my radar until now.
I think I had it in my head that Squads would only be good with a full crew of friends to back you up. That's surely the ideal way to go, but at least for me, as a solo-queue player, I'm having a blast.
Oculus shares more details about Resident Evil 4 in VR
Earlier this month, Capcom announced Resident Evil 4 would be coming to virtual reality via the Oculus Quest 2. During today's Oculus Gaming Showcase, the VR company showed more of how Leon's adventure is being turned into a first-person VR experience.
The most obvious change is that you're moving around in first-person, with the Touch controllers acting as your mode of interaction. The analog stick moves you around, but development studio Armature has added an upper-body rig on top of Leon to work movement in with the Touch controllers, and there's support for both teleportation and room-scale movement options. The Oculus blog says you can play through the whole game comfortably seated, if you'd like.
There's also a lot of remastered art. Over 4,500 textures have either been repainted or had their resolution bumped up, character animations have been converted over to Unreal Engine 4, and cutscenes will be shown in their original format.
Overall, the VR version is looking even more solid than it did during last week's showcase. You can see more of it in the above video starting around the 21:30 mark, including a wild Pokédex-looking device and Leon's sick health-tracking watch. Considering how much of a different experience VR made for playing through Resident Evil 7, playing through the village, castle, and more in Resident Evil 4's VR adaptation could be pretty rad when it goes live later this year.
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake reportedly in the works at Aspyr
It's sounding like the Knights of the Old Republic will be getting a revival, at the hands of a studio well-known for its handling of older games.
In an interview with MinnMax, Bloomberg's Jason Schreier confirmed that a remake of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is in development at Aspyr, which has previously ported KOTOR to iOS among many other titles.
.@jasonschreier confirms that Aspyr Media (of all studios!) is working on a KOTOR remake in our new interview. We hope you enjoy the full discussion! https://t.co/vv0bljO35B https://t.co/IJdIIGY0aU
— Ben Hanson (@yozetty) April 20, 2021
Eurogamer corroborates this news in its own report, so it looks pretty certain. It also lends credence to some rumors that were circling earlier this year, saying a new KOTOR was in development outside of Electronic Arts.
This means BioWare—currently working on the next installments in its Dragon Age and Mass Effect series—won't be handling it. But it's hard to ask for a better-suited studio to handle remaking KOTOR than Aspyr, which has worked on a number of ports and updates to older games. Hopefully we'll get some official news and details about this one soon.
New PC updates for Max Payne 3 and L.A. Noire gift all DLC for free
This week has been a bit of a strange one for Rockstar Games, at least in regards to its PC store. It began on April 19, when the Grand Theft Auto developer's entire catalog vanished from the Steam platform. It was quickly reinstated without explanation, and (for a brief period), complete with Midnight Club 2, which has not been available to purchase in three years.
One further oddity, however, concerns the surprise arrival of new updates for 2011's detective title L.A. Noire, and 2012's shooter sequel Max Payne 3, both of which have automatically dished out their entire DLC for free, gifting all those who own the titles on Steam a selection of skins, weapons, missions, and other goodies.
Today, things seem to have returned to a sense of normalcy, with Rockstar's Steam catalog all present and correct. L.A. Noire and Max Payne 3 are admittedly getting a little creaky in the bones in their latter years, but they're both pretty good games in their own right. The free DLC is a welcome, if slightly bizarre, bonus.
Sell some ancient treasures and you could afford this stylish Tomb Raider statue
Premium merchandise maker Weta Workshops has opened pre-orders on a limited edition statue of the legendary Lara Croft. The stunning display piece recalls the classic "Lost Valley" stage of the original Tomb Raider release, and depicts Ms. Croft in action as she fends off an attack from a pair of ravenous velociraptors, deep within some forgotten land lost to the annals of time.
Samurai Gunn 2 hits Steam Early Access this summer, but the Switch version is waiting for 1.0
The long-time-coming Samurai Gunn 2 resurfaced today with a blistering new trailer and a revised summer release window for Steam Early Access. What about Nintendo Switch? It's still happening — but that version won't come out until the 1.0 launch on PC, which should take "about a year or so."
The sequel had plummeted off my radar, but after catching this gameplay footage, I immediately remembered what it was like to face off in frantic one-hit-kill combat with friends. Simplicity and split-second decisions are still the name of this 2D action game. That said, there's more to chew on.
For combat, beyond the super-lethal sword and gun at your disposal, Samurai Gunn 2 now lets you "swallow" one of your three bullets to dash. Trickier yet, the dash allows you to fly through slash attacks, but not other players' shots. A small change can have a big ripple effect in high-stakes duels.
In terms of modes and content, at Early Access launch, the game will have the first of four Adventure worlds (with solo and four-player co-op support!), nine local/online Versus levels (two all-new originals, six updated zones from Samurai Gunn, and a Minit arena), and eight characters (two of which are guests). There's also a graphic novel from artist Valentin Seiche (the first of six chapters).
Wait, guests? Yeah. Indie crossovers can be used to great effect, and Samurai Gunn 2 is on the right track so far with Ana from Spelunky 2 and the cursed hero of Minit. Everyone has unique abilities, too.
For those of us planning to wait for the Switch edition or the 1.0 PC release, Beau Blyth and the team are using Early Access to "make a better game by seeing what people enjoy the most and doubling down on that." (And adding more characters.) As it stands, they say Samurai Gunn 2 is "extremely fun to play right now, and has all of the main modes and features we want in the finished game."
As much as multiplayer is the screaming heart of Samurai Gunn for a lot of people, I'm all about Adventure mode. Whichever you prefer, online support should be a huge boon for the sequel.
Xbox is removing the Live Gold restriction from a bunch of free-to-play multiplayer games today
Xbox is lifting the restrictions on its free-to-play games. While some online multiplayer games still required an Xbox Live Gold membership to play even if they didn't cost any money to play themselves, Microsoft is unlocking that today.
The company had previously been testing this feature out, and start today, the feature should go live for all players across over 50 free-to-play games. Here's the current lineup:
- 3on3 FreeStyle
- Aegis Wing
- APB Reloaded
- Apex Legends
- Armored Warfare
- Battle Ages
- Battle Islands
- Battle Islands: Commanders
- Bless Unleashed
- Brawlhalla
- Call of Duty: Warzone
- Crackdown
- Crackdown 2
- Crimson Alliance
- Crossout
- CRSED: F.O.A.D.
- Darwin Project
- Dauntless
- DC Universe Online
- Dead or Alive 5 Last Round: Core Fighters
- Dead or Alive 6: Core Fighters
- Defiance 2050
- Destiny 2
- Doritos Crash Course
- Dungeon Defenders II
- Enlisted
- Eternal Card Game
- Family Game Night
- Fishing Planet
- Fortnite
- Galaxy Control: Arena
- Gems of War
- Happy Wars
- Harm's Way
- Hawken
- Hyper Scape
- Killer Instinct
- Korgan
- Minion Masters
- Neverwinter
- Outriders (Demo)
- Paladins
- Path of Exile
- Phantasy Star Online 2
- Phantom Dust
- Pinball FX2
- Prominence Poker
- Realm Royale
- Rec Room
- Resident Evil Revelations 2
- ROBLOX
- Rocket League
- Rogue Company
- Skyforge
- SMITE
- Spacelords
- Spellbreak
- Star Trek Online
- Techwars Global Conflict
- TERA
- The Four Kings Casino and Slots
- Too Human
- Trove
- Vigor
- War Thunder
- Warface
- Warframe
- World of Tanks
- World of Warships: Legends
- Yaris
There are some big names in that list, ranging from the battle royales of Fortnite and Call of Duty: Warzone to the secretly uber-popular Roblox. Xbox says that the list will be updated in the future as well, as more free-to-play games launch for its consoles.
The Xbox Live experience has been changing a lot with the launch of the new console generation. Earlier this year Microsoft toyed with the idea of increasing Xbox Live Gold pricing before backtracking, and the packaging of Game Pass Ultimate has certainly been appealing for the catalog alone. We might be approaching a time where paying for multiplayer access is outdated, and honestly, it couldn't have arrived sooner.
Focus Home is in acquisition mode, purchases Space Hulk and Necromunda dev Streum On
Focus Home Interactive has acquired French developer Streum On Studio, best known for its work on Games Workshop releases such as 2016's Space Hulk: Deathwing and the upcoming Necromunda: Hired Gun. The acquisition was revealed as part of the publisher's latest financial report.
"Over the past year, and particularly the past six months, we have profoundly transformed Focus Home Interactive, said Focus board chairman Christophe Nobileau. "Our Group now has an adjusted business model and a dedicated M&A team, as well as renewed governance, a strengthened Executive Committee and a retention programme for key managers. These changes allow us to invest much more in game development and to significantly improve our profitability, starting next year. On the external growth front, we are delighted with the acquisition of the Streum On Studio."
You can check out a brand new trailer for Necromunda: Hired Gun below.
Here's what Genshin Impact looks like running on PS5
Just last week Sony and developer MiHoYo confirmed that Genshin Impact was coming to PS5 on April 28.
We knew it was happening, but it's nice to see that the studio is putting it out relatively soon in an era full of delays (they have the money for it, that's for sure!). And confirmation that it's going to support 4K visuals and the obvious SSD-related faster load times is always a plus.
Now, we get to see it in action. Sony put out a roughly eight-minute video of the PS5 port in action, which is thankfully low key, no commentary, raw footage. We get to see someone walk through the hub of Mondstadt and out into the world, with seamless load times to boot.
It really is a clear and effective way to show off the port without being too flashy. We also witness multiple locations, including some that are graphically intensive. The best part for me of course? The near-instant load times. Check one of them out here at 4:23 in the clip.
Sometimes, and this isn't exclusive to Genshin Impact, I'll refrain from going to certain places to do small tasks because of the load times involved. In an open world game, fast travel instant loading has become a godsend.
Cyberpunk 2077's clunky console port is back in the Top Ten
The notoriously busted console edition of CD Projekt RED's Cyberpunk 2077 managed to shift enough physical copies last week to re-enter the UK Charts' Top Ten, nestling in at number nine. This is likely due to in-store efforts to reduce stock surplus. Still, just because something is cheap, doesn't mean it's worth buying, and while the PS4/Xbox One editions of the RPG have seen slight improvements since launch, they remain in a relatively poor state.
Aside from this charts oddity, it's mostly business as usual for the UK's physical sales. Electronic Arts' soccer sim FIFA 21 is once again back at the number-one spot, and is unlikely to be usurped by Dreamcast title Super League anytime soon. From there onward, it's mostly the Nintendo show, with Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury, and Minecraft all enjoying steady sales. Capcom's Monster Hunter Rise sits at number seven, a healthy position for a non first-party release.
It's easy to forget that we're in a brand new gaming generation at all. Around five months on from the launch of the PS5 and Xbox Series X, and not a single title from either platform resides in the current Top Ten. Most generations begin with a whimper, it has been that way for literal decades, but with a shortage of hardware and multiple development delays, the ninth generation of gaming is sure taking its time getting out of the starting blocks.
The Guardian Games are here in Destiny 2, as is a real-life achievement-exclusive track jacket
The Guardian Games have begun in Destiny 2, which serves as an in-game Olympics of sorts for all three classes.
As Bungie points out Titans won last year, and they're hoping they'll see a new winner this time around. And as usual, Bungie is implementing "feedback" from prior events that didn't go as well as they planned, and has revamped the entire scoring system. Now medals range from one point for bronze, two points for silver, five points for gold, and 15 points for platinum.
To "account for different class population," the class that comes in third place each day gets a 10% scoring bonus, which will be applied permanently throughout the event. Events like this are pretty hard to get right, so there's probably going to be some issue at some point before it's done. For now, Hunters seem to have the edge as the most popular class overall, according to various Destiny data sites.
Rewards include near armor and an exotic Sparrow.
The crown jewel of the announcement is easily the Guardian Games track jacket, though. Following with Bungie tradition dating all the way back to the original years ago, if you manage to unlock the Sparrow, you'll get a code to purchase the jacket from the Bungie store (it's otherwise unobtainable, and merely listed on the store for ease of use).
You can also grab silver pins from the store, or a golden pin for whatever class wins the games. Mech! Bungie knows how to capitalize on it.
This Week at Bungie [Bungie.net]
Tales of Arise arrives this September
The next game in the Tales series is finally ready to set a date. Tales of Arise has been locked in for a Sept. 10 release date, and it's also arriving with PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S versions alongside PS4, Xbox One, and PC.
Famitsu revealed a wealth of new info about the new entry in the Tales series this morning. Alongside new screenshots showcasing two additional characters that seem to be joining the party—a previously-teased mage character and a martial arts fighter—there are also two new trailers. The first is the launch date trailer (in English via IGN):
It wasn't just cinematics, though. A second, longer trailer from Famitsu showcases a few minutes of gameplay from Tales of Arise. Here, we can see the new look of the series in motion, from overworld exploration and dialogue to battles.
Seeing how the team has managed to make it look completely new, with an overhauled style and systems, while still retaining the structures that make it feel very Tales-like is fascinating. I can make out what seem like Artes, and even the overworld seems hazily similar to other Tales games, but with a revitalized feel to it.
Tales of Arise had previously been indefinitely delayed, and while the studio had emphasized its new approach to the Tales series, not much was seen of it. Now, with both a release date, new platforms, and a gameplay video all out in the open, the new Tales is feeling much more real. I'm very much looking forward to September.
The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles will finally bring two 3DS classics to the west July 27
Prepare to don your Herlock Sholmes hat and re-open your basement detective agency. Capcom has announced that The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles will be bringing its old-school, period-sleuthing ways onto PS4, PC, and Nintendo Switch this summer.
Previously spotted by the Taiwanese Game Rating Committee, The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles collates two classic Nintendo 3DS releases: 2015's The Great Ace Attorney Adventures and 2017's The Great Ace Attorney 2: Resolve, both of which are being officially localized in English for the very first time, giving Ace Attorney fans the opportunity to plug that frustrating gap in their franchise resume.
Zelda: Breath of the Wild's Bokoblins are some of the best bumbling enemies of all time
Bokoblins, you love to hate 'em.
What could have been a generic open world enemy ended up becoming one of my most frequent sources of laughter while playing Zelda: Breath of the Wild. The Tex Avery-antics these things would get into were limited only by my imagination. They're so immensely fun to mess with, Bugs Bunny style.
This video from alterpoda encapsulates why in just under a minute. Bokoblins comically blowing themselves up is something I'll never get tired of. And really, so much of that is enabled by the way the world and its physics work.
The bit at 0:27 where one Bokoblin blows up another because it picked up a TNT crate is a contender, but the top spot for me is taken up by the part at 0:35. It's happened to me! Sometimes I'll just randomly be wandering around, see an explosion, shrug, and walk away.
I'm a sucker for this sort of enemy infighting: Monster Hunter Rise nails it on a constant basis.
New 4/20 'Stoner' bundle shows Call of Duty knows its audience
Yesterday saw Activision drop another whopping update file on its mega-seller shooter franchise Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War and its sister title Warzone. Among the huge plethora of modes, maps, operators, and weapons headed to Season 3 later this week, the spirit of 4/20 was also recognized via the release of a special "Stoner's Delight" DLC bundle.
For (a pretty hefty) 2400 CP, players can bag themselves ganja-themed skins for the Assault Rifle Golf and the Light Machine Gun Alpha, as well as a weapon charm, wristwatch, stickers, and an animated emblem and calling card for your profile. Also included is a new "Zombie Express" vehicle skin for use with CoD's cars, boats, buggies, and bikes. Don't smoke and drive, kids.
Monolith Soft has been growing year after year, and I hope they keep making games forever
Monolith Soft, the company behind the Xenoblade series, has been on the up and up for pretty much its entire existence. But things really changed in 2007 when Nintendo acquired it, and they've been helping out in various first-party heavy-hitters (including Breath of the Wild) ever since; while creating their own original works, mostly of the Xenoblade variety.
This report from Nintendo Enthusiast shows their growth first-hand though, through detailed data attained from their company page. The data doesn't lie! In 2017 they were at 150 employees, and now they're at 272. Literally each year they grew as a studio, hitting 200 people in April of 2019, and are now on their way to 300, possibly by the end of the year if their growth continues.
Interestingly, the company also put a specific emphasis on how many different people they employ compared to the average Japanese developer, as 27.6% of their workforce is represented by women. Their company page also states that they have 75 million yen ($694,251) in capital.
You can find the full breakdown below. Unlike a lot of other developers, say, housed under Activision or EA, the occasional "help out on big Nintendo projects on the side while making our own stuff" arrangement seems to be working out well for them.
Company [Monolith Soft via Nintendo Enthusiast]
Virtua Fighter eSports for PS4 appears on Japanese PSN database
Following on from a recent listing by the Game Ratings Board of Korea, an unannounced Virtua Fighter title for PS4 has appeared on the database on the Japanese PSN store. The title was spotted by database hunters and store spoilers PSN Releases.
No detailed information is available at press time, but the listing (which is not publicly viewable) is for a "Virtua Fighter eSports" and features brand new artwork of the Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown cast. All of the characters appear stylized in their VF 5 iterations, implying that this will be a re-release of the 2010 PS3 and Xbox 360 fighter. It should also be noted that the Korean listing was actually titled Virtua Fighter 5: Ultimate Showdown.
We will keep you informed as and when more information is forthcoming. I'm very giddy right now. It doesn't appear to be the long-wishlisted Virtua Fighter 6, of course, but releasing an updated edition of VF5: FS, readily available on modern platforms, complete with competent online play, and a revived tournament scene, is exciting stuff all the same.
And so soon after this modder found the full game hidden in Yakuza: Like a Dragon! ORA!
Popular Sonic the Hedgehog character spotted on movie sequel set
Aren't I cute? Trying to avoid spoilers for fans by not naming the character in the headline, despite the fact he's literally fucking trending on social media, and will probably even end up on the posters and in future trailers. Look, I do my best to look out for y'all, at the expense of the mighty SEO overlords.
"A for effort" and all that... SAvEd u A CliCk!1
Sigh. Anyway, as filming continues on Paramount's Sonic the Hedgehog 2 movie, sneaky photos from the set have confirmed that the barrel-chested echidna, Knuckles, will be a part of the cinematic sequel. In frankly disquieting imagery, physical props for Knuckles, Sonic, and Tails were snapped among the rubble of a city street, standing stiff and tall with fixed grins and dead eyes. Tails has seen some shit...
Human: Fall Flat is getting PS5 and Xbox Series X/S versions 'very soon'
It might look unassuming, but the endearingly sloppy physics goof-off game Human: Fall Flat has quietly become one of the best-selling games of all time. It was fun enough in 2016 with a co-op player to help and hinder me as we wobbled together through puzzle-platformer playgrounds. Since then, more levels have bubbled up from the community and it's only gotten stronger. The game isn't showing signs of stopping, and in a blog post, Curve Digital and No Brakes Games reaffirmed their support.
In the immediate future, we're getting PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S versions of Human: Fall Flat. There's no release window — they're sticking with "very soon" — but the developers clarified that there would be a free upgrade. "A free patch will also be available to those that own Human: Fall Flat on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One to bring the game to the latest version on your new consoles."
Coming up, Curve Digital also promised more free DLC "including new level releases in 2021, additional community competitions, skins, and more." Can they break the 26-million mark? It seems inevitable.
The Forest level, which won the Great Outdoors Steam Workshop contest last October, will be released on PC and consoles "soon." I'm not entirely sure what the holdup was, but I'm still down. Every time there's a new level, we ultimately end up going back and playing a few "while we're here." I can't get enough of this silly game. The single-player gets old, but multiplayer always calls me back.
If it's been a while since you last played, City ended up being one of my favorite stages.
As for the new console editions, sure — I'm happy to upgrade as someone who spent, uh, don't-remind-me-how-much on a second controller. I hope the DualSense feedback is hilariously intense.
Someone snapped photos of every creature's feet in Monster Hunter Rise for their Hunter's Notes
I always get a kick out of seeing what other players are up to in the games I'm enjoying on and off when time allows, especially something like Monster Hunter Rise. There's room for a bunch of different play styles and skill levels, so you never know quite what you're going to get when you hit play on a clip.
In this case, I'm not here to tell you about a perfectly calculated high-flying tail slice, fun as those are. Nah, I'm here to show you this player's complete collection of monster feet for their Hunter's Notes.
I respect Reddit user tutubutt's dedication to this amusingly time-consuming bit.
I took a photo of the feet of every large and small monster from r/MonsterHunter
What would Fugen say about this? Word travels fast in Kamura Village.
So far, I've spent essentially all of my Monster Hunter Rise energy squeezing in as many hunts as possible, so it hadn't dawned on me yet to build out a themed collection of pics for the catalog.
As this photo stash makes the rounds online, I bet some folks on the art team at Capcom finally feel seen. Getting the monsters' meaty feet to look just right is a thankless task, but an important one.
Blendo Games partners with Annapurna for its immersive space FPS Skin Deep
Blendo Games has been steadily working on its next project, Skin Deep, for the last few years. But today, the developer has locked in a partner for its immersive FPS.
Today, Blendo Games announced that it's partnering with Annapurna Interactive for Skin Deep. In a new trailer, they run down the general concept of Skin Deep: you are insurance.
Rather than an agent addressing damage after it's happened though, you're the insurance companies stow away with their precious cargo; and when space pirates board the ship and trip the alarm, you take care of the problem.
SKIN DEEP: a @BlendoGames x Annapurna Interactive partnership. Wishlist now on Steam: https://t.co/CbRmqki1OO pic.twitter.com/Ui7sB9IC5w
— Annapurna Interactive (@A_i) April 20, 2021
Skin Deep has been in development since 2018, but hopefully this partnership and trailer means a launch is on the horizon. The combination of stealth and action with holding in sneezes and Die Hard-reminiscent glass-in-foot injuries looks pretty sweet, and Blendo has made some great games over the years. (Some were even made open source last year!)
Skin Deep is currently set for PC at an unspecified date. You can find it on Steam for wishlisting purposes here.
Happy ten year anniversary, Portal 2
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.
PowerWash Simulator is somebody's dream game
A simulation game that captures the immediate gratification of power washing dirty surfaces without the maddening racket or physical stress on your arms and hands? Oh, I'm in — I'm so incredibly in. After catching this clip of PowerWash Simulator on Twitter today, I knew this big dad energy would resonate.
The good vibes have been overflowing the past few days. THANK YOU to everyone for all of your kind words and suggestions! ðŸ'œ
— PowerWash Simulator (@PowerWashSim) April 20, 2021
Here's another clean clip to tide you over to launch!ðŸ'¦
Help us by wishlisting on Steam: âï¸https://t.co/ecwdHGsEhLâï¸ pic.twitter.com/mpdDTphPvI
We've seen endless simulation games in recent years, to the point where you could jokingly suggest just about any hobby, job, or mundane activity and then look on Steam to find an honest-to-goodness real game. Many of them are formulaic and don't feel convincingly authentic, but there are exceptions.
This one's coming from FuturLab, the studio behind Velocity 2X, Tiny Trax, and Peaky Blinders: Mastermind, and I don't know — I just have a good feeling about it after spending time with the demo.
In the free demo, there's a house and playground to clean, with different nozzles suited for up-close and far-off areas, and your power-washing progress is tracked across the whole level and also in specific spots, like the garage door or the roof. In case you're wondering, no, you don't have to hold your mouse down indefinitely to spray; there's a toggle. It's a simple, breezy game. I'm not a dad, but I dig it.
The developers released this "proof of concept" slice on itch.io last year and the reception was reassuring enough to convince them to pursue a fleshed-out commercial title. Flash forward to today, and PowerWash Simulator has plans for a Steam Early Access release in Q2 2021. It's almost ready.
Clean every nook and cranny! ðŸ'¦#indiedev #indiegame pic.twitter.com/WQ6P7OqNYx
— PowerWash Simulator (@PowerWashSim) April 18, 2021
The expanded Steam version will have a career mode (in which you run a power-washing business and unlock tools and upgrades), challenge modes (with a leaderboard), and even multiplayer — you can "invite a friend to join you on career jobs, or create multiplayer hangouts for up to six friends."
That all sounds so pleasant, especially the idea of chilling with your buds while you spray the gunk away. As the creators themselves admit, it's hard to believe this idea for a PC game wasn't done sooner.
"If it wasn't for the outbreak of a global pandemic and the global decision to transition millions of people to a 'stay at home unless you really really have to leave the house' protocol then perhaps we never would have found the right moment in time to introduce this idea to the gaming world," said FuturLab.
"There is a recognition amongst the team every day that we are working on the right game at the right time with a vision that is not only simple and elegant, but also overflowing with creative and technical potential."
I've had my fun with guilty pleasures like House Flipper, but this feels more... polished.
Marvel's Avengers creative director leaves Crystal Dynamics to return to Naughty Dog
The creative director of Marvel's Avengers, Shaun Escayg, has left Crystal Dynamics to return to their prior studio of employment, Naughty Dog. Escayg's return was celebrated by the Naughty Dog team, who gifted their long-absent team-mate a postcard and a sweet-ass mug.
"Happy to be back with the Dogs!" remarked Escayg on Twitter.
Escayg had previously worked with Naughty Dog on flagship franchises Uncharted and The Last of Us, ultimately becoming director for the excellent 2017 spin-off Uncharted: The Lost Legacy. Escayg would leave the studio shortly thereafter for a role at Crystal Dynamics, serving as creative director for Square Enix's Marvel's Avengers. The epic comic-book adventure - designed as a long-term, games-as-a-service title - immediately failed to find its playerbase, continuing to meander months after its initial September release.
Now, back in the fold of the much-vaunted Naughty Dog, Escayg is expected to feature in a creative director/writer role on the studio's future releases. The studio is reportedly at work on a new Uncharted title, as well as a PS5 remake of The Last of Us, though neither of these projects have been confirmed.
Square Enix confirms it has plans for E3 2021
Summer is closing in, which means it's time for the rollout of new game announcements. E3 2021 has already confirmed a number of participants, and now another publisher has confirmed it will have something around the digital conference.
In an interview with Nikkei, as translated by VGC and Siliconera, Square Enix CEO Yosuke Matsuda commented on what games of Square Enix's he was looking forward to this year. Alongside upcoming games like this week's Nier Replicant and Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade, Matsuda confirmed there's more to come.
"We'll be announcing the rest of the line-up [later]," said Matsuda (via VGC). "And we're also planning to make an announcement at E3 in June, so please keep your eyes peeled."
Square Enix wasn't among the first batch of companies confirmed for this year's E3, which had other publishers like Nintendo, Xbox, Capcom, and Ubisoft. It's unclear whether Square Enix is planning its own showcase or will have announcements as part of another company's presentation.
E3 2021 is fully digital this year, and the ESA has said that it will not be trying to put any content behind a paywall after a report about the matter surfaced. The full schedule has yet to be announced—though Ubisoft has confirmed its next Forward—but the event will be taking place June 12 through 15.
Nooo, don't internalize misogyny, you're too good at video games
The "pick me" girl has always existed in one form or another, you might recognize her as a proponent of the phrase "I'm not like other girls," or for being "one of the boys." This particular incarnation, often depicted as sinister and possibly prone to hair-twirling, originated on TikTok, a spoof of the Grey's Anatomy scene where Meredith pleads that Derek "pick me, choose me, love me." "Pick me" girls on TikTok essentially say misogynistic things, like how other girls are sluts and that the 19th amendment should be revoked, stuff like that, in order to identify with and be validated by men. The impulse to do so isn't entirely their fault. Many cultures normalize and reward misogyny, and it can be difficult to separate yourself from cultural values even if they actively harm you. Then, not-"pick me" girls ("pick them" girls?) are, naturally, upset with "pick me" girls for putting women down. "Pick me" girls then get angry at detractors for being a bunch of dumb sluts, the wheel keeps turning.
And gaming is absolutely not immune to the eternal battle between "pick me" girls and … regular girls (???). In fact, it's been a topic of many viral TikToks. User @lindseyszn, who makes TikToks on gaming and Discord culture, for example, often features a "pick me" character in her comedy videos. This one, where a "pick me" fights with fictional boy Alex's girlfriend about being the person he Snapchats most often (kids these days!), has 1.1 million likes and 4.2 million views since it was posted on March 9. "This made my blood boil, my ex's name was Alex," one TikTok user commented.
Gamer "pick me" girls always want to be the only girl in their Discord server, they make fun of other girls for innocuous things like wearing pink, and cannot stand their fellow players' girlfriends. Across the board, "pick me" girls kind of suck, but I also feel bad for them.
NieR's Yoko Taro teases 'off-beat' mystery project
With NieR Replicant mere days from release, it seems series director Yoko Taro has already begun shifting focus toward a brand new mystery project, currently in development at Square Enix.
Speaking in an official NieR Replicant live stream yesterday, the eclectic game designer revealed that he was already hard at work on a "somewhat unusual game" - a project he described as "off-beat" as well being both "nostalgic and new." Perhaps most bizarrely of all, Taro teased that he has no idea how to get people to play the new title, despite being told by his team that the game is a guaranteed best-seller... Ok.
The confusing non-explanation is pretty much business as usual for the 50-year-old industry veteran, who is known for his eccentric personality, oddball sense of humor, and creative mind. Despite the lack of clear information presented by Taro, it appears that said project is definitely planned for public release as a digital-only title, with more information coming in the very near future... or should that be the very NieR future?
NieR Replicant launches April 23 on PS4, PC, and Xbox One. The updated release features a rearranged soundtrack, re-recorded voice-overs, updated visuals, tweaked combat, and short order of extra content, making it the definitive edition of the 2010 action-RPG.
Yoko Taro working on new title with Square Enix [Gematsu / Games Talk]
Overwatch director Jeff Kaplan is leaving Blizzard
Longtime Overwatch game director Jeff Kaplan has announced he is leaving Blizzard Entertainment. Aaron Keller, a founding member of the Overwatch team, will be stepping into his role moving forward.
In an announcement blog, Kaplan thanked his fellow developers and Blizzard employees, as well as Overwatch fans. You can read his statement in full below:
i am leaving Blizzard Entertainment after 19 amazing years.
it was truly the honor of a lifetime to have the opportunity to create worlds and heroes for such a passionate audience. i want to express my deep appreciation to everyone at blizzard who supported our games, our game teams and our players. but i want to say a special thanks to the wonderful game developers that shared in the journey of creation with me.
never accept the world as it appears to be. always dare to see it for what it could be. i hope you do the same.
gg,
jeffrey kaplan
In his own statement, newfound director Keller says development of Overwatch 2 is "continuing at a good pace." Keller says there are exciting reveals planned for this year as the team ramps up to launch, and that it will be sharing "more frequent updates" about Overwatch 2's progress and features very soon.
Kaplan has been the public face of Overwatch for some time, even garnering some memes. He started at Blizzard Entertainment in 2002, with credits stretching back to World of Warcraft. After stepping down from game director on WoW to spearhead the eventually-canceled Titan, Kaplan then became the lead for what would become Overwatch.
Overwatch garnered tens of millions of players under his tenure. Now, with Overwatch 2 looming—though still without a launch target—we'll see what the road ahead looks like with a new leader at the helm.
"While I have no pretenses about filling Jeff's shoes, I'm excited to step into the game director role and continue to be part of a team that's putting all of its heart, talent, and focus into the next iteration of Overwatch, and I'm honored to continue serving this incredible community," said Keller.
They did it, they put Batman in the Fortnite world
We knew the Batman/Fortnite crossover was coming, but I don't think I was truly preparing myself for it.
The gist: Gotham City's skies crack and reveal a rift, which sucks Batman into the world of Fortnite. Given that old Brucie has gone back to Prehistoric times and beyond, it's not even the craziest thing Batman has ever done. But having him tangle directly with Fortnite named characters like Fishstick is a little weird, in a mostly good and confusing way.
Zero Point issue #1 is out today for five bucks, and it comes with a code for a "Rebirth Harley Quinn Outfit" in Fortnite (you also get a code if you're a DC Universe Infinite digital comic subscriber). DC points out that the outfit will be "available later this summer," so it's not exclusive if you want it: but it's going to be cheaper to get the five-dollar comic either way.
For reference, I got my code this morning via email, approximately 30 minutes after reading the comic. The next issues are due on May 4, May 18, June 1, June 15, and July 6.
If you're curious, it's roughly 24 pages of story, and Batman enters the Fortnite world on page eight: so soonish! It's silly fun, and Batman grappling around structures in Fortnite makes a lot of sense, but it's the sort of imagery that's going to elicit groans, side-eyes, and vomiting from a large swath of people. I get it.
Zero Point [DC]
Spiritfarer adds new character Lily today
Last year's Spiritfarer was a bit of a surprise. The cozy management sim about a boat sailing spirits through the afterlife made for a pretty compelling journey, and there's more on the horizon.
Developer Thunder Lotus announced today that the Lily Update is live for free, to celebrate Spiritfarer clearing 500,000 copies sold. The update is currently available across all systems, including Xbox Game Pass where it's still part of the lineup at the moment.
This update adds Lily the Butterfly Spirit, a new character that will apparently add some details about protagonist Stella's story. Without spoiling the general narrative of Spiritfarer, that's a pretty good reason for those who have already wrapped up their run of the game to come back. There are also some improvements to local co-op and other various bug fixes.
As previously announced, Lily is the first of three updates in store for Spiritfarer this year. It's pretty nice to see Thunder Lotus continue to roll out reasons to come back to Spiritfarer this year; it was a cozy refuge for me last year, and new story segments combined with some added gameplay and quests seems like a good enough excuse for more hours spent on the river. Gotta catch all those fish, right?
Super Mario 64 Plus is a fan-enhanced port of the classic with permadeath
Will I ever get sick of Mario 64 fan projects? Probably not.
It's an absolute classic. You know it. Nintendo knows it. It has a banger of a soundtrack and timeless level design, in a digestible format. From launch to the current era, it's one of the easiest 3D Mario games to just pick up and play "for a few stars."
The modding community knows all of this too, which is why they try and keep the spirit of the game alive on a constant basis. Take this project from Mors for example, which aims to provide a 60 FPS PC port of Mario 64 with the added wrinkle of permadeath.
Mors also promises "more responsive controls, an improved camera, extended moveset, and the ability to continue a level after getting a star (!)." The permadeath mode is incredibly intriguing, as it's such an easy way to issue a blanket gauntlet challenge to your childhood friends.
"How many stars can you get before you die?" It's so simple, yet compelling. Given that I own the Nintendo 64 version, the DS edition, and now the Switch collection: you know I'm always down for a good Mario 64 challenge. It's one of my most-raced games with friends.
