The Eternal Castle [Remastered] Will Release on PS4 on June 24th
Developer Severed Press has announced that it is bringing its side-scrolling action game The Eternal Castle [Remastered] is coming to PlayStation 4 and the PlayStation Store on June 24th. The game will retail for $14.99 / €14.99 according to the developer.
A physical edition limited to only 1,000 copies, will release later this year from Hard Copy Games. There will be variant covers and some bonus goods. The Eternal Castle [Remastered] first released for PC in January of 2019 and would go on to release on Switch via the eShop in 2020.
According to the developer, "The Eternal Castle [Remastered] sends the player on a powerful journey packed with dangers and challenges through fast-paced melee action, calibrated ranged attacks, and/or cautious stealth approaches. Immerse yourself or speedrun through levels featuring random events, encounters, traps, riddles and exploration, in a semi-procedural world designed for replayability. Each world features a unique atmosphere, written through different personal and second hand experiences, re-applied to fit a post A.I. fallout world set several hundred years in the future."
You can watch a trailer for the game below:
Trigger Witch Will Release in July
Developer Rainbite and publisher Eastasiasoft announced twin-stick shooter Trigger Witch in May, and promised that the game was coming "soon." They weren't kidding about that last part. Today, Eastasiasoft announced that Trigger Witch will release in July for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Switch, though no specific release date was announced.
The game will release digitally, but there will also be a physical version available through Play-Asia. More information about the game's final release date and digital and physical releases will be announced at a later date.
According to the developers, in Trigger Witch "players assume the role of Colette, a prospective graduate from the Stock, an academy for Witchcraft and Triggery. After a mysterious man invades her realm, events are set in motion that turn Colette's life upside-down, casting her as the sole heroine with enough firepower to restore peace."
Trigger Witch looks equal parts wild and hilarious, and the game's gorgeous pixel art doesn't hurt, either, so hopefully it will be a good time. You can watch an announcement trailer for the game here.
Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX Gets New Trailer
Developer Jankenteam and publisher Merge Games released a new trailer for Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX, a remake of the Master System classic Alex Kidd in Miracle World, today. Entitled "Greetings From Miracle World," the trailer is structured like a travel ad, inviting players to "enjoy the warm weather, take a dip in our crystal waters, experience exciting activities, see the history of the land, encounter our friendly wildlife, discover the sites of Radaxian, and be sure to visit the gift shop!" The trailer even ends with postcards showing off the game's environments.
The trailer is very cute, but it does a good job of showing off the game's environments, potential hazards, enemies, and shop system. It also shows off the Classic Mode, which will allow players to "experience the original game with boss fights, dialogue, levels and functions the same as the original Master System version."
In addition, Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX will feature new levels, tighter controls, new and remastered music tracks, alternative boss fights, and a Boss Rush mode. Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX is will release for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC on June 22.
You can watch the "Greetings From Miracle World" trailer below:
Edge of Eternity is Out Now for PC, Post-Launch Roadmap Revealed
After two years in early access, Midgard Studio's role-playing game Edge of Eternity is now available for PC. The full story is now complete and offers over 50 hours of gameplay to experience. Check out the launch trailer below to see it in action.
Edge of Eternity takes place on Heryon which is suffering from Corrosion as the fallout from a war with mysterious aliens. As Daryon and Selene, the player embarks on a journey that will "change the fate of Heryon forever." Along with a turn-based combat system, the title features music by Chrono Trigger composer Yasunori Mitsuda.
Support for the game will continue after launch with the developer revealing a post-launch roadmap. Q4 2021 sees the release of Xbox and PlayStation versions, an additional party member, new monsters and quests, extra "special" additional content and more. In January 2022, there will be endgame content, full Nekaroo farm and breeding, secret dungeons and New Game+. Check out the full roadmap below for more details.
Omen of Sorrow to Release on Xbox One This Year
Developer AOne Games and publisher Eastasiasoft will release Omen of Sorrow, a horror-themed fighting game, on the Xbox One sometime this year, the two companies announced today. Omen of Sorrow originally released on PS4 in November of 2018, and would release on PC through the Epic Game Store in 2019.
According to an official description of the game, "Omen of Sorrow is a classic 2D, four-button fighting game, with Unreal Engine 4-powered graphics, a cast of characters inspired by classical horror, fantasy and mythology, and a battle system designed from the ground up to leverage player skill, rather than stats or random chance, featuring deep combat mechanics that favor movement and spacing over tight execution to provide an engaging experience for pros and newcomers alike!"
The game features rollback netcode via GGPO and local multiplayer. Players will be able to fight across "dismal stages, inspired by age-old European legends," adventure through a Story Mode, challenge themselves in Arcade and Survival Modes, play online with friends, collect more than 200 in-game rewards, or practice their skills in Training Mode.
You can watch the launch trailer for the game's original release below:
Final Fantasy 14: Endwalker Producer/Director Discusses Reaper Job, Male Viera Development
Final Fantasy 14, Square Enix's successful MMO, will be seeing the end of an era with the release of Endwalker this year. It concludes the story that's been building since A Realm Reborn launched, providing some kind of closure for Hydaelyn and Zodiark. However, the expansion also offers several new beginnings for players to partake. One is the new Reaper Job, which allows for attacking with a giant scythe and a voidsent avatar.
Speaking to PlayStation Blog, producer/director Naoki Yoshida said that the idea behind the Job was "to utilize not only the player's own aether, but to combine it with a different source of aether to fight in battle. It was from there that we came up with the idea of a grim reaper from the scythe aspect, and from there it was a fairly straightforward process to settle on the reaper's current form. A scythe and the grim reaper. It's unexpectedly straightforward."
The Reaper differs from other DPS Jobs thanks to the voidsent avatar which allows the player to utilize stronger attacks. Another big new addition in the expansion is the addition of male Viera with female Hrothgar coming after the release of update 7.0. Yoshida notes that, "There was a large amount of feedback asking to implement the Viera from Final Fantasy 12, and in addition, I wanted to implement a race that is more beast-like. If [Shadowbringers] was going to be the last time we added playable races, I decided to implement two races within the means of our bandwidth, despite only having one gender of each race. One of the biggest reasons I moved forward with this decision is because there were no male Viera in Final Fantasy 12, either."
"However, there was a significant amount of people around the world asking for male Viera and female Hrothgar – which was expected of course – but I was going to follow through with my stance of not adding any more playable races. At the same time, our graphics staff on the development team wanted to explore all options to see what they could do to figure out a way to somehow realize this request from the players."
The result is the development team utilizing whatever free time they had in between patches for half a year to "consider ways to add another playable race. From this they concluded that we could probably squeeze in just one more at this time. Of course, by adding male Viera now, we anticipated people may be vocal about the absence of female Hrothgar and want to know what the situation was. Rather than waiting until (hypothetically) 7.0 to add two playable races at the same time, we realized we could actually ease the impact on our resources if we implemented these one at a time. Ultimately, I decided we should then move forward with implementing one playable race at a time, and I will make sure to explain that to our players: that's what we did for this upcoming expansion."
Yoshida said that the decision derives from wanting players to "enjoy our game even more at the very core. The development team loves our players, so when male Viera are actually implemented, we would love for you to have a smile on your faces when you play as one, and if you could say a quick 'Thank you!' to the Graphics team, I'm sure they'll be very happy. If you can do that, I think it would also serve as motivation for our developers to continue working hard."
Final Fantasy 14: Endwalker will release on November 23rd for PS4, PS5 and PC. Along with the Reaper Job, it will also be adding the Sage as a new Healer Job, new locations like Labyrinthos, Mare Lamentorum and Old Sharlayan, and much more. There will also be more story and cutscenes than the previous expansion.
Torn Banner Studios' medieval multiplayer action title Chivalry 2 is out now. It's available for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5 and PC with cross-play support enabled. As a follow-up to Chivalry: Medieval Warfare, the sequel features the Agatha Knights and Mason Order fighting for control across a variety of maps.
Both Team Deathmatch and Team Objective modes support up to 64 players, allowing for massive skirmishes with siege equipment, arrows and whatnot flying all over the place. Combat has been improved and the ability to ride horses allows for quicker traversal in the larger maps. CEO and creative director Steve Piggott said in a press release that Chivalry 2 has fulfills the studio's vision of "creating the ultimate medieval battlefield game."
"It's all-out insane, epic 64-player online carnage that finally delivers to gamers the intensity of being in your favourite medieval movie battle scenes. Chivalry 2 pulls you right into the action, delivering the satisfaction of an incredibly deep combat system, the cinematic glory of sieging castles, the chaos of a massive wave of knights smashing into each other, and hilarious Monty Python inspired voice overs. We can't wait to hear our fans roaring their battle cries on the battlefield."
Tripwire Interactive CEO John Gibson added, "When we started this journey two years ago, I knew that Torn Banner Studios would make a great first-person medieval combat game with Chivalry 2. Now that the game is done, however, I am blown away at what they have created. Chivalry 2 will redefine first person melee combat, and it has been a pleasure for Tripwire Presents to support Torn Banner in making this incredible game a reality."
With the game's release, maps like The Fighting Pit and Escape from Falmire will be new those who participated in the beta. This isn't the end of the Chivalry 2's journey though. Ray tracing support will be coming to Xbox Series X and PS5 in the future. It will also make an appearance at The PC Gaming Show on June 13th with the developer having an announcement planned. Stay tuned for more details in the meantime.
Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart Review – Riveting Stuff
The Ratchet and Clank series has been out of the limelight for a while. Though we got the movie tie-in remake in 2016 and have had smaller and experimental titles like All 4 One and Into the Nexus in the last few years, the last full-fledged new game in the franchise, A Crack in Time, came out well over a decade ago. Fans of the series have been starved for a proper new entry for a long time, but with Rift Apart, the beloved duo finally makes its long overdue return. And appropriately enough for such a long-awaited comeback, Rift Apart is a gorgeous, bombastic, ridiculously enjoyable game that succeeds in every way that a Ratchet and Clank game should, and then some.
Rift Apart puts the Lombax and his trusty robot pal in the midst of another galactic journey, this time with a dimension-hopping twist. After Dr. Nefarious crashes a parade on Megalopolis being thrown in Ratchet and Clank's honour and rips the fabric of space-time apart with the Dimensionator, things quickly begin going wrong. Ratchet and Clank are separated, and both thrown into a dimension where its own version of Nefarious is not the bumbling idiot we all know him as, but a despotic emperor who rules the galaxy with an iron fist, even in the face of resistance from a handful of people- one of whom is a female Lombax named Rivet, Ratchet's dimensional counterpart.
"Rift Apart is a gorgeous, bombastic, ridiculously enjoyable game that succeeds in every way that a Ratchet and Clank game should, and then some."
Rift Apart tells an excellent story. It's light-hearted and cheerful in the way you'd expect from a Ratchet game, and constantly hits the mark with charming characters, witty writing, gleeful silliness, and childlike humour. It's not the most unpredictable story you'll ever see, but it speaks a universal language of friendship, love, and never giving up. All of those strengths shine through on a constant basis. Meanwhile, a healthy stream of easter eggs, callbacks, and whacky new alternate dimension takes on familiar worlds or known characters (some of whom are more prominent and significant than others… but I'll leave it at that) makes for a story that's even more rewarding for those who've been following the series for some time. All in all, it's pretty… riveting.
Really, this is Rivet's game. That's not to say Ratchet has been sidelined- half this game still belongs to him, and he's got a great arc in Rift Apart. But Rivet is absolutely the highlight here, the star of the show. She's spunky, funny, witty, and delightful in equal measure, and seeing her interactions with other characters – especially with Clank – throughout the story is an absolute joy. She's also got a great look, thanks to her unique and stylized character design, and is voiced excellently by the supremely talented Jennifer Hale, which means that all in all, she steals the show every time she's on the screen- and when she isn't, you can't wait to get back to her parts of the game.
Rivet and Ratchet's unique personalities play off of each other very well, so it's a little disappointing that in terms of gameplay, they're more or less identical. Progression, weapons, upgrades, gadgets, collectibles, movesets, and more are all common across Ratchet and Rivet, which means that as far as gameplay is concerned, there's next to nothing to separate the two. Switching between the two characters is done purely for narrative purposes. Those narrative branches and differences are executed very well, but I do wish that both characters had moves or gadgets or weapons that were exclusive to them in order to set them apart from each other.
"This is Rivet's game. That's not to say Ratchet has been sidelined- half this game still belongs to him, and he's got a great arc in Rift Apart. But Rivet is absolutely the highlight here, the star of the show."
That said, playing as both Ratchet and Rivet is still an absolute blast, which should be unsurprising to anyone who's played a Ratchet and Clank game before. The selection of weapons is the heart and soul of any Ratchet game, and Rift Apart knocks the ball out of park in this area as well. There's nearly twenty weapons to unlock and use throughout the game, and this might just be the most varied and interesting arsenal of weapons ever in a Ratchet and Clank entry.
There's no shortage of bizarre, hilarious weapons. The Topiary Sprinkler turns enemies into plants, Mr. Fungi shoots out mushroom sentries that attack foes and can even draw aggro, the Ricochet fires bullets that bounce around with repeated presses of the trigger. Even weapons that are relatively normal on paper feel great to use, including the frag grenade equivalent Shatterbomb, the stock handgun called the Burst Pistol, or the shotgun known as the Enforcer. Meanwhile, old favourites such as the bouncy sawblade firing Buzz Blades, the rocket launcher Warmonger, and the kamikaze android dispensing Glove of Doom also return.
Each weapon is useful in its own way, and almost the entire arsenal is fun to use in combat, down to the last one (though some are more enjoyable than others, of course). What makes using these weapons even better is the constantly inventive and excellent ways in which they make use of the DualSense's adaptive triggers. The Void Repulser fires off a shield that hovers in front of you as long as you hold the trigger halfway down, then disperses a short-range energy blast when you pull it all the way through. The Headhunter is a sniper rifle that lets you aim through the scope by pulling the left trigger partway, but when you pull it fully, time slows down. With the Drillhound, you can either pull the trigger all the way to fire its explosive ground-traversing hounds blindly, or pull it halfway first to lock on to enemies for guaranteed hits. Application of the adaptive triggers is constantly excellent, and feels surprisingly easy to use even in heated combat encounters.
"The selection of weapons is the heart and soul of any Ratchet game, and Rift Apart knocks the ball out of park in this area as well. There's nearly twenty weapons to unlock and use throughout the game, and this might just be the most varied and interesting arsenal of weapons ever in a Ratchet and Clank entry."
And encounters do get heated. In typical Ratchet and Clank fashion, Rift Apart can throw a huge number of enemies at you at any given time, who come at you in groups comprising of different types of foes that move differently and have unique attacks. Navigating spaces, constantly changing tactics on the fly, and making smart use of your full arsenal feels incredibly satisfying, and makes each thrilling combat encounter feel like a rush of adrenaline, and each victory like a rush of dopamine. It strikes the perfect balance between challenge and giddy explosive fun. There's also more than a few boss fights in here, which are suitably high-stakes, adrenaline-fueled encounters that challenge you to make full use of your arsenal of weapons.
The weapons and the sheer variety they boast are also bolstered incredibly by excellent progression mechanics. Like previous games, the more you use a weapon in Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, the more it levels up- but there's a lot more to it. Collecting Raritarium is key, of course, so you can use it to increase damage, area of effect, range, fire rate, max ammo, and other properties corresponding to specific weapons. The more a weapon levels up, the more upgrade options you unlock for it. Meanwhile, upon reaching level 5, a weapon upgrades into a more powerful version of itself- the Burst Pistol becomes the Blast Pistol and can fire three shots at a time, the double-barreled Enforcer becomes the quadruple-barreled Executor, the Shatterbomb becomes the Shatterblast and fires bombs that have a chance of making enemies explode and damage others around them. The excellent progression mechanics inject oodles of longevity and variety into Rift Apart's combat, which, for a game that already has an incredibly varied arsenal of weapons, deserves no small amount of praise.
Moving past the combat, Rift Apart leaves something to be desired on the platforming side of things, which is a little disappointing for a game that is technically a platformer. Sure, technically, Ratchet and Clank games have always been more action-platformers and shooters than anything else, but in Rift Apart's particular case, the lack of focus on platforming does feel like a bit of a letdown. That's because the moveset has been expanded here, but not utilized to its full potential. On top of your regular jumps, double jumps, and hovering, you always have wall-running, the Phantom Dash, a grapple hook, and hover boots, but the game doesn't do as much with this expanded moveset as it could have. Certain parts of the game, like scripted set-piece sections or pocket dimensions, do put a greater focus on platformer, but by and large, the full potential of Ratchet and Rivet's moveset isn't realized very well.
"Navigating spaces, constantly changing tactics on the fly, and making smart use of your full arsenal feels incredibly satisfying, and makes each thrilling combat encounter feel like a rush of adrenaline, and each victory like a rush of dopamine. It strikes the perfect balance between challenge and giddy explosive fun."
Thankfully, even with that lack of platforming focus, there's plenty of gameplay variety to be found in Rift Apart. Combat is incredibly varied as it is, as I've mentioned earlier, but the game also does a great job of introducing unique sections and scenarios throughout its runtime. From flight combat to rail grinding sections, from puzzle-oriented sections where you play as Clank to Glitch challenges, which see you playing as a spidery turret bot, from the aforementioned pocket dimensions to adrenaline-fueled set-piece moments, Rift Apart consistently ensures that things never get too monotonous. Certain planets are also designed as large, open, sandbox environments, and exploring these fully to hunt down collectibles, take on optional challenges, or complete side quests is also a blast.
Rift Apart also deserves credit for how replayable it is. The main campaign is roughly fifteen hours long (though it can go up to around twenty if you take the completionist route), but there's more than enough here to encourage you to play far beyond that, thanks to a bevy of collectibles to hunt down, unlocking and fully upgrading all the weapons, completing challenges in the arena, the post-game Challenge Mode (which is essentially New Game Plus), and more.
And of course, something else that deserves widespread plaudits is just how ridiculously good this game looks. Vibrant colours, excellent character and enemy designs, and beautiful and varied environments show off the unparalleled talent of Insomniac's artists on a consistent basis. An abundance of tiny little details, incredible animations, and hilarious and charming flourishes further exacerbate the game's visual personality, which is something that it is already overflowing with. Meanwhile, Rift Apart also leverages the PS5's hardware to deliver a proper technical masterpiece. All said and done, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that this might just be one of the best-looking console games ever made. The dimension switching mechanic may have been made to sound like a bigger in pre-release marketing deal than it is – it's mostly restricted to scripted set-pieces, pocket dimensions, and a couple of worlds where it has a larger and more dynamic role to play – but all in all, Rift Apart is a great showcase of the PS5's capabilities.
" It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that this might just be one of the best-looking console games ever made."
It's been a long time coming, but Insomniac's beloved series is finally back, and I couldn't be more ecstatic about the nature of its return. Rift Apart is an incredible game that captures everything that makes Ratchet and Clank so great, and then polishes those strengths to an absolute sheen. With an incredible arsenal of weapons, thrilling combat, a charming story full of loveable characters, and visuals to make your eyes pop, this might just be the best game in the series to date. Regardless of whether you're a long-time series fan or diving in for the first time, Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart is going to be right up your arsenal.
This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 5.
Scarlet Nexus Not Planned for Xbox Game Pass "At This Time" – Bandai Namco
After recent rumors of Scarlet Nexus possibly launching day one on Xbox Game Pass emerged, Bandai Namco issued a statement denying the same. Speaking to VGC, a spokesperson said that there are "no plans" to bring the game to Game Pass "at this time." The publisher added that it's "excited for its launch on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4 and PC on June 25."
While rumors like this should always be taken with a grain of salt, it didn't seem impossible. Scarlet Nexus was revealed at the Xbox 20/20 event last year with Smart Delivery support confirmed. The recent demo also arrived on Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S one week before PS4 and PS5. With big releases like Square Enix's Outriders also launching day one on Game Pass, it seemed somewhat plausible that Scarlet Nexus could follow suit.
The title is out later this month but it's likely that more gameplay and details will be shared at E3 2021 (during the Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase even). Stay tuned and in the meantime, check out the game's lore trailer here.
While it was confirmed previously that Capcom would have a dedicated presentation during E3 on June 14, the exact details – such as its specific timing – were unknown. That's no longer the case. Capcom has confirmed that its E3 2021 showcase is set for Monday, June 14, at 2:30 PM PDT.
What can we expect to see at the show? Monster Hunter Rise and Resident Evil Village are mentioned, so DLC announcements for both seem likely- though the latter definitely comes as a surprise, since Capcom has previously given no indication that it has post-launch content planned for the survival horror game. Will it be a story expansion or related to The Mercenaries- or perhaps related to the upcoming Resident Evil Re:Verse? We'll find out soon enough.
Meanwhile, two upcoming games, Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin and The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles are also confirmed to be making an appearance during the presentation, so at the very least, we're likely going to see new trailers for both.
Beyond that, the hope is that we will see some new announcements as well, and sure enough, leaks do seem to suggest that. Resident Evil Outrage has been leaked relentlessly, and it has been alleged in the past that the game would be announced not long after Village's launch. Meanwhile, Dragon's Dogma 2 is also allegedly in development, and fans will surely be hoping for that to be announced as well.
We'll be covering all of it, of course, so stay tuned for more details.
Join us for the Capcom showcase at #E32021 for news on our latest games lineup, including:
🗯 The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles
🥚 Monster Hunter Stories 2
🐉 Monster Hunter Rise
🏰 Resident Evil Village📅 June 14 @ 2:30pm PDT pic.twitter.com/X1K882Ew8f
— Capcom USA (@CapcomUSA_) June 8, 2021